Around The NBA : 21-22 Edition

[Michael Jackson]

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Awesome. Need those zach clips of him shaking his head at Jimbo.

[NecessaryEvil]

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[FriedRise]

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They got a couple ex Bulls too on that team.. Shaq Harrison and Luke Kornet (or if you ask Jim Boylen, Robert Horry)!

[kodo]

Kemba just got Thibodeau'd.

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[erlim]

Kemba just got Thibodeau'd.

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I haven't been following the Knicks this year, so I had no idea there were issues big enough to bench their big FA signing. But then again, Kemba Walker never did seem the type of personality to click in Thib's system.

[SalmonsSuperfan]

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it's so absurd to me that someone might actually have to duck while dunking a basketball or otherwise they might hit their head against the rim/backboard.

in other news, there's so much to like about the nba this season. lots of new teams to look out for, lots of young guys coming on, lots of parity...can anyone believe the 11th seed in the eastern conference is above .500???

[Grodoboldo]

Cavs with a fairly convincing win over the poorly coached Mavs, with Markannen having a big game (and Kidd not realizing you can guard Lauri with a wing, especially if he is being played at the 3).

Kidd is so bad, still can't believe they hired him. They'll waste a couple of years of Luka and alienate him in the process.

[Grodoboldo]

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it's so absurd to me that someone might actually have to duck while dunking a basketball or otherwise they might hit their head against the rim/backboard.

in other news, there's so much to like about the nba this season. lots of new teams to look out for, lots of young guys coming on, lots of parity...can anyone believe the 11th seed in the eastern conference is above .500???

Yeah, the East is crazy right now. I truly believe we could have 3 or fewer victories between the 4th and the 10th seed by the end of season.

[TheFinishSniper]

Cavs with a fairly convincing win over the poorly coached Mavs, with Markannen having a big game (and Kidd not realizing you can guard Lauri with a wing, especially if he is being played at the 3).

Kidd is so bad, still can't believe they hired him. They'll waste a couple of years of Luka and alienate him in the process.

Hope so and Bulls be destination in free agency.

[Grodoboldo]

Cavs with a fairly convincing win over the poorly coached Mavs, with Markannen having a big game (and Kidd not realizing you can guard Lauri with a wing, especially if he is being played at the 3).

Kidd is so bad, still can't believe they hired him. They'll waste a couple of years of Luka and alienate him in the process.

Hope so and Bulls be destination in free agency.

I was so disappointed when we didn't win the lottery that year, I wanted Luka so bad!!!!!

Then I was disgusted with the talk that GarPax wanted Bagley (I think he was 10th on my board that year, or something like that).

On draft day, I remember entering the elevator in my building to get my pizza, losing connection, getting my pizza from the guy, firing up Twitter while waiting for the elevator to go back up, a seeing the Woj tweet about the Atlanta/Dallas deal. Just crushing!

[dougthonus]

Fair enough. Definitely agree to disagree. They've lapped the competition so far. You say small sample size, but we're 25% of the way through the season at this point.

20 games isn't a tiny sample size, but not enough that I fully believe in them yet at this level overall.

We obviously differ wildly on the perceived impact of Klay Thompson pre-injury if you say he was nowhere close to a top 75 all time player, which most people around the NBA do.

Top 75 Snub lists I could google:
https://hoopshype.com/lists/the-biggest-snubs-on-the-nbas-list-of-75-greatest-players-of-all-time/
https://clutchpoints.com/nbas-top-75-all-time-list-snubs-ranked-for-your-pleasure/
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/who-were-the-biggest-snubs-on-the-nba-75-team/12ftkrq3gadl61qy0atjewe7yh

There are a few mentions of him in various things (google's aggregate snub list that pops up to a link that is subscriber only seems to have him on it).

Generally speaking, I don't think he's close. I don't think there is a year in the NBA that I would have had Thompson as a top 10 player and possibly not even a top 15 player but maybe he cracked that once or twice. Just a guy that I think was in the right place at the right time but isn't actually all that special. Granted, if he comes back to how he was, he'd still help the Warriors a ton. If he came back as a top 75 guy in the league right now (not all time), that'd still help the Warriors a ton.

We'll see how he does when he comes back but I think he will be just fine. Achilles and ACL injuries are not going to affect one of the most fundamentally sound shooting strokes of all time.

What made Thompson great was not because he was a skilled shooter. If that's all it took, Kyle Korver or Steve Kerr could be all-stars. Thompson could defend, attack in transition, and had the speed to get run around screens and generate shots that most guys can't generate. He will need to come back strong athletically to continue to do those things and will also need to knock off 2.5 years of rust.

