The NBA Thread

Giddey eventually re-signs at the Bulls. Assuming they met at the middle and maybe there was word the market wouldn’t entirely be hot come next FA. But it was what I was expecting taking out of account Aus media bias..
Seems like it was a bit of an exercise to get away from a championship calibre team when he may have been on a bit less then what he was on now and stayed and still probably could have gotten a better deal down the road in a few years with a ring in hand
 
On one hand, overreacting to pre-season is foolish.

On the other, the Spurs are about to be the first team to ever go undefeated through a whole season.
 
I watch next to no preseason games most years.
Unless there’s a rookie worth watching
Summer League usually does the trick and garners that hype. This year there was Eurobasket (the junior finals were a good watch too) find it interesting a lot of youth coaches complain about all the zone they play and there was plenty of it, being played properly it’s a switching man and teaches to defend assignments as both an individual and a team.
Oh and despite the lesser talent the Asian cup final was a decent watch too.

Anyway that Durant contract makes it worth the trade alone, took a very generous discount and even if one of both years are a bit injury riddled it’s not ridiculous and doesn’t hamper the team either way.

The Kuminga deal makes it almost tradeable if they decide to blow it up or he cashes in once the older heads retire.

Portland did well to get Camara and Sharpe on not so ridiculous contracts and done early.

Keegan Murray, quite a big deal for a guy who isn’t a totally finished product offensively and not as known for playmaking, yes he’s a two way guy in a way but if he ups his shooting and grows in the trajectory others have it’ll be worth it. Plus the Kings don’t really have a choice atm but to sign their talent, it’s still an investment in ceiling and potential.
Worst case the player option is an anchor and his growth stalls. We’ll see

Still gonna be an interesting FA class next summer. One of those dominoes fall depending on whether Lebron goes around another year nor not. Maybe he will take a pay cut in his final year(s)
 
That Camara contract is one of the best in the league, at a team which already has one of the other best contacts (Deni Avdija).

Just too bad that they also have a few of the worst contracts + no true franchise centrepiece.
 
Season predictions:

Champion: Denver Nuggets
Losing finalist: New York Knicks
Finals MVP: Nikola Jokic (shocker)

MVP: I really want to say Victor Wembanyama now but this would be intellectually dishonest - I thought Luka Doncic two days ago and will stick with that.
DPOY: Victor Wembanyama
Rookie: Cooper Flagg
6th Man: Josh Hart
Most improved player: Bennedict Mathurin
Clutch player: Luka Doncic
Coach: Jamahl Mosley
 
It's already shaping up to be a cracking season if the opening games are anything to go by.
Since they preached so much about Shai and 68 wins It's going to be an uphill battle for someone like Luka playing without Lebron for a month. Maybe Lebron is still a bit sour about the Lakers 'moving on' without him that he's taking his time easing into this season without a care in world and reminding everyone of his value. Okay now to take off my tin foil conspiracy theory hat...

Wemby....Spurs playing the long game aka grown man strength catching up. I think Kidd pigeonholing Flagg into the 1 is concerning, unless he thinks he can get some Giannis early point years outta him, otherwise it's gonna be a mess.
And back to Wemby, just highlight after highlight. He's really cleaned up on some of his poorer tendencies with more efficient and deliberate movements, cross overs, lobs etc.
Before you could get a wing to guard him effectively by crowding the space, But he has already showed his passing skills when facing up in high post during Year 1. So maybe defenses will need to come double from his blind side. Most likely his next challenge. Actually I can see teams chopping him and not making them look like fouls, doubles etc. We'll see.
Really just gave AD a bath, not that you should expect AD to handle him one on one, at the Lakers Lebron, Dwight, Javale or other big men to cover him. Lively is not ready for that yet. Gafford can do more.
And lastly, the handles, for a big guy his size, just exceptional...he did show signs of it as a youth player in France that said.
 
Okay feeling better about my Luka Doncic MVP pick 😮 good gravy. Dude is on a mission and I think LeBron is going to miss a lot of games this year. He could average a 35 point triple double.
 
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3rd game rookie. I know +/- is flawed but I think it genuinely captures his impact on the result this morning. If the Spurs didn't get him in the draft this year they're 1 and 2 rather than 3 and 0.

Giving Harper to a team with Wemby on it is going to be like turning cheats on in 2K. He's so god damned good this kid. He looked like a generational rim pressure guy & playmaker in college and it's translating to the league instantly. Since LeBron the only better lead ball handler prospect on draft day since him has been Luka Doncic IMO. Better prospect than Cade, Kyrie, Ben Simmons, etc etc. You name any of them, and besides Luka I'm taking this kid. Special special talent.
 
