After years of having a lopsided talent pool between the Western and Eastern Conference, the latter is starting to look stacked once again. Next season, similar to the West, the East will also have its own set of super teams, with the Philadelphia 76’ers and the Milwaukee Bucks being the two main challengers to Boston’s reign on the East Coast. But in a hypothetical matchup between the two sides, former NBA All-Star, Jeff Teague is sticking with his Bucks.
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A few weeks prior, Jeff Teague made waves on the internet after he went on his show and picked the Milwaukee Bucks to beat the new-and-improved Philadelphia 76ers in a hypothetical matchup. Recently Teague appeared on the hoop show, “Gil’s Arena” and doubled down on this take. He explained that in his analysis the Bucks just had better pieces as compared to the 76ers, even pointing out why the Bucks are the superior team in this case. He started by saying,
“They got Giannis and they got Dame. Dame is one of the special guards to me in the NBA. I think he had a bad year, going through some things. Getting traded, a new situation. I think he is going to be way better this year, than he was last year. And last year he averaged what 25? And that’s a bad year I guess…so next year I can only imagine how he is going to feel.”
The show’s host, Josiah Johnson also questioned Teague on another one of his previously made hot takes, as the former Hawks player had claimed on his show that Bucks star Khris Middleton was just as good as Nine-time All-Star Paul George. Teague saw nothing wrong with his take and even backed it by highlighting how the two players were statistically identical, when healthy. The former Timberwolves guard further added to his reasoning by saying,
“If you go look at the last couple of years, they were even, besides the year that Khris was hurt. Him and PG have been like neck-and-neck if you look at the stats. Plus I have seen Khris do it in the Finals. I have seen him have big games in the Finals. I have seen him have big games in the Eastern Conference Finals. I ant see that from P.G.”
With the framework set in place, Teague and the panel went into the three main matchups in the hypothetical Eastern Conference face-off. Starting at the point guard position, Teague sided with Dame over Maxey but made sure to give the 23-year-old props for his performance so far. Between PG and Middleton, Teague confessed that it could pan out either way and finally ended his analysis by pointing out how the Giannis Antetokounmpo versus Joel Embiid matchup would be the X factor in deciding the seven-game series.
While the panel on Gil’s Arena continued going back and forth, providing arguments in favor of their pick, Embiid seemed to be happy to just have another marquee player to suit up alongside him. The reigning MVP even confessed to having his patience tested by Philadelphia after the front office failed to build a contender around him year after year.
Joel Embiid expresses joy over PG13 coming to Philly
Paul George, 34, declined his player option with the Los Angeles Clippers and chose instead to take his talents to the East, joining Tyrese Maxey in Philadelphia’s back-court. George signed a 4-year/$212 million max contract with the Philadelphia side, and will most probably stay put for at least two or more seasons, similar to his stint in LA.
But Joel Embiid wants PG to stay long term and even confessed to liking George’s fit alongside him in the starting line-up. A versatile wing like George is bound to complement Embiid and the 30-year-old knows that well. He even talked about George’s fit on the roster during a Sports Center interview recently, and started by saying,
“Yeah, I think as far as the fit, it looks amazing. It is great, especially when you got a big … I don’t like to call myself a big, but when you got a player that posts up, and that isos quite a bit, you need to have willing shooters and guys that are not afraid to pull the trigger.”
The trio of Maxey, George, and Embiid ensures that the Philadelphia side has a top-10, two-way player at the guard, forward, and center positions. George can also switch well with Kelly Oubre and Maxey and that ensures that there is at least one elite wing on an offensive threat at all times. Besides that, pick and rolls between George and Embiid will unlock a whole new level of offense for the Philadelphia side and Embiid is smiling because he knows that the league isn’t ready for what’s coming.
