The 2022 NBA Play-In Tournament + Playoffs Thread

[AzStevenCal]

Dan Gilbert would sell his children to get Lebron back in that building make no mistake.

This ain’t a regular situation

I'm pretty sure it's the exact opposite, my guess is he'd sell his soul to never have to get in bed with Lebron and Rich Paul again as long as it didn't cost him too much money.

They have a very young nucleus of talent that looks poised to develop into a long time contender. Throwing that away for an over the hill stats chaser who will once again dictate to the front office would stomp all over Gilbert's ego (or anyone's ego for that matter).

If they didn't have a recent championship already or if winning it all immediately were a sure fire thing perhaps he'd give it a moment's consideration before declining. As it is, once he stopped laughing and swearing, he'd simply hang up the phone.

The Cavs aren't one veteran away, they need a few years to develop their young stars so it's not likely that Lebron would get them another ring. Considering that, and given their respective ages, I wouldn't trade Mobley for Lebron and any first and second round picks they have available plus the right to swap picks where allowed. And that's not considering the baggage that comes with bringing Lebron back, and Hercules couldn't carry that baggage.

 

[Hoop Head]

Just saw that the Thunder now get the Clippers pick, which will be a lottery pick, from the PG-13 trade. I can't imagine anyone thought they'd get a lottery pick so early from LA. LA still owes them 2 swaps and I believe 2 more picks after this. Sucks to be the Clippers.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

The margin between 7/8 and 9/10 is a good point I hadn’t really thought about. If you finish the season at 7/8 with at least three more wins than 9/10, they can actually advance to the first round with fewer wins than you. Given that the rest of the seeding is determined with W-L and very specific tiebreakers, this is actually quite an aberration.

The play-in can also quite easily give the top seed a significantly weaker first round opponent given scenarios such as PG being ruled out (though I’m not saying the Pelicans are that weak). Or a team pretty far back at 10 can get hot for a couple games in a way they’ll never sustain in the first round.

I guess I don’t have a huge problem with the play-in and definitely see the fun in it, but since we’re discussing the actual merits, I can’t help but think it’s not actually for the best.

I agree with all of this. Made sense in shortened seasons. But being back at 82 every game should count. And when I mean count, I mean FULLY count. You’re watering down some wins or losses by adding the play-in. The wins that separate the 7/8s from the 9/10s just mean less if they don’t actually get you into the playoffs. And the fact that a team (pels) who finished 6 games back of the clips gets into the playoffs pretty much based on Paul George having Covid on that particular day means those six games were only worth a single home game in what became a one and done scenario for the clips.

That said, I am entertained by it. I just don’t think it’s an appropriate design.

 

[Mainstreet]

It will be important for the Mavericks to win at least one of the first two games against the Jazz with Luka out.

 

[Finito]

That’s a flagrant

 

[Cheesebeef]

I'm pretty sure it's the exact opposite, my guess is he'd sell his soul to never have to get in bed with Lebron and Rich Paul again as long as it didn't cost him too much money.

They have a very young nucleus of talent that looks poised to develop into a long time contender. Throwing that away for an over the hill stats chaser who will once again dictate to the front office would stomp all over Gilbert's ego (or anyone's ego for that matter).

If they didn't have a recent championship already or if winning it all immediately were a sure fire thing perhaps he'd give it a moment's consideration before declining. As it is, once he stopped laughing and swearing, he'd simply hang up the phone.

The Cavs aren't one veteran away, they need a few years to develop their young stars so it's not likely that Lebron would get them another ring. Considering that, and given their respective ages, I wouldn't trade Mobley for Lebron and any first and second round picks they have available plus the right to swap picks where allowed. And that's not considering the baggage that comes with bringing Lebron back, and Hercules couldn't carry that baggage.

Gotta disagree. The Cavs are stacked with really good young talent. LeBron pretty much won 31 games singlehandedly this year. You put him on the Cavs next season and they’re not just contenders, they’re probably favorites.

EDIT: Oh, you’re saying the Cavs would have to give up Mobley to get LeBron? Yeah, that changes the equation greatly.

 

[Finito]

Agree. The Pelicans have a nice blend of talent.

I hope the Trail Blazers enjoy the play-in and playoffs vicariously. They did a great job of stocking the Clippers and Pelicans with talent.

And they got nothing for it.

Dame is loyal to a fault. He’s wasting his prime

 

[Mainstreet]

Another angle about the play-in, it rewards teams that make good trades at the trade deadline. See the acquisition of CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. by the Pelicans.

Actually the Clippers got significantly stronger as well with the additions of Norman Powell and Robert Covington. If Paul George and Kawhi Leonard had returned they might have been dominant.

This may be something to keep an eye on in the future because a non-playoff team can go to a playoff team, often dramatically, with one good trade. All a team has to do is make the 9th or 10th spot to have a chance. I think the added excitement (also less tanking) is what the NBA commissioner wants.

 

[Mainstreet]

And they got nothing for it.

