2020-21 NBA Season Discussion

[Dupp]

So players can just pick where they wanna go now and that team doesn’t even need a decent asset. What the rockets get? Dipo and a pick 30 for 4 years... yuck


Kd and harden will be nice. Dunno how Kyrie fits. To quote the goat, fit in or fit out.

A lot changes in 4 years. These are players who can leave at a moments notice, not to mention 2/3 of them are injury prone, and 2/3 of them are in their 30s already. 4 unprotected picks is certainly "decent".

Who were you expecting the Rockets to get, Zion Williamson?

Pelicans still got Ingram. Simmons or someone else out of left field. They got nothing that’s for sure. Just a bunch of picks around 28.

30 ain’t that old and I wouldn’t call kd injury prone but he is coming off a major Injury.

Harden and kd are going to dominate for a while. Houston got complete trash for one of the most talented players ever. Everything that teams done for the las 2 years has been beyond bad. Completely ruined that team.

[therealbig3]

Nets gave up Levert, Allen, and control over their next 7 draft picks. They certainly gave up a lot.

Houston clearly just decided to blow things up at this point. Which is why they didn't want Levert or Allen, who could both contribute to a playoff team if that's what they wanted to do. Clearly, they don't, which is why they arranged to ship them off to other teams.

Question is gonna be if Houston drafts well now.

[parsnips33]

So we're gonna see a decent amount of KD at center right? That's the part of the trade that interests me most

[ShotCreator]

KD hasn’t been the clear best player on his team in at least the past 6 seasons.

[therealbig3]

Ugh, was holding out hope that Kyrie at least communicated with Nets leadership behind the scenes and that they were cool with him leaving for a little and were in support of him...but clearly not:

Sean Marks admitted the Brooklyn Nets are "disappointed" by the absence of Kyrie Irving for personal reasons.

“I’m not going to shy away from it: Without a doubt the organization is disappointed with not having any one of our players, in this particular case, Kyrie, not amongst us — not in the trenches with us and so forth,” said Marks.

“I don’t want to speculate and say why he’s out and so forth. I’ve had conversations with him, and I’ll continue to have conversations. And we look forward to him being back in the gym where he will address this.”

Marks said he has been in touch with Irving as recently as Wednesday to discuss Brooklyn's trade for James Harden, but also said “you … hope there is an adequate, more than adequate excuse as to like why he needs personal time.”

“And he will address that, without a doubt,” Marks said.

The Nets have insisted that it will be Irving to explain his absence.

“I have talked to Kyrie, so I know he’s excited about getting back on the court with his teammates as soon as possible,” said Marks.

Can't even try to defend him anymore.

[StepBackCrack]

Kyrie is the X factor on that team. He is really unpredictable but I heard he actually wanted this to happen so I'm thinking he wants to be on the same page if that's true. Will wait and see how it goes with him. If Kyrie buys in and be more professional, then Nets will be great obviously.

[StepBackCrack]

No more double teaming Harden for the Lakers. And they won't be able to double KD or Kyrie. If defending them doesn't work, then they have to obviously outscore them. Nets are more of an unknown potential due to some questions and for that reason Lakers are reasonably still the faves to win it all. Nets will also have to add new center/defensive players from the buyout market which I believe they will. Needless to say, Lakers/Nets will be BOXOFFICE matchup. Must watch TV.

I would be confident that the Nets experiment would be a success if Kyrie wasn't so unpredictable with his behavior but I will have to see what he does first.

[Peregrine01]

Kyrie is the X factor on that team. He is really unpredictable but I heard he actually wanted this to happen so I'm thinking he wants to be on the same page if that's true. Will wait and see how it goes with him. If Kyrie buys in and be more professional, then Nets will be great obviously.

I'd be highly skeptical about anything that Kyrie says. Not only does he not say what he thinks but it's becoming increasingly unclear that he even knows what he thinks.

[StepBackCrack]

Kyrie is the X factor on that team. He is really unpredictable but I heard he actually wanted this to happen so I'm thinking he wants to be on the same page if that's true. Will wait and see how it goes with him. If Kyrie buys in and be more professional, then Nets will be great obviously.

I'd be highly skeptical about anything that Kyrie says. Not only does he not say what he thinks but it's becoming increasingly unclear that he even knows what he thinks.

Can't blame you for thinking this. I believe his unpredictable unexplainable behavior sometimes was one of the factors that made the Nets management go this hard for Harden. Even Woj said that I think. An insurance if the Kyrie experience goes really really wrong. It was the right move by the Nets for sure.

