Official NBA General Discussion 2024-25 V2.0

[Clutch0z24]

OKC just too deep and too good defensivly....Don't think Nuggets have a chance in this series.

That didn't age well

No worries, I thought the same at that point. What an incredible comeback. What a game. Gordon with the second game winner. He fits so well in that team. And Westbrook who was unplayable on so many teams is a key contributor.

Not too concerned it took Jokic to have one of his best playoff games, And alot of screw ups late for a game winning 3.....They made it more difficult than they needed but i think Thunder still take the series....Too good defensivly and Joker won't have historic games every game this series....It took a historic game for him and only win by 2 at the Buzzer.

[DreamTeam09]

OKC just too deep and too good defensivly....Don't think Nuggets have a chance in this series.

That didn't age well

No worries, I thought the same at that point. What an incredible comeback. What a game. Gordon with the second game winner. He fits so well in that team. And Westbrook who was unplayable on so many teams is a key contributor.

Not too concerned it took Jokic to have one of his best playoff games, And alot of screw ups late for a game winning 3.....They made it more difficult than they needed but i think Thunder still take the series....Too good defensivly and Joker won't have historic games every game this series....It took a historic game for him and only win by 2 at the Buzzer.

Caruso practically tripped his szn avgs in game 1 / can't expect that every game either

[treerollins]

i don’t really hear it mentioned any more but denver does have an additional home court advantage with the elevation. obviously okc is a deep team but denver has a chance after taking game 1. my thing with this thunder squad despite their crazy defence and point differential theyre still reliant on role players to hit shots and contribute.

[Mattatron]

I'm going to die on a hill saying we repeat in 2020 if Kawhi stays... he really left the perfect scenario to choke year after year in LA.

Him leaving was honestly a lose-lose-lose (TOR-LA-Kawhi) for every single party.

Yet it was written in the stars. It's why the Raptors got him so cheap in the first place. Kawhi was always LA bound.

Demar , Poeltl, and a 1st is not cheap tbh

This deal symbolizes CHEAPNESS.
Trading DeMar after years of failure was already planned back then. Poeltl was just another white big (we had JV/Ibaka already), and the 1st had no value at all being a late first rounder.
It was cheap.

[ImaBeatDatAzz]

Yet it was written in the stars. It's why the Raptors got him so cheap in the first place. Kawhi was always LA bound.

Demar , Poeltl, and a 1st is not cheap tbh

This deal symbolizes CHEAPNESS.
Trading DeMar after years of failure was already planned back then. Poeltl was just another white big (we had JV/Ibaka already), and the 1st had no value at all being a late first rounder.
It was cheap.

You gotta look at the context.. it was for a disgruntled injured star, and for a 1 year rental (there was absolutely no chance Kawhi was gonna sign here). Despite all, Demar was still an all-star player, Poeltl was a lottery pick, and ya a late 1st whatever.

Face it, we got lucky it worked out and I’m glad it did.

But when u go back to the time of the trade, not knowing we would win the chip.. idk man, I can’t say it was cheap. I had gsw winning it again regardless of Kawhi or not. Who knows if KD didn’t get injured

[mdenny]

Westbrook was gonna have a shaqtin a fool moment running away from the ball during a crucial rebound.

I was also yelling him to pass the ball and not take the last shot even though he has been good tonight.

Only casual basketball fans hate on Russell Westbrook.

The whole 'derrrrr ball goes in derrrrr ball goes out' thing.

He does so many little things that casuals don't see.

[Mattatron]

Demar , Poeltl, and a 1st is not cheap tbh

This deal symbolizes CHEAPNESS.
Trading DeMar after years of failure was already planned back then. Poeltl was just another white big (we had JV/Ibaka already), and the 1st had no value at all being a late first rounder.
It was cheap.

You gotta look at the context.. it was for a disgruntled injured star, and for a 1 year rental (there was absolutely no chance Kawhi was gonna sign here). Despite all, Demar was still an all-star player, Poeltl was a lottery pick, and ya a late 1st whatever.

Face it, we got lucky it worked out and I’m glad it did.

But when u go back to the time of the trade, not knowing we would win the chip.. idk man, I can’t say it was cheap. I had gsw winning it again regardless of Kawhi or not. Who knows if KD didn’t get injured

I see. I remember my mindset about that trade back then was like, if it not works out, then we have demar off the books with his contract and probably start over without any huge contracts. And still have Siakam & OG. That's how I looked at it.
Spurs easily could've asked for OG or Siakam too, but they didn't lmao.
Me personally, I was emotionally attached to DeMar, for sure, but I couldn't watch another season with him just to fail big time in the Postseason. If it wasn't for Kawhi, MU probably would've traded Lowry too, next to DeMar, Ibaka etc and start over.

[Clutch0z24]

That didn't age well

No worries, I thought the same at that point. What an incredible comeback. What a game. Gordon with the second game winner. He fits so well in that team. And Westbrook who was unplayable on so many teams is a key contributor.

Not too concerned it took Jokic to have one of his best playoff games, And alot of screw ups late for a game winning 3.....They made it more difficult than they needed but i think Thunder still take the series....Too good defensivly and Joker won't have historic games every game this series....It took a historic game for him and only win by 2 at the Buzzer.

Caruso practically tripped his szn avgs in game 1 / can't expect that every game either

If Caruso don't show up next game they have others to lean on....If Joker doesn't have an all time great game they have MPJ, Murray (Whos very inconsistant) And Gordon to rely on.....I think its more crucial for the Nuggets if Joker has games like tonight because if he has a bad game they are pretty much cooked.

