RLCS 22-23: Europe

Regional #2	Day	UTC
Rounds 1 & 2	Fri	15:00
Playoffs - Top 8	Sat	15:00
Playoffs - Top 4	Sun	15:00	Today
RLCS 2022-23 Guide

Coverage

Official Bracket
Liquipedia / / ShiftRLE.gg / / Pickstop.gg

Streams

Platforms	Link
Twitch	RocketLeague
YouTube	Rocket League Esports

Results

Elimination		Liquipedia Bracket
▼ Upper Final		(Bo7)
Karmine Corp	0 - 4	Team Vitality
▼ Lower Semifinal		(Bo7)
Team BDS	16:00 UTC	Moist Esports
▼ Lower Final		(Bo7)
Karmine Corp	17:00 UTC	TBD
▼ Grand Final		(Bo7)
TBD	18:00 UTC	TBD

Standings

Place	Prize	Team	RLCS Points
1st	$30,000	TBD	+24
2nd	$20,000	TBD	+20
3rd	$10,000	TBD	+16
4th	$8,000	TBD	+13
5th-6th	$6,000	Guild Esports	+11 (22)
5th-6th	$6,000	Oxygen Esports	+11 (101)
7th-8th	$4,000	Team Liquid	+9 (135)
7th-8th	$4,000	PSG TUNDRA	+9 (61)

​

RLCS 22-23: Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional #2	Day	UTC
Rounds 1 & 2	Fri	15:00
Playoffs - Top 8	Sat	15:00	Today
Playoffs - Top 4	Sun	15:00
RLCS 2022-23 Guide

Coverage

Official Bracket
Liquipedia / / ShiftRLE.gg

Streams

Platforms	Link
Twitch	ACGL_Alpha

Results

Elimination	UTC	Liquipedia Bracket
▼ Upper Final		(Bo7)
Limitless	15:00 UTC	Nixuh
▼ Lower Bracket Semifinal		(Bo7)
French class	16:00 UTC	Pirates Exdee
▼ Lower Final		(Bo7)
TBD	17:00 UTC	TBD
▼ Grand Final		(Bo7)
TBD	18:00 UTC	TBD

Standings

Place	Prize	Team	RLCS Points
1st	$6,000	TBD	+24
2nd	$4,000	TBD	+20
3rd	$2,400	TBD	+16
4th	$2,000	TBD	+13
5th-6th	$1,600	CosmiCo Esports	+11 (15)
5th-6th	$1,600	AIPX Gaming	+11 (66)
7th-8th	$1,200	White Rabbit Gaming	+9 (81)
7th-8th	$1,200	Lupo Rosso	+9 (19)

Hello fellow Knicks fans. Last year I had a lot of fun writing up reviews for each player, and I decided I’ll make it a yearly thing. Format will be a little different to keep it fresh but same goals; evaluate players based on how they looked, their numbers, advanced stats, team stats, and an eye to next year. I will go player by player until I cover all major players on the Knicks roster. Enjoy! If you wanna check out Grimes and previous write up, click here.
Player Profile: Obadiah Toppin
Age: 25
Contract Remaining: 1 year at $6.8M, extension eligible
Last Seasons “Room for Improvement for Next Season”: “...closed the year hot from 3, but his outside shooting needs to become far more consistent. ..learn to be a better help defender, as he was often the player too late on rotating throughout the season... continue to improve his handles, as he showed some solid ability as a passer.”
Well one big improvement that Obi made from last year was that he certainly shot the ball way better from 3, hitting a career high 34% of his threes and doing so on double the volume he had in the past. Unfortunately, of the other aspects I personally listed, Obi did not do much more to improve his game, especially on the defensive end. Let’s take a deeper look
2022-23 Season 76 GP, 5GS, 15.7MPG
7.4PTS, 2.4REB, 1AST, .3STL, .2BLK, .6TOV per game.
44%/34%/80% Shooting splits
There’s no stoppin’ Obi Toppin! Except for, well, Obi Toppin. A popular refrain is that Thibs quick hook is the reason why Toppin never gets a chance to show his stuff. After three full years in the league, I think it’s quite clear; Obi Toppin doesn’t stay on the floor for long stretches because he is just an awkward NBA player. The ONE thing I will say in his defense is that Thibs offense is the worst one possible for him, ISO heavy and slow pace. But outside of that, Obi does not do himself any favors. He’s athletic, but he’s not bulky enough to bang with other front court players. He has an improved outside shot but he’s not good enough to manipulate off the dribble to get to the basket. He’s got length but no post game. Despite his incredible athletic tools his defense is shoddy and despite big hops barely blocks any shots. He’s the most classic “tweener” specimen one could have. None of his abilities matchup with his physical gifts. You would think with the way he looks and plays that he could have some low end Shawn Marion 2.0 in him, but he just doesn’t. Even despite the much improved outside shooting, Obi just could not stay on the floor. The only time he got extended run was the end of the year silly season minutes and just like last year, he showed that he’s a great AAAA player, capable of beating up on other regular NBA scrubs. The fact that his minutes went down despite Hartenstein being the only front court help the Knicks brought in is a problem and red flag.
Advanced Stats: VORP: .4 WS/48: .095 PER: 13.6 TS%: 56
Well, the advanced stats are stoppin’ Obi Toppin as well. Obi took steps backwards in every single advanced statistic from last year. That’s despite playing more or less the same role/level of minutes. His win share rate, PER, true shooting % and VORP all went down, indicating that Obi without a doubt went backwards. The biggest problem is that his DPM was in the red, the first time it has happened in its career. For all you wondering why Obi always got the “quick hook” from Thibs, it's simple, his defense absolutely sucks. Obi ranked roughly 70th in defensive rating of players that played at least 50 games and 15min per game, but like a broken record, that’s just one stat I use and by no means paints a full picture.
What’s interesting is that Obi appears in 4 of our top 10 defensive lineups, but in only 1 of our lowest 10 defensive lineups. I can only imagine this has more to do with who he is playing with than his individual performance. Obi also just doesn’t play a lot of minutes, so it creates a wider margin for error than a player that would be out there for 30min a night. I’m not saying Obi is incapable of defense, but between his numbers and the eye test, I just can’t bring myself to say he can do it. Feel free to prove me wrong though.
2023 Playoffs: 7PTS, 3.5REB, .6AST, .7STL, .3BLK, .7TOV per game
43%/30%/80% from the field
0.2 VORP WS/48 .115 PER 14.5
Obi was slightly better in the playoffs compared to his regular season self, but not by much. His defense was better and his offensive game was kept afloat by being the Knicks 5th best 3 point shooter in the playoffs at 30% (yeah, that’s not a good sign). Like the rest of the team, unless your name was Jalen Brunson, Obi struggled to score.
2023 Off season
Unfortunately Obi seems to be dogged by the same problems year after year. Again, part of that is fit, if he was playing on a Mike D’Antoni type team I have a feeling he would be a high flyer and putting up some decent numbers. But you need to do the best with what you got. Obi just needs to be a better scorer, period. His 3 point shot getting better is good, but with his subpar handles despite solid athleticism, he can’t take advantage of teams starting to respect his shooting more. But for Obi its really all about defense. He needs to add some type of defensive rigor to his game, whether it means bulking up a tad to take on more banging in the post or focusing down with better footwork to guard more wings on the perimeter.
Overall Grade for 2022-23 season: C-
It was nice to see Obi showcase a 3 point shot and as always he has highlight worthy dunks, but unfortunately the accolades mostly stop there. Obi is more or less where he was when the Knicks drafted him; stuck behind Julius Randle and doesn’t show enough on either side of the ball to warrant being on the court more. He is the most likely Knick to be traded this offseason in a package as I cannot imagine the team will hand him an extension.
More to come soon. Let’s go Knicks!

Alright, lets get this over with.

1. We won Game 6 in mentality crushing fashion.

If you watch any of the Heat player interviews + Spoelstra you can see they’re shook to the core. It wasn’t a blowout where nothing went right. They basically played better than we did in nearly every facet and lost (as a team, individually is another story). Watching Spoelstra’s interview was shocking. I’ve never seen Spoelstra rattled or on edge. He was completely and utterly devastated and disengaged.

1. The 3 point numbers.

Statistically this is the worst we’ve ever shot from 3 in a playoff win. A whopping 7/35 (20%). Thats also close to our worst 3 point shooting of the year period. Tatum was 0/8 and Brown was 0/4, a collective 0/12 from them both.
The Miami Heat shot 14/30 (47%), and lost. The Heat have played 5 games shooting over 45% from 3 these playoffs and their record was 3-1 (L Game 2 @ MKE) and now we tack on the 2nd loss. This series Miami is 1-1 shooting over 45% from 3 in a game (W Game 3 @ MIA)
Overall JT and JB feed off the home crowd (as does the whole team), so we should expect much better 3 point numbers in Game 7.

1. Turnovers

Light point to be made but the Heat had a 12-7 advantage in the turnover department. 4-3 Heat advantage in the 4th Quarter (unless I miscounted).

1. Celtics Game 7 History.

I like to count AFTER losing to LeBron. I feel like it’d be mean spirited to lump such a young Celtics core into the data.
2020: Game 7 @ Toronto (Bubble) (W)
2022: Game 7 VS Milwaukee (W)
2022: Game 7 @ Miami (W)
2023: Game 7 VS Philadelphia (W)
2023: Game 7 VS Miami (?)
You: Okay whats the damn point
The point is this: we took Miami’s best human punch. We did not play that well at all by what we’re capable of. We ripped their heart out with 0.1. Its still very possible to lose Game 7, but just knowing we can play better, and knowing the opportunity that’s available for the taking? Its hard to imagine we lose.
Go Celtics or go fuck yourself, -ZEFA

RLCS 22-23: Asia-Pacific

Regional 2	Day	UTC
Rounds 1 & 2	Sat	08:00
Playoffs - Top 8	Sun	08:00	Today
RLCS 2022-23 Guide

Coverage

Official Bracket
Liquipedia / / ShiftRLE.gg

Streams

Platforms	Link	Language
Twitch	RocketLeagueAPAC	ENG
Twitch	Kokken	JPN

Results

Elimination	UTC	Liquipedia Bracket
▼ Upper Semifinals		(Bo7)
Gladiators	1 - 4	Paradigm
Elevate	4 - 2	Nimmt55
▼ Lower Quarterfinals		(Bo7)
Gladiators	2 - 4	The Patriots
Nimmt55	4 - 3	CHAPATI DREAM
▼ Lower Semifinal		(Bo7)
The Patriots	4 - 3	Nimmt55
▼ Upper Final		(Bo7)
Paradigm	1 - 4	Elevate
▼ Lower Final		(Bo7)
Paradigm	4 - 1	The Patriots
▼ Grand Final		(Bo7)
Elevate	4 - 1	Paradigm

Standings

Place	Prize	Team	RLCS Points
1st	$6,000	Elevate	+24 (148)
2nd	$4,000	Paradigm	+20 (85)
3rd	$2,400	The Patriots	+16 (92)
4th	$2,000	Nimmt55	+13 (69)
5th-6th	$1,600	Gladiators	+11 (116)
5th-6th	$1,600	CHAPATI DREAM	+11 (41)
7th-8th	$1,200	GracesBlaze	+9 (15)
7th-8th	$1,200	UHUH	+9 (58)

