2022-23 Around the NBA Thread

[95pro]

I’m calling it here

T-wolves

Pelicans

 

[95pro]

I’m also a bit confused. Draymond fined but no suspended. Gobert suspended? Was it the team or nba that put the ruling down? Or was it because it happened during an actual game?

 

[Proximo]

They’re 11-2 in their last 13 games and just rocked the Wolves in Minnesota last week in a game both teams desperately needed.

Neither team is very good, but the Wolves don’t have the emotional maturity to win a big game on the road against a team with Championship experience with LeBron and Davis.

And the idea that LeBron is easy to guard now because all he does is shoot 3s as he averages 29/7/8 on 50% shooting is comical. That’s just straight ignorance talking.

We'll see.

I just think the Wolves playing at their best will always beat the Lakers at their best - because they are just more talented IMO.

 

[Proximo]

I don’t think those teams sat healthy players. I think they just stunk. There’s a palpable difference.

We are talking about 2 or 3 games.

So I guess you are angry at the Suns too then because they benched their starters the last two games huh?

I get it sucks for the fans that paid for those tickets - but there was very few games that were played like normal in the last 2 games league wide.

 

[Proximo]

I can remember teams tanking to increase lottery odds. I can NEVER recall a team tanking to avoid the playoffs. Never. May have happened, but seems like a giant outlier and REALLY spits in the face of the concept of competition.

Yeah, but how many years if ever has a Victor Wembenyama been the prize.

Maybe one - the year Lebron was coming out.

 

[Hoop Head]

Yeah, but how many years if ever has a Victor Wembenyama been the prize.

Maybe one - the year Lebron was coming out.

They didn't tank for Wemby, they tanked deliberately so they could keep their pick this year since it's top 10 protected. They know their odds for winning the lottery are slim to none but deliberately losing the final games enabled them to keep their pick since they'd fall to 10. Don't tell me you can't see the difference in that vs the Pistons or Rockets fielding bad but young developing players all year.

 

[Phrazbit]

Yeah, but how many years if ever has a Victor Wembenyama been the prize.

Maybe one - the year Lebron was coming out.

Recency bias.

Oden and Wiggins each had as much or more hype.

Dallas deliberately lost at the end of the season with a realistic shot at the playoffs. It's never happened before and it is very different than not making an effort to make a competitive team, like Houston or Detroit.

 

[Mainstreet]

I have some mixed feelings about the timing of Gobert's suspension. Plus, there is the injury to Jayden McDaniels.

The situations are totally different, but I guess I'm getting flashbacks back when Amare and Diaw were suspended for a critical playoff game against the Spurs.

Then there are the Mavericks, who seemingly embrace missing the playoffs. At least the Timberwolves dislike losing.

 

[Mainstreet]

In this case, it's the Timberwolves suspending Rudy Gobert, not the NBA.

Of course, they may have discussed the situation with the league office.

 

[Dr. Jones]

That wolves team is too stupid to win a big game in LA, IMO.

The Lakers suck. I don't think much of the wolves either, but LA gets 10,000% more credit than they deserve.

I think their only shot is an Ant man explosion (40+) combined with a very poor shooting performance from the lake show.

It could happen.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I think their only shot is an Ant man explosion (40+) combined with a very poor shooting performance from the lake show.

It could happen.

That could happen but there's probably a better chance that AD's leg will fall off in the first half.

 

[Chaplin]

That could happen but there's probably a better chance that AD's leg will fall off in the first half.

So 50/50?

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

We are talking about 2 or 3 games.

So I guess you are angry at the Suns too then because they benched their starters the last two games huh?

I get it sucks for the fans that paid for those tickets - but there was very few games that were played like normal in the last 2 games league wide.

No. First of all, I’m not “mad.” I hate when people try to falsely infuse some emotion into a debate to try to infer it’s an emotional argument rather than a logical one. That’s lame.

