2023-24 NBA Season Discussion

[AEnigma]

Since he became a starter in 2018, Murray is -3.25 without Jokic in the regular season.
…
Since then, Jokic is -9 without Murray in the postseason.

A “better” point guard would make the Nuggets a more dominant regular season team, but Murray has been too fantastic in the postseason for you guys to sincerely believe he is any sort of limiting element.

[Peregrine01]

Those games that Jokic played without Murray in the playoffs were games when he was playing with a roster that’s mostly out of the league now.

I agree that there’s a special synergy between Murray and Jokic. But almost everyone who plays with Jokic synergizes well with him and has the most productive years of their careers.

[LukaTheGOAT]

Now you’re being an idiot XD

Jokic is in the same position of Giannis post 2021 although in a better situation for his talent to pan out since his staff aren’t war criminals

Embiid won’t be healthy this year and he’ll never be healthy again with his meniscus gone

Where are you getting his meniscus is gone? We don't know if the meniscus was repaired or removed.

Think they said they trimmed it right? Misread though ngl

We haven't gotten any info on what exactly was done. If he had it removed, that would increase the odds of him being back by the PS. Though, technically having it repaired, wouldn't rule out that possibility either with a monstrous recovery.

[itsxtray]

Haven't watched much Knicks but i was very impressed with Hartenstein. Great passing chops and feel, great touch around the rim, great in the 2 man game with Brunson and a solid athlete, he looked pretty good.

[GSP]

Haven't watched much Knicks but i was very impressed with Hartenstein. Great passing chops and feel, great touch around the rim, great in the 2 man game with Brunson and a solid athlete, he looked pretty good.

Knicks have had biggest front office improvement in a long time. Went from laughing stocks who had no clue what theyre doing to one of the best

They are a problem for anyone when healthy and Brunson has shown he can have superstar 1st option playoff ability having outplayed Mitchell and Jimmy in playoff series

Brunson, Mcbride
Hart, Donte
Og, Bojan
Randle, Precious
Hartenstein, Mitchell

They are 15-2 when Og plays too hes fit perfectly in Thibs system and role there

[itsxtray]

Haven't watched much Knicks but i was very impressed with Hartenstein. Great passing chops and feel, great touch around the rim, great in the 2 man game with Brunson and a solid athlete, he looked pretty good.

Knicks have had biggest front office improvement in a long time. Went from laughing stocks who had no clue what theyre doing to one of the best

They are a problem for anyone when healthy and Brunson has shown he can have superstar 1st option playoff ability having outplayed Mitchell and Jimmy in playoff series

Brunson, Mcbride
Hart, Donte
Og, Bojan
Randle, Precious
Hartenstein, Mitchell

They are 15-2 when Og plays too hes fit perfectly in Thibs system and role there

When healthy probably the biggest threat to ya'll in the east. Now, if they could just upgrade from Randle they'd be golden.

[Peregrine01]

The Mind Games podcast with JJ Reddick and Lebron might be the best basketball podcast I've ever listened to. Lebron comes off in a way that he never does in public.

[Special_Puppy]

Plausible the biggest threat to the Celtics in the East are a healthy Knicks or healthy 76ers

[RCM88x]

Plausible the biggest threat to the Celtics in the East are a healthy Knicks or healthy 76ers

A healthy version of either team seems pretty unlikely to manifest itself at this point.

[Fundamentals21]

Knicks are full of good players, but not great. I don't see them reaching the finals, but they'll be pretty good.

Randle, Brunson, Hartenstein, Anunoby are all very solid. Should be 2nd round material.

[Dutchball97]

Is it possible we're all kind of sleeping on the Cavaliers? Garland and Mobley were out for a long time in the middle of the season, with Mobley once again being out injured alongside fellow starters Mitchell and Strus, as well as replacement starter Dean Wade. None of them have season ending injuries though so if by some miracle they enter the play-offs relatively healthy I doubt they'd be an easy out for anyone in the east except for the Celtics (who by all means should make the finals).

[RCM88x]

Is it possible we're all kind of sleeping on the Cavaliers? Garland and Mobley were out for a long time in the middle of the season, with Mobley once again being out injured alongside fellow starters Mitchell and Strus, as well as replacement starter Dean Wade. None of them have season ending injuries though so if by some miracle they enter the play-offs relatively healthy I doubt they'd be an easy out for anyone in the east except for the Celtics (who by all means should make the finals).

"If by some miracle"... so simply by that I think the answer is a no. This team should be a lock to win a few games in the 2nd round. But in their current construction I would be surprised if they won any games in the first round regardless of opponent. I think they are being conservative with bringing guys back too early, considering everything that is riding on this season, but maybe that is jus the optimistic fan in me.

My bet is they struggle the rest of the RS, have a 50-50 shot of advancing, and are pretty easily dispatched by the Bucks or Celtics in the 2nd round.

[Doctor MJ]

Is it possible we're all kind of sleeping on the Cavaliers? Garland and Mobley were out for a long time in the middle of the season, with Mobley once again being out injured alongside fellow starters Mitchell and Strus, as well as replacement starter Dean Wade. None of them have season ending injuries though so if by some miracle they enter the play-offs relatively healthy I doubt they'd be an easy out for anyone in the east except for the Celtics (who by all means should make the finals).

I'm quite skeptical about their fit. I think probably one of Mitchell & Garland needs to go, and one of Allen & Mobley needs to go.

Incidentally, while I think it makes sense to say Mitchell is better than Garland, I'm irritated with the Cavs acquiring Mitchell to put next to Garland. I understand that they felt like they needed more than one playmaker, but I think you have to think harder about fit than that when you're talking about combining two small guards who aren't great at defense.

[Dr Positivity]

I missed that Zion averaged 3.8 rebounds per game in January (29 minutes). The round mound of rebound nickname needs to be inversed somehow.

[Peregrine01]

The clamp down on foul grifting is much much overdue. I’m skeptical how long it lasts as we inevitably start hearing complaints from players who’ve gotten way too used to the grift.

[penbeast0]

I missed that Zion averaged 3.8 rebounds per game in January (29 minutes). The round mound of rebound nickname needs to be inversed somehow.

Heck, he keeps the weight off, we probably have to lose the Round Mound part of it too. Anyway, it was Barkley's nickname first, let Chuckles keep it.

[Peregrine01]

The clamp down on foul grifting is much much overdue. I’m skeptical how long it lasts as we inevitably start hearing complaints from players who’ve gotten way too used to the grift.

So over a month has passed since the all-star break and I was curious to see whose free throw rate and scoring efficiency has dropped the most. Some notable ones:

SGA: FTR down from 45% pre-ASB to 38% post-ASB
Luka: 40% -> 31%
Dame: 44% -> 27%
KD: 33% -> 29%
Harden: 44% -> 39%
Butler: 60% -> 49%

As for efficiency, the TS% changes are as follows:

SGA: -2.1
Luka: -1.9
Dame: +1.5
KD: -7.8
Harden: -4.2
Butler: -2.9

So pretty significant declines in both FTR and TS%. And wouldn't you know it - scoring's down a meaningful amount.

[Slava]

A healthy Jonathan Issac is a menace.

[Texas Chuck]

A healthy Jonathan Issac is a menace.

but sadly also a myth

[Slava]

A healthy Jonathan Issac is a menace.

but sadly also a myth

Yeah it does feel like there's an element of the Magic catching all the right breaks this season.