Official NBA '17-18 Season Thread

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What a way for the C's to start the season. Well with the extended season he could feasably make it back for the playoffs but that's a load of chemistry time lost. Good thing Boston has 20 wings-oh-wait-they-traded-some-away-for-kyrie
 
sup guys,

apologies for being a little late with this. my workplace banned this site and i couldn't post it until i got off, so i hope i'm not cheating by posting it a little after the opening games. doubt anyone would suspect my rankings based on what happened last night (most notably the eastern ones lol)

*Cries staring at a picture of his girlfriend* Oh Jazz… errrr

I mean the Utah Jazz may or may not make the playoffs! *Ahems*

This summer of basketball was one of the ages. We’ve had some of the biggest offseason changes and surprises in years. Kevin Durant admitted to being a troll on twitter. Many superstars have shifted from East to West. The LeBron/Kyrie drama eclipses everything, but let’s not forget that in spite of Golden State’s continued dominance, the league is becoming more and more separated between average, good, and great. There are rebuilding teams, stagnant teams which can’t go up or down, teams desperate to beat Golden State in one game, and Golden State.

Houston and Oklahoma City have both entered a new tier with their new acquisitions. I know we say this every year, but the West is more competitive than it’s ever been. It might just beg the question of combining conferences for playoff push; Silver has flirted with the idea just barely and the only thing holding him back is travel science. Meanwhile, the East is pretty much the same as we’ve always known it to be: Cleveland versus everyone else. Boston had the one seed last year, and they completely retooled that team. There were a lot of trades done between the East and West as mentioned before, but much of the movement has been depth for superstars, so more than a quarter of the East are rebuilding.

As usual before I start, I want to make the disclaimer that it is difficult to predict injuries and trades. These are the key factors in why teams make or miss the playoffs outside of offensive and defensive statistics.

MVP? I came close last year with Harden, didn’t I? At least historically, he had the logical arguments to get that award. I gave Westbrook a decent shot of course (verbatim), but I don’t think anybody could have predicted a triple double average. This year, I think Pop will chill with Kawhi. I understand why Kawhi is a popular pick this year, and as nice as it would be for him to win it, it doesn’t sound like something he or Kawhi truly aspire to achieve. I’d be more confident if Kawhi had just a tad bit more help around him defensively or offensively. I guess he’d be my second place guy, but something about Kawhi’s injury last year leaves a bad taste in my mouth on how he or Pop will approach the season.

LeBron at his age has no business trying his best in the regular season, Harden has help on the perimeter, hard to predict Westbrook knowing he has two other players to contend with, and I’m of the opinion that his triple double average was the sole reason he got one last season; there isn’t much reason to give him another if he doesn’t come close to it again.

This pretty much leaves guys on the uprising: Greek Freak, Porzingis, Embid if he’s healthy (he won’t be). The Greek Freak’s got my pick.

Rookie of the Year goes to.. Ben Simmons. Eat your heart out, Lonzo fans, but it’s not happening. With already a year under his belt due to injury, he put up some pretty ridiculous numbers in the preseason. I know it’s just preseason, but Lonzo would have to have some serious quick and fast NBA talent in order to catch up to Simmons and actually beat him as well. To put it simple, Ball is not NBA ready yet at least in the capacity of being a better rookie than a guy like Simmons who has that type of advantage. Besides, Fultz could win this before Lonzo, too; Even if he is benched.

Sixth man.. I’d say it’s pretty much between J.R. Smith (if he does indeed stay on the bench) and Eric Gordon. Gordon could certainly repeat, so I definitely favor him.

Most Improved Player… Myles Turner sounds like a likely candidate with the helms of the team now belonging to him. D’Angelo Russel is a sexy pick with his change in scenery and chip on his shoulders. Murray has the San Antonio culture behind him, and Rodney Hood as well as Dion Waiters has forced new roles that could be a coming out party or disastrous wreck.

And without further ado, on to the Western Conference!

