Around The NBA : 21-22 Edition

[NecessaryEvil]

I think they are last year's Hawks. They dropped a lot of the games early with injuries/covid but now are getting back in order

Cavs are the team that has been playing the teams missing either multiple key players or missing a star player. Tonight, no KD.

Still, they have been playing good and defined roles. Allen and Mobley protecting the paint so they can put a lot of pressure up top. Allen and Mobley also can score inside so that helps them. I personally think with Sexton getting out really unlocked Garland and his game. Everything clicked.

Also Cavs need to thank Bulls in the preseason - when Bulls beat them by 40 points in the preseason, their coach got on them big time and started that big lineup of Allen/Mobley and Lauri and they have not looked back since then.

Garland is playing like a future MVP. Hi ugly up there with Ja over last 15 games. He’s smooth.

Wanted Garland so bad in that draft. Knew he was going to really good. Didn’t see him this good this early though.

Me too

I never thought he'd be this great but I definitely had high expectations for him

[Bulls2021]

Cavs are the team that has been playing the teams missing either multiple key players or missing a star player. Tonight, no KD.

Still, they have been playing good and defined roles. Allen and Mobley protecting the paint so they can put a lot of pressure up top. Allen and Mobley also can score inside so that helps them. I personally think with Sexton getting out really unlocked Garland and his game. Everything clicked.

Also Cavs need to thank Bulls in the preseason - when Bulls beat them by 40 points in the preseason, their coach got on them big time and started that big lineup of Allen/Mobley and Lauri and they have not looked back since then.

Garland is playing like a future MVP. Hi ugly up there with Ja over last 15 games. He’s smooth.

Wanted Garland so bad in that draft. Knew he was going to really good. Didn’t see him this good this early though.

Me too

I never thought he'd be this great but I definitely had high expectations for him

Makes you wonder if the Bulls will be able to compete with them in the near future. Garland and Mobley have as much potential as anybody. Allen is really good too. That's just a scary trio going forward.

[Chi town]

Bucks lose and Blazers win.

[NecessaryEvil]

Garland is playing like a future MVP. Hi ugly up there with Ja over last 15 games. He’s smooth.

Wanted Garland so bad in that draft. Knew he was going to really good. Didn’t see him this good this early though.

Me too

I never thought he'd be this great but I definitely had high expectations for him

Makes you wonder if the Bulls will be able to compete with them in the near future. Garland and Mobley have as much potential as anybody. Allen is really good too. That's just a scary trio going forward.

I believe so, I definitely like the Garland/Mobley/Allen trio but we have AK

He's likely the best EVP in the entire sport. We're only in the 2nd year of re-tooling. We will have other high level acquisitions in his tenure and knowing him? Soon

[ChiCitySPORTS#1]

When does the buy out market start to happen? I feel like we’d be a really good destination for a couple bigs that need a new home.

We really need to figure out a way of getting better without basically giving up anything

[PaKii94]

I think they are last year's Hawks. They dropped a lot of the games early with injuries/covid but now are getting back in order

Cavs are the team that has been playing the teams missing either multiple key players or missing a star player. Tonight, no KD.

Still, they have been playing good and defined roles. Allen and Mobley protecting the paint so they can put a lot of pressure up top. Allen and Mobley also can score inside so that helps them. I personally think with Sexton getting out really unlocked Garland and his game. Everything clicked.

Also Cavs need to thank Bulls in the preseason - when Bulls beat them by 40 points in the preseason, their coach got on them big time and started that big lineup of Allen/Mobley and Lauri and they have not looked back since then.

Garland is playing like a future MVP. Hi ugly up there with Ja over last 15 games. He’s smooth.

Wanted Garland so bad in that draft. Knew he was going to really good. Didn’t see him this good this early though.

Same I wanted Garland over Coby. I had questions about his size but the talent stood out.


