Around The NBA

[Leslie Forman]

He is nowhere near the physical profile of a wing (in terms of speed and finesse). After watching the Euro tourney, I was excited because it looked like we got a higher-IQ, more rounded replacement for Niko and Bobby. How do you watch this and not consider him a high-post big man? Almost every play starts with his back to the rim, besides for his 3Ps. Any chance that making him a spot-up shooter like Bruce Bowen was what sent his game to the complete pits? I can't explain why his post-game seems to have gotten worse each year (maybe his back and hips are indeed messed up).

Watch on YouTube

;t=22s

Maaaan, people here loved the sh*t out of this, but it always looked incredibly Doug McDermott/Adam Morrison-y to me.

He's basically just making really high difficulty garbage shots, many of them bouncing all over the rim. He's not able to actually generate easy looking shots. No different from how all those points McDermott was making in college were insanely high difficulty. He's unable to elevate without a runway. He's being forced into freaking turnaround fadeaways backing down guards. He can only make straight line drives against no-name scrubs.

There's no complex dribble moves, there's no beasting down people in the paint, there's no no-step elevation, no hesi-euro-Shammgod-pullup-jimbo-whatevers. Obviously people expected him to work on that stuff, but you generally show some real flashes of it at the lower levels. He never really did. Still hasn't.

[dougthonus]

Maaaan, people here loved the sh*t out of this, but it always looked incredibly Doug McDermott/Adam Morrison-y to me.

He's basically just making really high difficulty garbage shots, many of them bouncing all over the rim. He's not able to actually generate easy looking shots. No different from how all those points McDermott was making in college were insanely high difficulty. He's unable to elevate without a runway. He's being forced into freaking turnaround fadeaways backing down guards. He can only make straight line drives against no-name scrubs.

There's no complex dribble moves, there's no beasting down people in the paint, there's no no-step elevation, no hesi-euro-Shammgod-pullup-jimbo-whatevers. Obviously people expected him to work on that stuff, but you generally show some real flashes of it at the lower levels. He never really did. Still hasn't.

I never expected Lauri to do most of those things, but I thought we'd have a 40% 3 point shooter that could get shots off easily due to his height. Lauri doesn't rally get shots off that easily and his percentages are fine but not outstanding. He's been a decently efficient scorer, around 55% TS%, but he doesn't generate a lot of pressure on the opposition, and he's not doing you any favors on defense.

Based on his athleticism, its unlikely he's ever going to be a plus defender, so he really needs to add a lot offensively to have a big positive impact, and right now he's like a little bit of a plus offensively and a little bit of a minus defensively and probably overall just an average starting caliber player. Like maybe somewhere between top 75 and top 125 in the league, or in other words, just a guy.

[sco]

Maaaan, people here loved the sh*t out of this, but it always looked incredibly Doug McDermott/Adam Morrison-y to me.

He's basically just making really high difficulty garbage shots, many of them bouncing all over the rim. He's not able to actually generate easy looking shots. No different from how all those points McDermott was making in college were insanely high difficulty. He's unable to elevate without a runway. He's being forced into freaking turnaround fadeaways backing down guards. He can only make straight line drives against no-name scrubs.

There's no complex dribble moves, there's no beasting down people in the paint, there's no no-step elevation, no hesi-euro-Shammgod-pullup-jimbo-whatevers. Obviously people expected him to work on that stuff, but you generally show some real flashes of it at the lower levels. He never really did. Still hasn't.

I never expected Lauri to do most of those things, but I thought we'd have a 40% 3 point shooter that could get shots off easily due to his height. Lauri doesn't rally get shots off that easily and his percentages are fine but not outstanding. He's been a decently efficient scorer, around 55% TS%, but he doesn't generate a lot of pressure on the opposition, and he's not doing you any favors on defense.

Based on his athleticism, its unlikely he's ever going to be a plus defender, so he really needs to add a lot offensively to have a big positive impact, and right now he's like a little bit of a plus offensively and a little bit of a minus defensively and probably overall just an average starting caliber player. Like maybe somewhere between top 75 and top 125 in the league, or in other words, just a guy.

Wow...this!