“I have to get on TV and fake it for seven months that it’s not going to be the Warriors and Cavs in the finals again.” – Charles Barkley

“Also, Paul George just came into the presser and yelled to Melo to "take that dumbass hoodie off!” – Fred Katz

“I considered skipping practice to watch Spurs Media Day.” – Steve Kerr

“Win the championship? I don’t know, but it’s not a priority in my life. I’d be much happier if I knew that my players were going to make society better, who had good families and who took care of the people around them. I’d get more satisfaction out of that than a title.” – Popovich

Western Conference

(1) Golden State Warriors

(2) Houston Rockets

(3) San Antonio Spurs

(4) Oklahoma City Thunder

(5) Minnesota Timberwolves

(6) Denver Nuggets

(7) Los Angeles Clippers

(8) Memphis Grizzlies

*Yawns* Golden State once again is in a tier of its own. Short of an injury, I don’t see any reason they’d be anything below a 1 seed.

Houston, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City are the only teams who could feasibly challenge, but still ultimately lose to this team. I’ve heard talks of people claiming Oklahoma City has what it takes. Surely, it could happen. They’ll definitely need serious gelling time though so that’s why I have them at four. Melo could surprisingly have his best defensive season in a reduced role. There are questions of whether he will accept that role willingly. My answer: yes, and then some. The team has too much talent in general to fall below a first round home court playoff advantage sans injury or hero ball wars.

This team may be losing a lot of depth but it’s hard to imagine Anthony and George being worse than both Gibson and Oladipo. For any drop in defense you lose with those guys (which, can’t really be that significant), you gain in better shooting, more options on offense, and a more energized Westbrook. The bench of Oklahoma City was always bad and now without Kanter, it’s going to be an uphill battle. Donovan will have to stagger his three stars and Felton is still a serviceable point guard with any other star alongside with him.

Houston had the absolute best offensive efficiency in NBA history last year; Harden’s numbers were unprecedented too and he was robbed of MVP yet again. Add Chris Paul to the fray and I could potentially see Houston as a one seed. Two sounds more realistic, but this team is going to be regular season fire if we know what D’Antoni can do with point guard play. Let the threes fly. Preseason numbers seem kinda weird to me, though. I thought Paul was acquired because he’s the best player at shooting mid-range jumpers or is the best player who attacks switched bigs. Chris Paul has shot threes at a rate higher than he ever has during this preseason. Houston as a team has shot more threes than they ever have as a team.

Paul shouldn’t magically lose his mid-range ability later down the line but… I have to wonder if Morey ball for this team is still a sustainable system of offense in the playoffs.

San Antonio’s offseason was a bit of a disappointment losing out on top free agents like Paul and Irving. Kawhi’s still wrestling an injury and their point guard situation is a giant question mark. Yet, I still believe these guys will pull out for a top four seed in the West. I still think Kawhi won’t necessarily get MVP, but Lamarcus Aldridge is entering the season with a new attitude this time around and a nice contract to go with it. San Antonio shouldn’t miss too much of a beat from last year despite the increased competition and new prospects like Murray and Paul will be very interesting to watch. Praise Ginobili for deciding not to retire and remember folks, #Popovich2020.

Rudy Gay was a great addition and if anyone can give him a career year, it’s Pop. The guy’s already committed himself to publicly saying he’s a Spur for life. Gay is a swing fourward who can take the pressure off Kawhi on some nights. He sort of gives you what Dedmon, Lee, and Simmons give you altogether. In addition to this, this may mark the first time San Antonio modernizes themselves into the small-ball NBA. Aldridge or Gasol at five and Gay at the four is a line-up that can keep up today’s versatile NBA.

The next tier is pretty much your middle-of-the-road West teams. Minnesota, Denver, Utah, Memphis, Los Angeles (Clippers), and Portland.

