2023-2024 NBA Thread

[xskarma]

Sixers and Celtics beign ravaged by Covid and contact tracing. Sixers are playing with the bare minimum tonight (dressing someone who can;t even play just to get to 8) and the Celtics have exactly 8 players not on injury/unavailable report.

Beginning to wonder if the NBA season might even be possible like this.

I think they might need to change their rules for back up players and increase roster sizes for teams hit with out breaks. IT would still lead to awful basketball, but at least you are not overworking a tiny group of players on teams when they are short handed. Cause that's guaranteed going to lead to too many minutes and actual injuries.

[Blueobelisk]

Hmmmm that's interesting. I honestly thought the NBA season would get wrecked like the week it started.

[xskarma]

lol Heat - Celtics for tonight postponed. Not cause the Celtics only had 8 players, but because the Heat had a positive case it seems, and contact tracing meant they won;t have 8 players available.

This season definitely not going like Adam Silver had hoped or planned.

- - - Updated - - -

Celtics - Bulls for Tuesday also postponed. No reason given yet.

[Blueobelisk]

If I were Adam Silver I'd tell everyone to kiss their lives goodbye and get ready to get in a bubble.

[xskarma]

Another Celtics game postponed. Going to be hell in the second half of the seaon when we have to make up all these games.

Also

Kyrie being Kyrie. Who'd have thought...

[xskarma]

Everyone who's ever had Kyrie on their team?

Yeeeeep. That was what I meant.


In other malcontented and under delivering super stars: James Harden deal is apparently coming together soon, with the Sixers and...the Nets...in the running to land him.

It would be pretty hilarious if the Nets end up trading Kyrie's ass to Houston in a deal for Harden.

They probably won't though.

[StillMcfuu]

Soooooooooo

Harden was traded to the Nets, and all it cost the Nets was their paint defense and bench, oh and their future draft prospects.

How do the Nets even afford 3 more or less supermax contracts?

Honestly, they have the raw fire power to make it through the playoffs, but I don't know if they will be able to beat a determined team.

[StillMcfuu]

Well I know what team I’m rooting against for the next few years. Kyrie AND Harden?

I hope they don’t become a dynasty... god that’d be awful.

I want to like Harden, but watching him sit in that press conference and act mopey about the team he played LeGM to build... man they should have traded his ass to china.China.

There is only one LeGM.

[Pendulous]

Jazz game postponed due to the Wizards being covid-infested. Fun times. Get to be mad people still aren't taking the shit seriously after almost a year. But at least I get to hate the Nets?

[Logwyn]

I hate Harden's game. It's cynical to base your entire game around drawing fouls.

James Harden is a thief stealing that paycheck. I could play better defense and I'm an over 40 haven't played in years guy.

or how about this crap.



If I was a Houston fan I'd be jumping for joy!

[xskarma]

Someone pointed out that Kyrie wasn't happy being the Robin to Lebron's Batman in Cleveland and that he wanted to lead his own team and now he's the 3rd option on the team he wanted to be on. xD

I also agree that the Nets are now the easiest team to root against in the whole league. The only sympathetic guy on the team is the fucking coach. xD

[StillMcfuu]

I mean, you gotta hope that Kyrie and Harden sabotage each other.

I like Durant, I'm not sure why he pushed to end up with a nut like Kyrie.

- - - Updated - - -

Another point... I think teams have started to sour on bottoming out and building through the draft. When's the last time an elite team built itself through home grown lottery picks? The Warriors?

I think that might be inspiring the buttloads of draft picks some teams have started giving away for superstars. When you see teams like Miami just refusing to bottom out and it works out for them, why tank?

- - - Updated - - -

This team has the potential to have an incredible offense. There's a huge dropoff after the top 3 players though, and they're gonna need KD to be their best wing defender.

- - - Updated - - -

Another thing that’s interesting is that the best player on this team is certainly Durant, but he’s also the least ball dominant. Wondering when they’re gonna finally have the realization that he’s the guy - the way the Heat has to with Lebron or the Warriors with Durant.

Teams rebuilding: Technically the Lakers, depending on how you want to consider it. You could say Nuggets and Jazz.

I think the concept of tanking for draft picks is a bit misunderstood. What teams can do with draft picks and strategic signings/trades is move those players for necessary pieces. It's not like the Warriors were that long ago, they went on a run 6-7 years ago and have been top dogs up until 2018. Just having an organization that attracts players is a positive too.

Even the 76ers didn't like draft/farm team their roster. The only thing that has been holding them back is some ridiculous signings.

I think their may be a chance Kyrie might be out in BK. Brooklyn may give him enough rope to cut his contract. Not much Durant going to be able to say to management when they gave away a borderline playoff team of players to get back almost as big an unknown as Kyrie in Harden.
The danger here is that Kyrie just won't show up as in physically and Harden has a history of not showing up figuratively.

[StillMcfuu]

Lakers didn’t rebuild through the draft. They got Lebron. Nuggets did, but it wasn’t through top picks and they didn’t tank. 76ers did but it was through an epic tank.

Lakers got Ingram, D'Lo, traded and got the Kuzma pick and lonzo, traded for Anthony Davis, farmed Caruso etc...

Thats what I'm saying, having strong young talent helped them make the moves for a championship. Thats not happening without them being a bit shit and getting those picks.

[ProphetFlume]

Honestly nets looked like a drama factory even before harden. I’m just going to enjoy seeing 3 assholes implode.

[xskarma]

Lakers got Ingram, D'Lo, traded and got the Kuzma pick and lonzo, traded for Anthony Davis, farmed Caruso etc...

Thats what I'm saying, having strong young talent helped them make the moves for a championship. Thats not happening without them being a bit shit and getting those picks.

I think he means they would still be stuck picking top 10 and getting marginal players if Lebron hadn;t decided to go there and set the things in motion that made Anthony Davis want to be there too.

LeBron going there drastically altered how the Lakers were operating. He legitimized them when they were in a huge rut. Without him they are still trying to figure out how to make their former top draft picks perform at league average level.

[Logwyn]

Are the Atlanta Hawks worth watching at all?

[StillMcfuu]

Are the Atlanta Hawks worth watching at all?

They are fun to watch just for Trae Young.

On Harden: he actually looked happy and involved last night. I don't think I've ever seen him look like that in Houston, at least not the last 3 or 4 years. He still people watching on defense, but he actually ran some off-ball sets. So fuck it, good trade if we don't have to look at the guy as the greatest wasted talent in the league anymore.

[xskarma]

That was the worst game the Celtics have played that I have ever seen. No one did anything, everyone was bad, both offensively and defensively.

I can only hope the Celtics were mentally looking ahead to the Sixers on Wednesday and this was the result of underestimating the Knicks.

This better pay off in a double win against those Sixers.

[Blueobelisk]

What's the deal with these postponed games? Are they actually going to happen orr...?

[xskarma]

What's the deal with these postponed games? Are they actually going to happen orr...?

NBA only scheduled the first half of games, so that they would have the ability to reschedule lost games from the first half. So, it's all going to be played, just later. We will know when the schedule for the second half of the season gets released at some point (we don't know when that is).