***Around The League 2018-2019 Thread***

[Note30]

Something Barkley said last week that I agree with. The West is weak this year. The Warriors are ELITE, Denver is pretty good. After that, everyone else is just good or solid and then mediocre. Look at all the teams I'd probably say.

GSW
Denver

Then the east for sure has better teams
Celtics
Sixers
Bucks
Raptors

All of them are probably better than any team out west except maybe Denver and that's debatable.

Houston
Utah
Lakers
Clippers
Spurs
Kings
Thunder
Mavericks

All of them have gaping holes. If the chemistry was good and we kept Butler we probably would be a top 4 team this season. speaking of Butler he has been racking up a lot of missed games lately, his body may be wearing down.

The Celtics are decent, but they wouldn't beat Houston (fully healthy), Thunder, Utah or the Spurs in 7 game series.

[Note30]

Something Barkley said last week that I agree with. The West is weak this year. The Warriors are ELITE, Denver is pretty good. After that, everyone else is just good or solid and then mediocre. Look at all the teams I'd probably say.

GSW
Denver

Then the east for sure has better teams
Celtics
Sixers
Bucks
Raptors

All of them are probably better than any team out west except maybe Denver and that's debatable.

Houston
Utah
Lakers
Clippers
Spurs
Kings
Thunder
Mavericks

All of them have gaping holes. If the chemistry was good and we kept Butler we probably would be a top 4 team this season. speaking of Butler he has been racking up a lot of missed games lately, his body may be wearing down.

The Celtics are decent, but they wouldn't beat Houston (fully healthy), Thunder, Utah or the Spurs in 7 game series.

I also don't think the Sixers would beat the Thunder or a fully healthy Houston in a 7 game series.

[Klomp]

Weekend Whoopsies are always a good laugh....

Watch on YouTube

[minimus]

Utah with healthy Rubio, Mitchell, Gober, Korver, Ingles, Crowder is my favorite team after MIN. They are balanced, unselfish, well coached.

[Calinks]

Utah is finally getting it going. The 76ers are looking very good too now, definitely in the realm of a team that can contend. Butlers health has been iffy but I really think it was a good move for them to get him, as a player he is special I think that when they figure it out he will fit in very well with Embiid and Simmons. Butler should have no complaints he made out like a bandit as long as he gets his deal.

I think if we were healthy and had Butler this season (and he was providing good chemistry) we would be well in the playoff mix. The west is actually down right now. Its a shame we have had our issues because you only need to be good to secure a playoff spot this season. Seems the Warriors have the easiest path to the finals they have ever faced, I dont see anyone putting up a real fight.

Denver has made huge strides when you think about it. They missed the playoffs last season by one game but are in position to be the 1 or 2 best team in the west and could certainly make it to the conference finals. That's crazy.

I think the Lakers are going to pick it up once Lebron is back. They weren't horrible without him but they did fall off. With him on the team though they have proven to be a solid team, better than I thought.

[mplsfonz23]

Something Barkley said last week that I agree with. The West is weak this year. The Warriors are ELITE, Denver is pretty good. After that, everyone else is just good or solid and then mediocre. Look at all the teams I'd probably say.

GSW
Denver

Then the east for sure has better teams
Celtics
Sixers
Bucks
Raptors

All of them are probably better than any team out west except maybe Denver and that's debatable.

Houston
Utah
Lakers
Clippers
Spurs
Kings
Thunder
Mavericks

.

I don't know if I agree with this 100%
The reason being is, sure the east has some balanced teams at the top, but record wise they get to beat up on the bottom feeders of the entire NBA 4 times a year. (Give or take) Now the west looks weaker because of the records, and being so close together. We have some tough team out west and all except Phx and maybe Dallas can put a beating on a lot of teams anytime.
Top 5 teams in the east are pretty solid, we have at least 8 solid teams in the west.

Let me ask this, how many teams from the west will make the playoffs with a losing record?
I wonder if someone can find a east vs west head to head to see how close it is.
(I'm an old geezer and can't find stuff like that. )

[mplsfonz23]

Which team has the most incentive to tank this year? (Or should I say who has already started tanking?)

I assume the top prize will be Zion, and IMO he would have a very lucrative life if he were drafted by NY or Chi who are currently close to the bottom.

And while I am at it, for those who think the lotto is rigged, who do you think Silver will award Zion to?
(Lakers if they don't make the PO's?)
I am thinking about the D Rose draft and how that all worked out. What were they like .09% to land him. (I could be way off) But I know it looked rigged.