[Clyde Frazier]

So we're gonna see a decent amount of KD at center right? That's the part of the trade that interests me most

That's what I'm thinking, but also wondering if his body can handle it. Can claxton defend at all? I have no idea.

[bondom34]

Entirely random stat, but find it insane and fascinating:

Guess the shot chart/profile (without looking it up ):

Spoiler:

Blake Griffin

[MyUniBroDavis]

On a random side note, people probably assume I hate draymond because I think he’s offense gets overrated, but I genuinely think he’s the smartest defender in nba history by such a wide margin it’s not even funny lmao, kinda insane if you pay attention to how many actions he blows up and how he does it

Like tbh whenever someone’s like “oh player X would be just more athletic bigger draymond on defense” it’s like my man there’s a difference between high IQ and a guy like draymond, it’s kind of like how I view bron on offense.

Defense is even more obvious than offense in terms of knowing what to do vs knowing what the opponent will do. You need A, and B doesn’t lead to A (rondo) but if you have both then you’re basically a god on defense if you put in the effort

Brons kind of similar (this isn’t me fangirling lol I didn’t think so on defense till deroezan said it) but obv dray has a focus there, and he don’t get caught slacking

Like I don’t agree that draymond is some sort of legitimate rim protector like some other people do because there’s a deterrence effect I feel he just doesn’t have, at the same time his communication and ability to read offenses is so far above everyone else’s pretty much ever (I’m including BR) that it doesn’t matter in terms of if he can be an anchor or not, although I think he’d struggle in situations with bad defenders that are liabilities that try vs careless ones that have talent, which you don’t want in a title team anyway.

[MisterHibachi]

A few things to note so far:
- Dallas is 2nd in defense before getting KP back. 17th in offense but that'll improve with KP back.
- the Bucks offense is blowing up. 3 points ahead of 2nd place so far, but notable defensive drop to 7th this year
- Clippers defense at 25th yuck. That bench is just tanking them on defense this year
- Nets are 5th in offense before adding Harden and even with Kyrie and KD missing multiple games.
- Lakers are the only team in top 4 on both ends

[freethedevil]

KD hasn’t been the clear best player on his team in at least the past 6 seasons.

Ehh, you kind of have to give kd 2018 because of curry's injury. Off course by that same token, he has no buisness being mentioned in 17 and 19(well he really didn't even considering health) but definitely not if health is a factor.

[freethedevil]

Ugh, was holding out hope that Kyrie at least communicated with Nets leadership behind the scenes and that they were cool with him leaving for a little and were in support of him...but clearly not:

Sean Marks admitted the Brooklyn Nets are "disappointed" by the absence of Kyrie Irving for personal reasons.

“I’m not going to shy away from it: Without a doubt the organization is disappointed with not having any one of our players, in this particular case, Kyrie, not amongst us — not in the trenches with us and so forth,” said Marks.

“I don’t want to speculate and say why he’s out and so forth. I’ve had conversations with him, and I’ll continue to have conversations. And we look forward to him being back in the gym where he will address this.”

Marks said he has been in touch with Irving as recently as Wednesday to discuss Brooklyn's trade for James Harden, but also said “you … hope there is an adequate, more than adequate excuse as to like why he needs personal time.”

“And he will address that, without a doubt,” Marks said.

The Nets have insisted that it will be Irving to explain his absence.

“I have talked to Kyrie, so I know he’s excited about getting back on the court with his teammates as soon as possible,” said Marks.

Can't even try to defend him anymore.

Kevin durant created burners to tell kids to kill themselves, and apparently didn't think steve "you're more talented than micheal jordan" kerr bent backwards enough for him, 'warning' harden about steve kerr.

Harden threw every one of his teamamtes under the bus, and blatantly broke covid protocols during a pandemic to force a trade

Kyrie is Kyrie. Calls the media pawns, has been a lockeroom cancer for an extremely well run celtics org, and went on podcasts saying his new head coach wasn't ready to coach.


Has there ever been a more unlikable big three in nba history?

[Doctor MJ]

No more double teaming Harden for the Lakers. And they won't be able to double KD or Kyrie. If defending them doesn't work, then they have to obviously outscore them. Nets are more of an unknown potential due to some questions and for that reason Lakers are reasonably still the faves to win it all. Nets will also have to add new center/defensive players from the buyout market which I believe they will. Needless to say, Lakers/Nets will be BOXOFFICE matchup. Must watch TV.

I would be confident that the Nets experiment would be a success if Kyrie wasn't so unpredictable with his behavior but I will have to see what he does first.

I think it's important to remember that when you have multiple stars, the gold standard is how they'll play together beyond "My turn, your turn".

