2022/23 NBA REGULAR SEASON THREAD "TANKING FOR WEMBANYAMA"

he can't shoot. his form is a disaster.

he kinda shouldn't be in the league

wild to think the the old okc big three are all sabotaging different teams

like once nobody wants you on their team at all you should just respectfully pack it up and go dominate euroball for 3 years

utah/new orleans was exciting! those two teams are fun!

lmao

pic.twitter.com/UBBcOCC10y

— Big Terry (@Bigbigterry) October 24, 2022

i'm sort of assuming that this is russ's last nba season at this point

this jazz thing is wild

it really is. do they have one of the 50 best players in the nba?

Don’t think so. Maybe lauri was all along and needed to be unleashed

Lauri always did seem like a guy who could break out

Maybe the Lakers realize that the world needs more Vacation Mode LeBron content.

so many tall white men in utah

I really can’t believe they started this year w Russ on the roster still. They thought Darwin ham was the Russ whisperer or what

🐦[here is LeBron’s reaction to Westbrook’s decision with 30 seconds lefthttps://t.co/KATe2kYAyu🕸 pic.twitter.com/0iE0dEGwef🕸
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) October 23, 2022🕸]🐦

leadership!

I really can’t believe they started this year w Russ on the roster still. They thought Darwin ham was the Russ whisperer or what

― Spottie, Monday, October 24, 2022 12:15 AM (six hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

its really remarkable that this was the plan. that all russ needed after years of declining play and pouty behavior, and after a year in a dysfunctional organization, was the guidance of a novice head coach. that and a bevy of klutch clients to fill out the roster.

jazz in the mix w indy i guess

Via @KevinOConnorNBA https://t.co/RpbRP9PmIZ pic.twitter.com/crOJB4jfDF

— pickuphoop (@pickuphoop) October 24, 2022

and charlotte i guess

New Inside Pass from @ShamsCharania:

🏀 Where things stand with Russell Westbrook, Lakers
🏀 Los Angeles has high interest in Terry Rozier
🏀 Suns talking Jae Crowder trade with East title contenderhttps://t.co/WPhB2DHYtn pic.twitter.com/VTmv5KaXC0

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) October 24, 2022

would be cool if the jazz just won 50 games again like they have every year, undeterred by losing their good players

just jazz stuff

their next 2 games are vs houston, so

danny wont allow it

the thing about danny is he knows he should tank but he doesnt really want to its not in his nature, all his tanks with the celtics were minimum length affairs, having said that i suspect he will be able to keep his eye on the ball for the good of wembanyama

though as with danny's previous tank he has a pretty nice treasure chest of picks so the team can simultaneously try and reload. he really set the template

seems like it’s not that big of a deal, whether they finish with the worst or sixth worst record it’s not a huge difference in the ping pong ball percentage iirc, plus yeah he has tons of picks he can package if the possibility is there. tanking for a specific player doesn’t really seem like a viable strategy in 2022

2022/23 utah, the scrappy role-player's delight

lakers filling our buckets with content candy this halloween season

Rewatching, here I don’t think Russ was a fan of Bron/AD getting the ball from him and sending him to the corner on the two prior possessions, so before that could happen Russ decided he was taking a shot regardless of clock situation. I know, a reach🤷🏾‍♂️
pic.twitter.com/1oBJIOcdVK

— 🏆LakersGuru🏆 (@GuruLakers) October 24, 2022

unserious

Bron can shoot from anywhere 🔥 pic.twitter.com/VOaXqGzoDp

— HaterMuse (@HaterMuse) October 23, 2022

it’s funny how bad those two possessions are too. russ’ shot was actually the best look of the three by far

LeBron+AD, Russ OFF (38 possessions):

115.8 ORtg. 102.6 DRtg. +13.2 net.

LeBron+AD, Russ ON (127 possessions):

96.9 ORtg. 104 DRtg. -7.1 net.

👍🏿

— Coach James 🇭🇹 (@JamesEdrick3) October 24, 2022

though as with danny's previous tank he has a pretty nice treasure chest of picks so the team can simultaneously try and reload. he really set the template

― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Monday, October 24, 2022 12:07 PM (thirty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah his willingness to blow it up while he can still extract max picks really pays off

it’s funny how bad those two possessions are too. russ’ shot was actually the best look of the three by far

