2016-17 NBA Regular Season Thread

[thunderc]

Westbrook with a ho hum 26, 11 and 22. He made some unreal passes in this one.

 

[Vyle203]

Westbrook with a ho hum 26, 11 and 22. He made some unreal passes in this one.

So he's pretty good then?

 

[bksballer89]

So how y'all doing so far this season? I feel like I haven't been here in so long lol

Miss you on here. I guess you've been running from Wiggy? Don't let him stop you from posting on these boards

 

[bksballer89]

Westbrook with a ho hum 26, 11 and 22. He made some unreal passes in this one.

I can do that in my sleep. Nothing special

 

[Vyle203]

I can do that in my sleep. Nothing special

Your boy Whiteside stands to get about 42 rebounds tonight.

 

[Black Adam]

I can do that in my sleep. Nothing special

seen it with my own eyes...

Punchline's straight money on ANY given night...

 

[WiggyRuss]

Why would they trade a potential 6th man of the year who's doing a great job helping mentor the kids?



9 points 10 rebounds and 9 assists tonight. Nope, no flashes at all.



He's already a legit rotation player. Very athletic and a high energy guy. He's got a great future as a "1st big off the bench/spot starter type of player.



No. He's a very solid backup center.

1. all these false narratives about "helping the kids" are just so ridiculous its not even funny. James Jones makes the league minimum and is one of the best teammates in the NBA. You can find PLENTY of guys that are great teammates that can throw an arm around a young guy that dont make 16 million a year like the corpsoe of Luol Deng- or Lou WilliamsLou Williams is playing himself into being an actual asset that might be able to bring back a 2nd round pick or a late 1st round pick if a team gets desperate and has an injury. Lou Williams will NOT be part of the next Lakers team taht wins a playoff series- so keeping him makes no sense to me if you can get an asset that can actually help the the team down the line when they are ready to compete. Williams makes 8M a year next year and is then subsequently a free agent---- you want him there long term and renogiate a new deal at AT LEAST 15M a year or get a 1st rounder for him that will be with the team for 4-6 years and make practically no money? to me thats an easy answser.

2. My post about Ingram was BEFORE todays game- when he had arguably the best game of his career at 9, 10 and 10. on 40% shooting---- he just does NOT look like the type of athlete that is usually taken that high in the draft. From what i saw from him- he looks like he is a heady basketball player that knows what he is doing, but there wasnt one time where i saw a play from him and thought- DAMN that guy was the 2nd pick in the draft because he CAN DO THAT!!- By this time last year you had already seen that from Russell a few instances where you sat back and said- "All right- i get why this guy was taken 2nd overall".

does anyone out there have a good comp. for Ingram? i cant think of a guy really. Maybe his teammate Deng?

3. Tarik Black is just the worst. Think about that- you have a guy on a 2 year contract - who is taking playing time away from actual young players like Nance Jr., Thomas Robinson and eventually Zubac and . You already spent a boatload of money on a Mozgov who makes 15 million a year...then another 7 on Tarik Black? Thats 22 million dollars on very mediocre centers. Why not give Black's minutes to Randle/Nance Jr.,/Thomas Robinson(a former top 5 pick that is at least a little intriguing) and Mozgov (who is playing VERY VERY light minutes- like 22 minutes a night)/ - and have an extra 7 million in cap space. Its the type of strategy that REAL GM's implement.

Its the difference between a GM playing "checkers or chess".

 

[WiggyRuss]

Oh my god that was awful D from Portland. I know, Captain Obvious and all, but holy shizz...

that Portland team has the 2nd highest payroll in the league and practically no way to get off many of those contracts too.....

13-16 record...i knew Portland was overated coming into this year.

I think that the best defensive metrics are usually opposing field goal percentage and points allowed per 100% possessions.

Portland is actually only 24th in opposing field goal percentage @ .462 (the worst is the Lakers at .477)---that is where Portland is the worst at 110.3 points per 100 possessions. (The Lakers are 2nd worst at 109.6- and Brooklyn 3rd worst at 109.2).

If you wanted to argue the Lakers defense was worse you could probably do so- but to an extent tahts understandable as they are going through a rebuild--- while Portland has the 2nd highest payroll in the league and some people actually expected them to contend this year.

Damian Lillard is 26 years old- just about right in his prime- his team has the 2nd highest payroll in the league- and they are 13-16. Even though Lillard is shooting the best of his career (46.3%--- previous best was 43.4% in his 3rd year)- the team is just not good - becuase Lillard might be the worst defensive point guard in the league this side of Isiah Thomas of Boston.

