Around the NBA: 2018/2019 edition

[BadMofoPimp]

I thought for sure that game was going into overtime as Kawhi took that shot. Up until the first two bounces, I still thought it was a miss, then it happened to fall in. I jumped out of my seat screaming "Oh my freaking god" and scared crap outta the dog.

[CZ Eddie]

Beilein to the Cavs is a good hire IMO

Geez, my old roommate's kid just finished his freshman year for Beilein.
Didn't get to play much (PF/C) thanks to how good the starter was playing.
Hope this does not affect his chances at more playing time next year.
He went to that college BECAUSE of Beilein.

[Gomagic44]

I thought for sure that game was going into overtime as Kawhi took that shot. Up until the first two bounces, I still thought it was a miss, then it happened to fall in. I jumped out of my seat screaming "Oh my freaking god" and scared crap outta the dog.

I was watching the last two minutes when I got home from work. Wife was talking and I was TOTALLY PAYING ATTENTION TO HER and then I shouted “no F#*{Ng way!”

The golden state game was great too. The splash bros are crazy still. That shooting is just wet. I’m tired of them winning like anyone else but it is absolutely impressive to see them drain clutch contested 3s.


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[YDNA]

Kawhi did what he had to do today because his teammates other than Ibaka seemed scared of the moment. He was having an off shooting night himself and had to shoot 39 times to get them there, but he got them there. Screw FG% in that case. He gave them 41 points that they would have been screwed without. Milwaukee should handle them if Kawhi has to do it all himself again though.

crazy how he had to play how he did for the raptors to get the W. everyone on that team was so afraid to shoot, i was yelling at my tv telling them to take the shot haha. it's game 7, you're one win away from the ECF... you should definitely be hungry and play with more intensity

[orlando1214]

Wow, I guess the new draft rules have helped a bit. Sucks to see the Lakers move up, but it's exciting to see things get shaken up. Now let's see how the final 4 spots play out.

[NavalAviator94]

Wow - did not see this coming. It’s going to be very interesting in New Orleans this summer.


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[orlando1214]

Pelicans with the first pick, Griz 2nd, Knicks 3rd, Lakers 4th. Glad the Knicks or Lakers didnt get it. It will be really interesting to see what the Pelicans do with AD now. Happy for the Griz as well, adding another high draft pick with Jackson Jr. is pretty good for them.

[MagicFan101]

NO could trade AD to the Knicks for #3, DSjr, Knox and a haul of future picks.

DSjr
Jrue
RJ
Knox
Zion

Definitely a new age lineup but could be fun.

[MartinsIzAfraud]

Zion
Ja
RJ
Cam

Then who the **** knows.

[Message Boar]

Well, the odds of Memphis moving Conley just increased even more now that they might look Morant's way on draft night. Otherwise I thought this was a pretty good result, Atlanta would've been a problem in the division if they got Zion and Cleveland would've just made me mad as hell.

Pretty funny that the top pick(s) are going west, like every damn year. Honestly it's understated how much lotto luck and the few bad west team having inflated LOSS numbers every year is keeping the east/west disparity in place.

EDIT: I made a bit of a roundup to look into this hunch; but tried to think back on how prospects were regarded at the time of the lottery/draft of said year. Obviously there were some tough judgement calls on whether a prospect was deemed elite or not. I'd say that my criterion is whether the consensus view was that said player would likely be a franchise-altering player who would make multiple all-star teams.

Since 2007 (2006 didn't really have a talent that i would qualify as 'elite', so that's a good breakoff point)

2007: Oden & Durant - Both WEST
2008: Rose, Beasley, Mayo - 2 EAST, 1 WEST (Westbrook obviously went west, but that was a surprise pick)
2009: Griffin, Thabeet, Harden, Tyreke(?), Rubio, Curry - All WEST (Knicks @ 8 the first eastern team to pick; one pick after Steph)
2010: Wall - EAST (Paul George also went east @10th pick to Indy in this draft)
2011: Irving - EAST
2012: AD - WEST (Lillard obviously also went west 6th, but east teams could've taken him, had they been smarter)
2013: no consensus elite prospects; shoutout and continued speedy recovery to Victor.
2014: Wiggins, Parker, Embiid - all EAST, technically
2015: Towns, Russell - both WEST
2016: Simmons, Ingram - 1 EAST, 1 WEST
2017: Fultz, Ball - 1 EAST, 1 WEST
2018: Ayton, Doncic - both WEST
2019: Definitely Zion, possibly Morant and/or Barrett depending on how the pre-draft process develops in terms of hype levels - at least 1 WEST

Conclusion: West 17 - East 9; I still feel like i might've slipped into some recency bias here, because plenty of elite talent did head east. however the elite-est of the elite prospects (Durant/AD/Zion) do seem to keep finding their way west on lotto night. Both conferences pick some busts/underwhelming guys at similar rates. West teams seemingly have been slightly more successful in finding star talent that wasn't as obvious during the pre-draft process (Lillard/Klay/Kawhi/Cousins/Westbrook vs Giannis/Porzingis/George). Also teams do seem to slowly be getting a bit smarter over the years.

[MagicFan101]

Zion
Ja
RJ
Cam

Then who the **** knows.

Cam isn’t going top 5. I know that.

But Garland is ...

[orlando1214]

NO could trade AD to the Knicks for #3, DSjr, Knox and a haul of future picks.

DSjr
Jrue
RJ
Knox
Zion

Definitely a new age lineup but could be fun.

Yeah, they have a lot of options now. Unfortunately, the Lakers getting the 4th pick helps them out as well, and we will probably see the Knicks and Lakers in a bidding war for AD. It's a great thing for NO though. They get the number 1 pick tonight, maybe convince AD to stay, or more than likely get the teams with picks 3 and 4 to start a bidding war for him. I'm so glad they didn't get bullied into trading AD to the Lakers before the deadline. This is basically the best possible outcome for them.

[Skin]

We won 5 games more than the Lakers and they get the 4th pick while we get 16. Hmmmmm

[JF5]

I have a feeling that there will be a lot of deals made draft night and beyond...

The Magic might be a big player for a top 5 prospect either draft night or Free-agency if Vucevic is signed/traded to one of those teams.

[NavalAviator94]

We won 5 games more than the Lakers and they get the 4th pick while we get 16. Hmmmmm

They just hired Frank Vogel, sit down.


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[MagicFan101]

We won 5 games more than the Lakers and they get the 4th pick while we get 16. Hmmmmm

That is the imbalance of the conferences not a cause for conspiracy theories.

[Bensational]

My pick is the Lakers trade Ingram + #4 for Beal. If they have to throw in Ball or Hart, they do it.

Lakers then have:

?
Kuzma
LeBron
Beal
?/(Ball?)

and max FA cap space.

Wizards rebuild quickly with:

Bryant
Portis
Ingram
X
(Ball?)/(Wall)

+ Garland/Reddish/White/whoever + #9

[DRSMagic]

Yeah I agree they'll doing something like that if they can't make a deal for AD

[Optimus_Steel]

Suns got screwed in the lottery.

[nymets1]

I thought when I found out the Pelicans got the #1 pick that AD would stay. If AD still wants out when he was the chance to play with ZION, AD comes off as jerk.

1.Pelicans- Zion
2-Grizzles- Ja
3.Knicks- Barrett
4- Lakers- ???