2020 nba offseason draft free agency etc

lol

What's going on with the top three prospects?
James Wiseman's departure

Wiseman's surprise decision to abandon his Memphis Tigers team midseason just as his NCAA-mandated suspension was nearing its end brought additional scrutiny about his perceived lack of competitiveness among NBA teams.

This has been a lingering concern for Wiseman, as he had already been prone in the past to pick and choose when to play and whether to operate at maximum intensity. That isn't ideal for a modern NBA big man who doesn't have proven shooting range or a means of creating offense consistently off the dribble.

At the moment, Wiseman's candidacy for the top pick consists of two impressive performances against overmatched opponents in South Carolina State and Illinois-Chicago, an inconsistent, foul-plagued showing against Oregon and a strong month on the high school all-star circuit last spring. That body of work leaves a lot to be desired, especially considering the concerns teams have about the ability of big men in his mold -- lacking elite defensive feel or money 3-point touch -- to affect an NBA game.

LaMelo Ball's unknowns

Ball rocketed to the top of some draft boards in the fall with his special combination of size, ballhandling, creativity and passing instincts. However, many skeptical teams did not make it a priority to scout his early-season National Basketball League games, and now a foot injury from early December could cause him to miss the rest of the season.

Most NBA decision-makers projected to be picking at the top of the 2020 draft never got a chance to evaluate Ball live in Australia, despite the early signs indicating he was more than worth their time, which in hindsight was a crucial mistake.

The fact that Ball has missed most of the NBL season because of injury -- something that has also been an issue for his brother, Lonzo, in the NBA -- won't do anything to quell the myriad concerns teams already had about him at the top of the draft. Along with his durability, the questions primarily stem from his reportedly erratic work ethic, potential distractions generated by his father, LaVar, and his glaring inconsistency with defense, perimeter shooting and general half-court scoring prowess.

Ball has clear No. 1 pick talent, but NBA teams still need a lot of convincing to feel comfortable that he has a good chance to realize his full potential.

Anthony Edwards' inconsistency

Edwards might gradually emerge as the consensus safest pick at the top of the draft, which is odd considering the Georgia guard has yet to put together a full game in which he is locked in from start to finish: operating at maximum intensity, making good decisions with the ball consistently and finding ways to use his tremendous tools to make an impact on both ends of the floor.

The theoretical version of Edwards at his peak -- a long-armed, hyperathletic, multipositional guard who can dribble, pass, shoot and defend -- is far more enticing at the moment than what he has actually shown.

To this point in the season, he has been plagued with inconsistency, passivity and inefficiency, but his extreme youth, less-than-ideal team situation and flashes of brilliance in small doses seemingly give him an edge. Those inconsistencies are not as worrisome to NBA executives as the major red flags his competitors for No. 1 carry.

Edwards still has quite a bit to prove over the next two months, but the door is wide open for him to emerge as the presumptive favorite.

Ball is still a candidate for the No. 1 pick, but there remains a lot of uncertainty among NBA evaluators. Setbacks caused by a lack of scouting opportunities Wiseman's abrupt desertion, combined with injuries to Ball and North Carolina guard Cole Anthony, have brought to the forefront a long-bubbling conversation in scouting circles pertaining to the NBA's self-imposed handicaps for evaluating future draft picks.

Outside of a handful of camps and all-star settings -- such as the McDonald's All American Game, the Nike Hoop Summit, the National Basketball Players Association Top 100 camp and the USA Basketball junior national team minicamp -- NBA scouts are restricted in their exposure to top high school talent before those prospects enroll in college. Scouts aren't allowed to watch elite prospects in their most natural settings (high school and AAU games), as the 2005 age limit intentionally restricted NBA scouts' ability to travel to games for youth prospects over a year away from draft eligibility.

More and more, NBA teams are asking why these outdated rules -- which are rife with confusion regarding who can and can't be scouted -- are still in place. Many expect a push to come soon that will allow scouts to return to high school gyms, even without the one-and-done rule going away.

Since the age limit was instituted, there have been numerous examples of players being drafted despite playing only a handful of college games -- or none at all, in the case of Darius Bazley and Mitchell Robinson. Injuries to the likes of Kyrie Irving and Darius Garland showed young prospects that the NBA isn't afraid to pick players in the top five even if they've played only a fraction of a season. The extreme case of Dante Exum, in which the Australian sat out an entire season to protect the draft stock he built up at the FIBA level and was nevertheless picked in the top five, showed the benefits of withholding scouting opportunities.

Now, more prospects feel that there's no need to risk injury or poor play knowing that the NBA has rarely shied away from selecting players due to limited information if there's intriguing upside attached.

From a basketball development standpoint, there's a strong case to be made that top prospects considering this strategy might very well be costing themselves the valuable experience of playing in big games, participating in practices, engaging in film sessions, undergoing skill-development training and handling legitimate feedback through the ups and downs of an actual season. It's one thing to be drafted high in the lottery, but it's another altogether to be ready to compete and excel in the NBA.

There's a real chance that none of the top seven players currently in our top 100 NBA draft rankings ends up playing a single NCAA tournament game. The entire top half of the lottery not playing in the tourney would be unprecedented in draft history, further costing NBA teams opportunities to evaluate prospects in high-stakes situations.

A number of scouts are concerned that the lowering of the age limit back down to 18 could cause elite prospects to take the drastic step of skipping their senior years of high school altogether, which would lead to further confusion in player evaluation. So it's no surprise that the chatter around one-and-done going away has screeched to a halt, as executives have encouraged their owners to tell NBA commissioner Adam Silver how opposed they are to making draft decisions on high schoolers yet again.

everyone gonna be looking to trade their draft picks

There aren't any Zions or Lukas lurking out there for 2020, but there could easily be a Kawhi.

I feel like RJ Hampton will be the highest upside guy outside the top 5. Has an “it factor” to me.

idk i feel like after rj barretts struggles teams might be weary of selecting another rj

That’s gonna be a factor no doubt

Through 12 games, Ball averaged 17 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game, while shooting 37.7 percent from the field and 25 percent from beyond the arc. NBA scouts are intrigued by the California-native point guard skillset for his 6’7 frame, yet still have questions about his suspect jump-shot, which he struggled with over the season

https://www.foxsports.com.au/basketball/nbl/lamelo-ball-nbl-news-stats-injury-update-latest-illawarra-hawks-shutting-down/news-story/8013a5ec7305ce0e624f1e0cba42bb97

that famous ball jumper

why is he projected as a top 3 pick idgi

everyone who missed out on lonzo is chomping at the bit to get another shot

why is he projected as a top 3 pick idgi

― omg what did you type to find this gif? (Spottie), Thursday, January 16, 2020 12:25 PM (thirty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

because there's no one that teams like any better

yeah no ones feeling this draft

Anybody wanna post some Givony content

http://insider.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/28484246/nba-draft-international-scouting-notebook-lottery-picks-more-intel

i put it in the thread for c&p

Some guy named Pokusevski has all of a sudden entered the top 10 mix.

Thanks goon btw

yaya

I was looking at the grizz and they are insanely under the cap this offseason and there’s lots of small forward free agents, their only position that seems to be an issue. Might be worth overpaying one of them.

