Why every NBA team can be thankful

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Why every NBA team can be thankful: Amazing talent, trades that did and didn't

happen, lottery luck, more

Thanksgiving isn't a basketball holiday. It's actually the opposite. We eat turkey and
watch football with nary an NBA game in sight. The league takes the day off and
cedes it to the NFL, giving its teams and players a well-deserved day off for feasting
and reflection.

So, with no actual basketball to look forward to on Thursday, we'll have to find some
other way to embrace the holiday spirit. With that in mind, let's find something for
all 30 NBA teams, no matter how good or bad, to be thankful for.

Atlanta Hawks: The lottery gods


Has Zaccharie Risacher been an especially strong No. 1 pick so far? No. He's shown
promise, but he's clearly still a long-term project. Remember, though, the Hawks
jumped all the way from the Play-In Tournament to No. 1 to get him. For a team with
very little to be excited about so far this season, having a possibly foundational
young player in place of a late lottery pick means quite a bit. The Hawks have a
long way to go, but they can be thankful the bit of luck they got last May.

Boston Celtics: The rest of the league

Let's take a look at how the Celtics landed their six best players:
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown came from a historically bad trade by the Brooklyn
Nets.

Derrick White needed to be moved for the San Antonio Spurs to kick off the rebuild
that ended with Victor Wembanyama.
Kristaps Porzingis needed to be moved for the Washington Wizards to kick off the
rebuild that ended with... TBD.
Jrue Holiday was all set to play for their biggest in-conference competition when the
Milwaukee Bucks dealt him to the Portland Trail Blazers without taking any
measures to prevent the Blazers from flipping him to Boston later.
Al Horford was only available because the 76ers overpaid him and proceeded to
dump him a year later. As was the case with Holiday, they could do nothing to
prevent him from getting flipped right back to Boston.

The rest of the NBA has only themselves to blame. They built the juggernaut they're
struggling so hard to beat. The Celtics can be thankful for their incompetence.

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