The 2017-2018 Around the NBA thread

[Errntknght]

Geez guys, don't merge now after I finally have you sorted out... well, kind of...

 

[3rdside]

Not often I care about dunks ..

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[Mainstreet]

Josh Hart is out for the Lakers after hand surgery. He is a nice young player.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...h-hart-miss-4-6-weeks-undergoing-hand-surgery

 

[Mainstreet]

Here is a list of teams that gets the most bad calls by referees. I would think the Suns would be near the top but they are 22nd on the list.

The Nets, Mavericks and Nuggets are #1 ,#2 and #3 on the list.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/feature...d-by-the-refs-the-most/?addata=espn:nba:index

 

[3rdside]

Take a guess where we rank.

http://hoopshype.com/2018/02/17/ranking-the-best-young-cores-in-the-nba/


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[GatorAZ]

Take a guess where we rank.

http://hoopshype.com/2018/02/17/ranking-the-best-young-cores-in-the-nba/


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Behind Philly, Milwaukee and Denver for sure. Among the terrible teams probably first.

 

[Hoop Head]

Take a guess where we rank.

http://hoopshype.com/2018/02/17/ranking-the-best-young-cores-in-the-nba/


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That was a decent article with solid rankings for the most part but there were some questions about their selections. Like how they listed Josh Gray as part of the Suns young core. He was signed to a 10 day contract, he shouldn't be included in any sort of list like this. It seems they listed everyone on a teams roster that was under their cutoff criteria, which says they left off everyone that was 25 or older but they admitted they made some exceptions to that. They didn't seem to have reasoning for their exceptions either. Like with the Lakers young core they included Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who is 25 so he shouldn't be mentioned for that reason and he also only signed a 1 year deal with the Lakers as a free agent so they don't even have his bird rights to retain him this summer if they spend too much elsewhere in the free agency market.

However the teams picked for their top 5 make sense for the most part, with the exception of a few players being listed for teams like I mentioned above. The top 5 are Philly at #1, Bucks at #2, Timberwolves at #3, the Celtics at #4, and the Lakers at #5. The Nuggets are at #6 also with the Suns at #7. I think the Suns have a better group of youngsters than the Lakers or Nuggets and should be #5. Compared to the Lakers with their core of Ball, Ingram, and Kuzma, I'd take the Suns trio of Booker, Jackson, and Warren. The Lakers also have Julius Randle but he's a restricted free agent. If another team makes a play for him early in free agency I don't think the Lakers will match because they're planning on making big runs at Paul George and Lebron and will need all of the cap space they can get. Would anyone trade Booker, Jackson, and Warren for Ball, Ingram, and Kuzma? Even if they added Randle to that package, I wouldn't make that deal. I don't think I'd trade Booker for all 3 of those guys.

The Nuggets have Nikola Jokic who is one of the best passing bigs in the league right now but beyond him they don't have that anyone that stands out that much. Jamal Murray and Gary Harris are good young players but I don't think either of them will be stars in the future. I think they'll be similar to Warren, good players who are quality starters but not good enough to move the needle that much. I'd take their young players over the Lakers mainly because of Jokic though. He seems to be a star in the making and could be the best Center in the NBA in a couple of years. I like the Suns core better than theirs and after this years draft I think they'll definitely be ahead of the Nuggets after adding another top 5 pick while the Nuggets will add someone from the middle of the 1st round.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

That was a decent article with solid rankings for the most part but there were some questions about their selections. Like how they listed Josh Gray as part of the Suns young core. He was signed to a 10 day contract, he shouldn't be included in any sort of list like this. It seems they listed everyone on a teams roster that was under their cutoff criteria, which says they left off everyone that was 25 or older but they admitted they made some exceptions to that. They didn't seem to have reasoning for their exceptions either. Like with the Lakers young core they included Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who is 25 so he shouldn't be mentioned for that reason and he also only signed a 1 year deal with the Lakers as a free agent so they don't even have his bird rights to retain him this summer if they spend too much elsewhere in the free agency market.