​

Hey guys, I'm Perry. I've been playing league for over 11 years and have been coaching people in Jungle on and off for the past 5 years.
I have had lots of experience in the past few years as a semi-pro competitive player:
In 2021, I won NA Scouting Grounds and received the Most Improved Player Award.
In 2022, I played on DIG Academy for the Summer 2022 Proving Grounds Playoffs, and got 2nd place.
In 2023, I played with FEAR in NACL (Academy/Amateur Tournament) and placed 4th.
Before Riot made changes allowing orgs to leave the tier2 scene, I had 3 academy level offers for this summer from LCS-affiliated orgs.
Within SoloQ I maintained rank 1 Kayn worldwide for all of 2021 and In 2023 I achieved rank 1 Viego in all of NA and currently maintain it. During 2022, I played hours and hours of CQ, managing to keep top 10, peaking at rank 8. At the end of 2022, I defeated 4 SKT players (including Faker and Oner) in Worlds CQ.
Twitch
Imgur Proof
Lol Wiki Page)
I have lots to teach you on how to climb in SoloQ to help you hit your goals. I can help fix issues and inconsistencies in your gameplay. Not too long ago I was a just a SoloQ grinder with not much to show, but after maintaining certain habits and practices, I am now able to compete against the best players in all of NA. If you would like to learn how I accomplished this to improve your own gameplay, please reach out to me via https://discord.com/invite/H8h9ZSnXCB or Discord: perry#9341
I'm currently starting back up in coaching, so I haven't yet set a strict price, but a session will be around $40 with a FREE 20 minute Intro Session. If you are interested in negotiating the price, let me know and I might be open to it if I have extra time.

Coach	Seasons w/ Team	Total Seasons	Playoff Appearances	Game Record	Game Win %	Series Record	Series Win %
Don Blackburn	1979-80 to 1980-81	2	1980	0-3	.000	0-1	.000
Larry Pleau	1980-81 to 1982-83, 1987-88 to 1988-89	5	1988, 1989	2-8	.200	0-2	.000
Jack Evans	1983-84 to 1987-88	5	1986, 1987	8-8	.500	1-2	.333
Rick Ley	1989-90 to 1990-91	2	1990, 1991	5-8	.385	0-2	.000
Jimmy Roberts	1991-92	1	1992	3-4	.429	0-1	.000
Paul Maurice	1995-96 to 2003-04, 2008-09 to 2011-12	13	1999, 2001, 2002, 2009	25-28	.472	5-4	.556
Peter Laviolette	2003-04 to 2008-09	5	2006	16-9	.640	4-0	1.000
Rod Brind’Amour	2018-19 to present	5	2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023	32-31	.508	7-5	.583

Event Thread

RLCS 22-23: Europe

Regional #2	Day	UTC
Rounds 1 & 2	Fri	15:00
Playoffs - Top 8	Sat	15:00	Today
Playoffs - Top 4	Sun	15:00
RLCS 2022-23 Guide

Coverage

Official Bracket
Liquipedia / / ShiftRLE.gg / / Pickstop.gg
​

Results

Elimination		Liquipedia Bracket
▼ Lower Round 3		(Bo5)
Team BDS	3 - 1	Team Liquid
Oxygen Esports	3 - 1	PSG TUNDRA
▼ Upper Semifinals		(Bo7)
Karmine Corp	4 - 0	Guild Esports
Moist Esports	0 - 4	Team Vitality
▼ Lower Quarterfinals		(Bo7)
Team BDS	4 - 2	Guild Esports
Oxygen Esports	3 - 4	Moist Esports

​

2004 - Missed Playoffs 💀 2005 - Missed Playoffs 💀 2006 - Destroyed In 2nd Round 💀 2007 - Swept In Finals 💀 2008 - Destroyed In 2nd Round 2009 - Destroyed By Dwight Howard 2010 - Choked In 2nd Round 2011 - Choked In Finals 2012 - Saved By Strike Season 2013 - Saved By Ray Allen 2014 - Humiliated In Finals 2015 - Destroyed In Finals 2016 - Saved By Adam Silver 2017 - Swept In Finals 2018 - Destroyed In Finals 2019 - Missed Playoffs 2020 - Bubble Chumps 🐭 2021 - Destroyed In 1st Round 2022 - Missed Playoffs (As The Favorite Western Conference Team To Make Finals) Cavs vs Celtics Game 3 (2017 Playoffs) Lebron scored a total of 11 points… Cavs vs Pistons Game 1 (2007 Playoffs) Lebron scored a total of 10 points… Lakers vs Blazers Game 2 (2020) Playoffs) Lebron scored a total of 10 points… Heat vs Mavs Game 4 (2011 Playoffs) Lebron scored a total of 8 points… Heat vs Pacers (2014 Playoffs) Lebron scored a total of 7 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists… MJ played 4 seasons/284 fewer games than Lebron. Also MJ… - 2 More rings - 2 More finals MVPs - 1 More MVP - 1 More DPOY - 9 More scoring titles - 3 More steals titles - 3 More all-defensive teams Special Note: Returning Lebron’s fanbase logic to them, AD joined a 37 win Lakers who didn’t even make the playoffs and turned them into champions… Top 75 teammates: Lebron-5 / MJ-2 Seasons with 2 qualifying all-star teammates: Lebron-5 / MJ-0 Top 5 draft pick teammates: Lebron-21 / MJ-1 Missed Playoffs: Lebron-4 / MJ-0 Total rings: Lebron-4 / MJ-6 Finals losses: Lebron-6 / MJ-0

RLCS 22-23: South America

Regional #2	Day	UTC
Rounds 1 & 2	Fri	19:00
Playoffs - Top 8	Sat	19:00	Today
Playoffs - Top 4	Sun	19:00
RLCS 2022-23 Guide

Coverage

Official Bracket
Liquipedia / / ShiftRLE.gg

”Short” recap of the Jets' 2022 Season

The Jets had a noisy offseason in 2022 as they were big spenders in free agency, bringing in CB DJ Reed, TE CJ Uzomah, and OG Laken Tomlinson. The also had 3 first round picks and an early second rounder to give the team one of the youngest roster in the NFL by snaps given. The main headline going into the Jets regular season was, like most NFL teams, centered around the quarterback position. The Jets drafted BYU QB Zach Wilson #2 overall in the 2021 NFL draft. Statistically, Zach's rookie campaign was off to an abysmal start with 4 TDs and 9 picks in his first Five starts before having his midseason interrupted by a knee injury. Zach would return and threw 5 touchdowns and just two picks in his last seven games, playing less dynamically than he had in Tennessee but smarter and safer. Zach went into the 2022 season looking to improve on his 2,334 yards passing, 55.6% completion percentage, 9 passing touchdowns, 4 rushing touchdowns, and 11 interceptions from 2022.
However, Zach would miss September due to a miniscus tear he suffered in the preseason. The Jets started Joe Flacco at the quarterback position for their opening three games; going 1-2 with a historical comeback win at Cleveland (I didn't have to mention this but it's the most exciting Jets football you'll ever see). After Zach returned, the Jets opened out on a winning streak. However, this had more to do with the star performances of the Jets rookies, namely WR Garrett Wilson, RB Breece Hall, and CB Sauce Gardner. In Denver, the Jets suffered a pyrrhic victory at hands of the Broncos as the team won 16-9, but suffered season ending injuries to OL Alijah Vera-Tucker and Breece Hall. Hindering the offensive line and prematurely ending Hall's OROTY campaign. This altered the course of the Jets' season for the worse. While young stars Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner continued to shine, the team's offense couldn't make up for the loss of Breece Hall as they were forced to look to Zach Wilson to lead the passing offense. Zach Wilson regressed heavily from his already terrible rookie season and as a result of his poor performance and attitude, was benched. The Jets attempted to salvage their season by looking to Mike White, who almost immediately went out with injury, and then later to Flacco (and at one point, Chris Streveler, fresh out of the CFL). Only two seasons into Wilson's career, he's cemented himself among the greatest draft busts in NFL history and for the sake of playefan morale, is completely unplayable in 2023. He isn't going to be cut until at least August, as there's no financial incentive to give up on him until after next season. The Jets missed out on the playoffs in 2023 for the 12th straight season, the second longest drought in North American sports. The silver lining for the Jets this season is that their roster is still full of young talent across the board, as AVT should be back by the preseason, Breece Hall should be back in the early regular season this year, and Garret Wilson and Sauce Gardner are back for their sophomore seasons after winning Offensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Rookie of the year, respectively. The Jets had very little coaching staff/front office turnover from 2022. The main exception is the Jets moved on from young offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur to sign veteran OC and recently fired Denver Broncos' head coach, Nathaniel Hackett. This move was met with middling reception by fans. As many cited him as an underwhelming retread, though there was potentially one huge upside to signing Hackett and his name is...

Aaron Freaking Rodgers

After acknowledging his failure in drafting and developing his franchise QB, New York Jets General Manager Joe Douglas, scrambled to find a QB the Jets can compete with during their current window where their most talented players are on rookie deals. Joe Douglas doesn’t have the luxury of trying again with rookie QB roulette as he’s already four years into a rebuild that has yielded zero winning seasons. Many considered his huge failure with Zach Wilson to be a fireable offense, but due to his success in building the rest of the team, Jets owner Woody Johnson publicly voiced his confidence in Joe Douglas and let him have another offseason to try to pull a rabbit out of his hat at the QB position. The Jets were connected to almost every veteran QB that might conceivably be on the market from January to March. Around the time of the NFL Combine, the Jets had their options narrowed down to Tannehil, Cousins, and Aaron Rodgers headlining the group. With Rodgers’ ending his career in Green Bay, he then descended into a Darkness Retreat. Afterward, Aaron decided to tell Schefter to lose his number and went on the Mcafee show to announce that he had decided to play for the Jets, despite still being on contract with the Packers. After a month and a half of Jets and Packers fans taking to Reddit and Twitter to argue endlessly about Leverage, the Jets and Packers finally worked out a deal on April 24th, just days before the 2023 NFL Draft. The Jets acquired Aaron Rodgers and a 5th round pick in 2023 in exchange for a 1st round pick swap (Jets go 13 to 15th overall), a 2023 2nd round pick, a 2023 6th round pick, and a 2024 second round pick that can become a 1st if Rodgers plays >65% of snaps in 2023. Many were quick to declare an immediate winner to the trade, though I think with trades like these, you need to see how things play out and what will happen on the conditions before knowing for sure. My knee-jerk reaction to the trade is that it’s an overpay if Rodgers were to retire after 2023, but if he comes back for 2024 like he says he’s going to, then this is fair overall. If Jordan Love doesn’t pan out and the Jets make a Super Bowl over the next two years, people will look back on this trade as a steal for the Jets. Time will tell.

