Football’s over, so get caught up on the 2016-17 NBA season right here

Been too busy watching football to keep up with the NBA? You’re in luck. In this week’s FLANNS & ZILLZ, we catch you up on what you’ve missed.

ZILLER: Football is officially over. (And how!) That means, per tradition, the wider sports world takes keener attention on the NBA as we roll toward All-Star Weekend and approach the stretch run. So we’ll take this opportunity to talk about what more casual basketball fans need to know about what’s happened so far this season.

There’s at least one thing that is absolutely no surprise: The Golden State Warriors are terrifyingly good. They won’t break the wins record again, but Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry have learned how to play off one another, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson have maintained their All-Star play and ... I can’t be the only one losing faith that anyone can even compete with the Warriors in the playoffs. They are ridiculously good.

FLANNERY: From this vantage point in February, I think it’s going to be a bloodbath come playoff time. Very few teams can match up with them and the ones that offer a tough counter (like say, Memphis) don’t have the horses to win four games in seven.

I love the Spurs, but I don’t see it. The Rockets are the best story of the year, but does anyone really think they can defend them well enough to win a series? The Clippers are still that X-factor team, but they’re also still the Clippers. The one team that we know can give them problems is Cleveland, and the Cavs are kind of a mess right now.

What do you make of the rest of the West? Take Golden State out of the equation and it’s basically the East with a couple of better teams at the top.

ZILLER: The Spurs are better than anyone in the East (including Cleveland right now, in my opinion). I don’t know that there’s any real gap between the next few West teams and the better East teams, though. Boston is clicking behind Isaiah Thomas and Washington is surging. I’m not convinced the Rockets are better than those teams or Toronto. And Houston is clearly the third-best team in the West due to the Clippers’ maelstrom of calamity.

Briefly, considering the city’s abysmal sports history, we should note that the Wizards are having their best season in maybe 30 years. After a slow start John Wall looks like an MVP candidate* and Scott Brooks is avenging his reputation. There is a small but legitimate chance the Wizards could make the NBA Finals.

I asterisked the MVP comment because there’s no way John Wall is an MVP candidate because that race is freaking crazy.

FLANNERY: I think people are overthinking the MVP race, but that tends to happen around this time of the year. It’s been a five-player race and it should stay a five-player race. Those five being James Harden, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kawhi Leonard. No offense to Wall or Kyle Lowry or even Steph Curry, but that’s the list. (Also Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Jimmy Butler, Giannis Antetokounmpo, etc. etc.)

And I’m sorry but Isaiah Thomas is not a top-five MVP candidate when you consider the players above. Who does he bump: LeBron? Kawhi? That pains me to say that because IT is having a magical ride. There is no more fun NBA experience than Isaiah in the fourth. He’s absolutely one of the best stories of this season, but you can’t win an MVP on narrative alone.

I still think it comes down to Harden or Westbrook, but there’s a smart case to be made for Kevin Durant. I wonder if anyone will make it.

ZILLER: There is a case, and surely one of our friends in the Bay Area will make it, but there’s just no way. I like to think we’ve come far enough since LeBron was basically blacklisted from a number of ballots, but Durant’s decision was met with more hostility from even player liberty advocates like us. It’s just not feasible. Best he can hope for is Finals MVP, which is one helluva consolation.

You mentioned Giannis. The rise of the young weirdo superstars (the unicorns, as some call them) has been a bright spot so far this season.

FLANNERY: That’s been the brightest spot in the league by far and that group keeps expanding. If you’ve been away from a while, you ought to get hip to Nikola Jokic and Myles Turner, because they are now members of the crew along with Giannis, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis, Anthony Davis, and Joel Embiid.

(Quick aside: are we ready to grandfather AD out of this club? This will be his fourth All-Star nod, which is three more than everyone else here combined. I’m not — he’s still only 23 — but I’m curious to see when that consensus gets reached?)

