The League Is In Good Hands

The Suns proved their worth as the second best team in the league during the regular season, and youth is the NBA's new trajectory.

Injuries plagued the Lakers this season, and perhaps the quick turnaround from the Bubble added weight to this team's struggles in 2020-21, but the lack of urgency against a feisty Phoenix Suns team was the ultimate collapse for the defending champs. Phoenix, and the rest of the teams in the Western Conference for that matter, point to a new trajectory that the NBA has seen coming for a while: youthful exuberance.

Devin Booker scored 47 to eliminate the Lakers last night, Utah finished off Memphis to advance to the semifinals as the 1 seed, Denver beat out Dame and the Blazers, and Luka Doncic has his team up 3-2 heading into a full-capacity Dallas crowd as the Mavs look to continue the trend of young teams taking down the seasoned vets.

Look to the east, too. Philly took care of Washington with young superstars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons lighting the way, Giannis steamrolled the Heat in a sweep early in the first round, and Trae Young put the team on his back to take out the Cinderella Knicks.

It's a testament to the greatness of Stephen Curry and LeBron James insofar as pointing out a stat that has 11 years of continuity. This year's NBA Finals will be the first time since 2010 in which neither team will have a player named LeBron or Steph Curry. What this means is that the league will finally have a refreshing change of scenery and the youthful exuberance that many people have touched on as the NBA continues to change and spring forward, will truly come into fruition in 2021.

21 year old Ja Morant and his Grizzlies squad took out Steph and the Dubs in the Play-In, and 24 year old Devin Booker willed his Suns to take out LeBron James' Lakers. These are just the two guys who lit the 2021 flame of this trend. Lets's go through all the young stars that are contending to go deep into the playoffs this postseason.

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks (22 years old):

2021 Postseason Per Game Averages: 35 PTS, 8 REB, 9.4 AST, 47.9% FG, 42.9% 3FG

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks (26 years old):

2021 Postseason Per Game Averages: 23.5 PTS, 15 REB, 7.8 AST, 1.8 STL

Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets (26 years old):

2021 Postseason Per Game Averages: 33 PTS, 10.5 REB, 4.5 AST, 52.8% FG, 42.9% 3FG, 91.7% FT

Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns (24 years old):

2021 Postseason Per Game Averages: 29.7 PTS, 6.2 REB, 5 AST, 48.8% FG, 42.9% 3FG, 48.8% FG, 40.8 MIN

Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers (24 years old):

2021 Postseason Per Game Averages: 14.8 PTS, 10.2 REB, 9.2 AST, 64% FG

Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers (27 years old):

2021 Postseason Per Game Averages: 24 PTS, 6.8 REB, 63.5% FG, 46.2% 3PFG, 88.9% FT

Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks (22 years old):

2021 Postseason Per Game Averages: 29.2 PTS, 9.8 AST, 44.1% FG, 91.9% FT

Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz (24 years old):

2021 Postseason Per Game Averages: 28.5 PTS, 5.8 AST, 1.3 STL, 90.3% FT, 40% 3PFG

As an NBA fan, these stats make me hopeful for the future direction of the Association and refreshed that a number of these young studs could quite plausibly be a champion this year if Brooklyn doesn't just trounce over everything I just wrote.

We're gonna be in for some epic second round matchups, and only one series is uncertain.

Eastern Conference (Fully Set):

1-Seed Philadelphia vs. 5-Seed Atlanta

2-Seed Brooklyn vs. 3-Seed Milwaukee

Western Conference:

1-Seed Utah vs. EITHER 4-Seed LA Clippers OR 5-Seed Dallas, Dallas leads LA 3-2

2-Seed Phoenix vs. 3-Seed Denver

A plethora of talent, especially young talent, is on full display for the playoffs, and with it comes the inevitability of messy basketball, mistakes, and heat checks, but more importantly, stardom, elite competition, and refreshing faces who will soon be the faces of the league if they aren't already.

Trae Young is going to banter with the Philly fans as he did with those at MSG, maybe getting into a war of words with Joel Embiid along the way, Giannis is going to have to prove he can outplay the legendary Kevin Durant in order to spare Mike Budenholzer coaching seat, the Jazz have redemption on their minds after their 3-1 collapse, Luka can upset the Clippers and give us an epic showdown with the aforementioned Jazz, and Booker vs. Jokic is going to be incredible.

I've gone on about the superstars on each team, but clearly those superstars would just be first-round exits without an incredible supporting cast, which of course has great veteran presence and contribution, but for the purposes of this article, we'll mention more young guys who have played exceptionally or will be x-factors moving forward in the latter rounds.

Michael Porter Jr., Denver Nuggets (22 years old):

2021 Postseason Per Game Averages: 18.8 PTS, 6.7 REB, 53.8% FG, 41.5% 3FG, 90.9% FT

Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns (24 years old):

2021 Postseason Per Game Averages: 15.8 PTS, 10.7 REB, 79.6% FG!!!

John Collins, Atlanta Hawks (23 years old):

2021 Postseason Per Game Averages: 12.2 PTS, 6 REB, 53.7% FG, 90.9% FT

Kristaps Porzingis, Dallas Mavericks (25 years old):

2021 Postseason Per Game Averages: 13.8 PTS, 4.4 REB, 47.2% FG

These four players' success will be imperative to their teams advancing deep into the postseason, and their roles are all vastly different for their respective squads.

MPJ needs to fill the void that Jamal Murray's injury created, so his scoring will be the main point of emphasis for Coach Malone and the Denver Nuggets. Jokic has to look to get him involved more, and his scoring numbers could easily skyrocket to the mid 20's in the second round.

Deandre Ayton was an absolute beast against the Lakers in the paint (note the FG% was exclamatory), and needs to continue that trend against the Nuggets in round 2. With the concerns of CP3's effectiveness due to his ongoing shoulder injury, Ayton needs to be the secondary scorer for the Suns behind Booker.

John Collins is seeing his scoring numbers lower than where they should be, but that's partly due to Trae Young's incredible assist numbers to Clint Capela. The Hawks took care of the Knicks rather easily, but New York's collective team defense is not the same as Philadelphia's prowess of on-ball defenders that they can throw at guys. Matisse Thybulle, Ben Simmons, or Danny Green can do a good job slowing down Trae, so John Collins will need to hold up his end on the offensive side of the ball if Trae Young's efficiency drops in this series. Joel Embiid will also likely be defending Capela on the screen and roll action, which would likely mean Tobias Harris will be on Collins for the majority of his minutes.

Let's face it, Kristaps hasn't looked like himself since last postseason before he got injured versus the Clippers. Dallas needs him tonight to beat LA, and if he doesn't perform well they'll be exploring getting rid of him in the offseason. Dallas has gotten along well with Luka facilitating and getting shooting from THJ and other contributions from Finney-Smith, Powell and Brunson, but Porzingis can bring it all together since Josh Richardson has been a non-factor. He needs to revitalize last year's performance.

The rest of our guys will be making second round predictions soon, so be sure to tune in to our content.