The NBA Thread

[Inqui]

7 hours ago, rmw10 said:

C and J?

[Deflated Football]

28 minutes ago, redrum52 said:

I've heard they use it as a mask for other PEDs.

True. I don't want to derail this thread. If you guys have anymore questions you can just PM me, but the past is the past! My boy D'Angelo Russell is balling so far this summer!!! 

Edited July 14, 2016 by Deflated Football

[redrum52]

3 hours ago, Deflated Football said:

True. I don't want to derail this thread. If you guys have anymore questions you can just PM me, but the past is the past! My boy D'Angelo Russell is balling so far this summer!!! 

This thread was derailed when KD went to GS.  No reason to talk BBall.

 

 Anyway, Russell has stepped up and seems more aggressive.  No idea what to expect from the Knicks, but the games should be enjoyable.

[BmoreBird22]

Adam Silver spoke out against KD going to GS (he kept saying he wasn't targeting that directly, but he defintiely was) and said the NBA has to do a better job of finding a way to balance teams so there is no repeat of KD to the Warriors.

[Deflated Football]

12 hours ago, redrum52 said:

This thread was derailed when KD went to GS.  No reason to talk BBall.

 

 Anyway, Russell has stepped up and seems more aggressive.  No idea what to expect from the Knicks, but the games should be enjoyable.

I could see the Knicks sneaking in to the playoffs this year but LeBron will own the conference until he's injured or retires 

[Deflated Football]

1 hour ago, BmoreBird22 said:

Adam Silver spoke out against KD going to GS (he kept saying he wasn't targeting that directly, but he defintiely was) and said the NBA has to do a better job of finding a way to balance teams so there is no repeat of KD to the Warriors.

I don't mind it. If Boston, Miami and more currently the Cavs can create super teams, who really cares? Golden State was going to take care of the West for the foreseeable future anyways without Durant. He wants a championship and he went to the best situation he could possibly find. Thunder hit a plateau. Why would he go somewhere else with lesser talent to try and "rebuild" when he knows what he wants? Not saying this to you directly, BmoreBird22, just thinking out loud since I've yet to comment about the KD2GS topic on this thread. I have a TON of respect for Westbrook now, though. If he doesn't get traded, he's going to be an absolute monster for OKC next season. 

[BmoreBird22]

2 hours ago, Deflated Football said:

I don't mind it. If Boston, Miami and more currently the Cavs can create super teams, who really cares? Golden State was going to take care of the West for the foreseeable future anyways without Durant. He wants a championship and he went to the best situation he could possibly find. Thunder hit a plateau. Why would he go somewhere else with lesser talent to try and "rebuild" when he knows what he wants? Not saying this to you directly, BmoreBird22, just thinking out loud since I've yet to comment about the KD2GS topic on this thread. I have a TON of respect for Westbrook now, though. If he doesn't get traded, he's going to be an absolute monster for OKC next season. 

The thing is, teams like Celtics, Heat, Cavs, etc did it with a big three and some role players, but nothing where we could say they have three of the top 10 players in the NBA (KD, Clay, Curry), arguably the three best players at their positions, and then another really great player (Draymond Green, who has improved every year he's been in the league), and a great sixth man in Andre Iguadala.

Adam Silver actually tried to prevent this from happening by having the cap raise gradually, but teams denied it and basically demanded the full $20M at once. Had the cap risen gradually, this move would not have happened.

It's also crappy because he bypassed the Bird rules (that's the name, right?) by signing a two year contract.

I still think the Spurs are a really strong team (and probably will be as long as they have Popavich) and weren't the Thunder pulling off some pretty good trades?

I've said this before, but the move feels weak and created a team like nothing I've seen since I started watching basketball, which we'll say was around 2009. This is probably one of the most stacked teams in NBA history. I know Scotty Pippen said the Bulls could have beat the Warriors last year, but this team feels like it truly could have the best starting line-up ever and have beaten the Bulls. The only thing is they're sacrificing depth on this team.

