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

tho maybe toronto wants to hold onto him to make a big trade of their own

He does seems to fit their plan of finding guys who can contribute to next year's Raptors, but won't surprise me if they deal him.

the fact that he was included in this trade must indicate that his value prob is less than i think bcuz as long as you can match the salary cap wise you'd only be paying what like $10m or less for a versatile wing we just saw play a pivotal role on a finals team. idk why every contending team wouldn't be dangling at least some kinda first for him but tbh his career suggests teams just don't like him that much for whatever reason

― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, January 17, 2024 3:54 PM (fifteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

or maybe the two firsts are considered lower value and brown is considered a higher value acquisition idk

― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, January 17, 2024 3:54 PM (fifteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

he was perfect last year as a 6th/7th man, problem is he’s now being paid as a 4th/5th guy, which on the right team (ascending without real expectations) makes a lot of sense, but for a contender looking for a short term upgrade might be tougher

it's only a 1 year deal tho, i think most teams could figure it out... it makes more sense if toronto sees him as a brogdon type addition to the trade who can be flipped again

the hard part is most contenders either dont have spare matching contracts or dont have a ton of picks to splash around

bob has really lost his fastball on nba lol

not a big siakam guy myself but the combination of player type, star opportunity for a small market, and cost is pretty much spot on

siakam trade might be a kicking the can down the road type thing for the raptors cause theyve said they want players but took a picks heavy deal so they might be planning on turning around at trading brown + picks for a player when the opportunity presents itself

siakam is going to get so many dunks in indy, hes going from one of the most clogged up teams to prob the most free flowing, i think hes gonna play real good there, plus his defense will really help, indy didnt have a starting quality pf now they have a very good one

Curious to see how different Siakam looks in Carlisle's offense, could tap into something that wasn't an option in TOR. Can't wait to see this team on the floor; I guess the Hali/Siakam/Turner/Nesmith starting 5 is pretty locked in (and now features 3 plus defenders), maybe Benn joins them by playoff time.

Pacers tiptoeing into the two-star strata of EC teams like Philly/Celtics/Heat/Bucks?

pacers are still firmly in a second tier though they will have certain advantages in depth and coaching - at least in the regular season. home court advantage and a chance at the conference finals will be a reasonable expectation as long as they have hali and siakam.

worth noting that the pacers lead the league in bench points with over 50 per game (!) and they have lost none of that depth in this trade

he was perfect last year as a 6th/7th man, problem is he’s now being paid as a 4th/5th guy, which on the right team (ascending without real expectations) makes a lot of sense, but for a contender looking for a short term upgrade might be tougher

― truly humbled underdog (k3vin k.), Thursday, 18 January 2024

bruce is a 4/5th guy. the pacers were winning games with him as a 2/3rd

he's definitely more of a 4/5 type guy but a lot of his value is in that he can shift up or down the line up depending on who else you want to play. he gave the nuggets mins at both back up 4 and back up 1 while guarding 2s and 3s on defense, there just isn't a ton of role players like that out there even if his shooting is prob always gonna leave some stuff on the table

yeah very unusual player great glue guy doesnt really have a signature basketball skill is prob why teams havent always been so into him who even knows what position he plays

pacers are still firmly in a second tier though they will have certain advantages in depth and coaching - at least in the regular season. home court advantage and a chance at the conference finals will be a reasonable expectation as long as they have hali and siakam.

― micah, Wednesday, January 17, 2024 5:59 PM (forty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah feel like theyre firmly in the second tier with room to make the next step whether thats through young guys developing making another trade hali reaching mvp level or what have you

I guess they could spectacularly shit the bed in the first round, basically none of them have real playoff experience, and the few times teams have really run at Hali, he's been a little shaky. Still, excited to see what direction the team can take w/ adding an all star who happens to fill your biggest need.

Curious to see how their playoff rotation tightens; at the moment looks 11-strong, not sure who gets cut out. TJ had figured to be one of those guys but I think he's played himself back in, same with IJax.

Sad that Bruce never really got started in Indy, I liked having him in the mix. At times he and Nesmith have been the only decent wing defenders, and even in these regular season games he did have a knack for coming up with a floater in the lane when the Pacers were having trouble scoring.

they could def lose in the first round east is pretty stacked this year, like the knicks are pretty good and theyre in 7th place currently

plus acquiring players midseason is never perfect, prob wont see the full flowering of pacers siakam til next year, which doesnt mean he cant be good this year just its hard to click on the highest level in half a season

yes this year will probably be a wash. if anything they are a bit ahead of schedule by adding siakam now

oof Wolves are playing like shit

Bucks Down 64-104

you know what that means, thanasis time

the politics are obvious but it's still wild to me as competitive as the NBA is that a team that's basically championship or bust punts on a roster spot like that

its the 2 for 1 special you sign up for when you have giannis

giannis can have his brother on his team, as a treat

they should bring on a third brother

Jokic should get his brothers roster spots

they glower from the bench whenever hes fouled

why are the spurs so soft they just do not put up much resistance teams must love playing them its like a scrimmage

deandre ayton is apparently out tonight due to ice? like there was ice near his house so he couldn't get to the game.

dont want to slip

I hadn't seen a Pistons game until tonight, wow that team is so lost....unreal

maybe even worse than any Wolves team I've ever watched? would have to think

yeah its like idk what i thought a team that bad would look like, it is bad tho

the Wolves were pretty much terrible, Ant was ice cold and jacking bad shots and yet, it just felt inevitable

cad the ice in portland rn is really insane, i haven't left my house since friday and we had another half inch of ice overnight. we don't treat our roads at all so it's an absolute mess everywhere. every restaurant is closed. if ayton lives anywhere above sea-level there's just no chance xxxps

yeesh stay safe!

grab a bag of salt and get out there chip in

happy i didn't lose power at all, tbh! aimless was posting on the portland thread that he was without it for a couple days. i saw so many people eating shit walking home with groceries today (i did not help them, it is icy out there)

lmao

honestly shocked they didn't cancel tonight's game

there was an insane ice storm in montreal in i think 99 that shut the entire city down for like two weeks and destroyed a nice chunk of of their electrical infrastructure worth looking into if you like that sort of thing

banchero just hit a three to tie with nice seconds left then dejounte hit the buzzer beater for the win

this lakers mavs lakers game is on abc, its wednesday, wild

https://www.oregonlive.com/weather/2024/01/5-things-to-know-about-portlands-january-2024-snow-and-ice-storm.html here is a primer on the portland metro area's last few days if u are curious

dats alotta ice baby

damn

of course I flip this mavs/lakers game on at halftime and it immediately turns into a blowout

crying at the thought of ayton being on the phone with the blazers like “omg i know this is so fucked up” while the xbox is already fired up and on mute