Add giannis and they'd be pretty tough

Like why not just throw a ton at Davis Bertans

Morant-Brooks-Bertans-JJJ-Jonas would be a hard team to defend that’s for sure

Sad to say as a Georgia grad that I’ve never seen Anthony Edwards play. I guess he’d be nice next to trae. Confused why everyone has us passing on Wiseman just because capella is there now.

yeah thats silly

I saw him play Great Balls of Fire on piano once, but never basketball. Maybe with Eriq La Salle at some point?

da big day

The NBA draft lottery is tonight at 8:30PM EST on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/orfzsg0auk

— •Association Addict• (@AA_BallTalk) August 20, 2020

fingers crossed

i like that they changed the odds and number of spots so that the teams with less shot still have some shot not like .0001%

i also like that the 1-3 worst record have equal shot and it's not a guarantee at all. like gs could have the #5 pick thatd be great

yeah if the warriors get the 5 pick thats a good system

This is one of those drafts where it feels like the best player is gonna go 9th

11th* (if thats the spurs pick)

i also like that the 1-3 worst record have equal shot and it's not a guarantee at all. like gs could have the #5 pick thatd be great

― methinks dababy doth bop shit too much (m bison), Thursday, August 20, 2020 11:00 AM (forty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah if the warriors get the 5 pick thats a good system

― lag∞n, Thursday, August 20, 2020 11:00 AM (forty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

whoa you guys are rude. they deserve the top pick they are just scrappy underdogs trying to get back into the playoffs next year sheesh #WeBelieve

lol

i have faith those guys are gonna be the cinderellas of the ball

spurs deserve the top pick every time they miss the playoffs so i am rooting for SA it is right

Lol knicks

Lol hawks

wow cursed no longer

lucky for the hornets who prob needed it more than half the teams below them

I think Anthony Edwards could be good, if he ends up on the right team and plays like his hair’s on fire he could be a Russ type. But he can’t shoot for shit.

Is Anthony Edwards nickname "Goose"? If not, can we make that happen?

It would surprise me if Edwards doesn’t become a good shooter tbh

Tim Duncan is the only player in the lottery era to be selected No. 1 overall and lead his original franchise to multiple titles.

crazy fact!

guess theyre leaving bron out since he left and came back

also the cavs only won one title :-p you are thinking of his time with the multiple time champion miami heat

i dont know them

we had over a week straight of 4 games b2b2b2b daily and now im missing it. felt like march madness watching 1030 am hoop.

yeah that sched is fun for sure

NBA is moving toward pushing back this year's draft, scheduled for Oct. 16, along with Oct. 18 start of free agency, partly because of likelihood that the tentative opening of the 2020-21 season will be delayed from Dec. 1, per sources. Also allows more time to set a salary cap. https://t.co/Sv2i5EqAsp

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 25, 2020

There’s not that many guys in the pre-lotto era that did it other than Magic, are there?

Worthy and Magic are the only two guys I see

Oh and hakeem. Pretty crazy how badly number one picks bombed before 1975 or so

https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1971.html

lol the best player in the 1971 draft was artis gilmore who was chosen...117th overall

blazers wave the white flag

Portland's Damian Lillard has been diagnosed with a right knee sprain and will miss Game 5 against Lakers.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 25, 2020

smart

https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1971.html🕸

lol the best player in the 1971 draft was artis gilmore who was chosen...117th overall

ah makes sense

Some Wolves fans on Twitter don't want to give up Jarrett Culver and Josh Okogie to get Ben Simmon in a theoretical trade lmaooooooooo

hahaha oh no

every fan twitter has the "our young guys are perfect and amazing and will become future all-stars if we keep them" contingency and unless youre a spurs fan its almost never going to happen

btw all the spurs 1rps of the last 4 years will become all-stars bc they are perfect and amazing

the wolves are..... extremely not the spurs

also just the idea that the Wolves as currently constructed are a thing that needs to be preserved is hilarious

not even sure keeping their two best players is advised at this point!

The wolves are super weird. Team is getting sold, they have free agents. Don’t know what the plan is there

beginning to think the mavs D might be bad

rip

Magic: Jonathan Isaac to miss next season https://t.co/EAJ0fSisAL

— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) August 31, 2020

damn

whaat

Hall of Fame guard Steve Nash has signed a four-year contract to become the next coach of the Brooklyn Nets, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 3, 2020

Steve Nash and Kevin Durant developed a real, human relationship during Durant's time in Golden State, including during offseason workouts. Steve talked to me about KD for this story in 2018: https://t.co/jRGnSrlmAi https://t.co/IFDZPcdEQL

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) September 3, 2020

apparently brooklyns been trying to get him for a while

ESPN story on the Brooklyn Nets hiring Steve Nash on a four-year deal: https://t.co/xhYSAfzdpl

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 3, 2020

doesnt seem like the best situation for a rookie coach

crazy you would be rich and retired and then sign up to be the direct manager to kyrie irving and kevin durant. no thanks!

right

jacques vaughan staying on as "lead coach" lol

lead assistant head coach

lil detail lol

First, there is a feeling around the league that Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas will explore every conceivable option with this pick, including a multitude of trade options. Not only has Rosas already proven himself to be one of the more aggressive heads of basketball ops in the NBA, but also the executive team in charge is also one of the more creative ones in executing deals. Remember: the team’s vice president of basketball ops, Sachin Gupta, created the damn trade machine on ESPN.

lol cant wait to see the trade machine twolves in action

who the heck could you trade a #1 pick for as a basement team that wouldn't put you on a short clock to win with your now .500 team

nothing comes to mind but that's why you gotta explore every possibility

gotta use the trade machine

lol i just noticed malik beasley's stats in 14 games with the twolves, how real is that

i also forgot they have dlo now, what is this team

they could win 15 or 50 games next year and i wouldn't be surprised either way

i would be surprised with 50 wins cos their defense might be worst in the league and the west is stacked with competitive teams.

Per source, Sixers are close to a deal with Tyronn Lue to be next HC.

— Jon Johnson (@jonjohnsonwip) September 3, 2020

sensible pick

good luck to him

i wonder what new orleans is going to do now

Chauncey Billups is looking for a job...

Coming this winter to ABC it's player/coach JJ Redick in the Christmas Extravaganza "And a Shooter Shall Lead Them"

donovan out in okc, surprised that actually happened

amazing phrasing by woj here:

With reduced league revenues amid pandemic, there remains uncertainty on how long the Thunder might continue with key veterans in place before changing course on playoff contention. The timetable on so many plans in the NBA remain fuzzy. This was an extremely amicable parting. https://t.co/jUHQ2kiuEo

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 9, 2020

think that means gallo is gone, theyll probably shop cp3, too

billy dont tank

fire sale forthcoming

paul's still got two years $85m left on his deal....

he was so good (and healthy) this year that i think his trade market expanded significantly

not saying *i* would trade for him but

some interesting phrasing by presti in that article, too. seems like billy should be able to get another head coaching job right away if he wants to.

could see him go to a place like indiana to help them overachieve

sounds like chicago is going to take a look at him which makes sense

billy dont do it

Our brilliant son Zion still needs a coach.

