Around The NBA: 2019-20 RESTART

[Ice Man]

One surprise and one not -

1) Jimmy Butler not only did not get a legit foul call, he was denied two foul calls on the final play against the Lakers. He draws a lot of fouls but apparently not every possible one.

2) LeBron's team got the free handout, of course, which very well may have given them the game. Sigh.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/256469/Jimmy-Butler-Fouled-Twice-By-Lakers-On-Last-Possession-According-To-NBA-L2M-Report

[Mech Engineer]

The Lakers won a game against the Mavs using a bad call and they won again last night with a no call. They will not be lucky always.

That said, the Heat missed a lot of open shots yesterday which they probably make especially at home. But, AD is playing at a different gear paired with Lebron. We need to see if he can remain healthy....that's been his problem.

And, Jimmy is a stud. It pains to watch him in a different uniform because of delusional dreams of our FO.

[Leslie Forman]

The Lakers won a game against the Mavs using a bad call and they won again last night with a no call. They will not be lucky always.

We're talking about the Lakers.

Of course they will be.

[RememberLu]

Read on Twitter

[Taikuri]

Doncic got injured. Hopefully it's nothing serious. Looked very nasty...

Watch on YouTube

[dice]

bam adebayo will get maxed out. you heard it here first

another strong possibility nobody would have guessed heading into the season: fultz gets a bigger contract than lauri

fansided did a re-draft of 2017 this past summer. i think that a third of the way into the season they'd like to re-draft their re-draft:

1 tatum
2 mitchell
3 fox
4 lauri
5 bam
6 collins
7 fultz
8 white
9 d smith
10 isaac
11 lonzo
12 OG
13 j allen
14 kennard
15 kuzma

[dice]

Read on Twitter

even more impressive, 12 assists vs only 2 TO in 26 minutes. he's not content with the "microwave scorer" 6th man identity

[Andi Obst]

Mavs vs Heat was a great game to watch. Sucks that Luka went down, but the rest of the team put up a great fight after the Heat just couldn't miss in the first half. Also a great game by the Heat considering they were on the second night of a very tough back to back.

Probably the teams I will watch most for the rest of the season.

[Ice Man]

bam adebayo will get maxed out. you heard it here first

another strong possibility nobody would have guessed heading into the season: fultz gets a bigger contract than lauri

fansided did a re-draft of 2017 this past summer. i think that a third of the way into the season they'd like to re-draft their re-draft:

1 tatum
2 mitchell
3 fox
4 lauri
5 bam
6 collins
7 fultz
8 white
9 d smith
10 isaac
11 lonzo
12 OG
13 j allen
14 kennard
15 kuzma

They had OG behind Dennis Smith [i'[this summer[/i]? SMH.

[Leslie Forman]

bam adebayo will get maxed out. you heard it here first

Bam Adebayo is gonna make All-NBA teams. If anyone ever asks "What's Lauri Markkanen missing?" just tell them to go watch Bam.

Adebayo, Isaac, Zach Collins, these are the kinds of versatile, switchable defensive bigs that are truly valuable, rather than some Shooty McShootersons.

[ZOMG]

bam adebayo will get maxed out. you heard it here first

Bam Adebayo is gonna make All-NBA teams. If anyone ever asks "What's Lauri Markkanen missing?" just tell them to go watch Bam.

Adebayo, Isaac, Zach Collins, these are the kinds of versatile, switchable defensive bigs that are truly valuable, rather than some Shooty McShootersons.

Defensive bigs are truly valuable in the modern NBA?? What?

There's a long line of athletic, non-shooting defensive bigs outside NBA's door. That's easily the most replacable player type in the modern game. A guy like Wendell is dime a dozen. I know it hurts some Bulls fans to hear it, but it's the harsh truth. If the Bulls had known Carter would be completely incapable of making shots in the NBA, they'd certainly never have picked him at #7.

Shooting is BY FAR the single most valuable skill in today's game. At every position. If you're a big with good defensive instincts, otherwordly athleticism and a knack for finishing (like Bam), sure... you may be quite valuable in the right circumstances (meaning you've got great ballhandlers and shooters around you).

But even those guys are constantly being told by their teams to develop jump shots.

[Leslie Forman]

Defensive bigs are truly valuable in the modern NBA?? What?

There's a long line of athletic, non-shooting defensive bigs outside NBA's door. That's easily the most replacable player type in the modern game. A guy like Wendell is dime a dozen. I know it hurts some Bulls fans to hear it, but it's the harsh truth. If the Bulls had known Carter would be completely incapable of making shots in the NBA, they'd certainly never have picked him at #7.

