The Athletic: NBA execs around the league expect the gap between Clippers and Lakers to be significant

sikma42 · Post #121 » by **sikma42** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:09 pm

Did you watch that 2015 series. If that AD comes to LA then he wins the MVP easily. That series was something to watch...he played great.

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OkcSinceSGA · Post #122 » by **OkcSinceSGA** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:11 pm

NoDopeOnSundays wrote:
ClipsFanSince98 wrote:
NoDopeOnSundays wrote:So, you think Kawhi is effectively 30 pounds heavier than AD?

No. I think AD is probably 235 ish. So he's realistically 15 lbs heavier but on a WAY stronger frame.

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AD is 254lbs, and even in the article you posted it is just a ball park guesstimate of Kawhi's weight, his teams have listed him at 230lbs at most, he and Jimmy Butler are roughly the same size and Butler is 232.

Also, if you think Kawhi is 250lbs, then LeBron must be 285lbs, and Zion must be 315lbs.

Anthony Davis bulked up to 250 ish for like half a season, then admitted he had trouble keeping the weight on and lost a lot of it. At most he's 240-245. Kawhi is definitely heavier IMO, or at least about the same weight. Lebron IS more like 265-270 so he's bigger than Kawhi. I posted a Spurs article quote with the source being the training staff that worked with Kawhi in the weight room daily. They said he was 250. It's not farfetched dude. Also it wasn't a guess. The training staff said "Kawhi, whom was around 250 lbs at the time". That's not a guess in the sense you're using it. It means he's either 250 lbs or very close to. You don't say "someone is around 250 lbs" and they actually weigh 230. Hell it could mean he weighs slightly more, who knows. Bottom line is... in practice and in interviews lately my first thought was holy **** that dude looks huge.

His shoulders, arms, hands, calves look more broad than Blake Griffin who was 255-265 ish, albeit on a 2 inch taller frame. He made PG look like a twig standing next to him and looked bigger than Harrell in every way besides height maybe, who is listed at 250-255 ish.

OkcSinceSGA · Post #123 » by **OkcSinceSGA** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:18 pm

PS... the Anthony Davis is 250 lbs.... this is the only source for it. He goes on to say he played in the 243-245 range and "I haven't played at 250 yet" despite being listed at 253. We ALL know that the google/wiki height/weight listings are incredibly inaccurate. They still list KD at 6'9" for example. We all know KD is a legit 7'0".

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/17645889/anthony-davis-250-pounds-grows-one-inch-last-season

"They measured us like a week and a half ago and they said I was 6-11, which I don't want to be," he told the Pelicans' in-house podcast, The Black And Blue Report. "I think 6-10's like the perfect height for me. It just doesn't sound right; 6-10 sounds perfect to me. 6-11, 7 feet. ... I don't like it.

"I will always tell everybody 6-10. I don't care if I'm 7-3. I'm 6-10."

The 23-year-old also said he played last season at 243 or 245 pounds but is now up to 250. He was listed at 253 pounds last season.

"I got to see how I feel playing at that weight," he said. "I really love playing at 245, but we'll see. I haven't played at 250 yet. I mean, [I've played] pickup, but that's not really a real game. I'll see. I'll test it out in preseason and see. After a while, just play.

"I don't want to get under 245 though. If I do drop weight, I don't want to get under 245."

The_Hater · Post #124 » by **The_Hater** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:20 pm

Ignoring the 2 stars leading each team for the moment, the Clippers have better role players, they’re deeper and they have a roster that fits much better together. Right now the Lakers 3 best players all call PF their best position and if AD continues to insist on playing primarily PF they end up with poorer spacing, good players who can’t get on the floor and likely some poor PG defense.

All that said, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see the Lakers beat the Clips in a playoff series and Bron is a huge reason for that.

ProcessDoctor · Post #125 » by **ProcessDoctor** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:21 pm

All this talk about the LA teams when Houston will actually win the West.

RoLo · Post #126 » by **RoLo** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:23 pm

Clips fans are the progression of Blazers Lakers Celtics Raptors fans. the final form

OkcSinceSGA · Post #127 » by **OkcSinceSGA** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:25 pm

RoLo wrote:Clips fans are the progression of Blazers Lakers Celtics Raptors fans. the final form

THIS ISN'T EVEN MY FINAL FORM!

