2023 NBA Playoffs - Other Teams

[Covert Rain]

These playoffs are simply crazy. Two play in teams on the verge of moving on.

 

[JCSunsfan]

The title has never been this up for grabs.

Honestly, the Lakers could win it this year. They have come together since that trade at the deadline. Yikes.

And Memphis. All the talent in the world and not a brain anywhere.

 

[AzStevenCal]

These playoffs are simply crazy. Two play in teams on the verge of moving on.

Yeah key injuries are really messing up the seedings.

 

[Proximo]

Yeah I hear ya, but I'm not talking about getting rid of offensive fouls altogether. To be more specific I'm talking about just the off ball defender charges. I guess they could also just leave the rule and actually start enforcing it on the gather which I believe is what it actually is supposed to be. If they did that and the defender had to be set in legal position before the gather started there wouldn't be any real charges anymore. They would be very few and far between.

By the way I'm curious if LeBron James is not top 10 who are the 10 players better all the way around?

I would want all of these guys on my team before Lebron (Actually a lot more than this, but I think all these guys are more valuable to winning at this time)
Giannis
Jokic
Embid
Luka
Curry
Dame
Tatum
Shai
Durant
Booker
Mitchell
Morant
Kawhi (when healthy)
Fox
George

 

[DJ Tabooh]

I would want all of these guys on my team before Lebron (Actually a lot more than this, but I think all these guys are more valuable to winning at this time)
Giannis
Jokic
Embid
Luka
Curry
Dame
Tatum
Shai
Durant
Booker
Mitchell
Morant
Kawhi (when healthy)
Fox
George

You’d seriously have Ja over LeBron? What does Ja do better than LeBron? Lakers up 3-1 in the series and the only game the Grizz won was without Ja…

Dame, Shai and Luka are so impactful that none made the playoffs. Donovan Mitchell just scored 11 points on 5/18 and he’s going to be first team All-NBA.

I get LeBron isn’t as good as he was say 3-4 years ago, but the guy is going to be 3rd team All-NBA on really good efficiency while still giving you rebounds and assists at an elite clip.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I would want all of these guys on my team before Lebron (Actually a lot more than this, but I think all these guys are more valuable to winning at this time)
Giannis
Jokic
Embid
Luka
Curry
Dame
Tatum
Shai
Durant
Booker
Mitchell
Morant
Kawhi (when healthy)
Fox
George

LeBrons production and durability are hard to match. A players health is as much of who he is as his skill set. That said, healthy wipes a few right off that list.

 

[Proximo]

You’d seriously have Ja over LeBron? What does Ja do better than LeBron? Lakers up 3-1 in the series and the only game the Grizz won was without Ja…

Dame, Shai and Luka are so impactful that none made the playoffs. Donovan Mitchell just scored 11 points on 5/18 and he’s going to be first team All-NBA.

I get LeBron isn’t as good as he was say 3-4 years ago, but the guy is going to be 3rd team All-NBA on really good efficiency while still giving you rebounds and assists at an elite clip.

Yes, I seriously would. Ja is not at full strength at the moment. He is an absolute terror with his ability to penetrate and get the other team in foul trouble.

 

[Proximo]

LeBrons production and durability are hard to match. A players health is as much of who he is as his skill set. That said, healthy wipes a few right off that list.

Lebron played 55 games this year, and 56 games last year. He's not very durable anymore.

 

[elindholm]

Lebron played 55 games this year, and 56 games last year. He's not very durable anymore.

Heck, that's probably the league average for star players now. Booker's 68 and 53 the last two years aren't much better.

 

[Russ Smith]

Honestly, the Lakers could win it this year. They have come together since that trade at the deadline. Yikes.

And Memphis. All the talent in the world and not a brain anywhere.

memphis seriously misses Steven Adams. Without him they have Tillman playing a ton and Aldama, Tillman is too small and Aldama too soft. When JJJ is on the bench the Lakers are just destroying them in the paint.

