NBA Chatter Thread

1bigfan13

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I think GM Lebron's decision to trade Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love is coming back to bite them this series.

I think Wiggins would give the Cavs a better chance at beating this version of the Warriors. Love is basically a catch and shoot guy these days and he's not much of a post player any more. So it's easier for guys like Klay, KD, and Draymond to defend him.

Wiggins on the other hand is a much better defender and would put a lot more pressure on Golden State's defenders.

GM Lebron strikes again. Players like Tristan Thompson thank him daily.
 

Texas Ace

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I think GM Lebron's decision to trade Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love is coming back to bite them this series.

I think Wiggins would give the Cavs a better chance at beating this version of the Warriors. Love is basically a catch and shoot guy these days and he's not much of a post player any more. So it's easier for guys like Klay, KD, and Draymond to defend him.

Wiggins on the other hand is a much better defender and would put a lot more pressure on Golden State's defenders.

GM Lebron strikes again. Players like Tristan Thompson thank him daily.
Signing off on Thompson's 90 million was the more egregious mistake, IMO.

At least Love plays well and is giving them something. Thompson has done next to nothing in this series and hasn't done much of anything since he got that contract.

It is one of the worst contracts in the entire league and it's another example of why teams need to tell Lebron to stay in his lane and worry about playing basketball.
 

Genghis Khan

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As Deuce pointed out, he has better teammates around. That's the key.

In OKC he had to beat his man plus the man who's "guarding" Andre Roberson. Roberson is an embarrassment on offense so teams can completely ignore him. Which is why I put some of the blame on Presti (OKC's GM) for KD picking up and going elsewhere. During the bulk of KD's career in OKC, Presti's refused to find a SG with a decent shot to play alongside KD and Westbrook. The one time we had a good SG (Harden) we traded him away as soon as he started to develop into a top notch scorer.

Now that KD's in Golden State he's seeing far fewer double teams because teams have to respect the other players on the court.
Jesus Christ. I can't imagine being an OKC fan and knowing you could have had KD, Harden and Westbrook. That could have been a historic team for years.
 

Genghis Khan

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Signing off on Thompson's 90 million was the more egregious mistake, IMO.

At least Love plays well and is giving them something. Thompson has done next to nothing in this series and hasn't done much of anything since he got that contract.

It is one of the worst contracts in the entire league and it's another example of why teams need to tell Lebron to stay in his lane and worry about playing basketball.
I agree LeBron should not be playing armchair GM. But from the team's perspective what can you do? If you tell him to butt out you risk losing him again, and you're nowhere without him.
 
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Deuce

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I agree LeBron should not be playing armchair GM. But from the team's perspective what can you do? If you tell him to butt out you risk losing him again, and you're nowhere without him.
It's been talked about many times that Lebron's involvement in decision making was his final demand to come back to Cleveland. They don't want to get on his bad side again.
 

Texas Ace

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Is LeBron really gonna leave, though?

I mean, if they tell him they'll get him help but that they're going to let the staff pick the players, will this guy really damage his legacy by leaving again?

This guy is aware of everything that's said and written about him. There are already those who consider him a front-runner, but can you imagine if he joins a 3rd team in hopes of having an easier path to a ring?

I can't see him doing that so I'd call his bluff and just leave him out of that process.
 
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Deuce

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Is LeBron really gonna leave, though?

I mean, if they tell him they'll get him help but the they're going to let the staff pick the players, will this guy really damage his legacy by leaving again?

This guy is aware of everything that's said as written about him. There are already those who consider him a front-runner, but can you imagine if he joins a 3rd team in hopes of having an easier party to a ring?

I can't see him doing that so I'd call his bluff and just leave him out of that process.
He would only damage his legacy in Cleveland. To the rest of the world, he's a multiple time MVP and Champ, including one in that God forsaken city.

If he did leave, I would expect him to sign with GS.
 

1bigfan13

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He would only damage his legacy in Cleveland. To the rest of the world, he's a multiple time MVP and Champ, including one in that God forsaken city.

If he did leave, I would expect him to sign with GS.
Golden State? No way. That's weak even by Lebron's standards.

If something like that were to happen the league might as well cancel the season and just hand them the trophy.
 

1bigfan13

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Jesus Christ. I can't imagine being an OKC fan and knowing you could have had KD, Harden and Westbrook. That could have been a historic team for years.
Presti's been a solid GM but he's made some bone-headed gambles along the way that have crippled OKC's chances at winning a title.