The Lakers won the championship last year in part because LeBron & AD are natural fits on offense, which makes the lineup better than the sum of its parts. The Nets will have to do this to and go far beyond because their defense is likely to suck.

[Peregrine01]

Ugh, was holding out hope that Kyrie at least communicated with Nets leadership behind the scenes and that they were cool with him leaving for a little and were in support of him...but clearly not:

Sean Marks admitted the Brooklyn Nets are "disappointed" by the absence of Kyrie Irving for personal reasons.

“I’m not going to shy away from it: Without a doubt the organization is disappointed with not having any one of our players, in this particular case, Kyrie, not amongst us — not in the trenches with us and so forth,” said Marks.

“I don’t want to speculate and say why he’s out and so forth. I’ve had conversations with him, and I’ll continue to have conversations. And we look forward to him being back in the gym where he will address this.”

Marks said he has been in touch with Irving as recently as Wednesday to discuss Brooklyn's trade for James Harden, but also said “you … hope there is an adequate, more than adequate excuse as to like why he needs personal time.”

“And he will address that, without a doubt,” Marks said.

The Nets have insisted that it will be Irving to explain his absence.

“I have talked to Kyrie, so I know he’s excited about getting back on the court with his teammates as soon as possible,” said Marks.

Can't even try to defend him anymore.

Kevin durant created burners to tell kids to kill themselves, and apparently didn't think steve "you're more talented than micheal jordan" kerr bent backwards enough for him, 'warning' harden about steve kerr.

Not surprised at all if the KD/Kerr news were true. We've been hearing a steady drip of not-so-veiled shots ever since he left the Warriors, and almost all of it from KD. I think there were big issues with that team behind the scenes in the last two years so it's a credit to their org that they've kept it under wraps for so long.

I remember Kerr imploring KD to pass more at the start of game 5 of the 2018 Rockets series only to see him ignore him and get 0 assists again. Lol.

[StepBackCrack]

No more double teaming Harden for the Lakers. And they won't be able to double KD or Kyrie. If defending them doesn't work, then they have to obviously outscore them. Nets are more of an unknown potential due to some questions and for that reason Lakers are reasonably still the faves to win it all. Nets will also have to add new center/defensive players from the buyout market which I believe they will. Needless to say, Lakers/Nets will be BOXOFFICE matchup. Must watch TV.

I would be confident that the Nets experiment would be a success if Kyrie wasn't so unpredictable with his behavior but I will have to see what he does first.

I think it's important to remember that when you have multiple stars, the gold standard is how they'll play together beyond "My turn, your turn".

The Lakers won the championship last year in part because LeBron & AD are natural fits on offense, which makes the lineup better than the sum of its parts. The Nets will have to do this to and go far beyond because their defense is likely to suck.

This is true but remember this isn't their final roster. They have 3 more open spots and they might be able to make their defense from bad to acceptable with some moves. And they will make moves.

In their starting line-up, they have 2 plus defenders in Durant and Brown (this man is actually a steal for them. He is really good defender with high energy and can handle the ball and finish). But it's worth noting that Harden will spend less energy on offense now which will give him more energy for defense and we have seen from him in recent years, that he can be a plus defender when he actually tries.

This is what their starting line-up should be for now:

Kyrie
Brown
Harden
KD
Jordan (or Clax when he gets back and show improvement)

Note: Brown instead of Harris due to need of more defense than offense.
This one below is possible too but I prefer that above one because Brown will be essential for this team's parameter defense.

Kyrie
Harden
KD
Green
Jordan

They just need to find a good defensive center plus another PF that is good defensively and at rebounding. But the center position is the most needed now obviously. With few moves, their defense will be fine imo. Durant/Brown are plus defenders already and Harden will have energy to try more on defense now. Green is also a decent defender. They just lack a good center now and back-up PF.

Offensively, Nash can stagger KD/Harden/Kyrie and that can maximize their output on the court. I'm confident they will be super great offensively if Nash handles this correctly and obviously Kyrie/Harden buy in.

[parsnips33]

What will be the most points scored in a game by the Nets this season? Do they break 160? 170?

[freethedevil]

Ugh, the Nets now have the unholy trinity of least likable human beings in the NBA.

But I'll say this: With Durant & Harden, they don't even need to be able to rely on Kyrie.

Previously I saw the team as one that might be able to hit high highs, but was unlikely to be able to maintain it through a regular and post-season.

Now things just got a hell of a lot easier, and it's not hard at all to see them contending for titles this year and going forward.

We'll see how they all mesh, and I still consider the Lakers to be the favorites if they're healthy, but it won't be a shock at all if the Nets get to the finals, and then we'll just see who's actually suited up for the opposition.

Eh, cousins is worse.