2020/21 NBA season + Olympics

Top Dog

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Jeez, miracles never cease. The NBA gave LeBron a warning for flopping after his “hilarious” flop in the Grizzlies game last week.

Next he’ll be called for a travel or a technical for complaining. :rolleyes:

Kuzma got a slap on the wrist too - and watching the replays his was an even more blatant flop :rolleyes:

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

The Celtics are easily the team I’ve watched most of this year but they look terrible.

I was never a fan of the Kemba signing as he was too old to be handing 30m+ off the back of what he did in Charlotte.

Ainge seems to get some free passes on poor decisions but between Horford, Kyrie & Kemba, the potential mistakes look to be piling up.

He can’t be blamed for the Hayward situation and he was right to move him on for Tatum & Browns development but Hayward/Rozier look great in Charlotte now.

Even if you give Kemba a pass for the injury this year and compare Rozier this season to Kemba last season, it reads pretty bad for a Celtics fan as their production is very similar but Rozier is half the price.

The Celtics might need a little bit of a shake up both on & off the court.

Gregk961

Livia Scarce Peppercorn wrote: »

The Celtics are easily the team I’ve watched most of this year but they look terrible.

I was never a fan of the Kemba signing as he was too old to be handing 30m+ off the back of what he did in Charlotte.

Ainge seems to get some free passes on poor decisions but between Horford, Kyrie & Kemba, the potential mistakes look to be piling up.

He can’t be blamed for the Hayward situation and he was right to move him on for Tatum & Browns development but Hayward/Rozier look great in Charlotte now.

Even if you give Kemba a pass for the injury this year and compare Rozier this season to Kemba last season, it reads pretty bad for a Celtics fan as their production is very similar but Rozier is half the price.

The Celtics might need a little bit of a shake up both on & off the court.

For such a well coached team they look very badly coached, if that makes any sense..Static play waiting for Brown, Tatum or Kemba to do something it can be painful to watch. The team looks like a bust to me at this stage, in terms of winning a title at least.

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

Gregk961 wrote: »

For such a well coached team they look very badly coached, if that makes any sense..Static play waiting for Brown, Tatum or Kemba to do something it can be painful to watch. The team looks like a bust to me at this stage, in terms of winning a title at least.

Total sense, I know what you mean, the appearance of productivity without an end product.
Stevens & Ainge have this aura about them that makes it appear as though they're untouchable.

Sometimes I think the Celtics shrewdness in the Nets trade has been over-hyped and they get an incredible amount of free reign because of it.
Even if it is the case, we have to move past it soon and judge them now.

Their +/- puts them at 6th in the East which based on what I've seen lately they will be lucky to end up at. Lots of questions to be answered quite soon.

pjohnson

Cavs now benching Drummond and trying to trade him, they want Allen starting and are naturally happier to keep McGee as backup.

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

pjohnson wrote: »

Cavs now benching Drummond and trying to trade him, they want Allen starting and are naturally happier to keep McGee as backup.

Makes some sense for the Celtics, they're weak at center, linked with Drummond in the past so perhaps they like him and he slots in perfectly to their $28.5m trade exception.
That is of course assuming they send back or move $9m in the opposite direction as hard cap kicks in for them if anyone above $19m is acquired.

Of course they might believe some better player(s) exist especially those on a longer term deal so they might wait it out a little longer.

eagle eye

Gregk961 wrote:

For such a well coached team they look very badly coached, if that makes any sense..Static play waiting for Brown, Tatum or Kemba to do something it can be painful to watch. The team looks like a bust to me at this stage, in terms of winning a title at least.

Yeah, they need to build around Tatum. Kemba has been poor and I don't think that's going to change.
It doesn't look like those three even play well together.

Hopefully the Bulls are having a nosey around Drummond.

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

Deleted User wrote: »

Hopefully the Bulls are having a nosey around Drummond.

I like the idea of him beside Lauri but still high enough on Carter Jr not to impinge on his development.
Carter Jr has been unlucky with injury, I know you mentioned you weren’t high on him though

Gregk961

eagle eye wrote: »

Yeah, they need to build around Tatum. Kemba has been poor and I don't think that's going to change.
It doesn't look like those three even play well together.

I'm not sure if it's those 3 specifically that are the problem, you would think 3 all star caliber players on the court is a recipe for success. You do seem to be right though, they aren't exactly lighting the floor up. They had 6 assists between them last night, that's a horrible return from 3 superstars.

I wouldn't underestimate just how important Smart is to this team either, they could use him right now for sure.