. If the Clippers win it, I'll have 9000 keyboardgasms on this forum.

JB2 · Post #128 » by **JB2** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:31 pm

ClipsFanSince98 wrote:
RoLo wrote:Clips fans are the progression of Blazers Lakers Celtics Raptors fans. the final form

THIS ISN'T EVEN MY FINAL FORM! . If the Clippers win it, I'll have 9000 keyboardgasms on this forum.

Kill me now

lamscott · Post #129 » by **lamscott** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:32 pm

I kinda like the Lakers being in the underdog role.

Post #130 » by **zimpy27** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:38 pm

jpengland wrote:
zimpy27 wrote:How do NBA execs get these jobs?

The fit on the Lakers is better than the Clippers but the Clippers have more talent from 1 to 8. The Lakers defense will be better, the Clippers offense will be better. I would say Clippers are slight favorites because they are younger.

The Lakers defense will be better? Not a chance.

It will be better.

AD/Howard core with LeBron and Green for wing matchups and several tough perimeter guards defenders.

Clippers have decent wing and perimeter defenders but they don't have a strong center. Interior defense is as important as ever and they have Zubac only at 20 mpg.

LoveTheNBA23 · Post #131 » by **LoveTheNBA23** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:39 pm

AD has played in 3 playoff series and put up 30.5ppg and two of those were against Draymond. Dude was unstoppable but his team let him down. We’ve seen Lebron go God mode and Kawhi go hard too.

PG has been subpar the last two postseasons and his efficiency has been considerably worse than the regular season. AD swept the team that PG/Westbrook lost to. Actually they didn’t even have Nurkic last year and OKC lost in 6. PG will be the Clippers downfall in the postseason.

OkcSinceSGA · Post #132 » by **OkcSinceSGA** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:11 pm

LoveTheNBA23 wrote:AD has played in 3 playoff series and put up 30.5ppg and two of those were against Draymond. Dude was unstoppable but his team let him down. We’ve seen Lebron go God mode and Kawhi go hard too.

PG has been subpar the last two postseasons and his efficiency has been considerably worse than the regular season. AD swept the team that PG/Westbrook lost to. Actually they didn’t even have Nurkic last year and OKC lost in 6. PG will be the Clippers downfall in the postseason.

PG was carrying the load as the 1st option last year. Very different than him being a clear #2 in the playoffs next to Kawhi. You literally cannot compare Westbrook to Kawhi. In general I agree that PG has recently been the worst playoff performer of the 4 superstars in LA, you can't completely disregard his playoff career. In the back to back ECF runs against Lebron he pushed Lebron and the Heat further than any other eastern conference team had arguably (including to 7) and went toe to toe with PEAK Lebron and more than held his own in 2014 especially when he put up 24/5.5/4/2 steals on 45/38 shooting splits.

PG is as good of a #2 option as it gets, playoffs or not if healthy. He's going to completely shred this year with the talent/depth he has around him and the fit.

Greyhound · Post #133 » by **Greyhound** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:35 pm

ClipsFanSince98 wrote:
NoDopeOnSundays wrote:
ClipsFanSince98 wrote:No. I think AD is probably 235 ish. So he's realistically 15 lbs heavier but on a WAY stronger frame.

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AD is 254lbs, and even in the article you posted it is just a ball park guesstimate of Kawhi's weight, his teams have listed him at 230lbs at most, he and Jimmy Butler are roughly the same size and Butler is 232.

Also, if you think Kawhi is 250lbs, then LeBron must be 285lbs, and Zion must be 315lbs.

Anthony Davis bulked up to 250 ish for like half a season, then admitted he had trouble keeping the weight on and lost a lot of it. At most he's 240-245. Kawhi is definitely heavier IMO, or at least about the same weight. Lebron IS more like 265-270 so he's bigger than Kawhi. I posted a Spurs article quote with the source being the training staff that worked with Kawhi in the weight room daily. They said he was 250. It's not farfetched dude. Also it wasn't a guess. The training staff said "Kawhi, whom was around 250 lbs at the time". That's not a guess in the sense you're using it. It means he's either 250 lbs or very close to. You don't say "someone is around 250 lbs" and they actually weigh 230. Hell it could mean he weighs slightly more, who knows. Bottom line is... in practice and in interviews lately my first thought was holy **** that dude looks huge.