These teams can pretty much appear in any order from five to ten, however, Minnesota to me has the most potential. Minnesota is such a strange team; they have a wide range. This team could potentially shoot for the stars, but I feel like they have too many rookies to make that drastic of a jump. A lower half seed seems more fitting for them, and I trust Thib’s system along with his boys to make things right enough for them to always be in the hunt.

Minnesota wasn’t that bad of a team last year. The only statistic that stands out the most to me is their transition points and turnovers. They seemed to have a serious issue running a steady offense enough to set their defense. Putting the ball more in veteran guys like Teague and Butler instead of Wiggins and Towns should cut their turnovers, thus already improving their defense by cutting out the easy points.

Giving up LaVine is addition by subtraction. Looking at their five-man line-ups, he is in every single minus category. LaVine was clearly a huge damper on this team. Ricky Rubio will be missed, but his offense sure won’t be.

This team has all the tools to get better and then some. The young guys in Wiggins and Towns have had too much pressure on them in trying to carry the team offensively, and LaVine seemed to drag the team down. If Towns reaches a new level in his defense, this team can definitely shoot for first round homecourt advantage.

Denver had the best offense team ranking in the league that was arguably better than Golden State’s last season thanks to Jokic. Their defense was trash but if they started him from the beginning of the season last year, they would have easily been in the playoffs. Add Millsap to keep up with the upgraded talent all around them and playoff contention simply sounds inevitable. They wouldn’t need their defense to jump up too much in order to do this. Millsap had a pretty sad year with Atlanta but I’m willing to bet that had more to do with Howard than age. Also, their backcourt is super nice. Gary Harris having a coming out party would cement them along the upper-end of this category.

Their best line-ups involved Gallinari at the four. The key for dinner is Millsap filling in that void. I honestly think Millsap is more balanced player than Gallinari even as he ages. He’s not going to save their defense by any means, but he can’t make it worse than it already is.

All Denver really needs is the backcourt to shoot well, defense okay, and not turn the ball over. I’m disappointed in the Nelson waive but perhaps Jefferson’s veteranship is what they’re really after for the young guys.

Los Angeles Clippers is a bit of a gamble, I’ll admit. Their depth is very exciting, though. How much was Chris Paul’s defense worth this team is a very good question to ask. Yes, he’s the shortest guy on the court, but there are some interesting numbers he has even when you compare them to DeAndre’s. Their defense drops considerably when you remove Paul from the line-up. Paul is in every single major five-man line-up that contributed to anything worthwhile.

You get a lot of value out of a guy near the top in steals and offensive efficiency; Los Angeles weren’t world beaters in defense but Paul kept them at a serviceable level. If Blake gets injured, this team is done, but if he can play at least ¾ of the season, this team has what it takes. Gallinari was a great acquisition and is the best three they’ve had in so many years yet he’s also as prone to injury as Blake. The fit between them might take some time however.

The line-up of Rivers/Redick/MBah/Griffin/Jordan had a point differential of -2.2 which would have put them well below the playoffs. What does that mean? It means their backcourt + Gallinari have to do their damnnest to fill in the void of Chris Paul. The team’s identity isn’t going to change too much but we will certainly witness how amazing Chris Paul is as a player.

This team also has the best player you probably never heard of: Miloš Teodosić. Basically, imagine Ricky Rubio’s skillset with the ball except he isn’t a terrible shooter.

I feel like this team will be overwhelming on the perimeter most nights and will run plenty of folks off the court. Depth typically correlates with playoff chances, so I’ll roll the die on them despite their injury history. Also, Toedosic will make ESPN headlines a few nights. If these perimeter guys can pull it together and find a system that works for them and let Jordan play the defense he’s capable of, I like this team’s chances.

Portland, Memphis, and Utah are the entries I rotate around. I see them all on the lower end of the pack. Of course, these teams could just as easily be at the upper half. I estimate them however to have the hardest time to make the playoffs just based on how they’re set up.