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

Looks like the Pistons are following the same line and sitting Blake. Unless they offer some solid assets nobody is eating that contract.
It’s only one additional year but it’s 39m.

If he’s bought out, I wonder where he lands. You’d have to guess the Lakers as he hardly wants a return to the Clippers but apparently he wants to be back in LA

pjohnson

If that contract gets bought out surely he'd go the Lakers. Perfect timing for both parties and he'd slot in fairly well into the rotation and maybe do what I said yesterday and ease up some of Bron's minutes. Plus with AD struggling again with his achiles he'd be handy to slot in there/alternate with Kuzma.

Just waive one of the non rotational players (McKinnie/Dudley)

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

pjohnson wrote: »

If that contract gets bought out surely he'd go the Lakers. Perfect timing for both parties and he'd slot in fairly well into the rotation and maybe do what I said yesterday and ease up some of Bron's minutes. Plus with AD struggling again with his achiles he'd be handy to slot in there/alternate with Kuzma.

Just waive one of the non rotational players (McKinnie/Dudley)

Looks 2-3 weeks for AD, they’ll be cautious so tend to think at least 3. It shows the need for some more depth among the bigs. It will give LBJ another 9 or so games to carry the load and increase his hold on MVP.

kmart6

Top Dog wrote: »

Kuzma got a slap on the wrist too - and watching the replays his was an even more blatant flop :rolleyes:

Ah I don't know about that, nothing in LeBron's, it was definitely warranted, while Kuzma was being driven at, backpedaling and then got his foot stood on. Seemee to me he just had his balance messed with and the warning comes because of how he went down. Watching it live I don't think he even looked for anything.

LeBron - https://streamable.com/nqid42
Kuzma - https://streamable.com/l0svmu

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

kmart6 wrote: »

Ah I don't know about that, nothing in LeBron's, it was definitely warranted, while Kuzma was being driven at, backpedaling and then got his foot stood on. Seemee to me he just had his balance messed with and the warning comes because of how he went down. Watching it live I don't think he even looked for anything.

LeBron - https://streamable.com/nqid42
Kuzma - https://streamable.com/l0svmu

Kuzma pirouetted and threw his hands in the air, that is not remotely a natural way to move.

On the actual fall itself, his feet don’t appear touch and the foot that’s stepped on regains contact with the ground immediately in what seems like a very well balanced shoulder width apart position, it’s not as though they’re tangled from his spin.
That looks like a clear flop to me, look at his face in the slow-mo after the slight hip bump; mouth open like “ooh” and clearly turning his head beyond his shoulder at a ref.

Coneygree

Draymond will be fined a few rings and a few DPOYs for that rant. He's absolutely spot on though.

LuckyLloyd

Coneygree wrote: »

Draymond will be fined a few rings and a few DPOYs for that rant. He's absolutely spot on though.

Agreed. But don't forget that the fans readily buy into it also.

Across all three American sports, when there are clashes between players and owners around money or flexibility or conditions the fans generally side with ownership. This doesn't make much sense to me, as if fans would stay at a company they felt was falling around their ears while they had a lucrative offer with a cutting edge team elsewhere on the table.

I support Harden all the way, as I support running backs holding out, etc. Power to the players.

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Agreed. But don't forget that the fans readily buy into it also.

Across all three American sports, when there are clashes between players and owners around money or flexibility or conditions the fans generally side with ownership. This doesn't make much sense to me, as if fans would stay at a company they felt was falling around their ears while they had a lucrative offer with a cutting edge team elsewhere on the table.

I support Harden all the way, as I support running backs holding out, etc. Power to the players.

I can understand that from a fan’s perspective, generally you support a team rather than a player.
It’s not the same as supporting a company, there is far more emotion/history involved, I don’t think it’s an apt comparison.

It would be unusual in any sport for a fan to quit supporting a team because of a decision by management which negatively impacts a player(s). That is of course, unless it’s very overt like the Sterling/Clippers situation.

I like a player taking control of their future and Draymond calling it out is correct, Drummond has every right to be frustrated if that is in fact the case here.

Top Dog

Coneygree wrote: »

Draymond will be fined a few rings and a few DPOYs for that rant. He's absolutely spot on though.

What i miss? Any links?

Coneygree

Top Dog wrote: »

What i miss? Any links?

https://twitter.com/JDumasReports/status/1361554890007355393?s=20

And continues in the tweet below it.

pjohnson

Andre Roberson seems to be the Nets hope to try and give them a defence just signed.