[usmccharles]

I am interested to see how KD works in GS with them losing so much of their depth.  GS didn't have one player average in the top 20 for minutes per game, hell, they didn't even need Curry for the first two rounds basically.  I think their margin of error shrank so and KD is definitely a great addition, but the team already won 73 games...cant get that much better

[DomMcRaven]

7 hours ago, Deflated Football said:

I don't mind it. If Boston, Miami and more currently the Cavs can create super teams, who really cares? Golden State was going to take care of the West for the foreseeable future anyways without Durant. He wants a championship and he went to the best situation he could possibly find. Thunder hit a plateau. Why would he go somewhere else with lesser talent to try and "rebuild" when he knows what he wants? Not saying this to you directly, BmoreBird22, just thinking out loud since I've yet to comment about the KD2GS topic on this thread. I have a TON of respect for Westbrook now, though. If he doesn't get traded, he's going to be an absolute monster for OKC next season. 

True.....until he's traded. 

[Deflated Football]

55 minutes ago, DomMcRaven said:

True.....until he's traded. 

Wish he would come back home 

[Inqui]

6 hours ago, BmoreBird22 said:

The thing is, teams like Celtics, Heat, Cavs, etc did it with a big three and some role players, but nothing where we could say they have three of the top 10 players in the NBA (KD, Clay, Curry), arguably the three best players at their positions, and then another really great player (Draymond Green, who has improved every year he's been in the league), and a great sixth man in Andre Iguadala.

Adam Silver actually tried to prevent this from happening by having the cap raise gradually, but teams denied it and basically demanded the full $20M at once. Had the cap risen gradually, this move would not have happened.

It's also crappy because he bypassed the Bird rules (that's the name, right?) by signing a two year contract.

I still think the Spurs are a really strong team (and probably will be as long as they have Popavich) and weren't the Thunder pulling off some pretty good trades?

I've said this before, but the move feels weak and created a team like nothing I've seen since I started watching basketball, which we'll say was around 2009. This is probably one of the most stacked teams in NBA history. I know Scotty Pippen said the Bulls could have beat the Warriors last year, but this team feels like it truly could have the best starting line-up ever and have beaten the Bulls. The only thing is they're sacrificing depth on this team.

I'm no cap expert (so someone can correct me if I'm wrong), but his Bird rights meant that OKC (the team that drafted him) could give him an extra year (so they could go to five years, where every other side was maxed at four), give him an incremental pay rise each year that other teams weren't able to offer, and could make his contract the last they sign over the offseason so they could go over the cap and still give him the max deal. It's basically a set of incentives to make it easier to a team to retain the players they draft, but it doesn't do anything to keep a player around if they really want to go somewhere else.

[Inqui]

16 minutes ago, Deflated Football said:

Wish he would come back home 

If he goes to LA I think the other team is a more likely destination, being that they're the third best team in the west (at worst) so they'd be title competitors from day one, as opposed to having to wait to see how good Russell, Ingram and Randle get. Supposedly the Celtics are interested in a trade, which would be interesting because the Thunder are apparently playing hardball. It'd be funny if the Celtics gave up a king's ransom to rent him out for a season and then he left anyway.

But iirc the Thunder won 45 games when Durant was out for most of the season a couple of years ago, so Westbrook alone is still enough for a team to at least make some noise.

[Deflated Football]

18 minutes ago, Inqui said:

If he goes to LA I think the other team is a more likely destination, being that they're the third best team in the west (at worst) so they'd be title competitors from day one, as opposed to having to wait to see how good Russell, Ingram and Randle get. Supposedly the Celtics are interested in a trade, which would be interesting because the Thunder are apparently playing hardball. It'd be funny if the Celtics gave up a king's ransom to rent him out for a season and then he left anyway.

But iirc the Thunder won 45 games when Durant was out for most of the season a couple of years ago, so Westbrook alone is still enough for a team to at least make some noise.

