It is February 16, 2026, and the All Star break is doing what it usually does, which is making people think things that are probably not true. We are currently sitting in that quiet space before the season starts again. Darko Rajakovic is giving postgame interviews about an exhibition game that mostly involved people not playing defense.
I saw a photo of a champion recently. People get very excited about trophies because they are shiny and gold. It reminds me of a guy I knew in Scarborough who bought a replica Larry O'Brien trophy on the internet just to keep it in his passenger seat so he could use the HOV lane.
The Trade That Happened in a Nap
One fan reported having a dream where Bobby Webster traded Scottie Barnes to the Charlotte Hornets for a first overall pick. In this dream, the player we drafted was a complete stranger, likely just some guy the brain invented to fill space. It is a strange thing to wake up in a cold sweat because you think your franchise cornerstone is now in North Carolina.
Scottie is an All Star and a defensive anchor, and yet, our subconscious minds still find ways to hurt us. Trading him to the Hornets feels like the kind of cosmic punishment usually reserved for people who forget to pay their parking tickets. I once dreamed that Jose Calderon was my accountant, and honestly, the taxes were filed very efficiently.
Management and Other Mysteries
There is some chatter lately about whether we still need Masai Ujiri. People like to say (well, well, well) when they think they have discovered a secret. It is a common human trait to want to move on from the person who gave you the best thing you ever had, just to see what else is out there.
It is like my uncle who decided he didn't need a GPS anymore because he (knew the city.) He ended up in a ditch near Pickering. Masai is still here, and Bobby is still here, and Scottie is still a Raptor outside of that one person's REM cycle.
Looking Toward Chicago
The schedule says we play the Bulls on February 19th. It is at 8:00 PM, which is a time when most people are deciding if they should have a second snack or just go to bed.
The Bulls are always there, existing in a state of being neither great nor terrible, much like a medium coffee that has been sitting on the counter for twenty minutes. Here is what we have to look forward to:
- Physical basketball that might be painful to watch.
- More interviews where Darko talks about development and pizza.
- The realization that spring is still a long way off.