Around the NBA: 2020-21 Season

[TheSuzerain]

Probably from lack of open rosters spots, thanks GarPax

meh. That's on AK. He didn't have to keep some of these end of the bench bums.

Uncle Jerry probably doesn't want to pay to cut someone who is not on the team anymore without fans in the stands.

Nope. AK wouldn't have taken the job if he wasn't allowed to waive guys like Kornet/Felicio/Arci.

AK chose not to do that and it was quite clearly a mistake.

[Dieselbound&Down]

Watched Mavs v Celtics tonight. Neither team was impressive. Luka iced the game with a last second dagger, but for the final three minutes the Mav offense just stood around. No one moved, cut or passed. Total stagnant offense. Boston just looked all around good, but nothing special. They need more veteran leadership. Neither of these teams will do well in the playoffs.

Boston was missing Smart and Teague, our Slovenian wonderkid Luka knocked down two 3pt shots in decisive moments, clutch again, but before that he wasnt that sharp, Brunson was saving them until last minutes.

Eh, the Mavs were up 10 and Luka seemed content to play slow and make passes to let teammates make shots but took and made those shots when it counted. Those shots though big time

[sco]

Bring baq Shaq - saw he was cut.

[MrSparkle]

Bring baq Shaq - saw he was cut.

Why? It's so nice running line-ups with 4 or 5 guys capable of making offensive plays.

I mean, I'd take him over Kornet, but I don't see how he cracks a rotation already filled by 6 healthy guards.

[Bulls Fan 23]

Bring baq Shaq - saw he was cut.

We need to bring back Vonleh. He could help us out at the 4 and the 5 spot.

[mack2354]

meh. That's on AK. He didn't have to keep some of these end of the bench bums.

Uncle Jerry probably doesn't want to pay to cut someone who is not on the team anymore without fans in the stands.

Nope. AK wouldn't have taken the job if he wasn't allowed to waive guys like Kornet/Felicio/Arci.

AK chose not to do that and it was quite clearly a mistake.

I don't know if I would label it as a mistake. There was no way of knowing who sucked and who sucked b/c of Boylen. I was a firm believer that Thad Young was in sharp decline after watching him last season. I would have traded him for a protected 2nd round pick. Now he is probably our 2nd best player this season. Why waive Kornet/Felicio/Arci when they could have gotten better under a more competent coach. At this point I believe the smart thing to do is waive Kornet and try to bring in a more competant C but it's not too late to do that.

[CobyWhite0]

Uncle Jerry probably doesn't want to pay to cut someone who is not on the team anymore without fans in the stands.

Nope. AK wouldn't have taken the job if he wasn't allowed to waive guys like Kornet/Felicio/Arci.

AK chose not to do that and it was quite clearly a mistake.

I don't know if I would label it as a mistake. There was no way of knowing who sucked and who sucked b/c of Boylen. I was a firm believer that Thad Young was in sharp decline after watching him last season. I would have traded him for a protected 2nd round pick. Now he is probably our 2nd best player this season. Why waive Kornet/Felicio/Arci when they could have gotten better under a more competent coach. At this point I believe the smart thing to do is waive Kornet and try to bring in a more competant C but it's not too late to do that.

Don't waste your time, bro. If someone is complaining about the 13th, 14th and 15th men on your roster... all I can do is laugh, because it's an absolute joke. I don't know where to begin. But I'll try.

When everyone is healthy, Felicio and Luke are inactive. What kind of difference-maker do you think you can sign with a "hey, would you like to sign here to be #6 in our big man rotation? Yeah, we have Lauri and WCJ and Thad and PWill and Gafford ahead of you, but you don't really want any playing time, do you?"

In other words, NBA players want playing time.

Felicio's expiring contract is much, much more valuable than having a cheaper cheerleader to replace him. End of story.

Kornet can be waived and replaced at any time. So can Arch.

Obviously, if you're saying it's "quite clearly a mistake" that your front office didn't change the 13th, 14th and 15th players on your roster, you are looking far and wide for something to complain about. And obviously, you're not happy with all the success this team has had of late.

[DASMACKDOWN]

I think the Boston situation is pretty simple. Not having Marcus smart is a HUGE loss for them. That and Kemba Walker has secretly turned into a 6 foot Blake Griffin.

Kemba under the radar is having one of his worst seasons in his career. Kemba was never an efficient scorer but he is shooting 37% from the field right now. His defense was never a strong suit but its even worse this year.

Its obvious his knees are on their way out. He is trying his best with treatments and stuff, but I am not sure if he will actually bounce back. And he goes 31 in May.

If the Celtics flame out this year, I wouldnt be surprised if Ainge decides to finally give up some of the draft equity he has earned to actually get out of Kemba's contract. Kemba has 2 full seasons left with a player option.

[KissedByaRose1]

I think the Boston situation is pretty simple. Not having Marcus smart is a HUGE loss for them. That and Kemba Walker has secretly turned into a 6 foot Blake Griffin.

Kemba under the radar is having one of his worst seasons in his career. Kemba was never an efficient scorer but he is shooting 37% from the field right now. His defense was never a strong suit but its even worse this year.

Its obvious his knees are on their way out. He is trying his best with treatments and stuff, but I am not sure if he will actually bounce back. And he goes 31 in May.