― J0rdan S., Monday, October 24, 2022 12:32 PM (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

ha I mean it was a good look, but I’m sure the lakers would have preferred to run some clock before taking a shot there

what was the score there were they ahead

There’s no such thing as a 2 for 1 when you’re ahead I wonder if anyone’s ever told Russ that

oh nm i see they were

no one wants to watch these weirdo mopes

“Nets are dead last in the NBA when it comes to season ticket sales…demand off more than 30% from last year…money-losing franchise had sold roughly 5,500…according to an NBA owner & an insider who both saw a recent confidential league report” https://t.co/9ceixhZeet

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) October 24, 2022

wow prayers up for the nets sales guys

they should move to seattle and become the sonics bring KD full circle

does really feel like a chargers in l.a. thing where there's no inherent fanbase

mbas commissioning studies that say yes there are a lot of people in this area

*danny ainge voice*

"Somebody cautioned me before the season: If this [Utah Jazz] team gets off to a good start, don't be surprised if they hang on to some of these veterans for awhile. They don't need to be in any hurry to start this rebuild."

🗣️ @ramonashelburnepic.twitter.com/xSUmFmaQC6

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) October 24, 2022

James Harden has dribbled the ball 1,507 times through three games this season for the Sixers.

The rest of the roster combined: 1,242 dribbles 😳

(via @ESPNNBA) pic.twitter.com/E3d4x9SBD0

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) October 24, 2022

loving it

hes winning the dribbles title

76ers, nets & lakers blessing us

the superteam era is over baby

hollinger not loving what he's seeing from the hawks:

Next year, Hunter’s contract puts the Hawks in a bind, especially if one presumes Bogdan Bogdanović will pick up his $18 million player option. (Bogdanović had knee surgery in June, at which time the Hawks announced, “He is expected to make a full recovery before the start of the 2022-23 season.” Bogie hasn’t completed a full practice yet, and I didn’t see him on the floor before any of the Hawks’ three home games this week. Yikes.)

The out years don’t get any better, especially if one presumes the Hawks have interest in re-signing Dejounte Murray in 2024 after trading three first-round picks and two swaps to acquire him. (Murray has been as advertised through three games as a secondary playmaker and defensive pest.) Without another deal, the Hawks are likely to be limited to using the taxpayer midlevel exception and still ending up several million into the tax in 2023-24, and then landing much deeper in the tax to retain Murray in 2024-25.

All of this circles back to Sunday and the Hawks’ jarring 126-109 home loss to a Charlotte team that was missing LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier. While Atlanta won the first two games in its low-hanging fruit early-season slate (home dates with Orlando and Houston), those weren’t exactly dominant performances either. Atlanta won 44 games and lost in the first round a year ago; is this really going to be a team worth paying millions in luxury tax for?

And if not, is it too early to discuss how to reshape the roster before it drives off the tax cliff?

I know what you’re thinking — more John Collins rumors! — but I’m actually wondering about another spot instead. Because while Collins is balling out thus far, Charlotte scored at the rim on Sunday over and over and over again, with Nick Richards (9-for-9) in particular seeming completely undeterred. That points the finger at another optimistic extension of yore — the two years and $43 million added onto Clint Capela’s deal. Capela led the league in rebound rate and blocked 6.0 percent of opponent shots in 2020-21 but hasn’t been at the same level since. In a related story, Atlanta slipped to 26th in defense last season.

This is perhaps focusing too much attention on Capela; Atlanta’s defense basically requires him to be awesome because of all the hemorrhaging at the point of attack. Part of the idea behind bringing in Murray, and to a lesser extent Aaron and Justin Holiday, was to fix that. So far it seems unfixed; Atlanta has allowed 34.7 percent of opponent shots to take place within three feet of the rim and permitted 63 dunks and layups through three games. The Hawks’ overall defensive numbers look OK mainly because of unsustainable Jedi 3-point defense (29.5 percent); again, this is with arguably the league’s softest opening week schedule.

Bogdanović’s situation obviously doesn’t help either; he’s not going to upgrade the defense, but Atlanta’s basic formula to win is with awesome offense and average defense. Bogdanović was arguably the league’s best sixth man in the second half of last season, but in his absence, the Hawks have gotten absolutely zippo from the bench. One potential answer may be sitting in front of their faces — after watching rookie A.J. Griffin shoot 99 percent on pre-game warm-up 3s from all kinds of platforms and locations this week (all numbers approximate), he finally got some game run on Sunday and proceeded to do the same. He needs to play.

yeah they maxed out a mid roster, lot of overpaid guys in there

kinda wild to write off a team thats only 3 games into the season and is 2-1 lol. if anything tho they need to fire mcmillan asap

they are cooked. donezo