I would involve Russell and Randle in that trade. Ingram has the potential to be the next Durant. But yea, it's hard to imagine Westbrook in another jersey, though I said the same thing about LeBron and KD lol

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

First of all. This warriors team would have no way of stopping most of the 80s teams. The two that could beat them are the showtime lakers and the bad boys in Detroit would rough them up. Not to mention, the Bulls from the 90s with Pippen and Rodman could beat them.

 

showtime with Worthy rather than Wilkes. Let's use 1985 as an example. Assuming all parties are healthy. You had hall of famers in Magic Johnson, Kareem, who you could argue is the greatest player ever, James Worthy who even as a rookie was good, Jamall Wilkes who's one of the smoothest players ever along with being a great defender, Bob Mcadoo coming off the bench as the sixth man. Then you had key role players in Micheal Cooper, one of the greatest defensive point guards ever, Kurt Rambis and Kupchack who were enforcers, and Byron Scott who was there sharp shooter.

 

Showtime lakers could bring out an lineup of Cooper at PG, Scott, Wilkes at small forward, Magic at power forward, and Kareem at center, still have magic run the offense, and have worthy and company come off the bench to play great defense.

That would be going up against

curry, Tomphson, Durant, Green, and Pachulla or whoever he is. 

Cooper was a hall of fame caliber defender. If curry struggled with Dellavadova then Cooper is going to give the guy hell. Tomphson plays Byron who's admitantly a better player, but still a good defender so the matchup isn't easy. Durant> Wilkes but Wilkes was a great defender as well. Makes it hard. Draymond would stop magic from scoring but magic regularly beat most in passing where he was unstoppable... And nobody could stop Kareem. At all, he was a guy who literally scored at will even that late into his career. Warriors bench presents some problems, but they'd still have to contend with Worthy and Mcadoo who outclass everybody on the Warriors bench. 

 

That at team was a great defensive team and was unstoppable in transition. Warriors may have a better starting lineup but they have no way of slowing down magic and Kareem let alone stopping them whilst they could cause problems for Curry

[BmoreBird22]

8 hours ago, Inqui said:

I'm no cap expert (so someone can correct me if I'm wrong), but his Bird rights meant that OKC (the team that drafted him) could give him an extra year (so they could go to five years, where every other side was maxed at four), give him an incremental pay rise each year that other teams weren't able to offer, and could make his contract the last they sign over the offseason so they could go over the cap and still give him the max deal. It's basically a set of incentives to make it easier to a team to retain the players they draft, but it doesn't do anything to keep a player around if they really want to go somewhere else.

From what I was reading, you are right on the years (four vs five) and the team he was drafted to is able to offer like 10% increasing increments vs 5% increasing. Something weird like that, but I have never heard of the rule, so I have no idea if that's right or not on my end.

That rule was never going to help KD because next year he'll have accrued ten years in the NBA and if he opts out, then he can sign the maximum allowed by the league for any player since he'll reach that veteran status tier. Essentially, KD is going to play for one year with the Warriors (probably win a ring), but likely won't return next year if I had to guess, since Steph Curry will then be a FA looking for his max deal and that's gonna jack up their salary cap since he's playing on a 4yr/$44M right now. 

They're really fortunate Klay Thompson is secured for like four more years (signed way too early, so I wonder if they give him a pay bump) and Draymond for around the same. They'd be in a world of trouble if that weren't the case.

[DomMcRaven]

23 hours ago, Deflated Football said:

Wish he would come back home 

It is very possible he could. I just get the feeling he'll be a free agent after OKC doesn't trade him for whatever reason. Just my thoughts. 

[Inqui]

22 hours ago, Deflated Football said:

I would involve Russell and Randle in that trade. Ingram has the potential to be the next Durant. But yea, it's hard to imagine Westbrook in another jersey, though I said the same thing about LeBron and KD lol

Apparently OKC's asking price for Westbrook is insanely high so I think they'd ask for more than Russell and Randle - and it would fit their MO to date. But from Westbrook's perspective, if he leaves OKC as a FA he'll be in win-now mode and I don't think the Lakers can offer that. Ingram may well be the next Durant (though the usual caveats for draft picks apply), but there's obviously a difference between second-year Durant and tenth-year Durant and I don't think Westbrook will have the time or interest in waiting around for Ingram to hit his ceiling, so that's why I think the Clippers make more sense. They'll be title contenders straight off the bat with him.