Jets Free Agency

Contrary to popular belief, the Jets did more this offseason than roll out the red carpet for Aaron Rodgers. In free agency, the Jets rolled out the red carpet for all of Aaron Rodger’s favorite teammates. In Free Agency, the Jets brought in:

• WR Mecole Hardman (KC)
• WR Allen Lazard (GB)
• OL Trystan Colon (BAL)
• OL Billy Turner (DEN)
• P Thomas Morestead (MIA)
• C Wes Schweitzer (WAS)
• QB Tim Boyle (DET)
• DT Quinton Jefferson (SEA)

Over half the names on this list have some kind of connection to Aaron Rodgers. Allen Lazard was the biggest swing for the Jets in free agency with $44MM over 4 years. The Jets cut bait by trading Elijah Moore to Cleveland, but are going to keep Corey Davis for the third year of his contract despite disappointing availability and stats by Davis. Lazard has experience in the slot, despite being primarily an outside the numbers receiver. With Moore and Berrios out, the Jets are a little bit heavier on outside receiver and light on slot receiver, so they’ll likely focus on size over shiftiness over the middle. However, bringing in Mecole Hardman brings a lot of the speed over the middle that the team is missing. Outside of WR, the Jets added more depth on the offensive and defensive lines. The main highlight of free agency for Jets fans was, strangely enough, the punter they signed- Thomas Morstead. Morstead punted for the Jets in 2021 filling in for an injured Braden Mann with an average of 48 yards/ punt and 7 punts within the 20. The Jets let Morstead go to let Braden Mann return. Mann was a decent punter for the Jets at best, but was infamous in NY for a shank a game that eventually became too much. The Jets have also worked out with P Matt “Punt God” Araiza, but that’s a can of worms I won’t get into. The Jets also brought back:

• LB Quincy Williams
• K Greg Zuerlin
• DT Solomon Thomas
• RB Ty Johnson
• C Connor McGovern

I have much less to say about these players. Ty Johnson has already been cut, which has been a small controversy due to his surgery that was allegedly recommended by the Jets. But especially after the draft, the Jets have a glut of runningbacks on the roster. I don’t see what the Jets see in Solomon Thomas but HC Robert Saleh really likes him. Greg Zuerlin has been a replacement level kicker for the Jets. Quincy Williams is back, which is mostly interesting as his older brother, Quinnen Williams, is in a contract holdout with the Jets. The number for Quinnen Williams is likely going to look similar to what Dexter Lawrence got from the Giants.

The New York Jets 2023 NFL Draft

Pre-Draft Needs

Positions of Need going into the Draft: OT, FS, DT, RB
The Jets' strength on the defense was on the outsides, both on the passrush with Carl Lawson and Jermaine Johnson coming back and in the pass defense, with Sauce Gardner and DJ Reed returning after being arguably the best CB duo in 2022. The weakness was over the middle in the passing game and between the tackles in the run game. The Jets have Quinnen Williams on the 5th year option looking for a new deal this year and don't have another quality DT to complement him on the interior of their 4-3 front. Jordan Whitehead was disappointing for the Jets last year at SS and Ashtyn Davis hasn't fully panned out at FS.
On the offense, the Jets have fewer holes, but have positions like RB, TE, and WR where they can afford to add more talent. The biggest liabilities for the Jets are on the offensive tackle, where Mekhi Becton is coming back from two whole seasons of injury and Duane Brown is 38 and playing likely his last season of Pro Football.

1st Round (15th Overall) Will McDonald IV, EDGE – Iowa State

Before discussing McDonald as a player, we should discuss the Steelers’ trade with the Patriots at 14th overall. This trade led to a lot of criticism of the trade back with Green Bay for Rodgers as well as Joe Douglas’s composure as a drafter. The main thing we know about Broderick Jones is that the fact that Pittsburgh was interested in trading up for him long before the Rodgers trade. Jones to the Steelers was one of the worst kept secrets of the NFL draft this year and the New England Patriots (while not to pretend that Belichick doesn’t love to screw the Jets over) are notorious for trading back in the first round. I’m not going to assert that the Jets weren’t interested in landing Broderick Jones, I think the people who are skeptical of Douglas’s claim that McDonald was their top target are missing two things: the first is that Robert Saleh is a defensive minded coach who is obsessed with having an excess of edge rushers with good bend. Saleh and Douglas are still on good terms, and I would be very surprised if during the draft Saleh wasn’t pounding the table in Joe Douglas’s ear for Will McDonald. The second is that while Jones was on board, Douglas himself said that McDonald was his number 1. You can debate if the Jets should’ve taken Jones if he were available, but he wasn’t and so, the Jets picked McDonald. Will McDonald is a 6’4” 236 lbs Edge rusher from Iowa State University who turns 24 years old June 6th. He was considered a high draft prospect after his 2021 and 2020 seasons where he had 11.5 and 10.5 sacks respectively, but still decided to come back to school in 2022. This, plus the fact that he didn’t begin playing football until he was 17 years old, contribute to Will McDonald IV’s advanced age as a prospect. Some might have called this pick a reach due to his age, but it’s worth noting that McDonald isn’t exactly a “late bloomer” as a player, but rather he has been a competitive pass rusher in the Big 12 since about 2019 and is tied for #1 overall in the Big12’s career sack list. Another reason why Will McDonald IV is an underrated prospect is that many people aren’t familiar with the defense that Iowa St. and how it deflates pass rusher numbers. Iowa State runs something called a STAR defense, or a 3-3-5 (3 DL, 3LB, 5 DBs). This helped the Cyclones against pass heavy, air raid and/or spread style offenses, but means that a premier pass rusher like Will McDonald will get basically zero help in the box. The traits that scouts fell in love with that made Will McDonald IV a first-round talent were his bend around the edge, his top end speed, and his usage of his hands. The weaknesses that were brought up centered mostly around his smaller size, power, and lack of body of work on run defense. But his overall athleticism and potential to bulk up are the main thing the Jets are banking on as they look develop him going forward. McDonald’s athleticism is so over the top, that he’s made a hobby of jumping over cars and doing other acrobatics that will keep the Jets management up at night if he keeps it up through his rookie contract.
The main thing to understand when watching McDonald as a prospect is that the Jets are going to play him a lot differently than the Cyclones did. Due to the ISU 3-man front, McDonald was often moved inside if he wasn’t double or triple teamed as a 5 tech. When Robert Saleh called Will McDonald to let him know the Jets were drafting him, Saleh said “We’re getting you out of that 4i and into that Wide 9”. That meaning, that instead of playing him between the guard and the tackle, they’re going to put him as far out as the o-line is built. I think the Jets will try to get him standing up; even though they typically have four defensive linemen down as I trust Robert Saleh to not pigeonhole a guy to a set role and will just try to set him up to succeed as a pass rusher. The important thing to remember when evaluating McDonald’s upcoming rookie season (or Jermaine Johnson’s rookie season from 2022), is that the Jets have a religious dedication to cycling their defensive linemen in and out regardless of how well or poorly they’re playing. So, for young players like McDonald, Johnson, and Michael Clemons, they’re guaranteed to get a shot, but even if they succeed, they’ll get cycled out. But this does mean that in 2023, we’re guaranteed a chance to see the speed and shiftiness that Will McDonald IV will be bringing to the Jets defense for years to come.

2nd Round, 12th pick (43rd Overall) Joe Tippmann, C – Wisconsin

After the first night of the draft, most were shocked over the Jets’ selection of Will McDonald. And many more in Jets land were disappointed that the team couldn’t find any offensive line help for newly acquired QB, Aaron Rodgers. Fortunately for the Jets on night 2, the board broke their way positively, unlike on night 1. With most of the premier tackles off the board, the Jets then turned their attention interior offensive line. The Jets re-signed Connor McGovern to a 1 year $1.915 million deal after the main rush of free agency subsided and McGovern was unable to find a better deal. McGovern was a serviceable Center for the Jets on his previous 3 year deal, but at 30, the Jets are starting to look for long term options with higher upside. With McGovern making barely backup Center money, the Jets had basically no assets committed to the center position. With every center in the 2023 NFL draft on the board, I don’t think I need to do as much defending of the positional choice for center as I had to do for Edge rusher in the first round. The Jets selected Joe Tippmann with the 12th pick of the 2nd round. The Wisconsin Badger is one of the taller Centers we’ve seen at 6’6” (not including the mullet) and 313 lbs. However, Tippmann has shown on film that he’s able to get low off the snap off the height and in the later block can leverage his size. He had the highest athleticism score at his position (which is going to be a consistent theme for the Jets in this draft). He started his last two full seasons at Wisconsin, shining as a run blocker and allowed only on sack and five pressures over 338 pass blocking snaps. His strengths coming out of Wisconsin are his fluid movement and rotation, his high football IQ, and his size. His main weakness is his sense of balance and his high point of contact. Some might have questioned why the Jets chose Tippmann over John Michael-Schmitz and, while I would’ve been happy with either, I personally believe the Jets made the slightly better choice in banking on a player who is younger, bigger, healthier, and possibly has higher upside. The Jets have been looking for the heir apparent to Nick Mangold since he’s retired. While McGovern was a serviceable stop gap for the last three years and will get a chance to compete with Tippmann this summer, I believe this pick is a great chance for the Jets to find a new leader of their offensive line for years to come. The Jets are at their best in their franchise history when they have a Center with leadership, strength, and durability to support the offense.

4th Round, Pick 18 (120th Overall) Carter Warren, OT – Pittsburgh

In 2022, the New York Jets offensive line was a revolving door as the offensive line was decimated by injuries before they even started the regular season. They were able to mitigate these issues for the first few weeks of the season by deploying Alijah Vera-Tucker as a Swiss Army Offensive Lineman, but when he suffered a season ending injury, that had to come to an end. In this offseason, the Jets didn’t add many players who will contend for starting positions at guard or tackle in 2023, but Joe Douglas has made a point to bolster the depth at these positions so they’re better prepared for when Mekhi Becton, who hasn’t played a full game since mid 2020, or the 38 year old Duane Brown get injured.
To prepare for this, the Jets picked New Jersey native Carter Warren in the fourth round out of Pittsburgh. With his 7 foot wingspan, core strength, and leadership experience, Warren has the traits of a prototypical NFL Tackle. Carter Warren’s athleticism graded highly at the combine at the workouts he performed despite not being 100% from his shoulder injury. He fell to the fourth round in the draft as expected due to his season ending injury in 2022 and his overall lack of power and ability to sustain blocks for longer drives. The Jets are looking for Carter Warren to develop into a capable swing tackle or high end backup LT. The team is possibly still banking on Becton serving as the long term starting Left Tackle, but we’ll sort that out when training camp gets here. With veteran Billy Turner on the team and second year Maxx Mitchell returning as a swing tackle, the Jets are hopeful that they won’t rely on a rookie tackle in 2023. But if they do, Carter Warren has the traits needed to keep the offense on schedule when injuries inevitably come.

