Around The NBA: 2019-20 RESTART

[Repeat 3-peat]

Kahwai only has one more year in his deal before he can leave. Clippers might be in some real trouble going forward.

He went home to LA for a reason so I don't see him leaving.

Paul George on the other hand? He may get bullied out of LA. Clips may be fine with that though, since it's already rumored they'll go after Giannis, but who isn't?

[troza]

Kahwai only has one more year in his deal before he can leave. Clippers might be in some real trouble going forward.

They took a chance. It even might pay off... imagine if Davis leaves LAL just because (that almost never happens) in the end of this season, even winning the probable title. Clippers might actually do something to improve and get the title next year... Idk... fire Doc Rivers and one or two signings in the free agency (good veteran players)...

Even it if fails, it is still way better than not going after Leonard and Paul George... and sticking with a mediocre playoff team.

[dougthonus]

I get your point but you made a big qualification at the end and that's teams without a franchise player. That's hard to do in OKC. You're not going to sign them and likely won't trade for them. So unless they bottom out and get someone, that player isn't likely coming here. The hit rate on picks in the 20's isn't great either. I also don't see someone taking 4 of these 20's picks and trading a top 3 pick for it. They do have value and he got a lot of them but I'm just not as mesmerized by them as you. I do think PG deal was really good though. And Russ had a low value. But the future doesn't look amazing to me. Maybe when they get more pieces.

The negatives you're talking about are all true whether they make these trades or not though. They still needed a franchise player and had even less hope of acquiring one than they do now.

[dougthonus]

If Clippers dont win this series, its either a clippers curse or something.

That team is weak minded. They think they can show up and win with just their talent alone.
Maybe I shouldn't say weak minded but mentally fragile, the bubble affected many players differently.

George admitted to struggling through depression in the bubble quite publicly. I don't knock him for that. It's a difficult thing to come out and admit to, especially in an alpha-male sports world. At the same time, while I think all of us can feel bad for someone with depression and what they are going through, it clearly had a significant impact in his performance in a field which is an ultimate meritocracy that simply doesn't care what the reason why you fail is.

[dougthonus]

"bubble championship"
"didn't have to face any tough teams"

things that will inevitably be said about lebron when/if lakers win title

Both are true of course (if he were to win) though the first of those is a disadvantage not a strength.

The bubble I think makes it tougher on LeBron though. It removes home court advantage which would have been really big for the Lakers as they would have had home court against every opponent they play. This is a huge advantage for teams like the Nuggets/Heat and those teams have taken advantage of it. It's a disadvantage for the Lakers and stripped away one of their advantages.

The Nuggets (52 win pace) or Celtics (55 win pace) would be the best possible teams he can face, and we generally view the Celtics record as somewhat inflated due to weak East. I don't know an easy way to check it, but statistically, it's probably one of the easiest (if not the absolute easiest) set of opponents any champion is facing.

[Ice Man]

They had the tough guys....Morris, Harrell, Beverly etc... supposedly but couldn't make shots.

Fake tough guys. They folded like origami when the lights got bright. (Origami ... now that's dating myself.)

[Andi Obst]

Truly an incredible comeback by the Nuggets. Loved every second of it. I had them losing in 5 before the series and felt very confident in that after game 4...then they just completely turned it around. Always been a huge Jokic fan, but him outplaying Kawhi is something I didn't expect. Murray has been so good and tough throughout these playoffs. Harris just comes back after months of no basketball, injuries and COVID and plays the best ball of his life. Mike Malone and his staff consistently found the right answers to everything the Clippers did. I'm really happy for this group and hope they just keep doing their thing against the Lakers.

[DASMACKDOWN]

Im happy for the Nuggets, but they are going to get swept by the Lakers. At worse they will get the gentlemen sweep.

This has cinderella written all over it. This is George Mason making the final foul. Then they played Florida.

Its either you believe they actually are 1-3 bad for two series in a row or you believe they are an amazing team to come back twice.

Sorry I just cant put stock in a team that can consistently be down on the brink of elimination.

More interested in the East final but its going to be a nauseating Lebron talk for the next month.