Extremely generous of LeBron and Luka to miss time and drive up Austin Reaves’ value lol
 
It’s wild how well the Hornets play without Ball, just not the biggest team player and known for being a highlights reel.
 
Takes too many easy shots, seen plenty of occasions when you don’t allow him to get to the rim and force a mid range it’s almost ab automatic miss but it will be interesting to see the chemistry with White back
 
I’m working on a take and it’s the Giddey vs Cade take. I’ve been a long long time Cade skeptic/hater and I may have the perfect avatar now for this hate. I’ll check back in when we have a bigger sample size this season.
 
Cade is the lock #1 option for the Pistons but you can’t say the same there at the Bulls with Giddey with Buzelis (who I think has the higher ceiling and better handles) and White. It’s a weird mix of talent at the Bulls plus the new draft picks too. Dosunmu is a bit the forgotten man as well.
A lot of the Aus media are overreacting with All Star hype but let’s pump the brakes on that for the time being. Plenty of guys will get in ahead of him at the moment.

Man I know Kyrie is out but what a disaster it’s been for the Mavs with Klay being a bit washed up and on managed minutes (some talk of a trade). No way Nico will allow it but you have to ask if they fired him tomorrow or in 12 months time would someone start building around Flagg as it is looking like it’s the best option for the franchise.
Only problem is ADs declining value as time goes on with age/injuries. And they’ve commited to Kyrie
 
Giddey wouldn’t get within cooee of All Star in the West, but in the East I think it’s realistic. Both counting stats and advanced stats love him and the team is winning. If they’re top 4 in the East coming into All Star break I honestly think he’s got great odds. Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey, Jalen Brunson are locks. One more guard spot and two wildcards. He’s got a great chance.
 
The supposed new format (not confirmed but speculated) is that it'll be 3 teams of 8 players in a round robin tournament: 2 USA teams and 1 international team. That works in his favour. Giannis, Luka, Wemby, Shai, Jokic all guarantees if healthy. After that you've got Giddey, Sengun at the front of the pack with a few others in the mix (Siakam, Lauri, Embiid if healthy, Gobert if they care about defence, Anunoby if they care about my feelings). Giddey could be a lock as well if he continues what he's doing.
 
If Simmons could do it…but Simmons obviously has far better honours, on top of better season in those all star runs, ROY, Rookie first Team, multiple all defence first team, All third team which is still far way a pipe dream for Giddey.

In the East you also have Jaylen brown, Trae Young (assuming he’s healthy by then) Lamelo Ball who is always a lock because he’s the type of guy you want in those sorts of games but he’s always usually injured by then lol.

Going back to Wemby for a bit, and the next challenge for Wembanyama, as season progresses and defense work. Some interesting ones with Heat having Davion Mitchell and Lakers having James Jr being the primary defender for a possession or two, with the double then coming. A few decent struggles with the Spurs’ offense struggling with some of the “exotic” looks they’ve gotten from defenses. The biggest thing is creating for himself, but the more reps, the better for him. It's just really a race until his experience catches up.

Today though it was interesting how the Spurs solved zone was the bigger thing for me. Because Rockets went to it a lot this game. By crunch time, Spurs were offensive rebounding like they were the Rockets.

On the Rockets, Reed sheppard. Slowly warming to him, I can understand the Steph draft comparisons. Just needs more grown man strength in due time.
 
Yeah I’m not too worried about Wemby’s struggles in the last couple once Harper went down.

The net rating with Wemby and Harper on the floor and Castle on the bench was +25 so far, and that’s without them having much P&R chemistry ATM… you glue your best perimeter defender on Wemby, that means you’re likely going to end up with either a big or a small guard on Harper, both player types he’s a mismatch against. But stick your best POA wing on Harper and there’s a good chance you’re giving up a mismatch against Wemby.

This same mismatch stuff doesn’t exist with Castle who’s very much a bully ball guy and teams can neutralise him a bit by sticking the big on him.

Castle I think they started the season handing the starting PG reins to in a very Spursy “give him this job to sharpen up his playmaking generally” way, and I found it notable that in the clutch he went back to playing his most effective role last year as a Swiss Army knife connective playmaker/screener/off ball playmaker like a Josh Hart/Bruce Brown or if we’re really feeling ourselves about his potential, Jimmy Butler/Jrue Holiday. I think he’s going to settle into being mostly a 2/3 who plays a bit of PG when needed & a lot of that chat about how the Spurs would regret the De’Aaron Fox trade was actually misguided… oh between Fox and Harper we’ll have 48 minutes of elite point guard play, and the sixth man PG can just as easily slot into the two? Oh nooooo…
 
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