But the issue isnt the sitting players, and it’s not really just tanking either. I don’t care if teams that have no shot at playoffs tank for draft position. What’s the difference to the league if a team finishes 30th or 28th? I’ve never had a problem with tanking. Until now. They tanked to avoid making the playoffs. That’s never been done before to my recollection. That’s a direct affront to the competitiveness of the league. Purposefully avoiding the playoffs? Cmon.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Yeah, but how many years if ever has a Victor Wembenyama been the prize.

Maybe one - the year Lebron was coming out.

Naw teams tanked for Duncan. Teams ranked for oden. It’s happened plenty.

 

[Hoop Head]

Avoiding the playoffs is bad, especially when they pulled off a couple series upsets last season. Trying to avoid paying out in a trade they made years back is probably worse. Dallas deserves to be punished, any team in that position deserves some punishment. They should lose their pick. That would be severe enough that another team doesn't do it. That's the whole issue here anyways, they tanked for that pick. So taking it is really the best course of action.

 

[Cheesebeef]

So 50/50?

Sadly, the same joke can be made about KD at this point.

 

[GatorAZ]

Recency bias.

Oden and Wiggins each had as much or more hype.

Dallas deliberately lost at the end of the season with a realistic shot at the playoffs. It's never happened before and it is very different than not making an effort to make a competitive team, like Houston or Detroit.

Neither Wiggins nor Oden had the hype Wemby does. Wiggins was hyped in high school but was the reluctant #1 prospect because he didn’t love basketball. Oden’s was an athletic giant but was already considered injury ridden. Only Lebron is on that level as a teenager.

 

[Phrazbit]

Neither Wiggins nor Oden had the hype Wemby does. Wiggins was hyped in high school but was the reluctant #1 prospect because he didn’t love basketball. Oden’s was an athletic giant but was already considered injury ridden. Only Lebron is on that level as a teenager.

I'm sorry, but I gotta disagree, especially about Oden. He was almost as hyped as LeBron was.

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Seriously, the Oden hype absolutely dwarfs the Wambayama hype, IMO, there isn't even a comparison. As a Junior he was crowned the best high school player in the country, Durant looked like a sure fire superstar and Oden went ahead of him and no one batted an eye at the time, it was simply a given.

Oden was proclaimed the #1 pick of the 2008 draft a good 2 years, maybe 3, in advance, it was never a question.

The level of tanking that year in the NBA was on a scale unheard of.

Oden had more hype, easily, and I think if not for being eclipsed by Oden, Durant would have been at that level. And IMO, Wiggins is up there too, another guy that was considered the #1 pick by the end of his sophomore year in high school.

If we had this same debate in 10 years, I don't think anyone would even remember the Wambayama hype in comparison to Wiggins and Oden... and they were busts.

Victor has the advantage of being the obvious #1 in what otherwise looks like a really lousy draft class, at least in terms of star power. Outside of Victor, this is one of the worst draft classes in recent memory.

 

[GatorAZ]

I'm sorry, but I gotta disagree, especially about Oden. He was almost as hyped as LeBron was.

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Seriously, the Oden hype absolutely dwarfs the Wambayama hype, IMO, there isn't even a comparison. As a Junior he was crowned the best high school player in the country, Durant looked like a sure fire superstar and Oden went ahead of him and no one batted an eye at the time, it was simply a given.

Oden was proclaimed the #1 pick of the 2008 draft a good 2 years, maybe 3, in advance, it was never a question.

The level of tanking that year in the NBA was on a scale unheard of.

Oden had more hype, easily, and I think if not for being eclipsed by Oden, Durant would have been at that level. And IMO, Wiggins is up there too, another guy that was considered the #1 pick by the end of his sophomore year in high school.

If we had this same debate in 10 years, I don't think anyone would even remember the Wambayama hype in comparison to Wiggins and Oden... and they were busts.

Victor has the advantage of being the obvious #1 in what otherwise looks like a really lousy draft class, at least in terms of star power. Outside of Victor, this is one of the worst draft classes in recent memory.

