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

I get it, a lot of all-time NBA greats didn't win a title until years 6-8, thing is those teams were steadily getting better year after year while the Mavs missed the playoffs last year and look like a play-in team this year. probably fair to put more blame on the Mavs organization than Luka, especially as someone who watched Kidd make the same mistakes every single game with Milwaukee.

imo its way more likely we get a luka trade demand than a mavs contender

agree with this, especially if contender is multiple trips to WCF and/or NBA Finals and not another WCF followed by another trip to the lottery

I get it, a lot of all-time NBA greats didn't win a title until years 6-8

a lot of NBA greats didn't win a title ever!

apropos
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2024/2/6/24062464/dallas-mavericks-luka-doncic-role-players

this is about derrick jones jr, lol

Doncic might not have made the same call in the clutch a year ago, largely because none of his teammates were equipped to beat Rudy Gobert to the rim, much less finish with that kind of authority. Dallas took one of the biggest swings in franchise history by trading for Kyrie Irving last February, but that was only the start of what would become a massive, ongoing project to reimagine how to best support a playmaking genius.

this whole idea is funny to me because they made the conference finals w/ a pretty basic plan: two ball handlers along w/ luka, 3 and d wings, and yeoman small ball centers who can move their feet and do a little w/ the ball if they need to. i think they needed to get better players but i don't think the concept of what team you should put around luka is some grand unknowable mystery

reasonable point

classic example of a team that threw away a successful roster as overreaction to one bad playoffs loss

people focus on the jalen brunson of it all which is understandable but i will still argue that the mavs could have lost jalen and still tried to maintain the structure of that team. instead they were like, "we're not going to replace our PG and instead we're going to sign javale mcgee and christian wood." they really do not get enough criticism for this specific shift in team building worldview as evidenced by the ringer writing a whole article about this very subject and not mentioning javale's name once

yeah those big signings were rough

think we can finally close the book on the is the mavs front office good discussion

feels like we're in for a quiet trade deadline, just seeing lots of reports of teams coveting vague archetypes and other teams being unreasonable about the value of their own guys

need big athletic two way wing plz sir my roster is so undersized

we are so close the last peice we need is the most valuable player, do u have one

yes, i have the most valuable player, alex caruso, and will trade him for four first round picks

guess players

High school student broadcaster says Matt Barnes threatened to ‘slap the s---’ out of himhttps://t.co/lE3qongGPJ

— Jason Anderson (@JandersonSacBee) February 6, 2024

gosh I’m shocked

cmon man

ime high school students know how to be very provoking when they want to be.

matt barnes was always a loser

Lukas headband tonight lol. Very swagless superstar, not quite Tim Duncan levels but def bottom tier.

I fw headband luka tbh

*to the fellas* i fw headband luka tbh

*to the ladies, lowers voice* you know i love that headband

the thunder have the best young team and control every draft pick for the next five years, this is unprecedented

Anthony Edwards weakside block + coast-to-coast transition layup pic.twitter.com/HXm52eomZM

— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) February 7, 2024

coby white wrecking the wolves to make a big comeback currently

yeah he's been unreal

i guess hes good now i never wouldve guessed it

kat w the big 3 to tie unser am inute

under a minute

yikes Rudy is lucky he didn't get called for that foul

ya not the most heads up play

demar bricked game winner, ot

bulls complete the comeback from down 22 big win

Lavine must be a total vibe killer on the court

Suns big 3 having fun against the shorthanded Bucks

clippers first in the west

“We've got to keep getting better, keep watching film,” Antetokounmpo said. “Now we have to work twice as hard. If we're willing to do that we'll be OK.”

no mention of the equipment manager

giannis is now the equipment manager

he might be the coach soon too

cavs have quietly won 14 of their last 15

Mitchell is 6th in the league in ppg and it seems like no one is talking about him

think everyone kinda gave up on the cavs after they flamed out of the playoffs last year then started this year slow and there was talk of mitchell getting traded but theyre good now

it's pretty wild how deep the league is now

yeah good stuff parity era nba

the interesting thing is that most/all of those wins came with them playing a more traditional line up w/ garland and mobley out. but now they’re back to their weird double point guard, double center line up

yeah i think prob eventually some of those guys have to go

its tough cause theyre all good players its hard to get players that good

they should give a few to Milwaukee