Around the NBA II

[mttwlsn16]

Warriors just got smacked by Portland. Hopefully another beat down tomorrow night at Staples

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SInow/status/700799378383097857[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/espn/status/701145578571300864[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/701077498457677824[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/701118972784029696[/tweet]

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/daldridgetnt/status/701163799101898753[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/BobbyMarks42/status/701165346183651328[/tweet]

[Wammy Giveaway]

The Cleveland Cavaliers are destined to meet the Warriors in the NBA Finals. But for LeBron, to win a title, he will have to defeat his best friend and Cleveland's fan favorite to do so. Because the Warriors got him:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/701594131924185088[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/701596457317470209[/tweet]

Varejao will team up for former Cavalier teammate now Warriors assistant/interim coach Luke Walton and Team Brazil teammate Leandro Barbosa. Given Varejao's track history of injury, the motive for the Warriors getting the former Cavalier big man will be to spell minutes for Draymond Green and Marresse Speights. Should Andrew Bogut miss more time to the point of missing the season completely, Varejao can slot in at the 5 spot if need be.

But the real key to Varejao in a Warriors uniform will be to psych out his best friend. Anderson won't see a lot of minutes (I actually think he'll be DNPed for the Finals), but his mere presence on the floor may be all that's needed to cause LeBron to make unforced errors and mental mistakes to the point he becomes a liability. For the Cavaliers to secure their first Larry O'Brien trophy in their 46 years of existence, LeBron James will need to face his greatest fear: beating somebody he truly loved.

And he won't get to face that test until the NBA Finals.

[nickhx2]

i've said it over the past couple years but i think it's pretty telling of doc's "attractiveness" to free agents and buyout guys that none of the higher profile ones seem too interested in joining with the clippers. i mean i don't know exactly how true all that really is, but it sure seemed like the doc rivers of the past was able to woo the bigger buyout names. not so much now.

i don't think there was a single blip of varejao considering the clippers and not too long ago i heard joe johnson would only be interested in joining the cavs if he were bought out. now, whether those guys are still effective or not isn't really the point, but it kinda sucks that the team hasn't really been considered a priority option for a lot of big names even with doc at the helm.

[BlzMwt]

well to be fair, if you were near the end of your career and looking for a roster spot on a contender... wouldn't you choose the cavs, warriors or spurs over anyone else?

i see your point and agree to an extent... but there are also other factors

[QRich3]

Yeah I think our situation as a second tier team is more at blame than recruiting here, I don't really think players buy as much into who's the coach or the players they'll be playing with as they do on title aspirations, the city and the role available to them. Though I sure had those expectations as well when Doc came here. Even the guys he got, like Hawes and Redick, always talked about the weather and the city as factors for coming here, but they never mentioned him i think.

[nickhx2]

i agree that the team is more of a second rate destination compared to the top teams, and the overriding factor. but it was oft-mentioned that doc was one of the top (if not #1) coaches that players would want to play for. just something that's not really echoed these days too much.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

OK so this is a delayed post. Tim Frazier was waived from the Blazers on the day of the trade deadline. I wasn't sure if we would stick with them all year, but I thought there was a chance. The cool/sad thing is that he really developed a bond with all the Blazer players especially Damian Lillard. Anyways no Penn State players in the NBA now unless someone wants to pick him up. At this point in the season I'm not sure unless another team wants to give him a try out for the rest of this season.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I just saw this

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/702178967697100800[/tweet]

If we do end up playing them in the playoffs it would make for an easier 1st round. However, if he's out they will probably lose a bit more as of now.

[QRich3]

Hehe first thing I thought when I saw they were waiving him was "numba2 is not gonna like this"
I still don't know who's this Montero kid that they kept over him, but I guess adding Roberts and what he can help for a playoff push meant Frazier was more of a surplus.

Ouch on Gasol! I really wanted to sweep them fully healthy. I think they still get 4th seed unless Portland keeps going crazy, but I wanted to beat them fully healthy

[og15]

I agree, I also would have liked to face a fully healthy Memphis team and win, but it is what it is. Really sucks for Marc though, but Memphis does seem like the likely 5th seed, again, unless like you said, Portland keeps surging and they get the 5th seed.

[nickhx2]

Meh, to me this team's not good enough to take on all comers. When you are clearly a dominant or historic team then yeah, being battle tested only helps you to the end imo. It's what happened to the broncos this past NFL season (toughest SOS of all teams) and they were able to have tons of clutch moments in big games. In fact this next year they have a much weaker SOS and i'm actually pretty damn annoyed.

So for this clipper team in particular, i think we definitely need as much leeway as possible to get ourselves right before the eventual GS or SAS matchup. Rest will be of utmost importance. I mean, did you guys read that article on espn recently about how insane the 82 game schedule is and how little rest players really get over a season? It made me think back to just how exhausted everybody was at the end of the houston series. Playing the spurs to 7 really took an enormous toll.

So yeah if we did face memphis I'd thank the gods for the matchup and hope for a sweep with an average win margin of 20 points a game so our dudes can get some real rest. More rest and more practice time would be a godsend for a team that has had so little already, and that is going to need to resync itself AGAIN with blake coming back.

[nickhx2]

Hehe first thing I thought when I saw they were waiving him was "numba2 is not gonna like this"
I still don't know who's this Montero kid that they kept over him, but I guess adding Roberts and what he can help for a playoff push meant Frazier was more of a surplus.

Ouch on Gasol! I really wanted to sweep them fully healthy. I think they still get 4th seed unless Portland keeps going crazy, but I wanted to beat them fully healthy

you mean 5th seed right, cause i don't see how we can possibly get moved off the 4th seed

[BlzMwt]

rest or some decent bench play is definitely key

the team was gassed last year from playing the Spurs first round, imagine trying to go through Memphis, Spurs, GS/OKC and (presumably) a healthy Cavs team that looks like it has an even easier road to the finals than last season

hopefully Blake's extended period off will provide some rest

[QRich3]

Hehe first thing I thought when I saw they were waiving him was "numba2 is not gonna like this"
I still don't know who's this Montero kid that they kept over him, but I guess adding Roberts and what he can help for a playoff push meant Frazier was more of a surplus.

Ouch on Gasol! I really wanted to sweep them fully healthy. I think they still get 4th seed unless Portland keeps going crazy, but I wanted to beat them fully healthy

you mean 5th seed right, cause i don't see how we can possibly get moved off the 4th seed

yeh sorry meant 5th, we're pretty much locked in that 4th spot.

Yeah you all have good points about rest and all, I just wanna see them suffer though. I still have memories of Randolph's fat ass celebrating his way to the locker room after being ejected

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/701794971091865600[/tweet]

[og15]

Blake will definitely be well rested so that should help

[nickhx2]

i heard something about his quad injury not actually being fully healed when it was supposed to be, so for sure the extra time will be good for him.

plus you want 150% super max ham blake in the playoffs if possible. if last year's blake 3.0 was already running on fumes then we'll be in for a treat.

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/FredKatz/status/702949220714684416[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/HPbasketball/status/702950248906301441[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/BobbyMarks42/status/702950883517145088[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/BobbyMarks42/status/702951423340879872[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/702957024615641088[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/702975653755289601[/tweet]