 

[WiggyRuss]

I DO NOT miss this from Mozgov....


21 minutes a night.

 

[Wamu]

You already spent a boatload of money on a Mozgov who makes 15 million a year.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Mozgov doesn't make 15m a year...he makes 16m, 4 years / 64m. Now that's money well spent!

 

[WiggyRuss]

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Mozgov doesn't make 15m a year...he makes 16m, 4 years / 64m. Now that's money well spent!

hes a good guy- but hes mentally fragile too- he dropped out of the Cavs rotation last year because he lost all semblance of his confidence--- that and- they spent 64 million on him and hes only playing 21 minutes a night. Its just so strange. The Lakers are paying 22 million dollars a season to Mozgov and Tarik Black to be their center combo. Would it be so hard to hire a couple geniuses out of Ivy League schools to advise someone that its not a good idea to pay basically a max contract to 2 centers who are very medicore DURINg your rebuild? its just craziness.

Why not just give Zubac/Nance Jr., and Thomas Robinson the minutes- get them experience- and have a boatload more cap room?

its obvious they are making strides with their young players and that free agents will HOPEFULLY notice that over the summer...i dunno...i guess we shall see how it works out.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

It was actually hilarious. They looked like a bunch of kittens chasing a red dot. That GS ball movement is sick.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Oh my god that was awful D from Portland. I know, Captain Obvious and all, but holy shizz...

interesting quote from McCollum

"I think we're getting close to that point," McCollum told ESPN. "Dame talked to the guys today, but it's more about us as players. And the coaches, they're not playing. They're not responsible for losing by 40 or winning by 40. It's the players' job. It's not [San Antonio Spurscoach] Gregg Popovich, it's not [Cleveland Cavaliers coach] Tyronn Lue, it's the players making the decisions, like Kawhi Leonard and LeBron [James]. They're the guys that change the culture of the team, and they change the impact of the game."

 

[bksballer89]

1. all these false narratives about "helping the kids" are just so ridiculous its not even funny. James Jones makes the league minimum and is one of the best teammates in the NBA. You can find PLENTY of guys that are great teammates that can throw an arm around a young guy that dont make 16 million a year like the corpsoe of Luol Deng- or Lou WilliamsLou Williams is playing himself into being an actual asset that might be able to bring back a 2nd round pick or a late 1st round pick if a team gets desperate and has an injury. Lou Williams will NOT be part of the next Lakers team taht wins a playoff series- so keeping him makes no sense to me if you can get an asset that can actually help the the team down the line when they are ready to compete. Williams makes 8M a year next year and is then subsequently a free agent---- you want him there long term and renogiate a new deal at AT LEAST 15M a year or get a 1st rounder for him that will be with the team for 4-6 years and make practically no money? to me thats an easy answser.

2. My post about Ingram was BEFORE todays game- when he had arguably the best game of his career at 9, 10 and 10. on 40% shooting---- he just does NOT look like the type of athlete that is usually taken that high in the draft. From what i saw from him- he looks like he is a heady basketball player that knows what he is doing, but there wasnt one time where i saw a play from him and thought- DAMN that guy was the 2nd pick in the draft because he CAN DO THAT!!- By this time last year you had already seen that from Russell a few instances where you sat back and said- "All right- i get why this guy was taken 2nd overall".

does anyone out there have a good comp. for Ingram? i cant think of a guy really. Maybe his teammate Deng?

3. Tarik Black is just the worst. Think about that- you have a guy on a 2 year contract - who is taking playing time away from actual young players like Nance Jr., Thomas Robinson and eventually Zubac and . You already spent a boatload of money on a Mozgov who makes 15 million a year...then another 7 on Tarik Black? Thats 22 million dollars on very mediocre centers. Why not give Black's minutes to Randle/Nance Jr.,/Thomas Robinson(a former top 5 pick that is at least a little intriguing) and Mozgov (who is playing VERY VERY light minutes- like 22 minutes a night)/ - and have an extra 7 million in cap space. Its the type of strategy that REAL GM's implement.

Its the difference between a GM playing "checkers or chess".

You're talking like Tarik Black is some 34 year old. The dude is 25 and in his 3rd NBA season. Thomas Robinson is a bust who's been on several teams even though he was the 2nd overall pick a few years ago. Why would they give Black minutes to Randle or Nance? They are both PF's. Black position ever since college was always a center.

