Around the League - IST Games talk

[rilamann]

Rough night for Grayson

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What does Grayson Allen give you that AJ Green can't.

[soxperry]

I was in a dark place in June and was pinning my hopes on us getting Chris Paul as our big off-season move.

I was desperate for Collin Sexton, and the mad lad goes out and gets us Dame **** Lillard lmao

we should still go out and get Sexton if he can play D.

[Plossum]

:lift:

Who is on team lift these days? I'm not even sure on the Suns/Dubs who this applies to

[Baddy Chuck]

:lift:

Who is on team lift these days? I'm not even sure on the Suns/Dubs who this applies to

Bosnian Boogie

[AussieBuck]

Wasn't much going on for Rui today.

[stellation]

Rough night for Grayson

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Dude better bounce back, otherwise he's a chance of losing his starting spot when Beal is available.

[ShootingtheJ]

Even if Beal rarely plays, the deal works out for the Suns just because to dumped Paul. He's so bad now.

[emunney]

Gotta get a leg up on the competition... for Drew Eubanks. Fine work.

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[MickeyDavis]

Interesting games tonight:
Celtics at Knicks - Going to be weird seeing Jrue in a Boston uni

Mavs at Spurs - Wemba makes his debut against Luka and the Mavs

[skbucks1985]

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[randy84]

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Would love to see the Sixers just sit him for the whole year. Don't trade him, don't tell him to stay home, just tell him he has to be at every game and sit on the bench all year or they will dock him money.

[H2tObes]

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Would love to see the Sixers just sit him for the whole year. Don't trade him, don't tell him to stay home, just tell him he has to be at every game and sit on the bench all year or they will dock him money.

Doesn't sound like a very good way to punish James Harden

[WeekapaugGroove]

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He is going to pull a Costanza and just show up for work. Love it.

Sent from my SM-F731U using RealGM mobile app

[ReasonablySober]

Defector's season preview is again the best around.

I laughed at Miami's:

After blitzing through the Eastern Conference playoffs as a nominal eight-seed last season, the Miami Heat got rolled off the court in the finals by the Denver Nuggets in five games, as the eventual champs used their size advantage and Miami’s exhausted playmaking to breeze to a franchise-first title. Though Miami’s role players ascended to new levels during the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston, they couldn’t keep the star-level play up against Denver, and Miami didn’t have much to rely on if Caleb Martin, Max Strus, and Gabe Vincent stopped hitting what felt like every shot.

The Heat have been the most consistently successful team in the league this decade, but have failed to win a title in that time, in part due to needing, and not having, more help for Jimmy Butler in playoff crunch time. That’s why Pat Riley and company came into the offseason with the singleminded focus on acquiring Damian Lillard from Portland. And by god, they did it. [Aide starts whispering in my earpiece, with notes of panic in their voice. I ignore them.]

Though losing Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Nikola Jovic strips the Heat of a pretty decent future, this is a franchise that will always choose to win now; none of that trio was a part of the Finals run last season anyway. In trading for Lillard, Miami now has the best trio of stars in the Eastern Conference, and those stars fit together pretty flawlessly. [Aide is now shouting in my earpiece. I am getting a headache. My nose starts bleeding.]

While Miami may struggle with regular season depth, adding a great shot-creator and shot-maker in Lillard should allow Butler and Bam Adebayo to flourish come playoff time, with the former no longer tasked with producing 50+ points and the latter able to focus on finishing easy looks and making life hell for opponents on the other end of the court. Lillard might be old and expensive, but this was a risk Miami had to take, and with him in the mix the Heat should be the favorites to return to the Finals from the Eastern Conference. [Aide has now barged into the room and is trying to physically restrain me from typing more. I finally stop and listen to what they have to say, ready to ridicule them for daring to distract me with what is likely irrelevant information.]

Wait, Lillard went WHERE???

And Milwaukee was blessed by the great Ray Ratto:

What is their deal?
Giannis Antetokounmpo wanted a greater sense of purpose around him, so general manager Jon Horst all-inned with Damian Lillard and replaced the competent but hidebound Mike Budenholzer with Adrian Griffin, addressing (if not definitively fixing) the biggest crisis the Bucks have faced since winning the title two years ago. Antetokounmpo will find the requisite benefits of all those additional ball screens he will have to set for Lillard, because he will be free to hurt opponents' feelings even more in his myriad ways—but mostly he will find that player empowerment works in mysterious ways. The Bucks got Lillard because Antetokounmpo wanted this team to be different, and they got Lillard because Lillard couldn't wish his way to Miami. They still have Khris Middleton, Antetokounmpo's best adjutant, and Bobby Portis, who can still light a highway flare with a single glance, but mostly they acknowledged that they go as far as Antetokounmpo takes them and he goes as far as the help takes him.

