Around the NBA: 2020-21 Season

[Southpaw]

The Nets look damn good. Easily the best in the East.

Nets are clearly the most talented team in the East but also the most vulnerable to injuries and mental hiccups.

Agreed, specially the health part. The mental part might be a little bit overstated but we'll see.

Man, still so crazy to me. Same exact rebuild time for ATL and MEM. These rosters are MILES ahead of CHI.

For every dumpster fire pick, signing and trade GarPax made, ATL and MEM made a great move.

I get what you're saying but to me it goes to show how important getting a superstar type talent is. Remove Ja and Trae on both teams and I don't think they're that much further than us.

That said, it looks like ATL's wing are developing really well. Huerter/Reddish/Hunter are a good future wing rotation.

[nomorezorro]

botching the tank in the last good tank year is really gonna haunt this team for a while, huh

[Leslie Forman]

I'll eat crow on Cam Reddish. He won't ever be a star or anything, but after college and most of last season he looked like someone who'd be playing in China after his rookie deal. He actually looks like a potentially high level role player now though. It's like night and day compared to how he used to look.

If he keeps it up, that's gonna be maybe the most "F your stats" development I've ever seen. Just a really, really strange development curve for a non-point guard.

[DASMACKDOWN]

I am not even sure if we arent already the worst team in the East and or league.

Cavs has nice young talent and 2 allstar players. Detroit still has Blake and D Rose. The East is much tougher on the backend of the conference.

[dice]

These Hawks are basically the new Splash Bro Warriors. Perhaps 1-2 years and a move away from contending. Their entire rotation besides Bogdanovic & Gallo is under 23, which is ridiculous, because they play very smart system defense and offense.

Given Mavs'' slightly dead-end roster and bad luck with Porzingis' injury, I'd bet on ATL winning a ring (22-24) sooner than DAL.

it's hard for me to see the hawks becoming legit contenders w/ trae as their best player given how bad his defense is and how undesirable a location atlanta is for potential star acquisitions. i guess the best comparison point would be isaiah thomas's celtics. very good team w/ excellent coach that lacked a second star

[dice]

it'd be awesome if some rogue ref just started calling phantom fouls on floppers. delicious irony

[MrSparkle]

Body language not looking great in PHX. They look like ceiling spar partners for the Kings.

I really think CP3 benefitted from some ideal circumstances in OKC. Contract year for Gallinari, extension year for prime Schroder & Adams, breakout year for Shai. Large and athletic team that bought into Billy's coaching and Paul's leadership. Low expectations; small market.

PHX was stupid to make that trade, especially considering Oubre and Rubio EACH netted extra FRPs for OKC on their follow-up deals, and they also gave up their 22 FRP. You're not making your defense better with a 35yo PG, even if he's an organizational genius. Ayton is a downgrade from Adams and Baynes. Booker isn't Shai, a guy who hustled hard off-the-ball.

At this point Presti's serial killing with the FRP flips.

Also glad the Bulls didn't actually go down the road of trading an FRP for one of these guys to "fill the missing PG piece of the puzzle." Cause you know, Lauri, Wendell and Zach need a 6'3 guy to tell them where to stand and rotate on defense.

[cjbulls]

Also glad the Bulls didn't actually go down the road of trading an FRP for one of these guys to "fill the missing PG piece of the puzzle." Cause you know, Lauri, Wendell and Zach need a 6'3 guy to tell them where to stand and rotate on defense.

The PG was for the offense

[R3AL1TY]

I think the diva narrative is way overblown just bcuz its the mainstream media hot takes.

At every stop former teammates are still on good terms with them (Steph and KD, Kyrie and Smart etc). They may both have “weird” or unconventional personalities, but that in and of itself is grossly represented in a way Id characterize as slander. We dont see the media saying Lebrons a bad teammate for wanting to trade the entire team for AD just 2 seasons ago didnt we?

i'd say that KD is clearly much more hypersensitive than he is a diva

as for kyrie...why did he ask to leave cleveland? why did he leave boston? i think that any reasonable answer to those questions leads to a very fair categorization of diva. though there's some humility as well as evidenced by his apology of sorts to lebron ("harder than i realized to be a leader" or whatever it was)

I dont doubt that KD is sensitive, but so are most of today’s superstars save for Kawhi. Its a byproduct of social media and today’s world.