Yah NO would be a good fit

coach bud getting fired

My advice for @Giannis_An34 is to sit down one-on-one with Milwaukee Bucks Owner Wes Edens and figure out his strategy to make the team better and bring a championship to Milwaukee.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) September 9, 2020

lol Magic the coach killer

Magic cannot but resist to inject unsolicited drama anywhere he casts his gaze.

thinkin about how the rockets gave up two first round picks and two first round swaps to trade chris paul for russell westbrook

morey is incomprehensible

i can’t be convinced of anything other than morey knowing it was a suicide mission for the franchise and not caring bcuz he doesn’t like fertita and knows he won’t be there holding the bag anyway and this at least allowed him to do something weird

recall morey on tv bragging about how many wins russ added to their team according to infallible secret metrics

cp3's best qualities brought out by leading a team, russ' worst qualities brought out by leading a team. so the trade worked out well for the reputations of each of those players. just not for the rockets.

thunder also got pretty lucky this year, good health, won a lot of close games, but still obvs terrible trade by the rockets

https://i.imgur.com/xERlAk2.png

My advice for @Giannis_An34 is to sit down one-on-one with Milwaukee Bucks Owner Wes Edens and figure out his strategy to make the team better and bring a championship to Milwaukee.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) September 9, 2020

ESPN Sources: MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo's 3-hour lunch with Bucks co-owner/governor Marc Lasry on Friday covered the season, how Bucks can improve roster, Lasry confirming willingness to spend into luxury tax and agreement they’ll talk again after Giannis returns from a vacation.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 14, 2020

rip coach bud

i think all of these things are true

1. the rockets had to break up cp3 and harden for personality reasons
2. morey knows swapping 4 picks for harden's super max contract is a horrific longterm trade
3. morey knows there's little chance he'll be working in houston during the final two years of the westbrook contract
4. morey convinced himself in the short term the team could get better by switching out cp3 for russ and going all in on d'antoni ball

whoops i meant swapping 4 picks for westbrook's super max contract

could be, all not very wise for the health of his career tho, smart teams will certainly take note of stuff like that

i just had a vision of him in philly and i think that is correct

yesssssss

I think (4) is wishful thinking only in the context of (1) -- paul was obviously a better fit for dan tony ball

westbrook allowed them to play much faster. the trade made them worse but did allow them to go into the red stylistically

they were rolling for a minute pre virus playing westbrook out of the high post, prob wouldntve worked in the offs but they didnt even really try

he wasnt taking threes during that run but he reverted back

yeah

by the time you get to the capela trade you can't convince me that d'antoni and morey didn't realize they could seize the opportunity to run an experiment knowing they wouldn't be the ones cleaning up the mess

westbrook also had covid and by his own reporting couldn't workout for a month, and then got a quad injury. i don't think there's any way to win multiple playoff series playing the style they were playing but there are worlds in which it could have looked a lot better than it did.

The rockets have a bad owner which is probably driving a lot of this

yeah was thinking there easily cldve been pressure to get cp3 out of town whatever it took cause harden didnt like him

harden at least indirectly contributed to the capela trade as well because he wanted to iso more and pick and roll less

anyone else feel like the rockets and bucks offenses looked antiquated these playoffs? to varying degrees teams like the heat, celtics, raptors have internalized analytic principles about where shots should be coming from but are running more diverse and sophisticated offenses that are far better oriented to playoff basketball than the “spread out and stand around while a guy goes one on one BUT DOES NOT SHOOT A MIDRANGE JUMPER” offenses the other two teams were running

yeah i imagine some of it is scheme, i chalk a lot of it up to lack of versatility and secondary playmaking. the rockets have never really had much of a scheme. i don't remember a ton about the 60-win hawks but i'm guessing bud must have had some complexity in place to get that limited group to score. if we're seeing anything it's that you need multiple guys who can attack off the dribble and pass so if your initial action doesn't work you have another place to go.

i do wonder what it means for luka and trae young and the next generation of super heliocentric guys because i'm more and more convinced it's impossible to make a serious playoff run while playing that style.

yep being able to use the entire floor is a pretty big advantage against playoffs d. we've been saying that in here a bunch

there's extremely few guys in the league for whom an off the dribble 3 is a good shot and you end up having to take a lot of those if you're not willing to use the midrange

luka is not one i'm worried about but trae maybe

taking a lot of borderline 3s is a good way to push matchups closer to 50-50 via variance which is great if you're the 8 seed and not so great if you're the 1 seed

James Harden was one of the NBA's best scorers off screens, handoffs, and cuts in OKC and early in Houston. Now it's a nonexistent part of his game.

Rockets need to make it a priority to bring back this aspect of his game so he's a more unpredictable, dynamic half-court threat. pic.twitter.com/nggTPTEXK7

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) September 13, 2020

this was pretty eye opening to watch... completely different player. made me wonder what a coach like spo, stevens or nurse would do w/ him

is he willing to do that tho? he just stands around now or doesnt even cross halfcourt if its russ turn

that's the thing to me. harden has made it clear what he wants to do on offense and the rockets have for years basically been saying "sure, whatever you want to do."

its crazy that hes still a good shooter while taking so many of the most difficult shot and does not want the easier shots

i do wonder what it means for luka and trae young and the next generation of super heliocentric guys because i'm more and more convinced it's impossible to make a serious playoff run while playing that style.

― call all destroyer, Monday, September 14, 2020 2:18 PM (fifty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

not only is hard to execute vs playoff D also puts a ton of wear and tear on yr main guy during the regular season

there's a chicken and egg aspect to it though - partially he doesn't do that stuff because he's recouping from and/or conserving all his energy to bend the game in accordance with his will when he has the ball. Now whether he'd be open to shifting that balance depends on how he wants to play, sure, but at least from the outside it's hard to know if there's ever been a real coaching effort to get him to do so.

xxposts to spottie and cad

let the drama drip

https://sports.yahoo.com/disappointment-frustration-lack-of-chemistry-portrait-of-the-clippers-collapse-172338674.html

The rapport simply wasn’t there for the Clippers, and it certainly wasn’t there in Game 2 when Montrezl Harrell and George got into a heated verbal exchange during a timeout, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Early in the second quarter, a struggling George had committed two careless turnovers in less than a minute. The second mishap was a half-court pass to Harrell, who was near the paint but surrounded by Murray and Michael Porter Jr.

Murray picked off the pass. Seconds later, the Clippers called a timeout.

Harrell approached his teammate about the risky pass, with George not taking responsibility and arguing the pass could have been caught had Harrell made the right play, sources said.

This set off the NBA Sixth Man of the Year.

Harrell responded with something along the lines of, “You’re always right. Nobody can tell you nothing,” and expletives were uttered from both players, sources said. George eventually toned down his rhetoric, but a heated Harrell wasn’t having it. Teammates began clapping on the sideline, in part to disguise what was going on and in an attempt to defuse the situation. The incident deescalated shortly after as coach Doc Rivers took his seat to go over the game plan.

The Clippers were not on the same page off the court either. After the Game 7 loss, George said, “I think internally, we always felt this was not a championship or bust year for us.”

