Topic: NBA Discussion

[Gerry Attrick]

Lebron James will join the raptors 

[LFC_1981]

full tank/rebuild mode

Been rebuilding for about 6 years now, them and Knicks such a mess it's a shame. Hopefully though Lakers will be a playoff team in 2 seasons.

[elsewhere]

Less than 3 weeks left for the season to start, so it's just fair if we have a regular season awards predictions thread.

MVP: Kevin Durant: Giannis and Lebron will be 2nd and 3rd. Expecting Blake Griffin to be up there as well since i believe Clippers will have a good season despite losing CP3.
ROY: Ben Simmons: If Fultz was playing for another team, I'd probably go with him but since both are 76ers, Simmons get this.
MIP: Kristaps Porzingis: Now that Melo is gone and no pressure to make the play-off's, I think he will respond well and take good steps to be the leader of the team, i am expecting huge jumps in his stats both offensively and defensively, he will make his first All-Star appearance as well. Myles Turner is my 2nd pick for very similar reasons.
6MOY: Rudy Gay: Reason=Popovich.
DPOY:Rudy Gobert: It was basically coin toss between him, Draymond and Kawhi for me but I expect Utah to have another efficient season and he will be the center piece of it defensively.
COY: Brett Brown: They will make the play-off's in my opinion (bar the injuries) and he will be rewarded for that. Billy Donovan will be in the conversation for OKC having a solid regular season (he will be found out in the play-off's)

[Lush is the best medicine...]

MVP - KD who will overtake lebron like lebron overtook kobe in 2011

ROY - Lonzo Ball. And I hate myself for saying that but he’s in a great spot to put up big numbers as the ‘star’, even if I think Dennis smith could win this.

MIP - D’Angelo Russell.

6MOY - Manu, cause he’s boss.

DPOY - Kawhi

COY - Thibs

[Rick Sanchez]

MVP: Kyrie Irving
MIP: Porzings
6MOY: Eric Gordon
DPOY: James Harden
COY: Brett Brown

[Shaved Crossbar]

MVP: Kyrie Irving

 

If Kyrie is even anywhere near MVP conversations by the first quarter of the season, LeBron will dad dick the league to prove a point

[Doc Red]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20905491/nba-all-star-game-switch-formats-captains-pick-team-conference-affiliations
Captains to pick teams for NBA All-Star Game after format tweak.
The NBA All-Star Game is switching formats this season, as two captains will select the teams without regard to which conferences the players play in, the league announced Tuesday.

The players who win the fan vote from each conference will be the captains.

There will still be 12 players selected from each conference for the game in Los Angeles on Feb. 18. Five players from each conference will be selected as starters, with the fan vote being worth 50 percent, player vote worth 25 percent and media vote worth 25 percent. Seven reserves for each team will be picked by each conference's head coaches.

The new system will enable players from each conference to play against each other and will allow current teammates to face off. Starters will be picked first, so the 10 players voted in as starters will remain that way.

Last season, LeBron James led fan voting in the Eastern Conference and Stephen Curry had the honor in the West. All-Star voting will begin on Christmas Day.


Not sure how I feel about this. Initially, they're still only 12 players picked from each conference, and only after the vote can the two captains pick their respective teams. I don't understand how that solves the issues of players not getting an All Star spot simply because they're in a stronger conference with more competition in their position. I would have been fine with it if the fans and players just voted a specific number of players for each position irrespective of the conference they play in. As it is, since they won't be playing East vs West, why limit the initial voting pool to East spots vs West spots.

And having captains pick their own teams? What problem was solved with this solution? If it wasn't already a glorified exhibition match, now it's become a glorified pick up game. The East vs West is what was supposed to add to the competition, they should either attempt to make it more competitive in that format (more financial reward for winning-most of which can be directed to a charity of their choices), or scrap the whole format and pick the best players from each position and then let the captains pick their own teams. Or possibly pick the teams based on order of the fan votes per position eg Team X gets the PG with highest votes and Team Y gets PG with second highest votes, then Team Y gets SG with highest votes and Team X gets SG with second highest votes etc all the way through until the subs are also picked (or maybe just for the starting 5, then the captains can pick the backups).