[Los_29]

TBH...they didn't bottom out to get Reed. The pick they used to take Reed was Brooklyn's pick.

Last season the Rockets were actually mediocre finishing 41-41. They had to give their own pick to OKC who took Nikola Topic.

Yep, I was referring to the fact they had 4 lottery picks in a row. What’s even crazier is they had four top 4 picks in a row. And yet their best player is a 16th overall center in Sengun.

Segun played mostly C because HOU otherwise did not have a starting quality C but his natural position is PF which is where he mostly played against GSW. I see Segun to be as good as our best player Scottie Barnes, but I don't see Segun to be their best player.

The player to watch out for is Amen Thompson. He showed determination and steely-eyed intensity in this playoff. This is something I wish Scottie Barnes has but unfortunately Scottie is a tad laid back. It's hard to believe he's still only 20. I see him with top-end All-NBA First Team potential along the lines of someone like a Kevin Garnett.

Amen isn’t 20. He’s 22. He also doesn’t have that kind of potential. He can’t even shoot. lol.

[Los_29]

Yet it was written in the stars. It's why the Raptors got him so cheap in the first place. Kawhi was always LA bound.

Demar , Poeltl, and a 1st is not cheap tbh

This deal symbolizes CHEAPNESS.
Trading DeMar after years of failure was already planned back then. Poeltl was just another white big (we had JV/Ibaka already), and the 1st had no value at all being a late first rounder.
It was cheap.

It wasn’t cheap. Kawhi was seen as a rental coming off an injury in which he missed nearly the entire season. There was so much risk.

If it was so cheap why did no other teams want him?

[mtcan]

Westbrook was gonna have a shaqtin a fool moment running away from the ball during a crucial rebound.

I was also yelling him to pass the ball and not take the last shot even though he has been good tonight.

Only casual basketball fans hate on Russell Westbrook.

The whole 'derrrrr ball goes in derrrrr ball goes out' thing.

He does so many little things that casuals don't see.

He is looking like he finally knows his role. Playing with Jokic also makes life a lot easier. If he tried to hero-ball that last possession and missed...we would be having a very different conversation.

He is still capable of this:

Watch on YouTube

[Yeezus_]

Not too concerned it took Jokic to have one of his best playoff games, And alot of screw ups late for a game winning 3.....They made it more difficult than they needed but i think Thunder still take the series....Too good defensivly and Joker won't have historic games every game this series....It took a historic game for him and only win by 2 at the Buzzer.

Caruso practically tripped his szn avgs in game 1 / can't expect that every game either

If Caruso don't show up next game they have others to lean on....If Joker doesn't have an all time great game they have MPJ, Murray (Whos very inconsistant) And Gordon to rely on.....I think its more crucial for the Nuggets if Joker has games like tonight because if he has a bad game they are pretty much cooked.

That’s what was said against the Clippers too after every Denver win. Also, Jokic is that good where he can put up 30/15/10 in a series and carry them to wins.

[WuTang_CMB]

Okc totally mismanaged end of game. Good for nuggets to pull through. What a clutch shot by gordon

[Tripod]

Demar , Poeltl, and a 1st is not cheap tbh

This deal symbolizes CHEAPNESS.
Trading DeMar after years of failure was already planned back then. Poeltl was just another white big (we had JV/Ibaka already), and the 1st had no value at all being a late first rounder.
It was cheap.

It wasn’t cheap. Kawhi was seen as a rental coming off an injury in which he missed nearly the entire season. There was so much risk.

If it was so cheap why did no other teams want him?

Yeah you can't say it's cheap trading your too scorer and All Star who was 1 year removed from posting 27ppg, a recent top 10 pick, and a 1st, for a guy not playing due to injury, as a rental, that 99% of the people knew he was LA bound...and there were serious questions if he would even show up to Toronto.

We make that trade and Kawhi could have just not been able to play, then leave, and it looks like a huge waste of assets.

Big risk, big reward

[Clutch0z24]

Caruso practically tripped his szn avgs in game 1 / can't expect that every game either

If Caruso don't show up next game they have others to lean on....If Joker doesn't have an all time great game they have MPJ, Murray (Whos very inconsistant) And Gordon to rely on.....I think its more crucial for the Nuggets if Joker has games like tonight because if he has a bad game they are pretty much cooked.

That’s what was said against the Clippers too after every Denver win. Also, Jokic is that good where he can put up 30/15/10 in a series and carry them to wins.

We will see...It will take an all time performance from him thats for sure.

[ATLTimekeeper]

It's really hard to see a 68 win team lose to a 50 win team. I don't see it happening. JDub kept hijacking the offense to try and get a rhythm.

[mtcan]

It's really hard to see a 68 win team lose to a 50 win team. I don't see it happening. JDub kept hijacking the offense to try and get a rhythm.

This may well come down to experience vs inexperience. JDub didn't shoot well. Chet's missed free throws at the end...they will get better.

[Blazing_royale]

Could definately see Scottie being the Aaron Gordon for this Raptors team.

[TOStateofMind]

Had to go to bed early but wow Gordon with another game winner. 2nd round already off to a wild start.

[MoneyBall]

Pretty crazy that Game 1 of the second round is owned by the road team. The ending of the two games last night were peak entertainment.

For OKC to lose that game at home while having been up by 11 with 4 mins to go is just crushing. I know Chet missed both free throws, but clearly there were many other critical mistakes done down the stretch.