[Deflated Football]

42 minutes ago, Inqui said:

Apparently OKC's asking price for Westbrook is insanely high so I think they'd ask for more than Russell and Randle - and it would fit their MO to date. But from Westbrook's perspective, if he leaves OKC as a FA he'll be in win-now mode and I don't think the Lakers can offer that. Ingram may well be the next Durant (though the usual caveats for draft picks apply), but there's obviously a difference between second-year Durant and tenth-year Durant and I don't think Westbrook will have the time or interest in waiting around for Ingram to hit his ceiling, so that's why I think the Clippers make more sense. They'll be title contenders straight off the bat with him.

No I know, I just meant that I would add them in as well as a couple first rounders. Also, you have a great point, but I would HATE if he went to the Clippers. Maybe the Lakers will sign someone like Blake Griffin or Paul Millsap to persuade Westbrook. They need some superstars ASAP. 

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

So let's play, "teams right now that could potentially beat the KD warriors(in a game... Not in a series. Let's be realistic :P)

 

San Antonio comes to mind. I'm convinced Pop has some magical wizard voodo magic powers. Plus, they have a "LOL" backcourt even without having Tim Duncan on the roster. Leonard is a defensive monster, Aldrige is probably the most offensively skilled power forward in the NBA, and Gasol is still gifted offensively, a great rebounder, and has become a better defender. Not to mention now that have the OG James Harden player who played at power forward: David Lee coming off the bench. All offense, but no defense. Tony Parker is still good at running the show, and then they have Danny Green who's one of the better 3 and D players in the league, Manu coming off the bench as the sixth man, who's not what he used to be but hes still got some skill. Then they have a young gun in Kyle Anderson ready to take the place of the recently departed Diaw who's honestly perfect for their offense. 

 

They wouldn't beat them in a series. But would they give them hell? Oh yeah(barring all things are equal such as health). 

[BmoreBird22]

2 hours ago, LosT_in_TranSlatioN said:

So let's play, "teams right now that could potentially beat the KD warriors(in a game... Not in a series. Let's be realistic :P)

 

San Antonio comes to mind. I'm convinced Pop has some magical wizard voodo magic powers. Plus, they have a "LOL" backcourt even without having Tim Duncan on the roster. Leonard is a defensive monster, Aldrige is probably the most offensively skilled power forward in the NBA, and Gasol is still gifted offensively, a great rebounder, and has become a better defender. Not to mention now that have the OG James Harden player who played at power forward: David Lee coming off the bench. All offense, but no defense. Tony Parker is still good at running the show, and then they have Danny Green who's one of the better 3 and D players in the league, Manu coming off the bench as the sixth man, who's not what he used to be but hes still got some skill. Then they have a young gun in Kyle Anderson ready to take the place of the recently departed Diaw who's honestly perfect for their offense. 

 

They wouldn't beat them in a series. But would they give them hell? Oh yeah(barring all things are equal such as health). 

Assuming the Cavs actually re-sign Thompson and James, the Cavs

[Inqui]

4 hours ago, LosT_in_TranSlatioN said:

So let's play, "teams right now that could potentially beat the KD warriors(in a game... Not in a series. Let's be realistic :P)

 

San Antonio comes to mind. I'm convinced Pop has some magical wizard voodo magic powers. Plus, they have a "LOL" backcourt even without having Tim Duncan on the roster. Leonard is a defensive monster, Aldrige is probably the most offensively skilled power forward in the NBA, and Gasol is still gifted offensively, a great rebounder, and has become a better defender. Not to mention now that have the OG James Harden player who played at power forward: David Lee coming off the bench. All offense, but no defense. Tony Parker is still good at running the show, and then they have Danny Green who's one of the better 3 and D players in the league, Manu coming off the bench as the sixth man, who's not what he used to be but hes still got some skill. Then they have a young gun in Kyle Anderson ready to take the place of the recently departed Diaw who's honestly perfect for their offense. 