George was the only player to convey that thought. Rivers and the players acknowledged the goal was to win a championship this year.

not sure who deserves the most blame here but im leaning towards doc.

lol trez genuinely hates the new guys

yeah and hes a FA so i imagine hes not coming back

he's going to get squeezed pretty good since he turned out to be unplayable by the second round of the playoffs

He’s got the “I was late to the bubble” excuse but yah

trying to think of a fit for him

most common and financially feasible one i've heard is charlotte

i could see him coming back on a 1-2 year deal... it depends on what his priorities are

Man what

Adam Silver told CNN a few minutes ago that he does not anticipate the 2020-21 season beginning until at least January (so is it really a 2020-21 season?) and said the league wants 82 games, with playoffs.

At what point do they just say NBA players aren't going to the Olympics?

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) September 22, 2020

salient points

I’d always assumed they’d shorten the next season

same but i presume that's a television contract issue.
i would be in favor of reducing to a 60 game season tbh.

I think if they do this there’s a very real possibility that it’s the permanent schedule

been talk for a while that theyd like to mostly avoid overlapping with the nfl

opening day on christmas is prob the ideal

Billy Donovan has agreed to a deal to become the next coach of the Chicago Bulls, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 22, 2020

feel like thats more of a third (last) job

essentially a layover on your way back to the ncaa

sounds right

lol otm

wow yeah major last job vibes

lol the bulls blogger guy is so totally damaged by being a bulls fan that he’s “pleasantly surprised” because at least billy probably cost more money than the other options.

sadlol

are people that down on billy that he's going straight to the coaching a cursed team stage

seems like he couldve gotten a better job idgi

maybe he’s got enough hubris/chutzpah that he thinks he can right the ship

i took a look at the bulls roster a couple hours ago and i'm still recovering

he seems like a good vibes guy which they desperately need. but i don't think there's a ton of upside there.

yeah theyve done a miserable job drafting and developing talent. i guess the good news is their books are relatively clean after this year?

unrelated but why have i never heard of this scott o'neil guy, business exec who wants to run basketball ops and has actively meddled with the knicks and sixers (scroll down to #2) https://www.libertyballers.com/2020/9/21/21445360/the-sixers-are-dangerously-close-to-becoming-like-the-knicks-heres-5-reasons-why-philadelphia-76ers

he should check out basketball-gm.com to get his fix

lol that guy owns keep doin yr thing buddy

Lol, Sixers. I didn't know the details, but this is why i didn't want Barris/Blitzer anywhere near the Mets.

Harris

yes yesssss

Rumblings of Mike D'Antoni going to the Sixers have gotten much louder this past day. Nothing's final, I'm just intrigued since his preferred style isn't a fit for Philly's roster. It'd be weird. Would hiring him be a precursor to changes to modernize the team? MDA does love CP3.

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) September 23, 2020

nooo please put dan tony on a team that can play small and fast im begging you

or just fast i guess doesn't have to be small. embiid seems like the least dantoni-capable player

what IF embiid doesnt play for philly anymore

i'm very down for d'antoni coaching the hypothetical simmons + shooters team ive described in the past

if this happens people will be saying the sixers have a strategy and a plan here and my friends, i am telling you they do not

i'll believe it when they actually make the according moves

The Nets must trade KD for Embiid.

rememeber when dan tony coached shaq

Bring on Dan Tony! I want to see Simmons hoist! I mean, how could things get any worse?

Narrotor: Things got worse.

If you traded Embiid MDA could use simmons like Diaw and post him up a ton

hes pretty bad in the post but theoretically since he is good at basketball he should be able to develop that part of his game, he would be immediately unstoppable as a roll man tho

The Nets must trade KD for Embiid.

solid season from the nuggies. probably my second favorite team this past decade

I’m pumped for next year’s roster:

morris
harris
murray
dozier
barton
MPJ
jokic
bol

they need to sign grant and pick up another big and wing in FA/draft. and malone needs to let MPJ and murray run wild on offense

the question is do you extend morris given he’s gonna command a lot of money in free agency next year. might have to part with harris somehow

harris is p key to their defensive scheme tho

he’s just so broken offensively

wolves off to a great start

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29984989/minnesota-timberwolves-guard-malik-beasley-facing-felony-weapons-drug-charges

https://dunkingwithwolves.com/2020/09/25/nba-rumor-minnesota-timberwolves-karl-anthony-towns-wants-out/

lmao

its chill

normal team

trade KAT to the spurs

kat for demar who says no

lol i would say twolves but given their history...

feel like the spurs have enough young players to package a la LAL for davis, obv no one with the lottery pick pedigree of brandon ingram or lonzo, but if its demar plus a couple of their young guys plus draft picks they could make it worth minny's while

the question is do you extend morris given he’s gonna command a lot of money in free agency next year. might have to part with harris somehow

i thought kat was all good now he got his buddy d russ on his team? maybe they're both gonna squeeze their way to the suns.

that rumor really could be nothing

did kat tweet the cap emoji yet?

i feel like it’s pretty semantic at the end of the day... they aren’t going to trade him anytime soon whether he “wants out” or not. and if they continue to not be very good he’s going to leave and d’angelo russell being there won’t prevent that

greetings to the celtics who just maybe could still use a better Big Man instead of their diminishing-returny amount of scoring wings

yeah theis had a very rough playoffs

ehh he had to play vs the two best centers in the conference. still probably not the guy you want as your starting C though on a contender

i mean he got wrecked

i think the celtics just need like 2 more good players regardless of position

their bench was not great this year

great season thooo they really out performed what most people thought

how do the c's feel about lamarcus aldridge i think he's available.

never heard of him

he is tall and can shoot, something u cant say for daniel theiger

think he does the exact opposite set of things from what the celtics need out of that spot

lma on the celtics is absurd, but not funny-absurd.

marc gasol imo

al horrors might be available

horford lol nice tho

if horf wasnt aging i wld welcome him back, alas...

aging (into al horrors)

sad lol @ al horrors

*tossing grass into the wind* trades a comin

Report: 76ers stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons don’t get along https://t.co/HF0vebX5CL

— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) September 28, 2020

Victor Oladipo is looking to move on from the Pacers this offseason, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic pic.twitter.com/AZ1LzEyWs1

— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) September 28, 2020

offseason is shaping up

dipo really putting the pacers in a spot

in his current shape... hes not the type to get a team over the hump on a one year rental i dont think

nagl vic

played 50 games in the last two seasons, hogged the ball and chucked at a bad % when he did play, and now wants to force a trade with a year left on his contract...

DOC FIRED

they couldn't even work out a trade for him huh

that is unexpected???

can’t fire the players I guess!!!

Doc is not a very good coach when a game is on the line. He basically just lets his players play. The players like him for that, but when it doesn't work he deserves the blame he gets for it.

paul george will not let the rivers family rest

That time lord guy always looks good when the celtics play him what’s the hold up there?

hes out of position on defense all the time, but i do think he shd play more he makes offense better and has very good defensive potential, i think hell get more time next year

fire brad imo

wow everyone calm down

about what?

lol mark Jackson new clippers coach

I mean I wish

time lord can also barely play 4 consecutive minutes before he’s gassed.

does he have any offensive skills to speak of

hes a dangerous vertical spacer as they say

he can pass a bit and he can catch lobs

is he on a really cheap contract? that can be a very valuable skill in the luxury tax era.