[Calinks]

WEll its not really that the east has caught up or surpassed the west but the west is watered down. Lots of good teams but the Warriors are the the only great one. 2-9 are pretty close when normally there is a huge gap from like team 2 to team 8. The playoffs should be pretty interesting as I don't think anyone is safe regardless of seeds. Not crazy to think 2 seeded Denver could get bounced by the 7th seeded Jazz

[Klomp]

Don't even know that I'd say it's watered down. I just think it's so competitive in the West that everyone is beating everyone else up, which drives down the records of the teams packed so closely together.

[Klomp]

A really good piece from Sam Amick about the trade deadline: https://theathletic.com/783508/2019/01/24/execs-unplugged-a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-the-real-nba-trade-deadline/

The biggest thing for me is (the idea) that there’s some list of players on the trading block. Most of the conversations you have with teams are about all of their guys. And there isn’t some list of guys you’re trying to trade, and a list of guys you’re not. It’s so much more frequently about just trying to figure out what deals there are to do to make your team better, and…I feel like the world often views teams as deciding to trade a guy or not and then figuring out what they can get. And most of what happens is not that. Most of what happens is checking in with other teams, and seeing what their priorities are, and then you have an idea of what you can put together that might fit both teams’ priorities. There are certainly instances where a team is trying to (trade a certain guy), but the vast majority of trades do not happen when a team has made up its mind to trade Player X. That’s rare. It happens a few times a year.

[Neeva]

Hayward probably wishes the celtics played the wolves again.

[minimus]

Read on Twitter

[mplsfonz23]

Wow!

Guess there is no way he's interested......Never mind, as I was typing this the zero percent sign came into my head.

[mplsfonz23]

Any interest in Thon Maker?
Is he any good? I liked him during his draft, did he mature? Is he still 21 years old?

[Calinks]

Sad news about Anthony Davis. I really hope he doesn't go to the Lakers. Its a damn shame that how small market teams have to struggle twice as hard to hang on to stars. Ticks me off that you can be LA and just have stars come to you if you screw up your rebuild through the draft. If the Lakers weren't the LA Lakers Lebron wouldn't come and they could still be toiling in lotter land for the next 3-5 years. If they get Davis they jump to being title contenders.

Small market teams have to be really really good with how they build their team together because there is not a lot of room for failure. Its so easy for a star player to want a better situation and jump ship as soon as they feel like it. Its great for the players but it really hurts franchise. Seems its infinitely harder for a small market team to win big in the NBA than any other sport because the team is at such a disadvantage when it comes to keeping and acquiring talent.

[minimus]

Sad news about Anthony Davis. I really hope he doesn't go to the Lakers. Its a damn shame that how small market teams have to struggle twice as hard to hang on to stars. Ticks me off that you can be LA and just have stars come to you if you screw up your rebuild through the draft. If the Lakers weren't the LA Lakers Lebron wouldn't come and they could still be toiling in lotter land for the next 3-5 years. If they get Davis they jump to being title contenders.

Small market teams have to be really really good with how they build their team together because there is not a lot of room for failure. Its so easy for a star player to want a better situation and jump ship as soon as they feel like it. Its great for the players but it really hurts franchise. Seems its infinitely harder for a small market team to win big in the NBA than any other sport because the team is at such a disadvantage when it comes to keeping and acquiring talent.

IMO NOP has been awful at assembling roster, finding good coaches and drafting, so it is not small market team problem. NYK, BRO are also awful

[Calinks]

Sad news about Anthony Davis. I really hope he doesn't go to the Lakers. Its a damn shame that how small market teams have to struggle twice as hard to hang on to stars. Ticks me off that you can be LA and just have stars come to you if you screw up your rebuild through the draft. If the Lakers weren't the LA Lakers Lebron wouldn't come and they could still be toiling in lotter land for the next 3-5 years. If they get Davis they jump to being title contenders.

Small market teams have to be really really good with how they build their team together because there is not a lot of room for failure. Its so easy for a star player to want a better situation and jump ship as soon as they feel like it. Its great for the players but it really hurts franchise. Seems its infinitely harder for a small market team to win big in the NBA than any other sport because the team is at such a disadvantage when it comes to keeping and acquiring talent.

