2023-24 NBA Season Discussion

[Colbinii]

I just dont like them. Loads of talent, very frail. And I cant say I like Harden much, skilled even though he is.

It's interesting how superstars and GMs keep trying to stack teams full of big-name players when it's largely shown to not work very well. Just stacking a whole bunch of marquee names makes for good First Take discourse but seldom leads to championships especially when said names have already passed their primes.

It's the lazy way out for a front office and coaching staff that stubbornly refuses to take the draft seriously, develop talent, or construct an actual team instead of a collection of players. Just put a bunch of 35-year-olds together and sell tickets to casual fans en route to a first-round exit.

Aren't all LAC fans casual?

[Peregrine01]

I just dont like them. Loads of talent, very frail. And I cant say I like Harden much, skilled even though he is.

It's interesting how superstars and GMs keep trying to stack teams full of big-name players when it's largely shown to not work very well. Just stacking a whole bunch of marquee names makes for good First Take discourse but seldom leads to championships especially when said names have already passed their primes.

It's the lazy way out for a front office and coaching staff that stubbornly refuses to take the draft seriously, develop talent, or construct an actual team instead of a collection of players. Just put a bunch of 35-year-olds together and sell tickets to casual fans en route to a first-round exit.

Yeah. GMs are perpetually in "win-now" mode which drives them into making the decisions that they do. But ironically, their myopia drives them even further away from what they're trying to achieve.

[Colbinii]

How much of GSW having a competent secondary playmaker/ball-handler affect previous views of Curry's On/Off data?

[parsnips33]

How much of GSW having a competent secondary playmaker/ball-handler affect previous views of Curry's On/Off data?

I've always thought he got a little boost in prime Warriors years because Shaun was just such a completely different (and worse offensively) archetype at the point

[parsnips33]

Clippers very obviously needed a tablesetter and got one of the best passers in the league, not sure what all the pessimism is about

Getting everything to gel is a question mark, but they seem definitively better now than before the trade

[MrLurker]

It's nice to win get a win on the board. Ayton seemed to do a bit better. Our starlets aren't blowing me away but early tidings.

I still cannot send messages so I shall inquire once more - what websites am I allowed to upload an avatar from?

[eminence]

It's nice to win get a win on the board. Ayton seemed to do a bit better. Our starlets aren't blowing me away but early tidings.

I still cannot send messages so I shall inquire once more - what websites am I allowed to upload an avatar from?

Mine is hosted by imgur, don't know beyond that.

[Rishkar]

It's interesting how superstars and GMs keep trying to stack teams full of big-name players when it's largely shown to not work very well. Just stacking a whole bunch of marquee names makes for good First Take discourse but seldom leads to championships especially when said names have already passed their primes.

It's the lazy way out for a front office and coaching staff that stubbornly refuses to take the draft seriously, develop talent, or construct an actual team instead of a collection of players. Just put a bunch of 35-year-olds together and sell tickets to casual fans en route to a first-round exit.

Aren't all LAC fans casual?

In my experience they're all Russell Westbrook fans

[Peregrine01]

Clippers very obviously needed a tablesetter and got one of the best passers in the league, not sure what all the pessimism is about

Getting everything to gel is a question mark, but they seem definitively better now than before the trade

Are they better? There's a ton of redundancy here and they gave up a lot of defense. More importantly, they have no picks for the forseeable future so if this doesn't pan out, they'll be back in the NBA backwater for the next decade.

[OhayoKD]

How much of GSW having a competent secondary playmaker/ball-handler affect previous views of Curry's On/Off data?

Won't change much for me.

Might be a wake-up call for those who were unironically tossing it as proof 2016 curry was the best regular-season player ever and there was some chasm between him and you-know-who before the playoffs.

[Dr Positivity]

Griffin hire was a weird one for the Bucks

[Colbinii]

Griffin hire was a weird one for the Bucks

Any hire would be viewed as weird. Bud is probably a Top 5 All-Time Regular Season coach.

