Devin Booker not named an All-Star, no wait, HE IS!

[Saberestar]

I thought Giannis' drafting was terrible, again. He wasn't drafting to win but to prove a point about Team Africa's emergence.

Me too, looking at the teams, but I also felt like LeBron had too many primary ball handlers, and Giannis had better defensive guys, with Embiid, Siakam, Giannis and Gobert. The west had mostly all primary ball handlers, like LeBron, Harden, Doncic, Simmons, Paul, etc. But at least most of those guys can shoot. It still ended up being a great game.

I never watch much of the east, but man, Ben Simmons is a beast on D, and so is Giannis. And watching Paul, it's amazing how much of a discrepancy there must be between his and Simmons' D and any other PG in the NBA, though Lowry and Ball are decent, and Jrue, if you consider him a PG.

Of course there are some others who don't start that are good, like Melton and Dunn (though maybe he starts sometimes).

Looking back do you think we should’ve just traded for Chris Paul instead of going the Rubio route? We could’ve traded Tyler Johnson (and the Ty Jerome pick if needed) for CP3 (after still doing the Indiana Warren trade which would’ve opened up the cap room).

I was against it back then but I wonder if having a guy like Chris Paul, albeit super overpaid and not durable, would’ve helped Book and Ayton develop their games more and also instilled some winning tendencies into the team.

It’s not secret that Harden went from being an awful defender to below average after CP3 got traded to Houston and gotta wonder if he could’ve done the same for Book.

CP3’s contract runs like another 3 years iirc which isn’t that horrific I guess when considering nobody is rushing to sign with the Suns anyway.

CP3 is the smartest player in the entire league. His basketball IQ is outstanding, and that would be huge for a team with a lot of youngsters. The positive value is gonna be always there, even with his fat contract.

I would have loved to get him for just an expiring and some late pick, but the Rockets wouldn't have traded for that. They got Westbrook who is another All Star player.

[Revived]

Me too, looking at the teams, but I also felt like LeBron had too many primary ball handlers, and Giannis had better defensive guys, with Embiid, Siakam, Giannis and Gobert. The west had mostly all primary ball handlers, like LeBron, Harden, Doncic, Simmons, Paul, etc. But at least most of those guys can shoot. It still ended up being a great game.

I never watch much of the east, but man, Ben Simmons is a beast on D, and so is Giannis. And watching Paul, it's amazing how much of a discrepancy there must be between his and Simmons' D and any other PG in the NBA, though Lowry and Ball are decent, and Jrue, if you consider him a PG.

Of course there are some others who don't start that are good, like Melton and Dunn (though maybe he starts sometimes).

Looking back do you think we should’ve just traded for Chris Paul instead of going the Rubio route? We could’ve traded Tyler Johnson (and the Ty Jerome pick if needed) for CP3 (after still doing the Indiana Warren trade which would’ve opened up the cap room).

I was against it back then but I wonder if having a guy like Chris Paul, albeit super overpaid and not durable, would’ve helped Book and Ayton develop their games more and also instilled some winning tendencies into the team.

It’s not secret that Harden went from being an awful defender to below average after CP3 got traded to Houston and gotta wonder if he could’ve done the same for Book.

CP3’s contract runs like another 3 years iirc which isn’t that horrific I guess when considering nobody is rushing to sign with the Suns anyway.

CP3 is the smartest player in the entire league. His basketball IQ is outstanding, and that would be huge for a team with a lot of youngsters. The positive value is gonna be always there, even with his fat contract.

I would have loved to get him for just an expiring and some late pick, but the Rockets wouldn't have traded for that. They got Westbrook who is another All Star player.

Houston wouldn’t but I think OKC would have though. They were asking for a 1st rd pick from Miami for CP3 while the Heat thought just expiring should be enough because of how bad his contract is. We had the Jerome pick on the table or even after the draft, Jerome the actual player to deal.

OKC wanted to get rid of him badly after acquiring him that was no secret. They just couldn’t find anyone trading a 1st rd pick or 1st rd prospect with the expiring contracts to match.

[Saberestar]

Looking back do you think we should’ve just traded for Chris Paul instead of going the Rubio route? We could’ve traded Tyler Johnson (and the Ty Jerome pick if needed) for CP3 (after still doing the Indiana Warren trade which would’ve opened up the cap room).

I was against it back then but I wonder if having a guy like Chris Paul, albeit super overpaid and not durable, would’ve helped Book and Ayton develop their games more and also instilled some winning tendencies into the team.