Not sure I'm okay with two players with the most votes picking their respective teams. There's already a heavy element of players tapping up other players, I'm pretty sure the two captains will make their votes the same way the Eurovision votes tend to work out: More politics and less objectivity. And putting that much responsibility/say in the hands of two players? Sheesh. I'm actually missing the David Stern era, not too fussed with the Adam Silver era. Too flexible in all the wrong places whilst remaining rigid in the key issues.

[Doc Red]

On another note, strange to see Melo playing for OKC.
Stranger that OKC actually brought in Melo+George in addition to already having Westbrook.
Even stranger still that people think OKC will be a good team. Surprised if they make it above 5th in the West, maybe even 6th. Too many players that need the ball in their hands to be useful. Would have been bad enough with just Westbrook and one of the two, let alone all three. Prepare to watch some horrific execution during their games.

Glad to see Melo go, though I say this without any animosity. Just a matter of wrong player, wrong time, wrong position, wrong strategy, and wrong decisions, throughout his time here starting off from when he first came in a sign+trade rather than a free agent. Just when the league went away from ball stopping+heavy usage+jump shooting stars leading teams, we ended up bringing one of the best ever to do so, and never really, truly, built a team around him. No sympathy for him, he chose to sign+resign+resign even when he knew the outlook. Least he got paid, which was his right to be fair, but such a shame Stoudamire was always out injured, of the two the latter always made us feel like he actually cared about winning.

Like one of those relationships that last a decade until both partners realise that though they don't hate one another they're not in love either, and they really hadn't helped each other grow or better themselves in all the time together. Plenty of relief when they actually separate, but also a lot of regret at all the wasted time together.

Looking forward to the new Knicks, especially so without Jackson at the helm. Let's see how KP handles being the top dog, though by all accounts he has a wise head on his shoulders. Same owner, but hopefully he keeps his current role in the sidelines. First time in eons we actually own our draft picks for the next several years, and with KP and some other young uns, we have a little shred of positivity to look forward to, though obviously what will be key is our ability to attract free agents two seasons from now. Apart from the ridiculous Noah deal, our other deals are all quite reasonable (though the Hardaway deal still leaves me scratching my head, we could have kept him and signed him for less than he's currently on!).

[deFacto please, you bastards]

I want to see KD vs Russ in that new all star set up.

Doc, I agree, OKC is not going to be what a lot of people think.

[elsewhere]

From the highlights of preseason games I've seen:

-Ben Simmons has incredible passing ability. He is looking Lebron-like. Fultz didn't seem impressive, JJ Reddick will be good addition for them.

-I had no idea who Kuzma was, Lakers got a good draft, kid can play. Randle for some reason doesn't improve as a player, still can't finish around the rim.

-More and more teams are in love with 3-ball. Even Howard and Drummond shooting 3's.

-I will be surprised if Bulls don't end with the worst record this year. They look even worse than the 10-72 76'ers team.

-Wiggins not looking good.

-Pacers ball movement is good, glad I picked Myles Turner for MIP.

-Chandler Parsons seems to be done as a starter in NBA.

[elsewhere]

Nic Batum Likely Out 2-3 Months After Tearing Ligament In Elbow

[elsewhere]

Silver: Looking at Future Expansion to Mexico City

Mexico City continues to gain momentum as a potential expansion candidate for the NBA along with Seattle, even as Adam Silver says it is not something they see happening in the short-term.

“We’re not looking at expansion at the moment, but at the time we do turn to expansion, just as we’ve had enormous success in Canada with the (Toronto) Raptors, we do see enormous opportunity in Mexico City and think it could become the franchise for Latin America,” Silver said.

“Mexico City is a city with over 20 million people, a country of 130 million people, and a huge Mexican American population. We’re only looking at it from a more general standpoint – and we’re playing games (there) again in Dec. (the Brooklyn Nets are playing against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec. 7 and the Miami Heat on Dec. 9). It’s something we’ll continue to keep eye on.”