I’m a little concerned, however, that none of those dudes are going to make the postseason. The Bucks and Giannis seemed like a sure thing, but they’ve hit the skids. The Wolves are taking their time and the Knicks are ... so very Knicks. It would be a shame if the young’uns get skunked.

How do you like these playoff races? There’s some intrigue in the East, for sure. The West seems pretty straightforward except for that last spot, aka the saddest pursuit in sports.

ZILLER: Anthony Davis is a four-time All-Star. He’s either the president of the club or he’s graduated from the club. I can’t decide.

The East is funky because there’s a vast muddle in the standings from Nos. 7-13. Three of them will make the playoffs. Five won’t. We have our guesses but it’s messy. That’s a version of intrigue for the fans involved but it’s hard for us neutrals to get too hepped up about.

The West No. 8 race, as you mention, is just plain sad. Everyone wants it and no one deserves it. May I suggest a play-in tournament, except do it 2-on-2 NBA Jam style? I’ll pass on 48 minutes of Pelicans-Blazers or Kings-Nuggets. But Anthony Davis and Buddy Hield vs. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum? DeMarcus Cousins and, uh, erm, Garrett Temple (I guess) vs. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray? I’m there.

By the way, we should mention that the Jazz have officially arrived. The Timberwolves have, uh, not.

FLANNERY: OK first, I LOVE that idea. Let’s use NBA Jam rules to settle every minor positioning thing from here on out.

We never talk about Utah, but the Jazz are legit. I’m going to keep banging that Rudy Gobert drum from here until eternity. It will be fascinating to see what happens with Gordon Hayward this summer. If he sticks around and the young guys like Rodney Hood and Trey Lyles can take another step ... the Jazz have major aspirations.

And that’s yet another reason why I am not concerned about the trajectory of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves are on their schedule, not ours. We all wanted Utah to be that team last year and it took them another season to get healthier and stronger. The Wolves have been playing better and I am encouraged by Tom Thibodeau’s public statements. He sees the big picture and they are not finished yet. Let Kris Dunn get his feet wet, figure out what you have with Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, add a veteran or two to round things out and they’ll be just fine.

I’d love to have them sneak into the playoffs. Of all the teams fighting for that spot they could really use the psychic boost as well as the experience.

Here’s the obligatory Cavs question: You think they’re vulnerable? (I do not.)

ZILLER: In the East? Not really, though Kevin Love has some back issues and given their depth and LeBron’s heavy workload, that’s a potential problem depending on what happens at the deadline. But as someone who picked the Cavaliers to win the title last year ... I’m not seeing it right now. The Warriors are too dope.

The trade deadline is up right after All-Star. We do not expect fireworks. But then, that’s usually when we get those fireworks, huh?

FLANNERY: I guess? I think that’s just where we are with the deadline. Teams aren’t in a rush to acquire pending free agents, draft picks are even more valuable now, and there’s a lopsided amount of potential buyers vs. would-be sellers. That could all change, of course, and I can count a half-dozen players who would be mighty interesting from Paul Millsap to Goran Dragic, the Magic front line, and even Jimmy Butler. Free Melo? Free Melo!

We’ve been advocating for teams to dump their losses and get right with the lottery guards for months now, but no one listens to us.

I am reminded that the Clippers traded a first-round pick to get two months out of Jeff Green and that the Cavs stole Channing Frye last year, so we’ll see some weird things happen, for sure. I would certainly like to see the Raptors make a deal and the Celtics really need a live body up front. As always, the best deals are the ones we don’t hear about.

I’ve been enjoying this season. It’s not the best one I’ve ever seen and I don’t think the playoffs will offer much drama until the Finals, but it’s been pretty good. That’s enough to tide us over through the winter and into the spring, right?

ZILLER: Absolutely! And it’s still a league where an amazing moment can happen at any moment. That serendipity is worth it all.

FLANNERY: Now bring back Vine and we’re all set.