2022 NBA OFF SEASON DRAFT FREE AGENCY TAMPERING ETC

it feeds the huge and ever expanding social media gossip mill, keeps the league in the news year round, makes for dramatic boxing match level narratives once the games roll around… i don’t think the league suffers from it really at all. whether it makes the sport less enjoyable to you on a personal level is a diff question and entirely fair but i think the league long ago won the “optics” battle on this stuff

and tbh i’d rather see KD on an actually good team than this non competitive mess in brooklyn. the nets don’t even have fans.

if you look at donovan mitchell likely quasi forcing his way out of a soon to be irrelevant jazz team vs bradley beal clinging to the wizards so he can make a bunch of money playing for a team that will never win more than 2 playoff games… which is worse for the league, in real terms and optics? it’s not the case of the great player trying to get to a more competitive team

fair enough, i don't really mind when its guys like mitchell trying to get off their original team after giving them a chance

I have no problem with it. Drama is messy.

Current odds to win the NBA Finals @BetMGM 🏆

+450: Celtics
+600: Warriors, Bucks
+700: Clippers
+1000: Suns
+1200: 76ers
+1400: Lakers, Heat
+1600: Nets, Nuggets
+2000: Grizzlies
+2200: Mavs
+3000: Raptors
+3500: Timberwolves
+4000: Bulls, Pelicans
+5000: Hawks
+6600: Knicks pic.twitter.com/C5qrUIgBJR

— NBABet (@nbabet) August 15, 2022

dats right baby celtics #1

the clippers are just the western conference nets i dont believe in that team/org. on paper that squad is pretty deep though, lots of lineup flexibility/switch-ability. but so much riding on older vets and/or guys coming off big injuries and/or john wall.

did someone say "baby celtics"?
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_eKZ4zASfu0/UwaxJOWCDBI/AAAAAAAAiEk/c-N2ArQvW54/s1600/glen-big-baby-davis.jpg

more like john floor

actually i think i've used that one before sorry

lebron to warriors confirmed
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FaOX9GxUUAE64_q?format=jpg&name=small

the clippers are just the western conference nets i dont believe in that team/org. on paper that squad is pretty deep though, lots of lineup flexibility/switch-ability. but so much riding on older vets and/or guys coming off big injuries and/or john wall.

even if hes healthy who knows how good hell be, hes been injured so much and is just a weird player who has for stretches looked like an alltime great and at other times more like a top 15 type guy

unclear if he can still bring it on d never really had a passing game

if you get the playoff raptors kawhi where he just goes wherever he wants with defenders bouncing off him then yeah the clips could be tough if you get the other kawhi idk ill have to think about it

and youve got similar questions about pg too

Clippers are a lot like the nuggets where the scenario where everyone is healthy is a great team but no one really thinks they’ll be that healthy

lakers are +210 to miss the playoffs, seems like a very good bet

the last time we saw kawhi in the playoffs he looked like the best player in the league again. he’s only gonna be 31 this year, not like he’s 34. but i agree there’s a lot of “nets of the west” vibes in how something always seems to be going wrong.

the thing is the west feels super wide open. it’s deep but it’s not like the east where there is two overwhelming favorites to make the finals. feels like a handful of teams could legitimately come out of the west this year. if the clippers are able to stay relatively healthy they have as good a claim as anyone. on paper anyway

i have a weird finals prediction but will think on it for another 2 months before unveiling

is this year, cider?

is this *the year

based on last years WC standings:

Suns - probably around 55 wins, could sniff 60 again but the vibes will be tested early. things could go south quickly or they could regain their edge, hard to say.

Grizz - i think they take a slight step back as far as their record, Ja needs to chill or his knees wont make it. i thought their record without ja was kinda fluky? could see them dropping out of the top 4 but they could also go balls out and get to the top.

Warriors - prob still hover around 55 wins and just try to get into the playoffs healthy again. more playing time and integrating of the youngens could mean a more bumpy regular season, though. could fall out of the top 4 by record because of that. if they arent ready we could see a midseason trade?

Mavs - i dont think they got any better but luka looks in shape so if he comes into the season in game shape they could fight for a top 4 spot

Jazz - the tank is on

Nuggets - should be top 4 if everyone looks like themselves. if not, they'll be right back in this spot again.

Wolves - should be better, could get into the top 6 but will be a fight. all comes down to ant ascension.

Pels - should be better but we need to see how zion fits with what they had going to end the season. prob still a play-in team cos the defense will struggle. herb jones cant guard everyone.

