2024-25 NBA Season Discussion

[Lou Fan]

Curry on February 27th is the greatest player of all time

Had that special performance vs OKC on Feb 27th and he exploded at MSG in 2013 on Feb 27th too

2 page essay about how LeBron is actually the greatest Feb 27th player of all time from OhayoKD incoming

[Doctor MJ]

I mean does it say something about AD's defense being overrated? Luka for AD should be an obvious defensive downgrade, but the Lakers have gotten clearly better.

So I feel like these two videos from TB speak to a successful trend going on right now:

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Basically we're seeing successful defense come from (relatively) shorter guys are
a) quicker in running around the court
b) able to be extremely physical without getting called for fouls
c) using that physicality to clog the interior while using the quickness to at least put some pressure on the 3-point shooters when they ball pops out to that now sparse perimeter.

(Let me acknowledge that a healthy OKC has access to height too.)

How does all of this relate to AD?

1) The defensive improvement actually took hold with AD mid-season, so this is probably first and foremost about the team gaining proficiency with Redick's tactic rather than something AD was holding back.

However,

2) Extreme physicality has never been AD's thing. He's more of a long than a big, and his body isn't resilient to wear & tear as much as, say, LeBron is. This then to say that with this style of play, I don't believe AD was ever an outright weakness, but other players are gaining value from it more than he is.

With that said:

3) I think we need to consider how sustainable these approaches are. I think they're using up a ton of energy on defense right now. Aside from the aspect of "using up fuel", there's also this aspect of the Thunder & Lakers are getting what they're getting right now by playing a playoff level intensity, and so we may find that the approach is less effective when the other team matches intensity while have their coaching staff completely fixed on finding weakness over a 7 game series.

To be clear, I would see the Thunder as championship favorites and I'm not going to say the Lakers can't win it, but I do think we're watching a new leg in the ongoing tactical arms race, and it's going to be interesting to see the response.

[Peregrine01]

I can’t believe what’s happened to the Mavs. It doesn’t feel real.

[sp6r=underrated]

I can’t believe what’s happened to the Mavs. It doesn’t feel real.

The entire basketball world was surprised that Dallas traded Luka and floored how little the return was. Almost everyone thought it was an awful trade but the first month has gone even worse than everyone suspected.

Davis played one half of basketball. Kyrie looks to be out for the season and may have suffered an injury that is a career ender. 6-7 with a -5 MOV for a team that entered the future is now mode.

Just a total catastrophe.

[parsnips33]

Melo Ball is so gifted it's actually crazy

Can some team put all that talent to use?

[AEnigma]

They will get Flagg and then be stuck on the treadmill of mediocrity until they are forced to trade both.

[EmpireFalls]

They will get Flagg and then be stuck on the treadmill of mediocrity until they are forced to trade both.

I would take that outcome 100 times out of 100 over the current situation!

[parsnips33]

Kuminga can't come back soon enough for the Warriors

Doesn't help that much with spacing issues, but they desperately need somebody who can be aggressive all game and apply pressure in the paint

[Dr Positivity]

Mavs Kyrie and Davis plan was crazy, that's maybe a 4th seed if perfectly healthy, which they weren't going to e through a whole playoffs, and both obviously nearing the end of their prime. Just trade Doncic for all of the Spurs draft capital or something.

They're dead draft pick wise from 27-30... Man this is bad. Really bad.

[sp6r=underrated]

Mavs Kyrie and Davis plan was crazy, that's maybe a 4th seed if perfectly healthy, which they weren't going to e through a whole playoffs, and both obviously nearing the end of their prime. Just trade Doncic for all of the Spurs draft capital or something.

They're dead draft pick wise from 27-30... Man this is bad. Really bad.

This is it. It is still a bad idea to trade a generational player in their mid 20s but if you're going to do it the playbook is clear:
1. Supermax him
2. Place him on the market to every team
3. Get a massive haul of young players/picks who could be elite.
4. Trade every other guy on the team over 25 for picks/youth.

Trying to win now around Kyrie/Davis is xBox logic.

