Page 40 - Sports Illustrated Kids (October 2018)

&"# &$ +0 Westbrook and SG

Paul George. But
things never quite
clicked. In a first-round
loss to the Jazz, Oklahoma
ST 1%2+!"/ Win the Northwest City averaged 97.5 points

per 100 possessions when
WE Crucial class: MATH 116.7 when he was on the bench.
Anthony was on the floor and
Adding and subtracting
negative numbers can be
NORTH tricky. If you take away -1, it’s Couple that with his massive salary, and the
team had little choice but to cut ties, sending
the same thing as adding 1.
him to the Hawks. OKC got PG Dennis
That’s the principle known
as addition by subtraction,
offensively with the Hawks, but with the
and the Thunder are Schröder in the deal. He was erratic
Thunder he won’t be expected to carry a
WEST done in the offseason. The heavy load. And that could make him a
confident that’s what they’ve
much better complement to Westbrook
team released PF Carmelo
and George than Anthony was.
Anthony, who had joined OKC to
be part of a Big Three with PG Russell &- ) ## ) A-

,+ ':77 %- )+2$$"10 $ %% *&+ '&)+# %

1&* "/4,)3"0 1/ &) ) 7"/0
Crucial Class: CIVICS Crucial Class:
In his first season in Utah, GEOGRAPHY The Nuggets
SG Donovan Mitchell had one of the league’s Crucial Class: Crucial Class:
clearly made it a most far-flung rosters last CHEMISTRY AV CLUB
priority to be a year, as they fielded players By trading for PG Damian
good citizen. from the U.S., Canada, the SG Jimmy Butler Lillard is well-
He went Democratic Republic of the before last season, known for his hip-
on Twitter Congo, Spain, and Serbia. the Timberwolves hop work, and his
to find a The Serbian representative put together backcourt mate, CJ
Fourth of July has fans in Denver most one of the most McCollum, is known
barbecue, then excited. C Nikola Joki ´c exciting core for his entertaining
showed up, to continued to dazzle units in the NBA. podcasts. Now if
the delight of as a scorer (18.5 Butler was third- they can just have
the Jazz fans ppg), rebounder team All-NBA their work be as
who were (10.7 rpg), in 2016–17 pleasing to the
hosting it. and passer with the Bulls. eyes as it is to the
And he went (6.1apg). C Karl-Anthony ears. Both guards
viral for PG Towns was the had excellent
paying to fix Jamal 2015–16 Rookie regular
the phone Murray, from of the Year, seasons,
of a Canada, and SF Andrew but Finish ninth and just
stranger upped his Wiggins won it the Portland miss the playoffs
with a scoring season before. But was
learning average the T-Wolves barely swept in GREG NELSON (GEORGE, TOWNS, LILLARD); EZRA SHAW/GETTY IMAGES (MITCHELL); GARRETT ELLWOOD/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES (JOKIC)
disability. Mitchell also from 9.9 to made the playoffs the first round
impressed on the floor, 16.7 in his and were dropped of the playoffs
finishing second in the second season, in the first round by the Pelicans, who were
Rookie of the Year race. He highlighting amid rumors that Butler was the No. 6 seed. The team
and C Rudy Gobert are a how young and unhappy with the work ethic reportedly thought about
formidable duo. Utah was explosive the Nuggets of his young teammates. If trading McCollum but didn’t,
36–19 when they played can be. If they stay Minnesota’s talented trio and a lack of salary cap space
together and beat the healthy, their five-year can mesh, the sky is the kept Portland from making any
Thunder in the playoffs. playoff drought will end. limit. If not, another early major additions—which, in the
departure is looming.
loaded West, is the same as
&- ) ## ) B+ &- ) ## ) B &- ) ## ) B taking a big step back.
&- ) ## ) C+

42 / SPORTS ILLUSTRATED KIDS