Clippers - should be a top 4 but who the hell knows

spurs - the tank is on but pop will prob get them into the play-in somehow someway

lakers - lol. will miss the playoffs if they dont trade russ. will make the play-in if they do trade him.

kings - kangs

blazers - tough one! if dame is dame then i guess a play-in team? or maybe they finally trade him midseason if he gets his value back up.

thunder - weird team, should prob have the worst record in the league? will shae actually play? his timeline with this core is a little weird. he could help a lot of teams now and does he want to wait 3-5 more years while the children develop?

rockets - they need to trade KPJ. will probably wrestle with the thunder and jazz for bottom three spots

i dont actually believe in the nuggets this year but i gotta do the bit

blazers - tough one! if dame is dame then i guess a play-in team? or maybe they finally trade him midseason if he gets his value back up.

the MO for the blazers during dame's all-star years has been uneven play from October until early March, then an improbable but impressive playoff push that gets them into the 4-7 seeding of the WC, then an occasional first round win. that's the best bet.

hot tip: never bet on the blazers trading dame. there's no conceivable PR story about how that will improve the team that their season-ticket holders would swallow.

yeah i dont think it happens unless he wants it to happen.

ouch and 3/4 of their national games are on nbatv haha

The Houston Rockets will be on national television four times this season, sources tell @TheAthletic:

— Nov. 12, at New Orleans (NBA TV)

— Nov. 26, vs. Oklahoma City (NBA TV)

— Jan. 11, at Sacramento (ESPN)

— Jan. 16, at Los Angeles (NBA TV)

— Kelly Iko (@KellyIkoNBA) August 16, 2022

we should do an ilh livechat or zoom or something to coincide with the wednesday, jan 1 rockets/kings game that is on national tv for some reason.

*jan 11

lmao lets do it

lol just ticking the last two boxes one time for accountability

OK hear me out yall, I think I've found a way forward for KD: trade everyone on the Nets for everyone on the Celtics. Everyone wins!

Sources: Four-time NBA champion LeBron James has agreed to a two-year, $97.1 million maximum contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers, taking him under contract through 2024-25 season.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 17, 2022

smh he couldnt even get russ traded, losing his fastball

New this year: "NBA Rivals Week"
11 rivalry games from Jan. 24-28:
- Celtics/Heat
- Clippers/Lakers
- Nets/76ers
- Grizzlies/Warriors
- Lonzo Ball/LaMelo Ball
- Suns/Mavericks
- Timberwolves/Grizzlies
- Raptors/Warriors
- Nikola Jokic/Joel Embiid
- Knicks/Nets
- Lakers/Celtics

— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) August 17, 2022

bron contract has a player option in year 2, so basically a one year extension

15% trade kicker too.

those one-on-one games could be interesting

wasn't aware any of those were rivalries besides the last one

doncic jokic rivalry happening rn

Luka Doncic for the win over Nikola Jokic… NO GOOD! 😦

Slovenia and Serbia head to OT! pic.twitter.com/TXyZct4PeJ

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) August 17, 2022

I wonder if that player option is Bron's escape hatch if the Lakers don't draft Bronny.

i dont actually believe in the nuggets this year but i gotta do the bit

― ciderpress, Tuesday, August 16, 2022 3:59 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

yo wtf?? this is the year!

reducing travel is good but it makes the sched less entertaining

The NBA's new schedule has 55 baseball-style series in which the road team plays the same foe twice in a row without travel ... up from 23 last season.

Plus 33 instances on the schedule in which the road team stays in LA or New York to play both local teams on the same trip.

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 17, 2022

i really don't like the baseball scheduling in the NBA

I wonder if that player option is Bron's escape hatch if the Lakers don't draft Bronny.

― It's like there's a Republican party in my mouth and everyone's indicted (Leee), Wednesday, August 17, 2022 4:36 PM (forty-seven minutes ago)

would imagine it's his escape hatch for a number of reasons incl whatever happens w/ his son

I wonder if that player option is Bron's escape hatch if the Lakers don't draft Bronny.

― It's like there's a Republican party in my mouth and everyone's indicted (Leee), Wednesday, August 17, 2022 3:36 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

bronny is a 2023 recruit so he's not gonna be in the league til 2024 (after bron's current contact ends, player option doesn't enter into it)

Number of National TV games for each game (NOT including NBA TV games) pic.twitter.com/sWa0hmRsfl

— Krishna Narsu (@knarsu3) August 17, 2022

crazy disrespect of the miami heat

other than the knicks (which, lol) it’s hard to find fault with any of the teams above them

yeah that looks pretty normal, its not like the time they gave the pels like 25 games for zion's rookie year