[troza]

Its either you believe they actually are 1-3 bad for two series in a row or you believe they are an amazing team to come back twice.

Sorry I just cant put stock in a team that can consistently be down on the brink of elimination.

I agree. They recovered vs the Jazz and a Clippers team that should have a better coach anyway. The Lakers have been well coached and I doubt that it would happen again.

More interested in the East final but its going to be a nauseating Lebron talk for the next month.

Indeed. The only good thing that comes out of that is the mental gymnastics the people that will say that he is now the GOAT. Not saying that he isn't great but it is always fun what people say. Sadly some of the defenses of other players are just ridiculous as well so nothing to gain from it.

[the ultimates]

Sometimes shots just don't fall and the offense can bog down but the Clippers team defense in the second half of these collapses was horrendous. Neither Leonard or George tried to guard Murray before he went supernova. Doc didn't seem to instruct them to do it until it was way too late in games and Murray had found his rhythm. In the second quarter of game seven Murray basically kept Denver in the game neither Doc, George or Leonard even attempted to slow him down.

[TheStig]

I get your point but you made a big qualification at the end and that's teams without a franchise player. That's hard to do in OKC. You're not going to sign them and likely won't trade for them. So unless they bottom out and get someone, that player isn't likely coming here. The hit rate on picks in the 20's isn't great either. I also don't see someone taking 4 of these 20's picks and trading a top 3 pick for it. They do have value and he got a lot of them but I'm just not as mesmerized by them as you. I do think PG deal was really good though. And Russ had a low value. But the future doesn't look amazing to me. Maybe when they get more pieces.

The negatives you're talking about are all true whether they make these trades or not though. They still needed a franchise player and had even less hope of acquiring one than they do now.

I get it. And I know it takes luck. But I don't think they're the best young team or in the best place going forward. I'd rather have the Mavs or Celtic or Pels or Hawks. In my book they're nothing special at this point. We'll see what happens.

[dougthonus]

I get it. And I know it takes luck. But I don't think they're the best young team or in the best place going forward. I'd rather have the Mavs or Celtic or Pels or Hawks. In my book they're nothing special at this point. We'll see what happens.

I said they were the best positioned team without a franchise caliber talent on the team. The teams you named have that type of talent on the team. That might only make them the 15th best positioned team in the league, but it was a very good step from where they were.

Anyway, I think we're generally on the same page there and only splitting hairs over semantics.

[mtron32]

Truly an incredible comeback by the Nuggets. Loved every second of it. I had them losing in 5 before the series and felt very confident in that after game 4...then they just completely turned it around. Always been a huge Jokic fan, but him outplaying Kawhi is something I didn't expect. Murray has been so good and tough throughout these playoffs. Harris just comes back after months of no basketball, injuries and COVID and plays the best ball of his life. Mike Malone and his staff consistently found the right answers to everything the Clippers did. I'm really happy for this group and hope they just keep doing their thing against the Lakers.

The best part is that the architect of all this is now in the drivers seat for the Bulls

[kodo]

Im happy for the Nuggets, but they are going to get swept by the Lakers. At worse they will get the gentlemen sweep.

This has cinderella written all over it. This is George Mason making the final foul. Then they played Florida.

Its either you believe they actually are 1-3 bad for two series in a row or you believe they are an amazing team to come back twice.

Sorry I just cant put stock in a team that can consistently be down on the brink of elimination.

More interested in the East final but its going to be a nauseating Lebron talk for the next month.

Lakers shouldn't have any of the issues LAC did. Lebron is one of the best creators in the game, far better than Kawhi and not even in the same realm as PG. LAC really had terrible answers to Jokic, both Zubac and Harrell were smooth speedbumps. AD & McGee will be on another level. And on top of all that, Nuggets will be exhausted. Aaaand they're still missing their 3rd leading scorer and best veteran and best 2-way player, Will Barton.

Paul George surprised me. Sure he turned into a spot up shooter when LAC needed him the most, but even as a spot up shooter...wth happened? His shots weren't even getting close to the rim.

https://streamable.com/az8iga

[Mech Engineer]

Kawhi's problem is he is not a true rallying kind of leader which Jimmy, Lowry, Lebron are. And, he doesn't try to make it easy for teammates. It's always a 3 pt shot or him taking the tough shot.