It’s not secret that Harden went from being an awful defender to below average after CP3 got traded to Houston and gotta wonder if he could’ve done the same for Book.

CP3’s contract runs like another 3 years iirc which isn’t that horrific I guess when considering nobody is rushing to sign with the Suns anyway.

CP3 is the smartest player in the entire league. His basketball IQ is outstanding, and that would be huge for a team with a lot of youngsters. The positive value is gonna be always there, even with his fat contract.

I would have loved to get him for just an expiring and some late pick, but the Rockets wouldn't have traded for that. They got Westbrook who is another All Star player.

Houston wouldn’t but I think OKC would have though. They were asking for a 1st rd pick from Miami for CP3 while the Heat thought just expiring should be enough because of how bad his contract is. We had the Jerome pick on the table or even after the draft, Jerome the actual player to deal.

OKC wanted to get rid of him badly after acquiring him that was no secret. They just couldn’t find anyone trading a 1st rd pick or 1st rd prospect with the expiring contracts to match.

I am not sure about it.

All the time people have said that eventually the Thunder will trade his good players. That was said at first in the summer and later before the deadline, but time has past and here we are... the Thunder have exactly the same roster and they are ready to give headaches to some contender team in the playoffs.

I think the put a really solid value in all their players and that's they didn't trade any of them during the season.

[itlnsunsfan]

If I recall correctly, CP3 in Houston was seen as one of the most albatross, untradeable contracts in the league. I think we absolutely couldve gotten him giving up minimal assets.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Didn't watch the game but seems like the Elam ending was well received. It's such a drastic change I don't expect it to ever completely catch on but IMO it is a superior way to end a game.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

[Saberestar]

If I recall correctly, CP3 in Houston was seen as one of the most albatross, untradeable contracts in the league. I think we absolutely couldve gotten him giving up minimal assets.

CP3 was seen like that for some fans. At the end of the day he was traded for a great player as Russell Westbrook.

[Saberestar]

Didn't watch the game but seems like the Elam ending was well received. It's such a drastic change I don't expect it to ever completely catch on but IMO it is a superior way to end a game.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

It was a fantastic game. Not only the game, the full show. The best one (or at least one of the best) that I can remember.

The presentation of the game from Magic Johnson was emotional and Kobe was honored a few times in a great way.
And the last quarter was the most competitive quarter in an All Star game from the last twenty years for sure.

[DroughtsOverPHX]

I prefer the old format with west vs east, this idea of players with the most fan votes get to draft his team and have the teams named after is stupid. Team lebron? give me a break, would you like the idea of calling team USA team trump instead? ridiculous.

Why is it stupid? At least now, it doesn't matter if there's a talent disparity between East and West conference. The names are a bit whatever.

It's like arguing for the current playoff West/East format when it really should be top 16 teams go to playoffs regardless of conference. If you want the best teams/players in the playoffs/allstars, then you should get rid of conferences completely.

because naming a team after an individual person is stupid and contradicts everything there is about the concept team. call it something else, team red cross vs team salvation army whatever just give the teams a proper team name. would you be okay to abolish team names and name all teams after their respective owners? how about Phoenix Sarver vs New York Dolan? its stupid for suns fans to complain about the league's star making system where the the stars the league wants to build up get all the calls while supporting this narcissist ASG team naming system that is the product of the same notorious star building system.

I figured you'd get the kind of reaction you are getting to your thoughts and it's why I don't bother with it much. You and some of us are not the same type of fan. I love basketball and like seeing it played at the highest level but this does not do it for me. You got to realize people love this stuff -- they don't care there is rarely defense and mostly open dunks/lobs and 3's because it's a collection of their favorite players and they as fans picked the starting lineup. It's reality tv. They love the team names, they love the tic toc girls and they thought AG jumping partially over Tacko was the greatest dunk ever and will fight and call names to defend that view. I'm glad the weekend is over and we can get back to real basketball even if it's losing.

[Kerrsed]

If I recall correctly, CP3 in Houston was seen as one of the most albatross, untradeable contracts in the league. I think we absolutely couldve gotten him giving up minimal assets.

CP3 was seen like that for some fans. At the end of the day he was traded for a great player as Russell Westbrook.

This is what i think.....somewhat. Chris Paul is a high basketball IQ player. Despite his age he can still ball the way he does because he relies on his IQ and not athleticism. He was never the most athletic guy, but did change his game up as he got older, it evolved so his limitations wouldnt be as drastic as other guys once they hit their 30's. While his time in Houston was seen as a bit of a failure, it wasnt because of him as a player, but because of his his need to control the ball (Its what CP3 does and what makes him great). He had to split that time with Harden controlling the ball half the time as well.

