ATL - 20/21 Season

[KidA24]

Wowzaa three all stars, that is freakin insane. Brooklyn is going to absolutely crush it.

Not just all stars, MVPS... Irving hasn't won one and likely won't but he has been in the running. Barring implosion or injuries they will win the East, playoffs favor stars heavily. They can basically treat Irving like Rodman, let him have his personal time as long as he's ready for playoffs. That's probably preferable as it cuts down on injury likelihood and spreads touches around.

Irving has never gotten a single MVP vote. Not even from homer Boston sports writers.

[leroyjw10]

I have seen some people comparing this Nets team to the 2016-17 Warriors. One major difference - that Warriors team was 2nd on defense. I expect this Nets team to be bottom 5.

Steph, Klay and Draymond are also three of the most unselfish players in the game. Kyrie and Harden are two of the most selfish.

[raferfenix]

What do we think the Celtics’ best offer was?

"Yeah, we had conversations regarding James, not recently but yeah, we did have conversations," Ainge said. "We had numerous talks, but the price really wasn't changing. The price was really high for us, and it was something we really didn't want to do ... I think unanimously, we decided it wasn't time for us and it wasn't the price."

Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reported that the Celtics were the third team involved in trade discussions along with the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/261185/Danny-Ainge-Price-For-James-Harden-Was-Really-High-For-Us

[Ron Swanson]

How much do we wanna bet that the sticking point for him was something incredibly dumb like not wanting to deal Jaylen Brown, and instead they offered like 4-5 mid-late 1st's and Marcus Smart?

Never change Danny, never change.

[ReasonablySober]

Yea, them not giving up Brown was my first thought.

[MikeIsGood]

How much do we wanna bet that the sticking point for him was something incredibly dumb like not wanting to deal Jaylen Brown

I would imagine that was exactly it, and IMO that is not incredibly dumb.

[wallus]

Is there any high profile trade that Ainge isn't supposedly in on? So many articles about them not making a trade.

[emunney]

The Nets are clearly the team to beat, and we should be grateful for that, because we are a very bad matchup for them.

[Wonka]

Jaylen Brown is a great, still improving, still young player who is a locker room and cultural leader. James Harden is VERY great but none of those other descriptors could be used. I wouldn’t have included him for Harden either and it wouldn’t have been a hard call.

[humanrefutation]

I wonder if the Nets getting Harden will, in some ways, take the pressure off the Bucks in the postseason and possibly allow them to play with some more freedom instead of just tightening up and choking everything away. They're not going to be considered the favorites in a series against the Nets.

Durant is the only one of those three who scares me.

[ReasonablySober]

The Nets are clearly the team to beat, and we should be grateful for that, because we are a very bad matchup for them.

Not saying are or aren't, but what's your reasoning?

[Ron Swanson]

How much do we wanna bet that the sticking point for him was something incredibly dumb like not wanting to deal Jaylen Brown

I would imagine that was exactly it, and IMO that is not incredibly dumb.

You could insert any other superstar that's become available the past 4-5 years in place of Harden and the point remains the same. Ainge loves to hoard his mediocre assets, overvalue the potential of his young players to a fault, and treats fringe All-Star talent as untouchable. Tatum is the only guy he should view as a non-starter if the goal is to win championships.

[Wonka]

How much do we wanna bet that the sticking point for him was something incredibly dumb like not wanting to deal Jaylen Brown

I would imagine that was exactly it, and IMO that is not incredibly dumb.

You could insert any other superstar that's become available the past 4-5 years in place of Harden and the point remains the same. Ainge loves to hoard his mediocre assets, overvalue the potential of his young players to a fault, and treats fringe All-Star talent as untouchable. Tatum is the only guy he should view as a non-starter if the goal is to win championships.

He definitely is more than fringe All-Star these days. Jaylen Brown is putting up better numbers in year 5 than Kawhi Leonard did in years 6 and 7. His ceiling hasn’t been reached yet. Give the dude a few more years and he’s going to be really, really special. James Harden’s ceiling may be better than Brown’s ever will be, but Harden’s best years are behind him

[MikeIsGood]

I would imagine that was exactly it, and IMO that is not incredibly dumb.

You could insert any other superstar that's become available the past 4-5 years in place of Harden and the point remains the same. Ainge loves to hoard his mediocre assets, overvalue the potential of his young players to a fault, and treats fringe All-Star talent as untouchable. Tatum is the only guy he should view as a non-starter if the goal is to win championships.

He definitely is more than fringe All-Star these days. Jaylen Brown is putting up better numbers in year 5 than Kawhi Leonard did in years 6 and 7. His ceiling hasn’t been reached yet. Give the dude a few more years and he’s going to be really, really special. James Harden’s ceiling may be better than Brown’s ever will be, but Harden’s best years are behind him

Yeah, it's always baffled me how quickly people want to break up a 23/24 year old duo, especially given the progress they've shown and the players we now know they have become.

Ainge has plenty of faults, and yes he has too strongly stood his ground in some past trades, but not trading Jaylen Brown and multiple FRPs for a fat, alienating James Harden is most definitely not one of those times IMO.

Boston is first in the East right now BTW, lol.

[crowhead76]

I have a bad feeling Andre Drummond gets bought out and goes to the Nets.

[LUKE23]

Not saying are or aren't, but what's your reasoning?

He probably has his own analysis, but my reasoning is as follows:

1. Nets are probably the best matchup for Lopez in the East, they have Jordan, a non-perimeter defending, non floor-spacing big at C. He will either have come out on Lopez, leaving Giannis to feast on their poor perimeter D, or stay inside to try and help.
2. Our Big 3 matchup well defensively against theirs. Jrue can guard either Irving or Harden effectively (I would actually guess they throw him on Harden) with Giannis being able to matchup on Durant. Not sure how DDV would fare on Irving or Harden but he's no slouch defensively. Middleton can guard Harris or Green effectively.
3. Nets have nobody that can reasonably be expected to check Giannis at all, nor do the Nets have great personnel to build a "wall" like Toronto (Kawhi, Gasol, Siakam, OG) and Miami (Butler, Crowder, Bam). Harden/Irving/Harris are all very poor defensively, and if they throw Durant on him Giannis can abuse him inside.
4. Assuming they put Durant on Giannis, Middleton will absolutely destroy whoever they put on him.
5. Neither of their guards can stop Jrue from getting to the rim.

Essentially, the summary from above is that the Bucks are a much better defensive starting five than Brooklyn. Very good likelihood that Brooklyn ends up being the best 3 point shooting team in the NBA, but Bucks appear they will also be top 5. The difference is that they are well rounded on the other end, and Brooklyn is not.

[LUKE23]

And yes, the buyout market could definitely change things. Although Drummond over Jordan doesn't change much for them. He's an upgrade, but still presents the same issues Jordan does against us.

[wallus]

The Bucks absolutely need to win the buyout market.

[BucksFanSD]

And yes, the buyout market could definitely change things. Although Drummond over Jordan doesn't change much for them. He's an upgrade, but still presents the same issues Jordan does against us.

I think the Nets get a Center that can expose Lopez by playoffs. They have a $5.7M disabled exception for Dinwiddie.

[Ron Swanson]

Boston has Theis and Tristan Thompson. Sixers have Embiid and Dwight. Nets have DeAndre and *insert whatever mediocre big with their exception*. Miami has BAM! but he's not a floor-spacer. Those are probably the 4 other main East contenders (who cares about Indiana), right? Again, the amount of teams that people claim will "play Brook off the court" seems to be vastly overstated.