2018-2019 NBA thread

[xskarma]

Go congratulate all your friends who are Pelicans fans...

Oh wait... there are no Pelicans fans.

With a possible troika of Jrue Holiday, Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson, there's probably about to be far more Pelicans fans then there were. That's a legit West contending team.

Even if the Pelicans still trade Anthony Davis away (cause he doesn;t want to stay) they could get a very juicy haul of picks and players back for him to build around Zion.

Pelicans could be a fashionable team in short order, whichever way this plays out.

[xskarma]

Apparently AD still wants to leave the Pelicans. So that should be another interesting free agent period when things get rolling.

@Tonus Could make a trade package for AD, sign Durant. That would get the Knicks places in a hurry.

For the Celtics things just got a lot harder. Pelicans have leverage now with Zion there and not desperate to get ANYTHING for AD. Lakers have the no. 4 pick to throw into a trade (compared to the no. 14 pick for the Celtics), and who knows what Philly/Knicks/Random other teams might still do.

Going to be a rollercoaster offseason again.

[Rennadrel]

Don't remind me @xskarma. This summer is going to be a living hell, there could be a lot of movement in the league.

[Pendulous]

Doesn't matter. We drafted a star two years ago. Gonna be perpetually pretty good for the foreseeable future.

[rileychase]

The final shot by Leonard is incredible!

[xskarma]

Interesting. Means I'll actually be awake for it this time, instead of having to go to bed after it's barely begun.

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Random fun game: what's the worst top 5 you can make, only using 20 point scorers from this year (assuming create a reasonable lineup). The goal is a team that looks great on paper, but is a beautiful disaster on the court. Think 2012 Lakers with Kobe, Howard, Nash, Gasol, and Metta World Peace, but worse. Here's mine:

PG: Westbrook
Wing: Booker
Wing: DeRozan
PF: Griffin
C: Randle

My team's weaknesses:

1. DeRozan and Westbrook in the same offense is horrendously beautiful. Zero three point shooting ability, two guys whose value is derived from volume scoring.
2. Defense! Devin Booker's defense is atrocious, and Blake Griffin plus Randle is a disastrous frontcourt whether you're switching them onto guards or they're trying to protect the rim.

My team's strengths:

1. Booker, Griffin, and Randle on offense. I'm hoping Westbrook ruins that. Randle and Griffin have both turned into good but not great 3 point shooters,

Thoughts?

Only 35 players qualify and one of them only played in 4 games to get his 20 points a game average. That's not really a wide enough scope. Pretty sure you already made the worst current team possible. I tried looking for alternates on your team but didn't spot any.

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Surprised that the Bucks are struggeling. Raps seem to have a good strategy for stopping them so far and seem to have no problem scoring against the pretty stiff (usually) Bucks defense.

[Pendulous]

I know everyone does, but I don't think I've seen any player get away with traveling as much as Giannis does.

[xskarma]

This is a fun game. Less than 2 min to go, could go either way still.

[Pendulous]

Anticlimactic ending though.

[xskarma]

Anticlimactic ending though.

Yeah, and it dragged on with that weird long review with 23 seconds left. Ah well. Good win for the Bucks. Feels like the Raptors had their chances to win this. Going to be interesting how both teams respond for game 2. This could be a really close series throughout.

[xskarma]

I really dislike how the national narrative seems to have become "Should Zion play for the Pelicans?" with questions ranging from if he should force his way out of town through a trade or if he even should go back to Duke for another year. Just some ridiculous questions. Even the Ringer and Bill Simmons were doing it, who tend to not go for the easy clickbait usually.

As to the draft its self, this seems to be a 3 player draft, and then a whole lot of nothing. People seem really down on this draft, even the players after Zion. Even Zion himself is being talked down. To think the Celtics could have ended up with 4 picks in this draft. Yeesh. Glad the Memphis one didn't convey.

