2016-17 NBA Regular Season Thread

[WiggyRuss]

Are you going to share the insight on how you created your Top 15 list and put 3 C above Whiteside?

As far as this other nonsense, Tristan is making near as much as Whiteside, so try again.

whiteside makes 22M this year- by the end of his deal he will be making 27- Tristan makes 15 this year- by the end of his deal he will be making 18

Tristan (i) never gets hurt, (ii) knows his role and is happy with his role, (iii) is one of the best offensive rebounders in the league, (iv) is one of the most versatile big men defenders in the league- and without him- the Cavs defense would stand no chance against Golden State.

The goal is to win a title- Tristan helps the Cavs do that way more than Whiteside would. Its not even close. If you switched out Whiteside for Tristan in last years NBA Finals the Cavs still dont have a ring and the city of Cleveland is still looking for its first title since '64.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

I believe Tristan is at 15. Whiteside is at 23. Its a pretty big difference.

I thought Tristan was a bit higher, so if wrong, I stand corrected, but if so, Whiteside did sign after the huge cap increase where Tristan did not, plus Whiteside had 5 other max offers and Tristan had 0 offers of any kind.

 

[Wamu]

Doesn't surprise or disappoint me at all for 2 reasons.

1.) Lebron literally averages a near triple double every single season. It's what everyone is used to and expects from him. So, in a sense, we just take it for granted that he's going to do that and that works against him.

2.) There are at least 2 players having better seasons, 1 of whom is on the verge of making history.

Yes RW is on the verge of making history but that won't guarantee the MVP for him. Like I mentioned the other day in '62 when the Big O averaged a trip-dub & Wilt averaged 50.4 ppg & 25.7 rebs (leading the league in both) Russell got the MVP averaging 18.9 ppg & 23.6 rebs. With that being said right now I'd give the slight MVP edge to Harden. And that's not a knock on LeBron but he's doing what he always does, stuffing the stat sheet just about every night.

 

[trojanfan12]

So, assuming production is the same next year as this year, you think the Lakers would be a better team with Paul George or if they had Johnson, Johnson and Waiters?

Salaries figure to be about equal.

In the Lakers situation, it's hard to say. If the Lakers young guys keep developing, they may well have their own version of Johnson, Johnson and Waiters. In that case, George would definitely make them better. If they don't keep developing, then they wouldn't necessarily be better with him.

As much as I love PG-13 and want him on the Lakers, I wouldn't want to give up much of the young core (if memory serves, the Pacers wanted 3 of them) though.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

whiteside makes 22M this year- by the end of his deal he will be making 27- Tristan makes 15 this year- by the end of his deal he will be making 18

Tristan (i) never gets hurt, (ii) knows his role and is happy with his role, (iii) is one of the best offensive rebounders in the league, (iv) is one of the most versatile big men defenders in the league- and without him- the Cavs defense would stand no chance against Golden State.

The goal is to win a title- Tristan helps the Cavs do that way more than Whiteside would. Its not even close. If you switched out Whiteside for Tristan in last years NBA Finals the Cavs still dont have a ring and the city of Cleveland is still looking for its first title since '64.

There are many more plausible scenarios as to why the Cavs might not have a title, but they do so it is what it is.
I watch a lot of Cavs games.
Their D is horrific, so not sure why you have Tristan elevated to D player of the year type level.
Whiteside has greatly improved his perimeter D, and offers prob the best rim protection in the league.

 

[Wamu]

I misspoke. I meant to say, the best player not named Swaggy P.

That's what I thought you meant.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Yes RW is on the verge of making history but that won't guarantee the MVP for him. Like I mentioned the other day in '62 when the Big O averaged a trip-dub & Wilt averaged 50.4 ppg & 25.7 rebs (leading the league in both) Russell got the MVP averaging 18.9 ppg & 23.6 rebs. With that being said right now I'd give the slight MVP edge to Harden. And that's not a knock on LeBron but he's doing what he always does, stuffing the stat sheet just about every night.

RW is not winning the MVP. the last 30 years of NBA history tells you that. If it happens it would go against some firmly established precedent.

 

[gordontrue]

I thought Tristan was a bit higher, so if wrong, I stand corrected, but if so, Whiteside did sign after the huge cap increase where Tristan did not, plus Whiteside had 5 other max offers and Tristan had 0 offers of any kind.

Yeah, which is a reason the TT signing turned out to be nowhere as bad as it was originally billed.

Getting Kyrie, Love, & TT all locked in pre-cap was huge.

That said, signing Whiteside to a max is something that majority of teams would've done and is looking like it was a great move.

 

[Wamu]

whiteside makes 22M this year- by the end of his deal he will be making 27- Tristan makes 15 this year- by the end of his deal he will be making 18

Tristan (i) never gets hurt, (ii) knows his role and is happy with his role, (iii) is one of the best offensive rebounders in the league, (iv) is one of the most versatile big men defenders in the league- and without him- the Cavs defense would stand no chance against Golden State.

The goal is to win a title- Tristan helps the Cavs do that way more than Whiteside would. Its not even close. If you switched out Whiteside for Tristan in last years NBA Finals the Cavs still dont have a ring and the city of Cleveland is still looking for its first title since '64.

Come on wiggy stop being so damned biased. Yes Tristan is a great fit for the Cavs but Whiteside's the better scorer, rebounder & shot blocker. I think the Cavs front line would be even better if they had Whiteside instead of Tristan.