I can barely process this

I had heard a lot from people in the Nuggets organization about Vlatko Cancar being ultra dedicated to the weight room but GOOD LORD VLAKTO. pic.twitter.com/mQtWQmPNkp

— T.J. McBride (@TJMcBrideNBA) September 28, 2020

on the caruso plan

Vlatko Svarceneger Čančar, avgust 2019 - Septembar 2020 pic.twitter.com/V1YsYtE8rR

— Sale (@SaleVieDub) September 28, 2020

https://i.imgur.com/vknUdej.png

Source: Doc Rivers is currently with the Sixers brass and will watch Game 1 of the NBA Finals with them. A job offer is expected to follow soon.

— Jason Dumas (@JDumasReports) October 1, 2020

was just saying to my friend from the philly area that i thought doc would end up there

Please no.

i didnt say it was a good idea, just that i thought it wd happen!

That was less a response than a plea to the gods.

hahaha

have fun, steve nash https://t.co/OiOS6eQcUx

— bomani (@bomani_jones) October 1, 2020

lol

head coach is a state of mind

now this is going to be fun nets si cover with nash kd kyrie and vaughn all wearing suits and holding clipboards

something tells me Nash has had enough with SI covers

kyrie on a roll

KYRIE IRVING ON KD: "I felt like I was the best option on every team I’ve played for down the stretch. This is the first time in my career where I can be like that mother*****r can make that shot too.”

Via #TheEtcs | @boardroompods

pic.twitter.com/HHfHmwuyo5

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) October 1, 2020

it's going to be such a disaster and i'm really going to enjoy it

eh, listening to the clip it sounds more like he's talking about his confidence as opposed to throwing shade at Lebron. The first quote about we're all coaches, though... yeah Nash is fucked.

not that we didn't know that already

now this is going to be fun nets si cover with nash kd kyrie and vaughn all wearing suits and holding clipboards

― lag∞n, Thursday, October 1, 2020 10:12 AM (twenty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

lmao

nets content is going to be a+

somebody needs to make that photoshop

paging Karl Malone

kyrie digging in on being more kyrie is an excellent vision of the future

nash sprinting into a landmine field with snow shoes on

lol

Oh god. This isn't going to work out, is it:

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/sixers/doc-rivers-sixers-head-coach-hired

RMDE:

Rivers' tenure with the Clippers was not spotless.

pretty amazing coach search as they just attached themselves to a fired, high-profile coach until another fired, higher-profile approach came along. making trades and letting embiid play more facing up? oops, nevermind.

kyrie digging in on being more kyrie is an excellent vision of the future

― Clay, Thursday, October 1, 2020 4:20 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Kyrie Irving responds to criticism of his comments on @KDTrey5’s @boardroom podcast where he said “I don’t really see us [Brooklyn Nets] having a head coach.”

(via Kyrie Irving / Instagram) pic.twitter.com/kRHqunjRrk

— Christopher Lavinio (@ChrisLavinio) October 1, 2020

i mean i too reject the false narratives and i think as a society we should rally around the cause

love to talk freely and openly

pic.twitter.com/FtBsoXrqzw

— Kyrie Irving (@KyrieIrving) October 2, 2020

kyrie otm

sounds like an interstitial from a late 60s soul record

kangz baby

Buddy Hield has "soured" on Luke Walton and won't answer his calls, per @mr_jasonjones pic.twitter.com/leLUMGVN3x

— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) October 2, 2020

really neither of those guys is worth the trouble

budward is juuuuuust about to start his 4 year $94M extension this season which makes him pretty hard to trade

think someone wld take him, one of the best shooters there is, put him on a good team and hed do serious damage

i think he's tradeable, he can go be a pain in the ass somewhere else

Has he ever been in the playoffs?

he's ended every season of his career on the kings, so...

when Davis has his shot going it's so frickin hard to defend

did not know that

Two little remembered facts about Bob Gibson: he played one year with the Globetrotters and was a TV analyst for the ABA Nets when they played at Nassau Coliseum

— Peter Vecsey (@PeterVecsey1) October 4, 2020

think someone wld take him, one of the best shooters there is, put him on a good team and hed do serious damage

heh

At 2012 Olympics, Kobe Bryant told Russell Westbrook not to defer to Kevin Durant with Thunder https://t.co/KwBWtr6jIu

— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) October 8, 2020

Mamba mentality, baby

We need a thread just for NBA wine talk. These dudes are such winos:

Nothing better than good conversation over a glass of wine (or two). What's your go-to wine?#STAYME7O #TBT pic.twitter.com/VQXvoOKTf3

— Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) October 8, 2020

call me crazy but i feel like melo there is doing my melo character from melohats whats going on

hahah

yoo

legend in two gameshttps://t.co/RrSNj8bmVn

— Ben Detrick (@bdetrick) October 9, 2020

According to a Serbian friend of mine,

he is at least affiliated, which tbf could be said of many american nba players too

Oh so it’s bad to have friends with legal problems?

Incredible that a scenario that makes him more intimidating has occurred

Ladies & Gentlemen, I present to you, Delonte West . A long, long , long way to go, but he has taken the first steps and shared these with all of us as a thank you for the love and support. pic.twitter.com/555twAEVDP

— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) October 9, 2020

What are the heat doing this offseason? They have cap room....

getting more caps haha

gotta fill the cap room

Someone is gonna get Gallo for cheap

"Is playing for the NBA Championship more important than a contract? Yes. At this time, yes. I’m not twenty anymore."

- Danilo Gallinari
(Via @Sportando ) pic.twitter.com/VLxWzHYQFi

— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) October 12, 2020

seems a forgone conclusion that the heat are gonna give dragic a big one year deal

dano hello please come to the boston celtics who play walking distance from the historic north end home to a thriving italian american community you will feel right at home its literally exactly the same thing as italy

seems a forgone conclusion that the heat are gonna give dragic a big one year deal

Danilo going back to the Nuggets does make sense especially if Grant walks

the heat have a ton of money coming off the books after next season. they can extend bam and sign a max player.

hollinger wrote about this yesterday in the athletic... apparently the math w/ bam gets tougher if he makes all NBA next year. that would make him a $35m/y player along w/ jimmy and make it so they couldn't sign another max guy outright. but he goes into the sign and trade permutations that make it seem pretty easy if a star decided he wanted to sign there. bam is one of those guys who is right on the cusp of all NBA so will def be one of the more important storylines on that front heading into the season

as for this offseason they have like a billion dollars in room. they can re-sign dragic and crowder on big one year deals and still use the full mid level. hollinger mentions giving those guys 1 year deals w/ 1 year options to maximize the sign and trade value.

https://theathletic.com/2130411/2020/10/11/hollinger-how-the-miami-heats-nba-finals-run-may-change-its-future-cap-plans/

yeah that's interesting, AD and jokic would pretty clearly stay ahead of bam assuming health so he would be in a battle for the 3rd team with guys like embiid and gobert.

the heat have a ton of money coming off the books after next season. they can extend bam and sign a max player.

selfishly wish he would stay doing TV but could be cool

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30109067/sources-stan-van-gundy-emerging-one-new-orleans-pelicans-coaching-finalists

hm
https://nypost.com/2020/10/13/the-nba-g-league-is-in-jeopardy/

not a surprise. i think the best solution if they can't have a season would be to let teams keep their g-league guys around the nba team and facility for practice and stuff but keep all the roster movement rules in place. expanding rosters would create some CBA issues that would be an unneeded headache.

morey 'stepping down'

ESPN Sources: Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey is stepping down. https://t.co/NTmplVtWcl

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 15, 2020

rip big guy

most predictable turn of events of all time... enjoy that westbrook contract, tilman

lol so outta there

what coach would want that job

/gm

The Heat are "preparing to go all in" on pursuing Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2021 free agency, per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/PgcVebcm3a

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 15, 2020

I don't know, trying to get the league MVP on your team could be bad move

"from now on we only want VERY GOOD PLAYERS"

Houston Rockets are interested in trading for Philadelphia 76ers big man, Joel Embiid.