 

They wouldn't beat them in a series. But would they give them hell? Oh yeah(barring all things are equal such as health). 

I think last year's Cavs stumbled onto the blueprint for beating the Warriors - play big and physical, slow the game down and make it a 78-76 kinda game - so why they insisted on playing small ball (or more accurately, fast ball) with the Warriors is something I'm still trying to figure out. I feel like they had their best (and most sustainable) success when they had a bit more length.

The Spurs are a very real threat. To add to the points you made, don't sleep on Dewayne Dedmon either - a gritty PF/C and if he cracks the rotation he could have a great stint with them. And like I say, I've joked/exaggerated about it but I don't think a Cavs/Warriors series would be as open and shut as people are making it out to be.

In terms of other matchups, I'm going to be a complete homer and say my Magic could give them some problems (by which I mean at least make them sweat or keep it closer than people expect), especially if Aaron Gordon breaks out and Frank Vogel can replicate with Biyombo and Ibaka what he had in Indiana. I also think Utah can be problematic, and Memphis did really well against them a couple of years ago until they fell apart for stretches. But the too have gotten a lot better and if their core can stay healthy that's another underrated matchup imo.

Edited July 29, 2016 by Inqui

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

Warriors Signed Javale McGee. 

 

TRAGIC BRONSON RETURNS

 

[DomMcRaven]

6 hours ago, LosT_in_TranSlatioN said:

Warriors Signed Javale McGee. 

 

TRAGIC BRONSON RETURNS

 

Good lord. Shaqtin Da Fool on a lot of nationally televised games. Ain't this about a..................

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

10 hours ago, DomMcRaven said:

Good lord. Shaqtin Da Fool on a lot of nationally televised games. Ain't this about a..................

All they need to do now is sign Kendrick Perkins. Then the Warriors will be totally corrupted. 

[Purple_ICE 81]

Haven't been on the boards in a long time and I know I'm quite late hooping on the NBA free agency talk...but after KD left OKC I feel like someone injected my veins with hater-aid. I lost every ounce of respect I had for Durant after he "Avengers Up" with the Warriors, if ya can't beat em join em style. I absolutely hate the new Marvel Team Up format the NBA is going with now a days, something needs to be done before things get out of han....oh wait Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green,  and now KD? Their starting lineup could pass for an all star squad minus a center. Plus they have decent depth with Livingston, David West, and Iguodala, all of which could probably make for effective starters on weaker eastern conference teams. SMH This might be the super team of all super teams. 

 

KD should have signed a 2 year deal with OKC with a player option in yr 2 and gave OKC one more try, I feel like OKC could beat any team in the playoffs/finals with the lineup of Westbrook, Oladipo, KD, Kanter, and Steven Adams with solid options off the bench like Andre Roberson, Ilyasova, and rook Sonatas Sabonis. Add a point guard and bigman to that bench and Thunder could have been 50-60 game winners in the same situation they were in this past season but with upgrades.

But nooo, KD had to roll over and pull a Lebron and do whatever he could possibly do to win a title. Imagine if the NFL was like the NBA, OBJ, and Julio Jones joined the Steelers lol game over.

 

Im hoping for an OKC vs GS season opener, and for Russell Westbrook to drop 40pts , 12reb, 12asst beat the Warriors then after the game just stare down KD with the meanest ugliest stare until KD leaves the arena. 

 

We saw what Westy could do without KD on a much younger/weaker OKC squad in 2014 where he was putting up Oscar Robinson numbers...human triple double and scoring leader, where Steph Robbed his MVP. Westy about to show out this season.

