Around the NBA V: Live and Let Die

[FNQ]

They put up a wall and Giannis tries to force it a few times. But the Bucks shooters aren't getting clean looks either.

Celtics role players are playing great. They've done it through 2 series and no reason they won't continue. White looked bad on his 3-point shots but now he's getting confidence too.

And Horford has rolled back the clock though the theory is that he didn't play much at OKC before being traded back to the Celtics.


Bucks picked up a lot of discarded role players who've done okay in their system but they have a top-heavy roster with 3 max contracts.

Bucks looked a lot more human w/o Middleton

Take Holiday off the team too and they're what, a first-round exit kinda team?

Also props to Myers for building a great roster with a lot of league min deals

[Coxy]

Doncic has something about him that makes people foul him. He sells the crap out of it, but if you reach on him he is a master of making you hit his arms and wide hips. He reminds me so much of the Rockets Harden days.

[Onus]

Been saying this phx team was not scary and wow are they going out in a legendary way

[FNQ]

Been saying this phx team was not scary and wow are they going out in a legendary way

Booker's arguably not leading man material on an elite team, and if thats the case.. there are a lot of dominos that can fall here

Mavs team is built pretty well and gives us the tougher challenge for sure, but watching Dray and Wiggins take turns on Luka is gonna be tons of fun

Dinwiddie's gonna be a problem though. Even our best setup has Dray on Luka, Wiggins on Brunson.. then who's left on Dinwiddie? Curry, Klay or Poole

[Onus]

Been saying this phx team was not scary and wow are they going out in a legendary way

Booker's arguably not leading man material on an elite team, and if thats the case.. there are a lot of dominos that can fall here

Mavs team is built pretty well and gives us the tougher challenge for sure, but watching Dray and Wiggins take turns on Luka is gonna be tons of fun

Dinwiddie's gonna be a problem though. Even our best setup has Dray on Luka, Wiggins on Brunson.. then who's left on Dinwiddie? Curry, Klay or Poole

We've seen switching defense just stops cp3 in his tracks that's why I wasn't scared of PHX. Then you're just left with Booker and Book doesn't get easy shots.

Mavs actually play us much better because of their switching defense. Luka is going to put up a lot of points against us. I'm actually ok with putting klay on Luka, Luka doesn't have a ton of speed and really just muscles people which klay is better at currently. We're really going to miss gp against them though as you should've been able to put gp on one of them.

[and1GS]

I am like a pig in **** right now watching CP3 get smacked around while being a total 0 on both ends. You thought Jordan Poole was a bad defender? Have you seen Chris in this game!? Never thought I'd see the day that a team would relentlessly hunt--and score on---Chris **** Paul but here we are.

[and1GS]

Been saying this phx team was not scary and wow are they going out in a legendary way

Booker's arguably not leading man material on an elite team, and if thats the case.. there are a lot of dominos that can fall here

Mavs team is built pretty well and gives us the tougher challenge for sure, but watching Dray and Wiggins take turns on Luka is gonna be tons of fun

Dinwiddie's gonna be a problem though. Even our best setup has Dray on Luka, Wiggins on Brunson.. then who's left on Dinwiddie? Curry, Klay or Poole

Wait...is that JTA's music!?!?!?!

lmao jk it's not

[Coxy]

Marquisse Chriss now raining 3's on the Suns. One of the biggest beat downs I've ever seen in the NBA. Even bigger and more dominant than our loss at Memphis. Glad the Suns took the spotlight off that performance from us, lol.

Well, I got what I wanted, we play Dallas. Not sure that's a good thing now after this.

[Coxy]

I am like a pig in **** right now watching CP3 get smacked around while being a total 0 on both ends. You thought Jordan Poole was a bad defender? Have you seen Chris in this game!? Never thought I'd see the day that a team would relentlessly hunt--and score on---Chris **** Paul but here we are.

The Mavs aren't a fast team, yet the Suns couldn't stay in front of anyone. Very odd performance from them. What did the coach of the year say to them pre-game?

[Onus]

I am like a pig in **** right now watching CP3 get smacked around while being a total 0 on both ends. You thought Jordan Poole was a bad defender? Have you seen Chris in this game!? Never thought I'd see the day that a team would relentlessly hunt--and score on---Chris **** Paul but here we are.

Mavs will be hunting curry and poole all series long.

[michaelm]

The Suns would be the easier match for us, fwiw, but the Mavs one is gonna be so much more fun

GSW do have HCA in whatever series they may compete in going forward.

