Game 13 : Chicago Bulls (9-4) @ Los Angeles Lakers (8-6) - 10:30 PM

[Kilroy]

You can salvage the rotation if Nunn returns and LeBron asks Westbrook nicely to come off the bench.

Davis - Dwight
LeBron - Melo
THT - Reaves
Ellington - Monk
Nunn - Westbrook

is a passable rotation.

True, and to be clear, I don't want THT traded, I don't think he's a problem... In fact, like I said during the game, I think the offense works a lot better with him in the lineup and sharing distribution duties with Westbrook. Westbrook can't seem to figure out how to get AD the ball in scoring positions other than as a jump shooter, THT isn't perfect at it yet, but he's more able to get AD the ball in the paint... Maybe because THT is so good at breaking down the defense in the paint? IDK... But the flow seems better with THT than without, and the defense is way better...

But you have to ask yourself why a guy on his second game back from an injury break, still wearing a splint or brace on his hand, is getting 37 min in a game like this and being told to shoot the ball every time he touches it?

Davis
Bron
(best 3pt shooter)
THT
Nunn

Is a solid lineup... If we get Ariza back and he can still hit 3s at a relatively high clip while playing the D he's been playing, he'd be our best option at stretch forward next to THT and Nunn or Westbrook.

[Slava]

You can salvage the rotation if Nunn returns and LeBron asks Westbrook nicely to come off the bench.

Davis - Dwight
LeBron - Melo
THT - Reaves
Ellington - Monk
Nunn - Westbrook

is a passable rotation.

True, and to be clear, I don't want THT traded, I don't think he's a problem... In fact, like I said during the game, I think the offense works a lot better with him in the lineup and sharing distribution duties with Westbrook. Westbrook can't seem to figure out how to get AD the ball in scoring positions other than as a jump shooter, THT isn't perfect at it yet, but he's more able to get AD the ball in the paint... Maybe because THT is so good at breaking down the defense in the paint? IDK... But the flow seems better with THT than without, and the defense is way better...

But you have to ask yourself why a guy on his second game back from an injury break, still wearing a splint or brace on his hand, is getting 37 min in a game like this and being told to shoot the ball every time he touches it?

Davis
Bron
(best 3pt shooter)
THT
Nunn

Is a solid lineup... If we get Ariza back and he can still hit 3s at a relatively high clip while playing the D he's been playing, he'd be our best option at stretch forward next to THT and Nunn or Westbrook.

His only issue is a hand fracture right? I think he doesn’t have any additional cardio to catch up, so he was already in game shape. Plus it kind of felt inevitable to have any kind of competency in that wing role after watching Bazemore drag himself around so ineffectively.

[ROballer]

Not even a full hand fracture, just a finger.

It was unlucky he needed surgery and couldn't really do anything about it until he got rid of the stitches. I think he came back 7 days or so after they removed the stitches.

Scottie Barnes sprained his thumb as well and only missed 2 games because it wasn't a fracture.

And yeah, he probably kept his conditioning at a high level and worked on his left a bit, since he couldn't touch a basketball with his shooting hand for 4 weeks basically.

I'm actually impressed by his efficiency because of that. Again, this guy hasn't touched a basketball with his shooting hand until 7-10 days ago.

[BEazy]

It was a torn ligament to his thumb he had to had surgery on. So not even a fracture.

[Kilroy]

It was a torn ligament to his thumb he had to had surgery on. So not even a fracture.

I'd rather have a fracture, honestly...
At one point in the game, THT made a shot and was giving high fives... Melo stopped him and said "Hand!" and THT switched hands before giving the five...
If Melo is worried that much about it... Then you would think it'd be enough of an issue to at least restrict minutes a little bit...

[Pythagoras]

To be clear, THT has really impressed me in his 2 games thus far. I just think Myles Turner impacts the game at a higher level than he does. It would be like, to a lesser degree, when the Lakers traded Ingram for AD. Adding enough salary filler to make a trade wouldn’t be difficult. Anyway, this may end up being moot, because who even knows if the Pacers still want to trade Turner.

[BEazy]

It was a torn ligament to his thumb he had to had surgery on. So not even a fracture.

