Who are the real Contenders this year?

[Sign5]

They didn't shift around role players. They added talent that fits their team better. That's a pretty big difference. We will need to wait and see how Strus continues to play because it's a long season and there's no way he can keep up what he's doing, but Cleveland didn't have anyone outside of their core four last season who were doing what Strus is doing now.



No, they don't deserve any such spot just because they have those guys. That's not how this works. A team is more than its best players. Depth, fit, these things matter. I don't know why you think it's just about the star players and that's it, but that just isn't the case. But if you don't think adding shooters isn't improving Cleveland's roster, then you aren't qualified to discuss whether or not Cleveland is an actual contender or not.

Also, I'm not really sure why you're so high on Butler's game and think he's just some guy who can carry any team to title contention. In fact, I've noticed quite a few people feel this way. "As long as they have Butler they'll be fine". Umm, Butler wasn't all that great in the playoffs last season. He was downright dominant against Milwaukee, sure, but after that? There is a MASSIVE drop off in production... pretty much across the board. I'm not saying he played poorly or anything. He had some really great games against Boston but overall? He wasn't spectacular to the point where you could just look at him and be all like "yeah, he can carry any team to a finals".

I think you're really really overrating Strus. He's an okay player but he's not anywhere close to being the guy who will make the different in a first round elimination vs being a contender. He's an average-okay shooter and an average-okay defender. He's not some game changer.

Niang is a non factor for the playoffs just like he has been his whole career.

Maybe if Mobley can start to shoot 35% from 3 on volume I will start to feel differently but hes 1/1 this year so that's probably not happening.

Bumping this because Strus deserves some legit recognition. Even though the overall sample size is still small, Strus has been even better than hoped. His playmaking has been impressive and defensively he’s been good. But his gravity as a shooter and the space he’s been providing is what’s most important. He’s been a difference maker and has fit in very nicely with this team.

Once again you have no clue what you're talking about. Struss is a streaky player and you'll soon find out.

Miami doesn't miss Struss as they have Duncan a superior shooter and player overall due to his added ability to put the ball on the floor , the rookie Jaime and Caleb rounding into form. Gabe another streaky player is currently injured as it stands.

Miami is 10-5 while missing their leading scorer for 5 games. As usual Miami's demise was greatly exaggerated. Thus I see them finishing top 3-4 and having no issue dispatching Cleveland if they end up facing off in the playoffs. Quite easily in fact.

[Colbinii]

I think you're really really overrating Strus. He's an okay player but he's not anywhere close to being the guy who will make the different in a first round elimination vs being a contender. He's an average-okay shooter and an average-okay defender. He's not some game changer.

Niang is a non factor for the playoffs just like he has been his whole career.

Maybe if Mobley can start to shoot 35% from 3 on volume I will start to feel differently but hes 1/1 this year so that's probably not happening.

Bumping this because Strus deserves some legit recognition. Even though the overall sample size is still small, Strus has been even better than hoped. His playmaking has been impressive and defensively he’s been good. But his gravity as a shooter and the space he’s been providing is what’s most important. He’s been a difference maker and has fit in very nicely with this team.

Once again you have no clue what you're talking about. Struss is a streaky player and you'll soon find out.

Miami doesn't miss Struss as they have Duncan a superior shooter and player overall due to his added ability to put the ball on the floor , the rookie Jaime and Caleb rounding into form. Gabe another streaky player is currently injured as it stands.

Miami is 10-5 while missing their leading scorer for 5 games. As usual Miami's demise was greatly exaggerated. Thus I see them finishing top 3-4 and having no issue dispatching Cleveland if they end up facing off in the playoffs. Quite easily in fact.

Maybe you don't know, but all of Allen/Mitchell/Garland have missed 5 games.

[Djoker]

I don't put that much stock in RS records especially early on. I've got five teams I can see winning the title as of right now.

Nuggets
Suns
Lakers
Celtics
Bucks

And then a bunch of pretenders.

Thunder, Kings and Wolves too inexperienced, Clippers staying healthy and gelling too long a shot, Mavs not enough talent around Luka plus bad on D, Warriors' supporting cast declined too much, Sixers' two stars never proved they can be reliable in the PS, and Heat supporting cast not good enough.

[rate_]

Miami will be there (if healthy). Their roster is clearly better than last season with Jaquez and a much improved Duncan Robinson. Miami is 19-2 all time with Highsmith in the starting 4 role.

[Iwasawitness]

I think you're really really overrating Strus. He's an okay player but he's not anywhere close to being the guy who will make the different in a first round elimination vs being a contender. He's an average-okay shooter and an average-okay defender. He's not some game changer.

Niang is a non factor for the playoffs just like he has been his whole career.

Maybe if Mobley can start to shoot 35% from 3 on volume I will start to feel differently but hes 1/1 this year so that's probably not happening.

Bumping this because Strus deserves some legit recognition. Even though the overall sample size is still small, Strus has been even better than hoped. His playmaking has been impressive and defensively he’s been good. But his gravity as a shooter and the space he’s been providing is what’s most important. He’s been a difference maker and has fit in very nicely with this team.