Memphis is tried and true and has plenty of arguments for why they’d still be relevant. Randolph was one of the worst offensively efficient players last year, and simply taking the ball out of his hands will put it in the hands of someone definitely more efficient than he was. Gasol and Conley have chemistry by themselves worthy of playoff position. Yes, they had no true huge free agent signings and lost the grit-and-grind mantra, but simply adapting to a modernized style of play just might be enough. The question is does the young surrounding cast have what it takes? Did that San Antonio series mean anything?

Fizdale has done a fantastic job keeping this team on life support although much of last season wasn’t as inspiring to tell you the truth, and it’s a steep drop in talent after Conley and Gasol. One injury or below-average showing from either one could spell doom.

Vince Carter was involved in their two best five-man line-ups. I imagine this is because of his shooting and scoring ability. Which young player or signing will replace Carter’s contributions? Will it be Ben McClemore? I think so as long as there is a solid person in the 2/3 spot, they should hover around the bubble. Fizdale seems to be a great guy being from the land of Miami’s culture. I think they can battle it out in a couple of close ones with the teams around their level.

While Portland went easily over .500 with Nurkic, this guy didn’t fix their defense problem. In fact, they traded away one of their better defenders and have the other injured. Damian and CJ are still overplayed and can’t defend. Turner and the gang can barely shoot. This team is far too top heavy for me to consider them in a long playoff run anymore; we thought they had what it took from what appeared to be a good run two years ago, but I don’t see their upgrades as impressive as the rest of the group.

Crabb was also a huge loss for them as far as three-point shooting goes outside of Lillard and McCollum. I’m iffy on top-heavy teams in general these days. Any significant injury to those two will sink this team, and with how much they are depended on for their offense and how they’re constantly running through picks day-in, day-out, it wouldn’t surprise me if this top-heavy structure finally caved in on them. I like Nurkic, but I just have to see more. Post all-star break was a nice change but it was also a nice break to their backcourt.

Utah rounds out the end of the pack. This team has a couple of reasons it could squeeze in. George Hill and Hayward were a big part of their playoff success, but played very limited games during the regular season. In fact, they only started their ideal starting line-up 14 times out of the season. Ricky Rubio is a good defender, but his scoring leaves a lot to be desired. George Hill still won a lot of games for Utah last year having key offensive performances. I’m looking for Rubio to find some way to become effective on the offensive end, because this team with Favors and Gobert? Very, very poor shooting in today’s league.

Their defense is going to be their calling card. I project it to be better, but they have to increase their possessions. They have to run more. They have the personnel to try that style of play, and Gobert is a rebounding and blocking generation great at this point. He’s a favorite to repeat defensive player of the year.

This team can definitely surprise people if Ricky Rubio and Rodney Hood discover something new about themselves, but with a conference this packed, it’s hard for me to trust a team with injury prone players and lack of shooting. I see their best line-up involving Rubio/Hood/Ingles/Jerekbo/Gobert. That’s good enough to net them an 8th spot given that Hood goes to a new level (I’m much less confident in Rubio since he’s considered a veteran at this point).

Now for the teams that I think have no chance of making it…

New Orleans doesn’t inspire any confidence in me. Even if Rondo was healthy (coincidently, a non-shooter, something they need), I’m a skeptic of the Davis and Cousins combo in today’s NBA. I suppose it could work with the right perimeter players but so far, their last half of the season didn’t reveal too much. Cousins is a time bomb waiting to happen and if their first ten games aren’t super good, the trade talks will get to his head. Rondo is not a personality guy whatsoever and has lost all of what made him good so many years ago to injury. Jrue Holiday is their only real perimeter all-star and he’s injury prone. This team is walking a tightrope.

I don’t understand why their two key acquisitions are non-shooters in Allen and Rondo. Is Gentry attempting to run-and-gun? Hasn’t he been talking about that since like, 2015 or something? Also, the bench differential on this team is bad.

