2021-22 NBA "REGULAR" SEASON THREAD

heat/celts game was very steamy garbage

I feel like steph always starts slow but maybe I’m imagining that

my theory is no one should get a new coach unless the coach dies

In which case, the teams should have to swap around their rosters every season.

Lmaaaaaao lakers

truly a glorious loss

Sga took and made one of the worst shots I’ve ever seen

Then vintage russ just throwing the ball away out of control and throwing up bricks in crunch time man I love this team

Lakers 0-2 against okc lmao losing 20 point leads in both games

Up 3 with 17 on the shot clock and pulls up from 35 feet

The sheer audacity of this shot from Shai Gorgeous Alexander pic.twitter.com/VsLhqKdRcR

— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) November 5, 2021

man… the lakers stink

The most Russ play that Russ can do

OMG, this is actually hilarious for many reasons pic.twitter.com/abY9MWa8JY

— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) November 5, 2021

i'm lovin it

that sga shot is about as gilgeous as a shot can be

Ask yourself: what was Russ doing here? pic.twitter.com/OrPWl89E3X

— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) November 5, 2021

Maybe its a freaky friday type situation? Like he is switching brains with a high school varsity player?

"It's interesting, but I'm a person that you just play the cards you're dealt," Westbrook said.

icing on the cake is their two Ws over the Lakers are the Thunder's only wins!

Melo seems to be the worst defensive player there

It’s just his rookie season but I’m kind of alarmed by Sengun’s decision making. Lots of really dumb passes and elaborate post moves that get swatted. He can defend tho.

he's gotten a kinda shocking amount of steals

Yeah and he can challenge at the rim too.

they back to taking his money

ESPN Sources: The 76ers fined Ben Simmons his $360K game salary for missing Thursday’s game and plan to resume fining him until he cooperates with team physicians on his mental health issues and fulfills other basketball-related obligations. Story: https://t.co/U4RyCJwKp5

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 5, 2021

jfc

Ben Simmons stepping back on the court for Philly during a home game is a storyline we all deserve, don't rob us of this Ben

^^^
Philly would hold a parade down Broad after that.

but first he has to only play away games for awhile, really lean into the cowardice. and suck in them. THEN a home game.

would be an incredible spectacle, which is why its not going to happen

yup

i don’t understand why the sixers are even doing this. just to make a point i guess? they have the no 1 offense in the NBA without him, and certainly life has to be more pleasant with him not around

it’s not like josh harris needs the money

I guess they want Simmons to at least meet them half way (show up, participate) and he doesn't want to. The rest of the team probably is happy not to have him around.

I think the no 1 offense is possibly a mirage due to high 3P% but I'm starting to wonder what they would look like if they just traded Simmons for 2 above avg 3 and D guys (one of them to move Danny Green to the bench).

he’s under contract and not showing up or participating in what they think are reasonable accommodations. you just can’t set the precedent that your star player gets to just give you the middle finger whenever he wants and you’re just gonna sit there and pay him to do it

The mental illness kayfabe is getting increasingly offensive as well

you just can’t set the precedent that your star player gets to just give you the middle finger whenever he wants and you’re just gonna sit there and pay him to do it

― mens rea activist (k3vin k.), Friday, November 5, 2021 3:17 PM (twenty-two minutes ago)

yeah but the "precedent" doesn't actually matter bcuz if a star wants to do it again fines aren't going to stop him, just like it's not stopping ben simmons. if the fines actually get him to superficially show up and bring this circus back into their building it's not a positive thing for the team -- ownership doesn't need the money neither does the franchise, they should see the forest for the trees and let him sit at home until they can/will trade him

Ben Simmons seems like a once-in-a-generation situation, idk if I'd be too worried about setting a precedent

well that might be true for philadelphia specifically insofar as it's hard to imagine them acquiring another star player who would then becomes disgruntled but for the other 29 teams i wouldn't be so sure

the larger tension is that lebron going to miami renewed NBA owners obsession w/ being able to keep their star players, so now there's rules in the CBA that allow them to offer players enormous extensions before they're even a year from free agency. this doesn't apply to simmons specifically but across the league basically every star player is locked into a huge longterm deal or has one coming to them on the horizon -- there's been a number of articles written this year about the death of free agency and how the new method of player movement is going to be forcing trades bcuz ownership has made it nearly impossible to turn down contract extensions based on how much money teams can offer current players vs what they can get in free agency (this does apply to rookies tho it's more sensible). we just went thru it w/ harden he just had fewer years left on his deal so it wasn't as crazy. but it's reasonable to expect that this could happen again (zion williamson)