You’re just wrong, Oden had plenty of red flags even in the moment. He had already dealt with injuries and one of his legs was longer than the other plus there were age concerns that he was much older. He was huge and pretty athletic for his size but nowhere near as skilled as Wemby was. I’m not denying there was massive hype but a lot of it had more to do with it still being the traditional center era. It goes to show the thinking back then that a 7ft that could handle the ball and shoot didn’t get drafted over a pretty talented, but limited player like Oden. If a more progressive GM had the #1 pick things might’ve gone differently. We’ve seen prospects like Greg Oden but never Wembanyama.

 

[Hoop Head]

Wemby is hyped but he's more like Zion in a way where he's seen as the consensus #1 pick by a wide margin and a generational talent as well, provided he can hold up physically. It's definitely not the most since LeBron but it is a considerable amount. He might have received that level of hype if he were in the US but he's not and that's kept him from receiving that level of coverage. It's probably the most hyped a foreign player has been though, including some like Ben Simmons who came here to play college ball.

 

[Phrazbit]

You’re just wrong, Oden had plenty of red flags even in the moment. He had already dealt with injuries and one of his legs was longer than the other plus there were age concerns that he was much older. He was huge and pretty athletic for his size but nowhere near as skilled as Wemby was. I’m not denying there was massive hype but a lot of it had more to do with it still being the traditional center era. It goes to show the thinking back then that a 7ft that could handle the ball and shoot didn’t get drafted over a pretty talented, but limited player like Oden. If a more progressive GM had the #1 pick things might’ve gone differently. We’ve seen prospects like Greg Oden but never Wembanyama.

The red flags had nothing to do with the hype. His hype blew Wemby's out of the water.

Also, his injuries in college are another thing made bigger in retrospect. He played 32 of 39 games and led his team to the national title game.

Maybe we are debating 2 different things, but Oden was known by casual fans well before he was ever drafted, it was just a given that the dude was supposed to be a league defining superstar.

I don't see Wemby as being even remotely on that level of expectation. He is the bright spot on an absolute turd of a draft class.

Honestly, I think even Luka had more hoopla around him as an international star.

 

[95pro]

From someone who cares little about college or pre-nba players, Wemb has the most hype. With todays social media outlets he's all over the place. Heck they even broadcast games he plays in, just because of him.

 

[AzStevenCal]

From someone who cares little about college or pre-nba players, Wemb has the most hype. With todays social media outlets he's all over the place. Heck they even broadcast games he plays in, just because of him.

I've followed basketball all my life although I've not paid much attention to international or high school players except local products and when draft time comes around. Lebron stands alone when it comes to hyping a non-college player IMO. Keep in mind, prior to Lebron it was unheard of for ESPN to televise a routine high scool game let alone one that was televised solely because of one player. And from my perspective, Luka, Oden, Wemby and Wiggins come next on the hype ladder.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Neither Wiggins nor Oden had the hype Wemby does. Wiggins was hyped in high school but was the reluctant #1 prospect because he didn’t love basketball. Oden’s was an athletic giant but was already considered injury ridden. Only Lebron is on that level as a teenager.

You’re wrong on oden.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

You’re just wrong, Oden had plenty of red flags even in the moment. He had already dealt with injuries and one of his legs was longer than the other plus there were age concerns that he was much older. He was huge and pretty athletic for his size but nowhere near as skilled as Wemby was. I’m not denying there was massive hype but a lot of it had more to do with it still being the traditional center era. It goes to show the thinking back then that a 7ft that could handle the ball and shoot didn’t get drafted over a pretty talented, but limited player like Oden. If a more progressive GM had the #1 pick things might’ve gone differently. We’ve seen prospects like Greg Oden but never Wembanyama.

We aren’t comparing the abilities of the players. We are talking about the hype and tanking. You are 100% wrong about oden he was hyped enormously and it was a full blown tankathon for him. And that was without the proliferation of social media that wembayama has today