I'd rather have a fracture, honestly...
At one point in the game, THT made a shot and was giving high fives... Melo stopped him and said "Hand!" and THT switched hands before giving the five...
If Melo is worried that much about it... Then you would think it'd be enough of an issue to at least restrict minutes a little bit...

Would a fracture or a torn ligament put him out longer? Either way I'm really happy the kid is playing very well. I agree with what you said about THT getting AD into position where he can score easily. Westbrook just doesn't seem to have angles and the IQ to control the pace of the game. I really wish Rob would of looked at video tapes of Westbrook when he was on the Rockets and also when we played them in the playoffs. Paying this guy 44 million dollars makes me sick to my stomach...

[Kilroy]

It was a torn ligament to his thumb he had to had surgery on. So not even a fracture.

I'd rather have a fracture, honestly...
At one point in the game, THT made a shot and was giving high fives... Melo stopped him and said "Hand!" and THT switched hands before giving the five...
If Melo is worried that much about it... Then you would think it'd be enough of an issue to at least restrict minutes a little bit...

Would a fracture or a torn ligament put him out longer? Either way I'm really happy the kid is playing very well. I agree with what you said about THT getting AD into position where he can score easily. Westbrook just doesn't seem to have angles and the IQ to control the pace of the game. I really wish Rob would of looked at video tapes of Westbrook when he was on the Rockets and also when we played them in the playoffs. Paying this guy 44 million dollars makes me sick to my stomach...

Generally, the healing of a fracture is more of a straight-forward thing. It usually heals a little stronger than before and when it's healed, it's healed...
Ligaments can be all over the map with how they heal, what the prognosis is, and how long the recovery time is... Also lingering effects can happen more with ligaments...
Not saying any of that applies here, just that I don't think 'it was just a torn ligament' is necessarily the right sentiment.

[Kilroy]

To be clear, THT has really impressed me in his 2 games thus far. I just think Myles Turner impacts the game at a higher level than he does. It would be like, to a lesser degree, when the Lakers traded Ingram for AD. Adding enough salary filler to make a trade wouldn’t be difficult. Anyway, this may end up being moot, because who even knows if the Pacers still want to trade Turner.

As RO indicated, Turner makes a whole lot more, and is probably valued higher, so we'd have to include filler... And at the end of the day, I don't think he's really that much more valuable to us than THT... Any big we sign to play off AD is going to be a crap-shoot from a fit perspective, and right now, I like what Howard brings us...

Also, we're getting murdered by small-ball lineups right now because we lost all our good wing defense, so Turner might not be as great an idea as he was when we had Caruso and Kuz...

[Pythagoras]

To be clear, THT has really impressed me in his 2 games thus far. I just think Myles Turner impacts the game at a higher level than he does. It would be like, to a lesser degree, when the Lakers traded Ingram for AD. Adding enough salary filler to make a trade wouldn’t be difficult. Anyway, this may end up being moot, because who even knows if the Pacers still want to trade Turner.

As RO indicated, Turner makes a whole lot more, and is probably valued higher, so we'd have to include filler... And at the end of the day, I don't think he's really that much more valuable to us than THT... Any big we sign to play off AD is going to be a crap-shoot from a fit perspective, and right now, I like what Howard brings us...

Also, we're getting murdered by small-ball lineups right now because we lost all our good wing defense, so Turner might not be as great an idea as he was when we had Caruso and Kuz...

The thing I like about Turner, is he spaces the floor, AND is a dominant defensive big. He’s like a better version of Brook Lopez, who has had great defensive synergy with Giannis. I think Turner and AD would have similar good defensive synergy. There’d still be room for Howard to get his minutes, you’d just go back to playing AD more minutes at the 4.

Again let me reiterate, I like how THT has progressed and I certainly wouldn’t trade him to trade him. I’m definitely a lot higher on him than I was a young Kuzma. I do worry though, as we’ve seen some of these young wings who were good defensively early in their careers be nowhere near as good on defense when they started focusing on scoring more: Tatum, Brown, and Ingram being prominent examples. THT may follow that path as well, but I’m still pretty high on him based on what I’ve seen this year (small sample size admittedly).