Mozgov Is Strongest

Timofey Mozgov is strongest man in NBA, and I am weak, wrong little boy.

Okay, look. A few months ago, Timofey Mozgov was traded from the gulags of the Denver Nuggets frontcourt, and landed in Cleveland for the price of two protected first round picks. This elicited a certain reaction around the Deadspin offices, and so I put my money where my head was at (my butt).

Moz has been great since he arrived. He’s anchored the defense that’s cracked top-10 efficiency for stretches, and has shown compound returns when he plays with Tristan Thompson. (Playing two live-bodied bigs instead of gargoyles brings an advantage—who knew.) When the Knicks traded Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith for, uh, stuff, it was easy to see how miscast role players like those two would fit in—especially J.R. who’s always shined on teams with a set rotation and a star player he respects. Maybe we could have seen that coming for Mozgov, who is strongest.

Anyway, here are Timofey’s highlights, as they were called by the Russian announcing team (they’re big fans):

And here are some faces Timo made last night:

Bye.

Photos via AP & Getty; Video edited by Tim Burke