Hearing that everything is available except James Harden.

Will monitor. pic.twitter.com/szllhrjlEk

— 👑📍Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson, M.A. (@ScoopB) October 15, 2020

https://i.imgur.com/t27Zz49.png

https://i.imgur.com/UMPUMOV.png

Embiid to Houston seems like a cool thing from a drama perspective

also westbrook to philly its a win win for sickos everywhere

russ and simmons on the same team might as well pack all 5 players in the paint.

*defensive players

do the rockets have any picks left to unload russ with?

harden and embiid getting quarantined together on the rockets seems ideal but westbrook + simmons surely doesn't work

no xp

rus and ben wld be sick on da break tho i think they shd do it

simmons would have to actually play center on that hypothetical team

that wld be good

ball dominant guy who can't shoot is such a hard archetype to fit into a well-constructed roster regardless of how good they are

at some point your team has to be able to play half court offense

nah its fine

ESPN story on the Clippers finalizing a five-year deal to hire Ty Lue as the franchise's new head coach: https://t.co/RyFqCxZPgO

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 15, 2020

weird

love embiid and harden together as a start to getting all the guys who are visibly fatigued every time they're in an important game tall on one team.

I love how teams optimistically sign coaches to five year contracts when it seems like at least half the league turns over coaches every two or three years.

leverage baby!

I really think Embiid needs to be on a team that slows the pace down. The nuggets did it for their center and it works.

A team that makes sense to me is the Thunder.

oh yeah that would work. they have the picks too. but... would embiid want to be part of that franchise through his prime?

i keep trying to think of things the timberwolves could do w/the first pick
other than disbanding the franchise and ending the ongoing shame to the sport of baskeball

they should draft a player, more trading of future for present isn't going to get them anywhere

i don't think they've convinced their last #1 pick that they're the place to be long term so they need to draft a new one and start over

oh actually they have kat for a year or two longer than i thought

wobs 2020 recap video is good of course

A year unlike any other.

This was the 2019-2020 NBA Season ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ECtafEley2

— Rob Pere💤 (@WorldWideWob) October 12, 2020

love embiid and harden together as a start to getting all the guys who are visibly fatigued every time they're in an important game tall on one team.

― call all destroyer, Thursday, October 15, 2020 2:47 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I want no part of Westbrook, but this is lol.

yeah i am very ready to watch those two despise one another

if the rockets got embiid they could switch to a slow pace pretty easily... harden is not a fast paced player. it would be more about deciding which one of them got to hold the ball in the halfcourt for 8 seconds straight.

harden embiid pick n roll wld be unstoppable

embiid would have more open threes from
the top of the key than he could even dream of

Is Embiid actually a good pick and roll player?

i don't see why not

imo itd be worth putting him on a team with playmakers and shooters to find out

apparently this guy is some kind of wolves insider

https://i.postimg.cc/wjmCVSN2/eyk58v2m95t51.jpg

he's the wolf in the logo

sadly james harden got a pick and roll lobotomy 2 years ago

sorry he is a hawks insider actually

I don't think even there's 2 teams seriously fiending for the #1 pick in the worst draft in almost a decade, let alone almost half the league. Paying Anthony Edwards or LaMelo Ball a #1 pick's salary after Corona kills the live gate and salary cap #s for the next ~2 years is something no sane GM is interested in; it's why Minny is so desperate to flip this pick in the first place lol. Doubt a 1 year rental of Oladipo coming off of injury is the most highly coveted prize in the trade market either.

they're not going to get anything in a trade that would be better than them actually identifying 1 good player in this draft and developing him

but obviously they're trying to flip the pick because they think they have a big 2 and want to win now. even if it was a good draft they'd be trying to flip it -- in that case they might actually be successful

the top of this draft just doesn't match up at all w/their roster after they made what seems to be a sincere trade for russell, like there are a bunch of teams would could have picked 1 who would just take lamelo and pray to the gods that he doesn't suck.

if i were them i'd be trying to move down a few picks w/o asking a king's ransom as if there is actually a desirable no 1 pick on the board. but they're doubly handcuffed bcuz the no 1 talents are either bigs or guards and the way their team is constructed no big or guard is going to get the ball enough to develop the way you want a no 1 pick to develop. but if they could trade down a few spots, get a heavily protected pick in a later draft, and draft a player who could more easily develop in a secondary role it wouldn't be the worst idea

cad otm

they're going to end up taking edwards who is the guy i would be really scared about picking no 1

Yea it's quintessential Timberwolves for them to finally win the lottery... in a draft with no generational/superstar talent, and no consensus top player that even really fits particularly well on their roster next to their 2 centerpiece players either. A D'Lo + Melo Ball/Edwards backcourt would be wildly entertaining for probably all the wrong reasons lol. And a big man like Wiseman who's only NBA caliber skill right now is basically being tall and athletic/fast in the open court is not what I'd be looking for to put next to KAT in the frontcourt if I was trying to buck trends and make the league's newest Twin Towers.

J0rdan S. at 7:57 15 Oct 20

they're not going to get anything in a trade that would be better than them actually identifying 1 good player in this draft and developing him

definitely traditional strengths of our franchise

KAT has to learn how to play center, there's no other option. you don't win nba titles in the 2020s w/ two centers on the floor

the draft order is absolutely amazing this year....the cavs, pistons, and knicks are probably 3 of the 4 most talent-poor teams no matter how you slice it and they're picking between 5 and 8.

lamelo ball is french for "the mellow ball"

the draft order is absolutely amazing this year....the cavs, pistons, and knicks are probably 3 of the 4 most talent-poor teams no matter how you slice it and they're picking between 5 and 8.

the east gets easter

I don't think even there's 2 teams seriously fiending for the #1 pick in the worst draft in almost a decade

the problem w this draft class isnt lack of talent. its deep with good role players, but theres no point to having a top pick in that case bc its light on potential superstars. it makes more sense to trade down and try to get a 2021 pick.

i do not understand the draft hype for lamelo at all. he looks to be a less defensively minded version of his brother. i kinda cant believe he's considered a consensus top 3 pick.

the only guy who i think could be something crazy is aleksey pokusevski but man he's a project. probably needs 2 years just to get stronger.

who are the teams that are thinking 'yes we really want lamelo ball'

i agree i t makes no sense

ONLY way he turns out decent is going to a disciplined development factory like miami and sa and he doesnt pass the vibe check

i dont know why wiseman is falling, he seems to be a pretty safe pick. i mean i get why minny would prefer a non-C, but if the warriors keep their pick, they could do worse than have a capable interior defender and lob recipient

i do not understand the draft hype for lamelo at all. he looks to be a less defensively minded version of his brother. i kinda cant believe he's considered a consensus top 3 pick.