5th Round Pick, Pick 8 (#143rd Overall) Israel Abanikanda, RB – Pittsburgh

After selecting the Pittsburgh Panther from New Jersey in the fourth round, the Jets elected to take his teammate, RB Israel Abanikanda from Brooklyn, with the very next pick. In the last two years the Jets have brought in a lot of young runningbacks from the draft such as Michael Carter, Breece Hall, and Zonovan Knight. The Jets running back room looked like it was on the road to being elite after Breece Hall’s early career breakout before his tragic season ending injury. Breece Hall had emerged as a physical, downhill runner for the Jets and Michael Carter and Bam Knight were capable change of pace backs, pass blockers, and receiving backs. Breece Hall is going to go back to being the Jets premier runningback if he comes back to be 100% of what he was last year, even with Abanikanda on the roster. But what the Jets were lacking, even with Hall on the roster last year, was a shiftier, higher end speed running back that can break open in space. Hall checks off a lot of these boxes, but did so by being more physical over the middle. In 2022, Izzy Abanikanda’s stats were impressive. He reached 100 yards rushing in 9 out of his 11 games and rushed for 20 TDs on the season. With Hall, Izzy can be a dangerous lightning to Breece Hall’s thunder as the Jets look to round out their offense. Izzy’s athleticism is (say it with me now: ) really good. He ranked 5th out of running backs in this draft despite being a 5th round pick. The biggest weakness commonly cited about Izzy Abanikanda is his pass protection. This has been a recent focus on running backs in the NFL and something that will likely limit Izzy’s day one impact. But the Jets can keep things simple on the offense and just focus on getting the ball of playmakers like Abanikanda. The most exciting thing about Abanikanda is that he’s young, not turning 21 until October 5th of this year (making him born in 2002, if you wanted to feel old today). Abanikanda is an extremely speedy player with home run ability. The value in the 5th round is great for the Jets here and they are now hedged against a key RB injury like they suffered last year. This pick may spell trouble for fans of Michael Carter and Zonovan Knight (apologies to /DynastyFF), but it puts the Jets in a position to be dynamic in the ground game to capitalize on defenses thinking they can afford to sell out against the Aaron Rodgers-led passing offense.

6th Round, Pick 7 (184th Overall) Zaire Barnes, LB – Western Michigan

Getting later into the draft, the Jets start to look for roleplayers and positions where the team is light. Zaire Barnes fills both of these criteria with his special teams experience and coverage linebacker experience. The Jets have Quincy Williams and CJ Mosely playing in the box to handle secondary running coverage. The team may still bring back Kwon Alexander to return as the WILL linebacker in space, but the Jets are looking to bolster their coverage over the middle. The Jets have arguably the best cornerback duo on the outside with DJ Reed and Sauce Gardner and a capable slot corner with Michael Carter II. This means that most of the teams that threw the ball on the Jets did so over the middle.
At Western Michigan, Barnes lined up close to the line of scrimmage and focused mostly on man coverage. In order for him to unlock his potential and make this pick a steal, he needs to unlock his ability to use lateral movement to help in zone coverage. At 6’1” his height is unremarkable but more than adequate for a linebacker within the box. If Zaire Barnes can make himself valuable on special team and take advantage of the opportunities to make a play in coverage over the middle or to make an impact in the run game where the Jets are also light, Zaire Barnes will be able to be a part of this Jets team for a long time.

Round 6, Pick 27 (#204th Overall) Jarrick Bernard-Converse, DB – LSU

In writing Bernard-Converse’s position on the headliner, I opted to just write DB, as he’s played all over the secondary. Looking at JBC’s skillset and the holes the Jets have in their roster, it would seem Bernard-Converse’s best outlook on the Jets is to move to the Safety position. With good tackling ability, high athleticism, and four years of starting experience at the Power 5 level, the Jets are banking on Bernard-Converse’s ability to adapt to a new role as opposed to being a true CB. In coverage at LSU, he did have some issues letting players get behind him due to his ability to trail and backpedal, another sign that he’s likely better suited for the safety role. With Jarrick Bernard-Converse, the Jets are banking on his adaptability and Robert Saleh’s ability to develop a player with raw talent into a contributor on the backend.

Round 7, Pick 3 (#220th Overall) Zack Kuntz, TE – Old Dominion

The Jets have looked to rebuild their TE room after years of it being in disarray. Unfortunately, the group that Douglas has put together, CJ Uzomah, Tyler Conklin, and Jeremy Ruckert, didn’t quite pan out in 2023. Part of this was on the quarterback play, but part of this is that the tight ends on the Jets didn’t quite have the plus abilities the team needed to get production from their Tight Ends. This is just the beginning of why Zack Kuntz is an exciting pick for the Jets. Kuntz (pronounced KOONTS, unless you’re Australian) was primarily a receiving tight end for Penn State and Old Dominion in college. At 6’8” 255lbs, Kuntz has more than the prototypical size of a blocking Y tight end, but he instead spent his college career using his 4.55 speed to be a menace over the middle. His most productive season was only 692 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns, which is a bit less for the insane athleticism that a speedy and shifty tight end such as Kuntz possesses. Still, it’s hard to imagine how 32 GMs looked at Kuntz and decided over 200 times that they don’t need this freak of nature on their team. The Jets may look into developing his blocking a bit more, but I think they’re probably more excited by refining his hands and getting him over the middle to create some size mismatch. With Zach Kuntz elite size and speed, he’s truly a menace with the ball in his hands.

UDFA Rapid Fire

The Jets traded back in the 6th round at a pretty heavy loss. I believe this is because they wanted special teams and depth and were relatively satisfied with most of the starters they had going into the NFL draft. So, the Jets will likely not have a ton of contributions from UDFAs this year. Here are the 13 players the Jets have currently signed as UDFAs and I’ll highlight a few of the ones I think I have a chance at making the 53 man roster below:

• Jason Brownlee, WR Southern Mississippi: Despite receiving a combine invite and showing a good vertical and 40 yard dash, Brownlee ends up unsigned on the Jets. I think the Jets will look to leverage his athleticism on special teams, as most of the WRs on the roster have little experience/interest in playing special teams.
• Trey Dean, Safety Florida: A former starter as a freshman for the Gators in 2017, he’s got a lot of experience. As mentioned earlier, both safety positions are weakspots on the Jets roster, so a safety with Dean’s experience might be able to stick on.
• Deslin Alexandre, DL Pittsburgh: Joe Douglas sure does love his Pittsburgh guys. Deslin played as an edge rusher in college, but went undrafted due to weak bend (which is an important trait in an EDGE rusher, as I’m sure you can imagine). Still, a player with his size could still be a valuable Defensive Tackle in a 4-3 defense such as the Jets’. The main thing for Alexandre will be improving his run defense, as that’s currently a sore spot for the Jets DL.

53 Man Roster Projection

POS	1st String	2nd String
QB	Aaron Rodgers	Tim Boyle	Zach Wilson
RB	Breece Hall	Israel Abanikanda	Michael Carter, Zonovan Knight
WR	Garrett Wilson	Corey Davis	Mecole Hardman
WR	Allen Lazard	Randall Cobb	Jason Brownlee
TE	Tyler Conklin	CJ Uzomah	Jeremy Ruckert
LT	Duane Brown	Warren Carter
RT	Mekhi Becton	Maxx Mitchell
LG	Laken Tomlinson	Wes Schweitzer
RG	Alijah Vera-Tucker	Billy Turner
C	Connor McGovern	Joe Tippmann
DT	Quinnen Williams	Al Woods
DT	John Franklin-Myers	Deslin Alexandre
DE	Jermaine Johnson	Isaiah Mack
DE	Carl Lawson	Michael Clemons	Solomon Thomas
ILB	CJ Mosely
OLB	Quincy Williams	Bryce Huff
OLB	Will McDonald IV	Zaire Barnes
CB	Sauce Gardner	Michael Carter II	Brandin Echols
CB	DJ Reed	Bryce Hall	Javelin Guidry
FS	Ashtyn Davis	Jarrick Berndard-Converse
SS	Jordan Whitehead	Justin Hardee	Chuck Clark
K	Greg Zuerlein
P	Thomas Morstead
LS	Thomas Hennessy

Notes on 53 man roster

• Yes, the front seven is a complete mess. The Jets move guys around so much that even trying to delineate between a LB or a DE can be difficult. This is a rough guesstimation of what players will make the final roster, not necessarily where they’ll play.
• The NFL has a new rule that allows teams to carry 3 QBs and still be under the 53 man roster. So that's why you may count 54 on this.
• I only did this with players currently either on contract or drafted by the Jets. I think Kwon Alexander will eventually sign but for now, he’s not on here.
• I really wanted to find a spot for Zach Kuntz, but it was tough since there’s a lot of dedicated money to TEs. I thought maybe we could cut Randall Cobb, but we’ll see.

Final Thoughts

This offseason will be remembered as the offseason where the Jets made a huge swing for a future Hall of Fame QB. It’s impossible for me to try to put this draft class up against that. But the Jets got a lot of athleticism in this draft that can set them up to be competitive in the long term. It was surprising that they traded back, seeing as they’re in a win now mode, still. I think the Jets got 2 or 3 starters from this draft, likely some combination of Abanikanda, Tippmann, and McDonald. Certain players like Warren and Kuntz do have some longer term potential, too. Nothing will ever touch Joe Douglas’s 2022 draft class, but I thought this class was solid and built a lot of overdue depth. Still, when July rolls around and it’s time for camp, it’s going to be the QB that all Jets fans are looking at.

