The NBA is a maelstrom of chaos that shifts its winds more often than its 30 seafaring captains can ever hope to keep track of.
Onsi Saleh, like any other captain, has to be aware of the ebbs and flows of the storm, and if he's proven anything to Hawks fans during his tenure thus far, it's that he's got an internal compass that few can match.
Saleh most certainly has seen the depreciation of value of his Pelicans/Bucks pick of late. Not even to mention the possibility that the Bucks don't end up dealing Giannis, the Pelicans have emerged as a dominant team in the last 2 weeks, harming Atlanta's value.
Additionally, prior to last week the Thunder were having one of the best starts to a season ever. Opposing GMs would have been foolish to trade for an aging star to have an outside shot at one or two titles whilst OKC emerges into their prime.
Oklahoma City has looked mortal of late, however. They've lost 3 games in the last couple of weeks, including a blowout loss to San Antonio on the night of the 23rd. Clear-cut favorites? Maybe not so much anymore.
How likely is it that these trends continue for their respective teams?
Let's start with the Thunder, who offer far more stability than their counterpart in this phenomenon. OKC had an amazing start to the year, but it's not just San Antonio’s absolutely mollywhopping of their squad that should cast doubt onto their supporters; it's their schedule.
OKC has, by far, the easiest strength of schedule (SOS) to date in the NBA this season. In fact, their remaining SOS is rivaled only by Denver in terms of how difficult it is. All 28 other NBA teams – including the bottom outliers of SAC and ORL – have a remaining SOS between 0.471 and 0.513 (the lower the number, the easier the remaining schedule). OKC is sitting at an egregious 0.543.
Combining the Spurs’ dominance of OKC and their remaining SOS, odds are the Thunder are truly mortal - perhaps Atlanta is only an AD or a Giannis away from snagging a chip.
As for New Orleans, it's hard to say how they'll fare in the coming months. One thing is certain, though – they will continue to slowly ramp Zion back from injury, and they'll be getting former All-Star and Hawk Dejounte Murray back soon.
Combine these returning stars with their young talent, and you get a recipe akin to some fresh, delicious dough – they're rising fast.
Onsi would be keen to pick up on these trends and pool his chips for AD or Giannis soon – the longer he waits, the less valuable that Pels pick gets, and the less time his squad will have to dig out of their current play-in deep hole.