Outside of Hill or Clark kicking it into a second gear, I don’t see this team doing much besides maybe sneaking in a lower spot but I see the teams above them as better. Top-heavy teams as I said are hard to trust. I’m banking on the pressure of whether to trade Cousins or not is going to hover around this team long enough to have them struggle somewhere down the line.

Dallas has a great new rookie point guard, but rookie point guards typically don’t make strong impacts their first year. Dirk is brittle and we know for a fact you can’t have Wesley, Barnes, or Noel are first or even second options. Curry is down for the count and while this team did make some decent noise after their disastrous start, it didn’t feel sustainable over the course of 82 games. With the increased competition in the West relatively to them, it doesn’t feel likely that their record from last year will change much. If Carlisle can steer them away from isolations and long 2’s, this team could be relevant in some way. I’d like to see more pick and rolls, and maybe drafting Dennis is what makes them switch their offense up in which case, I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see them in. The west is just too stacked for me to trust rookie and sophomore guards.

Phoenix and Sacremento are still rebuilding. I don’t have much to offer on those two teams.

And now,. the team some of you have been waiting for… it’s been my favorite phrase to say for the last few years…

The Los Angeles Lakers … are not making the fucking playoffs.

Lonzo is the guy to watch (or not, and Kuzma ends up being better this year which wouldn’t surprise me at all), but we’ll see what he’s made of. He’ll be watched with a fine-tooth comb enough to maybe make his play worse than it could be on some nights. This team does have talent, though. They could make a playoff scare maybe like, the first 15 or so games but they’ll eventually level off. This team’s defense was dead last; Caldwell-Pope is not a game changer on that end. Expect a few more wins for maybe an improved offense, but otherwise, expect the most positive stories of this team to be more about individual performances than the Win and Loss Column.

Overall, rookie point guards don’t usually create that much of an impact contrary to what Lonzo’s dad tells you. Also, no one’s talking about Nick Young’s absence. He was part of the only plus differential line-ups. Who’s going to fill his void and more?

Eastern Conference

“I’ve heard multiple stories of Hawks players learning about the Dwight trade and screaming with jubilation in to their phones.” – Zach Lowe

“If you’re very much woke, there is no such thing as distractions.” – Kyrie Irving

“Haslem said Wade if goes to the Cavs he’s going to use his must-play exception and use his 6 fouls”- Navarro

“Hope he dribbles so much he gets tired.” – J.R. Smith on defending Kyrie

Onto the sad and pathetic East. Well, it’s not completely void of interesting teams outside of Cleveland and Boston. Greek Freak can potentially make an MVP year, D’Angelo could attempt for most improved player, Embid might play more than 50 games. The possibilities are, uh, ending.

(1) Boston Celtics

(2) Cleveland Cavaliers

(3) Milwaukee Bucks

(4) Toronto Raptors

(5) Washington Wizards

(6) Miami Heat

(7) Philadelphia 76ers

(8) Charlotte Hornets

Boston at top seed is a risk; much bigger than people realize because this team was bottom third in defense and rebounding. Grabbing Kyrie ain’t gonna change that; however, I’m banking on just how terrible the East is at this point. Cleveland usually slumps and their defense isn’t any better either, so I’m just siding with the least slumpish between the two.

I don’t believe in Kyrie being a type of player to carry team through the regular season by his lonesome, make no mistake. This is why I feel the prediction is mostly dicey. I just trust Brad Stevens in the regular season these days. The team should work very well together. Young guys like Brown and Smart improving, Stevens outcoaching, and who knows, maybe Kyrie will pass the ball like his preseason numbers indicate.

The transition from Thomas’s style of offense to Kyrie’s will be interesting. Thomas was more of a pick-and-roll aggressor getting to the line or taking threes. Kyrie is more of a pull-up, midrange, and spot-up guy. I don’t see Kyrie as a better offensive player than Thomas (which will sound ridiculous to a lot of people but the stats bear that out, folks), but he won’t be as defensively abused as Thomas was. All I’m saying is that the change in style won’t be as seamless as some people think it will be.