[Fadeaway_J]

Mavs Kyrie and Davis plan was crazy, that's maybe a 4th seed if perfectly healthy, which they weren't going to e through a whole playoffs, and both obviously nearing the end of their prime. Just trade Doncic for all of the Spurs draft capital or something.

They're dead draft pick wise from 27-30... Man this is bad. Really bad.

Of all the delusional nonsense that Dallas came out with to justify this trade, responding to concerns about Luka's long-term health by building around AD and Kyrie is the part that still has my head spinning.

[sp6r=underrated]

Mavs Kyrie and Davis plan was crazy, that's maybe a 4th seed if perfectly healthy, which they weren't going to e through a whole playoffs, and both obviously nearing the end of their prime. Just trade Doncic for all of the Spurs draft capital or something.

They're dead draft pick wise from 27-30... Man this is bad. Really bad.

Of all the delusional nonsense that Dallas came out with to justify this trade, responding to concerns about Luka's long-term health by building around AD and Kyrie is the part that still has my head spinning.

Yeah, Luka played 2,300 more minutes than Davis between 20-24 and 3,700 more minutes than Kyrie while being better. Just an insane decision.

It is one of those trade that is so bad it invites conspiracy theories (which I don't believe). A month later it just looks like Cuban promoted a guy over his head thinking he'd really run the show. New ownership cut Cuban out and totally empowered Nico.

Nico, decided to ship him out for reasons that only make sense to him. Just a terrible decision and one that could happen with bad management structure.

Mature organizations do not empower middle managers to unilaterally trade 300m assets without careful deliberation.

[parsnips33]

All of this stuff could have been forgiven (by me) but he had to trade him to the LAKERS of all teams???

[falcolombardi]

Knicks are such a good team with so many good players that it actually shocks me how bad they are vs the league top 3 record teams (okc, cavs, bos)

Is like they are good enough to be taken fully seriously and game planned for but not good enough to actually match up to them

[bigboi]

Healthy Zion is a top 5 player. He’s insane this season. Efficiency is starting to go back up. Really want Pels to trade him

[itsxtray]

Healthy Zion is a top 5 player. He’s insane this season. Efficiency is starting to go back up. Really want Pels to trade him

This is why the Pels can't bite the bullet and trade him, his ceiling is a top 5 player.

[bigboi]

Healthy Zion is a top 5 player. He’s insane this season. Efficiency is starting to go back up. Really want Pels to trade him

This is why the Pels can't bite the bullet and trade him, his ceiling is a top 5 player.

It sucks though. Because I feel like Pels are wasting him. Always wanted to see Zion play with Trae Young. Would’ve completed changed the hawks team

[parsnips33]

One of the things that's impressed me most about Butler is his judiciousness when it comes to helping on defense. He's so aware of both his man and the ballhandler that even if he doesn't force a turnover when he doubles, he's always making sure he has enough time to get back to his man. Love the combo of him and Dray on defense, just so much brainpower

[Dr Positivity]

Derozan making HOF because he scored as many points as like Shaq is going to be painful. I guess if he doesn't get to 30k there's still a chance he misses.

[AEnigma]

Derozan making HOF because he scored as many points as like Shaq is going to be painful. I guess if he doesn't get to 30k there's still a chance he misses.

I would not count on it. Everyone with at least 21,000 points scored has made (or obviously will make) it, and Demar has a much better collection of accolades and achievements than guys like Antawn Jamison, Tom Chambers, or Joe Johnson (and I like Joe).

Aldridge will be the interesting test case. If he gets in, Demar absolutely will, but if he does not, then there is at least the question of “well, Aldridge had more all-stars and all-NBAs, and he did not make the cut…” Even then, though, I expect Demar to finish securely in the top 25 for total points scored, and that seems like something voters will refuse to ignore when paired with six all-star appearances and a gold medal.

I am more annoyed that Demar is more likely to make the cut than Lowry is, even though Lowry was consistently better and more valuable.

Tangent, but Eaton’s exclusion continues to baffle on its face, and disappointing that someone like Demar will be more appreciated for his bland regular season scoring than guys like Buck Williams and Paul Silas will ever be for their consistently excellent defence.