[and1GS]

I am like a pig in **** right now watching CP3 get smacked around while being a total 0 on both ends. You thought Jordan Poole was a bad defender? Have you seen Chris in this game!? Never thought I'd see the day that a team would relentlessly hunt--and score on---Chris **** Paul but here we are.

Mavs will be hunting curry and poole all series long.

I don't see how that's any different than what anyone else has tried to do to us. In fact, that was all the Rockets did against us for what, 5 years?

You can hunt, but if we get creative in bringing a second man instead of leaving those guys on an island I'm confident we can work around our deficiencies.

It's also important to note this Mavs team isn't a juggernaut (no team really was this year TBH). They are absurdly reliant on Luka. Bullock and Finney-Smith are generally 0s on offense away from home. Powell gets played off the floor quite often. And beyond Kleber and Dinwiddie, you're just praying you can steal a few extra minutes with that bench unit. And Dinwiddie was bad until these last two games.

Every team at this point is good. I don't look at the Mavs and see an insurmountable feat. They are equally as exploitable as we are.

[Onus]

I am like a pig in **** right now watching CP3 get smacked around while being a total 0 on both ends. You thought Jordan Poole was a bad defender? Have you seen Chris in this game!? Never thought I'd see the day that a team would relentlessly hunt--and score on---Chris **** Paul but here we are.

Mavs will be hunting curry and poole all series long.

I don't see how that's any different than what anyone else has tried to do to us. In fact, that was all the Rockets did against us for what, 5 years?

You can hunt, but if we get creative in bringing a second man instead of leaving those guys on an island I'm confident we can work around our deficiencies.

It's also important to note this Mavs team isn't a juggernaut (no team really was this year TBH). They are absurdly reliant on Luka. Bullock and Finney-Smith are generally 0s on offense away from home. Powell gets played off the floor quite often. And beyond Kleber and Dinwiddie, you're just praying you can steal a few extra minutes with that bench unit. And Dinwiddie was bad until these last two games.

Every team at this point is good. I don't look at the Mavs and see an insurmountable feat. They are equally as exploitable as we are.

Oh yea I still got us going to the finals.

It's more so having Poole and Curry on the floor at the same time. Our rotations are getting mighty thin with GP out and who knows how long OPJ is out for.

Curry/Klay/Wiggins/Draymond/Looney

Poole/Bjelica/Lee/Kuminga is our bench

[DevinVassell]

Love seeing Luka take down the Suns. All time great in the making. Any date on a GPII return?

[Onus]

Losing so badly this could spell the end for the suns if Sarver chooses to not pay Ayton.

[wco81]

Losing so badly this could spell the end for the suns if Sarver chooses to not pay Ayton.

If they ran it back with mostly the same core, they will threaten 60 games again.

But maybe not have Paul start every game possible, including back to backs.

They probably went too hard trying to set the regular season franchise record for wins.

IIRC, Booker never went off against the Warriors. And in the playoffs, he'd have these monster games but not every game, maybe every other game or every other 2 games.

Now there's all kind of second-guessing about them picking Ayton over Luka. Sure that was a mistake but letting Ayton walk for nothing would be an even bigger mistake. He may not be a great player but he's still a key part of the core that reached the Finals and his efficiency was a major reason why.

Not sure what kind of assets they could get for a sign and trade.

[Onus]

Losing so badly this could spell the end for the suns if Sarver chooses to not pay Ayton.

If they ran it back with mostly the same core, they will threaten 60 games again.

But maybe not have Paul start every game possible, including back to backs.

They probably went too hard trying to set the regular season franchise record for wins.

IIRC, Booker never went off against the Warriors. And in the playoffs, he'd have these monster games but not every game, maybe every other game or every other 2 games.

Now there's all kind of second-guessing about them picking Ayton over Luka. Sure that was a mistake but letting Ayton walk for nothing would be an even bigger mistake. He may not be a great player but he's still a key part of the core that reached the Finals and his efficiency was a major reason why.

Not sure what kind of assets they could get for a sign and trade.

I really can’t see cheap owner Sarver going into the tax for a team that lost game 7 by 50 in the second round. Ayton will probably get signed and traded for draft picks.

[FNQ]

Losing so badly this could spell the end for the suns if Sarver chooses to not pay Ayton.

If they ran it back with mostly the same core, they will threaten 60 games again.

But maybe not have Paul start every game possible, including back to backs.

They probably went too hard trying to set the regular season franchise record for wins.

IIRC, Booker never went off against the Warriors. And in the playoffs, he'd have these monster games but not every game, maybe every other game or every other 2 games.

Now there's all kind of second-guessing about them picking Ayton over Luka. Sure that was a mistake but letting Ayton walk for nothing would be an even bigger mistake. He may not be a great player but he's still a key part of the core that reached the Finals and his efficiency was a major reason why.

