2023-2024 NBA Thread

[StillMcfuu]

Supposedly Harden wanted to play with Westbrook? Im confused lol

Harden is pushing the Player's Association to allow Houston to play with 2 basketballs next year.

After this trade, I have Houston out in the first round next year.... Unless Westbrook really develops into a set shooter. It's difficult to really tell what kind of player Westbrook is outside of being a very traditional 90's SG Slasher. I think he is a fairly decent dump off passer, but as his career progresses and he is less of a shooting threat his assists will suffer. He isn't a rebounder or much of a post/defense threat. Playing with Harden, which I'm going to assume isn't going to do anything to lower his USG, Westbrooks stats will definitely fall. I don't know how well Harden will do with Westbrooks 30 shots a game when Harden takes the same amount. Harden had issues with Paul's touches even though Paul was pretty efficient and makes his touches count.

I hope I'm pleasantly surprised by Houston next year, maybe Westbrook will humble pie.

[xskarma]

That said, I’ve never rooted more for a trade to fail - I hate both these players.

Hey, now at least they are on the same team, so you only have to hate watch 1 team. Efficiency!

[xskarma]

Ben Simmons got paid

[-aiko-]

Since they've committed to Simmons, hopefully they'll start forcing him to develop more than just an inside game

[Crissi]

Super excited for Tim Duncan to be our newest assistant coach.

[Hendor]

"It is only fitting, that after I served loyally for 19 years as Tim Duncan's assistant, that he returns the favor,'' Popovich

Love it!

[xskarma]

Official schedules released today for the 2019-2020 season, go check yours.

Celtics open with an away game against Philly, home game against Toronto, away game at Knicks and a home game against the Bucks. Tough tough start, sets the tone for the rest of the season.

[Pendulous]

Utah has like double the amount of national TV games, and not the hardest first half schedule ever. Could be a good sign. At Bucks, at Pacers, at Grizzlies, at Raptors, at 76ers is a rough stretch though.

[Blueobelisk]

You made me curious about national games so I looked it up. https://mobile.twitter.com/JADubin5/...352704/photo/1

[xskarma]

Man, DeMarcus Cousins tore his ACL. That's tough for a guy that's been hurt a lot lately and never looked like himself fully last season after coming back from his achilles.

Lakers suddenly with a pretty big hole at C.

[martygraham]

Dwight Howard (superman) to the rescue! Was skeptical at first with his lacklustre performance the last time he was a Laker but seeing his recent posts man he looks like he's in the best shape of his life! It's going to be a FUN year for the lakeshow if he gets into his Magic form

[xskarma]

Don;t look now, but Monday is the first official Pre-Season game of the NBA and next Friday is the first Pre Season game between 2 NBA teams. Season is allllllllllmost here.

[Blueobelisk]

Let me know when the Nets are good so i can buy tickets. Or maybe I'll wait until the playoffs.

[xskarma]

HERE WE GO!

Preseason Basketball. Hornets at Celtics. Kemba and Terry Rozier against their old teams. LFG

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That was a fun game. Brad Stevens let all the young rookies get solid play time at the end to play through and win the game, after the starters were put in a hole. Got the win too, against a pretty feisty Charlotte team.

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Mook Morris just got ejected from a pre-season game with the Knicks. Dude is not going to like his season there I think. He was a bad boy in Boston, but he rarely got to the point of this kind of escalation. With the Knicks he gets there before the season even officially starts. xD

[Pendulous]

To be fair, who actually wants to play for the Knicks?

[xskarma]

To be fair, who actually wants to play for the Knicks?

According to Kevin Durant, no one wants to cause the Knicks aren't cool cause they haven't done anything in forever. xD

(he said that today or at least it was published he said it today)

[xskarma]

Second Pre-season game for the Celtics was earlier tonight. Was an AWESOME game that I sadly had to stop watching due to the J. Allen Brack statement that went out, but up till that point it was a glorious beat down.

Celtics looked good in most phases, but their Bigs are definitely going to be a problem for the team the whole season. We brought in Kanter, but I'm not sold on him at all. He looks ineffective in what he is supposed to be good at, post play and offensive rebounding. Maybe it's just the rest of the team not able to feed him correctly yet when there's an opportunity? At least Theis has looked okay. Maybe he can play the 5 for most of the main Big minutes. He sucked against Embiid though last year, which is our first game this season and one of our main competitors. Bleugh.

[Blueobelisk]

Speaking of NBA, evidently there was some backlash because of something with China. It doesn't seem as huge as the Hearthstone backlash, or maybe I've just not been paying attention. Is it actually a big deal?

[PhaelixWW]

Speaking of NBA, evidently there was some backlash because of something with China. It doesn't seem as huge as the Hearthstone backlash, or maybe I've just not been paying attention. Is it actually a big deal?

Losing their deals with China means a hit of about half a billion dollars per year for the NBA. That will affect salary caps, etc.

So it's a big deal, though not critical.

[StillMcfuu]

With the regular season right around the corner, and a good chunk of pre-season running, how do you think this season will shake out for teams you pay attention to?

Nets: I wasn't really hyped to get KD and Kyrie, it seems like a crazy position but Nets were already good and I think D'lo will shake out to be a perennial all-star as his career rolls on. But I have to say that I kind just forgot how good and young the rest of the Nets were minus D'lo. They've looked, throughout this pre-season, and they've only added talent. I can see them potentially in the late post-season this year.

76ers: Call me crazy but I see them pretty much in the same position as last year. They are a better team but I think they kind of lack an identity offensively.

Nola: I'm way more on the hype train after watching them play so far. Ball and Zion already play like they've been a team for a couple of seasons, Ball changed his shot (why the fuck didn't LA do this???) and is much more consistent, and he looks way more confident out there. Zion is way better than I thought he would be, the game against Gobert showed that he wasn't just a guy taking advantage of being bigger and stronger than everyone.

Lakers: As I kind of figured, they appear to lack depth. They also look like the fiercest NBA team circa the 90's, but come modern NBA standards, not so much. I have hopes for them, but I think they are 2 injuries away from not making the playoffs, and I'm not just talking about LeBron or AD. I'm still watching them though, I think they were dumb to trade Ball, although I'm happier this way because the dude will actually get to develop now. I think Alex Caruso needs way more playing time this year, he is a smart guard who can shoot a 3 and unleash a hard attack at the basket, they don't have any other guard capable of potentially being an all-around player like Caruso. He won't ever be an all-star, but he is capable of being a solid starter.

Suns: So hear me out... They've been pulling in high picks for so many years it was bound to start working and I think they can sneak into the Playoffs. Their regular season record for 3's was 22, last night they made 24. I don't see them as a powerhouse, but if they get hot and roll through enough wins this season, they can be in the Playoffs. With the way this season looks, 45-50 win teams is playoff money. Still the West is tough, and looking at the teams... probably not. But if I were to pick a dark horse team to do better and surprise people, Suns would be it.