2018-2019 NBA Regular Season Thread

[dtgold88]

Yeah, the picks from the Kyrie trade are why I said maybe a year behind.

I don't know re: PG and Love. Definitely not beating the Warriors with just he and Lebron. But you have a better team and maybe a chance to keep PG.

Maybe with the addition of PG, Kyrie decides to stick it out for a year for a shot at another title?

No way to know for sure.

Would have definitely been interesting to see what happened if they had made the trade.

Would have been an interesting season but I still don't think they have a shot. Kyrie has surgery and misses playoffs if he stays from everything I've seen. The surgery was known to be needed.

with no assurance Lebron would stay I think there is zero chance PG signs longterm to play in Cleveland. He stayed in OKC knowing Westbrook was not going anywhere.

I'm also referring to losing the picks they'd have had to give up to get PG.

 

[DJ]

How Muggsy Bogues saved his brother's life, and found the meaning of his own

 

[msgkings322]

So apparently Anthony Davis left the game last night with a "bruised shoulder" at the end of the first half, went to the lockers, got dressed, and left for Charlotte with Rich Paul while his team played their hearts out and beat OKC without him even there.

What a shitshow

 

[WiggyRuss]

http://media.video-cdn.espn.com/gifs/mp4/DM_PHI_LAL_Lakers_2gif.mp4

3. LeBron, in chill mode
This is a thing, again:

LeBron gives the ball up and watches, statuesque, even though he has Boban freaking Marjanovic on him. This is Chill Mode Offense.

LeBron can do this on 20 possessions and still notch triple-doubles. A lot of his workload metrics -- speed and distance covered, drives, pick-and-roll volume, free throws -- are consistent with the past few seasons. He is recovering from his first extended injury absence.

He has reached an age where he needs to conserve energy. He ceded large chunks of the offense against Indiana in last season's first round until Game 7. Perhaps this is the price of getting full-throttle LeBron when it matters.

But his shots in the restricted area are down, and he's taking more super-long 3s. He is posting up about 2.9 times per 100 possessions, half his typical rate, per Second Spectrum. He was a more engaged off-ball player in Miami and during the early years of his second Cleveland stint. He did not retreat so often toward half court, blowing on his hands, as possessions wound away.

t has been hard for the Lakers to develop a stylistic identity with LeBron toggling between passivity and chess-master control. Close your eyes and picture a Lakers half-court set. What do you see?

Bystander LeBron has contributed to the vibe that he exists outside the current roster. (The public Davis drama amplified that vibe.) It also brings out the worst in Brandon Ingram. You almost see Ingram and the other Lakers look around before they all agree LeBron is out of the play, and that they must proceed accordingly. If Ingram has the ball and no one sets a prompt screen, he might laze into a fadeaway jumper.

LeBron's previous teams could afford heavy doses of dialed-back Bron. They played in the East. The Lakers play in the West.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Demps was just fired....thank goodness.

Ferry looks like he has the inside track for the job.

I think that the firing of Demps and the hiring of Ferry are bad harbingers for the Lakers- but we shall see.

 

[bksballer89]

So apparently Anthony Davis left the game last night with a "bruised shoulder" at the end of the first half, went to the lockers, got dressed, and left for Charlotte with Rich Paul while his team played their hearts out and beat OKC without him even there.

What a shitshow

Not a good look.

Rich Paul started this

 

[WiggyRuss]

Not a good look.

Rich Paul started this

Rich Paul really played his cards wrong on this one and underestimated the owner of the Pelcians and her willingness not to acquiesce to being blackmailed basically.

His rep will take a hit because of this- it already has.


Pelicans were very smart to fire Demps and if they hand the reigns to Ferry he will do a good job getting the best possible deal for Davis.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Lebron out here getting other teams' GM's fired lol

 

[shopson67]

Demps was just fired....thank goodness.

Ferry looks like he has the inside track for the job.