[Special_Puppy]

Is it time for the Nuggets to blow it up? They lost to the TWolves. Jokic is fat. Murray had pre-marital sex. I don’t think they can ever win a championship

[Special_Puppy]

How much of GSW having a competent secondary playmaker/ball-handler affect previous views of Curry's On/Off data?

Won't change much for me.

Might be a wake-up call for those who were unironically tossing it as proof 2016 curry was the best regular-season player ever and there was some chasm between him and you-know-who before the playoffs.

Actual best regular season player ever might have been 2009 LeBron, right?

[OhayoKD]

How much of GSW having a competent secondary playmaker/ball-handler affect previous views of Curry's On/Off data?

Won't change much for me.

Might be a wake-up call for those who were unironically tossing it as proof 2016 curry was the best regular-season player ever and there was some chasm between him and you-know-who before the playoffs.

Actual best regular season player ever might have been 2009 LeBron, right?

"ever" offers come counter-cases, but that or 2010(going 11-0/+8 without Mo-Willams adds some luster) would be the best modern(80's onwards) with an outside case for 2004 I guess(give lots of stock to 1-year rapm marks and 1-year on/off for some reason, and ignore that cassell looks alot more valuable than mo-williams in 2005).

[OhayoKD]

Griffin hire was a weird one for the Bucks

Giannis never getting a good coach is unfortunate. Not sure why they didn't get nurse

[The-Power]

We have some pretty awesome (starting) line-ups around the league right now. How would you rank them assuming health?

BOS: Holiday – White – Brown – Tatum – Porzingis
CLE: Garland – Mitchell – Okoro/Strus – Mobley – Allen
DEN: Murray – KCP – Porter Jr. – Gordon – Jokic
LAC: Westbrook – Harden – George – Leonard – Zubac
LAL: Russell – Reaves – Prince – James – Davis
MIL: Lillard – Beasley – Middleton – Giannis – Lopez
MIN: Conley – Edwards – McDaniels – Towns – Gobert
PHX: Beal – Booker – Okogie – Durant – Nurkic

Other notable teams include DAL, GSW, NOP, PHI and SAC. Someone may also want to mention MIA, OKC or TOR, or MEM once Morant returns. Feel free to include any of those teams and others, of course, if you try to rank them.

[Colbinii]

Nice to see Gobert healthy [which he wasn't last year].

Timberwolves with a cool Mid-2000s Drtg of 101.2 to start the year.

[Special_Puppy]

I just dont like them. Loads of talent, very frail. And I cant say I like Harden much, skilled even though he is.

It's interesting how superstars and GMs keep trying to stack teams full of big-name players when it's largely shown to not work very well. Just stacking a whole bunch of marquee names makes for good First Take discourse but seldom leads to championships especially when said names have already passed their primes.

Do you think LAC decreased their title odds with this trade?

What title odds increase does an unprotected 1st in 4 years carry?

Yeah people are crazy if they think this trade doesn't make the Clippers a materially better team

[Colbinii]

It's interesting how superstars and GMs keep trying to stack teams full of big-name players when it's largely shown to not work very well. Just stacking a whole bunch of marquee names makes for good First Take discourse but seldom leads to championships especially when said names have already passed their primes.

Do you think LAC decreased their title odds with this trade?

What title odds increase does an unprotected 1st in 4 years carry?

Yeah people are crazy if they think this trade doesn't make the Clippers a materially better team

Correct--they are better--and the question then becomes How much better?

It is funny with the Harden bashing, I was listening to the Dunc'd on podcast yesterday and they were talking about how Harden isn't a guy you can trust in the playoffs, and then under their breath add in "But he did win them 2 games against Boston last year"...Yeah, that's what Harden is being brought in to do--win a game or two of an important series. If he can do that, you can win any series as it means Kawhi/PG13 just need to win 2-3 games.