AI Summary
5 min readThe NBA media cycle tends to fixate on a small group of title favorites while ignoring teams that are quietly deep, well-coached, or one internal leap away from contention. On a recent episode of Locked On NBA Daily, hosts Wes Goldberg, Matt Moore, and Hayes tackled this imbalance head-on. They asked which teams are being “slept on” or outright disrespected heading into the season, then tested their theories by building out actual rotations for the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers. The conversation revealed that disrespect often comes in two flavors: the overlooked non-contender and the contender whose flaws are overstated.
The Most Disrespected Non-Contenders
The panel started with teams no one expects to make noise but that have quietly assembled real talent. Matt Moore, who admitted he disliked the Portland Trail Blazers last season, now finds himself buying in. Despite Shaden Sharp’s injury and a thin small forward rotation, Moore pointed out that Portland’s backcourt of John Morant and Damian Lillard is genuinely good, and that the Blazers can play three-guard lineups with Drew Holiday as a defensive stabilizer. He argued that Donovan Klingon is an excellent starting center who gets far less national attention than comparable players like Walker Kessler. “Klingon's awesome,” Moore said. “You have the guy. Stop it.”
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What you'll learn
- 1 (02:14) **The Spark: A Clip from Locked On Magic** - Wes plays a clip where David Phillips argues the Orlando Magic are being disrespected in power rankings, which launches a broader discussion about slept-on teams.
- 2 (02:59) **Non-Contender Sleeper #1: Portland Trail Blazers** - Matt, surprisingly, says he's buying into the Blazers despite disliking them last year, citing their guard depth and Damian Lillard's talent.
- 3 (04:24) **Non-Contender Sleeper #2: Charlotte Hornets** - Hayes picks the Hornets, arguing their depth after trading away star power could lead to more wins than last season.
- 4 (05:31) **Key Role Players Making the Difference** - The hosts identify under-the-radar players on each slept-on team who could be the difference-makers.
- 5 (07:05) **Contender-Level Sleepers: The Raptors** - Matt pivots to teams that could actually make the NBA Finals, starting with the Toronto Raptors as a sleeper contender.
- 6 (08:08) **Contender-Level Sleepers: The Boston Celtics** - Matt surprisingly claims the Celtics are being slept on, despite their recent success, because people keep waiting for them to fall off.
- 7 (13:57) **Contender-Level Sleepers: The Timberwolves** - Hayes picks the Minnesota Timberwolves, arguing they are slept on in the Western Conference despite a lot of potential.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Which NBA team is being disrespected the most heading into the 2026-27 season? Wes Goldberg, Matt Moore and Haize react to the Orlando Magic being buried in preseason projections and debate which overlooked team deserves more attention. Is Orlando ready to finally break through, or is there another sleeper hiding in plain sight?
Then, it’s a double edition of The Rotation Lab. The guys break down how the Phoenix Suns should build their rotation after a surprising playoff run and an offseason that added Miles Bridges, Luke Kennard and rookie Koa Peat around Devin Booker. Finally, they head to Portland, where the Trail Blazers have added Ja Morant and Jeremy Sochan but must figure out their lineup without the injured Shaedon Sharpe.
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