IMO NOP has been awful at assembling roster, finding good coaches and drafting, so it is not small market team problem. NYK, BRO are also awful

I mean they have been bad but I think its inherently much harder for small market teams to get better. First of all, they have a much lower ability to attract big name free agents. No one ever puts a small market at the top of their list of destinations unless they are already a really good team.

There is always a big push for players to go to the big markets. The Knicks have been God Awful but they have gotten star players just based on being New York, they have just done a horrible job leveraging that advantage. In the NBA its really hard to keep you stars after their first big extension. I just think its too hard to keep guys and attract guys when you are a smaller market, its nice they have the freedom to move but the franchises suffer big time for it. Seems like if you don't strike gold as a team when you have a star in the first few years you will likely lose them to some bigger market. I think its underappreciated how absolutely hard it is to build an NBA team, particularly if you are one of the smaller/less desirable markets. There is very little room for mistakes.

[southern wolf]

Sad news about Anthony Davis. I really hope he doesn't go to the Lakers. Its a damn shame that how small market teams have to struggle twice as hard to hang on to stars. Ticks me off that you can be LA and just have stars come to you if you screw up your rebuild through the draft. If the Lakers weren't the LA Lakers Lebron wouldn't come and they could still be toiling in lotter land for the next 3-5 years. If they get Davis they jump to being title contenders.

Small market teams have to be really really good with how they build their team together because there is not a lot of room for failure. Its so easy for a star player to want a better situation and jump ship as soon as they feel like it. Its great for the players but it really hurts franchise. Seems its infinitely harder for a small market team to win big in the NBA than any other sport because the team is at such a disadvantage when it comes to keeping and acquiring talent.

IMO NOP has been awful at assembling roster, finding good coaches and drafting, so it is not small market team problem. NYK, BRO are also awful

I mean they have been bad but I think its inherently much harder for small market teams to get better. First of all, they have a much lower ability to attract big name free agents. No one ever puts a small market at the top of their list of destinations unless they are already a really good team.

There is always a big push for players to go to the big markets. The Knicks have been God Awful but they have gotten star players just based on being New York, they have just done a horrible job leveraging that advantage. In the NBA its really hard to keep you stars after their first big extension. I just think its too hard to keep guys and attract guys when you are a smaller market, its nice they have the freedom to move but the franchises suffer big time for it. Seems like if you don't strike gold as a team when you have a star in the first few years you will likely lose them to some bigger market. I think its underappreciated how absolutely hard it is to build an NBA team, particularly if you are one of the smaller/less desirable markets. There is very little room for mistakes.

Couldn't agree more. Sometimes it feels like it's not even small vs big markets and there's just a desirable and undesirable list of franchises that 90% of nba players seem to agree on. The Spurs and OKC have done really well in smaller markets, but there's a lot more horror stories than success stories. A team like the Knicks, Nets or Clippers turns desirable as soon as they sniff the playoffs.

[Calinks]

Spurs are like the gold standard but look that them. They still didn't get free agents, they home grew their talent and then the biggest free agent they got was Aldridge. Aldridge is a very good player but bot a superstar and they got him only because they have an amazing reputation. On top of that, he still nearly left a season or two later.

OKC had three mega stars, two left them. Westbrook is the only one who wanted to stay and they made a boid trade and convinced George to stay. They had to put in a lot of work.

How often do you hear rumors of players wanting to be in OKC? Or San Antonio? Almost never, most people assumed George would bolt ASAP.

As a small market team you have to lucky and really damn good. There is so little incentive for stars to stay with smaller teams. Why play in Minnesota when you can get the same money or close, mega endorsements, and live in a playground city? Its extremely easy for NBA players to check out and the media even encourages it. My brother likes to say the "when you watch the timberwolves, you are watching a mirage." Because he believes that the way the NBA is set up, we stand no chance to make anything. I don't agree with that exactly but I do think its way too hard for the less desirable team to build something.

In the old days, a player was mostly just happy to be in the NBA and get a check. They would play in Timbuktu if they had to. Now they make so much money and they know they can get it nearly anywhere, you can get very selective about where you play.

[mplsfonz23]

In the old days, a player was mostly just happy to be in the NBA and get a check. They would play in Timbuktu if they had to. Now they make so much money and they know they can get it nearly anywhere, you can get very selective about where you play.

Yeah.
It seems as if they play for the lifestyle now instead of actual love for the game. Just look at the crazy sh*t some players wear. (Westbrook) There is NOWAY they wear that crap if they sold insurance.
Seems like the entire NBA is getting soft.