Around the League Discussion - 2018-2019 (Playoffs)

ProcessDoctor · Post #41 » by **ProcessDoctor** » Wed Apr 17, 2019 2:44 am

Murray being completely outclassed by White in this series.

LloydFree · Post #42 » by **LloydFree** » Wed Apr 17, 2019 3:03 am

Negrodamus wrote:Toronto might have some issues against us without OG Anunoby. He's the perfect kind of defender against our team: large enough to be an adequate defender against center but agile enough to stick with wings, especially larger ones. The problem will be they have enough quality bodies to throw at Embiid.

OG Anunoby is hot garbage. He's only a help if something happens to both Kawhi and Siakam, because they don't have the wing depth they used to have.

Negrodamus · Post #43 » by **Negrodamus** » Wed Apr 17, 2019 3:45 pm

Read on Twitter

Honestly, if we're going after the best, we should have attempted to grab Masai Ujiri too. Dude has been hitting at least doubles in the past couple draft class.

Kobblehead · Post #44 » by **Kobblehead** » Wed Apr 17, 2019 4:09 pm

Jamal Murray came through in the 4th quarter, though!

sixerswillrule · Post #45 » by **sixerswillrule** » Wed Apr 17, 2019 5:25 pm

ProcessDoctor wrote:Murray being completely outclassed by White in this series.

I guess he heard you.

VDT · Post #46 » by **VDT** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:26 am

Teams with spacing issues (Utah, OKC, Detroit) are getting obliterated at the moment.

76ciology · Post #47 » by **76ciology** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:29 am

I used to get killed in GB when i said Gobert is holding the jazz back.

They should trade him to a player of different position with around the same value

76ciology · Post #48 » by **76ciology** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:31 am

Negrodamus wrote:

Read on Twitter

Honestly, if we're going after the best, we should have attempted to grab Masai Ujiri too. Dude has been hitting at least doubles in the past couple draft class.

Ujiri is overrated. I feel like he’s about to get fired if he didnt get lucky with the Kawhi deal.

Kobblehead · Post #49 » by **Kobblehead** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 1:43 pm

And when Kawhi bolts and they're left with nothing, he built himself even more time with the emergence of Siakam. Ujiri is definitely overrated among basketball nerds that worship him, but he's good enough to keep extending his window of survival.

Sixers knocking the Raptors out in the conference semifinals and Kawhi bolting for the Clippers will not be a good like for Ujiri, though.

LloydFree · Post #50 » by **LloydFree** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 2:08 pm

Yeah, Siakam isn't luck. That's a GM that understands talent and potential. Mediocre GM's select Luwawu Cabarot and Furkan Korkmaz and leave Siakam's on the board for the Ujiri's, Lindsey's and Presti's.

Kobblehead · Post #51 » by **Kobblehead** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 2:33 pm

LloydFree wrote:Yeah, Siakam isn't luck. That's a GM that understands talent and potential. Mediocre GM's select Luwawu Cabarot and Furkan Korkmaz and leave Siakam's on the board for the Ujiri's, Lindsey's and Presti's.

How is it not luck? Ujiri took Jakob Poeltl 9th overall in that same draft. Did Massai not understand the talent and potential of Domantas Sabonis? Or did he not see the value in Taurean Prince?

Let's not forget he took Bruno Caboclo with the 20th pick in the 2014 draft and left Clint Capela on the board. And then went on to sell him as the Brazilian Kevin Durant. The same year that he took DeAndre Daniels in the pick right in front of Spencer Dinwiddie. 4 picks in front of Jokic. Daniels was the only player in the Top 50 that never stepped foot on an NBA court.

Ujiri looks just as much as a hack under a microscope as other GMs that people like to bag on.

Mik317 · Post #52 » by **Mik317** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 3:45 pm

Ujuri has one thing going for him is that he isn't afraid to keep taking shots. Whether or not that makes him good or not is another question but dude makes a ton of moves.

Kobblehead · Post #53 » by **Kobblehead** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 4:01 pm

The secret about GMs are that they all secretly suck and have terrible batting averages. It's all about how many extra base hits they have. And if they're lucky enough to hit a homer or two to build up a positive reputation of themselves. The position is so hard.

VDT · Post #54 » by **VDT** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 4:08 pm

Drafting involves luck so every single GM will have misses. What differentiates GMs more clearly is the trades they do, the contracts they give and in the end the teams they build.

Negrodamus · Post #55 » by **Negrodamus** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 4:26 pm

Kobblehead wrote:
LloydFree wrote:Yeah, Siakam isn't luck. That's a GM that understands talent and potential. Mediocre GM's select Luwawu Cabarot and Furkan Korkmaz and leave Siakam's on the board for the Ujiri's, Lindsey's and Presti's.

How is it not luck? Ujiri took Jakob Poeltl 9th overall in that same draft. Did Massai not understand the talent and potential of Domantas Sabonis? Or did he not see the value in Taurean Prince?

Let's not forget he took Bruno Caboclo with the 20th pick in the 2014 draft and left Clint Capela on the board. And then went on to sell him as the Brazilian Kevin Durant. The same year that he took DeAndre Daniels in the pick right in front of Spencer Dinwiddie. 4 picks in front of Jokic. Daniels was the only player in the Top 50 that never stepped foot on an NBA court.

Ujiri looks just as much as a hack under a microscope as other GMs that people like to bag on.

I mean, he's not going to pick the best player every time. That's absurd. But he hit on most of his first round picks. Bruno was hail mary with a 20th pick. Bad pick. Jakob Poeltl has been pretty excellent in the time he's played (behind all star like Aldridge and 20ppg Valanciunas). Sabonis and Prince have had way more opportunity.

Kobblehead · Post #56 » by **Kobblehead** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 4:36 pm

Ujiri is fine, I just don't understand the pedestal he's put on. He's had a lot of bad picks and contracts over the last 4-5 years.

My point is that there isn't much of a difference between the GM performances of some of the guys who are worshipped and some of the guys who are bagged on. It seems completely arbitrary who gets propped up and who gets piled on.

Mik317 · Post #57 » by **Mik317** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:04 pm

Its probably mainly due to recency bias, the fact that other GMs have shat the bed so hard, Toronto being a hipster esque look at me team for those outside of Canada to root for, and the team success.

Kobblehead · Post #58 » by **Kobblehead** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:14 pm

I'm just curious to see how it looks when Kawhi bolts and they are a Siakam-led 7th seed still paying Lowry $33m, Ibaka $23m and Gasol doesn't opt out and they have to pay him his $25m. They don't even have a pick in this upcoming draft to attempt to get lucky with.

Negrodamus · Post #59 » by **Negrodamus** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:15 pm

The GMs who have kept their team's relevant and continue to add valuable pieces are the best GMs in the league. It's not some big crapshoot where all the GMs are equal, some are just lucky. Judging by the 9 teams that have won it all in almost 30 years, the GM is important.

Kobblehead · Post #60 » by **Kobblehead** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:24 pm

Ujiri didn't set up any of the success Denver is currently having. All their building blocks were obtained by his successor.

Conversely, Ujiri coasted entirely on Colangelo's pieces for years in Toronto until this year. And what will be left for the next Raptor GM if he gets fired? Pascal Siakam and nothing else. Kawhi will bolt.