2023/24 NBA REGULAR SEASON THREAD "THANKING FOR WEMBANYAMA"

did embiid get shamed into playing??

Completing the Lillard trade was always going to include swallowing some kind of bitter pill. Taking on Ayton and his ugly contract was the glaring downside, but the amount of upside made it worthwhile. The Blazers were always going to be bad for a couple of seasons, so it's not like they'll need to hide Ayton's weaknesses during the playoffs.

well the ayton trade was folded into the lillard trade for grease-skidding purposes but it was agreed upon ahead of time. they did not have to take him on in order to facilitate the deal

If the Ayton trade had gone down with Lillard still in a Blazer uniform, no Jrue trade, therefore no Brogdon, no Rob Williams, with Nurk sent away and a weaker bench I would have clawed my face off.

pretty sure the blazers saw ayton as an asset, if not exactly the centerpiece of their haul. and i would bet he still has some positive perceived value around the league: 18-10 last yr, got that #1 pick sheen, and went to the finals (need not dig too deep into whether he was a net positive or negative in that achievement). too bad for the blazers that value is going to tank precipitously if he can't even do the good stats bad team thing. they should trade him asap and throw in with the timelord

if everything ppl say about scoot is true he seems incompatible with the 16 hour a day 2k gamer as his primary pick & roll partner. but that’s a bridge to cross in a few years (probably)

memphis could use a center

denver really put OKC in their place last night. i like chet a lot & this thunder team overall, they had two pretty impressive wins to open the season. but their front court rotation is chet and ousmane dieng. just feel like you prob need one big man who can legally consume alcohol if you’re gonna make the NBA playoffs

3 games in and feeling good about my desmond bane is 25X better than austin reaves exaggeration

duren is good i guess

Despite his youth, Duren has been key to Detroit’s surprising 2-1 start. In three games, he has totally dominated around the basket, recording a league-leading 18 dunks (only two other players have even half as many), blocking eight shots and averaging 18.0 points and 14.5 rebounds. He leads the league in offensive rebound rate and is fourth in overall rebound rate.

I feel like judging ayton’s blazers situation 3 games into a deal with a new team full of idiots who don’t know how to play and haven’t been competitive past 2 minutes into any of their three games is jumping the gun. the bigger problem for portland is that scoot has been uncomfortably bad

the stuff about how cade and duren looked together vs team usa over the summer was pretty compelling. altho that team usa roster did not really have bigs

ivey feels like the key to me bcuz they have two guys in duren and ausar who don't really need the ball to contribute which is pretty great if you're trying to put a whole team of young guys together. but the other side of the coin is you do need other guys who can handle and score. but he doesn't even start for them, hasn't even played 25 mins in a game so far this year. i thought he looked pretty ordinary against miami in the opener. monty will prob end up clashing with one of their young guys if his track record is any indication

did embiid get shamed into playing??

― infinite wiggles (Spottie), Monday, October 30, 2023 2:04 PM (three hours ago)

was listening to the hoop collective pod and bontemps addressed this. he said it was a very routine scenario -- embiid came out 45 mins before the game, warmed up, and then was put into the starting line up. he said this exact thing happens 30-40 times per season w/ embiid, where they list him on the injury report in the event the night before in the event he doesn't end up playing, but he almost always plays. the issue seems to be philly listing the reason as rest instead of some ailment, which bontemps didn't have an answer for. my guess is they're prob spooked about being investigated by the league for the third time in the last two years.

I mean of all stars to doubt has an injury that might be worthy of sitting out a single game it's not the 7 footer with an injury history who spends 25% of the season picking himself up off the floor from what look like terrible falls.

oh yeah i forgot about that. same thing happened when i saw them here in phx last season. he really moped around the court that game

an old fashioned whupping is in progress in washington

after 1 quarter

celtics FG: 69%
points scored: 42.0

nice

Wiz have a good shot at being the worst team in the league

Jordan Poole ??? pic.twitter.com/MMr6Toguty

— Alex 👋 (@Dubs408) October 30, 2023

theyre bad celtics d is wrecking poole

that Poole possession above is perfect

ayton may have read some j0rdan posts during 2k loading screens on the flight to Toronto

Sheesh there were like 3 different points where it looked like Milwaukee could've given up a 25-point 4th quarter lead to Miami

as far as I can tell, inconsistency is a big part of the genuine ayton experience. the blazers got that from nurkic for a lot less money.

The hawks are fun again god bless

Dejounte with a nice header here

https://x.com/ATLHawks/status/1719168313840857556?s=20

could not imagine being a lakers fan looking at a whole season of having to watch russell and christian wood playing together

Russell, wood, prince in the closing lineup is a choice

harden to clips but no details yet

The Sixers are acquiring Marcus Morris, Nic Batum, Robert Covington, KJ Martin, multiple draft picks and a pick swap for James Harden, PJ Tucker and Filip Petrusev, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/fSOkgO5xd3

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 31, 2023

The Clippers are sending the Sixers a 2028 unprotected first-round pick, two second-round picks and a pick swap, sources tell ESPN. The Clippers are also routing the 76ers an additional future first-round pick from a third team.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 31, 2023

the fuck are the clips doing??????

Clips gonna clip. Harden and Russ together again, Kawhi gonna love playing with those two

Harden four teams in less than two years I’m sure this will work out fine.

[alfred voice] good mourning!

https://x.com/seanwrightnba/status/1719236832771166251?s=46&t=XlsbhgknQH65_CH00_uPqw

dam

I'm a Kork on the ocean
Floating over the raging sea

i for one am glad the james harden saga is over and now he can just be normal

This Harden deal seems pretty good for the Sixers all things considered. I would rather have Batum and Covington than Tucker at this point, they preserved the massive amount of cap space they have next season, and got back a few potentially good picks/swaps.

yeah wonder if theyll try to move the picks for more guys

tho that could imperial their cap space sitch since nearly everyone on their roster is expiring theyd prob have to take back longer term contracts

xp

They should hold on to them until the offseason probably. They don't need to do anything to remake the team next year because Harris is UFA and they will have a ton of room. Keep their options open and see what develops. Not sure that Morey sees things that way.

thing about free agency these days is almost no one good every actually seems to become a free agent, it makes too much sense for both the players and teams to just resign then maybe do a trade at some point

maybe theres a guy who want to go to philly out there tho, usually its not good teams that have the cap space

the PJ tucker era in philly will remain hilarious to me… i guess after last season’s smashing playoff success this team no longer requires the hard nosed veteran leadership & cultural stability only PJ tucker can provide

its funny when role players become famous

if you look at next year’s FA class it’s not like the sixers have some expansive menu to choose from. they’re gonna give maxey a massive bag and then they will potentially be able to sign kawhi, PG, siakam or OG, if any of them actually make it there. realistically they’re prob looking at one of the two raptors guys

a raptors guy would be great for them, siakam seems very focused on getting the super max from toronto not sure how they feel about that but im sure they dont want to lose him for nothing, og tho idk what his plan is

Thanasis shows why he BELONGS in the NBA 😤 pic.twitter.com/REgaZlrWL1

— BrickMuse (@BrickMuse) October 30, 2023

this is legitimately tough to watch, NBA nepotism is crazy

i think the raptors really like og prob would be happy to max him out maybe he wants to be on a good team tho, would be leaving money on the table

shoutout to thanasis dude has to be living a great life but def one of my least favorite athletes ever