[MrSparkle]

He is nowhere near the physical profile of a wing (in terms of speed and finesse). After watching the Euro tourney, I was excited because it looked like we got a higher-IQ, more rounded replacement for Niko and Bobby. How do you watch this and not consider him a high-post big man? Almost every play starts with his back to the rim, besides for his 3Ps. Any chance that making him a spot-up shooter like Bruce Bowen was what sent his game to the complete pits? I can't explain why his post-game seems to have gotten worse each year (maybe his back and hips are indeed messed up).

Watch on YouTube

;t=22s

Maaaan, people here loved the sh*t out of this, but it always looked incredibly Doug McDermott/Adam Morrison-y to me.

He's basically just making really high difficulty garbage shots, many of them bouncing all over the rim. He's not able to actually generate easy looking shots. No different from how all those points McDermott was making in college were insanely high difficulty. He's unable to elevate without a runway. He's being forced into freaking turnaround fadeaways backing down guards. He can only make straight line drives against no-name scrubs.

There's no complex dribble moves, there's no beasting down people in the paint, there's no no-step elevation, no hesi-euro-Shammgod-pullup-jimbo-whatevers. Obviously people expected him to work on that stuff, but you generally show some real flashes of it at the lower levels. He never really did. Still hasn't.

Well, I wouldn't say I loved it. But optimistic? A glimpse at how to make better use of Lauri? Sure. I mean, atleast in theory, I'll take a 7-ft. McDermott/Morrison. He is a skilled 7-ft with solid mobility by center standards. Though I'll agree that all 3 share similarities in dull off-the-ball games, despite "high IQ" reputations on their draft reports.

I think you said something along the lines before, but Lauri needs to hit the steak/potato diet and get to 260 lb. The world would be his oyster if he could defend the paint, post-up, box out and play center. OK, not Jokic, but could certainly be a B-star. I'm just perpetually confused at this talk of playing him like a wing. It's NBA no-man's land; besides for Denver's absurd bubble experiment while 3/4ths of their roster had COVID, nobody plays a big at SF. He's got a height advantage on Portis, Niko and even Ryan Anderson, so I don't get the excuse. He should probably stop being a vegan and eat dinner with Jokic.

Anyway, as it stands - I see Lauri as an 8th man off the bench who deserves the MLE, but might get $15m due to his dashing looks (jk, kind of - I bet GarPax saw him as a hit marketing piece).

[ZOMG]

He is nowhere near the physical profile of a wing (in terms of speed and finesse). After watching the Euro tourney, I was excited because it looked like we got a higher-IQ, more rounded replacement for Niko and Bobby. How do you watch this and not consider him a high-post big man? Almost every play starts with his back to the rim, besides for his 3Ps. Any chance that making him a spot-up shooter like Bruce Bowen was what sent his game to the complete pits? I can't explain why his post-game seems to have gotten worse each year (maybe his back and hips are indeed messed up).

Watch on YouTube

;t=22s

Maaaan, people here loved the sh*t out of this, but it always looked incredibly Doug McDermott/Adam Morrison-y to me.

He's basically just making really high difficulty garbage shots, many of them bouncing all over the rim. He's not able to actually generate easy looking shots. No different from how all those points McDermott was making in college were insanely high difficulty. He's unable to elevate without a runway. He's being forced into freaking turnaround fadeaways backing down guards. He can only make straight line drives against no-name scrubs.

There's no complex dribble moves, there's no beasting down people in the paint, there's no no-step elevation, no hesi-euro-Shammgod-pullup-jimbo-whatevers. Obviously people expected him to work on that stuff, but you generally show some real flashes of it at the lower levels. He never really did. Still hasn't.

Well, I wouldn't say I loved it. But optimistic? A glimpse at how to make better use of Lauri? Sure. I mean, atleast in theory, I'll take a 7-ft. McDermott/Morrison. He is a skilled 7-ft with solid mobility by center standards. Though I'll agree that all 3 share similarities in dull off-the-ball games, despite "high IQ" reputations on their draft reports.

