NBA 2022-23 Season

[SteveGrabowski]

Well despite the Spurs trading their allstar Dejounte Murray for draft picks in the summer and their future face of the franchise Josh Primo going 露出狂 and getting released somehow the Spurs are 5-2 so far. I don't know how they're doing it with this roster that looks like it should win 20 games on paper. I gotta think Pop has to win coach of the year if he can somehow will this team to the playoffs. I know it's still early but this is shocking seeing them 5-2. NBA.com's preseason power rankings had the Spurs 30th of 30.

Also love seeing the Lakers go down in flames. Don't know what they were thinking bringing in Westbrook last year but it's an entertaining dumpster fire seeing them 0-5.

 

[manly]

I doubt the Spurs will make the playoffs, but we'll see what happens. Having said that, a lot of "contenders" are struggling out of the gate so it's definitely been intriguing so far. So far it feels like the NFL, which has a lot of parity outside of 2 elite teams per season. Bear in mind teams aren't really playing defense this time of year, esp. with the shaky health of guys like Kawhi or Anthony Davis to consider.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I doubt the Spurs will make the playoffs, but we'll see what happens. Having said that, a lot of "contenders" are struggling out of the gate so it's definitely been intriguing so far. So far it feels like the NFL, which has a lot of parity outside of 2 elite teams per season. Bear in mind teams aren't really playing defense this time of year, esp. with the shaky health of guys like Kawhi or Anthony Davis to consider.

Yeah I'm worried they're going to be a play-in team yet again this year with 35-38 wins and get stuck drafting around 9-12 again. Terrible place to be not good enough to make the playoffs and not bad enough to have much of a chance at a top 5 pick.

Kind of wondering if this is the new normal for Kawhi Leonard. He was a china doll in the best of times and he and his uncle had a fit when the Spurs team doctors told him he had a degenerative knee problem. Hope so when after the way he set fire to the Spurs on the way out the door, though in retrospect the trade the Spurs made with Toronto actually looks pretty good now since it netted the Spurs Keldon Johnson who really looks good so far, a starting center in Jakob Poetl, plus a first rounder from Chicago that the Spurs got when they traded DeRozan to the Bulls.

Don't think Anthony Davis matters much these days with how horribly constructed the Lakers roster is. They have no shooting and to get any they're going to have to dump their 27 and 29 first round picks along with Westbrook, and at least the 27 will have to be unprotected but probably both will need to be to get someone to take Westbrook's $47 million contract when he's legit looking like the worst player in the league.

 

[iCyborg]

I'm surprised Utah is doing so well, their off season trades looked bad to me - out were 2 all-stars (Gobert and Mitchell), the 3rd best player (Bogdanovic) and O.Neale who was a regular starter, basically their whole starting lineup except for Conley and a good 6th man Clarkson. What they got seemed much less, and it's not like they were raking up 1st round draft picks or anything.
They might fizzle in playoffs, like they did in the last couple years...

 

[manly]

The Jazz fleeced the TWolves in the Gobert trade. RG is a great defender, but not worth the money or the draft capital that was surrendered. Mitchell's adanced stats had eroded over the past couple seasons, but he's re-energized on a Cavs squad. It's pretty crazy the Jazz are currently top-2 in the West, but I don't see that roster translating into playoffs success TBH.

As expected, the Spurs have fallen back to earth, rather quickly.

Russell Westbrook, if he fully embraces his new bench role, will have some trade value at the deadline as an expiring contract. Nobody is trading for RWB, the player, at this point except for maybe the Nets and the Cryrie Irving debacle.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

The Jazz fleeced the TWolves in the Gobert trade. RG is a great defender, but not worth the money or the draft capital that was surrendered. Mitchell's adanced stats had eroded over the past couple seasons, but he's re-energized on a Cavs squad. It's pretty crazy the Jazz are currently top-2 in the West, but I don't see that roster translating into playoffs success TBH.

As expected, the Spurs have fallen back to earth, rather quickly.

