2021 NBA regular season thread

[trojanfan12]

Agreed.

So which championship contender is going to spend $50m a year on a probable #3 guy?

It's hard to say.

I agree with @tlance in principal. Where he seems to be ranked among players (at least for regular season performance), does tend to mean a contract in the range of what he just signed.

Having said that, the way he has performed during the playoffs is no longer a secret, nor is it something teams can pass off as the product of the rest of the team not being as good like they could in Indy and OKC. I would think that would lessen his value.

If a team was looking at him as what he is...there is no way in hell he's getting that kind of money because you don't pay that kind of money to a #3. But teams fool themselves into thinking a player is better than he is fairly regularly, so he could still get close to that...especially a team that is paying him as, at least a #2, which is what the Clippers just did (and why I think they're going to regret it).

As for what the Lakers would do. Even if they somehow had the cap space, if they signed him, it would be for less than what they are paying Lebron and AD, even if they had enough to pay him as much.

Minus Lebron or AD. I'd like to think they still wouldn't pay him what the Clippers just did, but am less confident that they wouldn't.

 

[trojanfan12]

That's why athletes shouldn't be role models. Barkley took alotta shit for his commericals back in the day. But I think he was right. And the insane salaries players get (not just in basketball) is why I'll never spend the money to have a great seat at any game. Tickets costs way too much.

When my son was 13, he came to live with me. He wanted to play in the local basketball league, so we signed him up and I coached his team. On our way to his first practice, he says "I want to be like Kobe". I said (keep in mind, this was 10 years ago, so he wasn't "Uncle Kobe" yet) "If you're talking about Kobe the basketball player and working as hard on your game as he does, then I'm all for it. But if you're talking about Kobe as a person, you need to pick someone else".

 

[Wamu]

When my son was 13, he came to live with me. He wanted to play in the local basketball league, so we signed him up and I coached his team. On our way to his first practice, he says "I want to be like Kobe". I said (keep in mind, this was 10 years ago, so he wasn't "Uncle Kobe" yet) "If you're talking about Kobe the basketball player and working as hard on your game as he does, then I'm all for it. But if you're talking about Kobe as a person, you need to pick someone else".

Athletes were never my idols. Not to sound corny or anything but my dad was my idol.

 

[WiggyRuss]

And Kyrie proves Gottlieb right. lol

Next time he decides he has some "woke message" that he wants to put out and contacts the media...I hope no one shows up.

somewhere along the way Kyrie lost his mind.

 

[Shanemansj13]

I’m glad KLove called out Kyrie out.

“Calling anybody a pawn is a sure sign of disrespect,” Love said. “I’m not a divisive person.”

 

[Wamu]

Kyrie's greatest hit.

-no playoff trips until LeBron returned to the Cavs
-forced his was outta Cleveland because he was jealous of LeBron
-lands in Boston, Celtics make it to game 7 of ECF without him
-2nd year in Boston plays some of the worst basketball of his career as the Celtics are bounced in the 2nd round by the Bucks
-says maybe the dumbest thing of his career when he claims KD is the first clutch teammate he's ever had
-goes outta his way to say he won't be talking to the media this season

 

[trojanfan12]

somewhere along the way Kyrie lost his mind.

Yep. Kinda sad considering the skills and talent he has.

 

[trojanfan12]

Kyrie's greatest hit.

-no playoff trips until LeBron returned to the Cavs
-forced his was outta Cleveland because he was jealous of LeBron
-lands in Boston, Celtics make it to game 7 of ECF without him
-2nd year in Boston plays some of the worst basketball of his career as the Celtics are bounced in the 2nd round by the Bucks
-says maybe the dumbest thing of his career when he claims KD is the first clutch teammate he's ever had
-goes outta his way to say he won't be talking to the media this season

My favorites are when he's quoted verbatim and says he was misquoted or it was "taken out of context".

Shannon Sharpe, who was quite outspoken as a player, was blasting him this morning. It was pretty funny. Talking about how he was never taken out of context and meant every word he ever said. Then he says: "Kyrie even claimed he was misquoted in his own autobiography. How're you gonna say you were misquoted when they were your exact words?" lol

 

[Wamu]

My favorites are when he's quoted verbatim and says he was misquoted or it was "taken out of context".

Shannon Sharpe, who was quite outspoken as a player, was blasting him this morning. It was pretty funny. Talking about how he was never taken out of context and meant every word he ever said. Then he says: "Kyrie even claimed he was misquoted in his own autobiography. How're you gonna say you were misquoted when they were your exact words?" lol

Oh the irony of Sharpe blasting Kyrie. Now that's funny. But I'd bet money Kyrie ain't hearing any of it.

 

[bksballer89]

 

[tlance]

What if the Lakers had both Lebron, AD AND cap space to sign PG?

You think they offer him the same deal the Clippers just did?

If they had the space?

That also means they have nobody else on their roster.

And then yes, they would.

And that would be a nasty big 3.

 

[tlance]

Nikola Jokic, Jimmy Butler and Joel Embiid.

I'm not talking max contract, i'm talking how much they're being paid. All three of those guys are better than PG and earn almost $10m a year less.

Those guys are all on max contracts. They just have less service time and are making less money because of it.

You can’t claim that is meaningful because those players aren’t eligible to be paid as much as PG is.

When their contract comes up, they will make more.

Also, as I said earlier, this time last year PG would have been ranked ahead of at least 2, maybe all 3 of those guys.

 

[DJ Fieri]

Those guys are all on max contracts. They just have less service time and are making less money because of it.

You can’t claim that is meaningful because those players aren’t eligible to be paid as much as PG is.

When their contract comes up, they will make more.

Also, as I said earlier, this time last year PG would have been ranked ahead of at least 2, maybe all 3 of those guys.

This.

 

[trojanfan12]

Also, as I said earlier, this time last year PG would have been ranked ahead of at least 2, maybe all 3 of those guys.

Where he would have been ranked this time last year is irrelevant.

The Clippers didn't sign him to that contract this time last year. They did it now, after he's shown he's not worth that kind of money.

 

[CitySushi]

2021 Warriors We Believe edition starting tomorrow. It's gonna be a wild ride.

This year more than anything I hope we see a Steph Curry appreciation resurgence instead of all the "overrated" star talk. People say he needs to prove something this year, and to an extent I agree. He's also realistically only got another season or two at peak levels of performance. So let's appreciate it while we can.

The three things I'm looking for the most this year:

1) Get through the season for the most part unscathed health wise.
2) Development of Wiggins, Paschall and Wiseman as future foundational pieces.
3) Timberwolves imploding and further cementing another top pick for next season.

 

[bksballer89]

Where he would have been ranked this time last year is irrelevant.

The Clippers didn't sign him to that contract this time last year. They did it now, after he's shown he's not worth that kind of money.

Is James Harden worth a max contract?

 

[CitySushi]

Is James Harden worth a max contract?

Yes he is.

 

[DJ Fieri]

Yes he is.

Y'all should try and trade Wiggins, a player and a few picks for him.

 

[bksballer89]

Yes he is.

So whats the difference between him and PG? Granted i don't believe you were arguing that PG shouldn't get a max contract but both played below their standards in the playoffs all the time. Harden is a top 5 player typically in the regular season and PG is usually borderline top 10.

 

[bksballer89]

Btw feels great to watch preseason basketball especially since a lot of these teams playing tonight did not make it to the bubble or got eliminated from the bubble rather quickly