His shoulders, arms, hands, calves look more broad than Blake Griffin who was 255-265 ish, albeit on a 2 inch taller frame. He made PG look like a twig standing next to him and looked bigger than Harrell in every way besides height maybe, who is listed at 250-255 ish.

You say all of this to say what exactly?

That Kawhi will shut down AD on the interior?

LOL

He will not, I don’t care if he is 250 (he is not). Davis is not the type of player that Kawhi will affect with his brand of defense. AD is essentially a garbage man, an opportunist and an off ball finisher. His attack is not to iso or to post up his man (with frequency). He is going to be picking and popping, picking and rolling, tipping in misses and catching lobs and drop passes.

He could drop an efficient 25 on Kawhi without ever being isolated, posted, or even featured in the action. He could get 20 and 15 purely off of scraps and spot ups.

Giannis and he are two completely different animals.

The biggest effect Kawhi would have on him would be to cut off his drives and switch off of him onto LeBron to help mitigate that pick and roll (somewhat). Kawhi is disruptive, so I have no doubt he will have an effect. The problem will be that LeBron will hit AD off of that roll, once the switch occurs, and he will be guarded by a George or some guard while he dives to the bucket.

Good luck with that.

OkcSinceSGA · Post #134 » by **OkcSinceSGA** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:39 pm

Greyhound wrote:
ClipsFanSince98 wrote:
NoDopeOnSundays wrote:

AD is 254lbs, and even in the article you posted it is just a ball park guesstimate of Kawhi's weight, his teams have listed him at 230lbs at most, he and Jimmy Butler are roughly the same size and Butler is 232.

Also, if you think Kawhi is 250lbs, then LeBron must be 285lbs, and Zion must be 315lbs.

Anthony Davis bulked up to 250 ish for like half a season, then admitted he had trouble keeping the weight on and lost a lot of it. At most he's 240-245. Kawhi is definitely heavier IMO, or at least about the same weight. Lebron IS more like 265-270 so he's bigger than Kawhi. I posted a Spurs article quote with the source being the training staff that worked with Kawhi in the weight room daily. They said he was 250. It's not farfetched dude. Also it wasn't a guess. The training staff said "Kawhi, whom was around 250 lbs at the time". That's not a guess in the sense you're using it. It means he's either 250 lbs or very close to. You don't say "someone is around 250 lbs" and they actually weigh 230. Hell it could mean he weighs slightly more, who knows. Bottom line is... in practice and in interviews lately my first thought was holy **** that dude looks huge.

His shoulders, arms, hands, calves look more broad than Blake Griffin who was 255-265 ish, albeit on a 2 inch taller frame. He made PG look like a twig standing next to him and looked bigger than Harrell in every way besides height maybe, who is listed at 250-255 ish.

You say all of this to say what exactly?

That Kawhi will shut down AD on the interior?

LOL

He will not, I don’t care if he is 250 (he is not). Davis is not the type of player that Kawhi will effect with his brand of defense. AD is essentially a garbage man, an opportunist and an off ball finisher. His attack is not to iso or to post up his man (with frequency). He is going to be picking and popping, picking and rolling, tipping in misses and catching lobs and drop passes.

He could drop an efficient 25 on Kawhi without ever being isolated, posted, or even featured in the action. He could get 20 and 15 purely off of scraps and spot ups.

Giannis and he are two completely different animals.

The biggest effect Kawhi would have on him would be to cut off his drives and switch off of him onto LeBron to help mitigate that pick and roll (somewhat). Kawhi is disruptive, so I have no doubt he will have an effect. The problem will be that LeBron will hit AD off of that roll, once the switch occurs, and he will be guarded by a George or some guard while he dives to the bucket.

Good luck with that.

No, it was just a tangent. I'm saying Kawhi wouldn't get killed as bad as people think when the Clippers run smaller. He would physically abuse AD and is stronger than AD, although AD will still get his due to his skill set/length. I don't think we will see the matchup often. In the same way that AD would get killed trying to guard Kawhi, even if he plays good D. Someone else randomly brought it up, I took the bait.

Nonetheless... Any of these 4 guys aren't going to be locked up by each other probably. PG is the weakest link of the 4 in the playoffs most likely, but the team OUTSIDE of the 4 stars is where the Lakers get taken to the woodshed. When it goes bench vs bench it's not going to be pretty for them.