Russell Westbrook, if he fully embraces his new bench role, will have some trade value at the deadline as an expiring contract. Nobody is trading for RWB, the player, at this point except for maybe the Nets and the Cryrie Irving debacle.

God Minnesota looks bad, yeah they got wrecked in that Gobert trade. Looks like the Lakers are punting the season. Don't get that all when NO has a pick swap with them this year. Maybe they're hoping Davis plays well enough to improve his trade value by the deadline since his stock is at an alltime low right now. Yeah the advanced stats said the Spurs hot start was smoke and mirrors. Hope this means they start losing every night, can't stomach the thought of another 35 win season and another Josh Primo level pick.

 

[manly]

God Minnesota looks bad, yeah they got wrecked in that Gobert trade. Looks like the Lakers are punting the season. Don't get that all when NO has a pick swap with them this year. Maybe they're hoping Davis plays well enough to improve his trade value by the deadline since his stock is at an alltime low right now. Yeah the advanced stats said the Spurs hot start was smoke and mirrors. Hope this means they start losing every night, can't stomach the thought of another 35 win season and another Josh Primo level pick.

The Lakers are not punting. They are just terribad, and have already been called the worst shooting team of all time. That's saying a lot considering older eras had much less shooting efficiency. It's borderline criminal looking at the roster outside of LBJ, AD and Lonnie Walker IV (LOL that he's their 3rd best player). RWB has been serviceable as a reserve, but the HC is still stupidly putting him on the court with LBJ at times.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

The Lakers are not punting. They are just terribad, and have already been called the worst shooting team of all time. That's saying a lot considering older eras had much less shooting efficiency. It's borderline criminal looking at the roster outside of LBJ, AD and Lonnie Walker IV (LOL that he's their 3rd best player). RWB has been serviceable as a reserve, but the HC is still stupidly putting him on the court with LBJ at times.

They're definitely punting the season by not making any trades to improve the team. They could get desperately needed shooters with those picks, but maybe not worth doing with LeBron finally looking mortal this year.

 

[manly]

The Phoenix Suns push all-in for KD... although the trade makes sense considering the Suns have regressed from a 64-win squad, the price seems incredibly high. 3 starter-caliber small forwards and 4 first round picks. It's near impossible to acquire a player of KD's stature, but he's 34 years old and not durable like LBJ. If you're a Suns fan, you're hoping at least some of the picks are lottery protected.

 

[manly]

They're definitely punting the season by not making any trades to improve the team. They could get desperately needed shooters with those picks, but maybe not worth doing with LeBron finally looking mortal this year.

The revamped Lakers surged past the Grizzlies in game 1.

Meanwhile, the defending champs fell to the Kings last night in a thriller. Light the Beam!

 

[pete6032]

Grizzlies vs. Lakers. Never have two more annoying teams met in the first round playoffs.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

The look on Schroder's face after Draymond's moronic turnover to blow Game 4. I'm dying

https://twitter.com/x/status/1655794624215109632

A Lakers-Nuggets WCF could be a lot of fun

 

[Captante]

Go new york go new york go!
(omg it's been a long time since I said that!)

 

[manly]

This thread is rockin'

Final 4 is set.
Celtics vs. Heat
Nuggets vs. Lakers

Celtics vs WCF winner will be an interesting champ series.

 

[Denly]

Jokic and Tatum are the best players and I am sticking to Nuggets vs Celtics final.

Ja the dumb ass and coaches firing kinda stolen the life out of PO.

 

[iCyborg]

The record for a champion with the worst regular season is 44-38.
This season Heat had 44-38, Lakers had 43-39. So there's a chance for the record to be tied or beaten.
I hope not though, I'd rather see Celtics vs Nuggets. But Heat vs Lakers wouldn't shock me either, Heat already kicked out Bucks, and Lakers have looked good too.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

OMFG the Spurs just got Victor!

 

[pete6032]

Nobody wants to see the Lakers in the finals again other than the NBA, for TV ratings.

 

[RLGL]

Thank god it will be over soon!