His winning came with better leaders around him. Maybe, he had to grow as a leader this year

But, overall, I think they underestimated the Nuggets and panicked when they pushed back.

[Chi town]

Kawhi's problem is he is not a true rallying kind of leader which Jimmy, Lowry, Lebron are. And, he doesn't try to make it easy for teammates. It's always a 3 pt shot or him taking the tough shot.

His winning came with better leaders around him. Maybe, he had to grow as a leader this year

But, overall, I think they underestimated the Nuggets and panicked when they pushed back.

Exactly. I said it pages back. He leads with his game and when his shot isn't falling... he doesn't lead at all.

[DASMACKDOWN]

Paul George surprised me. Sure he turned into a spot up shooter when LAC needed him the most, but even as a spot up shooter...wth happened? His shots weren't even getting close to the rim.

https://streamable.com/az8iga

Paul George hasnt had a great playoff series since the Indy series vs the Heat. So I am not surprised.

Paul George is like the king of style points. When he is on, he looks great with his size etc. But mostly he is off and inefficient.

He is closer to a Tobias Harris than he is to Kawhi Lenard.

[MrSparkle]

These results seem surprising, but in the end, the signs were there:

1. Clippers chemistry was shaky all year long - underachievers
2. Giannis can't shoot his way out of a defensive scheme

Coupled with the variables the bubble and pandemic created, there were gonna be curve-balls. So these two contenders falling early, it's a shock, but it's not.

But with them flaking out, Lakers have a pretty easy path remaining forward. Lebron and Davis are head-and-shoulders the most dominant two-way players remaining.

Keys for Denver will be:

- Keep Jokic out of foul trouble. LAL runs an 8-player whistle offense.
- Control the glass.
- Let Lebron get his while trying to totally shut out Caruso, Rondo, Green and the bench.

I'm afraid it'll be easy for Lakers to exploit Jokic's defense and throttle Murray's scoring. Also, they might struggle with rebounds and loose balls. They should have a better shot than POR and HOU thanks to depth - hope they make it a good series, but we'll see.

[Mech Engineer]

These results seem surprising, but in the end, the signs were there:

1. Clippers chemistry was shaky all year long - underachievers
2. Giannis can't shoot his way out of a defensive scheme

Coupled with the variables the bubble and pandemic created, there were gonna be curve-balls. So these two contenders falling early, it's a shock, but it's not.

But with them flaking out, Lakers have a pretty easy path remaining forward. Lebron and Davis are head-and-shoulders the most dominant two-way players remaining.

Keys for Denver will be:

- Keep Jokic out of foul trouble. LAL runs an 8-player whistle offense.
- Control the glass.
- Let Lebron get his while trying to totally shut out Caruso, Rondo, Green and the bench.

I'm afraid it'll be easy for Lakers to exploit Jokic's defense and throttle Murray's scoring. Also, they might struggle with rebounds and loose balls. They should have a better shot than POR and HOU thanks to depth - hope they make it a good series, but we'll see.

Bubble has probably impacted players who relied on HCA for energy, familiarity or calls. Lakers haven't been tested yet because they have faced flawed teams.

Lebron is old too. Let's not forget that. The Lakers can look really old very fast and AD is sort of like Giannis. He is talented but not proven in playoffs. He can be taken out of the game if he is not involved which is always possible with Lebron.

[R3AL1TY]

The Clippers curse is real lol

It's unfortunate Doc Rivers is part of 2 major chokes done by the Clippers (not counting Orlando Magic). Many people are going to hold his feet to the fire, but when you look at the videos of these disappointments, it's mainly the players not hitting open shots nor playing good defense. Kawhi and PG are going to have a serious stain on their resumes for this series. They played horrible for a game 7. Even PG's defense was terrible at times. That's why I'm always hesitant in ranking PG over Jimmy despite his better 3 pt shooting. Kawhi shouldn't have overlook the chemistry he had with the Raptors in order to have the convenience in LA.