2023-24 Around the NBA Thread

[Hoop Head]

I am not a fan of Julius Randle... I think he is a toxic clown and that his teammates, clearly, can hardly stand him.

But even for him, this is an awful look:

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He is mad about not getting the ball in a game where he is 5-20 from the field (he's shooting under 30% on the season so far) so he casually observes the most important defensive play of the game, he doesn't even pretend to care as a teammate a few feet away is trying to cover 2 guys, just watches as Hart eats a screen and makes no effort to help... while marking no one.

If I made a team of "All NBA stat padding losers", he'd be the starting power forward.

Randle is definitely a contract year player. When he's not playing for a new contract, that's what you get. New York should ship him to Portland to join Ayton and Jerami Grant. The ultimate frontcourt of halfassers.

 

[Mainstreet]

NBA coaches will receive bonuses for advancing in In-Sesaon Tournament as well as the players.

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[Russ Smith]

In that situation they should go the safest route, which is OT and no basket. Never heard of basket interference waved off before.

Warriors fans are saying Giddey touched the net before Draymond touched the rim but that's not what the refs called. They didn't call goaltending on Giddey they just said no basket interference on Draymond it didn't impact the shot going in. I have zero idea how they can possibly know that.

 

[Mainstreet]

Adrian Wojnarowski talks about the NBA In-Season Tournament.

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[Mainstreet]

Warriors fans are saying Giddey touched the net before Draymond touched the rim but that's not what the refs called. They didn't call goaltending on Giddey they just said no basket interference on Draymond it didn't impact the shot going in. I have zero idea how they can possibly know that.

It looked like Draymond Green touched the ball above the cylinder, so I don't know how it shouldn't be called goal tending, even though the ball would have likely gone in anyway.

 

[Yuma]

Well it's both. First of all, we agree that it's unlikely that they'll be healthy. Then, even if they are healthy, it's a thin roster. The first four games have shown us that no one beyond the big three has any creative skills to speak of. To put it another way, if a soon-to-be-35-year-old Eric Gordon (his birthday is December 25) is your fifth- or sixth-best player, you have major question marks.

And finally, even if they are healthy and the bench takes a step forward, I don't see a championship-caliber #1 on the team. Booker is the closest, but he's still a notch below, and Durant clearly isn't the player the Suns thought they were getting. If we're playing the "if the stars align" game, the Suns are behind Denver for sure, probably the Lakers, and maybe the Clippers. So basically the Suns have to hope that they get lucky and hit their ceiling while the other West powers struggle.

The only thing I really disagree with, is the two games Booker has played so far this season, he has CLEARLY demonstrated he's a number one. This is Book's team.

 

[AzStevenCal]

The only thing I really disagree with, is the two games Booker has played so far this season, he has CLEARLY demonstrated he's a number one. This is Book's team.

Booker is clearly a number one. But I think the argument is whether he can be the number one guy on a championship team. I don't see him carrying us to a championship as the lone star but but as part of a big three, I think he could. Whether we have a big 3 or the roster to support the stars obviously remains to be seen.

 

[Yuma]

Booker is clearly a number one. But I think the argument is whether he can be the number one guy on a championship team. I don't see him carrying us to a championship as the lone star but but as part of a big three, I think he could. Whether we have a big 3 or the roster to support the stars obviously remains to be seen.

I think the big three, injury worries aside, aren't what's going to slow us down. It's the guys around the big three. Most Championship teams have role players that elevate the squads like Bobby Portia in Milwaukee, etc. It's the 4th through maybe tenth spots on the squad that separate teams. You have to have big stars to be in consideration, but it's these lower guys that make your squad into a championship squad.

That being said, WTF is Vogel doing? He barely played Bates-Diop at all, who had a good showing game before last. Metu was arguably one of our best three point shooters in preseason and hasn't sniffed the court. I think Vogel needs to explore more of our roster, otherwise why did we sign all these guys? Bol Bol just seems like he's just taking a roster spot for no reason. Why didn't you put him on Wemby when we were down 27 just to see if Bol Bol had any value for us going forward? He was arguably the only guy with enough height to stop the easy lobs into Wemby in the paint. I am not liking how Vogel has shortened our bench, and we are losing games anyway. We could be bringing guys in on these losing games to get more info and try different lineups.

 

[Raindog]

I think the big three, injury worries aside, aren't what's going to slow us down. It's the guys around the big three. Most Championship teams have role players that elevate the squads like Bobby Portia in Milwaukee, etc. It's the 4th through maybe tenth spots on the squad that separate teams. You have to have big stars to be in consideration, but it's these lower guys that make your squad into a championship squad.

