NBA Chatter Thread

Jiggyfly said:

He will be about in the same position as he is in now in Boston.

I think the allure of bringing L.A. back with Westbrook could be big draw and they would have full control of that team with some young pieces and draft picks.

If it's just about winning then Houston has to be ahead of Boston, this season has been a disappointment but having Harden there and some roster flexibility ad a winning track record should be a draw.

I know Boston has a nice record this year but unless they get Simmons and another near star I don't see how he would put them in the top tier with G.S. S.A. or the Clips and Cleve.

I see them about the same as OKC currently.

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I disagree with you on your Houston over Boston angle. Boston has a superior winning track record and a passionate fan base. KD has mentioned on a couple of occasions that he loves passionate fan bases.

I also think Boston has a huge coaching edge. Brad Stevens is the next great coach in the game, IMO. Nobody is saying that about BBJ.

Also, the Celtics will likely have a top 5 pick this year. They own Brooklyn's 1st round pick. They could very easily add an impact player with that pick.

1bigfan13 said:

I disagree with you on your Houston over Boston angle. Boston has a superior winning track record and a passionate fan base. KD has mentioned on a couple of occasions that he loves passionate fan bases.

I also think Boston has a huge coaching edge. Brad Stevens is the next great coach in the game, IMO. Nobody is saying that about BBJ.

Also, the Celtics will likely have a top 5 pick this year. They own Brooklyn's 1st round pick. They could very easily add an impact player with that pick.

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Over the last 10 years Houston has a much better winning record than Boston.

I agree on Stevens but the same was said about Thibideou and he never got over that hump.

There will be a new coach in Houston next year so that other point is moot.

And no player has ever went anywhere for a fan base.

I agree Boston could be an attractive place but there is a reason a lot of players choose to live in Houston in the offseason.

What is a contender?

Is Toronto or Atlanta a contender?

They both have strong shots of making the ECF but barring torn ACL's for Curry, Draymond, Leonard, Aldridge, Durant and LeBron I think there is exactly a 0.0% chance that either can win it all.

Boston falls in that group, sure they can make the ECF, but they will never beat the Spurs or Warriors in the Finals, assuming they can even get by LeBron. They need 2 more All Star caliber players or a significant drop off from the Spurs, Warriors and LeBron's.

To me, the only teams capable of winning it all are those three, so they are the only true contenders.

As an aside, this Boston team reminds me alot of the Bulls mid-2000's teams with Hinrich/Deng/Gordon or the Bulls of the last few years without Rose. Try hard teams that will be tough in the playoffs but no real shot of making it all the way.

The Cavs are just as inconsistent as the Thunder so I wouldn't even throw them in there as a legit contender.

Are you just throwing them in there because you're assuming they'll get a free pass through the East? If that's the case then I definitely agree that they're more likely to make it to Finals than OKC.

1bigfan13 said:

The Cavs are just as inconsistent as the Thunder so I wouldn't even throw them in there as a legit contender.

Are you just throwing them in there because you're assuming they'll get a free pass through the East? If that's the case then I definitely agree that they're more likely to make it to Finals than OKC.

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Yes and I think you have to respect the fact that LeBron could carry them through a Finals series himself.

Simpleton said:

What is a contender?

Is Toronto or Atlanta a contender?

They both have strong shots of making the ECF but barring torn ACL's for Curry, Draymond, Leonard, Aldridge, Durant and LeBron I think there is exactly a 0.0% chance that either can win it all.

Boston falls in that group, sure they can make the ECF, but they will never beat the Spurs or Warriors in the Finals, assuming they can even get by LeBron. They need 2 more All Star caliber players or a significant drop off from the Spurs, Warriors and LeBron's.

To me, the only teams capable of winning it all are those three, so they are the only true contenders.

As an aside, this Boston team reminds me alot of the Bulls mid-2000's teams with Hinrich/Deng/Gordon or the Bulls of the last few years without Rose. Try hard teams that will be tough in the playoffs but no real shot of making it all the way.

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I disagree. With how well Thomas can score I think they are one legit stud wing player away from beating an overrated Cavs team and contending. Simmons or Ingram could be that guy if the Nets give us any luck.

Deuce said:

I disagree. With how well Thomas can score I think they are one legit stud wing player away from beating an overrated Cavs team and contending. Simmons or Ingram could be that guy if the Nets give us any luck.

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Maybe, although the Celtics as they are+one of those two rookies would not beat the Warriors or Spurs as currently constructed, maybe not even OKC. I wouldn't even be totally convinced that they definitely get out of the East honestly, even if I think they'd have a chance against Cleveland.

Jiggyfly said:

That really makes no sense I have seen Ginoboli go one on one many many times in end of game situations, Pop would do the same with Durant.

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I admit, Pop has been really flexible over the years, I can't say for sure what he would or wouldn't be willing to do. The team you see now looks nothing like the grind it out half court style they played in the early aughts. They look a lot more European on offense, a lot of ball movement working for open looks. I don't know enough about basketball to really break it down but there was a definite change of style that pushed Spurs basketball back into relevance in the last few years when it looked like the team was 'too old' as far back as 2012.

A shooter like Durant could look unstoppable in the Spurs offense, but Aldridge is the first big FA the Spurs have ever signed except their own. Signing two big FAs in back to back years would just be crazy.

Warriors lose again at home.

Could there actually be pressure to finish with 73 wins now? If I'm Kerr, I don't put any pressure or any unnecessary energy towards getting that record. If they hadn't lost twice in the last week, then I'd say go for it, but now they're in a position where they have to put forth extra effort to get it done.