 

[MrSquished]

LeBron can say some dumb shit sometimes for sure but I know him winning a championship will piss off plenty of the worst people in this country, So I hope he wins just for that.

Let's go Lakers

 

[purbeast0]

Even though the Nuggets won last night, there should be a bit of concern for them. They were down by like 20 and had it to 3 with a few minutes left in the game. The Lakers found something in the 2nd half with Rui and defending Jokic. There should be some decent adjustments made for game 2.

The super stars came out to play last night as well, and Reaves has just been unreal for the Lakers.

This should be a fun series.

 

[manly]

Even though the Nuggets won last night, there should be a bit of concern for them. They were down by like 20 and had it to 3 with a few minutes left in the game. The Lakers found something in the 2nd half with Rui and defending Jokic. There should be some decent adjustments made for game 2.

The super stars came out to play last night as well, and Reaves has just been unreal for the Lakers.

This should be a fun series.

AD is a strong defender, but he's always hated banging against bigger centers. Conversely, Jokic loves exploiting smaller centers (see previous series in non-Ayton minutes) and Jokic has phenomenal stats when defended by Davis. It'll be a huge coup if Rui can check Jokic during the series. Although role players effectiveness varies greatly from game to game, I think you have to start Rui in game 2 (I didn't understand going small). As JVG kept pointing out, the Nuggets need to counter by luring AD out of the paint.

Malone needs to stick Aaron Gordon on LBJ; Murray was getting destroyed when they got switched. The bad news for the Lakers is that they wasted that massive comeback (no moral victories); and LBJ started the game with high intensity but seemed to decline later in the game. His 3-pt hero attempt under a minute was not sound basketball.

 

[purbeast0]

Yeah Lebron needs to just stop shooting 3 pointers. He just isn't good at them anymore. He will have one out of like 6 games where he hits multiple but usually he's like 1-6 or something, and a lot of them are just bad offense where he brings the ball up court and just shoots with a defender in his face. They are rarely shots where he gets a pass when he's spotted up and shoots it.

 

[manly]

Yeah Lebron needs to just stop shooting 3 pointers. He just isn't good at them anymore. He will have one out of like 6 games where he hits multiple but usually he's like 1-6 or something, and a lot of them are just bad offense where he brings the ball up court and just shoots with a defender in his face. They are rarely shots where he gets a pass when he's spotted up and shoots it.

You called it, as the Lakers lose another winnable game. I don't think LeBron should stop taking 3s, but he should only attempt quality shots. Honestly, Father Time is finally catching up to him. Is Darvin Ham smart enough to start Rui in game 3? Rui did play 30 impactful minutes anyway, but starting the combo of Russell and Vanderbilt does not feel optimal if you're trying to win.

If Rui and Reaves are your two best players, the Lakers aren't going to the Finals. All that being said, if Jamal Murray didn't go supernova in the 4th, the Lakers probably steal game 2 despite terrible outside shooting.

 

[MinervaLaw]

I post a question. So, we all known LeBron James is probably in his last year or two. I mean he's 38yrs old and this playoff really proved that he just isn't at the peak of his game anymore. He's still a beast and a premiere player, but he can't do it for 40+ minutes and take over games like he used to. At least constantly...

He makes $100Ms dollars a year, even without his basketball payday. He's worth over a billion too!

The question is, why the hell does he straddle his team with such a huge salary, that he doesn't need, that he could take the league minimum and bring in some decent players to finish off his career?? What the heck does another $44M do for him? Make the $200k and move on!

I know the answer is ego, but it's still really weird that he would demand so much, along with AD, and basically cripple his team. Hell, have fun and get a couple of great 20-25M+ players or someone huge at his old salary? Not saying it would work, but they could get KD to go along with the rest of the team, him and AD, and still be in the same cap space! Of course, we never know how it would work, but it's better than watching an almost middle-aged man try to convivence the world he's still the best.

Hell, think about if they got Playoff Jimmy? So many options they could go after for that kind of money, but only if he set aside pride, ego and greed.