An Ode To Offseason Workout Video Season

It’s that time of year where your favorite player is looking “Scary” *eye emojis*

There’s something artful about the summertime in NBA land.

Free agency comes and goes. Blockbuster trade structures change. Players switch teams. All of it ends up being fun to follow.

But the void left in our lives afterwards is one that can only be filled by one thing:

Offseason workout videos of your favorite player in an empty gym with captions that contain a bunch of emojis and claims that they will be exponentially better the following year and patch the holes in their games that have for so long been the missing piece to success.

This even extends to “anonymous sources” and trainers being quoted that said player is looking “DANGEROUS” or “SCARY”.

We see it time and time again. The best example is obvious.

Is this the year Simmons puts it all together and develops that consistent three ball? I think it just might be. It’s also been the year for the last seven offseasons.

What about Russell Westbrook? Man oh man, if he finally gets that outside jumper consistent, he could be an even bigger PROBLEM for the league.

I can’t act like I’m not at least a little bit guilty of buying into these types of things. I remember one of the all-timers for me was when Karl-Anthony Towns was hitting parking lot threes on Instagram after putting the ball behind his back. I was convinced that he was turning into Giannis, and in his post-Jimmy era was going to thrust himself into the top-echelon of players in the league (ironically, he went on to play some of the best basketball of his career to date).

While I joke mostly about some of the clockwork posts we get every offseason, it’s something that still piques my interest every year. 90% of the time, said player isn’t going to do any of the things they’re showing in the video in an actual game. Do I think Naz Reid is going to be evolving his offensive game into 2016-17 James Harden with consistent contested stepback threes?

Absolutely not. But does it tell me that he could be pretty effective off the dribble paired with a comfortable off-ball guard like Mike Conley, and comfortable increasing his three point volume around a creator like Rob Dillingham?

Sure, I’ll let my mind wander to fun places.

Am I ready to launch a Sixth Man of the Year Campaign for Rob Dillingham after watching him play against some end of the bench players, Chet Holmgren, and a couple Northwestern Mutual employees at a middle school down the road from him?

Absolutely.

We’re just one month away from tip-off of the regular season. Might as well let your minds wander until then.