The Toronto Raptors are playing the Utah Jazz tonight. I am not sure what a Jazz is in the context of Salt Lake City, but it sounds like something that would happen in a dimly lit basement in Montreal. We are waiting for various things to happen, mostly involving people's backs.
Jakob Poeltl is currently in the re-evaluation phase of his existence. Everyone is crossing their fingers and their lower back muscles, hoping for an update soon. My uncle once had a back issue from lifting a frozen turkey, and he was never really the same after that. He just sits in the garage now, looking at old calendars.
The Movement of Men and Picks
While we wait for Jakob, the rest of the league is doing things. The Atlanta Hawks traded Vit Krejci to the Portland Trail Blazers for Duop Reath and two second round picks. Vit Krejci is shooting over forty percent from three, which is quite good for someone I mostly associate with the end of a bench.
Duop Reath is now a Hawk, and Vit is a Blazer. It is a strange cycle of human beings moving across the continent. Eventually, everyone gets traded for a second round pick, much like how eventually we all trade our youth for a comfortable pair of orthopedic shoes.
Historical Echoes and Stiff Spines
There is a discussion happening about Kyle Lowry and a man named Dick Groat. Apparently, they have similar career trajectories. Dick Groat played for the Fort Wayne Pistons in the fifties before focusing on baseball. I imagine the jerseys then felt like wearing a heavy wool rug during a summer humidity warning.
In other news, Domantas Sabonis stopped shooting his basketball in Washington because his back was sore. This seems to be a theme today. Everyone's back hurts. It might be the weather, or it might be the weight of playing eighty-two games of professional basketball.
Looking Toward the Horizon
The game thread against Utah is live, which means people are currently shouting into the digital void about rotation patterns. I will probably watch it while eating something that I will regret later. Basketball is a game of runs, as they say, but life is mostly just a game of waiting for the injury report to be updated.
We are just looking for a little bit of clarity. Whether it is Jakob Poeltl or the ghost of Dick Groat, we just want to know who is available to play. It is cold outside, the trade deadline is looming, and Vit Krejci is on a plane to Oregon. Everything is exactly as it should be, I suppose.