If I'm Kerr, I take the Popovich approach and just get them some rest and get ready for the playoffs.

Deuce said:

I disagree. With how well Thomas can score I think they are one legit stud wing player away from beating an overrated Cavs team and contending. Simmons or Ingram could be that guy if the Nets give us any luck.

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As a Rookie?

Wiggins and Parker were both rated as high and higher and they have not exactly elevated their teams, I think Simmons is going to struggle until he gets a jumper and that will take awhile.

Jiggyfly said:

As a Rookie?

Wiggins and Parker were both rated as high and higher and they have not exactly elevated their teams, I think Simmons is going to struggle until he gets a jumper and that will take awhile.

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First, I think Simmons is a better prospect than both. Second, maybe not as a rookie. But this is a young team. If he turns into start by year 2 or 3 they are still young enough to make runs around him.

Texas Ace said:

Warriors lose again at home.

Could there actually be pressure to finish with 73 wins now? If I'm Kerr, I don't put any pressure or any unnecessary energy towards getting that record. If they hadn't lost twice in the last week, then I'd say go for it, but now they're in a position where they have to put forth extra effort to get it done.

If I'm Kerr, I take the Popovich approach and just get them some rest and get ready for the playoffs.

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They kinda have to go for the record now, I think with the way they have been talking about it if they don't get the record it plants some doubts in there minds.

If they had been saying it's no big deal then they could let off the peddle at this point.

Deuce said:

First, I think Simmons is a better prospect than both. Second, maybe not as a rookie. But this is a young team. If he turns into start by year 2 or 3 they are still young enough to make runs around him.

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I thought that at 1st but he is much to passive IMO.

I don't think is a lock to be a franchise changing player I think he is more Odom than Lebron.

Hinkie out...while it was interesting to see them completely tear down and rebuild, but I am not sure we are close to being a viable team. I do think they will function more like a team trying to get better as opposed to a team trying to outsmart every team in the league.

Sixers majorly fucked up. Supposedly this was because the Sixers were trying to make colangelo's punk kid GM and reassign Hinkie to a "comparable" front office position. Sixers fucked up. Retards. I don't blame Hinkie. They came all this way just to get cold feet at the 11th hour? Fucking retarded. At least see it through you fucking morons.

I believed a thousand percent in the process. I think Hinkie was brilliant. I think highly of Colangelo, but I was totally against bringing him in to look over Hinkie's shoulder.

The Sixers last won it all in 1983. That's 33 years and counting. They have made one appearance in the finals since, powered by a hall of famer that they drafted first overall.

Since 1983 they've repeatedly tried building the traditional way. With the exception of when they hired an all-time coach in Larry Brown, it hasn't worked. You mostly have to get lucky in the NBA. Otherwise you are stuck in that mid_tier purgatory, and the Sixers have found themselves stuck there often.

Hinkie wisely spurned purgatory and decided to make his own luck.

People tend to associate Hinkie with tanking, but an underrated aspect of his process is the accumulation of assets.

Right now they have Noel and Okafor.If Embiid gets healthy (he's on track at the moment ) he's looking like a transcendent player. Saric probably is coming over next season. They have at least 3 firsts this year, plus the right to swap with Sacramento if the Kings wind up with a better pick.

Next year they will have their own plus an unprotected Lakers pick if it doesn't materialize this year, plus the right to swap with Sacramento again. A year or two after that they get the Kings first outright.

Just before Hinkie was hired, they were making very dumb decisions. Trading Iguodala and Vuskovic for Bynum was disastrous. They traded away a future first for Moultrie.

One of the stories that epitomizes Hinkie is the deal for Saric. Hinkie paid a lot of attention to what other teams were saying and doing leading up to the draft. The Sixers drafted just before Orlando that year. And because Hinkie paid attention, he knew they wanted Payton. He wanted Saric. So he drafted Payton and essentially held him for ransom, getting Saric and that future first back.

The Sixers made a big mistake squeezing Hinkie out. I'm extremely disappointed right now.

I mean seriously. The Sixers haven't won it all in 33 God damn years. But they're panicking over sucking for 3 years? They sucked way longer than that in the 90s, and they were actually trying to be good back then.

I can understand the concept of the tanking but I think he missed the mark on building a culture where the young guys could grow and learn, there has to be a balance.

He needed to surround the young guys with some positive veterans at the expense of some losses, that environment has to become toxic when every player knows you are not even trying to actually get better.

You got players either not caring or out to get theirs, neither is conducive with building a culture of winning which is as important as talent.

Also he needed to hit on developing some 2nd level talent from the 2nd round and not finding a young pg to grow with these guys is a big miss as well

Hinkie was brilliant. His 13 page resignation letter details a lot of the thinking behind what he was doing. I can't do it justice, but it's encapsulized by his line (paraphrasing): Abraham Lincoln once said if you give me six hours to chop down a tree, I will spend 4 sharpening the axe.

Honestly I'm despondent right now. This sucks.

Genghis Khan said:

Hinkie was brilliant. His 13 page resignation letter details a lot of the thinking behind what he was doing. I can't do it justice, but it's encapsulized by his line (paraphrasing): Abraham Lincoln once said if you give me six hours to chop down a tree, I will spend 4 sharpening the axe.

Honestly I'm despondent right now. This sucks.

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13 page resignation letter?

And released?

I think he may be a little full of himself.