The 2016-17 NBA season was magical, but also predictable

We’ve reached the end of yet another NBA regular season and what a year it’s been. Paul Flannery and Tom Ziller look back in our final regular season F+Z.

FLANNERY: This is the last F+Z of the regular season and tradition dictates that we try to make sense of the last six months. We will do that, but first, I have a question for you: Is there anything you’d like to get off your chest?

ZILLER: I would like to hereby renounce my Sacramento Kings fandom. I just ... don’t care anymore. This isn’t so much about the DeMarcus Cousins trade (which is complicated, as Cousins really had run his course in town) but about the past 10 years in total. It’s just ... why? What’s the point in hanging on every result when the well of failure is so deep? There’s so much beauty in this world and this league that committing a substantial portion of your waking life to emotional investment in perpetual mediocrity for REASONS is absurd. I’m out.

Beyond that, the league has been straight up special this year. Defense is down significantly, and that’s fine with me. I love and appreciate effective defense, but watching stars trade incredible baskets is otherworldly. I hope things don’t grind to a halt in the playoffs.

FLANNERY: I’ve become distrustful of fandom in the modern age. It’s a one-way street in which fans are expected to be loyal, and passionate without objectivity or objection. It wouldn’t hurt if they believed every other opponent was trash, too. For their devotion they will be rewarded with all the team gear they can buy and a steady stream of sponsored propaganda. That leaves very little room for questioning authority.

So, when a franchise makes more soul-crushing decisions than all the other teams combined over a 10-year period of time through multiple owners and executives ... it’s more than reasonable to become a conscientious objector.

Where were we? Oh yes, the league. It’s been fun. Offense is good, scoring is great, points are fantastic. I’m worried just a bit about the balance, however. I think it’s a tick out of whack. Those things tend to correct themselves over time, and the playoffs will be fascinating to see just how far the pendulum has swung.

I gotta say, I like the occasional 83-81 slugfest in the postseason.

ZILLER: Game 7 on Father’s Day was a defensive battle! It was the most exciting game in three years. Slugfests are fine.

But shootouts are divine. Not to peek forward while we’re looking back, I feel like we’re going to get our share of both in the first round. That’s where I think there’s good balance. We have the Spurs plus a Spurs clone in Utah. We have the offensive monsters scattered throughout the league. We have Golden State, who can do it all. You’re more likely to see a 120-119 game than 83-81, but it’s all possible,

One thing about the offensive renaissance I’d like to note is that PASSING has been a huge part of it. Russell Westbrook will average 10 assists this season. There’s a world in which the Rockets’ renewed devotion to the threeball results in ugly basketball, but thanks to James Harden’s passing acumen the Rockets are NOT ugly. The Warriors remain spectacular ball movers. The Jazz can be poetic on offense, like the Spurs.

This isn’t universal: Boston has one of those dominant ballhandlers but the Celtics’ offense isn’t terribly beautiful. It just works. Again, I think there’s a dystopia out there where the statistical revolution led to ugly, efficient basketball. This ain’t it.

FLANNERY: While the overall quality of play has been strong, I’ll admit that some portions of the season left me flat.

Underlying all of that has been an inherent lack of drama. We came into this season expecting a Warriors-Cavs rubber match and we will leave this campaign expecting the same.

Barring catastrophic injury I don’t see anyone seriously challenging Golden State. The Cavs, however, are messing with the Basketball Gods and the Gods are not to be trifled with. Blowing a 26-point lead against Atlanta with home-court all but assured ... um, guys? I know it’s LeBron and I know the East is whatever, but I am not 100 percent convinced of their inevitability right now.

ZILLER: How could anyone be convinced given the inconsistency they’ve shown? We should note that pretty much every team in the East playoff bracket has given Cleveland a game or two of trouble this season. That doesn’t mean anyone can beat them, but they look nothing like invincible. Coming off an emotional title, the Cavaliers have been pretty flat overall but still might be No. 1 because of LeBron. Kyrie Irving did not have the season we expected, to be sure.

The Warriors remain remarkable, as most assumed they would be. There’s not really much else to say about them. If the Cavs don’t make the Finals and the Spurs somehow don’t make the conference finals, I think a 16-0 playoff run is plausible.

FLANNERY: I don’t see 16-0 simply because the Warriors don’t deal well with prosperity. They have a track record of dropping games here and there.

We should talk about the thing that’s overshadowed everything this season: The Most Valuable Player award debate. You made your choice last week in Russell Westbrook. My vote will be unveiled on Friday and I’m still mulling, quite honestly.

Last week I noted that Russ and James Harden had lapped Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James and I received IMMEDIATE pushback from a friend and colleague whose opinion I value as much as anyone else’s in the league. (Hi, Zach.) It’s a fair point. That was me trying to push my own choice further along down the highway. No one has lapped anyone in this field. I’d be perfectly comfortable with any of the four contenders as MVP. Truly.

This is one for the ages, I think.

ZILLER: I’m too young to remember the vaunted early ’90s MVP races, but it’s certainly the best race of my adult life. We had previously lamented the certitude with which Westbrook’s fans claimed he was the only possible choice. It’s only fair we now note that the Houston Hive is being very persistent that anyone who isn’t with Harden is a fool. This whole thing Daryl Morey and Harden himself are saying about winning being the biggest factor is really hilarious considering Kawhi’s team is up seven games on the Rockets!

All the politicking aside, it’s been an amazing race. Harden is such a joy to watch in action. Westbrook has been a six-month Michael Bay movie. Kawhi’s growth is just incredible to behold, and LeBron is the best since MJ. I’m hoping for an encore next year.

FLANNERY: That’s cause you don’t have a vote. Beyond the MVP race, the Cavs drama, and all those points, I can’t be the only one who feels like this season has been underwhelming.

The rise of the unicorns was fun for a while, but then Joel Embiid got hurt and everyone this side of Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to miss the playoffs. You can say the Rockets were a big of a surprise in terms of win count, but most of us had them pegged as a playoff team at least. There weren’t any other major shockers unless you count Miami’s tremendous rise during the second half. Even the DeMacus blockbuster felt more like an absurd relief then a sea change. Everything else played out more or less as expected.

Tell me when I’m being too curmudgeonly.

ZILLER: I’ll have something Wednesday morning to make you and other skeptics fall in love with the 2016-17 season all over again. Just you wait.