As for Kyrie, he was and still is disrespected too much for the heavy lifting he did as a Cav. Also knowing how Lebron jumps ship once every 4 years, I think it was absolutely the right decision to leave Lebron before Lebron could ditch him.

In Boston, the Celtics’s timeline was at a crossroads. You had young players who wanted more shine, and in particular Terry Rozier was apparently the real locker toom issue catalyst. Kyrie with his unconventional personality and flat earth comments was just low hanging fruit. Combine that with how Bron fans love to hate on Kyrie to prop up Lbj then its no surprise to see what Kyrie can do when motivated and healthy.

I agree with this about Kyrie, but to think he is not a diva, I wouldn't give him the benefit of the doubt because remember, he was "the man" before Lebron came back to Cleveland, and I'm sure that situation rubbed him the wrong way, especially when you add the aftermath of what you mentioned + him not wanting to be 2nd fiddle to unproven stars in Boston. Then when you see him have quotes like "I don't really see us having a head coach" and him mainly talking about KD and not his teammates or the Nets in interviews prior to the season, you get the suggestion that it's all about him and who he sees at the same level as him now (KD).

But if the Nets put up plenty wins this season, I'm sure he will give the team credit, but if they turn out lackluster, I personally expect Kyrie to put them down in the media.

[MrSparkle]

Also glad the Bulls didn't actually go down the road of trading an FRP for one of these guys to "fill the missing PG piece of the puzzle." Cause you know, Lauri, Wendell and Zach need a 6'3 guy to tell them where to stand and rotate on defense.

The PG was for the offense

You’re not gonna win games giving up 40+ each quarter until garbage time. Doesn’t matter if CP3 put up 25/15.

[MGB8]

Jarret Culver with two straight good games. Vassell also looking good. Anthony Edwards starting to shine the offensive talent. And then there are the Bulls.

[sco]

Chriss out for year...How about Lauri to GS for their pick this season?

[CjayC]

I am not even sure if we arent already the worst team in the East and or league.

Cavs has nice young talent and 2 allstar players. Detroit still has Blake and D Rose. The East is much tougher on the backend of the conference.

Me and my brother were talking about this yesterday. Even when it comes to the Knicks, Lavine is the best of the bunch, but after him I'd arguably take more of the Knick players over the Bulls ones. If we're talking about just being ready to play right now.

[cjbulls]

Also glad the Bulls didn't actually go down the road of trading an FRP for one of these guys to "fill the missing PG piece of the puzzle." Cause you know, Lauri, Wendell and Zach need a 6'3 guy to tell them where to stand and rotate on defense.

The PG was for the offense

You’re not gonna win games giving up 40+ each quarter until garbage time. Doesn’t matter if CP3 put up 25/15.

Agreed. But I’d feel better if they at least had a competent offense. Even if the defense was this...whatever horrible thing you want to call it.

We still need to know what Lauri and Zach can be offensively with someone helping organize them offensively. There’s a few big decisions to make soon.

[Chi town]

Anyone watching this Mavs Clipps Massacre?

Luka up 50-18 in early 2nd.

[Chi town]

Jarret Culver with two straight good games. Vassell also looking good. Anthony Edwards starting to shine the offensive talent. And then there are the Bulls.

Culver is the guy I’d trade for. He has developed his shot and he playmakes. Think it too late though.

[ImSlower]

I thought the Mavs box score had to have been a typo. Clippers had to have partied really, really hard last night.

[Mk0]

I thought the Mavs box score had to have been a typo. Clippers had to have partied really, really hard last night.

74-25 with 1:15 left in the half. Absolutely bonkers.
Clippers need a point guard worse than we do.

[Andi Obst]

Dallas up 50 at the half in LA. Just as expected.

[Repeat 3-peat]

Dallas up 50 at the half in LA. Just as expected.

77-27

Biggest halftime deficit in an NBA game during the shot-clock era.