I think you said something along the lines before, but Lauri needs to hit the steak/potato diet and get to 260 lb. The world would be his oyster if he could defend the paint, post-up, box out and play center. OK, not Jokic, but could certainly be a B-star. I'm just perpetually confused at this talk of playing him like a wing. It's NBA no-man's land; besides for Denver's absurd bubble experiment while 3/4ths of their roster had COVID, nobody plays a big at SF. He's got a height advantage on Portis, Niko and even Ryan Anderson, so I don't get the excuse. He should probably stop being a vegan and eat dinner with Jokic.

Anyway, as it stands - I see Lauri as an 8th man off the bench who deserves the MLE, but might get $15m due to his dashing looks (jk, kind of - I bet GarPax saw him as a hit marketing piece).

He's never been a vegan. Good god... this crap never dies, does it?

He doesn't eat red meat, or didn't when I last read about this in an interview. It's been a while. There's a HUGE number of NBA players who have a similar diet.

[dougthonus]

Interesting that ESPN is moving more content behind the paywall.

More of a bummer because they killed ESPN the Magazine, which was my super cheap way to get all their paywall content for next to nothing.

[Jcool0]

Interesting that ESPN is moving more content behind the paywall.

More of a bummer because they killed ESPN the Magazine, which was my super cheap way to get all their paywall content for next to nothing.

They want to get more people buying ESPN+

Nothing behind the paywall ever seemed worth it to spend the $.

[Chi town]

Christmas basketball! Yes, please.

Training camp and actual real reporting Dec 1st.

Hang in there! 6 weeks out.

[TheStig]

Christmas basketball! Yes, please.

Training camp and actual real reporting Dec 1st.

Hang in there! 6 weeks out.

That was a given for me. They have way too much buzz around then and got killed over the summer.

They're gonna have to move up the draft and FA. What'll be interesting is how the travel works. They'll have to group the games somehow to cut down on travel.

[TheStig]

Interesting that ESPN is moving more content behind the paywall.

More of a bummer because they killed ESPN the Magazine, which was my super cheap way to get all their paywall content for next to nothing.

They want to get more people buying ESPN+

Nothing behind the paywall ever seemed worth it to spend the $.

ESPN+ is such a waste till they start streaming games.

[DASMACKDOWN]

So glad we start the new season in Dec for Christmas. They probably will have to accelerate draft process and free agency but thats the sacrifice made.

Sucks not really having summer league or preseason but Im glad we ready for Christmas.

[jc23]

Interesting that ESPN is moving more content behind the paywall.

More of a bummer because they killed ESPN the Magazine, which was my super cheap way to get all their paywall content for next to nothing.

They want to get more people buying ESPN+

Nothing behind the paywall ever seemed worth it to spend the $.

ESPN+ is such a waste till they start streaming games.

if they did that the price would go way up. In my cord cutting adventures i have found that live sports makes up a huge part of the price for subscriptions.

[Leslie Forman]

I think you said something along the lines before, but Lauri needs to hit the steak/potato diet and get to 260 lb. The world would be his oyster if he could defend the paint, post-up, box out and play center. OK, not Jokic, but could certainly be a B-star. I'm just perpetually confused at this talk of playing him like a wing. It's NBA no-man's land; besides for Denver's absurd bubble experiment while 3/4ths of their roster had COVID, nobody plays a big at SF. He's got a height advantage on Portis, Niko and even Ryan Anderson, so I don't get the excuse. He should probably stop being a vegan and eat dinner with Jokic.

Yeah all of the talk about his athleticism was total fake news. Like McDermott, he could only show "athleticism" in very limited, open floor, defense turned off situations. And even then it was only ever straight line drives to an open dunk. Literally nothing else.

If this giant 7-foot dude was just such a great athlete and such a smart player, why were his steal and block numbers so awful against a bunch of college kids who were never gonna sniff a pro career? They weren't Doug bad, but for a supposed 7-footer that was gonna be some modern PF in this league, they were terrible.

Wendell Carter had double the steals in college! Good god.

[Andi Obst]

Would be great to see the NBA return so soon, but that's a wild offseason. Draft, free agency, training camp and a couple of preseason games (they can't just start playing the real games after such a long break, right?) all within one month before the regular season starts. That's going to be interesting for sure. We don't even know the exact salary cap numbers yet!