However the teams picked for their top 5 make sense for the most part, with the exception of a few players being listed for teams like I mentioned above. The top 5 are Philly at #1, Bucks at #2, Timberwolves at #3, the Celtics at #4, and the Lakers at #5. The Nuggets are at #6 also with the Suns at #7. I think the Suns have a better group of youngsters than the Lakers or Nuggets and should be #5. Compared to the Lakers with their core of Ball, Ingram, and Kuzma, I'd take the Suns trio of Booker, Jackson, and Warren. The Lakers also have Julius Randle but he's a restricted free agent. If another team makes a play for him early in free agency I don't think the Lakers will match because they're planning on making big runs at Paul George and Lebron and will need all of the cap space they can get. Would anyone trade Booker, Jackson, and Warren for Ball, Ingram, and Kuzma? Even if they added Randle to that package, I wouldn't make that deal. I don't think I'd trade Booker for all 3 of those guys.

The Nuggets have Nikola Jokic who is one of the best passing bigs in the league right now but beyond him they don't have that anyone that stands out that much. Jamal Murray and Gary Harris are good young players but I don't think either of them will be stars in the future. I think they'll be similar to Warren, good players who are quality starters but not good enough to move the needle that much. I'd take their young players over the Lakers mainly because of Jokic though. He seems to be a star in the making and could be the best Center in the NBA in a couple of years. I like the Suns core better than theirs and after this years draft I think they'll definitely be ahead of the Nuggets after adding another top 5 pick while the Nuggets will add someone from the middle of the 1st round.

I think you hit an important concept there . . . if the suns hit inning their top pick they likely jump past a LOT of these teams. If it’s ayton maybe up alongside philly. If they hit on both (or even ALL if bucks pick conveys) they likely vault to #1. If that happens AND chriss or bender pans out we win championships. Lots of them.

 

[3rdside]

I think you hit an important concept there . . . if the suns hit inning their top pick they likely jump past a LOT of these teams. If it’s ayton maybe up alongside philly. If they hit on both (or even ALL if bucks pick conveys) they likely vault to #1. If that happens AND chriss or bender pans out we win championships. Lots of them.

Second that thought - maybe the championship part is taking it a bit far but can’t fault the optimism


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[Hoop Head]

Ayton and Booker could be a better pairing than Towns and Wiggins. I'm not sure if Ayton will be as good Towns but if he comes close that will be huge for the Suns. Booker is better than Wiggins is now, IMO, and I don't think I'm alone in that thinking. Booker's edge on Wiggins is enough to make up for Ayton not quite reaching the level that Towns is at. Of all of the teams listed, ahead of or behind the Suns, I think Wiggins and Towns could be the best pairing on any of them. Philadelphia has Simmons and Embiid but there are too many health questions surrounding those two to say they're best young pairing in the league. Both missed what should have been their rookie seasons, with Embiid missing his 2nd season also and playing in less than half of the games during his 3rd season when he finally hit the court. They paid him a ton of money in an extension that may come back to bite them also. They can waive him if he misses a lot of time because of an injury but that would also allow another team to sign him for cheap and they'd be stuck watching him return to form elsewhere. It's a difficult situation altogether for them. Fultz also seems to be damaged goods with his shoulder injury. If everyone can stay healthy they should be contenders for years to come but Dario Saric is the only young player they have that seems to be reliable. He's a decent player but that's a big drop off in talent going from Simmons, Fultz, and Embiid to Saric, Robert Covington, and TJ McConnell.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Ayton and Booker could be a better pairing than Towns and Wiggins. I'm not sure if Ayton will be as good Towns but if he comes close that will be huge for the Suns. Booker is better than Wiggins is now, IMO, and I don't think I'm alone in that thinking. Booker's edge on Wiggins is enough to make up for Ayton not quite reaching the level that Towns is at. Of all of the teams listed, ahead of or behind the Suns, I think Wiggins and Towns could be the best pairing on any of them. Philadelphia has Simmons and Embiid but there are too many health questions surrounding those two to say they're best young pairing in the league. Both missed what should have been their rookie seasons, with Embiid missing his 2nd season also and playing in less than half of the games during his 3rd season when he finally hit the court. They paid him a ton of money in an extension that may come back to bite them also. They can waive him if he misses a lot of time because of an injury but that would also allow another team to sign him for cheap and they'd be stuck watching him return to form elsewhere. It's a difficult situation altogether for them. Fultz also seems to be damaged goods with his shoulder injury. If everyone can stay healthy they should be contenders for years to come but Dario Saric is the only young player they have that seems to be reliable. He's a decent player but that's a big drop off in talent going from Simmons, Fultz, and Embiid to Saric, Robert Covington, and TJ McConnell.