Dame is loyal to a fault. He’s wasting his prime

It's hard to understand the Trail Blazers philosophy of trading away a star in CJ McCollum for such a small return.

Now they need to add another star.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Jazz should dominate the Mavericks with Doncic out.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Another angle about the play-in, it rewards teams that make good trades at the trade deadline. See the acquisition of CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. by the Pelicans.

Actually the Clippers got significantly stronger as well with the additions of Norman Powell and Robert Covington. If Paul George and Kawhi Leonard had returned they might have been dominant.

This may be something to keep an eye on in the future because a non-playoff team can go to a playoff team, often dramatically, with one good trade. All a team has to do is make the 9th or 10th spot to have a chance. I think the added excitement (also less tanking) is what the NBA commissioner wants.

Yup, good trade or player back from injury (or ending of NYC vax rule). I mean the Celtics/nets series is split 11/10 by experts. How frequently does that happen in a 2-7 matchup?

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

It's hard to understand the Trail Blazers philosophy of trading away a star in CJ McCollum for such a small return.

Now they need to add another star.

They traded away three valuable assets for very little.

 

[Mainstreet]

Yup, good trade or player back from injury (or ending of NYC vax rule). I mean the Celtics/nets series is split 11/10 by experts. How frequently does that happen in a 2-7 matchup?

It's good for the fan but there seems something wrong about it as it penalizes a team that plays well all season.

Maybe top seeds should have some say in their playoff opponent?

 

[Mainstreet]

Maybe they should delay calling fouls on a fast break until the completion of the break. I think they do this in ice hockey. I'm not sure about soccer.

 

[Hoop Head]

The major downside is how the #1 seed is given less time to prepare for their first round matchup than anyone else. That's bunk. I'm not sure how to fix that though unless the league gave the #1 seed the right to select the #7 seed is they wanted. That way the first play-in game would decide that that and the others would then determine who #2 faces.

 

[Mainstreet]

The major downside is how the #1 seed is given less time to prepare for their first round matchup than anyone else. That's bunk. I'm not sure how to fix that though unless the league gave the #1 seed the right to select the #7 seed is they wanted. That way the first play-in game would decide that that and the others would then determine who #2 faces.

I think this would be fair for the #1 seed to have the choice of facing #7 or #8.

 

[Finito]

Another angle about the play-in, it rewards teams that make good trades at the trade deadline. See the acquisition of CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. by the Pelicans.

Actually the Clippers got significantly stronger as well with the additions of Norman Powell and Robert Covington. If Paul George and Kawhi Leonard had returned they might have been dominant.

This may be something to keep an eye on in the future because a non-playoff team can go to a playoff team, often dramatically, with one good trade. All a team has to do is make the 9th or 10th spot to have a chance. I think the added excitement (also less tanking) is what the NBA commissioner wants.

Right. The Pels are a perfect example of making moves at the deadline that paid off.

 

[Finito]

The major downside is how the #1 seed is given less time to prepare for their first round matchup than anyone else. That's bunk. I'm not sure how to fix that though unless the league gave the #1 seed the right to select the #7 seed is they wanted. That way the first play-in game would decide that that and the others would then determine who #2 faces.

The #1 seed shouldn’t need time to prepare against the 8th

If you do you shouldn’t be #1

 

[phillycard]

I hear you but that's only because you are considering the previous format. In the new format, those teams have not earned their spot yet. If this was a new league with this rule out of the gate we wouldn't be questioning if a team earned it.


It was Hulu but they wanted to triple the price being charged. Hulu said they would have had to pass on the cost to consumers which it refused to do. Now Bally's is going to launch their own standalone service by next year. I have to wonder if their deal with SAT/Cable is numbered as well.

That's what I mean. Under the OLD format. That to me was just fine. 1 through 8 bam, done deal! Unfortunately Clippers and Cavs got their "pocketbooks" snatched.

 

[Mainstreet]

I'm not sure why a coach loses his challenge if he wins the challenge. It's not logical.

If the play was called incorrectly, why penalize the team that challenges.

 

[Hoop Head]

I'm not sure why a coach loses his challenge if he wins the challenge. It's not logical.

If the play was called incorrectly, why penalize the team that challenges.

They need to fix that. I understand not wanting the games to become stretched out with reviews but it wouldn't be difficult to fix. If the challenge is overturned then the coach gets another. No more than 2 per team in a game. Simple enough, in my opinion.

 

[Mainstreet]

They need to fix that. I understand not wanting the games to become stretched out with reviews but it wouldn't be difficult to fix. If the challenge is overturned then the coach gets another. No more than 2 per team in a game. Simple enough, in my opinion.

And bring the continuation rule on the shot back perhaps with some stricter guidelines.

 

[Mainstreet]

Jazz hearing footsteps?

 

[AzStevenCal]

Maybe they should delay calling fouls on a fast break until the completion of the break. I think they do this in ice hockey. I'm not sure about soccer.

I think all they have to do is return to the intentional foul rule of yesteryear.

 

[Mainstreet]

O'Neale hits a 3 from corner area but I think it touched the backboard on the way in. Of course it still counts.