Once again you have no clue what you're talking about. Struss is a streaky player and you'll soon find out.

Miami doesn't miss Struss as they have Duncan a superior shooter and player overall due to his added ability to put the ball on the floor , the rookie Jaime and Caleb rounding into form. Gabe another streaky player is currently injured as it stands.

Miami is 10-5 while missing their leading scorer for 5 games. As usual Miami's demise was greatly exaggerated. Thus I see them finishing top 3-4 and having no issue dispatching Cleveland if they end up facing off in the playoffs. Quite easily in fact.

I’m not sure why I wasn’t expecting anything less than a nonsensical post from you, but here we are.

Strus being streaky as a shooter is irrelevant. His playmaking, defense, and the spacing that he provides are all consistent. Those are massive benefits for a team that desperately needed said spacing. Doesn’t matter if he’s streaky or not, teams aren’t going to leave him open and that matters to anyone with basic knowledge of the game.

You calling Duncan Robinson a superior player also doesn’t surprise me. If it were anyone else, then sure. But from you? I’ve come to expect a stupid take like this. Robinson may be a better shooter but that’s really about it. In all other aspects of offense, Strus is clearly better. He’s also a better passer and defender. This really isn’t up for debate.

The cherry on top however is the last paragraph. Miami is 10-5 while missing their best scorer for five games? Who? You mean Herro? The guy they tried so badly to get rid of in the first place so they could bring in Lillard? And Portland said no because he’s not a winning basketball player? Miami made the damn finals without him, is worse with him and yet this is supposed to impress me. But hell, I’ll take it one step further. What teams have you beaten exactly? Miami has had one of the easiest schedules to start the season, while Cleveland had one of the most difficult AND had a lot more injury problems to start. But even with only four games where their entire starting lineup played (yeah, four), they’re 8-7. AND they’ve beaten the likes of New York (impressive given that they were missing Garland AND Allen AND LeVert) at Madison Square Garden, they blew out the defending champions on the road and they beat Philly. Oh and those last two? They were without their top scorer.

Meanwhile, the only truly elite teams Miami faced so far are, hmm let’s see… Boston and Milwaukee. Yeah, that’s it. And guess what? They lost both games.

Congrats, Miami’s most impressive win of the season is against a depleted cavaliers team who were missing four rotation players and were in the night of a back to back.

In other words, you’re the one who has no idea what they’re talking about. And quite frankly, it amazes me that you didn’t learn your lesson after the last time we did this. You’re not smart enough for this, understand? Now go away and let the grownups talk.

[penbeast0]

Iwasawitness warned for personal attack on another poster.

[Sign5]

Bumping this because Strus deserves some legit recognition. Even though the overall sample size is still small, Strus has been even better than hoped. His playmaking has been impressive and defensively he’s been good. But his gravity as a shooter and the space he’s been providing is what’s most important. He’s been a difference maker and has fit in very nicely with this team.

Once again you have no clue what you're talking about. Struss is a streaky player and you'll soon find out.

Miami doesn't miss Struss as they have Duncan a superior shooter and player overall due to his added ability to put the ball on the floor , the rookie Jaime and Caleb rounding into form. Gabe another streaky player is currently injured as it stands.

Miami is 10-5 while missing their leading scorer for 5 games. As usual Miami's demise was greatly exaggerated. Thus I see them finishing top 3-4 and having no issue dispatching Cleveland if they end up facing off in the playoffs. Quite easily in fact.

I’m not sure why I wasn’t expecting anything less than a nonsensical post from you, but here we are.

Strus being streaky as a shooter is irrelevant. His playmaking, defense, and the spacing that he provides are all consistent. Those are massive benefits for a team that desperately needed said spacing. Doesn’t matter if he’s streaky or not, teams aren’t going to leave him open and that matters to anyone with basic knowledge of the game.

You calling Duncan Robinson a superior player also doesn’t surprise me. If it were anyone else, then sure. But from you? I’ve come to expect a stupid take like this. Robinson may be a better shooter but that’s really about it. In all other aspects of offense, Strus is clearly better. He’s also a better passer and defender. This really isn’t up for debate.

The cherry on top however is the last paragraph. Miami is 10-5 while missing their best scorer for five games? Who? You mean Herro? The guy they tried so badly to get rid of in the first place so they could bring in Lillard? And Portland said no because he’s not a winning basketball player? Miami made the damn finals without him, is worse with him and yet this is supposed to impress me. But hell, I’ll take it one step further. What teams have you beaten exactly? Miami has had one of the easiest schedules to start the season, while Cleveland had one of the most difficult AND had a lot more injury problems to start. But even with only four games where their entire starting lineup played (yeah, four), they’re 8-7. AND they’ve beaten the likes of New York (impressive given that they were missing Garland AND Allen AND LeVert) at Madison Square Garden, they blew out the defending champions on the road and they beat Philly. Oh and those last two? They were without their top scorer.

Meanwhile, the only truly elite teams Miami faced so far are, hmm let’s see… Boston and Milwaukee. Yeah, that’s it. And guess what? They lost both games.

