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

"highly paid" is something that only really matters for next season, not the current season. so it can be both, on different timeframes

kat is good and offers a really unique skillset. they do not need to dump him, he for sure has value around the league. he seems to be ok moving into the 2nd banana behind ant role, which sometimes young stars tend to fight hard against. most of the negative talk about kat/gobert revolves around playoff success, where neither of them have been good, and both for vastly different reason. kats playoff problems (dumb fouls, pressing too hard, over emotional) seem a lot more fixable than goberts (easily gets played off the court vs the best small ball lineups). but with how spread out the talent is across the league, i dont think they should do anything drastic right now, they have as good a shot as any of the 2nd tier teams (top tier being celtics and nuggets)

i think their goal at this point should simply be to make the conference finals and then once theyve proven they're real enough for that then they can figure out what else they need

yeah

lamelo/KAT would def set the concept of "winning basketball" back like 175 years and for that reason i find it intriguing

― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Monday, January 8, 2024 2:36 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is the type of thing the denver nuggets or new jersey nets would have unironically tried in like 1992

kat is good and offers a really unique skillset. they do not need to dump him, he for sure has value around the league.

the reality of the situation is that these statements might feel true in a vacuum, but less so when you consider his salary. the notion that "you trade contracts not players" has rarely felt as apt to me as when discussing KAT. cuz if you're really trying to tell me that KAT has value on his contract then we disagree deeply about this subject

most of the negative talk about kat/gobert revolves around playoff success

i also think that with KAT it's two fold -- one is that he was the no 1 overall pick and his team was never good w/ him on it until they drafted another guy no 1 overall. so it was a regular season issue that has become a playoff issue now that other guys came around to put KAT in the position to have his playoff performance scrutinized

but there is also something more bedrock about KAT's place in the league. like fundamentally speaking -- what position does he play? can he play 5? or do you have to pair him w/ a center? what are the deficiencies of his that need to be covered up vs what are the ones that you can live with? how much is his shooting worth vs what he gives back on defense? if he is one of the two best players on your team, how far are you getting?

he's in his 9th season in the league and i find these very basic questions about him to be unanswerable

i just think there are plenty of teams that could talk themselves into kat, even w his contract. hes the best shooting big man of all time, after all. i agree with you tho.

hes the best shooting big man of all time

Wilt could get the ball through the hoop, too, you know. He had a real knack for the famous "dunk" shot. I hear one time he scored 100 points in a single game using his shooting ability.

You overlook the "shooting" qualifier?

"shooting" means jump shooting, typically

Your saying the famous "dunk" shot isn't a basketball shot? I have long felt it was a shot, maybe the BEST shot!

i just think there are plenty of teams that could talk themselves into kat, even w his contract.

i'd be fascinated to know for which teams this is the case. it would be like finding out which GMs don't believe in vaccines

probably half of them!

(also the best shooting big man of all time thing is what kat claimed, not i)

“I’m the greatest big man shooter of all time. That’s a fact. You can see the stats. I ain’t got to play like no one else. Everyone trying to find themselves to be the second version of me when I’m the first version. I don’t got to be the second version of someone else. I’m already an original. I don’t have to be a duplicate of someone else.”

as of December 3rd his shooting splits were

50.3-41.8-91.1.

hes a real good shooter he shouldve showed more respect to dirk tho

he's very "cringe"

but i think he's a much better player than jordan believes he is

jordan is being hard on him but maybe thats what he needs

i mean... i'm not the person who is considered one of the best GMs in the league who took over the wolves and immediately decided to make one of the most aggressive trades in NBA history in order to find a guy who can play KAT's position for him

i just think if you're 7 foot in today's NBA but can't play center or small forward you make for a very difficult fit regardless of how good you are as a shooter. the wolves may make it work to some degree *this year* but as we all know their salary structure is likely untenable, largely because paying $55 million a year for a really good floor spacer is not a good idea

if kat was a quality defensive center hed be a perennial all nba guy, but hes not so hes a sometimes allstar level forward

part of that is hes just a bad athlete doesnt have the stuff to be serious defender

people are saying hes playing better defense this year but doubt hes up to center level good defense

i mean untenable unschmenable as Celtics and Heat fans I don't think you guys can really relate to how big of a deal it is to be this good even for one year

he is one sense a very modern player (elite shooting big man) and in another sense the kind of player that is slowly being eliminated from the NBA (unathletic big man who cannot move). this tension has never been resolved, not sure it ever will be

thats what happens once you get good people start picking you apart welcome to the big leagues xp

if i was a wolves fan i'd spend zero seconds worrying about the future of the team, karl anthony towns future salary etc. but i'm not a wolves fan

wovles still not getting the criticism that jaylen browns one left hand got tho lol

I think he should be applauded for trying to play basketball one handed

its an avant garde approach

noooo

Tyrese Haliburton being carried to the locker room by his teammates after slipping on the floor @Firststarlog👇 pic.twitter.com/qenZ8qLGg0

— Daniel Alameda (@AlamedaViews) January 9, 2024

oof hali just slipped and did the splits in the lane looks like a bad groin pull hes being carried off the court (im a few minute behind) xp

didnt look like an sort of career changer, just a muscle thing, but he def could miss some time, or maybe not you never know with that sort of thing

he did stand up but then they carried him off weird situation not sure ive seen something quite like it

Tyrese Haliburton had to be carried to the locker room after doing the splits on a fall 😳

Hope he's okay 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Z2REIkW6eh

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 9, 2024

hammy per shams

that sentence would be nonsense to most people

shams goin' ham reports hali hammy per shams

dr. seuss is rolling in his grave

pacers 103
celtics 101
end of the 3rd lol

first time both teams over 100 in the 3rd since 2004

that cant be right

those particular teams in the same game maybe? neither has been much of an offensive juggernaut this century

think maybe in a celtics game, thats not what they said tho

bucks down 31 at the half in .... utah

uniforms not clean enough

Tyrese Haliburton injured his Left Hamstring on this play. MRI will determine severity and time of healing

Grade I: 1-2 weeks
Grade II: 4-8 weeks
Grade II: 12+ weeks/surgery if torn off bone pic.twitter.com/SF1pMlxLwy

— Dr. Evan Jeffries, DPT (@GameInjuryDoc) January 9, 2024

i think were looking at a grade 2 here

apparently you can hit a shooter in the head and it's ok if you get ball too

the fix is in