Around the NBA 13

[Braggins]

Pistons smoked Orlando by 20 last night. Nice to catch them on the second night of a B2B, but they're gonna be real focused coming off a loss like that.

This Orlando situation is weird. Bane seems to have temporarily forgotten how to shoot a basketball and Paolo is playing terrible.

[Braggins]

I didn't realize til I was just looking up all their stats that Mark Williams, Moussa Diabate, and Ryan Kalkbrenner, are all basically the exact same age (all born within a two month period).

looks like mark w is dialed in

Hes such a great fit on the Hornets roster. I'm going to be mad about this trade for a while (or until Mark keels over and retires from health issues).

[Braggins]

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[amcoolio]

Matas Buzelis… he’s playing like an all star. What a catastrophic miss by this front office, he’s basically the same size and position as Salaun…

[JDR720]

Matas Buzelis… he’s playing like an all star. What a catastrophic miss by this front office, he’s basically the same size and position as Salaun…

That is probably going to turn out worse than trading the Duren pick.

[Braggins]

Matas Buzelis… he’s playing like an all star. What a catastrophic miss by this front office, he’s basically the same size and position as Salaun…

Yeah its pretty baffling. Four other teams passed on him after the Hornets, but I thought he seemed like the obvious pick for the Hornets specifically. He was a little older than Salaun and wasn't without his own question marks, but he was obviously so much more advanced as a player than Salaun was coming into the league.

[Braggins]

Id really like to see JB get another head coaching gig.

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[fatlever]

A few things in the NBA world today that I thought were interesting.

Tim Legler discussing the outrageous amount of free throws and fouls so far this season. He cited some statistics comparing last year versus this year Showing how fouls and free throws are up across the board significantly. What he mentioned though was in all the games that he has called that the fouls actually looked legit and that the league has a fouling problem with players constantly slapping down needlessly, jumping for every pump fake trying to get blocks, Just basically playing very poor positional defense. I'll be curious to see if the players adjust accordingly or if the refs start calling less fouls or if we just have a season of free throws. I don't doubt that younger players are increasingly Playing stupid defense.

In Pablo's latest podcast he talked further about the Terry situation. There were rumors that Terry's lawyer, who interestingly is a former Trump lawyer, suggesting that the NBA investigated and completely cleared Terry. A spokesperson for the NBA countered and said they never completely cleared Terry they just never found a smoking gun. Sounds kind of like a District Attorney, where they know someone is guilty of murder but they don't have the evidence to stand up in court.

If in fact the investigation into Terry was not closed by the NBA and ongoing, then I do agree that the Heat have a real legitimate ax to grind. I do not agree that they should be rewarded with getting the pick they traded back, for the reasons I mentioned previously that despite this investigation they still have had Terry's services for the past year and a half. That being said, I wouldn't be upset or surprised if they were awarded some type of compensatory draft pick Or at least some type of trade exception for the value of his salary and having his salary removed from there Salary cap.

What is the Hornets front office role in all of this and what Responsibility did they have to notify the Heat? And just how much did the Hornet's front office know about the NBA's investigation? Just another **** stain on the legacy of Adam Silver. Ingest another lightning rod for the Hornets to catch strays.

[fatlever]

Matas Buzelis… he’s playing like an all star. What a catastrophic miss by this front office, he’s basically the same size and position as Salaun…

Yeah its pretty baffling. Four other teams passed on him after the Hornets, but I thought he seemed like the obvious pick for the Hornets specifically. He was a little older than Salaun and wasn't without his own question marks, but he was obviously so much more advanced as a player than Salaun was coming into the league.

I certainly think it's fair to question Peterson's process in that draft cycle. If they were looking for long, high motor, hybrid forward capable of playing multiple positions, high upside, With the foundation for some three point shooting... what in their evaluation of these two players led them to think that tiddy Was the superior prospect. We've heard that they were not necessarily interested in drafting clingan or edey Because at the time they were firmly behind Mark Williams as the center of the future. So that really kind of puts the spotlight on tiddy vs buz, cody, knecht and maybe dillingham as the melo backup?

How different would the Hornets ceiling look right now with buzelis In the rotation?

[fatlever]

Id really like to see JB get another head coaching gig.

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While both fears and Queen look good so far and will probably be a part of their rotation for many years, that unprotected 2026 draft pick is looking like it's going to come back and haunt them. Such a ridiculous trade.

[JDR720]

The Salaun pick was 99% because of measurements/intangibles. They just assumed he'd learn how to play basketball.

Buzelis was viewed as lower upside for whatever reason, despite being significantly better at basketball.

Upside in general is weird. Some players have it for "reasons" while other, better, players don't despite being around the same age.

[Bassman]

Matas Buzelis may never be an all-star but he was obviously skilled, athletic and positioned for success as much as any of the top 5 prospects. Hindsight is…well, maybe 20/20 for Jeffie, but many of us here were begging for him or Clingan or others more worthy than Tiddy. Now, Salaun has shown some growth in his game but he’s nowhere near effective enough for NBA caliber rotation minutes.

Also sad news that Nicola Topic has been diagnosed with testicular cancer and is currently being treated with chemotherapy. Hope he can make a full recovery. I know several on this board wanted him as our pick despite his knee injury.

[yosemiteben]

Matas Buzelis… he’s playing like an all star.

He's averaging 17 points a game, which is really good for a second year player but not close to all star level.

[fatlever]

nikola topic has testicular cancer. damn.

[fatlever]

egor demin has 22 fga for the season. egor demin has 22 3pta for the season. forget rim pressure, he's not even free throw line pressure.

[JustBuzzin]

egor demin has 22 fga for the season. egor demin has 22 3pta for the season. forget rim pressure, he's not even free throw line pressure.

Yikes!

[Braggins]

Who goes #1 in a redraft. Cade Cunningham or Alperen Sengun? I think I'd go with Sengun cuz hes always been my favorite from that class.

[Diop]

Ja Morant having a hissy fit, he’s getting a little more toxic

[wilson115]

Who goes #1 in a redraft. Cade Cunningham or Alperen Sengun? I think I'd go with Sengun cuz hes always been my favorite from that class.

Wanted Sengun too but Cade's much easier to build a team around than a big who isn't a rim protector or switchable on D. Deserving #1.