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I think I figured out why most people are down on this draft class. I looked at The Ringer's big board, which has the shooting % when unfolded, and almost NONE of them can shoot worth a damn. Low free throw % and low 3 point made %, and just low amount of taken 3's as well.

In the NFL the problem is that the college game is not preparing players for the pro's, and the NFL is reacting to it by making the game more and more based on college concepts. The NBA seems to still try and force players into a wholly new play style when they hit the pro's, with varying success.

NBA players are younger on average though, so there's more room for NBA teams to mold them into better players, but it does mean that a class like this will likely struggle to have any immediate impact in a 3 point happy league.

[xskarma]

Whoa: https://www.nba.com/article/2019/05/...ficial-release

Tyreke Evans dismissed from the NBA, can ask for reinstatement in TWO YEARS. He must have REALLY fucked up.

[Espo]

Whoa: https://www.nba.com/article/2019/05/...ficial-release

Tyreke Evans dismissed from the NBA, can ask for reinstatement in TWO YEARS. He must have REALLY fucked up.

This is supposedly the list of drugs, in the CBA, that can get you banned: Amphetamine and its analogs, benzodiazepines, cocaine, GHB, keta-mine, LSD, opiates, and PCP.

Yea...not looking good.

[Blueobelisk]

I was going to add a list of this week's NBA games to my calendar but I don't even really care to see these Conference Finals.

[xskarma]

I was going to add a list of this week's NBA games to my calendar but I don't even really care to see these Conference Finals.

Finals have the potential to be AMAZING though. And these conference finals might still turn it around if the home teams can get a win. The GSW-Rockets series was 2-0 too before the good games really started.

[Blueobelisk]

Yeah I'm looking forward to the Bucks vs. GSW Finals.

[xskarma]

I fully expect Giannis to go nuts, but I don't see how they can contain the Warrior offense playing Brook Lopez 30 minutes a game.

Good question.





BOTH games Draymond Green was out (the same one that is wrecking Portland right now).

Brooks Lopez can hang with Green on the offensive end no doubt (and is probably even better than Green is offensively) but defensively it's going to be hard. If GSW go small with Green at the 5, who the hell is Lopez going to guard if he still want to be able to sag in the paint and rim protect?

I doubt GSW would want to make it their goal to go with Green against Lopez on the offensive end, but if they did, they should come out ahead, and if the Bucks switch, then Lopez is crispy toast.

So yeah, I have a hard time believing that the Warriors don't end up winning that match up, but if the Bucks can turn it into a shoot out, it might come down to who's shots are falling, which is a whole different kind of lottery and then who knows?



First things first though. Bucks will need to take care of the Raptors first, which is not a done deal yet. They need to show they can beat the Raptors on the road. Raptors have looked dead before, before turning it on.

[lockybalboa]

No wonder they say the NBA is rigged these days

[Rennadrel]

Well it's pretty much win or go home tonight. No one has ever run the table after being down 3-0 in the conference finals in the NBA. Sucks we still don't have OG, Powell has been shit, VanVleet hasn't done shit this playoffs either and for the most part, our shooting has been killing us. The Raptors should have rolled over the Sixers but couldn't hit buckets worth a damn that they were making with ease earlier in the year. I've also not been a fan of the officiating in the playoffs this year, there's been some serious fuckery when it comes to calls going either way.

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Good first quarter by the Raptors, they need to keep the energy up and force the Bucks to turnover the ball more, that's one of their biggest positives early.

[xskarma]

Tight game, and it looks like both sides are going to play most of their starters, most of the last quarter. Interesting decision.

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Bledsoe has been SO fucking bad this game. Not saying he;s the reason the Bucks are likely losing this game, but he sure as hell didn;t contribute anything.

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How the hell was that not a foul on Middleton? he had no space to land.

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Raptors need a magic Kawhi shot again to clinch this game. 2.2 seconds to get it off.

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Nope, Siakam misses. OT here we come.