― cointelamateur (m bison), Thursday, October 15, 2020 11:23 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

hes got better feel for the game than lonzo who already has pretty good feel, if he could shoot theyd be talking about him as a future superstar... alas lol

his shot might be more fixable than lonzos tho...

shd say hes got better feel AND skills than lonzo, lamelo is a scorer and a very good passer, hes a baller

lonzo is not good at putting the ball through the basketball ring

playing w the hungry jacks down under

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdN6R1t7lOc

i see it much more with melo than i did with lonzo where it seemed like people were talking themselves into some sort of intangible point guard magic. would be pretty scared to actually take him tho.

cld def end up some sort of flashier michael cater williams but its a bad draft whatre you gonna do

the best player will prob end up some tall serbian taken 22nd

i would simply take the tall serbian earlier

yeah with the lack of a season's worth of film on a lot of these guys i think the actual draft order will look very crazy 4-5 years from now

draft strat
1. identify the tall serbian
2. draft him

LaMelo is nowhere near the prospect Lonzo was. Melo is slightly better at ball handling and attacking/finishing around the rim than Zo... but his glaring athletic deficiencies compared to his brother and his skinnier and somehow even more undeveloped frame completely cancels those positives out when projecting those skills vs. NBA competition. His pure court vision is debatably better (I'd say he's a flashier, not more or less gifted passer than his brother) ... but even if it is, it's a moot point overall because his ability to run an actual professional team's offense is lightyears behind Zo's. Zo went #2 overall in an extremely stacked draft class because he almost singlehandedly turned UCLA from a scrap heap into an NCAA title contender overnight while making scrubs like TJ Leaf look like NBA 1st round picks in the process. And of course there's the fact that he's a ~30% shooter vs NBL defenses... while playing not a single lick of effective defense himself. When his brother shot 55/40 in spite of his weird mechanics and was/is well regarded for his on-ball defense. His shot isn't QUITE as mechanically borked as Zo's was coming into the league... but in practice it's somehow even more inaccurate.

Melo theoretically has the "highest ceiling" in a draft as weak on surefire star talent as this if everything in his development goes perfectly... but the only way he comes anywhere close to that wishfully ideal outcome is if you can guarantee as a franchise that you can completely overhaul his body, his jumpshot mechanics, his decision making and attitude on offense, and his motivation, effort, awareness, IQ... basically everything on defense, on top of all that. There's 10 guys every year that are "A jumpshot away from being a SUPERSTAR!!" like Ben Simmons or a body or mindset transformation from "taking over the league" like Wiggins that go their entire careers without ever making those changes or fixing those weaknesses. Whoever drafts Melo has to fix not one but like 5 of those kind of glaring career make-or-break issues to justify taking him at the spot he's going to come off the board, and the likelihood of any of the teams in the position to draft that high doing so are almost zero.

kevin o'connor's top 50 has 1 tall serbian but he is 7 feet tall and weighs 201 pounds so a slight gust of wind will be taking him down.

lonzo never shouldve gone second, draft guys got it wrong, much like the side of his head he shoots from

otm

his decision making and attitude on offense, and his motivation, effort, awareness, IQ... basically everything on defense, on top of all that. There's 10 guys every year that are "A jumpshot away from being a SUPERSTAR!!" like Ben Simmons or a body or mindset transformation from "taking over the league" like Wiggins that go their entire careers without ever making those changes or fixing those weaknesses. Whoever drafts Melo has to fix not one but like 5 of those kind of glaring career make-or-break issues to justify taking him at the spot he's going to come off the board, and the likelihood of any of the teams in the position to draft that high doing so are almost zero.

― Sabre of Paradise (trevor phillips), Friday, October 16, 2020 10:58 AM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

wow calm down trevor

also maybe watch some lemelo you might be surprised by what you find

i mean he obvs has basketball IQ and awareness, idk about some of the rest as i do not have the ability to gaze into his soul like some

trevor flame throwing

I respect any and all hate for the Ball clan.

lonzo was overdrafted bcuz the lakers (poorly run franchise which had just hired an ex-broadcaster and an ex-agent to run their front office) got seduced by the hometown superstar angle. i liked de'aaron fox better personally but lonzo still has a chance to be a very useful player. his three point % was above average last year on six threes per game, and he's always going to put up great ast/reb/blk/stl numbers. he can't make two pointers for shit but playing w/ ingram and zion he shouldn't ever be shooting two pointers anyway. it's such a better fit for him. i'm pretty much willing to give him a full pass on everything that happened in LA, between the shit w/ his dad and the make up of that roster to being coached by luke walton. he was set up to fail, now he's set up to succeed.

like his brother, melo's passing ability + size actually gives him a pretty high floor to me. you know he has at least one skill that can translate to winning team basketball, and he's not going to be overwhelmed physically by other guards, and is already good at contesting shots. i don't agree w/ the idea that his shot has to be fixed for him to be a good player. i would say the opposite -- he can still contribute even if his shot sucks. i'm also not sure i buy the thing about his body either, he just needs to get stronger? he's huge for a guard. he's obviously hugely flawed but we know that's true for every player at the top of the draft. i haven't watched the international guys but edwards seems like a classic low efficiency point totaler whose teams will never win anything, and wiseman could maybe give you some good mitchell robinson style minutes but rim running big man is not really the most difficult role to fill nor is it all that valuable ultimately. the biggest issue for all these guys is that they will be going to horrible franchises

I respect any and all hate for the Ball clan.

― Quiet Storm Thorgerson (PBKR), Friday, October 16, 2020 12:21 PM (twenty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

the actual basketball player balls seem pretty low key and normal, dad ball on the other hand lol

big baller brand

site is still up, shoes now priced at medium baller levels

i keep hoping they put everything on clearance because i would love a BBB shirt for $10

Just chuckling to myself at Lamar's claim that he was a better player than Jordan after averaging under 3 ppg in college. Guy was positively Trumpian.

he said he cld beat him in one on one lmao

rise of lavar and rise of trump happening simultaneously was def not an accident

i meant not a coincidence.... but also not an accident

lavar ball is donald trump

iirc

one is the other

wonder how long itll take before lonzo realizes he has millions of dollars and can make his own better decisions

― lag∞n, Thursday, May 18, 2017 12:12 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink

About two years.

he was set up to fail, now he's set up to succeed.

not so sure, he's on a worse franchise who just fired their coach

as ive said before lonzo will continue to be pretty good in a ricky rubio sort of way and there will be people who think he's bad forever

pelicans are run by a legit GM now and will def get a better coach, and is on a team w/ two all stars. it's a great situation for him.

he also has to stay healthy

right now i’m not sure lonzo is a starter. as part of this conversation i checked his offensive stats earlier and they are worse than i thought.

lonzo vs rubio (first 3 seasons)
https://stathead.com/tiny/ggXJF

and full rubio career
https://stathead.com/tiny/rrwD5

lonzo shooting 48% on FTs lmao he will never be good if he's scared to drive

1.2 FTA per game

Ricky's beautiful eyes don't show up on a star sheet 🥰

nice eyes, and he can also make a free throw.

oh lol i didnt know about the free throw thing geez

he doesn't need to shoot twos or free throws! you're looking at the wrong percentage

I disagree with jord’s contention that Lonzo was over drafted, they bet on his freshman shooting not being a fluke and it turned out to be a fluke. He’s an amazing talent otherwise. I think he figures it out and makes an all star team.