OkcSinceSGA · Post #135 » by **OkcSinceSGA** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 10:00 pm

https://youtu.be/Bx0Nf_eUIjY

The Jump just discussed this. Windhorst basically said he discussed this with a league source and they said what I've said previously. Which is the Lakers margin for error is way smaller. Lakers ceiling is as good, but their floor and predictability is way lower. They could as easily be the 7 seed as the 1 seed and win it all. Clippers roster is more cohesive and predictable.

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Asif16 · Post #136 » by **Asif16** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 10:34 pm

Maybe the Clippers can finally get out of the 2nd rd now

PistolPeteJR · Post #137 » by **PistolPeteJR** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 10:39 pm

If anyone thinks that the Clippers are not the clear favourite, you’re fooling yourself.

The one hope I had that the Lakers could take them down was if Boogie was healthy and putting up something like 17 and 8 a game, which I believe the Lakers had a good chance of seeing happen. The matchup with LeBron, AD and Cousins bullying them in the paint would have really hurt the Clippers, seeing how they don’t have enough bigs to defend them inside. Obviously, that died when Boogie went down.

aznsk91 · Post #138 » by **aznsk91** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 10:54 pm

Yogatti wrote:
NoDopeOnSundays wrote:
AD loses to one of the greatest teams ever in their championship years.

Jingles drops PG off......

But but but LeBron beat PG half a decade ago!

so many excuses for AD. I thought AD was a generational talent? MVP? Best player in the world? How can you only win 1 playoff game against the Warriors your entire career?

2015: Zero wins against the Warriors
2018: 1 win against the Warriors

The Los Angeles Clippers with no allstars/superstars won 2 games against the Warriors in 2019. Both of them in Oakland. And that's with Kevin Durant on the Warriors.

But okay keep pushing this narrative that AD is some unstoppable machine despite his lack of playoff success. No one is scared of AD in the playoffs, partially because he's never in the playoffs most of his career anyway

To be fair

Pau gasol never won a playoff game let alone a series while on the Memphis grizzlies. he was considered a border line all-star

when he gets traded to the lakers, he's considered the most skilled big in the game and a superstar caliber player

Pau thrived playing with Kobe. Similarily I think AD will thrive playing with Lebron to an ever greater degree. I think both will have a synergistic effect on each other Teams are so used to loading up their entire defense on Lebron and AD, but now Lebron and AD are on the same team

NBAFan93 · Post #139 » by **NBAFan93** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 11:43 pm

ClipsFanSince98 wrote:
LoveTheNBA23 wrote:AD has played in 3 playoff series and put up 30.5ppg and two of those were against Draymond. Dude was unstoppable but his team let him down. We’ve seen Lebron go God mode and Kawhi go hard too.

PG has been subpar the last two postseasons and his efficiency has been considerably worse than the regular season. AD swept the team that PG/Westbrook lost to. Actually they didn’t even have Nurkic last year and OKC lost in 6. PG will be the Clippers downfall in the postseason.

PG was carrying the load as the 1st option last year. Very different than him being a clear #2 in the playoffs next to Kawhi. You literally cannot compare Westbrook to Kawhi. In general I agree that PG has recently been the worst playoff performer of the 4 superstars in LA, you can't completely disregard his playoff career. In the back to back ECF runs against Lebron he pushed Lebron and the Heat further than any other eastern conference team had arguably (including to 7) and went toe to toe with PEAK Lebron and more than held his own in 2014 especially when he put up 24/5.5/4/2 steals on 45/38 shooting splits.

PG is as good of a #2 option as it gets, playoffs or not if healthy. He's going to completely shred this year with the talent/depth he has around him and the fit.

He was a #2 in ‘18, or at least a 1b, and still disappointed, and that time he wasn’t injured. That said, the Kawhi + PG pairing has youth and experience on the Lakers squad and I’d imagine them to be better in a playoff series.

spikeslovechild · Post #140 » by **spikeslovechild** » Mon Sep 23, 2019 11:49 pm

it maybe considered a hot take but I wouldn't be surprised if the Lakers missed the playoffs. I don't think that team is good enough to make the playoffs without Lebron or AD.

Lebron is getting older and AD has never been healthy if either miss significant time the Lakers are in trouble