[elsewhere]

Did anyone see that Kenyon Martin-Jeremy Lin thing? Kenyon Martin tries to make fun of Lin's hair but sounds a bit like a racist prick:



Then Lin responds with class, showing he indeed has gone to Harvard:



Then opens up exclusively about this:



and then Martin reaches out to him, apologizes but says Lin's hair is still funny

http://www.tmz.com/2017/10/06/kenyon-martin-i-apologize-to-jeremy-lin-but-his-hair-is-still-weird/

[elsewhere]

Dante Exum Suffers Serious Shoulder Injury

Klay Thompson: Warriors Aspiring To Be Like 1990s Bulls

Hawks Waive John Jenkins, Jordan Mathews

Kris Dunn Out At Least Two Weeks With Finger Injury

Nuggets Optimistic On Possibility Of Extension With Gary Harris

Lakers Hire Jason Rosenfeld As Director Of Basketball Analytics

NBA Approves $2.2 Billion Sale Of Rockets To Tilman J. Fertitta

Mikhail Prokhorov Nearing 49 Percent Sale Of Nets

Kings To Sit Harry Giles Through January To Strengthen Knees

Magic Hire Tracy McGrady As Special Assistant To Alex Martins

Warriors Submit Bid To Host 2021 All-Star Game

LaMarcus Aldridge Cleared Air With Gregg Popovich Before Camp

Joe Lacob Considered Offering Stephen Curry Below Max Contract

Kristaps Porzingis Remains More Comfortable Playing Power Forward

Doug McDermott Believes Trade To Knicks Better For Him Individually

Cavaliers Open Dialogue With Richard Jefferson's Agent On Roster Situation

Chris Paul Has No Concerns About Sharing Ball With James Harden

Mark Cuban 'Considering' Run For President

[elsewhere]

A lot of verbal attacks already and the season didn't even start. Kevin McHale has called his former player James Harden "not a leader" and James Harden didn't back down. I think McHale didn't handle his firing professionally since he is gone but Harden is definitely a tool for calling his former coach and one of NBA all time greats McHale "a clown".

James Harden: Kevin McHale Is A Clown

James Harden responded to criticism he received from Kevin McHale that he's "not a leader."

"He's a clown, honestly," Harden said on Saturday. "I did anything and everything he asked me to do. I've tried to lead this team every day since I stepped foot here in Houston. To go on air and just downplay my name, when honestly he's never taught me anything to be a leader....

"...But I've done a great job. The organization, my coaches, you can ask any of those guys how I've worked extremely hard every single day to better [myself], obviously as a basketball player, but be a leader as well. To go on air and downplay my name like that, it just shows his character. I usually don't go back and forth on social media with anybody or with interviews, but I'm going to stand up for myself, and there it is. But you just don't go and do that. It shows what type of person he is."

McHale coached Harden for more than three seasons.

"James can see all the passes and do everything, but James is not a leader," McHale said. "He tried being a leader last year, tried doing all that stuff. I think Chris Paul is going to help him just kind of get back into just being able to hoop and play and stuff like that.

"On every team, you have to have a voice. On every team, you have to have somebody that when they say something, people listen. Like if James tells you, 'You've got to play better D,' are you going to listen to him? I lived through it. Believe me, everybody in the locker room did this [put their head down with their hand on their forehead].' Every time he mentioned defense, everybody would put their head down."

Harden believes bitterness about the firing played a significant role in McHale criticizing him.

"Sure. And I had nothing to do with it," Harden said. "I'm just here to do my job, compete at the highest level I can. But when you're here, you're face-to-face, and you're telling me one thing -- how great of a player you are, how you're lucky that he's able to be a part of this process -- and then you go back just a few years later and basically just say the opposite, it just shows your character, shows who you really are. I'm not that type of person. I don't operate that way. I don't say things to somebody behind their back or tell them one thing or go on air and say another thing."

[Doc Red]

Must have hit a nerve there, my spider sense is tingling .
Not really classy of McHale to let it all out after he was fired, but I don't doubt that he's saying the truth. Shouldn't always be the case that a team's best player is their leader, just seems to be far more acceptable these days. A sort of side tag to being a "superstar" in this moment is that you must also be a great leader. He should just accept that he isn't a great leader, nothing wrong with that. Fits alongside the likes of Melo, Durant, and Curry, as top players that shouldn't ever be expected to be a team's main leader.

[LFC_1981]

LAAAAAAKERS won a pre season game, without Ball too.

[Romeo Sensini]

Embiid has been given a max contact. I don't get the timing at all.

[elsewhere]

Embiid has been given a max contact. I don't get the timing at all.

Exactly. Why not let him play out the year and either match him in RFA or offer him the 5 if other teams are willing to max? Not sure why they are in a hurry to pay him off 31 games. And i am one of his biggest fans out there.