 

[Wamu]

RW is not winning the MVP. the last 30 years of NBA history tells you that. If it happens it would go against some firmly established precedent.

How does the last 30 years of MVP voting say RW couldn't win the MVP? Just wondering.

 

[trojanfan12]

Great post. I mean- this is just common sense to most people.

I mean- there is a players union- if there was a free market system- guys like Durant/LeBron/Curry etc. would be getting paid astronomical sums of money- and the NBA upper-middle-class and middle-class would effectively dissapear.

Yeah, I forget who it was, but I heard an NBA cap expert being interviewed and he was saying that many people think the new CBA helps the top level players because of the huge sums that they can get for staying with their teams. He said that it's actually the middle class level players that benefit the most because they end up getting the money that the superstars can't get because of the cap.

It's why, even though they were criticized for it, it was actually smart (from a business perspective) that the Lakers paid what they did for Kobe in his final 2 seasons. They made far more money from having him on the roster those 2 seasons than they paid him.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Yeah, which is a reason the TT signing turned out to be nowhere as bad as it was originally billed.

Getting Kyrie, Love, & TT all locked in pre-cap was huge.

Tristan is a steal at 15M....

he turned 26 just 2 days ago. He is signed for his age 25 (this season), 26, 27, and 28 seasons for a total of between those 4 years- about 67M dollars.

an average of16.75M a year to keep Tristan Thompson through the middle of his prime.. a guy that has averaged double-doubles in the last 2 NBA Finals?

thats not only not a bad contract- its a steal.

esp. when you see guys like Mozgov, Mahimi, Noah, Whiteside etc. get the deals that they got.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

Yeah, which is a reason the TT signing turned out to be nowhere as bad as it was originally billed.

Getting Kyrie, Love, & TT all locked in pre-cap was huge.

That said, signing Whiteside to a max is something that majority of teams would've done and is looking like it was a great move.

Agree.
Moving forward, what Cavs/Warriors did is not repeating IMO.
As long as James is around and the Warriors are willing to pay, the rest of the league will just have to deal with it.

So, the plan should be to gear up for a few years down the road, like the Celtics.

Tristan on 29 other teams is pretty much just another pretty much nothing, as he was before James.

As is, his role is perfect for his skill set because opponents are for the most part just forced to ignore him.

No way on earth can opponents ignore Whiteside.

 

[gordontrue]

Great news for the Spurs...

 

[WiggyRuss]

Yeah, I forget who it was, but I heard an NBA cap expert being interviewed and he was saying that many people think the new CBA helps the top level players because of the huge sums that they can get for staying with their teams. He said that it's actually the middle class level players that benefit the most because they end up getting the money that the superstars can't get because of the cap.

It's why, even though they were criticized for it, it was actually smart (from a business perspective) that the Lakers paid what they did for Kobe in his final 2 seasons. They made far more money from having him on the roster those 2 seasons than they paid him.

exactly- I mean- If Kobe was healthy anyway- which- of course- you cant control (to a certain extent).

Its why these people who think its even a 1% question of whether to give LeBron a 5 year supermax at 33 years old are just kidding themselves. They cant do math. Even if LeBron is getting paid 40 million in his age 37 season the contract overall will be well worth it. You have so much value built into any deal for a superstar talent.

 

[trojanfan12]

Yes RW is on the verge of making history but that won't guarantee the MVP for him. Like I mentioned the other day in '62 when the Big O averaged a trip-dub & Wilt averaged 50.4 ppg & 25.7 rebs (leading the league in both) Russell got the MVP averaging 18.9 ppg & 23.6 rebs. With that being said right now I'd give the slight MVP edge to Harden. And that's not a knock on LeBron but he's doing what he always does, stuffing the stat sheet just about every night.

True, I have Westbrook as the current MVP because he's on the verge of making history. But if he falters, I'd say Harden (and I can't stand Harden). I could also see Kawhi overtaking both of them if Pop doesn't rest him too much down the stretch.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

Tristan is a steal at 15M....

he turned 26 just 2 days ago. He is signed for his age 25 (this season), 26, 27, and 28 seasons for a total of between those 4 years- about 67M dollars.

an average of16.75M a year to keep Tristan Thompson through the middle of his prime.. a guy that has averaged double-doubles in the last 2 NBA Finals?

thats not only not a bad contract- its a steal.

esp. when you see guys like Mozgov, Mahimi, Noah, Whiteside etc. get the deals that they got.

Love how you lump Whiteside in with those 3.

#ASSCLOWN


We're still waiting for the rational on how you put 3 C ahead of Whiteside last night.
PLEASE share.
It still has to be fresh on your 'mind'.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Great news for the Spurs...

great news....Would love to see the Spurs face the Warriors in a playoff series- and if not beat them- at least give them hell.

Id love to see Kawhi chase Durant around the court for 7 games.....that would be great news for the Defending Champs.

 

[Wamu]

True, I have Westbrook as the current MVP because he's on the verge of making history. But if he falters, I'd say Harden (and I can't stand Harden). I could also see Kawhi overtaking both of them if Pop doesn't rest him too much down the stretch.

I'd love to see Kawhi win the MVP, I'm a big fan of his.

 

[WiggyRuss]

True, I have Westbrook as the current MVP because he's on the verge of making history. But if he falters, I'd say Harden (and I can't stand Harden). I could also see Kawhi overtaking both of them if Pop doesn't rest him too much down the stretch.

did you see both Deng and Mozgov have been shut down?

dude- Jeanie should have made her move a year ago.....itll all be fine if you keep the pick though...