Who are their guys?
Beyond the above four, the Bucks have an array of spot-up shooters (Malik Beasley, Pat Connaughton, Brook Lopez, and Jae Crowder), and if Lillard starts to hear his legs barking at him as 33-year-olds often do, Cameron Payne is a quality distributor. So that's nine useful contributors on a team that has two discernible superstars, one at the zenith of his game, and a new coach in Griffin who gives every indication of wanting greater energy and less conservatism. He already established a level of firmness when assistant coach Terry Stotts quit in preseason, and seems like a new coach who has learned the lessons old coaches try to teach—namely, how to be in charge when being in charge matters.

Are they good?
Well, let's put it this way. Who's better? Assuming health, the Bucks are deeper than Boston, their chief rivals; they are more experienced at top-level play than every team save perhaps Golden State (and that assumes Chris Paul will be helpful); and they seem to have a unity of purpose that other teams don't have. Giannis was made happy, or at least happier, and barring the bad luck of disobedient ligaments, they have the feel of 60 wins. Whatever that feels like.

Are they fun?
Giannis. Dame. Brook Lopez. How much fun do you want, you greedy slobs?

Playoffs?
Yes, all of them. The NBA, NHL, Men's and Women's Final Fours, and the Champions Leagues.

[emunney]

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Would love to see the Sixers just sit him for the whole year. Don't trade him, don't tell him to stay home, just tell him he has to be at every game and sit on the bench all year or they will dock him money.

Doesn't sound like a very good way to punish James Harden

James, as punishment, we're going to make you eat candied meats and learn impractical basketball moves.

[emunney]

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[emunney]

This is cool and good.

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[Ron Swanson]

Defector's season preview is again the best around.

And Milwaukee was blessed by the great Ray Ratto:

Are they good?
Well, let's put it this way. Who's better? Assuming health, the Bucks are deeper than Boston, their chief rivals; they are more experienced at top-level play than every team save perhaps Golden State (and that assumes Chris Paul will be helpful); and they seem to have a unity of purpose that other teams don't have. Giannis was made happy, or at least happier, and barring the bad luck of disobedient ligaments, they have the feel of 60 wins. Whatever that feels like.

Are they fun?
Giannis. Dame. Brook Lopez. How much fun do you want, you greedy slobs?

Playoffs?
Yes, all of them. The NBA, NHL, Men's and Women's Final Fours, and the Champions Leagues.

I'm stunned that this is probably the first guy to actually acknowledge this. This whole "they're not as deep after the Lillard trade" talking point was wild. Like, we lost Grayson **** Allen, not all of Malcolm Brogdon, Marcus Smart, Grant Williams, and Robert Williams.

[drdrG]

Defector's season preview is again the best around.

And Milwaukee was blessed by the great Ray Ratto:

Are they good?
Well, let's put it this way. Who's better? Assuming health, the Bucks are deeper than Boston, their chief rivals; they are more experienced at top-level play than every team save perhaps Golden State (and that assumes Chris Paul will be helpful); and they seem to have a unity of purpose that other teams don't have. Giannis was made happy, or at least happier, and barring the bad luck of disobedient ligaments, they have the feel of 60 wins. Whatever that feels like.

Are they fun?
Giannis. Dame. Brook Lopez. How much fun do you want, you greedy slobs?

Playoffs?
Yes, all of them. The NBA, NHL, Men's and Women's Final Fours, and the Champions Leagues.

I'm stunned that this is probably the first guy to actually acknowledge this. This whole "they're not as deep after the Lillard trade" talking point was wild. Like, we lost Grayson **** Allen, not all of Malcolm Brogdon, Marcus Smart, Grant Williams, and Robert Williams.

Yeah but Payton Pritchard! 6th MOY incoming lol

[tedbrogen]

Rough night for Grayson

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What does Grayson Allen give you that AJ Green can't.

Grayson gives you a slower, lower shot release and a hesitancy at times to pull the trigger.