[Shaved Crossbar]

Shame about his injuries because he's the best talent in the NBA. I love Giannis and you can't argue with Towns but Embiid is special as fuck.

Already given my views on OKC (I think they'll be great, certified top 4) but I'm slightly more interested in the Rockets. Kevin O'Connor's article at the Ringer gives some reasonable analysis but in summary, you're looking at a team of snipers and defenders, run by two hall of fame point guards. Everyone knows their role and everyone is gonna score heavily on catch and shoot, except the Cs and Tucker (who gives immense intangibles+D anyway). Beating the Warriors is nearly impossible but the Rockets have done just about as well as anyone could without LeBron. I really did think that they could have got Paul George and ideally kept Beverly but that's a dream scenario.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Kawhi uncertain that he will start in the first couple of games, but rather he be fully healthy and ready to go then aggrivate injury further.

Very excited for the new season.

[elsewhere]

Jusuf Nurkic Expecting To Become RFA In 2018

Clippers Didn't Shop DeAndre Jordan In Offseason

Joel Embiid Planned To Stay At Kansas For Sophomore Season

Suns Sign Tidjan Keita

Heat Sign Tony Mitchell, Waive Larry Drew II

Grizzlies To Retire Tony Allen's No. 9 Jersey

Bucks Waive Xavier Munford

Lakers Sign Travis Wear

Nets Sign Tahjere McCall, Kamari Murphy, Waive Milton Doyle, Jeremy Senglin, Akil Mitchell

Nets Exercise 18-19 Options On Hollis-Jefferson, D'Angelo Russell, Caris LeVert

Tilman Fertitta: You Shouldn't Pay Luxury Tax Unless Team Reaches Finals

Glenn Robinson III Out Two Months With Ankle Surgery

Suns Waive Anthony Bennett, Peter Jok

Thunder Sign Yannis Morin, Chris Wright

Cavaliers Waive Edy Tavares

Thunder Waive Bryce Alford, Markel Brown, Rashawn Thomas

Cavaliers Sign Isaac Hamilton

Andrew Wiggins Agrees Upon Five-Year, $146.5M Extension With Wolves

Isaiah Thomas Believes He Should Have Sat Out Playoffs

Raptors Sign Davion Berry

Knicks Sign Trey Burke

Jordan Brand Discontinuing Carmelo Anthony's Signature Shoe

76ers Have Limited Protections In Contract With Joel Embiid

Heat Sign DeAndre Liggins

[elsewhere]

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2017/09/29/detroit-pistons-stan-van-gundy-nba-draft-lottery/717856001/

Pistons' Stan Van Gundy: Eliminate NBA draft, max contracts

Stan Van Gundy doesn't have a strong opinion about lottery reform.

But he does have ideas on how to improve the NBA that go beyond addressing tanking.

But if the league truly wants to create more parity, the Detroit Pistons team president and coach proposed radical changes Friday after the Pistons' practice.

NBA power rankings: Where do the Pistons stack up?

Is there interest in possible Cavs contract dump?

Eliminate the draft and maximum contracts.

“I’d get rid of it, just get rid of the draft altogether,” Van Gundy said when asked lottery reform. "We’d just deal with the salary cap. Make all (rookies) free agents coming in and if I want to go give a guy $50 million a year, good, but I got to do it under the cap.

“I think if you did that and you had no individual max on players, we’d start to get some parity in the league, but the league really doesn’t want parity. They want the super teams, and I get that. It’s worked well, business-wise.”

By a 28-1-1 vote (the Pistons voted yes), the NBA Board of Governors approved draft lottery reform Thursday in an attempt to curtail tanking.

The three highest lottery seeds will now each have a 14% chance of getting the top pick, and each team slotted 4-14 will now have a slightly higher chance of winning the top spot than before. The number of picks determined by the lottery will also increase from three to four.

The system begins with the 2019 draft.

Back to Van Gundy’s ideas.

He admits there are probably unintended consequences, but it’s clear he has thought a lot about the subject.

Wouldn’t the top rookies flock to the destination markets?

Not if those destinations are near the cap and can only offer substantially less than a team with significant cap room.

“They say everybody would want to go to L.A., well how much money are they going to give up to go to those places?” Van Gundy said.

Van Gundy’s idea takes a sledgehammer to the current setup where the top players and young players under rookie scale deals have salaries artificially depressed, leaving a huge slice of the pie for mid-tier veterans.