Shooting is BY FAR the single most valuable skill in today's game. At every position. If you're a big with good defensive instincts, otherwordly athleticism and a knack for finishing (like Bam), sure... you may be quite valuable in the right circumstances (meaning you've got great ballhandlers and shooters around you).

But even those guys are constantly being told by their teams to develop jump shots.

Did I say "defensive?" No. I said "versatile, switchable defensive big." Carter has no versatility. 6'9" yet can't play the 4. Markkanen can't play any position on defense.

Ryan Anderson and Steven Adams may be totally different player types, but ultimately neither is really all that important.

[Ice Man]

I can't speak to Isaac and Collins, but Bam is anything but a defensive specialist. He is a two-way stud. He went 18/11/10 last night, 12/12/5 the game before, and 30/11/11 the game before that. He's already good enough to be a Top Three player on a championship team, he's 22 years old, and he's improving fast.

Bam is Exhibit A in why I pay little attention to the NBA draft. I never heard a word about Bam in summer 2017. I heard basically about Fultz, Ball, Fox, Lauri, and Dennis Smith. Two 1/2 years later, Fox looks to be the only one of those five guys who is as good as Bam. The other four aren't close.

[Mech Engineer]

I can't speak to Isaac and Collins, but Bam is anything but a defensive specialist. He is a two-way stud. He went 18/11/10 last night, 12/12/5 the game before, and 30/11/11 the game before that. He's already good enough to be a Top Three player on a championship team, he's 22 years old, and he's improving fast. What a great #14 pick by the Heat.

If he really turns out to be what you are describing on a consistent basis, the Heat have struck gold. They have to find another veteran all-star type to complete the team. There are a lot of candidates who are ripe for a trade in the next year who can be got for cheap.

It will be interesting how Miami does in the playoffs this year and if they will be better than Philadelphia. That will be the ultimate insult to the process.

It shows how a draft pick can and should be developed. If Bam was on a losing team, he probably would be lost and learning bad habits. Getting Jimmy was a genius move in that sense for Miami and now they can make a plan of building a team rather than keep shooting in the dark for stars like the Bulls have been doing.

[Ice Man]

It will be interesting how Miami does in the playoffs this year and if they will be better than Philadelphia. That will be the ultimate insult to the process.

Philly is better, until Miami picks up another stud. The two teams have similar records, but Philly has had the tougher schedule and it has an extra gear. Miami to its credit shows up every night and basically plays to its potential.

[Ice Man]

It shows how a draft pick can and should be developed. If Bam was on a losing team, he probably would be lost and learning bad habits. Getting Jimmy was a genius move in that sense for Miami and now they can make a plan of building a team rather than keep shooting in the dark for stars like the Bulls have been doing.

Bam's assist rate has more than doubled this year, because the Heat are using him differently. With Hassan starting, their centers were used as rim rollers. But unlike Hassan, Bam sees the court. They're running a different offense this year with all sorts of cutting (Zach Lowe wrote about this in his most recent installment), which lets Bam do the Noah/Brad Miller thing, finding cutters, serving as an alternate playmaker.

Miami has its act together as an organization. Although to be sure, recruiting from South Beach and no state income tax doesn't hurt either.

[Leslie Forman]

I can't speak to Isaac and Collins, but Bam is anything but a defensive specialist. He is a two-way stud. He went 18/11/10 last night, 12/12/5 the game before, and 30/11/11 the game before that. He's already good enough to be a Top Three player on a championship team, he's 22 years old, and he's improving fast.

Bam is Exhibit A in why I pay little attention to the NBA draft. I never heard a word about Bam in summer 2017. I heard basically about Fultz, Ball, Fox, Lauri, and Dennis Smith. Two 1/2 years later, Fox looks to be the only one of those five guys who is as good as Bam. The other four aren't close.

Right, but he is a defense-first player, and an incredibly versatile one at that. If he was a Markkanen-level defender, he would be just some guy - look on his own team at how much less important Olynyk and Leonard are.

PGs and bigs are basically inverted in terms of offense/defense value. Any positive offense you get from a big is just a bonus - you should prioritize defense. The opposite holds true for small guards.

[dumbell78]

It shows how a draft pick can and should be developed. If Bam was on a losing team, he probably would be lost and learning bad habits. Getting Jimmy was a genius move in that sense for Miami and now they can make a plan of building a team rather than keep shooting in the dark for stars like the Bulls have been doing.