Lamelo to me is a ton of red flags, he also can’t shoot, he has low effort doesn’t play defense. He’s just taller.

i dont know why wiseman is falling, he seems to be a pretty safe pick. i mean i get why minny would prefer a non-C, but if the warriors keep their pick, they could do worse than have a capable interior defender and lob recipient

Bob Myers' favorite combo

he doesn't need to shoot twos or free throws! you're looking at the wrong percentage

― J0rdan S., Friday, October 16, 2020 7:54 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah this is true if he's the 2nd guy off the bench

i dunno, i thought he looked pretty good shooting catch and shoot threes last year. when zion gets fully integrated they’re gonna have two very high usage offensive players, all lonzo needs to be able to do is pass, make open threes, and play defense. he has 2 of 3 down

my problem i think is that lonzo's type of player is not good in halfcourt offense as a ballhandler. he's not a serious pick and roll threat if he can't shoot off the dribble or drive to the basket so i don't see him running an offense that gets zion and ingram good shots. he's a rotation player, but if your main skills are spotting up and guard defense and as a bonus you can really pass in transition i'm not sure how amazing that is. maybe zion is so dominant as a roll man that it doesn't matter.

yeah also that 3pt% is prob not that real

Jason Kidd. That’s what you want to happen

maybe blowing a kiss before a ft will help

The Indiana Pacers are hiring Raptors assistant Nate Bjorkgren as their new head coach, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 20, 2020

Man the pacers are absolutely obsessed with first names

zombie contract

Sources: The Lakers have requested a career-ending injury application to have Luol Deng’s salary removed from team books. Deng agreed to buyout with Lakers in 2018, retired last October and is owed salary through 2022.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 20, 2020

holy hell

speaking of:
Worst NBA Contract of 2016 Poll -

anybody got the athletic who wants to post their top 125 player list

lebron james

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y_cl3WIO6A

https://theathletic.com/2059944/2020/10/19/nba-player-rankings-the-top-125-nba-players-the-athletic-player-tiers-tier-5-from-aaron-gordon-to-tyler-herro/

5A Bogdan Bogdanovic

it's really formatted, could be kind of a mess copy & pasted

put it in the athletic thread, a little goofy but you can get the info mostly

coolio gracias. i think it's cut up into multiple stories.

okay I get the comparisons to Magic now

1 down! @ClaytonKersh22 was himself(which is AMAZING), @mookiebetts did it all, @Cody_Bellinger went yard again and the whole team was simply damn good! @Dodgers. #OnToTheNextOne

— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 21, 2020

Haha yes lebro is v corny

Shoutout to Max Muncy for knocking in 2 runs and 2 RBIs!

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) October 21, 2020

i can't deal with the name max muncy, every time I hear it I am like wow pynchon has lost a step

godspeed sweet prince

ESPN reporting with @_andrew_lopez: Stan Van Gundy has agreed to a deal to become the next coach of the New Orleans Pelicans.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 21, 2020

not a bad place to land rn

yeah hes prob a good coach for young team for a few years

SVG showing Zion how to run the break next season: pic.twitter.com/WxsPpUdg1b

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) October 21, 2020

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1WIExVBlcRgZRDus86OlYcliDI4=/0x0:600x400/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:600x400):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4189779/svp.0.jpg

haha love that pic so much

i am okay with this!

The Nuggets announce that the Pepsi Center will be renamed Ball Arena as Kroenke Sports & Entertainment launches a partnership with Ball Corporation (a leader in aluminum beverage packaging & climate monitoring).

— Kendra Andrews (@kendra__andrews) October 22, 2020

i think we can all get behind "ball arena"

https://s.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/dam/assets/151116204716-20151116-starters-hedo-top5-00011528.1280x720.jpg

should set up a partnership with Life cereal

btw thats the company that makes the famous mason jars, they also make satellites that get launched into outer space

packaging and aerospace, the two industries

what else do u need

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ek6OdmvVMAAj2AV?format=jpg&name=large

omg ball arena

IRA NEWBLE!!

when you're on a finals roster and you're ira newble >>>>>>>

thats the tea

Eric Snow! Unathletic pg of my dreams on those "good" Iverson Philly teams.

ah Donyell Marshall, another Timberwolves draft day success

my least fav nba tradition is when 2k drops their player rankings every season.

gotta argue about something til draft and free agency :/

Donyell Marshall was an amazing player sometimes

Like 2 month stretches where he was engaged and everything was clicking

This was a key game for cavs donyell! Totally forgot about this series

https://youtu.be/UrFyYJ85bu0

Can't remember if it was on ESPN or The Ringer but I just read a retrospective of all the notable big men Lebron has played with, and it sort of singled out Donyell as an important player in LBJ's (and thus the league's) evolution in that he was an early big man who spaced out to the 3 point line. In my memory I think of him more as an oversized wing than a power forward, but I guess maybe that's why.

donyell was just before his time.

he was also a spectacular college player back in the few minutes when the uconn huskies were cool and not irritating

He was a year behind me in a nearby high school and I remember after I graduated hearing that people from my school were going to his games just to watch him play.

donyell was just before his time.

― Spottie, Friday, October 23, 2020 11:16 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

i often think of nature vs nuture w/the timberwolves too, are our draft picks bad because we pick bad players or is the player's development destroyed because he gets drafted by the timberwolves?

prob some of both

The NBA is targeting Dec. 22 for the start of the 2020-21 season and a 72-game campaign that finishes before the ‘21 Olympics, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 23, 2020

thats soon! wonder what their plan is re virus/bubble

Are they going to fly city-to-city or go back in the bubble? If they start in Dec and don't go back to the bubble, they'll have positive tests, schedule disruptions, and teams playing with depleted rosters. But first they'll need buy-in from the players' union on any plan, which I think is going to be a pretty divisive issue among players. Interesting times.

Amar'e Stoudemire has agreed to become an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets under former Suns teammate Steve Nash, per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/kYodn3IjHF

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 23, 2020

i often think of nature vs nuture w/the timberwolves too, are our draft picks bad because we pick bad players or is the player's development destroyed because he gets drafted by the timberwolves?

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, October 23, 2020 11:27 AM (fifty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yah both, but also sometimes players dont want to be in a certain place

i don’t think anyone has the intention or desire to bubble again. it was expensive, the ratings were shit, the players don’t want to live in isolation for the entirety of an 82 game season, and you couldn’t have condensed schedules like you did this time around for a full season. the MLB and NFL unbubbled seasons are going to “work” (as in the seasons will be completed even with positive tests and wild schedule rearrangements) so i can’t come up with a reason why the NBA won’t follow suit

yeah true