Also, I know he's hurt but Ja is killing them with all those crazy out of control drives where the entire intent is to demand a foul call.

Also can't be said enough that finish by LeBron to send the game in OT was insane. If you haven't played the game you have no idea how difficult it is to go at the basket full speed and then put the ball up soft off the glass, and he did it over Jackson. That was an amazing play.

 

[Mainstreet]

memphis seriously misses Steven Adams. Without him they have Tillman playing a ton and Aldama, Tillman is too small and Aldama too soft. When JJJ is on the bench the Lakers are just destroying them in the paint.

Also, I know he's hurt but Ja is killing them with all those crazy out of control drives where the entire intent is to demand a foul call.

Also can't be said enough that finish by LeBron to send the game in OT was insane. If you haven't played the game you have no idea how difficult it is to go at the basket full speed and then put the ball up soft off the glass, and he did it over Jackson. That was an amazing play.

The Grizzlies do really miss Steven Adams in the middle. Also, losing Brandon Clarke hurts.

 

[DJ Tabooh]

Yes, I seriously would. Ja is not at full strength at the moment. He is an absolute terror with his ability to penetrate and get the other team in foul trouble.

While that might be true, Ja averages more turnovers per game than LBJ and shoots a lesser percentage both at the rim and from 3.

I’m not saying Ja isn’t an electric player but he’s inefficient and both the off court and on court stuff in how he plays limits him. I’ll always take a 6’9 player over a 6’2 guy.

 

[Mainstreet]

While that might be true, Ja averages more turnovers per game than LBJ and shoots a lesser percentage both at the rim and from 3.

I’m not saying Ja isn’t an electric player but he’s inefficient and both the off court and on court stuff in how he plays limits him. I’ll always take a 6’9 player over a 6’2 guy.

I can see choosing Lebron for now-today but going forward, I'd select Ja Morant. The Grizzlies are missing some important pieces.

 

[DJ Tabooh]

I can see choosing Lebron for now-today but going forward, I'd select Ja Morant. The Grizzlies are missing some important pieces.

For sure. This is simply based on right now as we speak in 2023.

 

[AzStevenCal]

While that might be true, Ja averages more turnovers per game than LBJ and shoots a lesser percentage both at the rim and from 3.

I’m not saying Ja isn’t an electric player but he’s inefficient and both the off court and on court stuff in how he plays limits him. I’ll always take a 6’9 player over a 6’2 guy.

He is inefficient but he puts tremendous pressure on the D and creates a lot of openings for teammates that don't show up in the stats. Right now though. he's a shadow of himself with his injured hand. He's struggling more than usual in part because they are missing their center and probably their best bench player.

As for deciding between him and Lebron, that's a tough call. Lebron is so uninvolved on defense (on many possessions) but he can still come up big in key moments. All told I'd still give the edge to LBJ on his way down but it's not decisive IMO.

 

[DJ Tabooh]

He is inefficient but he puts tremendous pressure on the D and creates a lot of openings for teammates that don't show up in the stats. Right now, he's a shadow of himself with his injured hand so he looks worse than usual especially considering they're missing their center and probably their best bench player.

As for deciding between him and Lebron, that's a tough call. Lebron is so uninvolved on defense (on many possessions) but he can still come up big in key moments. All told I'd still give the edge to LBJ on his way down but it's not decisive IMO.

Have you seen Ja on defense lol. He’s not any better. And he’s young and spry. Bron is in year 20. I get that Ja is also dinged up but everything Ja can do, LBJ can do more efficiently. And just the difference in size alone I’d lean Bron.

We’ve seen players like Ja before. And they don’t have long shelf lives. He plays very reckless and goes for insane highlights and he’s a bad shooter. Bad combination.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Have you seen Ja on defense lol. He’s not any better. And he’s young and spry. Bron is in year 20. I get that Ja is also dinged up but everything Ja can do, LBJ can do more efficiently. And just the difference in size alone I’d lean Bron.