It the fines didn’t bother simmons he wouldn’t have shown up to camp to do whatever it was he was doing, he wouldn’t be trying the mental illness scam etc

right but what's the end game for the sixers, really? the fines "worked" insofar as they got him to show up superficially and act like an ass until they sent him back home. even if they fined him to the point that he got on the court, does anyone really believe he'd be giving 100% for the team? or would he play half assed and disengaged and not really care if his presence was helping the team win? so what's the point of this on the sixers end other than to make the point that they're gonna play hardball if you don't want to show up yada yada. fining ben simmons isn't gonna help them win a title and that's really what they should be focused on given where their team is at

Bones Hyland on the new Wilson basketball: “It feels like ashy, brand new. It’s hard to get broken in. Once they’re broken in though they do feel like the Spalding ball. At first it’s terrible, I ain’t gonna lie. When it’s broken in though it feels good.”

— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) November 5, 2021

classic case of a corporation fucking up its product in a cash grab. as american as apple pie

what's the end game for the sixers, really?

they don't know. all they know is that the money is their only leverage. I think any effective end game would have to include a pact among owners to force simmons to play by their rules, not his, or else he'll be forced out of the league altogether.

wtf does bones hyland know about the ball used in the nba?

they don't know. all they know is that the money is their only leverage. I think any effective end game would have to include a pact among owners to force simmons to play by their rules, not his, or else he'll be forced out of the league altogether.

― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Friday, November 5, 2021 4:11 PM (one minute ago)

yeah well that's collusion and isn't legal

but again what are the sixers trying to leverage out of ben simmons? why do they even want him back? what is that going to do for their team? does it make them more likely to win a title?

i have said all these things before but this is everything material in the simmons situation imo

- there were ways he could have gotten paid to he away from the team but he and his advisors were too inept to execute them

- the sixers do not have a reasonable viewpoint on his trade value

- the ship has sailed on #1, and josh harris could easily resolve #2. but he’s going to turn this into a war because that’s his professional background.

Collusion isn't legal, but it happens often enough. Look at Colin Kaepernick.

finally, morey is hanging on to like a 2% chance that he can trade simmons for a star, because he knows that he’s pretty fucked otherwise.

well that might be true for philadelphia specifically insofar as it's hard to imagine them acquiring another star player who would then becomes disgruntled but for the other 29 teams i wouldn't be so sure

the larger tension is that lebron going to miami renewed NBA owners obsession w/ being able to keep their star players, so now there's rules in the CBA that allow them to offer players enormous extensions before they're even a year from free agency. this doesn't apply to simmons specifically but across the league basically every star player is locked into a huge longterm deal or has one coming to them on the horizon -- there's been a number of articles written this year about the death of free agency and how the new method of player movement is going to be forcing trades bcuz ownership has made it nearly impossible to turn down contract extensions based on how much money teams can offer current players vs what they can get in free agency (this does apply to rookies tho it's more sensible). we just went thru it w/ harden he just had fewer years left on his deal so it wasn't as crazy. but it's reasonable to expect that this could happen again (zion williamson)

― J0rdan S., Friday, November 5, 2021 2:52 PM (twenty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah all true but Simmons is the rare star player that no contending team really wants that much

it’s almost like he’s not actually a star player

Philly is 7-2 btw

the worst case scenario for the sixers is that they go into the playoffs with ben simmons on their team. they won't get out of the second round. i don't think that is even really debatable. the best case scenario is that they trade him. but his trade value isn't tied to anything he can do on the floor, it's tied to what happens with other teams around the league, and who might give a player up that the sixers want based on how that team's season is going. so pay simmons to stay away from the team until you trade him, even if it goes into next offseason. the only obstacle to this extremely logical scenario is the sixers wanting to set some useless "precedent"