The updated, post-trade-deadline TrueHoop Championship Bus

After the dust settles, these are David Thorpe’s contenders

BY DAVID THORPE

Can Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns push their way to the front of the TrueHoop Championship Bus? First, they’ll have to get Jayson Tatum out of the driver’s seat. CHRISTIAN PETERSEN/GETTY IMAGES

In September, we discussed this season’s TrueHoop NBA championship bus. As we expected, the lack of a real superteam—including the ostensible one(s) the Nets have dismantled—have made parity the buzzword of the year.

Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook and dozens of other players have moved … but where does that leave us? 

Driving the bus

Boston Celtics

Already the league’s best team, the Celtics got even better at the trade deadline, adding Mike Muscala—a solid shooting and defensive option and another big man who can help in a pinch.

It’s hard to trust the knees of Robert Williams III. Now the Celtics have Muscala, Luke Kornet, and Blake Griffin to fortify their ranks behind Time Lord, starter Al Horford, and rotation big Grant Williams.

Safe seats

Milwaukee Bucks

Right when I say I’m off the Bucks, they rattle off 10 straight wins.