NBA Thread

Well that sucked. Dud ending to an otherwise great series and playoffs

Feel horrible for Hali. Can't imagine going out that way amid a historic playoff run

Congrats to OKC though. Happy to see them get one
 
Domino injury impact (Haliburton and Tatum) let alone aging Lebron, Curry, Harden - All NBA 3rd team spots open potentially enabling more/different supermax contracts - perhaps Banchero or Maxey? Wemby, if healthy, as DPOY some time soon seems all but certain.
 
Here's what bugs me. Back in the 90s, you had a bunch of NBA superstars who acted like what we would currently call "thugs," and the league was at its peak of popularity. Does anyone but me remember those Pistons-Bulls-Knicks-Pacers series?

Now, we have a league full of stars who are, by all objective measures, with the exception of Jordan and Magic, more talented than ANY of those players in the 90s, but who treat each other with respect and are almost always classy to a fault. And yet, the prevailing cultural view is that the current NBA is "ghetto."

I don't think it's the NBA that has changed. If anything, the league has improved. It's our society that has regressed.
 
I actually think the Nipple was a great pick for Charlotte and will really help them (also loved McNeeley at 29), but I'm just not sure I can be convinced that in a draft with a clear top three, and an overwhelmingly clear #1 pick, the league didn't make sure the Mavs, the Spurs and the Sixers got the first three picks.
 
lawtig02 said:
I actually think the Nipple was a great pick for Charlotte and will really help them (also loved McNeeley at 29), but I'm just not sure I can be convinced that in a draft with a clear top three, and an overwhelmingly clear #1 pick, the league didn't make sure the Mavs, the Spurs and the Sixers got the first three picks.
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Just a thought. If the draft is fixed, why do the other owners go along?
 
Granville said:
Just a thought. If the draft is fixed, why do the other owners go along?
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I totally get it. Lots of reasons to doubt it. But between the inexplicable Luka trade, the Lakers then being sold, and the Mavs then getting extraordinarily lucky to get one of the best prospects in recent years, it's just so hard to think it's all random. And that on top of other things in recent years, including the Pelicans getting the first pick right after the NBA bought them.
 
The Luka trade was not incomprehensible. Maybe it was dumb. I don't know. But I think the NBA Finals was a ringing endorsement of the idea that Luka is not a superstar in today's game. He's great on offense, but he doesn't make his teammates much better -- but he's fat and out of shape.

Would you want to give a supermax contract to a fat guy when the team you have to beat plays at light speed? I wouldn't. Could they have gotten more for Luka? Maybe. But the haul they got included Anthony Davis, and if they were looking for a defensive-minded star plus picks, what was the market? Who could they trade with other than the Lakers?

I know the deal has been widely panned, and maybe it was dumb. But it wasn't incomprehensible, in my view. The NBA gets faster and faster, and Luka gets older and older.
 
superrific said:
The Luka trade was not incomprehensible. Maybe it was dumb. I don't know. But I think the NBA Finals was a ringing endorsement of the idea that Luka is not a superstar in today's game. He's great on offense, but he doesn't make his teammates much better -- but he's fat and out of shape.

Would you want to give a supermax contract to a fat guy when the team you have to beat plays at light speed? I wouldn't. Could they have gotten more for Luka? Maybe. But the haul they got included Anthony Davis, and if they were looking for a defensive-minded star plus picks, what was the market? Who could they trade with other than the Lakers?

I know the deal has been widely panned, and maybe it was dumb. But it wasn't incomprehensible, in my view. The NBA gets faster and faster, and Luka gets older and older.
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Semantics. It’s defensible only in a logical sense, but not in a real world sense. You get a guy like that in a market like that who’s SOOOO loved by the fans and is the second coming of their savior, Dirk… and you’re stuck with him for better or worse. Chubby or not. And even if Flagg turns out to be the third coming of Dirk, Nico will never be forgiven for trading Luka and it will be remembered (fairly or unfairly) as one of the worst trades in NBA history, if not THE worst.
 
duluoz said:
Semantics. It’s defensible only in a logical sense, but not in a real world sense. You get a guy like that in a market like that who’s SOOOO loved by the fans and is the second coming of their savior, Dirk… and you’re stuck with him for better or worse. Chubby or not. And even if Flagg turns out to be the third coming of Dirk, Nico will never be forgiven for trading Luka and it will be remembered (fairly or unfairly) as one of the worst trades in NBA history, if not THE worst.
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It's definitely not the worst. For one thing, the SGA-> Thunder trade was worse. The Clippers gave up the best player and like four first rounders. The Knicks and Wolves had some doozy trades back in the day, and the Cavs in the early 80s were so bad they created a rule (Stepien Rule) to stop them from being ultra-stupid.

I am considering it only in a basketball sense. yes, if you look at it from a fan loyalty perspective, it's different and worse.

It's not so incomprehensible as to be evidence of a conspiracy.
 
superrific said:
It's definitely not the worst. For one thing, the SGA-> Thunder trade was worse. The Clippers gave up the best player and like four first rounders. The Knicks and Wolves had some doozy trades back in the day, and the Cavs in the early 80s were so bad they created a rule (Stepien Rule) to stop them from being ultra-stupid.

I am considering it only in a basketball sense. yes, if you look at it from a fan loyalty perspective, it's different and worse.

It's not so incomprehensible as to be evidence of a conspiracy.
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I don't think the Clippers had any idea what they were giving up in that deal.
 
lawtig02 said:
I don't think the Clippers had any idea what they were giving up in that deal.
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yeah, SGA was traded in july coming off of a rookie season where he averaged @ 10ppg in 27mpg and finished 6th in ROY voting. all rookie 2nd team. decent shooting splits.

while he clearly had some promise it was not even remotely clear that he was going to be an all-star let alone on this type of career trajectory.

credit to sam presti for seeing the vision.
 
4thgenheel said:
yeah, SGA was traded in july coming off of a rookie season where he averaged @ 10ppg in 27mpg and finished 6th in ROY voting. all rookie 2nd team. decent shooting splits.

while he clearly had some promise it was not even remotely clear that he was going to be an all-star let alone on this type of career trajectory.

credit to sam presti for seeing the vision.
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Presti wanted the best assets he could pull from the Clippers. The Clippers wanted Kawhi. There was real risk Kawhi would go to the Lakers. Kawhi demanded Paul George. Presti demanded everything. The Clippers (and everyone else) thought Kawhi plus Paul George would yield multiple championships. No one anywhere expected SGA to be a league MVP. It's kind of a no brainer for the Clippers at that point, really.
 
Depends on whether we're calling a trade the worst in hindsight or how it was perceived at the time

At the time nobody was scoffing at SGA and all those picks for PG + Kawhi

I called the Rudy Gobert trade to MIN the worst of all time
 
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Pretty amazing, but TBH, this loses a lot of points by using what appears to be a photo from the Blue Devils in a losing effort in the Final Four for this mock-up.
 
nycfan said:


Pretty amazing, but TBH, this loses a lot of points by using what appears to be a photo from the Blue Devils in a losing effort in the Final Four for this mock-up.
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Is that where the upper photo is from?

The Brotherhood losing in the Final Four?

Credit for
making the Final Four. We didn’t.

LOL at using such a photo to attempt a claim at “we’re badasses!”
 
nycfan said:


Pretty amazing, but TBH, this loses a lot of points by using what appears to be a photo from the Blue Devils in a losing effort in the Final Four for this mock-up.
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That picture tells me that Charlotte is going to continue to suck. :cool:
 
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