Congrats, Miami’s most impressive win of the season is against a depleted cavaliers team who were missing four rotation players and were in the night of a back to back.

In other words, you’re the one who has no idea what they’re talking about. And quite frankly, it amazes me that you didn’t learn your lesson after the last time we did this. You’re not smart enough for this, understand? Now go away and let the grownups talk.

Struss will have games where he'll shoot Cleveland out of games. Duncan's gravity makes him a more impactful player than Struss, if you asked 30 GM who'd they rather have they'd pick Duncan Robinson.

Everyone saw Struss' complete dud of a playoff series post play-in, which is why he wasn't re-signed in the first place. Heat attempting to trade a player for a BETTER player is irrelevant to the fact that he is indeed currently the Heat's leading scorer, as I alluded to earlier. More excuses, Heat have been dealing with various injuries too themselves including missing Bam, Jim, Caleb, Love etc some games. I genuinely see Cleveland getting bounced out the first round yet again as their pieces just don't fit.

[Iwasawitness]

Once again you have no clue what you're talking about. Struss is a streaky player and you'll soon find out.

Miami doesn't miss Struss as they have Duncan a superior shooter and player overall due to his added ability to put the ball on the floor , the rookie Jaime and Caleb rounding into form. Gabe another streaky player is currently injured as it stands.

Miami is 10-5 while missing their leading scorer for 5 games. As usual Miami's demise was greatly exaggerated. Thus I see them finishing top 3-4 and having no issue dispatching Cleveland if they end up facing off in the playoffs. Quite easily in fact.

I’m not sure why I wasn’t expecting anything less than a nonsensical post from you, but here we are.

Strus being streaky as a shooter is irrelevant. His playmaking, defense, and the spacing that he provides are all consistent. Those are massive benefits for a team that desperately needed said spacing. Doesn’t matter if he’s streaky or not, teams aren’t going to leave him open and that matters to anyone with basic knowledge of the game.

You calling Duncan Robinson a superior player also doesn’t surprise me. If it were anyone else, then sure. But from you? I’ve come to expect a stupid take like this. Robinson may be a better shooter but that’s really about it. In all other aspects of offense, Strus is clearly better. He’s also a better passer and defender. This really isn’t up for debate.

The cherry on top however is the last paragraph. Miami is 10-5 while missing their best scorer for five games? Who? You mean Herro? The guy they tried so badly to get rid of in the first place so they could bring in Lillard? And Portland said no because he’s not a winning basketball player? Miami made the damn finals without him, is worse with him and yet this is supposed to impress me. But hell, I’ll take it one step further. What teams have you beaten exactly? Miami has had one of the easiest schedules to start the season, while Cleveland had one of the most difficult AND had a lot more injury problems to start. But even with only four games where their entire starting lineup played (yeah, four), they’re 8-7. AND they’ve beaten the likes of New York (impressive given that they were missing Garland AND Allen AND LeVert) at Madison Square Garden, they blew out the defending champions on the road and they beat Philly. Oh and those last two? They were without their top scorer.

Meanwhile, the only truly elite teams Miami faced so far are, hmm let’s see… Boston and Milwaukee. Yeah, that’s it. And guess what? They lost both games.

Congrats, Miami’s most impressive win of the season is against a depleted cavaliers team who were missing four rotation players and were in the night of a back to back.

In other words, you’re the one who has no idea what they’re talking about. And quite frankly, it amazes me that you didn’t learn your lesson after the last time we did this. You’re not smart enough for this, understand? Now go away and let the grownups talk.

Struss will have games where he'll shoot Cleveland out of games. Duncan's gravity makes him a more impactful player than Struss, if you asked 30 GM who'd they rather have they'd pick Duncan Robinson.

Everyone saw Struss' complete dud of a playoff series post play-in, which is why he wasn't re-signed in the first place. Heat attempting to trade a player for a BETTER player is irrelevant to the fact that he is indeed currently the Heat's leading scorer, as I alluded to earlier. More excuses, Heat have been dealing with various injuries too themselves including missing Bam, Jim, Caleb, Love etc some games. I genuinely see Cleveland getting bounced out the first round yet again as their pieces just don't fit.

Everyone also saw Strus dismantle NY. But yeah sure, let’s base his entire playoff run (where he made it all the way to the finals) on one series. Because that’s the logical way to look at this right?

And no GM would ever pick Robinson over Strus. Hell, all Robinson needs to do is go back down to earth and he’ll suddenly be considered one of the worst contacts in the league again. But okay, when the day comes that Strus shoots us out of a game let me know. Because it hasn’t happened yet.

[MrLurker]

Out west I see the Nuggets, Suns, and Lakers as worthy incumbents. I think the Timberwolves, Mavericks, and Clippers could be worthy usurpers.

A bit skeptical on the Warriors - but they could be dangerous too.

The east seems more straightforward to me - Boston, Miami, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia

[Gregoire]

Nuggets
Suns
Clippers
Celtics
Bucks
76ers

[SpreeS]

BOS/MIL/DEN

PHO/PHI

no one close to these 5 teams