As I said… I’m not putting this team at one because I think they’ll actually be significantly better; I just think the change they’re going through won’t be as drastic as Cleveland’s.

Speaking of… Cleveland could get the first seed too, or… they could drop even farther than they did last year. Love to center move is okay for now, but I’m not as sure about Wade as a starter. Backcourt is not only injury-prone but aren’t the best long distance shooters. Love being tasked to guard both the rim and pick-and-roll is going to be hilarious but LeBron magic should at least keep them around two or three.

Pick-and-roll defense aren’t the strength of the backcourt, but it’s somewhat better than Kyrie’s defense. What will certainly be missed, though, is Kyrie’s shooting. Replaced with him are essentially slashers. Cleveland will have to revamp the offense to favor a more inside, rim-attacking philosophy in comparison to their Moreyball style last year (threes or paint points).

Their Moreyball style followed the way of the league and is pretty much what got them to the finals three times in a row. I don’t believe the team filled the void of Kyrie’s shooting and scoring well enough, so I’m thinking Love will have to take it upon himself to fix that; but he’s already tasked at defending everything at the five. The big question for this team basically is if not Moreyball, what else?

Last team for me to round out the top tier of the East is my Milwaukee gamble. If I predict Giannis to get MVP, it makes sense to go high on this team. I feel really confident on a few young players’ internal developments here ranging from Giannis, to Brogdon, to Thon Maker. This team still has issues with scoring and shooting at times, but who the hell is decisively better than this team in the East if Giannis hits a new level? Middleton might catch fire again too as he’s definitely necessary for them to reach the upper-echelon of the East. Make their shots, get their steals, and they’re dangerous.

Middleton/Giannis/Thon Maker is in 3 of their 5 best line-ups. If healthy, and any one of the three hit a new level of efficiency, a top seed isn’t that hard to imagine.

Toronto starts the second tier off. They’re the same except I’ve heard they’ve been shooting more threes in the preseason in an attempt to keep up with the league’s pace in scoring. Not sure if that’s a good idea if your guys just aren’t capable especially since DeRozan is the biggest offender. Lowry already takes too many three-point shots that don’t connect as much as you’d like, but hey, chucking is what these two guards have done for how many years now here? It net them a three or four seed every time.

Ibaka’s declined. It’s official. He’s still serviceable, but the loss of Tucker, Ross, and Joseph will certainly be felt. CJ Miles is great but he can’t possibly make up for all of these guys collectively on offense and defense. This is where Norman Powell’s huge contract comes in. If this three-point shooting plan makes sense for them statistically and Powell proves his worth like he did in the post-season, they should be fine. Otherwise, they might drop a few spots.

Washington’s depth is still an issue and Gortat is another year older. I actually think they’re more likely to drop than rise. I can’t quite envision this team being a top seed anymore, but I’m positive they’ll make the playoffs. John Wall nowadays is at a level where that’s a given. Otto Porter could still be that premiere 3 and D, Kelly Oubre Jr’s got nice upside; this team doesn’t have too many reasons not to be in the middle of all this. The problem always comes with their depth behind their starting five. Also, Gortat playing as many minutes as he has for many years is going to make him keel over sooner or later. They may trade him or he may suffer from an injury. Either way, they’re who I thought they were.

How one feels about Miami is pretty much based on which team you believed in last year: the first 11-30, or the last 30-11? My bet is that the last 30-11 wasn’t a fluke, and that even sustaining half of that performance in combination with a weakened East, improved young players, and Dragic’s Olympic performance will net them a spot in the middle. These guys have some nice depth if you believe in James Johnson’s sustainable play too. It seems like a lot of their success was predicated on making three-point shots and Johnson’s versatility. They could range from four to whatever but I’ll be modest. Oh, and Olynyk is a wonderful boost for a team in need of more shooting and scoring. He should fit right nicely since Spoelstra and Stevens don’t seem too far away in team philosophy on defense.