If the Celtics flame out this year, I wouldnt be surprised if Ainge decides to finally give up some of the draft equity he has earned to actually get out of Kemba's contract. Kemba has 2 full seasons left with a player option.

Yep this is it. Very injured and some bad luck. They're still a class above us i believe even with a gimpy Kemba but we may have a real shot in placing higher in standings than them if we keep taking care of business against bad teams.

If Stevens ends up leaving that would be terrible for them and really hurt their chances long term. Forget this year that guy is still a top 3 coach IMO.

[Andi Obst]

Houston is in an interesting spot with the deadline approaching. They should definitely tank and have quite a few guys who could be interesting for good teams. It’s remarkable how much basically everything in that franchise has changed within one year.

[kodo]

Despite all losses for Boston, in terms of offensive rating it's almost identical to last season. They are only scoring 1.1 points less per 100. The offense is almost the same, at least within reasonable variance.

I think what's happening to Boston and to some extent Miami is context, the EC isn't just a pile of flaming dumpster fires anymore. That Boston offense last year was 4th in the league, and it's now 14th because so many teams have improved especially in the EC. Detroit is the worst team in our conference and they've knocked off the Nets, Miami, and beat Boston twice. Knicks, Bulls, and Atlanta aren't jokes anymore. Even Washington improved at least enough to knock Boston off as well.

[R3AL1TY]

The Hornets are looking better with Lamelo starting. Even though the refs tried to screw them in the end against the Suns, they outplayed them.

[Grodoboldo]

I think the Boston situation is pretty simple. Not having Marcus smart is a HUGE loss for them. That and Kemba Walker has secretly turned into a 6 foot Blake Griffin.

Kemba under the radar is having one of his worst seasons in his career. Kemba was never an efficient scorer but he is shooting 37% from the field right now. His defense was never a strong suit but its even worse this year.

Its obvious his knees are on their way out. He is trying his best with treatments and stuff, but I am not sure if he will actually bounce back. And he goes 31 in May.

If the Celtics flame out this year, I wouldnt be surprised if Ainge decides to finally give up some of the draft equity he has earned to actually get out of Kemba's contract. Kemba has 2 full seasons left with a player option.

Yep this is it. Very injured and some bad luck. They're still a class above us i believe even with a gimpy Kemba but we may have a real shot in placing higher in standings than them if we keep taking care of business against bad teams.

If Stevens ends up leaving that would be terrible for them and really hurt their chances long term. Forget this year that guy is still a top 3 coach IMO.

Also, getting Tristran Thompson was a pretty dumb move. They'd be much better with a competent wing off the bench anda serviceable minimum salary center

[VolumePoster]

I think the Boston situation is pretty simple. Not having Marcus smart is a HUGE loss for them. That and Kemba Walker has secretly turned into a 6 foot Blake Griffin.

Kemba under the radar is having one of his worst seasons in his career. Kemba was never an efficient scorer but he is shooting 37% from the field right now. His defense was never a strong suit but its even worse this year.

Its obvious his knees are on their way out. He is trying his best with treatments and stuff, but I am not sure if he will actually bounce back. And he goes 31 in May.

If the Celtics flame out this year, I wouldnt be surprised if Ainge decides to finally give up some of the draft equity he has earned to actually get out of Kemba's contract. Kemba has 2 full seasons left with a player option.

That will be interesting to follow. I live in Boston, unfortunately, and the amount of pressure the local media and fans place on the Celtics is steep. There are championship expectations at all times. And there is much rending of clothes and gnashing of teeth when those expectations aren’t met.

I’ve always found Danny to be an odious little s**t, so seeing them crash and burn would be particularly satisfying. True schadenfreude. With respect to the draft equity, the Bulls could benefit particularly if Kemba is willing to accept a less prominent role on the team. We do need a veteran point.

[Chicago-Bull-E]

Watching Utah surgically dismantle the Lakers was a fun treat. Just picked apart the defense for wide open three after three.

Funny that ESPN of course was pumping Lebron for MVP after AD went down, and that team has fallen on its face.

[Ice Man]

Funny that ESPN of course was pumping Lebron for MVP after AD went down, and that team has fallen on its face.

It takes two. Even for LeBron.

[drosestruts]

Funny that ESPN of course was pumping Lebron for MVP after AD went down, and that team has fallen on its face.

It takes two. Even for LeBron.

Schroder has also been out, so it's not just that AD went down. They're 2nd and 3rd best players are out and Wes Matthews while still playing, might as well not be. Dude's been pulling the Tony Snell out there. Just a ghost.

[cool007]

Man, Embiid is missing so many shots already in the 1st qtr, why he couldn't do that vs us??
Heck if he had only gotten 40 points instead of 50, we would have won.

[Indomitable]

Funny that ESPN of course was pumping Lebron for MVP after AD went down, and that team has fallen on its face.

It takes two. Even for LeBron.

His team has been getting beatdown.

[DASMACKDOWN]

Aint this crazy with Embiid?

He was 17-26 against us for 50pts

He has been 14-53 since!! And that is a 3 game total.

Man it makes you wonder, if Embiid was off and Zach played his normal Zach game, we could have stomped the Sixers.