We’ve seen players like Ja before. And they don’t have long shelf lives. He plays very reckless and goes for insane highlights and he’s a bad shooter. Bad combination.

I'm not sure how that plays into this conversation. Ja is a few years shy of his prime and Lebron is a few years past his but there's no comparison between the two if you're talking about career. And even at this point in their careers, LBJ is still the better player but IMO it's not by much.

As for seeing players like Ja before, I can't think of too many although he does draw comparisons to Derrick Rose, Westbrook and Iverson. He's 3 inches taller than AI and has been more efficient but their competitiveness, ball handling and quickness are similar so maybe that's the best one but Ja has a solid advantage in efficiency.

Only 6 players have averaged 27 points by their 22nd year, he's on that list with Trae Young, Luka Doncic, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson. His 49.3% percentage last season though makes him one of just two players to average 27 plus and shoot that well, the other is Jordan. <the last few points came from an SBNation article by Paul Hudrick>

Anyway, I think he's pretty unique although like any player that throws his body around and spends a lot of time in the air, he's going to be at risk of injury.

 

[Hoop Head]

Ja is a lot like pre-injury Derrick Rose. Just controls the game with his ball handling and ability to penetrate. He's more fit for modern play in that he shoots better but I think Rose would have probably been closer to Ja if he were entering the league today, it's just stylistic changes to the game. Rose was a better defender though. Hopefully Ja stays away from Coach Thibs.

I think people forget how good Rose was because he's finally been able to stay healthy the last few years and is vastly different player. He's a backup combo guard now but he was an electric finisher at his peak and won MVP before entering his prime years. Who knows what he could have been if his body held up. I think the Bulls win a title and LBJ has at least one less. That Bulls team was just so deep and good but Thibs ran his stars into the ground.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Ouch. De'Aaron Fox has a fractured index finger.

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That’s an enormous injury.

 

[Proximo]

Heck, that's probably the league average for star players now. Booker's 68 and 53 the last two years aren't much better.

True, but I wasn't the one who brought up how durable Lebron was as if he was more durable than average.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Yeah, Torrey Craig is an upgrade.

I knew we were right to move on, just wish we would have gotten something for him. That Hachimura deal sure looks good in retrospect, but then again if Monty won’t play warren, he probably wouldnt have gotten in games either.

Yeah I was shocked we didn’t go hachimura. I won’t go all revisionist and say I saw this coming. But he was a guy I’d liked as a role player when he came outta the draft.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I agree with him that LeBron is no longer a top 10 player in the league. He's top 5 all time but amongst active NBA players right now, there are 10 better. He's probably top 20, no less than 25. Top 10 is All-NBA levels and he's just not there anymore. He's become a stat padder that doesn't effect winning as much as he used to.

. . . as his team goes up 3-1 on the 2 seed largely behind his efforts . . .

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I agree with him that LeBron is no longer a top 10 player in the league. He's top 5 all time but amongst active NBA players right now, there are 10 better. He's probably top 20, no less than 25. Top 10 is All-NBA levels and he's just not there anymore. He's become a stat padder that doesn't effect winning as much as he used to.

Who are your 20 that are better?

 

[Cheesebeef]

. . . as his team goes up 3-1 on the 2 seed largely behind his efforts . . .

While averaging 24 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks per game… on what his detractors call a bad team.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

You’d seriously have Ja over LeBron? What does Ja do better than LeBron? Lakers up 3-1 in the series and the only game the Grizz won was without Ja…

Dame, Shai and Luka are so impactful that none made the playoffs. Donovan Mitchell just scored 11 points on 5/18 and he’s going to be first team All-NBA.

I get LeBron isn’t as good as he was say 3-4 years ago, but the guy is going to be 3rd team All-NBA on really good efficiency while still giving you rebounds and assists at an elite clip.

Agree. For longevity, sure those guys. But to win a series now? Nah.