2018-2019 NBA Regular Season Thread

[trojanfan12]

Part of me feels like if not for haters he'd have "re-injured" his groin and sat out the rest of the year like he should've. That was the smart play. Not him putting up empty stats on a bad team. Get the man a rest for chrissakes.

It's kind of a double edged sword for them.

On the one hand, the best thing would likely be to just shut him down for the season. With all of the deep playoff runs and making 8 straight finals, not making the playoffs could actually end up being a little bit of a blessing in disguise. Especially if they just shut him down completely.

On the other hand, he is the guy that fans are showing up to see. The Lakers know this and perhaps more importantly, Lebron knows this. He's definitely earned the right to play if that's what he wants to do. So, I think the "minutes restriction" and sitting out a game or 2 along the way was a bit of a compromise.

 

[bksballer89]

I'm not sure I agree.

On Ball, it does seem a little sketchy because they have said it's a Grade 3 sprain which can actually take months to heal and sometimes requires surgery.

On the other hand, it was originally said to be a "bone bruise" which can also take a long time to heal, but wouldn't have ended his season.

Ingram had a blood clot which was apparently due to a structural issue and required surgery to fix.

Of course, if they were in the playoff hunt, Lebron wouldn't be on a "minutes restriction". But them being in the playoff hunt would also likely mean that they didn't lose Lebron, Ingram and Ball to injury either.

Yeah to say Ingram wouldn't have been shut down with a freaking blood clot is insane. That is usually a 6 month injury at min.

On Ball, I do agree which I find kinda disturbing TBH.

Kid has not lived up to the hype and missed lots of last year due to injury. Even with the team out of playoffs contention, it would have been nice to give him and Bron another 10-15 games to play with each other.

They pretty much only played 2 months together.

 

[Stakesarehigh]

its precisely why they dont deserve it though! That and the Wiz might be the worst run franchise in the NBA now that the Kings and Twolves are actually moving more towards respectability.

I would figure who I need to bribe to sweeten the terms of that insurance policy on Walls contract

Whores, drugs name your price

 

[trojanfan12]

Yeah to say Ingram wouldn't have been shut down with a freaking blood clot is insane. That is usually a 6 month injury at min.

Well, it's Wiggy sooooo…lol

Kid has not lived up to the hype and missed lots of last year due to injury. Even with the team out of playoffs contention, it would have been nice to give him and Bron another 10-15 games to play with each other.

Agree. I think the injury was/is real. But I also think that it's probably not really a grade 3.

The one good thing that I've heard is that the injury will be completely healed early enough to give him the entire off-season to work on his game. Apparently, he didn't get much chance to do that this past off-season because last years injury took a lot longer to heal.

 

[Wamu]

Dr. Dre boasts his daughter got into USC "on her own" after he donationed 70 million to the school.

 

[dtgold88]

By that metric I think the Grizzlies should be no lower than 2 for sure. They've always done things a pretty classy way in Memphis. They really have only had one terrible move (Chandler Parson's contract) that hampered them and put them into the position they are in. None of their players wanted to be moved and would have preferred to be lifers in a Grizzlies uniform. That has to say a lot about the organization.

I feel the Cavs should be lower because their ownership did a lot of self inflicted harm, IMO. The biggest mistake they made is being short sighted and not keeping David Griffin. He's the guy who rebuild the team from the ground up and put them in a position to land Lebron again and put the pieces necessary around him. Now that the Cavs need another rebuild he would have been a stabilizing piece within the organization. Not that Altman has shown he's incompetent either, just organizational stability should be accounted for. A lot of this of course has a direct linear correlation to Lebron, but for all the shit Cavs fans give Heat fans, they did one thing right in their handling of Lebron.

I'd go:

1) Mavericks - solid front office(basketball wise, not that other shit Cuban let happen), great talent evaluators, coaching is A+ and lots of talent.
2) Grizzlies - decent front office, group that has always played above talent levels through determination and never could consider them to be non-competitive even at their worst.
3) Hawks - front office restructure seems like it's doing well. modeling themselves after the Warriors and building from the ground up with what is looking like a solid foundation. Inconsistent but effort is there.
4) Lakers - This free agency period will be the telling of whether or not the Lakers move up to the 2-3 range in this ranking or slide down to 9-10. I fully believe the plan has always been to go after big names this year which is why the signed 1 year deals to all their current guys. If the plan was to get a big guy this year and it works out, the organization turns out to be brilliant. If they swing and miss well then their misjudgements will haunt them.
5) Suns - place them slightly above the Cavs if only because they've been able to grab a couple potential franchise pieces is Booker and Ayton. Ayton's not getting any love because of Luka and Trae, but he's been impressive too.
6) Cavs - Coddled Lebron and pandered too him too much, and as such has left a gaping hole in the team with bad contracts and rode some talent out of town. On the flip side, they're setting up for another quick rebuild and time will tell if they can turn some of that future cap space and picks into some big hits.
7) Pelicans - Wasted AD's production for nothing. Now he's gone.
8) Bulls - I think their front office is still a mess. Need to get that right first.
9) Knicks - LOL.
10) Wizards - LOL.