I think that the firing of Demps and the hiring of Ferry are bad harbingers for the Lakers- but we shall see.

Rumor was the team wanted the Lakers trade, but the front office did not. Which side of the fence was Demps on? That would swing the momentum one way or the other (as will the continued bad look of AD either sitting or playing at low effort).

Ferry was already on the staff as an advisor I believe? Which side of the fence was he on with the Lakers offers? All to be determined I guess....

 

[WiggyRuss]

Rumor was the team wanted the Lakers trade, but the front office did not. Which side of the fence was Demps on? That would swing the momentum one way or the other (as will the continued bad look of AD either sitting or playing at low effort).

I mean i dont think there is any doubt that DAvis is getting traded this offseason.

I just think that Ferry will be a much better guy to get the best offer for the Pelicans

when you get to that high level of trade talks the owner is the one calling the shots. Its obvious the owner did not want to make these moves. Whether it got to her for a sign-off or not is unclear, but i do think its clear ownership had no interest in making a deal at the deadline and preferred to wait until their was a more robust market this offseason and more teams competing for Davis' services.

 

[DJ]

Demps has been fired.....LOL.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Rumor was the team wanted the Lakers trade, but the front office did not. Which side of the fence was Demps on? That would swing the momentum one way or the other (as will the continued bad look of AD either sitting or playing at low effort).

Ferry was already on the staff as an advisor I believe? Which side of the fence was he on with the Lakers offers? All to be determined I guess....

Adrian Wojnarowski‏Verified account @wojespn 5m5 minutes ago
Ownership’s plan with a new GM will be continuing to push back on Anthony Davis preferred trade destinations if they don’t make sense for Pels — especially with a full year left on his contract, per sources.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Demps has been fired.....LOL.

bad news for your 10th seeded Lakers.

 

[dtgold88]

I mean i dont think there is any doubt that DAvis is getting traded this offseason.

I just think that Ferry will be a much better guy to get the best offer for the Pelicans

when you get to that high level of trade talks the owner is the one calling the shots. Its obvious the owner did not want to make these moves. Whether it got to her for a sign-off or not is unclear, but i do think its clear ownership had no interest in making a deal at the deadline and preferred to wait until their was a more robust market this offseason and more teams competing for Davis' services.

Which unless blown away with an offer that could disappear if they waited was the only move to make.

 

[MizzouFalcon]

How’d that whole middle finger to the Lakers work out for you, Demps? Pretty good?

 

[shopson67]

Adrian Wojnarowski‏Verified account @wojespn 5m5 minutes ago
Ownership’s plan with a new GM will be continuing to push back on Anthony Davis preferred trade destinations if they don’t make sense for Pels — especially with a full year left on his contract, per sources.

Great in theory, until AD's camp doubles down on those destinations, leaving all others with cut-rate offers for rentals.

 

[DJ]

Rumor was the team wanted the Lakers trade, but the front office did not. Which side of the fence was Demps on? That would swing the momentum one way or the other (as will the continued bad look of AD either sitting or playing at low effort).

Ferry was already on the staff as an advisor I believe? Which side of the fence was he on with the Lakers offers? All to be determined I guess....

Yeah, I had heard there was infighting in the NO FO.

 

[WiggyRuss]

How’d that whole middle finger to the Lakers work out for you, Demps? Pretty good?

Demps was obviously not in control of those negotiations.

I mean- if anyone thinks that those type of decisions are made on anything but the ownership level they are kidding themselves.

 

[dtgold88]

Great in theory, until AD's camp doubles down on those destinations, leaving all others with cut-rate offers for rentals.

maybe, but doesn't hurt to wait and see what those teams offer. Not like Laker offer should go away.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Yeah, I had heard there was infighting in the NO FO.

you were the numbskull that kept posting that Demps saved his job by not trading DAvid and would have gotten fired if he traded him. LOL

want me to go back and find the posts?