Edited July 30, 2016 by Purple_ICE 81

[redrum52]

7 hours ago, Purple_ICE 81 said:

Haven't been on the boards in a long time and I know I'm quite late hooping on the NBA free agency talk...but after KD left OKC I feel like someone injected my veins with hater-aid. I lost every ounce of respect I had for Durant after he "Avengers Up" with the Warriors, if ya can't beat em join em style. I absolutely hate the new Marvel Team Up format the NBA is going with now a days, something needs to be done before things get out of han....oh wait Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green,  and now KD? Their starting lineup could pass for an all star squad minus a center. Plus they have decent depth with Livingston, David West, and Iguodala, all of which could probably make for effective starters on weaker eastern conference teams. SMH This might be the super team of all super teams. 

 

KD should have signed a 2 year deal with OKC with a player option in yr 2 and gave OKC one more try, I feel like OKC could beat any team in the playoffs/finals with the lineup of Westbrook, Oladipo, KD, Kanter, and Steven Adams with solid options off the bench like Andre Roberson, Ilyasova, and rook Sonatas Sabonis. Add a point guard and bigman to that bench and Thunder could have been 50-60 game winners in the same situation they were in this past season but with upgrades.

But nooo, KD had to roll over and pull a Lebron and do whatever he could possibly do to win a title. Imagine if the NFL was like the NBA, OBJ, and Julio Jones joined the Steelers lol game over.

 

Im hoping for an OKC vs GS season opener, and for Russell Westbrook to drop 40pts , 12reb, 12asst beat the Warriors then after the game just stare down KD with the meanest ugliest stare until KD leaves the arena. 

 

We saw what Westy could do without KD on a much younger/weaker OKC squad in 2014 where he was putting up Oscar Robinson numbers...human triple double and scoring leader, where Steph Robbed his MVP. Westy about to show out this season.

Didn't they miss playoffs?

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

1 hour ago, redrum52 said:

Didn't they miss playoffs?

Yes. But this team is more gelled and possibly better. Oladipo has legit all star potential and isn't a bad player to potentially build a franchise around. Sabonis could be a good PF as well. Adams is more developed and Kanter has become better. This team is better. Not NBA finals caliber good but good enough. 

[redrum52]

10 hours ago, LosT_in_TranSlatioN said:

Yes. But this team is more gelled and possibly better. Oladipo has legit all star potential and isn't a bad player to potentially build a franchise around. Sabonis could be a good PF as well. Adams is more developed and Kanter has become better. This team is better. Not NBA finals caliber good but good enough. 

I really didn't see Durant leaving after that draft trade, but it is what it is.  That team is stacked with or without KD, but they would've been so much better.

[Purple_ICE 81]

18 hours ago, redrum52 said:

Didn't they miss playoffs?

Yea the Thunder missed the playoffs in 2014 by 1 loss got knocked out in favor of the Pelicans, but obviously they were without Durant all year,  and Steven Adams, Kanter, and Andre Roberson and pretty much everyone minus Westy was no where near their 2015-16 form. 

 

Still with the loss of Durant I see  Victor Oladipo as scoring option B,  averaging 15-20+ppg which will sponge up atleast a portion of Durant's production, and I feel like OKC will still be a playoff contender next year. Billy Donovan should be able to put together a 40+ win team if not better.

[Purple_ICE 81]

17 hours ago, LosT_in_TranSlatioN said:

Yes. But this team is more gelled and possibly better. Oladipo has legit all star potential and isn't a bad player to potentially build a franchise around. Sabonis could be a good PF as well. Adams is more developed and Kanter has become better. This team is better. Not NBA finals caliber good but good enough. 

I could see Oladipo or even shockingly enough Steven Adams as an All-star next year, I was absolutely stunned by Adams dominant aggressive play throughout that epic run last season. If he stays healthy he could have a huge impact. And Dipo has a ton of potential too...although I see Westbrook absolutely going off next year. Westbrook Adams and Oladipo should make for a solid poor man's big 3.

 

Westbrook- 28ppg 8asst 7reb

Oladipo- 21ppg

Adams- 15ppg 11reb