First, maybe you can be the first to say what Griffin did to be paid more than whatever he was offered. Title team was built mostly by moves made by the guy before him - Chris Grant, as well as Gilbert being willing to spend on the pick that turned into Kyrie. Grant was the one who built them from the ground up. He cleared all the cap space and acquired all the assets used to go out and bring Lebron back and trade for Love (and others)

As for organizational stability, the last 2 coaches and all his GM hires were hired from within.

dont get me wrong, I like Griff, but there's a reason he is still not a GM. Would guess he either prefers doing what he's doing (and I think he is exceptional in his role) or no one thinks that highly of him. Cavs get ripped for the Bennett pick (rightfully so). Griff was the driving force behind convincing Chris Grant to take him against his judgement. Griff will be the one who will tell you this.

No real issue with your order as just opinion. Think you are spot on on the last 3, maybe even 4.

sure it's been mentioned, but acquiring Lebron and possibly winning LESS games with him?

To me, Gilbert = Cuban as an owner. I could see Dallas top 3, but think Cavs are on their level. I thought Hawks should be 1 or 2.

Who are the bad contracts the Cavs are left with? They have very moveable deals in TT and Clarkson if they want (if they aren't moved their deals expire after next season). Knight was taken to get a first rounder and can also be moved (or deal expires after next season).

 

[dtgold88]

I don't really want to see LeBron get lotto lucky again, but as far as your comment, how are they "tanking"?
They have major injuries that they can't overcome.
Are you implying they could/should be winning these games?

I think they might be holding guys out longer than they would if they were in the hunt. Just my opinion.

 

[dtgold88]

I mean with respects to the Lakers, I get it. I'm right there with you. However while it was not the organizations likely desire to have Lebron on a tanking squad, the premise behind the goal of the season was always the same in that it was directionally pointed at next year as "THE" year. This year there were no title aspiration and realistically most felt a 2nd round appearance would have been their cap. It may actually be a blessing in disguised that they are actively tanking to possibly get a better draft pick and actually have the appeal for a free agent to be "needed" instead of Lebron's sidekick. Again I have them at 4 because I firmly believe the premise was always "next year" and whatever happened this year was a throw away anyways.

Suns I struggled with a bit and could have easily flipped the Cavs for their position. The only reason I went with the Suns above the Cavs is because of a quicker potential turn around as you said with their two top picks.

Great point about a FA being able to look at himself as being needed to help take them to another level in LA.

 

[dtgold88]

i dont think for a second that Ingram and Ball would have been shut down for the year, and LeBron would be rested as much as he has lately, if they were going to the playoffs.

Not sure about Ingram but agree in respect to Lebron and Ball.

 

[CitySushi]

First, maybe you can be the first to say what Griffin did to be paid more than whatever he was offered. Title team was built mostly by moves made by the guy before him - Chris Grant, as well as Gilbert being willing to spend on the pick that turned into Kyrie. Grant was the one who built them from the ground up. He cleared all the cap space and acquired all the assets used to go out and bring Lebron back and trade for Love (and others)

As for organizational stability, the last 2 coaches and all his GM hires were hired from within.

dont get me wrong, I like Griff, but there's a reason he is still not a GM. Would guess he either prefers doing what he's doing (and I think he is exceptional in his role) or no one thinks that highly of him. Cavs get ripped for the Bennett pick (rightfully so). Griff was the driving force behind convincing Chris Grant to take him against his judgement. Griff will be the one who will tell you this.

No real issue with your order as just opinion. Think you are spot on on the last 3, maybe even 4.

sure it's been mentioned, but acquiring Lebron and possibly winning LESS games with him?

To me, Gilbert = Cuban as an owner. I could see Dallas top 3, but think Cavs are on their level. I thought Hawks should be 1 or 2.

Who are the bad contracts the Cavs are left with? They have very moveable deals in TT and Clarkson if they want (if they aren't moved their deals expire after next season). Knight was taken to get a first rounder and can also be moved (or deal expires after next season).

Still gotta make the moves though. Kyrie was coming off a season ending injury and only played something like 10 or 11 games the entire season. While he was the top prospect, still takes some thought to take him #1 when Derrick Williams was having an amazing season at Arizona.

He did fuck up and take Bennett but didn't hesitate to trade the #1 pick, and the #1 pick from a year previous to get Kevin Love. You also have to remember Wiggins height of hype back then.

It was his other smaller moves that are the ones that credit should be taken for. Like the acquisition of JR Smith, Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumpert, etc. Those guys were big pieces to your team for stretches.

There's one thing when given the assets to work with, but it's also another to actually be the one to utilize them properly. Griff absolutely did so, even rectifying a mistake.

I disagree with your opinion on the Cavs and Mavs, but it is what it is. This is all just opinion mostly anyways.