LPL Summer Power Rankings
Just one person’s opinion. WE diehard so I’ve seen more or less all of their games, but I’ll catch other games here and there. Did a lot of Oracle’s Elixir and Leaguepedia digging as well and followed/consulted @DJJohnnymeister on twitter (must follow IMHO if you care at all about the up and comers of the LDL) for thoughts on lower-level prospects. Will probably make me look stupid when it’s all said and done, but that’s part of the fun right?
Top Contenders
1) JDG
Top – 369
Jungle – Kanavi
Mid – Knight/lzq
ADC – Ruler
Support – Missing
Was the best team on paper last split and lived up to the hype. Coming off of a dominant MSI championship run, they are the slam dunk pick to top not just the LPL power rankings, but the World power rankings.
369 is perhaps the best he’s ever been, easily 1st team All Pro. Kanavi has re-established himself as the best jungler in the world at MSI. Knight’s mechanical talent finally shone through on the international stage. Lzq is an 18-year-old who somehow skipped the LDL altogether and isn’t really relevant to the narrative, but he's on the official roster so I have to mention him. Ruler inserted his name in the GOAT conversation and proved his mettle out of the Samsung/GenG sphere, doing his thing of blending solid damage output with consistent safety. When Missing is the worst player on the team by default and yet still the Spring 2nd All Pro Team support you’re in golden shape.
They get a sentence each because I shouldn’t need to tell you about this team. They’re really just complete without any exploitable holes. Adding Knight and Ruler to China’s best squad in 2022 feels similar to the off-season where the Golden State Warriors added Kevin Durant, with the added bonus that Boogie Cousins is still in his prime. I suppose that makes Yagao into Pro LOL’s Harrison Barnes (I actually like this comparison, down to Yagao receiving blame for the blowing it when it mattered most) and GenG into Pro LOL’s Sacramento Kings (pretty bad, but if we equate the playoffs to making world finals?… ehh still really bad). We’ll see who (if anyone) can rise up to challenge them, but at this point they have to be considered the odds-on favorite.
2) LNG
Top – Zika
Jungle – Tarzan
Mid – Scout
ADC – GALA
Support – Hang
This team had one hole in the roster going into the summer and filled it. LP didn’t have a bad rookie split and showed mettle but he was clearly the odd man out on a team built to compete today. After looking at IG’s ADC Ahn, they chose to spare no expense and traded LP and a boat load of cash for RNG’s GALA who more than fills that hole. GALA will be paired in the bottom lane with Hang, who was a key partner for LP’s surprisingly competent debut, earning an All-LPL 3rd team shoutout in the process.
Scout meanwhile had a downright incredible split that fell by the wayside due to LNG’s immediate playoff exit at the hands of OMG, but it appears that even away from the EDG machine, he’s still one of the LPL’s premier stars at a very competitive position. I mean he put up a mind numbing 17 MVPs individually. To put it in perspective, ThunderTalk Gaming, who were the 8 seed in the LPL Spring Standings, had 18 wins in total. With teams like EDG and JDG sharing the MVP load among their members, Scout downright ran away with it.
Zika didn’t have a super flashy split, but was low key very strong. The team devoted a lot to making sure LP wasn’t exploited and you would think Zika, who was heavily strong-side suited as a rookie on IG last year, would flounder because of it. However, he quietly flourished in the role, even though he only picked up a single MVP performance all season. Putting up strong CS numbers and showing some good weakside ability on top of his typical array of more damage centric tops. Honestly, he might be the most underrated player in the league since he’s overshadowed by his much more resource heavy teammates, but that weakside ability might be even more key with GALA joining the team and needing the resources as well.
Tarzan meanwhile continued as a standout in the regular season, best jungler KDA, strong kill participation basically the rest of the regular season MVP performances, but was perhaps the primary factor in their playoff disappointment. Similar to JDG’s situation with Missing though, when Tarzan (specifically in the playoffs) is the team’s biggest concern, you know you have a roster ready to compete.
3) EDG
Top – Ale
Jungle – Jiejie/Monki
Mid – Fofo/Fisher
ADC – Leave
Support – Meiko
Despite losing their key Korean carries, EDG barely missed a beat last split, finishing 3rd in the Spring Split. It’s a pretty good result all things considered, but it does feel like they have holes in their game. Still, I think that between their core veterans still at the peak of their game and the overall consistency, they are in very good shape for the Worlds slots, even if they feel a step behind the likes of JDG right now.
Even without Scout and Viper, they still have a great veteran core that starts with Meiko, who with Ming’s absence/retirement(?) stands alone as only active LPL’s all-time top 10 support. As part of the EDG core for over 9 years now, and the team’s primary shot caller for a huge part of that span, his presence alone means that EDG will have one of the best macro games in the league. Combo that with Jiejie, who has served in the EDG system for a huge period of time and grown into a top level jungler in his midst of his prime and you immediately have a team that has championship aspirations even before the other 3 members are considered, as both players were 1st Team All Pro for the Spring Split.
The 3 other members were where a lot of the concern lied going into the season, but they exceeded expectations as EDG was the number 2 seed going into playoffs. While the least talked about of the three, it was a great bounce back split for FoFo who was one of the most disappointing players on 2022’s most disappointing team BLG, eventually losing his starting job to mid-season acquisition Icon. On EDG though, he looked revitalized and fairly close to his form on RA 2021, though admittedly he was flanked by better players with EDG. It was a commendable, low drama, stable split for a player who needed it bad.
Similar to FoFo, Ale was coming off of a rough 2021 as well where a talented by troubled LNG team didn’t completely flop by the results, but completely missed the high expectations set. This included a benching for PandaC halfway through the split that really hurt the team in key series down the stretch amid talk about attitude issues. He’s always been a talented pair of hands though and EDG did well to keep him focused and on his game, as he stepped up big time, particularly when given non-tank champions while piloting tanks well enough, earning 2nd team All Pro honors. Obviously, Ale isn’t always the most stable player, but so long as EDG has him on the straight and narrow, he’s going to be a net positive for the team.
Finally, we come to the rookie of the split Leave, who came in with some serious LDL hype and lived up to it for the most part, working well as EDG’s damage carry and showing a flashy mechanics style. Being flanked with the likes of Meiko helps of course, but EDG handed the reigns to Leave and he seemed up to the task. Unfortunately, going up against the likes of Ruler and Elk in the playoffs did prove to be that freshman wall for Leave, but as MSI showed they’ve been folding everyone, so it’s not too shameful. Still as the least experienced player in this top 4 group, it’s going to be a lot of pressure on the youngster. It’s crazy that this super mechanically skilled star of his rookie class could be the weakness of the team, but that’s just the level of the competition among the top teams of this league.
I do want to give brief mention to EDG’s substitute players, who are both very talented youngsters. Monki is a 19-year-old LDL promote jungler who was strong at the lower level and warranted a promotion. Fisher meanwhile had been a standout Korean trainee from Shadow Corp (the same team they picked up About, the new Korean bot lane trainee Ale was talking about) and directly went onto the EDG main roster at 18 years old. Neither will likely see play given this team’s veteran tilt and the championship ambitions, but they’re worth keeping an eye out for down the road whether they’re future EDG starters or purchases for other LPL teams.
4) BLG
Top – Bin
Jungle – XUN
Mid – Yagao
ADC – Elk/Baiye
Support – ON
Given BLG’s penchant for big expenses for early playoff exits, it would be easy to write off their latest roster as yet another flailing attempt to microwave a team into stardom, turning over basically the entire 2022 roster they reportedly spent top dollar for. And yet, it felt different this time around. While the players they picked up weren’t exactly household names, they were talented mechanical players on the rise. They looked genuinely strong in the pre-season tournaments, which admittedly doesn’t count a whole ton, but was interesting to note. And when it was all said and done, it resulted in the best split BLG has ever put up. And while they couldn’t outgun the JDG machine in any of the many shots, it was a great season. While I have them below LNG for their sheer top to bottom power and EDG out of respect for their veteran track record, I’m still very impressed by this BLG squad.
Bin, as somehow the longest tenured BLG member of 2 splits, was the face of the team’s turnaround, and a far cry better from the rocky 2022 he endured swapping between 2 dysfunctional teams. 2023 was where he re-established himself as the premier mechanical top in the league. Always known for his excellent hands since his debut on Suning in 2020, he was able to back up those skills this split, while furthering his profile in the west with his fun trashtalk and gigachad persona. Furthermore, when the chips were down at MSI, he even showed a willingness to pick up tanks, which has always been the clear hole in his game.
As for the free agent additions, the one who most established himself was Elk. If I can put on my hipster hat on, I was an Elk fan before it was cool, given he’s always shown an ability to put up eyepopping damage numbers since his debut which continued this season as he topped the tables far and away leading the league with the number 1 DPM and damage share. However, it was the finer points of the game where Elk struggled on back in the day. Off positioning, hit or miss laning, occasional overextensions trying to maximize damage were all issues for Elk on WE. On this BLG squad though, that has largely ironed itself out, with only occasional blowup performances every so often. An unknown on the World stage going into MSI, everyone now knows the name of this fearsome player. They also added a name that nobody knows, that being Baiye an LDL ADC to the main roster as well. Having just debuted on BLG.J last split and playing all of 7 games in the LDL, it’s tough to take this promotion seriously at all, let alone as a threat to Elk’s seat.
A major part of supporting Elk’s rise was the acquisition of the best young support in the LPL, ON. One of the big pain points of LPL teams is that LDL promotions are just so difficult, and none so more than support, where the talent pool is shallow and the transition is just an absolute killer. So many of the highest profile LDL supports have floundered on promotion, and ON was no exception on Suning back in 2021. That being said, he’s improved an incredible amount since that first rocky season, and the mechanical ability he has as a support and his young age (only 20 years old despite debuting in 2021) makes him perhaps the most valuable long-term asset on the BLG roster. As EDG has shown with Meiko and his cavalcade of ADC pairings, great ADCs can be acquired in the LPL but great supports when kept are backbones to long term success.
XUN was an acquisition much like Elk and ON, a young mechanical standout who BLG scooped up with projection in mind. He arrived into IG in 2021 as a highly touted rookie, and was mentioned alongside the likes of Bo and Xiaohuangren, the 2 super prospects junglers as the next generation. He joined right at the tail end of the Rookie-TheShy era of the team and while he had early struggles then, by the time the next season rolled around, he was IG’s standout player. Even after arriving at BLG, he’s still a very volatile player, and hasn’t solidified his play the way Elk and ON have, but at his best, he’s capable of getting bot rolling, which is exactly what BLG is want to do.
Finally, the Harrison Barnes of the LPL, Yagao, who was the typical blame target for BLG in their losses. It’s true, he’s older and certainly doesn’t match up great against the top of the table mids that he’ll need to beat, but the bottom line is that for the most part he’s fine enough. Just like Barnes, he’s certainly not the team centerpiece, and he occasionally has baffling performances, but he’s usually stable enough to not get in the way. Honestly, he’s probably the weakest individual player among these top 4 teams and the predominant reason (along with coinflippy XUN) that I have the MSI runners up 4th on this list, but to be clear I’m not huge Yagao hater, it’s just that these top teams are so stacked that every potential available weakness makes a difference. I mean, you don’t see Harrison Barnes on the All-NBA teams or anything.
Playoff Expectations
5) OMG
Top – Shanji
Jungle – Aki
Mid – Creme
ADC – Able
Support – PPGod/Jerry
OMG returns with the roster that brought them to their highest playoff finish since Spring 2017 (!!!), finishing a highly impressive 4th in the split. On paper, I still think their roster is lacking in marquee raw talent, but it’s clear at this point that they’re more coordinated than some of their flashier opposition and that they’ve cultivated 2 young stars that have now shown some serious killer instinct.
Without any doubt, this is a team that is defined by the play of their solo lane talents. Starting from the top Shanji had a standout split primarily as one of the most effective K’Sante/Sion tank players the large majority of the time, but occasionally busts out Kennen and his signature Rumble, and been incredibly impactful when he gets them. Furthermore, this synergizes perfectly with OMG’s other star laner Creme, who is afforded the ability to fit AD assassins like Yone. Assassins have continued to be Creme’s calling card and while his control mage play is lackluster, OMG has tailored their gameplans around his champion pool and have reaped the benefits of the young mid laner.
On top of these two really clicking simultaneously, a big hat tip must be given to their teammates as well. PPGod in particular proved to be the right ingredient to bring OMG playoff glory as he continues his ability to accent teams into playoff threats even if he hasn’t been quite been able to reach the Finals at any of his stops. I’ll give him some additional props once we reach the NIP write up. Given PPGod’s late arrival to the team last spring, LDL promotion Jerry sat on the bench for the season, and looks to do so again. Able meanwhile has a pretty non-descript year, taking a back seat to his solo lane teammates but showing some stability that he’s usually lacked. Certainly not a masterful split, but credit where it’s due, he reigned it in and was steady for OMG’s best squad in ages.
Finally, Aki deserves a big hand for his role in OMG’s success as well. A solid vet who isn’t considered a mechanical master by any means, he was steady at the wheel throughout the season, and was even able to out jungle Tarzan of all people in their shock upset win over LNG. Despite taking the most MVPs for OMG in the regular season, it was rarely for single handed domination and I’d point that more as a credit for his facilitation of the team’s coordination in general where they were able to get over the competition where it counted.
I don’t think this team has the ceiling of the others in this tier, but they have a known formula that works. While the others in this group have more talent on an individual level, it’s clear that they have serious questions to sort out that OMG really doesn’t, so I’m considering OMG the safe team in this particular group, but without the upside to challenge the tier above.
6) WBG
Top – TheShy
Jungle – Karsa/Weiwei
Mid – Xiaohu
ADC – Light
Support – Crisp
This team and the one after it were the teams with close to the highest expectations in the League and yet fell flat in spite of talented rosters. Both have largely decided to run it back, with new coaching staffs in an attempt to fix the tactical side where they came short. WBG went big game hunting for their next coach after sacking Easyhoon and was attempting to court Kkoma before he opted to focus on Korea’s efforts at the World Games. They settled for an Kkoma adjacent coach in Daeny, formerly part of the Damwon and T1 programs. A controversial coach in his own right, he’s drew criticism for his pick/bans and his questionable roster decisions, but he still has that Worlds title under his belt, so WBG is out here shooting for the moon. Born to wintrade or whatever.
TheShy is as always, a pretty good representation of the team. Perpetually on top of the damage charts due to his confidence in his mechanics and his propensity to fight constantly, it leads to the coinflippy hit or miss results you so often see from TheShy and his teams in general. He’s certainly not at his peak form where he dominated on the Worlds stage, but he’s not at his worst either near the end of his IG tenure when that whole team looked out of gas, TheShy is an LPL icon, even if that icon is occasionally the death notification on the side of the UI.
Purchasing Xiaohu out of his RNG contract was one of the big stories for this team going into the off season and a large reason for optimism for their future results. In actually he was rather middling by all accounts. Not a total disaster of course, it felt like he was fine for the most part, but not the immediate plug and play mechanical players that Scout, Knight or Rookie serve as. Maybe a second season to mesh is what they need to comeback.
Light for my money was the most dependable member of the team in the regular season, being just a generally stable force in the otherwise chaotic team structure. I wouldn’t call him the best at any individual thing: Ruler is a much safer ADC and Elk is a better pure damage pump, but light is good enough at both of those things to be a consistent plus for WBG, which can’t be said for the rest of the team. Supported by the veteran Crisp, you have to expect them to anchor the team in general, though Crisp was particularly bad in the playoff series against BLG, where his hooks on both Thresh and Naut were off point. It’s just one series of course, but the play needs to be better than that in crunch time next time.
