2017-2018 NBA thread

[Racthoh]

guys rip the cavs i'm so happy

[Jibjabb]

Lebron makes teammates better. They love playing for him.



How many ways can I say I told you so

[xskarma]

guys rip the cavs i'm so happy

lol I think Racthoh means "Kyrie Irving just asked to be traded, I'm so happy"

It's all over twitter now and several reliable news agencies have talked about it.


Kyrie is out of his mind if he thinks he can get a better deal elsewhere than beign in Cleveland and getting Supermax 200+ million deal in 2 years. I think they need to just call his bluff and let him play out his contract in Cleveland.

He's not going to sit out, he has too much to lose. And there's unlikely to be any trades that can be made that will bring back equal value for the Cavs.

[Crissi]

From what I read, he doesn't wanna be 2nd fiddle anymore. Which is a fair thing to ask for, but a slightly different narrative than "Lebron is a terrible person, guyz".

Which means one of his wanted destinations should be discounted. Spurs. He will STILL be the 2nd guy on that team next to Kawhi, and he WILL need to be subservient to Popovich.

Either way, I think that makes Lebron's time in Cleveland short too.

[SL1200]

Why play with Lebron? If you win he gets all the credit, and if you lose he shoulders none of the blame. I don't blame Kyrie a bit, especially now that Lebron is planning his own exit next year.

[xskarma]

You know what, I think I figured out what Kyrie's problem is. His destinations make zero sense, but, why he wants to leave Lebron and be the main guy: He wants to do what Westbrook did. Be the ridiculously overused mega producer and get an MVP. He thinks he's better than Westbrook and can have that kind of season and will never have one with Lebron around.

[Blueobelisk]

There's no way that's possible xskarma. No one in this league is more athletic than Russell Westbrook right now.

On topics discussed so far:

1. I still don't like Derrick Rose. He's a pussy who missed a ton of games because he was scared. I don't want him to ever get a ring.
2. Kyrie wanting to leave, lol at Jib blaming Lebron. Honestly, I think it is hard to work with Lebron. he has high expectations because he carries trash around to high places.
3. Kyrie's destinations. Him wanting to be the main guy. I don't buy it. I have no idea what he's doing.

[PhaelixWW]

To me, it sounds like either...

A) Kyrie really doesn't like LeBron. Perhaps he put a good face on, expecting to at least reap the benefit of a few rings, but having seen the writing on the wall, he feels like it's not worth putting up with LeBron to stick around anymore if there's little chance of another championship.

...or...

B) He really feels like it's impossible to be a serious contender even on the Cavs, so he wants to go somewhere where he can feel like the marquee player. Regardless of his accomplishments, his reputation will always be a bit diminished for being in LeBron's shadow. Put another way, people already debate Pippen's legacy, but what kind of legacy would Pippen have if, in addition to being in Jordan's shadow, they hadn't won more than a single ring together?

[Blueobelisk]

B) He really feels like it's impossible to be a serious contender even on the Cavs, so he wants to go somewhere where he can feel like the marquee player.

?! Where else is this nigga gonna go that's a serious contender? NOWHERE is safe from Golden State. He has a better chance allying with Cleveland than anywhere else.

And does he really think he can be the best player on a championship team? He's good, but not that good. Not in the modern NBA. Only Steph, KD, Harden, and Lebron and maybe CP3 can do that in my eyes. Maybe Westbrook, too.

I think it's a combination of:
1. He wants a supermax contract.
2. He doesn't like the pressure of playing with Lebron. Probably perpetuated by how competitive Lebron is.
3. He's retarded.
3.A. He thinks he's better than he actually is.

[PhaelixWW]

?! Where else is this nigga gonna go that's a serious contender? NOWHERE is safe from Golden State. He has a better chance allying with Cleveland than anywhere else.

I think you misread what I said. I said that he might feel like it's impossible to be a contender even on the Cavs. And if it's basically impossible to be a contender at all, then why put up with being in LeBron's shadow? If you're going to lose anyway, why not go somewhere you can at least be the number 1 star?

3. He's retarded.

Normally I wouldn't list this one too high, but, well... he's a modern flat earther, so...

[SL1200]

Look, I would never tell someone who to root for or like in sports, but if your serious about trying to argue that Lebron does not make people better you know nothing about basketball. Also, it seems Kyrie wants to be the number one option, sort of like Shaq and Kobe. Nothing wrong with that. It does not mean he hates Lebron and how many people have said Lebron is a bad teammate? I can't recall anyone.

- - - Updated - - -



Says who? ESPN is basically the worst of sports media. Now could Lebron leave, sure but he has said nothing about it.

Rumors of course. He could end up staying in Cleveland. I think he's ready to leave again.

[ItachiZaku]

Here is what I'd thought originally:

Kyrie and contract for:
Heat: Goran, Winslow and a couple draft picks, maybe dump Johnson's contact back at them.
Knicks: Melo, draft picks.
Spurs: This is where they have NO backcourt at all, so this helps a lot, and they can hope to dump LMA contract some how, some way. They really have nothing worth a fuck to the Cavs, unless they do like Patty Mills, Danny Green and some picks, but Spurs are stupid enough to do that.
Wolves: I like Kyrie, Butthead, Wiggins, Towns. That gives the wolves a legit run at the #4/#5 seed in the west and rights for the ass raping in round two. Not a bad group, if you don't sell the house. Sadly, it did sound like Wiggins would have to be part of the deal. I'm still high on him.