 

[dtgold88]

Still gotta make the moves though. Kyrie was coming off a season ending injury and only played something like 10 or 11 games the entire season. While he was the top prospect, still takes some thought to take him #1 when Derrick Williams was having an amazing season at Arizona.

He did fuck up and take Bennett but didn't hesitate to trade the #1 pick, and the #1 pick from a year previous to get Kevin Love. You also have to remember Wiggins height of hype back then.

It was his other smaller moves that are the ones that credit should be taken for. Like the acquisition of JR Smith, Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumpert, etc. Those guys were big pieces to your team for stretches.

There's one thing when given the assets to work with, but it's also another to actually be the one to utilize them properly. Griff absolutely did so, even rectifying a mistake.

I disagree with your opinion on the Cavs and Mavs, but it is what it is. This is all just opinion mostly anyways.

Griff did not take Kyrie #1. Chris Grant was the GM. Grant also took Bennett, but per Griff he was talked into the pick by Griff and a couple others.

Again, I did like Griff, but more people rip the Cavs for the JR and Shump signings (with TT) and those were all Griffin. I thought the signing were fine, FWIW. Not much choice.

I did like the Frye deal as well as Korver. RJ? Just a guy looking to chase a ring with Lebron....but I did like him.

Not as much about Cavs/Mavs as it is Gilbert/Cuban. Both have an obscene will to win and will not let money be a hindrance when the team has a chance to win or even if they are losing but the move will help them win down the road. Both rub many the wrong way. Cuban craves the spotlight more.

 

[tlance]

Ok...but with these metrics Love is better than Klay on D. sure you want to go that route?

That said, "definitely better" is fair, but not the same as "not even close".

What are you talking about? What metrics am I using that make Love a better defender than Klay?

As for the second part, would you feel better if I just said "not debateable" instead of "not close"?

 

[bksballer89]

 

[dtgold88]

What are you talking about? What metrics am I using that make Love a better defender than Klay?

As for the second part, would you feel better if I just said "not debateable" instead of "not close"?

was talking about the metrics you used to say Curry was a better defender than Young. There are also metrics that say Love is a better defender than Klay.

Feel free to say what you want. It's your opinion. I just disagree with anything that implies it's not close or debatable

 

[bksballer89]

 

[tlance]

was talking about the metrics you used to say Curry was a better defender than Young. There are also metrics that say Love is a better defender than Klay.

Feel free to say what you want. It's your opinion. I just disagree with anything that implies it's not close or debatable

I didn't state any specific metrics though.

Again, there is no debate about who the better defender is between Klay and Love.

And that "isn't even close".

 

[dtgold88]

I didn't state any specific metrics though.

Again, there is no debate about who the better defender is between Klay and Love.

And that "isn't even close".

So on what did you base Curry being the better defender as a rookie? Let me guess, the old "eye test" which no one can prove nor disprove.

 

[DJ Fieri]

out of the 10 worst teams in the NBA - I will rank them in the order that they "deserve" to win the lotto:
1. Atlanta Hawks - have never really tanked, have a good young trio- have played hard all year.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers- just had LeBron leave, are rebuilding and Nick Gilbert is a great good luck charm.

3. Dallas Mavericks- no non-tanking bad karma juju. Have not had a really high pick in a long time.

4. Grizzlies- never really tanked- have not had a high pick in a long time- would be nice if they moved up (at least not at the expense of the Cavs)

5. Suns- they are just terrible and have had tons of high picks lately, but with only 17 wins they shouldnt slip too far down

6. Bulls- ehh.....they got really lucky to get Rose and their ownership is really cheap.

7. Pelicans- would be pretty awesome for them to get Zion to replace Davis- and get a nice haul for Davis- and send him out the door.

8. Bricks- plenty of tanking bad karma juju, Dolan is an asshole, they just drove off Porzingis- but they are just terrible

9. Wizards- dont deserve shit- terribly run.

10. Lakers? LOL

By yr own posts on here.....Lakers shld be 9th and Wizards 10th.....

SMH

 

[WiggyRuss]

was talking about the metrics you used to say Curry was a better defender than Young. There are also metrics that say Love is a better defender than Klay.

Feel free to say what you want. It's your opinion. I just disagree with anything that implies it's not close or debatable

lol dont you understand?

when the metrics are for his argument- they are solid gold

when they are against his argument- its "my eyes that have watched countless children play basketball are worth more than any unreliable statistic".

does it really surprise you? shouldnt at this point

 

[WiggyRuss]

By yr own posts on here.....Lakers shld be 9th and Wizards 10th.....

SMH

i just cant give any team that is under .500 with LeBron a high lotto pick. i mean cmon now. I mean he missed less than a quarter of the season with his injury. I know it was a singificant injury and a big deal- but in the grand scheme of things to get to what? itll be like 34 wins MAYBE with LeBron having an injury that kept him out for less than a 1/4 of the year is purty bad slugger.