There were rumblings that Westbrook wanted out of OKC after Paul George asked to be traded, and the Thunder did what most smart teams do, they traded the guy at his peak, and they didnt gamble on grabbing a bunch of youngsters with potential that might or not might pan out, They grabbed a guy who's contract seemed bad (Remember CP3 was owed roughly $125 million over the final three years of his contract, including a $44.2 million option for 2021-22, and he is 34 with 2 down seasons). They went pick heavy and proven all-star talent which they could possibly flip later (Like GS and DLO, but much older and battle tested).

And now here we are with people talking about trading for CP3. Hell of a trade for OKC.

Its crazy to think they got 2 1st round picks for Westbrook (2024 & 2026) along with the ability to swap 2 more first round picks (2021 & 2025) and CP3 on top of it who they can flip for even more 1st's. Add that to the haul they got for Paul George, LAC's 2022/2024/2026 1st round picks along with Miami's 2021/2023 1st round picks AND the ability to swap 1sts with the Clippers 2023 & 2025......and thats before mentioning they got SGA along with Gallo (Who they could have easily flipped for more but decided not to and just get their youngsters some early playoff experience).

2 players netted them all of that. Set their future up bright as hell. But dont forget that it was Westbrook that drew PG13 in and got him to go to OKC.

Sorry i got a bit off track, but **** man, its crazy to see the moves that OKC makes all laid out like that. And to think thats After they lost their franchise players and a top 2 player in the league in FA and got nothing in return. **** crazy.

[bwgood77]

That was a super fun game. But team Giannis at the end of the 4th QTR was dreadful to watch on offense in the half court.

Nurse was way too loyal to Siakam and Lowry. Both were garbage at the end and pretty disrespectful that they didn’t have Trae Young in the game at the end when was a voted in starter.

Would’ve been way better than having Lowry in the game.

I think it was better to have Lowry in there for the D. Same with Chris Paul instead of Luka on the west.

I disagree, I think the voted in starters should finish the game just like they start the game. Unless Luka and Trae both told Vogel they don’t wanna play which I highly doubt they did since their big competitors and due the stage. It’s not fair for coaches to play favorites and play their own guys over starters or bestfriends of their superstar player (Vogel).

Lowry was trash on offense. Even Siakam who’s normally a beast barely had any moves tonight.

Team Giannis desperately needed a scoring threat and they had that in their voted in starter, Trae Young.

Idk gotta give the Raptors depth all the credit for them being a great team this season for sure.

The teams really needed guys who could play defense in that last quarter since it was only to 24. Trae Young would have been dominated against..a big reason the west won the 1st quarter easily.

[bwgood77]

I thought Giannis' drafting was terrible, again. He wasn't drafting to win but to prove a point about Team Africa's emergence.

Me too, looking at the teams, but I also felt like LeBron had too many primary ball handlers, and Giannis had better defensive guys, with Embiid, Siakam, Giannis and Gobert. The west had mostly all primary ball handlers, like LeBron, Harden, Doncic, Simmons, Paul, etc. But at least most of those guys can shoot. It still ended up being a great game.

I never watch much of the east, but man, Ben Simmons is a beast on D, and so is Giannis. And watching Paul, it's amazing how much of a discrepancy there must be between his and Simmons' D and any other PG in the NBA, though Lowry and Ball are decent, and Jrue, if you consider him a PG.

Of course there are some others who don't start that are good, like Melton and Dunn (though maybe he starts sometimes).

Looking back do you think we should’ve just traded for Chris Paul instead of going the Rubio route? We could’ve traded Tyler Johnson (and the Ty Jerome pick if needed) for CP3 (after still doing the Indiana Warren trade which would’ve opened up the cap room).

I was against it back then but I wonder if having a guy like Chris Paul, albeit super overpaid and not durable, would’ve helped Book and Ayton develop their games more and also instilled some winning tendencies into the team.

It’s not secret that Harden went from being an awful defender to below average after CP3 got traded to Houston and gotta wonder if he could’ve done the same for Book.

CP3’s contract runs like another 3 years iirc which isn’t that horrific I guess when considering nobody is rushing to sign with the Suns anyway.

Without accounting for salaries and injuries and stuff, of course I would rather have Paul, if I knew he'd be healthy. He was never healthy though.

But I don't think we could have traded for him. The Rockets wanted another star or really good player to add. They need that salary. They can't shed it or they have no way of getting a star or hoping to add another impact player.