I don't really care about the All Star Game probably being cancelled. It's nice to hear that the play-in format is at least in play to return. Nice addition IMO.

[dougthonus]

if they did that the price would go way up. In my cord cutting adventures i have found that live sports makes up a huge part of the price for subscriptions.

If I could buy NFL Sunday ticket and NBA league pass and nothing else, I would drop youtube TV entirely. I keep it just because it's the cheapest effective way to get all the sports I want, and I share it with three other guys.

However, I don't need anything else on TV. The cable companies know this, their costs are mostly made up of putting on the live sports too. Of your subscription fee to cable, ESPN is like 25% of the cost for the provider. All those other crap channels they throw in because they're like 50 cents a month each.

[Ice Man]

Would be great to see the NBA return so soon, but that's a wild offseason. Draft, free agency, training camp and a couple of preseason games (they can't just start playing the real games after such a long break, right?) all within one month before the regular season starts.

Plus COVID will likely be at its peak, during its first U.S. winter with people cooped up, schools largely in session, and a vaccine not yet widely available. The launch will be ... interesting.

[Andi Obst]

Plus COVID will likely be at its peak, during its first U.S. winter with people cooped up, schools largely in session, and a vaccine not yet widely available. The launch will be ... interesting.

Yeah. I get the idea behind wanting to get started as soon as possible because there's no way the COVID issue is gone in a couple of months, but I'm expecting major problems for sure. I'm sure NBA officials are closely following how the Euroleague deals with the issue currently and that has been a complete disaster so far.

[ZOMG]

I think you said something along the lines before, but Lauri needs to hit the steak/potato diet and get to 260 lb. The world would be his oyster if he could defend the paint, post-up, box out and play center. OK, not Jokic, but could certainly be a B-star. I'm just perpetually confused at this talk of playing him like a wing. It's NBA no-man's land; besides for Denver's absurd bubble experiment while 3/4ths of their roster had COVID, nobody plays a big at SF. He's got a height advantage on Portis, Niko and even Ryan Anderson, so I don't get the excuse. He should probably stop being a vegan and eat dinner with Jokic.

Yeah all of the talk about his athleticism was total fake news. Like McDermott, he could only show "athleticism" in very limited, open floor, defense turned off situations. And even then it was only ever straight line drives to an open dunk. Literally nothing else.

If this giant 7-foot dude was just such a great athlete and such a smart player, why were his steal and block numbers so awful against a bunch of college kids who were never gonna sniff a pro career? They weren't Doug bad, but for a supposed 7-footer that was gonna be some modern PF in this league, they were terrible.

Wendell Carter had double the steals in college! Good god.

Steals??

[TheStig]

They want to get more people buying ESPN+

Nothing behind the paywall ever seemed worth it to spend the $.

ESPN+ is such a waste till they start streaming games.

if they did that the price would go way up. In my cord cutting adventures i have found that live sports makes up a huge part of the price for subscriptions.

Depends on what the price would be. Those other cord cutting services don't already have the contract like ESPN. They have to pay a large fee to get ESPN involved. ESPN already has the deal. If they can negotiate it into the next deal to allow streaming on their platform to ESPN+ it could be a major cash cow.

But yes, in my cord cutting adventures, the only thing that I miss is NBA basketball. Everything else I can download shortly after it airs. When there is a game I want to watch, it's usually a substandard stream except for the finals.

[TheStig]

Would be great to see the NBA return so soon, but that's a wild offseason. Draft, free agency, training camp and a couple of preseason games (they can't just start playing the real games after such a long break, right?) all within one month before the regular season starts. That's going to be interesting for sure. We don't even know the exact salary cap numbers yet!

I don't really care about the All Star Game probably being cancelled. It's nice to hear that the play-in format is at least in play to return. Nice addition IMO.

It's a long break for the $hit teams like us. But the bubble literally just ended for the Lakers and Heat. And those vet teams had a lot of miles on them.

It's going to be an action packed few weeks with CBA news, cap, draft, FA and trades.