Finally, the jungle situation for Weibo. Karsa continues to be the perpetual punching bag when the team struggles. It’s been a major decline since his Flash Wolves and early RNG days and frankly it might be time to just bucket him as not able to get it done at the highest level at this point. He can still work enough in the regular season to make the playoffs, but the form is just not where it needs to be at this point. In a fascinating move, scooped up Weiwei, who went from BLG’s star jungler to league washout over the course of a single year. The biggest victim of BLG’s 2022 catastrophe, the last look of Weiwei we got was not a flattering one as the team fell flat on it’s face amid roster instability and play not matching up to the expected standard. Still, we’ve seen a number of comebacks for players leaving the BLG ecosystem, such as PPGod and FoFo returning to form after splitting wit the team. Of course it’s not always a winning formula as Doggo and Biubiu (shudder) can attest to, but there’s enough of a strong track record from Weiwei during 2020 V5 and 2021 BLG to say that trying to get that level out of him is worth the attempt.
7) TES
Top – Wayward/Qingtian
Jungle – Tian
Mid – Rookie
ADC – Jackeylove
Support – Mark
Reuniting 2/5ths of the legendary IG core was supposed to lead TES to their Worlds destiny. Yet going into the Summer split they are another team running it back with the exact same roster, though unlike teams like JDG, BLG or OMG, the Spring split was an unmitigated failure for TES. There was not glory, but a collapse down the stretch of the season and shameful defeat at the hands of OMG, a team that is probably running a budget less than Jackeylove’s individual paycheck (note: The previous statement was hyperbole. I do not actually know how much OMG pays their players.) With some of the flashiest names in the LPL, finishing without at least challenging JDG would have been a disappointment, let alone the 7th/8th that they actually managed.
The big obvious question for this team is what exactly they do with the top lane because the decision making around it was seemed heavily stilted. They chose to run Qingtian basically the entire regular season, and then yanked the rug on him with a single series to go? Sure, he was largely a hit or miss top laner who was missing against the better teams (and LGD’s because rookie Xiaoxu was feeling it) but pulling the plug on him and swapping to Wayward literally at the last second heavily sabotaged both of them. Congratulations, Wayward crushed Biubiu in round 1 of playoffs, like basically everyone else who played top lane in the LPL. Up against Shanji (a player TES bypassed as a rookie to pick up Qingtian), Wayward was not up to it, and it was a big part of what ended their season. Even though both top laners are limited, I find it hard to place the blame on them directly given this awkward setup and how they approach top lane in the Summer with both players still on the roster remains to be seen.
The bot lane continues to be the same story as always. Jackeylove is still super high ceiling but there are still sometimes these baffling efforts where he’s playing off of his game, which has been a repeating trend for a while now. Mark did well to stabilize him at the beginning of their shared tenure but it’s been rough going as of late for this bot lane in general.
Moving to the big free agent swap they made, adding the legendary Rookie to the team, and it wasn’t all bad. It’s not like he was an abject disaster, he had his share of good games, such as dominating against Shanks in the first round of the playoffs, it’s just that there were too many series where he didn’t lift the team when things weren’t clicking elsewhere… like the 2nd round against OMG. It felt like too often he wasn’t meshing with Tian who was also off his normally solid domestic game. People joke that it was his Worlds performance showing up and frankly, I’d have to agree.
I don’t know with this team. The on-paper talent is on there as usual but there’s something missing… Normally with teams, the question is: how can this team coordinate together and be more than the sum of their parts, which OMG showcased best? I don’t get that vibe from TES, where the question I’m asking is: do they feel like playing up to their talent, or are they going to let go of the rope and lose in shocking fashion? Just weird vibes. I’d say maybe the coaching swap could help, but bringing in the guy who was overseeing BLG during their moneybag disappointment era doesn’t fill me with confidence. I still think they still should be fine for the playoffs off of their sheer talent running over enough teams when they do hold it together, but I just don’t see them as a viable challenger for the LPL crown unless something flips in them, particularly given how good the top 4 seem.
Playoff Bubble
8) TT
Top- HOYA
Jungle – Beichuan/xiaohuangren
Mid – Ucal
ADC – Huanfeng/1xn
Support – yuyanjia/Yaoyao
A pleasant surprise last split, making their first LPL playoffs since they were known as Sinodragon, TT has shed their bottom feeder status and actually have some breakout potential. They’ve formed a decent core to build off of and collected some of the most exciting young talents in the league. How they split their starts between the young guns and the vets they played last split is quietly one of the most interesting storylines in the league as those talented swing pieces could push them up into contendership or down out of the playoffs depending on how they handle the LPL stage.
We’ll start with the boring part of the team in their now solidified Korean solo lane pairing, HOYA and Ucal. After spinning solo laners basically their entire existence, the duo has been locked in for basically 4 splits now. Neither blow anyone’s socks off (though I maintain Ucal in particular is pretty underrated), but you know you’re gonna get a playoff worthy performance but not much more. Together they provide the solid foundation for the rest of the roster, where it really gets interesting.
Starting with jungle, Beichuan had effective but flawed split. He output damage well and did much to incite action, but he also died a whole ton, with the highest death share of any jungler in the league last split. This volatility has been his modus operandi this TT squad as he manages to lead TT in MVPs and I’m sure would have also led the team had an “Most Un-valuable Player” award been given to the biggest inter on the losing team, so he’s pretty core to the TT identity as they’re constructed. However, the clearly more intriguing option has to be Xiaohuangren, who is likely the youngest player in the league right now, and the most hyped LDL jungler since Bo. Debuting in LDL at just 16, XHR was immediately one of the best mechanical junglers in the lower level, and even when the age limit was placed, he took to dominating the Korean ladder with multiple accounts in his excess time. Promoted in the middle of the Spring split days after he turned 18, he hasn’t seen a stage since that age limit was placed, but eyes will be watching to see if TT put the hyper-talent on the rift.
Their other young hyper-talent TT acquired is at the ADC position where they are bringing JDG’s LDL bot laner 1xn. Highly touted by LDL experts, 1xn doesn’t have a mechanical flaw to speak of, putting out insane damage and CS numbers on the regular. The one thing to note was that the JDM team surrounding him didn’t have the skills to back him up, so he never really got the accolades his performance deserved. How he splits time with Huanfeng, who was pretty ineffective last season, and just clearly is no longer the do-everything ADC we saw at 2020 Worlds with Suning is the other big question. It’s weird to see him morph into a rather conservative low-risk low-reward player, and honestly, if they gave out a “Least Valuable Player” award to the winning team, he’d probably be the among League’s leaders in that sketchy credential.
Finally, the support situation is less exciting but lowkey just as important as the other 2 positions as they’ve opted to add Yuyanjia to the roster to which I’m fairly confused. A lackluster veteran (25 years old?) who has never really helped a roster even at his “peak”, I’m not sure what he brings to the table for TT. It’s even more confusing since incumbent support Yaoyao has been the rare promoted LDL support who has actually looked good in his initial LPL stint, which is some sort of minor miracle given the typical LDL support struggles. Trying to fit XinLiu in last split probably cost them some series, so I’m not sure why they seem so interested in these mediocre at best support players when they have a solid one in hand.
9) WE
Top – Cube/Demon
Jungle – Heng
Mid – Shanks
ADC – Hope
Support – Iwandy
I see WE as the LPL’s gatekeeper team. Last split they were great against the lower ranked teams (exception AL), and awful against the higher ranked teams (exception BLG) and managed to sneak playoffs thanks to the likes of IG being just a bit more volatile. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about them as the season goes on, so I’ll keep things brief here.
They managed to do this with an essential deadweight in the top lane. Cube doesn’t completely alter the equation for WE, as he’s coming off of his worst split to date where he was largely stuck on tank duty, but he does turns the top lane for WE from being a ceiling capper into a floor raiser for the team. Worst case is that he continues his middling tank form and he serves as a rich man’s Biubiu who can actually lane competently. The best-case scenario is that the change of scenery (where he was on RA for 4 years) works to revitalize him towards more of the damage top lane champs he played in his earlier years. Either way, the best part of this addition is really the subtraction of Biubiu, which adds much needed flexibility to a team that desperately needs it. Meanwhile, Demon also augments the team’s flexibility by adding his skills of doing promotional videos when Chinese New Year rolls around. So yeah, you can say this is a much-improved top lane situation.
Otherwise, the team remains the same as their gatekeeper-selves. Iwandy quietly had a very solid season as WE’s most consistent player and a foundation as a support. Hope had a mid-season swoon that showed his deficiencies particular as a laner and on less focused champions, but was able to showcase his carrying skills as the season concluded. Both are what they are: usually net positives for a team, but not really able to take you to a top 6 seed independently. That is going to have to come from their teammates, speaking of which…
Heng was up and down as a rookie jungler, but for the most part demonstrated a willingness to be proactive and facilitate his lanes via early ganks, even if it didn’t always work out as planned. And of course, Shanks who had his best regular season to date, relying on consistently strong lane performances. While capitalizing on those leads remains a hit or miss affair and a particular bad playoff series against TES are marks against him, I still have those high expectations for him and continue to see this as a prove it year. Outside of Cube unlocking something additional, which shouldn’t be counted on, this jungle-mid pair are the key for WE to climb higher than the lower playoff spots. Both are usually strong early, but they’ll need to clean up their mid/late game play for the team to be a contender against higher caliber teams.
10) IG
Top – YSKM/neny
Jungle – Tianzhen
Mid – Cryin/Dove
ADC – Xiaoyueji/Ahn
Support – Wink
Putting IG too low was a big miss for me in Spring and despite narrowly missing out on playoffs and making some pretty major roster changes, they do make sense as a team as a whole to the point where I can see them in playoff contention.
YSKM was the breakout player for them, as his mechanical prowess was legit right out of the gate though I do think he’s a tad overrated as his DPM isn’t as high as you would expect for a player that almost exclusively plays damage top laners. You have to assume he starts over neny who is just perpetually going to be on this roster as a break in case of emergency/illness weakside player.
Their other returning player is Wink, who has proven to be a successfully above average support and revitalized his career in the process after floundering at ADC for IG. Wink is reunited with his former mid laner Cryin, as both were teammates on a Estar team that vastly exceeded expectations on their debut year. While being the low econ mid laner in a Xiaohu-GALA centric RNG didn’t flatter his talents, Cryin had a pretty good year all things as UP’s best player last season, and he’ll get another shot this year. The expectation is he starts over Dove who is still on the roster? He wasn’t awful but was certainly less exciting than his jungle counterpart and I assumed he would be leaving along with GIDEON and the Korean coaching staff.
This is Xiaoyueji’s second shot at the big leagues given he was tried and passed by Ahn last season, but he’s coming off of an LDL Season MVP where he was clearly above the lower level. We’ll need to see if he can step up with the tougher competition ala Photic, or if he’s just a quadruple-A player (too good for LDL, not good enough for LPL) like Asura. It might not even matter though as it’s worth noting that Ahn remains on the roster, even after the promotion of XYJ and a tryout from LNG (who clearly have contending in mind). He’s coming off of a quietly strong split and likely has the inside track in the battle for the starting role as in a repeat of LPL Spring 2022, these 2 will duke it out for the spot again.
Despite not being the LDL MVP, Tianzhen might be the more exciting prospect actually and notably doesn’t have any veteran to compete with. At only 18 years old, he’s going to be one of the LPL’s youngest players and has an eclectic champ pool that is highlighted by his signature Rengar. It will be interesting to see if these LDL standouts can continue the momentum in the LPL. The promotion isn’t easy, but both of them are in position to excel.
11) RNG
Top – Breathe
Jungle – Wei
Mid – Tangyuan
ADC – LP
Support – LvMao/Lele
It’s crazy to think this time last year, RNG were celebrating their 2nd consecutive MSI championship. Obviously, this team has more or less completely shattered from the Golden Road-seeking team that once ruled Spring and faltered at Worlds on a regular basis. I mean it’s been years of speculation that RNG was actually in a NA-esque perpetual financial meltdown that was held together by unfair streaming contracts and bobby pins, but with the departure of GALA and in particular, Ming, who has more or less been on RNG since the start of the era, finally puts RNG on the backfoot. Still, even with the exodus of more or less everyone on those famous teams, there’s a window at the playoffs.
Wei is the final piece of the MSI 2022 team, which is wild to think about because as I mentioned, it's been just 1 year. Now the longest tenured player on the roster, it’s a weird situation as there’s no longer an obvious lane to play into. While he wasn’t always bad, he had many questionable moments and his weakest split to date, and now without GALA in the bot lane there’s no clear place to focus for this team. He’s demonstrated he can be effective without the likes of Xiaohu, GALA and Ming back when he was on EStar in his debut season in 2020, but it’s been a long time since then, so I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.
Similarly, Breathe is also coming off of a split where he failed to meet expectations. It feels like ever since he left WE, he just hasn’t really found his footing as the good flex top laner, first on that weird 2022 BLG failed “superteam” and then on RNG where he never fit in to the Xiaohu-GALA puzzle. This last split he was basically relegated to weakside tanks and was subsequently pretty inconsequential as either a positive or negative factor. The few forays he took towards more carry champions were bad last split and it’s not a great sign for a player once considered so promising. I guess it’s the WE fan in me talking that he still has that upside to be among the best in the league. Maybe I’m lending him too much leeway given he was maybe WE’s best strongside top ever (which for the record is more about WE perpetually playing bot-centric). With out any of those other major carries on RNG, I’m interested to see if Breathe is placed back in that role.
The rest of the team is a smattering of cobbled pieces who aren’t without upside, but don’t exactly scream playoffs. GALA was exchanged for a large bag of cash and LP, who was the only consistent starter of the new cohort. he was heavily cared for as the rookie bot laner on LNG’s otherwise star-studded group, he was able to deliver in that capacity. Notably, he narrowly had the 2nd highest DPM in the split, though admittedly there was a large gap between 1st place damage monster Elk and a much smaller one to the following ADCs of JackeyLove, Assum and Leave. However, he certainly wasn’t perfect as he managed the lowest CS per minute among ADCs in the league, and he didn’t wow the way rookie of the split Leave did. Still, it was a relatively promising start, though the downgrade from Hang to one of RNG’s supports looms large as needless to say, the “cash considerations” RNG received with LP are most likely not being used for his lane partner.
With Angel departing after a pretty rough split, where the highlight was creating a meme after defeating his former team Weibo Gaming, RNG were rumored for a number of domestic mid laners but ultimately just stuck with the player they seemed intent on before they picked up Angel at the last second. Tangyuan is an LDL promote who has been flatout bad in the few stage performances he got in with the main roster, struggling both in the pre-season Demacia Cup and then to open the proper LPL season while Angel got up to speed. He’s at least known to have good Korean solo queue ranks, but you have to imagine there’s going to be a lot of handwringing over his inevitable growing pains as he starts for one of the country’s most popular domestic teams. There’s not zero upside here, for example Xiaoxu came from the same LDL team and vastly overperformed expectations, but I’d lean towards a year of hard knocks for the youngster.
Ming’s departure is the biggest loss for RNG as they now go from one of the rare franchise defining supports to… not that. LvMao spent the split unsigned for the most part before latching onto BLG as ON’s backup to end the season. Reportedly he served a coaching-esque role for the team as they went on their impressive MSI run but LvMao’s play has left a lot to be desired. Now with over 3 years removed from his standout performances in Spring 2020 and no Bard patch coming in sight, it’s tough to see what LvMao brings to the table as a player outside of an experienced hand. The other option they brought in was Lele, the young rookie support FPX promptly benched for Qiuqiu, which is never a great sign, and you know my stance on LDL supports: they bad. Funnily enough Lele was originally a pretty hyped RNG prospect the team once spent 300K yuan signing out of the yearly rookie camp. Needless to say, he’s been an okay LDL support but hasn’t lived up to that price tag at all, though now it seems they could at least get some games out of their failed investment.