[bwgood77]

If I recall correctly, CP3 in Houston was seen as one of the most albatross, untradeable contracts in the league. I think we absolutely couldve gotten him giving up minimal assets.

CP3 was seen like that for some fans. At the end of the day he was traded for a great player as Russell Westbrook.

Do you think Westbrook is that much better? He gets paid the same, and has an additional year on his contract at $47 million in 22-23 (is on a 5 year, $205 million contract). I don't think that's a good contract either, to say the least. AND OKC got two first round picks and two pick swaps.

[itlnsunsfan]

If I recall correctly, CP3 in Houston was seen as one of the most albatross, untradeable contracts in the league. I think we absolutely couldve gotten him giving up minimal assets.

CP3 was seen like that for some fans. At the end of the day he was traded for a great player as Russell Westbrook.

Again, if I recall correctly, the Thunder were open to rebuilding and moving away from Russ, who was also seen as a bloated contract for a player in decline. The Rockets gave up two first rounders and two additional first round pick swaps to acquire Russell. They may have actually preferred cap space and retaining those assets to acquiring Westbrook, who was seen as a bad fit in Houston. The Rockets were acting a bit out of desperation.

[Saberestar]

If I recall correctly, CP3 in Houston was seen as one of the most albatross, untradeable contracts in the league. I think we absolutely couldve gotten him giving up minimal assets.

CP3 was seen like that for some fans. At the end of the day he was traded for a great player as Russell Westbrook.

Again, if I recall correctly, the Thunder were open to rebuilding and moving away from Russ, who was also seen as a bloated contract for a player in decline. The Rockets gave up two first rounders and two additional first round pick swaps to acquire Russell. They may have actually preferred cap space and retaining those assets to acquiring Westbrook, who was seen as a bad fit in Houston. The Rockets were acting a bit out of desperation.

Harden would not allow that to happen.

Do you think that Harden would be OK with getting some picks and "cap space"?

Harden got another perennial All Star next to him and that guarantees them in the playoffs and probably in the Western Conference Finals for at least another couple of seasons.

[Saberestar]

If I recall correctly, CP3 in Houston was seen as one of the most albatross, untradeable contracts in the league. I think we absolutely couldve gotten him giving up minimal assets.

CP3 was seen like that for some fans. At the end of the day he was traded for a great player as Russell Westbrook.

Do you think Westbrook is that much better? He gets paid the same, and has an additional year on his contract at $47 million in 22-23 (is on a 5 year, $205 million contract). I don't think that's a good contract either, to say the least. AND OKC got two first round picks and two pick swaps.

Westbrook is younger than CP3 and he is a great player yet. A couple picks is probably the difference between Westbrook and Paul having in mind that Paul and Harden were not best friends out there.

Westbrook is gonna be probably overpaid in the future, but for now he is getting fair money for his production. With Harden in his prime you need a good team around him, not youngsters or picks.

Like I said in the last post, the Rockets with Harden and Westbrook are a playoff/contender team for sure, and that is huge and deserves the money invested.

[bwgood77]

CP3 was seen like that for some fans. At the end of the day he was traded for a great player as Russell Westbrook.

Do you think Westbrook is that much better? He gets paid the same, and has an additional year on his contract at $47 million in 22-23 (is on a 5 year, $205 million contract). I don't think that's a good contract either, to say the least. AND OKC got two first round picks and two pick swaps.

Westbrook is younger than CP3 and he is a great player yet. A couple picks is probably the difference between Westbrook and Paul having in mind that Paul and Harden were not best friends out there.

Westbrook is gonna be probably overpaid in the future, but for now he is getting fair money for his production. With Harden in his prime you need a good team around him, not youngsters or picks.

Like I said in the last post, the Rockets with Harden and Westbrook are a playoff/contender team for sure, and that is huge and deserves the money invested.

You think Westbrook is worth $40 million right now?

[bwgood77]

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[Saberestar]

Do you think Westbrook is that much better? He gets paid the same, and has an additional year on his contract at $47 million in 22-23 (is on a 5 year, $205 million contract). I don't think that's a good contract either, to say the least. AND OKC got two first round picks and two pick swaps.

Westbrook is younger than CP3 and he is a great player yet. A couple picks is probably the difference between Westbrook and Paul having in mind that Paul and Harden were not best friends out there.

Westbrook is gonna be probably overpaid in the future, but for now he is getting fair money for his production. With Harden in his prime you need a good team around him, not youngsters or picks.