But either way, this will definitely be a fun post to revisit when the Warriors most likely win another title in 6 months.

Given my opinion is they are the team most likely to win the final, for me to feel you are right and they are a step above everyone, they will need to dominate the playoffs (ie, 5 game or less series, or 6 game series where they have close losses and dominant wins and the series doesn't actually feel close).

If that happens, I'll definitely feel you were right. If they win the title and have some close calls or lose then that matches up with my opinion of them being very close to the other teams and just being a bit better.

[MrSparkle]

Cavs with a fairly convincing win over the poorly coached Mavs, with Markannen having a big game (and Kidd not realizing you can guard Lauri with a wing, especially if he is being played at the 3).

Kidd is so bad, still can't believe they hired him. They'll waste a couple of years of Luka and alienate him in the process.

Strange turn for Mavs. I know they had the bad press come up about their organization, but it was surprising because they always seemed on top of most decisions (besides letting Nash and Chandler walk). But pretty much everything AFTER Luka’s draft and Dirk retiring has been a disaster. One of the best things an org can have is a stable excellent coach. Not sure what happened to make Carlisle want to move on from coaching Luka, but something stunk, and imo Kidd was the worst possible decision. Maybe the let Luka call that one- I dunno, but it was a mistake. If so, good things haven’t happened to teams letting their 22yo stars call the shots.

[Grodoboldo]

Cavs with a fairly convincing win over the poorly coached Mavs, with Markannen having a big game (and Kidd not realizing you can guard Lauri with a wing, especially if he is being played at the 3).

Kidd is so bad, still can't believe they hired him. They'll waste a couple of years of Luka and alienate him in the process.

Strange turn for Mavs. I know they had the bad press come up about their organization, but it was surprising because they always seemed on top of most decisions (besides letting Nash and Chandler walk). But pretty much everything AFTER Luka’s draft and Dirk retiring has been a disaster. One of the best things an org can have is a stable excellent coach. Not sure what happened to make Carlisle want to move on from coaching Luka, but something stunk, and imo Kidd was the worst possible decision. Maybe the let Luka call that one- I dunno, but it was a mistake. If so, good things haven’t happened to teams letting their 22yo stars call the shots.

Besides from Carlisle (who I agree is a great coach), wasn't Don Nelson Jr also a good "basketball mind" as a GM/VP? (I'm not getting into the cluster **** that apparently was their HR)

[dougthonus]

Kidd is so bad, still can't believe they hired him. They'll waste a couple of years of Luka and alienate him in the process.

Strange turn for Mavs. I know they had the bad press come up about their organization, but it was surprising because they always seemed on top of most decisions (besides letting Nash and Chandler walk). But pretty much everything AFTER Luka’s draft and Dirk retiring has been a disaster. One of the best things an org can have is a stable excellent coach. Not sure what happened to make Carlisle want to move on from coaching Luka, but something stunk, and imo Kidd was the worst possible decision. Maybe the let Luka call that one- I dunno, but it was a mistake. If so, good things haven’t happened to teams letting their 22yo stars call the shots.

Besides from Carlisle (who I agree is a great coach), wasn't Don Nelson Jr also a good "basketball mind" as a GM/VP? (I'm not getting into the cluster **** that apparently was their HR)

Remember that Kidd was an important figure in their title, so they may have liked him and ignored his coaching career prior.

It's hard for me to guess how good Don Nelson Jr is as a basketball mind, how could anyone know really? Carlisle may have simply reached his expiration date as a coach for this team or maybe even in general. It's not like the Pacers are smashing expectations under him so far.

I wouldn't have hired Kidd if I were the Mavs, but I can understand separating from Carlisle.

FO people are historically very difficult to judge, but what has the Dallas FO done well other than drafting Luka in the past decade? The idea to trade for Porzingis was a completely disaster. Beyond the fact that they haven't made any good deals, they got lucky to not get destroyed on two bad deals with Noel and DeAndre turning down their massive dollars.

[Michael Jackson]

With Dallas, the Gambler Bob was a thing for sure, but I think a lot of people in Dallas were ready to move on for Carlisle (like people were ready for Thibs to go). All in all I agree with Doug, I get the Carlisle change but not so much the Kidd hire. In fact he woukd be very very far down my list.

