The NBA in STL

Vol. 1 Episode 1

Other than a full head of hair and knees that don’t pop every time I stand up, there’s really only one thing missing from my life… An NBA team in the STL. I’ve dreamed of it since Birk and I were kids sweeping the excess dirt off the “court” on the side of my house. But, alas, the day has yet to come and may never pass.

So, the next best thing I can do is track the hoopers from the STL currently in the league. That’s exactly what I’ll do for you, and mostly me, this entire 2018-2019 NBA campaign.

Here’s our STL squad… broken down into two tiers.

The Top Tier: True STL Roots

These are the fellas born or raised here in the gateway. Of those we have 5 currently set to suit up for an NBA squad. We’ll call them team Team Bonner-Hughes

5. Patrick McCaw- The dude has 2 rings in 2 years in Golden state. But, he isn’t showing up to work? The owners are baffled, and so am I. He turned down a $1.7 million qualifying offer for 2018, and a $2.5 million 2 year deal. In those 2 years you know he is guaranteed at least one more ring. Then he comes out of that at 24 years old with three rings and a ton of teams who will want to add a proven winner on the wing at 6’7”. P-Mac… get to work buddy.

4. Ben McLemore- He’s entering his 6^th year in the league at the age of 25. He’s impressed in camp and the preseason out in Joan Didion’s home of the Sacramento valley. He looks to get a lot of clock early in the year with Bogdan Bogdanovic missing 4-6 weeks to start the season. If he plays up to his highest level of the 2014-15 season, his playing time may decrease once Bogdan gets back, but not dramatically.

3. Otto Porter Jr. – Born in the STL, High School in Sikeston, and now playing next to a fellow gent from our fair city, Otto is coming off of a career year in the nation’s capital. Last season Porter Jr. averaged 14.7 pts, 6.4 boards, 2.0 assists, 1.5 steals, and shot 44.1% from deep. This season he’s 25 years old, close to his athletic prime, and poised to take yet another step towards All-Star level. The one thing standing in his way…Dwight Howard. The Wizards, for reasons known only to them and the criminally insane, signed the NBA’s preeminent franchise killer to a 2 year $11 mil contract. God spare the Wiz…

2. Bradley Beal- Yet another Wizard… yet another fine fellow from the STL subject to the team killing of DH12. The proud graduate of Chaminade is 25, entering his 7^th season in the league after a career year. Last season B Squared averaged 22.6 points, 4.4 bounds, 4.5 dimes, and played in all 82 for the first time. Beal can still get better. I compare his rise and early years to those of the great Ray Allen. Beal is now entering the “Ray Allen: Seattle Years” point in his career. He needs to plant his flag as the man, the face of the Wiz, and make John Wall the sidekick he needs to be.

1. Jayson Tatum- Another Chaminade man, the third in the school’s recent history after David Lee and the aforementioned Beal. Tatum has the highest ceiling of anyone on this list. The kid went head to head with LeBron James for 7 games last June and did not blink. He doesn’t have to spend his sophomore season proving anything other than he is no fluke. He’s (hopefully) paired with 3 All-Stars in Irving, Horford, and Hayward, the best coach in the game, and a team full of truly professional basketball players. In the long list of hoopers form the STL, Tatum has a chance to be the GOAT.

The Second Tier: Mizzou and SLU Alumni

We’ll call them team “Peeler-Sundvold”

Alright…so these following guys aren’t St. Louisans like you and I, but they have hooped for the college teams we cheer for. Whether you’re a Billiken, or a Tiger like myself, we do have some rooting interest in these three.

3. Willie Reed: Controversial, but the pickins… are as they say… are slim. Willie’s season ended in February after being shipped to the Paris of the Midwest along with Blake Griffin. The former Billiken has been solid as a back-up, but nothing more. He’ll most likely get a look from some squads as frontcourt depth.

2. DeMarre Carroll- The dude is entering his 10th season in the league. If he plays in only 31 games this season that’ll be 4^th most all-time for former Tigers in the NBA. Carroll is coming off of another solid campaign. Last season in BKNY he played in 72 games dropping 13.5 ppgs, to go along with 6.6 rebounds and solid D as always. If he stays healthy, and keeps his percentage from range where it was last year at 37.1% he’ll get at least a few more seasons in the league.

1. Jordan Clarkson- Can Clarkson keep filling it up? Is he the next Jamal Crawford… or is he the next Ricky Davis? I really don’t know at this point… judging by the neck tatts, maybe a little bit of both. He can still hit the mid-range, is decent from 3, and seems willing to play whatever role a coach wants him to. With LBJ taking his talents to LA, Clarkson will get at least 3-4 more looks a night. I’d look for career numbers from him across the board if the Mexico, MO man Ty Lue doesn’t sour… and the fact Clarkson is due a paltry $25 MILLION FRIGGIN’ DOLLARS over the next 2 seasons may guarantee more clock than not.

So there we have it… our little STL squad to watch this season. I’ll be back soon with some updates and reactions to the exploits across the league…

Until then… long live Anthony Mason to Anthony Bonner…