Not sure what kind of assets they could get for a sign and trade.

I really can’t see cheap owner Sarver going into the tax for a team that lost game 7 by 50 in the second round. Ayton will probably get signed and traded for draft picks.

It might be the right call.. turn around and use picks/assets to try and get a star to play next to Booker and Bridges. Ayton is a dying breed.. if you draft a player like that, that player has to be elite, or its likely not a good pick. Here are the remaining Cs in the playoffs, 1st and 2nd string, and how they were acquired

Warriors:
Kevon Looney (30th pick)
Nemo (league min)

Mavs:
Dwight Powell (45th pick)
Maxi Kleber (international FA)

Celtics:
Al Horford (traded in a salary dump style move)
Robert Williams (27th pick)

Heat:
Bam (13th pick)
Dewayne Dedmon (league min)

Goes to show we're not immune to bad logic at times - Wiseman will have to become a defensive madman that can play with the closing lineup to even begin to justify it - but the entire league, at least the successful part of it, is moving away from putting significant assets towards the position. And just for fun, lets look at the 4 teams ousted in the 2nd round and their situation

Memphis:
Steven Adams (trade, salary filler, considered a negative contract)
Xaiver Tillman/large Moses Moody (35th pick)
JJJ (4th pick) - listed here even though he's mostly a PF, but should evolve into a C. A rare hit on a big man with early pick

Suns:
Ayton (1st overall)
Javale McGee (FA signing, 2 year 10m)

Bucks:
Bobby Portis (FA signing, 2 year 9m)
Brook Lopez (FA signing 4 year, 52m)

Philly:
Joel Embiid (3rd pick, another rare hit on a big man with an early pick)
DeAndre Jordan (league min)

EVEN if you wind up hitting on a big man, its far from this massive advantage that tilts the scales. Those days are gone. The smart teams are trending towards devaluing the position like the Warriors have for years, a lot of the time, against fan wishes.

[Onus]

If they ran it back with mostly the same core, they will threaten 60 games again.

But maybe not have Paul start every game possible, including back to backs.

They probably went too hard trying to set the regular season franchise record for wins.

IIRC, Booker never went off against the Warriors. And in the playoffs, he'd have these monster games but not every game, maybe every other game or every other 2 games.

Now there's all kind of second-guessing about them picking Ayton over Luka. Sure that was a mistake but letting Ayton walk for nothing would be an even bigger mistake. He may not be a great player but he's still a key part of the core that reached the Finals and his efficiency was a major reason why.

Not sure what kind of assets they could get for a sign and trade.

I really can’t see cheap owner Sarver going into the tax for a team that lost game 7 by 50 in the second round. Ayton will probably get signed and traded for draft picks.

It might be the right call.. turn around and use picks/assets to try and get a star to play next to Booker and Bridges. Ayton is a dying breed.. if you draft a player like that, that player has to be elite, or its likely not a good pick. Here are the remaining Cs in the playoffs, 1st and 2nd string, and how they were acquired

Warriors:
Kevon Looney (30th pick)
Nemo (league min)

Mavs:
Dwight Powell (45th pick)
Maxi Kleber (international FA)

Celtics:
Al Horford (traded in a salary dump style move)
Robert Williams (27th pick)

Heat:
Bam (13th pick)
Dewayne Dedmon (league min)

Goes to show we're not immune to bad logic at times - Wiseman will have to become a defensive madman that can play with the closing lineup to even begin to justify it - but the entire league, at least the successful part of it, is moving away from putting significant assets towards the position. And just for fun, lets look at the 4 teams ousted in the 2nd round and their situation

Memphis:
Steven Adams (trade, salary filler, considered a negative contract)
Xaiver Tillman/large Moses Moody (35th pick)
JJJ (4th pick) - listed here even though he's mostly a PF, but should evolve into a C. A rare hit on a big man with early pick

Suns:
Ayton (1st overall)
Javale McGee (FA signing, 2 year 10m)

Bucks:
Bobby Portis (FA signing, 2 year 9m)
Brook Lopez (FA signing 4 year, 52m)

Philly:
Joel Embiid (3rd pick, another rare hit on a big man with an early pick)
DeAndre Jordan (league min)

EVEN if you wind up hitting on a big man, its far from this massive advantage that tilts the scales. Those days are gone. The smart teams are trending towards devaluing the position like the Warriors have for years, a lot of the time, against fan wishes.

Agreed. Way too hard to win with a drop center. Players are too good at shooting off the dribble now.

[floppymoose]

Read on Twitter