This was originally posted on Blazersedge
Last year I published a post on Blazersedge titled "The Perfect 2022 Blazers Offseason," and in it I outlined the following moves I thought the Blazers should make during the 2022 offseason:
1) Trade for Jerami Grant
2) Draft Shaedon Sharpe
3) Trade for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope using the TPE we had last year
4) Use our MLE to sign Kevon Looney as our backup big.
Not to congratulate myself too much, but the first two the team actually did and look to have been the right moves, and if they'd done the other two I think we'd have had a much better season as both those players have been key parts on playoff teams.
So, I've thought a lot about what the Blazers should do this summer (my family says probably too much), and after considering a variety of scenarios I think I'm ready to outline what I believe would be the "perfect 2023 Blazers offseason."
To start with, I must fully admit that I'm a Dame guy. I'll ride or die with him, which I know will disqualify everything else I'm about to say for about half of you. But, I just fundamentally believe that we should make every effort to build an actual contender around him before trading away the best Blazer I've had the good fortune of watching (too young to speak on Walton). With that said, I'm also a huge believer in the draft and the value in having players that are outperforming their contract. Outside of the Jokic's of the world, this has most often meant picking near the top of the draft. The more Shaedon's we can have on our team the better (I know! Hot take!). But, as I'll demonstrate, these two things aren't mutually exclusive.
I also believe that the most valuable traits in a player are positional size, competitiveness, and court awareness. Being a former collegiate player myself, as well as a coach at the high school level, I understand implicitly the value in having guys that compete at a very high level and can process the game rapidly at both ends of the court, especially when those are packaged with someone who can overwhelm you with size.
This was so apparent when watching us play against a team like the Bucks last year. Sharing the court with them looked like it was the freshman squad versus the varsity team. We were so tiny comparatively that, outside of a Dame nuclear event, we were just never going to have a chance at being competitive.
A couple other things must be considered. First, the new CBA is effectively going to serve as a hard cap for all but the most profligate spenders. However, a few of the most honerous provisions don't fully bake in until next offseason. So, we have a bit of a window to go for it this offseason before accepting the full ramifications of that decision next year. Speaking of those full ramifications, I think any transactions also have to leave you with "outs" to escape the full brunt of the imposed roster building restrictions, if it proved necessary. Meaning we still need to have assets we could get real value for if we had to backtrack.
Alright, enough prologue, let's get to it. Here is the deal: Portland engages Orlando, Phoenix, and Toronto in a four team trade with the following moving parts:
Portland gets: Pascal Siakam, Deandre Ayton, #11
Phoenix gets: Jusuf Nurkic, Gary Harris, Kevin Knox, #13
Toronto gets: Jalen Suggs, Nassir Little, Keon Johnson, #3
Orlando gets: Anfernee Simons
Yes, it's a lot of moving parts and it may actually need to be separate transactions, but I believe it's all legal and works salary wise (according to Fanspo, for what that's worth). I also think it's a classic "all sides feel like they gave up too much, which means it's probably about right value for everyone" type of trade.
As a result, we have upgraded our talent at two positions in the starting lineup and still have multiple bites at the draft apple, including a lottery pick, as well as our MLE to upgrade our depth. We're also huge, across all five positions. Even Dame is fairly big for a point guard.
With the picks you take Cason Wallace at #11, James Nnaji at #23, and Olivier-Maxence Spencer at #43. Only Wallace would be in the opening day rotation.
We then re-sign Grant, Thybulle, and Eubanks, and with our MLE we go after a veteran wing like Torrey Craig (the free agent market is garbage this year).
In the end, the new roster looks like this:
Dame/Wallace/Mays
Matisse/Sharpe
Grant/MLE/Spencer
Siakam/Watford/Walker
Ayton/Eubanks/Nnaji
Note: I think Matisse makes the most sense as a starter with that group, as he can be the point of attack defender next to Dame, but Shaedon will end up playing a majority of the 2-guard minutes.
Yes, that's a very expensive team that would be well into the tax, but if we ventured back in time two years and I told you we could have a starting lineup of Dame, Matisse, Grant, Siakam, and Ayton, with a young and supremely athletic Brandon Roy (Sharpe) as our 6th man and a young Jrue Holiday (Wallace) and Clint Capella (Nnaji) on the bench as well, and all we'd have to give up was Anfernee Simons, Nurk, the #3 pick, some salary filler, and some of the Allen Family Trust money in tax payouts, I assume the vast majority of you'd ask where to sign.
I think this gives Cronin and Jody a year to assess the situation and decide whether to continue down the path of competing with Dame (which would entail resigning Siakam, as ridiculously expensive as that would be), or blowing the whole thing up to see what you can get for Dame, Grant, and Siakam (in a sign and trade) next offseason. I also think it takes advantage of a time in the NBA where there's no truly dominant team (a #7 and a #8 seed were 2/4ths of the conference finalists this year). As good as I think Denver is, I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that the lineup outlined above would at least have a reasonable chance against them in a seven game series.
So, what say you Blazers Redditors? For those with critiques, I welcome you! All I ask is that you actually be willing to intellectually engage, rather than just say some variant of "your stupid, your proposal is stupid," as that just shuts down all potential for productive back and forth. I look forward to engaging with you in the comments.

