ITS THE OFFS BABY THE 2023 NBA PLAYOFFS

i feel like there are like 9 Jalen Johnson's in the NBA right now but they all spell Jalen slightly different

the problem with the hawks is that there’s no upside on the roster, yeah they have some good players but i don’t see anyone ready to break out or anything.

― call all destroyer, Wednesday, April 19, 2023 11:18 AM (thirty-seven minutes ago)

we talked about this last year but for me their problem is that they're small and soft. when they match up vs a team like boston or last year's heat team it just feels like the varsity vs the JV in terms of one team being bigger faster stronger tougher better. the crowning achievement of this nucleus was beating a sixers team that was even more immature and tumultuous than the hawks

physicality is somehow underrated in the nba

i could see the hawks diagnosing the problem the same way i am & coming to the conclusion that the root issue is trae & that he needs to be moved. i could see a version of this team w/ murray as the lead guard next to bogdanovic, w/ more johnson & okongwu, and hunter and capela in there that shifts 180 to a more athletic and defensively minded identity. you prob take a step back next year but there may be more sustainability in a team built that way than one built around trae

i just struggle envisioning the roster where trae is flourishing in the playoffs. i guess maybe it would look something like toronto's or brooklyn's in terms of the wings. but is trae that much better than FVV? he certainly isn't defensively & FVV got picked on in that sixers series last year so i don't think surrounding trae w/ great defensive wings is a magic bullet come playoff time or anything.

i hesitate to bring this name up bcuz i don't think trae is the same guy but this almost reminds me of the ben simmons situation where finding a fit w/ a team that has already formed its nucleus is really hard bcuz he's such a unique player. i do kinda think the best bet for trae would be to end up in a small market wasteland-y type situation where a GM could engineer a team around him that maybe was better conceived than the hawks. but trying to fit trae in as a puzzle piece on an existing winning team is really hard. how do you watch the last two playoffs and think "if we get trae young we can win more playoff rounds than we did last year"

i think a few years ago we had a trae discussion based on similarity score projections 538 had posted preseason & i said that to me trae's floor was players like marbury or steve francis. others were saying his floor was i.e. kyrie irving. i bring this up not to toot my own horn bcuz his career still has a lot of years left but there has always been an outcome where trae is the kind of player who just doesn't really lead you anywhere. i'm really curious how many GMs see it the other way and would essentially be willing to bet their careers on it

just need an owner to step in and pull the trigger, the same four words keep echoing through my mind trae young houston rockets... trae young houston rockets...

meanwhile, bucks not very concerned about the heat

Just wrapped up at Bucks shootaround.

There has been no status change on Giannis Antetokounmpo.

He is still listed as doubtful (lower back contusion) for Game 2 on the Bucks’ injury report.

— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) April 19, 2023

must be effecting his ability to move

need miami to win tonight, for the culture

ok he’s playing

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been upgraded to questionable (lower back contusion) for Game 2 on the Bucks’ 1:30 pm ET injury report.

— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) April 19, 2023

i think it should be in the new cba that whenever a player is questionable with a contusion of any kind and then plays they have to be introduced to "contusion" by stevie wonder

anyway he should play if he can, they would be digging themselves quite a hole to go down 2-0

dray to portland?

god, I hope not. i'd rather see dame traded for a bagful of picks and good young guys than give away the store for dray.

read that as a bagful of pickles, opinions on dray really run the gamut

I guess I'm not too worried even if Giannis is limited or even if he can't go, it took the greatest offensive performance in the history of Fiserv Forum and the best shooting performance over expectation in the playoffs in the last 10 years to win, and even still if the Bucks shot their season average on 3s they would have taken it. That said Milwaukee really needs to stop bricking 30+ threes every single playoff game

kawakami’s column on the dray suspension is a masterclass in cope lmao

everyone knows I love dray but cmon man, open and shut case

Domantas Sabonis fell to the floor and grabbed Green’s leg and Green purposely landed his foot hard on Sabonis’ chest in response

love to purposely land my foot hard

literally goes through the stages of grief over the course of the column haha

my sense of dray is that he's a player whose strengths wouldn't travel well to another team. he'd still be good but half of his excellence at GSW would disappear in another system with other teammates.

did dray deserve it? ok, yes. but was it unfair? yes! will the warriors still win? well if they don’t, it will be all adam silver’s fault. but if they do, it will be awesome

the part where hes like dray hasnt done anything bad for a long time (knocking jordan poole out who is annoying by the way doesnt count)

i for one am excited at the possibility of a great curry game. warriors fans are going through it right now though, leave us be. we're all slowly coming around to the idea that this might be the end. the suspension sucks and in my personal opinion its too much... BUT also lol its draymond this is who he is and what you have to deal with for better or worse, the edge is thin. props to sabonis for baiting him all series and striking at the perfect time, he sold it and the kings org went all in on getting him suspended. draymond did the rest.

the grim reaper is coming for this era of the dubs at some point, entirely possible it's happening now. but i wanna see the kings win one in SF first

warriors media is so damaged lol

tim k is such a weird dude

Does he need to quote tweet everyone he blocks lol

"I'm the worst and it's all my fault... see ya!"

he does not seem to take feedback well

thinner skin than westbrick

I remember reading his column in the dead-tree era, his stylistic tics bothered me a lot at the time.

Ja Morant (hand) ruled out Wednesday.

— Underdog NBA (@Underdog__NBA) April 19, 2023

not their year

Washington has dismissed GM Tommy Sheppard, source tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 19, 2023

The ILH collective would accept the job at half pay. Plus, we promise to deliver better results!

grizz, warriors, suns all struggling in the first round…will continue to monitor this

thats the guy who did the injured john wall > russ > lakers guys/picks trades idk wouldve kept him

Who gets credit for the kings having a great year? Mike Brown and the players for sure. Anyone else?

the beam

the beam

― lag∞n, Wednesday, April 19, 2023 7:04 PM (eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

this

gotta give props to mgmt too for drafting/developing davion mitchell & keegan murray. for picking up monk, huerter and lyles. and i guess for choosing sabonis over haliburton?

surrounding fox w shooters and an elite playmaking big opened up his game

+ the beam

btw, in less than an hour we'll know which team will win the championship!

gotta give props to mgmt too for drafting/developing davion mitchell & keegan murray. for picking up monk, huerter and lyles. and i guess for choosing sabonis over haliburton?

― Spottie, Wednesday, April 19, 2023 7:14 PM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i dont really like many of these decisions but i have no choice but to tip my cap anyway

they never quit on fox i think a lot of teams would've cut bait on him

yeah

they were pretty universally panned for choosing fox over haliburton, but turns out they're both good so kings were gonna look good either way

not their year

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, April 19, 2023 6:46 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

jjj just went to the locker room

this is embarrassing "using the ball as a weapon" come on

The Warriors feel like Domantas Sabonis is using the ball as a ‘weapon’ on offense, per @ZachLowe_NBA

“There is some anger within the organization toward the league. There's a sense in the organization that Sabonis is shoving people on offensive rebounds and playing with his… pic.twitter.com/aQb6Vgd7K8

— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) April 19, 2023

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.