[DASMACKDOWN]

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[Grodoboldo]

FO people are historically very difficult to judge, but what has the Dallas FO done well other than drafting Luka in the past decade? The idea to trade for Porzingis was a completely disaster. Beyond the fact that they haven't made any good deals, they got lucky to not get destroyed on two bad deals with Noel and DeAndre turning down their massive dollars.

I'm not really sure, and I very much might be off on this, but for some reason I had them as one of the first FOs to talk about spread P&R and small ball. Them and GS, even going back to that Monta and Steph backcourt.

Going back to the Kidd subject, he's one of those guys that I absolutely would not give another chance to, the others being Mark Jackson and Jimbo. All of them have a mixture of complicated locker room dynamics (that book about Giannis has a lot of weird stuff about Kidd) and a fixation on dated basketball strategies.

[dabig3]

I'm really happy for LaMarcus Aldridge this season. Went from being retired to being a big piece on a contender(?) while putting up solid numbers.

https://www.netsdaily.com/2021/11/29/22807930/for-nets-lamarcus-aldridge-has-become-essential-personnel

LaMarcus Aldridge is not a luxury. He is a necessity, essential personnel.

As Alex Schiffer writes Monday, LMA (or LA, your preference) has gone from a feel-good story in August to an “X-factor” in November as the Nets re-jigger things to compensate for the absence of Kyrie Irving, injury and illness.

There’s other data out there that shows just how big a deal his return from premature retirement has been. He leads the NBA in midrange shooting percentage at 61 percent, for example. He’s averaging 22.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per 36 minutes with shooting splits of 58/38/79 in 19 games. Overall, that’s considerably better than his five-game sample last season when his per-36 numbers were 17.7 points and 6.6 with splits of 52/80/100 in five appearances. Then, there’s the eye test.

“He looks amazing,” Kevin Durant, Aldridge’s longtime friend, said recently, as Schiffer notes.

Schiffer also writes that before he retired last year after experiencing heart arrhythmia that he considered taking what would have been a leave of absence.

“I just felt like that was the cleanest thing I could do for myself mentally and for the guys here was just to walk away,” Aldridge told Schiffer. “They knew I was done. I wouldn’t be in the back of their minds as things went on, and I had the time and could just figure it out.”

It wasn’t until after the season, after disappointment and some depression, that he began the long process of coming back, starting with getting tested and monitored. Then, after passing that milestone, there was medical approval, from his own doctors as well as those for the NBA and the Nets. As Schiffer has written in the past, he got initial pushback from both his agent, Jeff Schwartz, and his friend and Nets GM Sean Marks.

But with green flags flying all around, the 36-year-old made his decision. The Nets were his only real choice. Whatever doubt there was, it evaporated with his “aha” moment, the Nets big win over the 76ers.

Slowly but surely, Aldridge “built” on that and this last week, he moved into the starting lineup, In his last five games, he’s averaging 19.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and a block in nearly 29 minutes. He’s shooting 58.1 percent overall.

Shame he was basically only considering the Nets because he was basically the perfect piece for a Bulls team lacking sizable depth at the 4/5. And he would've fit in great when Vuc was missing games.

But all that said, happy for him and hope he continues soaring - just not when he plays the Bulls lol.

[dice]

Fair enough. Definitely agree to disagree. They've lapped the competition so far. You say small sample size, but we're 25% of the way through the season at this point.

We obviously differ wildly on the perceived impact of Klay Thompson pre-injury if you say he was nowhere close to a top 75 all time player, which most people around the NBA do.

Generally speaking, I don't think he's close. I don't think there is a year in the NBA that I would have had Thompson as a top 10 player and possibly not even a top 15 player but maybe he cracked that once or twice. Just a guy that I think was in the right place at the right time but isn't actually all that special. Granted, if he comes back to how he was, he'd still help the Warriors a ton. If he came back as a top 75 guy in the league right now (not all time), that'd still help the Warriors a ton.

if a quarter of a season is considered sufficient sample size, wouldn't that indicate that klay's contribution to the warriors championships was overrated given what they've done this season w/o him? that would track w/ the advanced stats, which suggest that he's a severely overrated defender. he probably wouldn't be as effective a scorer outside of the golden state offense either given that he doesn't do it off the dribble

[DASMACKDOWN]

Needless to say I am still really peeved on Otto Porter Jr.

I bet he plays more this season for the Warriors then his whole tenure in Chicago - 3 years. That was stealth one of the worst deals GarPax ever made.

We have far moved on but that still stings because I feel he just took advantage of us. He made excuses not to play.