Best part about this quote is " you have a guy on a 2 year contract - who is taking playing time away from actual young players like Nance Jr., Thomas Robinson"

Thomas Robinson and Tarik Black are the same age ( Black is actually younger by 8 months).

As for Ingram he will be fine. Judging a player who just turned 19 a few months ago in the 2nd full month of his NBA career is just stupid. He's learning the game.

 

[WiggyRuss]

You're talking like Tarik Black is some 34 year old. The dude is 25 and in his 3rd NBA season. Thomas Robinson is a bust who's been on several teams even though he was the 2nd overall pick a few years ago. Why would they give Black minutes to Randle or Nance? They are both PF's. Black position ever since college was always a center.

Best part about this quote is " you have a guy on a 2 year contract - who is taking playing time away from actual young players like Nance Jr., Thomas Robinson"

Thomas Robinson and Tarik Black are the same age ( Black is actually younger by 8 months).

As for Ingram he will be fine. Judging a player who just turned 19 a few months ago in the 2nd full month of his NBA career is just stupid. He's learning the game.

obviosuly you missed the entire point of that post. Robinson is getting paid the minimum. Tarik Black is getting paid 7 million dollars to be a backup center that plays 15 minutes a night.

On a team that is going no where- you think its worth it to clog up 7 million in cap room next year- this upcoming offseason- for the difference of Tarik Black instead of giving Robinson/Randle/Nance Jr./Mozgov/Zubac his 15 minutes a game. I gotcha.


right now the Lakers have 82.5 commited to next year Los Angeles Lakers: Team salaries and contracts

the cap is expected to be 102 million
NBA Lowers 2017-18 Cap Projection to $102 Million | Basketball Insiders | NBA Rumors And Basketball News

a max contract is about 30% of the cap (just over 30 million).

ya think that 7 million could come in handy?

 

[bksballer89]

obviosuly you missed the entire point of that post. Robinson is getting paid the minimum. Tarik Black is getting paid 7 million dollars to be a backup center that plays 15 minutes a night.

On a team that is going no where- you think its worth it to clog up 7 million in cap room for the difference of Tarik Black instead of giving Robinson/Randle/Nance Jr./Mozgov his 15 minutes a game. I gotcha.

He is a solid backup center. Contracts are clearly going up. 6 million is nothing for a bench player. How much is Biyombo making to come off the magic bench? There are other bench guys making 15 mill per season. Once again back to bringing up MPG for a bench player. Not every bench player gets 25-30 MPG. The Lakers play a lot of players and nobody (not even their starters) get huge minutes. You can actually make a solid case that Black has been better than Mozgov.

 

[WiggyRuss]

He is a solid backup center. Contracts are clearly going up. 6 million is nothing for a bench player. How much is Biyombo making to come off the magic bench? There are other bench guys making 15 mill per season. Once again back to bringing up MPG for a bench player. Not every bench player gets 25-30 MPG. The Lakers play a lot of players and nobody (not even their starters) get huge minutes. You can actually make a solid case that Black has been better than Mozgov.

again- you clearly did not understand what the post was about AT ALL

its about manging the cap for next year- instead of having a backup making 7M playing 15 minutes a game when those minutes can be given to guys that might actually have a future with the team.

Mozgov is playing 21 minutes a night and is clearly here for the long haul. Nance Jr., Zubac, and Randle are both on rookie scale deals- Robinson is a former top lotto pick. Thats 5 guys you can spread 15 minutes around too potentially if they feel Zubac is ready at some point.

Why not give those 4-5 guys Blacks 15 minutes a game, and save 7 million in cap room so you can get closer to affording a max contract in free agency?

its chess- not checkers.

its exactly why i say trade Lou Williams too- with or without Williams you arent making the playoffs this year- he is due for a contract extension AFTER next year- so if he is in your long term plans you are going ot have pay him a substantial amt. of money- and he already just turned 30 years old in October. Do you think he is in the long term plans?

why not open up 7M in cap space by trading him AND get a late first round pick that will be with the team for years to come potentially.