Trading away Harden in 2012 is tops on that list of bone-headed gambles. I hated the trade when it was announced and almost 5 years later it looks even worse.

OKC's core 4 of KD, Westbrook, Harden, and Ibaka were very young and they were making tremendous progress each season.

2010 - Made the playoffs for the first time ever. Lost in 1st round to the eventual champion LA Lakers in 6 games. If you go back and look at the playoffs that year, that OKC team gave the Lakers their stiffest competition in the West.

2011 - Made the Western Conference Finals.

2012 - Made the NBA Finals.

Just before the 2012-2013 kicked off they traded Harden and the rest is history.

As you can see they were making progress every year and the team wasn't in a rut. I just don't understand why an organization that close to winning a championship would choose not to role the dice with the same group of players. If I were GM I'd have kept Harden and dealt with his contract after the season.

But instead they traded Harden away for a one year rental of Kevin Martin and a couple of non-lottery draft picks.

5 years later all we have to show for trading Harden is Steven Adams. :lol

Yep, Presti effed that one up.
 
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Deuce

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Golden State? No way. That's weak even by Lebron's standards.

If something like that were to happen the league might as well cancel the season and just hand them the trophy.
His MO is to win as many rings as possible in the easiest ways possible. I think he wants at least more than 6 so he can have another edge on Jordan.
 

Genghis Khan

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Presti's been a solid GM but he's made some bone-headed gambles along the way that have crippled OKC's chances at winning a title.

Trading away Harden in 2012 is tops on that list of bone-headed gambles. I hated the trade when it was announced and almost 5 years later it looks even worse.

OKC's core 4 of KD, Westbrook, Harden, and Ibaka were very young and they were making tremendous progress each season.

2010 - Made the playoffs for the first time ever. Lost in 1st round to the eventual champion LA Lakers in 6 games. If you go back and look at the playoffs that year, that OKC team gave the Lakers their stiffest competition in the West.

2011 - Made the Western Conference Finals.

2012 - Made the NBA Finals.

Just before the 2012-2013 kicked off they traded Harden and the rest is history.

As you can see they were making progress every year and the team wasn't in a rut. I just don't understand why an organization that close to winning a championship would choose not to role the dice with the same group of players. If I were GM I'd have kept Harden and dealt with his contract after the season.

But instead they traded Harden away for a one year rental of Kevin Martin and a couple of non-lottery draft picks.

5 years later all we have to show for trading Harden is Steven Adams. :lol

Yep, Presti effed that one up.
Reminds me a little of the sixers some years back in the draft. They already had Iverson and Paul Pierce fell right to them in the draft. Pierce and Iverson probably win the championship together. And they knew full well Pierce was the best player on the board.

Yet they draft Larry Hughes. Why? Because Larry Brown, not expecting a player like Pierce to be available at their pick, promised Hughes they'd take him if he was there and Brown wanted to honor his word. :picard
 

Texas Ace

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He would only damage his legacy in Cleveland. To the rest of the world, he's a multiple time MVP and Champ, including one in that God forsaken city.

If he did leave, I would expect him to sign with GS.
I don't think it only hurts him in Cleveland.

To be such a blatant front-runner would hurt his legacy. You can't play for 3 different franchises and 4 different teams all with​ the intention of finding the easiest route possible to a championship.

All the greats and legends build roots somewhere and have a team built around them.

I think he'd fall out of a lot of top 5 lists and the perception of him would change for a lot of people involved in the sport.
 
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1bigfan13

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The NBA should really consider pushing their draft into the month of July. Having their draft the week after the NBA Finals has always seemed a bit rushed to me.

I'm actually shocked the owners and the commissioner haven't done this already. Especially when you consider that the NFL has been successful in stretching out their offseason calendar. Doing so has transformed the NFL from a sport that was only talked about 6-8 months per year to one that's now in the national headlines practically year round.

Pushing the NBA draft back to mid-July seems like common sense to me. A sweet spot would be during that 2-3 day dead period in sports following the MLB All Star game. No other major sports are going on during that time and NFL minicamps are still a couple of weeks away. Their only competition in regards to sports related TV would be ESPN's ESPY Awards which usually air during that time period as well.

Another added benefit to adding more time between the Finals and the draft is that it would give the league more time to promote the draft and the prospects. The media and fans would have more time to publish and dissect mock drafts, and there would be more time for teams to work out players and seek out trade partners. These are things the NFL have used to their advantage to sell their product.

Seems like an easy decision.
 