Agree. I sometimes think people aren’t looking at the big picture when it comes to putting together a great team in the future.

We’re NEVER going to be good enough in time to compete with GS, so I start looking at the other young teams and how they are set up.

The Wolves and Sixers right now look like the future and both have similar make ups... really good wings and a dominant big. I feel like those are going to be two of the better teams once the new wave hits and it’s why I lean so much more on Ayton, Bamba and JJJ over Donicic.

We shouldn’t be chasing the current trend of small ball because no one can really match the Warriors. Look at the future... I see there being a swing back to big men, but SKILLED big men.

 

[Errntknght]

Take a guess where we rank.

http://hoopshype.com/2018/02/17/ranking-the-best-young-cores-in-the-nba/

I'd guess we're about in the middle... maybe lower since we didn't have Payton when it was posted

Edit: We did have Payton. By the middle I meant in the middle of the non-playoff teams... and that is about where we were placed. Who worries about Golden State's young core...

 

[Ronin]

Chris Mannix
@ChrisMannixYS

Brandon Ingram has a left groin strain, per Lakers. He’s out, will be evaluated in one week.

 

[Mainstreet]

Agree. I sometimes think people aren’t looking at the big picture when it comes to putting together a great team in the future.

We’re NEVER going to be good enough in time to compete with GS, so I start looking at the other young teams and how they are set up.

The Wolves and Sixers right now look like the future and both have similar make ups... really good wings and a dominant big. I feel like those are going to be two of the better teams once the new wave hits and it’s why I lean so much more on Ayton, Bamba and JJJ over Donicic.

We shouldn’t be chasing the current trend of small ball because no one can really match the Warriors. Look at the future... I see there being a swing back to big men, but SKILLED big men.

I think Stephen Curry is in a league of his own so I think the NBA will change when his game diminishes.

 

[Ronin]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...n-rockets-gersson-rosas-miami-heat-adam-simon

 

[Ronin]

Shams Charania
@ShamsCharania

Sources: The NBA issued a warning to the Chicago Bulls this week on resting healthy players, and the team now plans to play veteran starters Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday again more extensively to close the season.

 

[Ronin]

Michael C. Wright‏Verified account@mikecwright 6m6 minutes ago
Kawhi just spoke and said he wants to finish his career as a Spur.

 

[Ronin]

Bleacher Report‏Verified account@BleacherReport 59s59 seconds ago
#LABron recruitment in full effect http://ble.ac/2D7EWiH

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[GatorAZ]

Anthony Davis should win MVP over Harden.

 

[Ronin]

Bleacher Report‏Verified account@BleacherReport 8m8 minutes ago
Derrick Rose to sign with the Timberwolves for the rest of the season, per @wojespn

 

[Ronin]

Bobby Marks
@BobbyMarks42

The rest of the season contract for Derrick Rose will be $460,468. The Timberwolves will have a $290,951 cap hit. Rose still has roughly $460K left on his $2.3M contract that he signed with Cleveland.

 

[Chaplin]

Let me get this straight, and maybe someone who knows more about this can clarify: Rose signs to help get the TWolves into the playoffs, and if they actually make it, he won't be able to play because they signed him too late. I thought there was a rule that signing someone after a certain time makes them ineligible to play in the playoffs. Is that the case here?

 

[3rdside]

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[Chaplin]

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LOL

I wills say, that's awesome. Probably means nothing, but still...

 

[Hoop Head]

Let me get this straight, and maybe someone who knows more about this can clarify: Rose signs to help get the TWolves into the playoffs, and if they actually make it, he won't be able to play because they signed him too late. I thought there was a rule that signing someone after a certain time makes them ineligible to play in the playoffs. Is that the case here?

Rose is eligible for the Wolves playoff roster. Not sure where you're getting the idea that he wouldn't be able to play for them in the postseason.


Here is a link to an article by NBA.com that says he is playoff eligible...

Rose was waived by the Utah Jazz on Feb. 10 after the team acquired him in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Feb. 8. Since Rose was waived before March 1, he is eligible to join the Timberwolves' playoff roster.

http://www.nba.com/article/2018/03/08/derrick-rose-minnesota-timberwolves-report#/