[ItachiZaku]

If Kyrie was on the Wolves with BUtler, Wiggins and Towns that is top 3, at least imo. Hell they could fight for a two seed.

1 GSW
2 Spurs
3 Missiles
4 Rumblers
5 Doggies
6 Blaze'ems
7 Doesn't matter
8 Doesn't matter

I kinda think 3-5 is interchangable, depends on how well the new additions work out.

[Jibjabb]

Look, I would never tell someone who to root for or like in sports, but if your serious about trying to argue that Lebron does not make people better you know nothing about basketball. Also, it seems Kyrie wants to be the number one option, sort of like Shaq and Kobe. Nothing wrong with that. It does not mean he hates Lebron and how many people have said Lebron is a bad teammate? I can't recall anyone.

Theres multitudes of statistical evidence that playing alongside Lebron actually hurts many players production because he is so ball dominant. Its been beaten to death and if you chose to ignore it then go ahead, but its right there for you and anyone else to see.

Theres already been reports before of the same things Irving dislikes about Lebron happening, plus I know some of you dont know but I personally know someone who is very close to a player on the Cavs. Time to time I hear things. Honestly I am surprised more its coming from Kyrie first since someone else doesnt get along with Lebron like... at all.

[Jibjabb]

Wow! Hard hitting facts there man. Who knew, that when other players play along side all time greats they might not have as good of stats. It sucks that you can only judge how a player plays by stats alone.

So he makes everyone better by making their contributions worse? K #logic

Was Wade better before or after Lebron showed up? How was Bosh considered as a Raptor vs when playing with Lebron? How was Love looked at as Timberwolf compared to now? Has he improved? Like get real

Nobody said he doesnt make teams better, ofc he does. But he doesnt improve individual players much if at all, least not the already good ones. You could make a case for role players if you would like to

[ItachiZaku]

So who does? What player has made other people improve their games and stats ever? Its a bullshit argument made for "hot takes" on ESPN. Also Wade was not a worse player when Lebron came, he simply did not shoot as much, guess who else took some of his shots, Bosh! Same with Love on the Cavs.

I dunno, Wade and Bosh has their most efficient seasons with Bron. To me, that's making a top 3 SG ever, better. For Bosh, it's making a top 10,000 ever, better.

Love was a stat guy in Minnesota, no one would actually call him good. Kinda the same with Bosh, i legit never heard of him before he went to Miami. To me, he was nothing more than a Kenny Faried, Paul Millsap type. Like "oh, I guess someone on that team has to get some stats", but he did get the rebound and assist to the GOAT shooter ever, and then the block.

[xskarma]

Kevin Love's problem is that he's not a championship level player. He's good enough offensively to carry a bad team but not a good one, and he's a terrible defender. So you put him on a good team and he can't dominate the ball like he used to in Minnesota so his production suffers, and you need him to actually play good defense and he can't.

One of the narratives in the Finals last year was that Love was suddenly hustling and doing stuff on defense and it was working. Just to highlight that the knock on him usually was his defensive deficiencies.

That's why last year things worked and this year they didn't. Somewhat small but important things like Love surpassing his usual defensive ability.

And I think that was team wide. I don't think LBJ was as sharp as he was last year either.

[xskarma]

Smart and dumb articles I've read recently:

Dumb:

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...e-warriors-nba

Article argues that the Celtics should trade some of their draft picks for DeMarcus Cousins (presumably throwing in Horford to match up the contracts). The Celtics, who are capped out, should trade for a guy who's a free agent after next year and is going to command a massive amount of money? Who ESPN rates as the 46th best defensive center in the league by real plus minus (worse than Kelly Olynyk)? A player who needs a lot of touches on a team that already has Isaiah Thomas and Gordon Haywood? If you're building a fantasy team, sure, Cousins looks good on the Celtics. But in the real world he's not the right fit.

I never really understood this either. On top of the things you mentioned, Cousins has proven to be a problematic character to say the least. There's no way the Celtics would want to bring him into an already massively changed locker room and further risk chemistry.

Cousins is pretty much the last person I'd want the Celtics to sign.

[Blueobelisk]

http://www.postcrescent.com/story/ne...cea9da38a0413|

Looking good.

Looks kinda cool. Did you apply for a gym membership there yet?

[PhaelixWW]

As discussed last year, the NBA is going to alleviate the issue of DNPs and back-to-back games by extending the season by a week:

The NBA has had enough with DNP (rest).

The league released a memo to teams that outlined changes in scheduling, which are aimed toward alleviating the stress of travel and multiple games with little rest, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst.

NBA broadcasts—particularly nationally televised games—have been marred by teams' deciding to rest healthy star players with increasing frequency. These schedule changes are intended to allow the players to rest more, which will hopefully disincentivize teams from resting their stars.

Per Windhorst, teams will no longer have any stretches of four games in five nights or 18 games in 30 days, and single-game road trips and backs-to-backs will be reduced. There will be only 11 games total for which a team travels more than 2,000 miles for a single road game.

How are these changes possible? The league's schedule is one week longer this year—it will start earlier than normal in October. This change was built in to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, which was reached late in 2016 and went into effect on July 1.

Commissioner Adam Silver has shown a commitment to extending the NBA season. In 2014, the NBA All-Star break was extended from a few days to a full week, a move that was well-received by players.

The NBA schedule is expected to be finalized this week and should be released shortly thereafter.