As for Cavs playing teams with missing players, that's been the case for all teams. Bulls have gotten lucky the same way. Bulls' opponents have gotten lucky the same way too. That's this season. However, again, core Cavs rotation players have missed a lot of games. I think there was an article at the end of last year which calculated the total minutes lost and Cavs were in the top 3, I forget if it was #1

Edit:
Here is the source: https://www.reddit.com/r/clevelandcavs/comments/rvwtjd/espn_which_nba_teams_have_been_hit_hardest_by/

I was right both ways they were #3 in overall minutes lost and #1 in overall value lost. Bulls were #1 in overall minutes lost (but I think like #5 in value)

[Ice Man]

I think there was an article at the end of last year which calculated the total minutes lost and Cavs were in the top 3, I forget if it was #1

Edit:
Here is the source: https://www.reddit.com/r/clevelandcavs/comments/rvwtjd/espn_which_nba_teams_have_been_hit_hardest_by/

I was right both ways they were #3 in overall minutes lost and #1 in overall value lost. Bulls were #1 in overall minutes lost (but I think like #5 in value)

I'm not buying that. For me, it's the 3 best players who really count. Yeah sure if 5 bench players are missing that is a problem too, but that almost always is a temporary situation. What matters are the guys who deliver the wins.

The Cavs have missed 21 combined games from their 3 best players (VORP says Garland, Allen, and Love, but if you want to substitute Mobley for Love the total is the same). A lot of teams have lost more games combined from their 3 best players. The Clippers. the Lakers, Miami, Pelicans, Boston, Denver ... I am sure there are more. Plus the Philly and Brooklyn holdouts, plus Klay in Golden State.

But I get the point, that being it's not really accurate to say that the Cavs have feasted on hurt opponents, because they have had their share of injuries, too.

[PaKii94]

I think there was an article at the end of last year which calculated the total minutes lost and Cavs were in the top 3, I forget if it was #1

Edit:
Here is the source: https://www.reddit.com/r/clevelandcavs/comments/rvwtjd/espn_which_nba_teams_have_been_hit_hardest_by/

I was right both ways they were #3 in overall minutes lost and #1 in overall value lost. Bulls were #1 in overall minutes lost (but I think like #5 in value)

I'm not buying that. For me, it's the 3 best players who really count. Yeah sure if 5 bench players are missing that is a problem too, but that almost always is a temporary situation. What matters are the guys who deliver the wins.

The Cavs have missed 21 combined games from their 3 best players (VORP says Garland, Allen, and Love, but if you want to substitute Mobley for Love the total is the same). A lot of teams have lost more games combined from their 3 best players. The Clippers. the Lakers, Miami, Pelicans, Boston, Denver ... I am sure there are more. Plus the Philly and Brooklyn holdouts, plus Klay in Golden State.

But I get the point, that being it's not really accurate to say that the Cavs have feasted on hurt opponents, because they have had their share of injuries, too.

Sure but Cavs are unique in that they aren't top heavy. You have Garland/Rubio duo, Lauri/love duo, mobley/Allen duo. Then okoro is their main perimeter defender (their version of Caruso). It's kinda like how we are still losing with 2 of our 3 stars because the depth is currently gone. The Cavs I think have one of the most balanced scoring distribution of the league. They consistently have 7 players in double digits.

[Ice Man]

Sure but Cavs are unique in that they aren't top heavy..

That's a good rebuttal, although of course the Cavs aren't, strictly speaking, "unique." There are other good teams that operate more by ensemble than by superstar. But at any rate, I accept your point. My 3-player rule is less applicable for Cleveland. I think that it still some merit, but sure it's a better measure for, say, the Clippers or Denver or (of course) Brooklyn.

[PaKii94]

Sure but Cavs are unique in that they aren't top heavy..

That's a good rebuttal, although of course the Cavs aren't, strictly speaking, "unique." There are other good teams that operate more by ensemble than by superstar. But at any rate, I accept your point. My 3-player rule is less applicable for Cleveland. I think that it still some merit, but sure it's a better measure for, say, the Clippers or Denver or (of course) Brooklyn.

Well pretty unique of the good teams. Most teams have the 2-3 stars like you said. Anyway I think that's where the second metric comes into play. The WARP accounts for minutes lost by role players vs higher level players.

[yifsuibfe1]

Bucks game is now on ESPN. It's like they are trying to make us look bad.

[FriedRise]

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That'd be a really nice haul for Philly TBH. You then flip Harris for a guard and you've got yourself a squad.

