2020 nba offseason draft free agency etc

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