Simply put, this team simply plays the right way and I’m not just echoing some generic analyst nonsense because the stats bear that out. They shoot the type of shots the team is best suited in taking and defend every non pick-and-roll play pretty adequately. As said before, this team is more about sinking shots than anything related to ability. Internal improvement on shooting should cement them a spot.

The next tier is pretty much mediocre teams who will struggle to have a peek into the postseason: Philadelphia,Charlotte, and Detroit.

I don’t like having Philadelphia in the playoffs, but Embid was pretty impressive last year. Some people are quite high on them (like 3-5 seed high) but I’m not so optimistic. Players returning from injury don’t usually play their absolute best and that’s if they even play. Let’s not forget Embid has only played 31 years in his career so far. If this team can maintain that line-up and have veterans like Redick and Johnson contribute, I see no reason why they can’t be above the shit tier of the East. I personally think the veterans finally sold it for me this year, and Simmons being a rookie of the year candidate is a nice bonus. This team won’t become a world sensation, but it’s not that much to ask of you to make the playoffs in the Eastern conference these days… is it?

The team has a lot to shore up statistically. Like most young teams, turnovers plague them and transition kills them. They don’t have an established culture yet, but veterans like Redick and Johnson might have an effect in both categories. A talent increase and a healthy season from Embid should put them around the bottom half of a playoff bracket.

Charlotte or Detroit … pretty much a wash to me at this point, but I simply went with the more reliable center, system, and history. Drummond’s free throw percentage in the preseason is promising, but this Detroit team isn’t going anywhere if he’s still as bad as he is defensively. Jackson also might not be who we thought he was on Oklahoma City after all, but these two reaching a level of competency is the only way they make the playoffs anymore. This team is in serious need of distributors; perhaps Bradley is who sparks a fire in the team mentally? His injury history doesn’t make me feel confident, but hey, I actually like him better than Caldwell-Pope.

The team as a whole simply… score too inefficiently. They don’t take enough threes, make enough threes, but sure as hell enjoy the hell out of long twos and blocked restricted area shots.

Meanwhile in Charlotte, we have what is this generation’s cancer in Dwight Howard, but at least compared to Drummond he understands his role enough to improve your team’s defense. Batum going down doesn’t help but whatever, this team is used to it at this point. Howard has yet to find his home but I feel like this might be his best stop yet.

For one, Charlotte’s bench lacked a punch, and with the addition of Howard, either or can play with a bench unit and provide nice roll man scoring which is this team’s specialty. Pick-and-roll in general is all this team runs, and that is exactly what Howard or Zeller will provide: pick-and-roll insurance. This team was a great defensive team before Howard as well. Hopefully, Batum comes back sooner rather than later but if they can keep at least one of these centers and Kemba, this team can play the four-out offense they succeeded with the past two years. At least compared to Detroit, this team traded for personnel that potentially leads to something.

Give me proven guys like Howard, Kemba, and Zeller over a struggling system in Jackson and Drummond.

Orlando could be sneaky good this year. It all hinges on what happens when you play Aaron Gordon at the four for a full season along with veterans like Ross, Speights, and Afflalo. This team would be a great lower-half playoff pick and I honestly feel like Gordon is due a breakout season that is sustainable with the right cast.

The problem is… defensively, they’ve achieved nothing even with him at the four. Even with Biyombo. What’s the hold-up? Seems to fall mostly on whoever the roll man is as far as protecting the paint. I can’t judge on whether that’s coaching or personnel, but perhaps they can revamp their defense with newly acquired swingmen Simmons and Affalo. I’m not banking on this team to make the playoffs with any certainty, but if they do, it will be because of Gordon being surrounded by veteran savvy.

Brooklyn won’t make the playoffs, but watching them will be tempting. Russell seems so compelling to follow after the drama in Lakerland, and they have incentive to play up due to having Cleveland’s pick. If they actually make the playoffs, it would screw Cleveland over at such a hilarious level. I expect him to have a breakout season otherwise.