D

Deuce

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The NBA should really consider pushing their draft into the month of July. Having their draft the week after the NBA Finals has always seemed a bit rushed to me.

I'm actually shocked the owners and the commissioner haven't done this already. Especially when you consider that the NFL has been successful in stretching out their offseason calendar. Doing so has transformed the NFL from a sport that was only talked about 6-8 months per year to one that's now in the national headlines practically year round.

Pushing the NBA draft back to mid-July seems like common sense to me. A sweet spot would be during that 2-3 day dead period in sports following the MLB All Star game. No other major sports are going on during that time and NFL minicamps are still a couple of weeks away. Their only competition in regards to sports related TV would be ESPN's ESPY Awards which usually air during that time period as well.

Another added benefit to adding more time between the Finals and the draft is that it would give the league more time to promote the draft and the prospects. The media and fans would have more time to publish and dissect mock drafts, and there would be more time for teams to work out players and seek out trade partners. These are things the NFL have used to their advantage to sell their product.

Seems like an easy decision.
I don't think it will matter. The NBA draft has always been fun to watch, but it'll never get more popular than it already is. Unlike the NFL draft where people who follow it closely usually follow college football as well, you know the players and want to see the outcome. Outside of 5 or 6 players, even regular college basketball fans don't know who a lot of the guys going at the top are. With so many international players, 1 and done's that people don't get a ton of exposure to and so many great college players who just aren't projected to be good pro's, it's a crap shoot to follow.
 

Cowboysrock55

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The NBA should really consider pushing their draft into the month of July. Having their draft the week after the NBA Finals has always seemed a bit rushed to me.

I'm actually shocked the owners and the commissioner haven't done this already. Especially when you consider that the NFL has been successful in stretching out their offseason calendar. Doing so has transformed the NFL from a sport that was only talked about 6-8 months per year to one that's now in the national headlines practically year round.

Pushing the NBA draft back to mid-July seems like common sense to me. A sweet spot would be during that 2-3 day dead period in sports following the MLB All Star game. No other major sports are going on during that time and NFL minicamps are still a couple of weeks away. Their only competition in regards to sports related TV would be ESPN's ESPY Awards which usually air during that time period as well.

Another added benefit to adding more time between the Finals and the draft is that it would give the league more time to promote the draft and the prospects. The media and fans would have more time to publish and dissect mock drafts, and there would be more time for teams to work out players and seek out trade partners. These are things the NFL have used to their advantage to sell their product.

Seems like an easy decision.
I agree with you. The NFL has their draft placed where it is in an attempt to keep the NFL as relevant as possible year round. The NBA by having the draft this quickly after the end of the season sort of hurts their ability to stay relevant year round. The NBA draft definitely feels rushed. There isn't time to talk about the prospects in depth because the NBA playoffs are still going on.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Outside of 5 or 6 players, even regular college basketball fans don't know who a lot of the guys going at the top are.
That's the point of having some time for build up to the draft. To get to know players that you haven't heard of. Do you think NFL fans knew about Haason Reddick while he was in college? Of course not. He only became relevant through the long NFL predraft process where fans got to know him and got to know more about his abilities. Hell 90% of the players in the NFL draft casual fans wouldn't know about if it wasn't for reading and researching stuff leading up to the draft. If they rushed and had an NFL draft right after the season most fans would be clueless.
 
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Deuce

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That's the point of having some time for build up to the draft. To get to know players that you haven't heard of. Do you think NFL fans knew about Haason Reddick while he was in college? Of course not. He only became relevant through the long NFL predraft process where fans got to know him and got to know more about his abilities. Hell 90% of the players in the NFL draft casual fans wouldn't know about if it wasn't for reading and researching stuff leading up to the draft. If they rushed and had an NFL draft right after the season most fans would be clueless.
ok, so you never heard of Reddick but at least you can then go watch tape of him against good competition and see what he's about.

Are you going to get excited about watching highlights of an international player that get 10 mpg because they don't allow their young stars to play a lot? No, you'll walk away thinking "what's all this hype about?"
 

BipolarFuk

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Holy shit. I didn't know The Logo helped build the Warriors as well as some great Lakers teams.

The guy must be a basketball executive genius.

He's headed to the Clippers now.
 

Angrymesscan

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Holy shit. I didn't know The Logo helped build the Warriors as well as some great Lakers teams.

The guy must be a basketball executive genius.

He's headed to the Clippers now.
The logo IS basketball, no one ever has understood the game as he.
 
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