Signings

- Burke Joins ‘Caps Full Time for 2023-24 Season
- Whitecaps sign former Minnesota State star Claire Butorac
- Boston Re-Signs 2022 Playoff MVP Taylor Wenczkowski
- Metropolitan Riveters Sign Finnish Star Goaltender Noora Räty
- Goaltending Supremacy Locked In As Toronto Six Re-Sign Netminder Elaine Chuli
- Boston Pride Re-Sign All-Star Defender Aneta Tejralová
- The Hockey News: Force Continue Signing, Add A Trio

• The Montreal Force have re-signed defenders Taylor Baker and Christine Deaudelin, and signed USports grad Marika Labrecque.

- Metropolitan Riveters Announce Signing of Fratkin, Brand, Zafuto from Boston Pride
- Adding Homegrown Talent Upfront, Toronto Six Sign Yale Captain Claire Dalton
- Kendall Cornine joins the Pod
- Clarkson Star Forward Gabrielle David Signs with Boston Pride
- Metropolitan Riveters Re-Sign All-Stars Sarah Bujold and Fanni Gasparics
- Boston Pride Signs Quinnipiac Captain Zoe Boyd
- Metropolitan Riveters Sign College Standouts Emma Seitz and Lexie Adzija
- Goaltender Emma Söderberg Signs Two-Year Contract with Whale
- Whitecaps sign UMD defender Maggie Flaherty to 1-year deal
- Two-Time Patty Kazmaier Award Finalist Sophie Shirley Signs with Boston
- Metropolitan Riveters Re-Sign Kennedy Ganser and Anna Kilponen
- Providing Depth On The Blue-line, Toronto Six Re-Sign Defender Taylor Davison
- Boston Brings Back 2022 Isobel Cup Champion Katie Burt
- Metropolitan Riveters Sign Dabrowski and Neubauerova from Collegiate Ranks for 2023-24

News

- PHF Free Agency File: May 8-14
- The Ice Garden: PHF 2022-2023 Regular Season in Data Viz

• A look at the PHF '22-'23 regular season through the medium of data viz.

- The Hockey News: Grading Each PHF Team's Offseason Moves So Far

• We grade each PHF team's free agency moves so far this offseason.

- PHF Announces 2022-23 Fans’ Three Stars of the Season
- PHF Free Agency File: May 15-21
- The Hockey News: Offseason Grades: Rivs Do Their Homework, Beauts Still Playing Hooky

• With more signings announced, we're re-grading the early offseason work (or lack thereof) from PHF teams during free agency.

- Leadership and experience on and off the ice: The names and faces of the PHF
Beauts
- Women's Hockey Life: Rookie sensation Summer Rae Dobson an impact player for Buffalo Beauts
Whale
- The Hockey News: Breaking Down The Connecticut Whale’s Free Agency Fo Far

• The Whale have made historic splashes in free agency but will this core be good enough to win an Isobel Cup?

Riveters
- Mother’s Day special for PHF’s Packer family
- The Ice Garden: The Riveters are ready to be contenders

• Ivo Mocek speaks to The Ice Garden about the team's signings and offseason strategy.

Force - The Hockey News: Meet Theresa Schafzahl: A Headliner For The Talented NCAA Cohort Headed To The PHF

• Theresa Schafzahl is one of the NCAA stars bringing an influx of young talent to the PHF after she signed with the Montreal Force.

Videos/Podcasts

- The Ice Garden: PHFuture Considerations Ep 16: We're Back! (length 1:01:58)

• A few things have happened since our last podcast.

- My Champion Valley: Exclusive: UVM’s Schafzahl realizing a pro-hockey dream (length 3:28)
- Dan Rice: Around the Rink in the #PHF - dollar dollar bills y’all (length 1:07:43)

• May 15th Broadcast

- Founding 4 Podcast: Founding 4 Pod: Our Thoughts on PHF Signings & More! (length 1:14:15)

• Lots of news swirling, hear our take on the latest news.

- The Hockey News: PHF Rumor Roundup: NCAA Players, National Teams...and more (length 5:53)

• Have a watch and listen to the latest rumors from across professional women's hockey.

- The Hockey News: Watch: Claire Dalton Discusses Signing With The Toronto Six (length 12:17)

• Claire Dalton talks hockey, and introduces herself to Toronto Six fans in this interview with Ian Kennedy for The Hockey News Women's

- The Hockey News: PHF Rumor Roundup: What to make of the international interest in the league

• Will an international team be joining the PHF? It's a rumor that has circulated...and it has legitimate roots, even if it's not a path the league chooses to follow.

- The Hockey News: Interview: Gabrielle David Discusses Signing With The PHF's Boston Pride (length 8:51)

• Gabrielle David discusses her choice to sign with the PHF's Boston Pride, joining some of the top players in the world as she aims to continue her development.

- Champs App: Episode 72: Reagan Carey – Commissioner of the Premier Hockey Federation (length 42:56)

• On this episode we talk with with Reagan Carey, commissioner of the Premier Hockey Federation. We talk about her journey from college to becoming commissioner, the growth of the PHF, how the league is growing both from a fanbase and business perspective, and how young female hockey players can now consider playing pro hockey as a viable career path.

- Dan Rice: Around the Rink in the #PHF - the Fast & Furious, Free Agent Frenzy! (length1:26:41)

• May 23rd Broadcast

- Washington Post: Premier Hockey Federation commissioner on growing women’s hockey in the U.S (length 22:07)

• Women’s professional hockey in the United States has long been stymied by a lack of funding and support for the sport. Join The Post’s Jacqueline Alemany for a conversation with Premier Hockey Federation commissioner Reagan Carey about her vision for the league and for leveling the playing field for female athletes.

- WDIO: UMD’s Flaherty signs with Minnesota Whitecaps, Soderberg to PHF’s Connecticut Whale (length 0:55)
- The Hockey News: Watch: Emma Seitz Excited For Professional Career (length 10:09)

• Emma Seitz discusses signing in the PHF, and introduces herself as a person and player to Metropolitan Riveters fans.

- The Ice Garden: PHFuture Considerations Ep 17: Olivia Zafuto joins the pod (length 1:35:44)

• Free agent frenzy! Olivia Zafuto joins the pod and chats with Dan and Rice about her season with the Pride, her future with the Rivs, and much more.

RLCS 22-23: Europe

Regional #2	Day	UTC
Rounds 1 & 2	Fri	15:00
Playoffs - Top 8	Sat	15:00	Today
Playoffs - Top 4	Sun	15:00
RLCS 2022-23 Guide

Coverage

Official Bracket
Liquipedia / / ShiftRLE.gg / / Pickstop.gg

Streams

Platforms	Link
Twitch	RocketLeague
YouTube	Rocket League Esports

Results

Elimination		Liquipedia Bracket
▼ Lower Round 3		(Bo5)
Team BDS	3 - 1	Team Liquid
Oxygen Esports	3 - 1	PSG TUNDRA
▼ Upper Semifinals		(Bo7)
Karmine Corp	4 - 0	Guild Esports
Moist Esports	0 - 4	Team Vitality
▼ Lower Quarterfinals		(Bo7)
Team BDS	4 - 2	Guild Esports
Oxygen Esports	3 - 4	Moist Esports

​

RLCS 22-23: Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional #[#]	Day	UTC
Rounds 1 & 2	Fri	15:00
Playoffs - Top 8	Sat	15:00	Today
Playoffs - Top 4	Sun	15:00
RLCS 2022-23 Guide

Coverage

Official Bracket
Liquipedia / / ShiftRLE.gg

Streams

Platforms	Link
Twitch	ACGL_Alpha

GameDay 5 ends the regular season with a bang. Big seeding implications for the playoffs as the TU Robots are 3-1 with the bye. First up, the Beez look to pull off a huge upset over the league leading Tigers. To end the day, the Emperor's look to get back on track going into the playoffs against the bottom dwelling Serpents!
(3-0) WU Tigers v (1-2) BOKU Beez 14:00 CEST
UPDATE Tigers 43 - 6 Beez
(0-3) MedUni Serpents v (1-2) UniWien Emperors 17:30 CEST
UPDATE Serpents 6 - 35 Emperors
More details on the ACSL GameDay website.
Just to note, the ACSL teams are mostly self-funded, so the players bring their own gear. Even though the league can't hold it's own to anything the NCAA has on the field, the passion and love for the game of CFB is on par! The ACSL is continuing to grow as a league and CFB in Austria is going to grow with it!
We have flairs if you want to rep an ACSL team!

Predicting the NBA using Monte Carlo Simulations and Advanced Rate Stats
Back at it again this year. For people new to this, here's some quick links for the yearly recaps: 2020-2021 - 2021-2022
TL;DR
Today's Slate (5/27/23)

Home	Away	Spread	Total	Prediction	% home covering	% over
MIA	BOS	3	210.5	1095 - 1015	91	44

^\) ^{Includes projections for players listed as questionable
† Unofficial projection due to lack of data
# Indicates # of games worth of data available for this team's lineup}
Notes

• Out/Questionable:
  • MIA/BOS - V Oladipo ^Out, T Herro ^Out

Game bets

• MIA +3 2U @ 1.91

Props

• Butler U43.5 PRA 2U @ 1.88
• White U2.5A 2U @ 1.88
• Love 4+ R 2U @ 1.71

​ If you feel like tipping: Tip Jar
BTC: bc1q339p9sxvk6srp0087c9zaccyc7w9dxu94v7x3k
FAQ:
Link to FAQ
Previous Slate (5/25/23)

Home	Away	Spread	Total	Prediction	% home covering	% over	Final
BOS	MIA	-7.5	215.5	1064 - 1094 †	9	48	110-97

^{# Indicates # of games worth of data available for this team's lineup}
Notes

• Out/Questionable:
  • BOS/MIA - T Herro ^Out, V Oladipo ^Out, G Vincent ^Out
• no data without Gabe

Game bets

• MIA +8.5 2U @ 1.91 ❌

Props

• Robert Williams 7+ P 3U @ 1.95 ❌
• Butler U41.5 PRA 2U @ 2.00 ✅

Takeaways

• rip hooked on williams

Betting Record
Previous: 1-2 (-3.00U)
Season: 450-453 (-83.27U)
Daily Model Record
ATS: 0-0
O/U: 0-0
Total Model Record
ATS: 177-170 (51%)
O/U: 198-155 (56%)