I mean- unless you really care about winning 36 games instead of 32 games or win 32 games instead of 28 games or- something- wahtever it ends up being.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

1. all these false narratives about "helping the kids" are just so ridiculous its not even funny. James Jones makes the league minimum and is one of the best teammates in the NBA. You can find PLENTY of guys that are great teammates that can throw an arm around a young guy that dont make 16 million a year like the corpsoe of Luol Deng- or Lou WilliamsLou Williams is playing himself into being an actual asset that might be able to bring back a 2nd round pick or a late 1st round pick if a team gets desperate and has an injury. Lou Williams will NOT be part of the next Lakers team taht wins a playoff series- so keeping him makes no sense to me if you can get an asset that can actually help the the team down the line when they are ready to compete. Williams makes 8M a year next year and is then subsequently a free agent---- you want him there long term and renogiate a new deal at AT LEAST 15M a year or get a 1st rounder for him that will be with the team for 4-6 years and make practically no money? to me thats an easy answser.

2. My post about Ingram was BEFORE todays game- when he had arguably the best game of his career at 9, 10 and 10. on 40% shooting---- he just does NOT look like the type of athlete that is usually taken that high in the draft. From what i saw from him- he looks like he is a heady basketball player that knows what he is doing, but there wasnt one time where i saw a play from him and thought- DAMN that guy was the 2nd pick in the draft because he CAN DO THAT!!- By this time last year you had already seen that from Russell a few instances where you sat back and said- "All right- i get why this guy was taken 2nd overall".

does anyone out there have a good comp. for Ingram? i cant think of a guy really. Maybe his teammate Deng?

3. Tarik Black is just the worst. Think about that- you have a guy on a 2 year contract - who is taking playing time away from actual young players like Nance Jr., Thomas Robinson and eventually Zubac and . You already spent a boatload of money on a Mozgov who makes 15 million a year...then another 7 on Tarik Black? Thats 22 million dollars on very mediocre centers. Why not give Black's minutes to Randle/Nance Jr.,/Thomas Robinson(a former top 5 pick that is at least a little intriguing) and Mozgov (who is playing VERY VERY light minutes- like 22 minutes a night)/ - and have an extra 7 million in cap space. Its the type of strategy that REAL GM's implement.

Its the difference between a GM playing "checkers or chess".

Lou would be awesome for a Team like the Bulls, Sixers or Bucks who need shooting desperately.

But, I disagree on the need to deal him....

What's the hurry?

It's not like trading him is gonna bring in the final piece to compete for a chip.

Draft picks are nice.

But, they have enough youth and don't need to add another toddler unless he is of the can't miss variety.

Plus, let's be honest...

The return for Lou will be much higher around the deadline.

But, with that contract, I'd be inclined to keep him the whole year unless something to good to be true comes along.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Lou would be awesome for a Team like the Bulls, Sixers or Bucks who need shooting desperately.

But, I disagree on the need to deal him....

What's the hurry?

It's not like trading him is gonna bring in the final piece to compete for a chip.

Draft picks are nice.

But, they have enough youth and don't need to add another toddler unless he is of the can't miss variety.

Plus, let's be honest...

The return for Lou will be much higher around the deadline.

But, with that contract, I'd be inclined to keep him the whole year unless something to good to be true comes along.

oh yah- wait till the deadline for sure

thats why my original post said

"if the Lakers do not at least seriously explore trading Lou Williams at the deadline- they are incompetent."

who cares if its not another young player they use the 1st round pick on either - at the very least its another asset that can be used in a trade. Williams will never have higher value then he does now getting substantial touches w ith 1 year remaining on his contract so hes more than just a rental.

that is- unless you think that the Lakers have a long term plan for Lou Williams and plan on extending him right before his 32nd birthday and committing to him long term.

or

Unless- like i said- you are really concerned about winning 33 games instead of 29 games this year--- if that worries you- then yah- keep him.

And I agree- the bulls would be a really nice fit considerign where they are...they are trying to compete- arent gonna have a great pick anyway....getting the 18-22nd pick for Lou Williams would be a heist. Maybe the bucks

the Sixers?- they are in the same spot as the Lakers- why give up an asset for a guy that isnt in your long term plans when you arent gonna win anyway?--- i am sure they are gonna invest heavily in guards this upcoming offseason between the tons and tons of cap space they have since they were patient in free agency and didnt pay for mediocre players last year--- and the tons of picks they have- including their own and the Lakers lotto picks.

 

[WiggyRuss]

He is a solid backup center. Contracts are clearly going up. 6 million is nothing for a bench player. How much is Biyombo making to come off the magic bench? There are other bench guys making 15 mill per season. Once again back to bringing up MPG for a bench player. Not every bench player gets 25-30 MPG. The Lakers play a lot of players and nobody (not even their starters) get huge minutes. You can actually make a solid case that Black has been better than Mozgov.

what? no condescending response? too much math?