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

Great win for the Celtics tonight, Tatum has spoken about the after effects of COVID, interesting to hear the impact the athlete’s especially those so young. KAT did so too but he has some underlying risk factors.

You could see it tonight, Porter Jr is not performing well enough to help the Nuggets much at the moment. It effectively means unless they make a trade, they won’t have enough to really put Jokic MVP conversation

Also, LBJ was fantastic again tonight, he played a lot but he really is just operating on a such a high level. He seems to garnering some extra attention from the 3pt line which is really helping their spacing.

He’s such a privilege to watch, it’s hard to even envisage him not operating at this level

Coneygree

God I'm rooting hard for Anthony Edwards. He's looked like he's putting pieces of the puzzle together recently and he was great last night. I hope it continues, he's such a high ceiling player and he's hilarious off the court. I loved how he had a genuine smile on his face after he knocked down a 3 in LeBron's face.

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

Coneygree wrote: »

God I'm rooting hard for Anthony Edwards. He's looked like he's putting pieces of the puzzle together recently and he was great last night. I hope it continues, he's such a high ceiling player and he's hilarious off the court. I loved how he had a genuine smile on his face after he knocked down a 3 in LeBron's face.

Looked fantastic again, as you say high ceiling but I've heard Dion Waiters floor floated around

No matter how the Twolves were to get there, I think the proof seems to exist that a Rubio/Edward's combo as the starting guards is a better decision for the long term of the team and Edward's as a player.

I'm sure there is better values trades than I suggested but moving Russell sooner rather than later is for the betterment of everyone involved.

I'm sorry, but there's no way Bradley Beal should be getting an All-Star ahead of Zach LaVine. LaVine is carrying the youngest starting five in the league (average age of 21).

Another 37 points and helped overturn a 25 point deficit. Beal has more PPG but LaVine is far more efficient.

eagle eye

Deleted User wrote:

Another 37 points and helped overturn a 25 point deficit. Beal has more PPG but LaVine is far more efficient.

Or Beal doesn't have a team and is doing this all on his own?
If you switched LaVine and Beal would Bradley be getting an all star. Isn't the all star about individual play?

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

eagle eye wrote: »

Or Beal doesn't have a team and is doing this all on his own?
If you switched LaVine and Beal would Bradley be getting an all star. Isn't the all star about individual play?

I think Beal probably has the better team around him so given their team position, I'd favour LaVine too. I think you're right though, it might be just a volume thing.

Beal does have Westbrook alongside him which is an advantage over anything LaVine has to work with.

That said, I wouldn't have either of them as starting guards in the East, I'd have Trae Young & Jaylen Brown.

I'd only take them because Harden wasn't there for the whole lot & Kyrie was missing some so just omitting them for this discussion but no argument if anyone was to include them.

Jaylen Brown is the best Celtic this year and as much as their play is questionable, he's been fantastic. He should be a lock.
Atlanta are alongside the Bulls now and Trae's production is similar to LaVine so that's just a preference for me.

LaVine > Beal, Trae > LaVine and Brown > them all

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

Currently on a Free Trial for the Athletic if anyone else subscribes:https://theathletic.com/2393642/2021/02/17/nba-trades-revisited-the-clarkson-wiggins-morris-capela-deals-a-year-later/?source=dailyemail


All trades from the last year revisited, I haven't read it fully yet but it's quite comprehensive.

eagle eye

eagle eye wrote: »

Or Beal doesn't have a team and is doing this all on his own?
If you switched LaVine and Beal would Bradley be getting an all star. Isn't the all star about individual play?

He has Westbrook...

What does LaVine have? The Bulls starting five has an average age of 21.

If you switched them around Washington would have more wins and Bulls would have less.

PPG aside, LaVine has been superior in every other meaningful facet of the game and he's averaging 28.5 which is hardly chump change.

tyivpc5qjx0f2b

I don't think there is much to learn about a potential NBA finals from this game given AD & KD are sitting.

One observation is the move of DJ to the bench. He's come off the bench a few times this year but I think that was when Allen was around.
Either way, I wonder if the move is permanent and/or a trade is in the works.

The game does shed some light on the precarious position the Lakers might experience if AD or LBJ goes down.
The Lakers cant afford to lose either come playoff time and the load required from them will be massive.

I think the Nets will be fresher and can weather a short post season stretch without one of their stars.
Even if it's not an injury, we could very easily see stars missing large parts of the playoffs with protocols.

This season may just be more advantageous to the team who have gone the 3 star route vs 2 star route come playoff time