I guess Morey is just waiting for an offer that includes prime MJ.

[HomoSapien]

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That'd be a really nice haul for Philly TBH. You then flip Harris for a guard and you've got yourself a squad.

I guess Morey is just waiting for an offer that includes prime MJ.

I get the sense that Morey is trying to build up this rumor that Harden is going to sign with Philly this off-season to try and pressure the Nets to consider a Simmons/Harden deal. Don’t think it’ll work, but if there’s a legitimate sense that Harden would prefer Philly to BKN then maybe you cut your losses and bring in Simmons.

The Grant deal sure does add a lot of depth to that Philly team, but the downside is that they’re still missing a true sidekick for Embiid.

[Chicago-Bull-E]

Wonder how far the Nets will drop without KD. Kyrie only playing half the time, and a Harden led group of older guys that are oft injured isn't very good.

Would be nice if they and MKE somehow managed to finish 4 and 5 and had to see each other in the 1st round.

Anyone want to guess if Zach's return will be sooner than KDs? I hope so.

[Chi town]

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That'd be a really nice haul for Philly TBH. You then flip Harris for a guard and you've got yourself a squad.

I guess Morey is just waiting for an offer that includes prime MJ.

More is an absolute idiot if he turned that down.

[kodo]

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That'd be a really nice haul for Philly TBH. You then flip Harris for a guard and you've got yourself a squad.

I guess Morey is just waiting for an offer that includes prime MJ.

More is an absolute idiot if he turned that down.

Gonna side with Morey on this one. The problem with all the offers isn't value, it's positionally. PFs is the last position Philly wants with Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris.

Jerami Grant, John Collins, Harrison Barnes and all these other PF offers wouldn't improve Philly's perimeter and they'd have to relegate these guys as bench players anyway, playing maybe 20 mpg.

That's why there's rumors of trading Harris, because the trades would work if they lost Harris and got something in return. But now you're trading 2 max contracts in Ben & Harris.

If one of these gets done, it will probably be a 3-way. Other than a multi-team deal, probably going to require a bigger deal in the off-season. And since Ben is fine not getting paid, Philly might as well wait.

[MrSparkle]

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That'd be a really nice haul for Philly TBH. You then flip Harris for a guard and you've got yourself a squad.

I guess Morey is just waiting for an offer that includes prime MJ.

More is an absolute idiot if he turned that down.

Gonna side with Morey on this one. The problem with all the offers isn't value, it's positionally. PFs is the last position Philly wants with Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris.

Jerami Grant, John Collins, Harrison Barnes and all these other PF offers wouldn't improve Philly's perimeter and they'd have to relegate these guys as bench players anyway, playing maybe 20 mpg.

That's why there's rumors of trading Harris, because the trades would work if they lost Harris and got something in return. But now you're trading 2 max contracts in Ben & Harris.

If one of these gets done, it will probably be a 3-way. Other than a multi-team deal, probably going to require a bigger deal in the off-season. And since Ben is fine not getting paid, Philly might as well wait.

+1

Embiid is in position to win today. One of the greatest Cs of all-time IMO, and there have been a lot of greats, but if he'll never win a finals (or atleast make the finals), he won't be in that conversation.

Shaq had Penny, Kobe, Wade.
Kareem had Magic.
Wilt had West.

IMO Simmons doesn't have mental health problems. He's just being pouty; same thing's he did at LSU, with the Aussie team. He's clearly a young adult who has a 'my way or the high way' attitude, not cooperative nor professional. But he is talented, and if he were to just play for the Sixers, even with his broke shot, the Grant package doesn't come close to replacing his gravity as a ball-handler.

Like the beginning of the trade rumor, I imagine Morey just holds off until some premier ball-handler becomes available. Lillard has to be available now and still on Morey's mind, assuming the ab surgery isn't that serious. Or at least CJ + Simons. Fox & Hield (with Harris also going). Etc.

Or Embiid can try to pull an Hakeem 1994 run.

[NecessaryEvil]

Bucks game is now on ESPN. It's like they are trying to make us look bad.

aye, we wanted prime time, we got prime time

[NecessaryEvil]

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[BullChit]

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Lol why? Did we sign one of his brothers to the WCB lol