Bam's assist rate has more than doubled this year, because the Heat are using him differently. With Hassan starting, their centers were used as rim rollers. But unlike Hassan, Bam sees the court. They're running a different offense this year with all sorts of cutting (Zach Lowe wrote about this in his most recent installment), which lets Bam do the Noah/Brad Miller thing, finding cutters, serving as an alternate playmaker.

Miami has its act together as an organization. Although to be sure, recruiting from South Beach and no state income tax doesn't hurt either.

Miami has basically unleashed the kid and allowed him to push the ball up in transition, make plays, etc.. He's pulling a Draymond Green type of style and its working. He is showing he's way more than some hustle big.

[RakimAbdulJabar]

My goodness, no wonder the Bulls blew out the Hawks. I just got finished watching the Lakers/Hawks game and that team has the worst shot selection I've seen all season. There's no chemistry, no plan, just run around and jack up bad shot after bad shot. It was fitting that at the end of the game, down just 3 points with about 17 seconds left, Vince Carter has a wide open layup no one near him as he drives into the paint and instead of taking the quick 2 and fouling Lebron (had just missed at the line) he throws it out for a 3 that misses

A play or 2 before that Young had pull up from almost halfway to attempt a 3 with plenty of time on the clock. It's almost like they were trying to lose and the Lakers unbelievable luck at the end of games continues as teams keep shooting themselves in the foot and handing them wins

The Lakers were just 5-31 on threes, but the Hawks were barely better at 12-42

Both teams with 1 more turnover than assists, what a waste of an hour of my time.

Davis is close to sitting out some games, every game he's holding something, twisting something, it's just a matter of time I can feel it. Not that home court will matter for the Lakers because even if they play the Clippers and the Clips are the higher seed it's a pointless scenario as the Lakers will have home court.

This nonsense of 2 teams in LA needs to end already, move the Clippers somewhere else already

Rondo gets a tech for leaving the bench to run alongside the court talking to Lebron after a made basket, yet against the Jazz Lebron runs off the bench onto the court and no tech....

Since the Bulls are garbage all I care about this season is seeing Lebron and Anthony 'ugliest man alive' Davis lose in the playoffs, it will bring me so much joy.

Oh and I'm banned form posting on the general board but that draftnightsuit poster that does nothing else on this site other than try and downplay 80's and 90's basketball needs to watch this Lakers vs Hawks game before posting about Jordan supposedly having an easier time because of the illegal defense rule changes.

How about the we'll switch our slow center who does nothing when you drive the ball rule? Lebron is feasting on the worst matador defenses I've seen in so many years.

Defenders doing jack but watching him spin to the basket as his teammates jump up and down as if he's just cured cancer.

There may be some faster/quicker and more athletic players at the guard position these days, but team defense, hard fouls, defensive awareness, rim protection and effort is garbage on top of garbage for the most part. It's a joke to even entertain the idea that MJ wouldn't feast on these defenses, it's also a joke to make out like Jordan never faced double teams.

No unbiased person that actually saw the Bulls play during the late 80's to late 90's could honestly make a legit case that Jordan didn't see more than his fair share of defensive attention from 2nd and 3rd defenders. The guy just happened to master ways around it that didn't involve latching his off arm either onto defenders (Harden) or into defenders (Lebron) to get calls

If I wasn't already banned from there, I'd certainly be now with all the moronic posts that seem to pop up on there from kids that think the current stars are superior to the stars from the period MJ played.

The only argument I'll accept is that the Warriors and Spurs were better than the teams the Bulls faced in the finals. But that's not to say they were better than all the teams the Bulls played leading up to the finals or the teams that got beaten by the Western winner on the way to the finals. If the Jazz were so bad how did they beat the Shaq/Kobe Lakers and Hakeem Rockets?

Anyway, old man rant...

[Chi town]

bam adebayo will get maxed out. you heard it here first

Bam Adebayo is gonna make All-NBA teams. If anyone ever asks "What's Lauri Markkanen missing?" just tell them to go watch Bam.

Adebayo, Isaac, Zach Collins, these are the kinds of versatile, switchable defensive bigs that are truly valuable, rather than some Shooty McShootersons.

Couldn't agree more. Love Bam's game. He's tough, intense and physical too.

Only way Lauri will ever be an asset is if get's a handle and can get his own. Don't see that happening.