Van Gundy said the existence of maximum contracts creates super teams, like the Golden State Warriors.

Superstar Kevin Durant was praised this summer when he took “less” in accepting a two-year, $51-million contract to remain with the Warriors, leaving $9 million on the table this season.

More: Andre Drummond's focus, energy have been 'outstanding'

But without max contracts, Durant could easily get a deal worth north of $40 million per season.

“Is he (Durant) going to give up $25 million a year to keep the team (Warriors) together? Hell, no,” Van Gundy said to laughter.

“Nobody’s going to buy a ticket to see the first guy off the bench. I have great love and respect for those guys, but I’m just saying it would be a fairer system, we’d get parity in the league and then the draft picks would be out there. Fit them under your cap.”

As for lottery reform, Van Gundy isn’t concerned about it because the Pistons won’t tank while he’s around.

“I don’t even worry about that stuff,” Van Gundy said. “We’re not a team that’s ever going to try to maneuver into higher picks anyway so it really doesn’t matter to me. Before we do that, somebody else will be coaching. It’s hard enough for me to lose. I’m not going to try to lose.

“It might be easy on a front office, but it’s never easy on a coach.”

[Doc Red]

Someexcellent points from a solid argument by Van Gundy.

[Romeo Sensini]

I still prefer the draft. I wouldn't mind seeing a single homegrown/hometown slot that can be used once during its contract duration. It would allow teams to sign a local player for a decent contact if the team and player agree to the deal. If the player doesn't want to sign, they go into the draft. Let's say the Lakers used the slot on Harden (from LA) in 2009, they would not be able to use the slot until that rookie contract ran out. So in 2010, Paul George (also from LA) could sign for the Clippers on the slot, or go into the draft. The Lakers slot is filled.

It wouldn't be totally fair with certain markets producing better quantities of talent and what would be defined as homegrown could turn into a nightmare (birthplace, HS, college, how far from a city, etc).

[Fiasco]

6 minutes into the season and Gordon Hayward has snapped his lower leg/ankle. Fucking horrific injury.

[LiverLuke]

just saw a replay and i wish i hadn't. definitely not for the squeamish.

[MattyBoy21]

Absolutely horrible. Poor guy.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Reminded me of Djibril's leg break [x2], except his is much lower, sickening, gutted for the lad.

[Romeo Sensini]

Absolutely awful. Hopefully he fully recovers. Can't believe TNT cut to him when he was on the ground.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Absolutely awful. Hopefully he fully recovers. Can't believe TNT cut to him when he was on the ground.

They had no idea initially.

It has been confirmed that it's a fractured ankle, not leg. So could be good news.

[Anywhichwayicant]

Jesus that was rough to watch. Wish him a speedy and full recovery.

How long do we reckon he's gone for?

[IndianRed]

Jesus that was rough to watch. Wish him a speedy and full recovery.

How long do we reckon he's gone for?

I think Hayward making a return after the All Star break would be the best case scenario for the Celtics. Worst case we're probably looking at next season for him. And needless to say, I hope he makes a full and fast recovery.

[Romeo Sensini]

Jesus that was rough to watch. Wish him a speedy and full recovery.

How long do we reckon he's gone for?

He done for the season of course. I would imagine he is going to get screws and a plate. Hopefully his ligaments are intact and didn't break both the tibia and fibula. Probably will have stability problems with that leg for the rest of his career.

[Daniel Cabbaggio]

God almighty that was horrific. Wish him and all the best. If you havent seen it, i wouldn't going searching for it

Is that the Celtics done do you's reckon?

[Fiasco]

God almighty that was horrific. Wish him and all the best. If you havent seen it, i wouldn't going searching for it

Is that the Celtics done do you's reckon?

They'll make the play offs but unless Hayward has a speedy recovery they aren't doing anything in them.

[Lastrador]

Fuck, that was rough and unlucky as hell.

[b_joseph]

Its not haha funny..but funny in a ''the world is strange'' kind of way, that so many have spoken about the warriors ( namely steph ) picking up an injury to help another team challenge them.
And then this happens.

Hopefully he'll make a full recovery though. Excellent player, good dude. Massive chance for kyrie to show his credentials.

[Fiasco]

Boston have taken the lead early in the 4th! They've battled hard here.

[Daniel Cabbaggio]

thats it done now methinks... shame