Like I said in the last post, the Rockets with Harden and Westbrook are a playoff/contender team for sure, and that is huge and deserves the money invested.

You think Westbrook is worth $40 million right now?

Yeah, probably he is 4-5 million overpaid, but who cares? The way that players are paid around the league he deserves around $35M per season. So I think 40 is fair enough.

We have paid Tyler freak Johnson $19.5M this year. Batum is getting over $25M. Somewhere Mahinmi is getting millions and millions every year. And the list of players who are TERRIBLE and overpaid is really long....

Just look at the Hornets...MKG? Biyombo? Zeller? Marvin? All of them getting around $16M per year for what? They are not even starters in the league.

Players like Paul and Westbrook are getting paid a lot, but al least is for a good reason. They make your team to win games and they put you on the map. So I am OK with players like that getting a ton of money. Well deserved.

[Revived]

Me too, looking at the teams, but I also felt like LeBron had too many primary ball handlers, and Giannis had better defensive guys, with Embiid, Siakam, Giannis and Gobert. The west had mostly all primary ball handlers, like LeBron, Harden, Doncic, Simmons, Paul, etc. But at least most of those guys can shoot. It still ended up being a great game.

I never watch much of the east, but man, Ben Simmons is a beast on D, and so is Giannis. And watching Paul, it's amazing how much of a discrepancy there must be between his and Simmons' D and any other PG in the NBA, though Lowry and Ball are decent, and Jrue, if you consider him a PG.

Of course there are some others who don't start that are good, like Melton and Dunn (though maybe he starts sometimes).

Looking back do you think we should’ve just traded for Chris Paul instead of going the Rubio route? We could’ve traded Tyler Johnson (and the Ty Jerome pick if needed) for CP3 (after still doing the Indiana Warren trade which would’ve opened up the cap room).

I was against it back then but I wonder if having a guy like Chris Paul, albeit super overpaid and not durable, would’ve helped Book and Ayton develop their games more and also instilled some winning tendencies into the team.

It’s not secret that Harden went from being an awful defender to below average after CP3 got traded to Houston and gotta wonder if he could’ve done the same for Book.

CP3’s contract runs like another 3 years iirc which isn’t that horrific I guess when considering nobody is rushing to sign with the Suns anyway.

Without accounting for salaries and injuries and stuff, of course I would rather have Paul, if I knew he'd be healthy. He was never healthy though.

But I don't think we could have traded for him. The Rockets wanted another star or really good player to add. They need that salary. They can't shed it or they have no way of getting a star or hoping to add another impact player.

We could’ve got him from the Thunder though. I think OKC would’ve rather had cap space, expiring contracts and a mid to late 1st rd pick than Chris Paul in the summer.

All rumors had it that they aggressive in trying to dump him after acquiring him. They had reportedly even told him to not look into buying a house in OKC because he likely won’t be there when season starts.

[bwgood77]

Looking back do you think we should’ve just traded for Chris Paul instead of going the Rubio route? We could’ve traded Tyler Johnson (and the Ty Jerome pick if needed) for CP3 (after still doing the Indiana Warren trade which would’ve opened up the cap room).

I was against it back then but I wonder if having a guy like Chris Paul, albeit super overpaid and not durable, would’ve helped Book and Ayton develop their games more and also instilled some winning tendencies into the team.

It’s not secret that Harden went from being an awful defender to below average after CP3 got traded to Houston and gotta wonder if he could’ve done the same for Book.

CP3’s contract runs like another 3 years iirc which isn’t that horrific I guess when considering nobody is rushing to sign with the Suns anyway.

Without accounting for salaries and injuries and stuff, of course I would rather have Paul, if I knew he'd be healthy. He was never healthy though.

But I don't think we could have traded for him. The Rockets wanted another star or really good player to add. They need that salary. They can't shed it or they have no way of getting a star or hoping to add another impact player.

We could’ve got him from the Thunder though. I think OKC would’ve rather had cap space, expiring contracts and a mid to late 1st rd pick than Chris Paul in the summer.

All rumors had it that they aggressive in trying to dump him after acquiring him. They had reportedly even told him to not look into buying a house in OKC because he likely won’t be there when season starts.

Maybe, but I also remember reading that Presti would work with him on getting a destination he wants to go, and didn't figure he would want to go to Phoenix. Now of course he's in OKC, but at the time, he probably felt like there was a chance he would go to Miami. What is weird is I think they wanted Justise Winslow but that was a sticking point and now they trade Winslow for Crowder, Hill and Iggy. Though they may have wanted Bam too.