That being said, WTF is Vogel doing? He barely played Bates-Diop at all, who had a good showing game before last. Metu was arguably one of our best three point shooters in preseason and hasn't sniffed the court. I think Vogel needs to explore more of our roster, otherwise why did we sign all these guys? Bol Bol just seems like he's just taking a roster spot for no reason. Why didn't you put him on Wemby when we were down 27 just to see if Bol Bol had any value for us going forward? He was arguably the only guy with enough height to stop the easy lobs into Wemby in the paint. I am not liking how Vogel has shortened our bench, and we are losing games anyway. We could be bringing guys in on these losing games to get more info and try different lineups.

Agree with all of this. So far, it's looking like maybe there might have been some good reasons why the Lakers dumped him just one year later after winning a title.

As for the roster, I know our hands were tied to some extent as far as who we could bring in. But once again, I have to question why Jones seems to continually de-emphasize defense and rebounding in his roster management. I guess we can add ballhandling and playmaking to that this year, too. Instead, we seem to have a bench full of "shooters" who aren't really all that consistent at shooting.

 

[Phrazbit]

Draymond with a taste of his own medicine.

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[Mainstreet]

CJ McCollum of the Pelicans has a small collapsed right lung.

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[Hoop Head]

Draymond with a taste of his own medicine.

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As a guy, I find it uncomfortable to see other guy's take shots like that but in the case of Draymond Green, I can't think of another athlete more deserving than him.

 

[Ronin]

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[Mainstreet]

Robert Williams III of Portland will require right knee surgery.

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[Russ Smith]

Andrew Wiggins has completely lost his mojo. If Kuminga can be more consistent that job is his to take

 

[Russ Smith]

Detroit has a really nice core to build on. Cunningham has taken a jump, so has Killian Hayes. Duren is really coming on(not playing tonight) and my goodness Ausar Thompson looks just as freaky athletic as his twin Amen.

Keep the nucleus together and get some shooters they can be pretty good.

 

[Mainstreet]

Jamal Murray of the Nuggets will miss extended time with a right hamstring strain per coach Michael Malone

Nuggets' Murray (hamstring strain) to miss time

Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray will miss extended time due to a right hamstring strain.

www.espn.com

 

[Phrazbit]

Detroit has a really nice core to build on. Cunningham has taken a jump, so has Killian Hayes. Duren is really coming on(not playing tonight) and my goodness Ausar Thompson looks just as freaky athletic as his twin Amen.

Keep the nucleus together and get some shooters they can be pretty good.

Little early to say Hayes has made a leap. He has been absolutely awful thus far in his career and, tonight withstanding, he's been even worse this year.

IMO, he's probably getting his final shot right now. Monty will bury him and he will end up in China.

 

[Russ Smith]

Little early to say Hayes has made a leap. He has been absolutely awful thus far in his career and, tonight withstanding, he's been even worse this year.

IMO, he's probably getting his final shot right now. Monty will bury him and he will end up in China.

Could be true I haven't seen that much of him but he's been really impressive tonight. He's not a good shooter but I think is a classic guy who can defend and really pass the ball.

They need shooters they're long and athletic but not enough shooting.

I have to say for all the negative stuff I read about G League Ignite and lack of coaching, the Thompson twins are legit. I haven't seen Scoot yet but the twins are both ballers.

 

[Hoop Head]

Little early to say Hayes has made a leap. He has been absolutely awful thus far in his career and, tonight withstanding, he's been even worse this year.

IMO, he's probably getting his final shot right now. Monty will bury him and he will end up in China.

He seems to be a favorite of Monty's already. Some Piston fans have started referring to him as Monty's new son in law.

I agree he's been pretty bad so far. He has the tools but he's likely to end up back in Europe shortly after his rookie contract is up.

 

[95pro]

Robert Williams III of Portland will require right knee surgery.

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He's just about done. Amazing how the Celtics pulled it off, or even how it was approved.

 

[Mainstreet]

He's just about done. Amazing how the Celtics pulled it off, or even how it was approved.

I believe the Trail Blazers front office was counting on Williams having a high trade value. Poof. That may be gone.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I believe the Trail Blazers front office was counting on Williams having a high trade value. Poof. That may be gone.

If they were even remotely qualified to do their job, I'm sure they were simply "hoping" he'd have high trade value. He's had so many injuries that you'd have to be grossly incompetent to not consider them when making any trade.

 

[Mainstreet]

If they were even remotely qualified to do their job, I'm sure they were simply "hoping" he'd have high trade value. He's had so many injuries that you'd have to be grossly incompetent to not consider them when making any trade.

Yeah, "hoping" is a better word.

At the very minimum, the Trail Blazers may have felt they doubled their chances of finding a starting center they wanted to keep in adding Williams.

 

[Chaplin]

The Clippers lost Plumlee last night to a diving Julius Randle. That leaves Zubac as their only Center on the roster. That leaves PJ Tucker and Mousa Diabate as their only other big men.

And we thought we were small.

And Harden was a -18 in the game, which the Clips lost. Harden's first game as a Clipper. Hopefully that will be a trend.