The rest of the East… eh, boring. Rebuilding teams. Myles Turner and Porzingis will have their highlight nights, but there’s not much else to say about them besides that. Find your favorite rookie or sophomore and hope they break out.
 
Lin with a knee injury, will get it looked at later tonight.

Smh day two and injuries are piling up.

EDIT: After surgery tonight, Boston's Gordon Hayward is unlikely to return this season, agent Mark Bartelstein told ESPN.
 
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Lonzo really is something else, they played the Suns, I get it, but even then an average guard wouldn't have been able to do what he did.
 
Josh Hart and King Kyle Kuzma played well tonight, Lonzo and Ingram struggling with shots. Randle seems to have gotten his act together (hopefully it'll last) to fight for more minutes (said after the game he'd rather finish games than start them).

On a side note, can't we just play the Suns for 98 games?
 
Clarkson, though...

I'm gonna "trust the process" for now. Defense was always the biggest issue, but I'm super excited right now to see what the Lakers could do if they actually played some.
 
I'm glad to see Clarkson playing like he did two years ago, one of the lone bright spots of the Byron Scott Era *shudders*. So far we've had good and bad games from everyone, curious as to how well we'll play with everyone having good games.

Bryant and Zubac will get G-League minutes once their season starts, but aside from that, it seems like Luke has decisions to make when it comes to rotations. Ideally we could go...

PG: Lonzo, Clarkson (still don't know why we re-signed Ennis, and Caruso is on a 2-way)
SG: Caldwell-Pope, Hart (Blue is on a 2-way)
SF: Ingram, Kuzma (Brewer could bring energy defensively in certain games, Deng should never put on a uniform again)
PF: Nance, Randle
C: Lopez, Bogut (Zubac and Bryant to get G-League stints soon)
 
Gortat and Wall talked so much trash and couldn't back it up. Wall vowed to torture Lonzo for 48 minutes but really tortured us with his 7-22 shooting. Big Ballers win in OT after clutch buckets from Ingram, Randle, and KCP. Seems like Luke has decided to move Clarkson over to backup PG and given Ennis's minutes to Hart. Randle seems to be more settled in and focused after a horrid start, too. All in all a good win vs a good team that had been undefeated.
 
Gortat and Wall talked so much trash and couldn't back it up. Wall vowed to torture Lonzo for 48 minutes but really tortured us with his 7-22 shooting. Big Ballers win in OT after clutch buckets from Ingram, Randle, and KCP. Seems like Luke has decided to move Clarkson over to backup PG and given Ennis's minutes to Hart. Randle seems to be more settled in and focused after a horrid start, too. All in all a good win vs a good team that had been undefeated.
Wall didn't talk any trash, foh
 
Charles Barkley said AGAIN The Clippers are able to win Warriors and Spurs in regular season. Yeah, same shit all over again.


EVERY SINGLE YEAR Charles Barkley aboards on the Clippers' hype train.
EVERY SINGLE YEAR they start like that, in #NOWISOURTIME mode.
EVERY SINGLE YEAR he says they will win Warriors and Spurs.
EVERY SINGLE YEAR they are swept by Curry and Co.
EVERY SINGLE YEAR Barkley gives up after a Saturday Primetime beatdown against the Dubs.

It's kinda boring see this every year, tbh.
 
Man these jerseys won't stop ripping. Is Nike making jerseys for the WNBA too? They may finally be able to attract viewers if they do.

 

Plus

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cavs lost to the pels and the knicks on back to backs lmfao

have fun with that drose dwade one two punch
 
Even though they're still having trouble closing out games, I like the way the Lakers are playing so far much more compared to last year. I figured they would win 30-35 games this season, so here's to hoping it happens.

Also, lol cavs. Can people finally admit that LeBron's teams were way better than they gave him credit for?
 
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