2021-22 NBA Season Discussion

[falcolombardi]

lamelo wouldnt have just taken poole minutes?

not that he woulsnt improve the warriors, but it may have affected poole development so it wouldnt be a completelt straight up addition

[jalengreen]

Read on Twitter

woah i missed this. no horford or smart for g1 and likely no horford for g2 either.

[MartinToVaught]

Read on Twitter

So, so tired of the Adam Silver era. Ten years from now, the NBA will have a different gimmick every five minutes of the season and the same unaddressed issues of out-of-control "player empowerment" and competitiveness.

[Outside]

One thing that Phoenix and Milwaukee losing shows, yet again, is that it's really hard to maintain the focus, motivation, and luck that it takes for repeated runs to the finals. We should appreciate what an achievement it was for the Warriors to make the finals five straight seasons and for LeBron to be in the finals eight years in a row and nine out of ten. Just a staggering accomplishment.

To be fair, the Warriors should have been making the Finals every year. They got KD so their Finals chances wouldn't be reliant on focus, motivation or luck, but rather on how they stacked their team to a level that was literally impossible for the rest of the league to keep up with. The Bucks and Suns weren't stacked like that, so they were always going to be more vulnerable.

LeBron's eight straight Finals, on the other hand, are still mindblowing. Especially when there were comparable or better teams in his way a lot of the time and he'd end up having to do historic individual carry jobs to keep the streak alive.

Gee, thanks so much. Hearing "stacked" yet again is like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Rant:

Spoiler:

Nice job applying KD to the entire run even though he was only there for three years, and because they gave up much of their vaunted "strength in numbers" depth to get him, they were paper-thin, so that once Durant got injured in the 2019 PS, this was their "stacked" team:

Curry
Klay
Draymond
Iguodala
Looney

Then these guys:

The desiccated corpse of Andrew Bogut, brought back from Australia for a farewell tour
Shaun Livingston in his final season
Quinn Cook
Alphonso McKinnie
Jonas Jerebko in his final season
Jordan Bell

They also had DeMarcus Cousins, but he got hurt in game 2 of the first round and came back, but not until the finals, and he was little more than a year removed from his Achilles tear.

When KD got injured in the third quarter of game 5 against Houston, the series was tied 2-2 and the Warriors were leading by three. Yet that decidedly unstacked team beat the Rockets, swept the Blazers in the WCF, and gave the Raptors a decent run in the finals despite not having Durant and losing Klay during the series (he missed game 3 with a sprained ankle and tore his ACL in game 6).

So the Warriors losing their second-best player (Durant) in the second round in 2019 and still making it to the finals can be dismissed because Warriors stacked, but the Bucks losing their second-best player for the second round in 2022 and not advancing is excusable? Okay.

I don't care who you are or what the circumstances, making five straight finals is a tremendous achievement. The Celtics set the unbreakable standard in the early NBA with 10 straight finals and 12 of 13, but since then, here's who's gone to the finals three straight times or more:

70s -- nobody
80s -- Boston 4x, Lakers 4x, Lakers 3x, Detroit 3x (includes 1990)
90s -- Bulls 3x twice
00s -- Lakers 3x twice (includes 2010)
10s -- Heat 4x, Cavs 4x, Warriors 5x

So, yeah, the Warriors are the only ones to go five straight times in over 50 years, since the 60s Celtics.

[itsxtray]

Read on Twitter

So, so tired of the Adam Silver era. Ten years from now, the NBA will have a different gimmick every five minutes of the season and the same unaddressed issues of out-of-control "player empowerment" and competitiveness.

What changes would you like to see that you think are realistic? Meaning something the players union would actually accept.

[MartinToVaught]

One thing that Phoenix and Milwaukee losing shows, yet again, is that it's really hard to maintain the focus, motivation, and luck that it takes for repeated runs to the finals. We should appreciate what an achievement it was for the Warriors to make the finals five straight seasons and for LeBron to be in the finals eight years in a row and nine out of ten. Just a staggering accomplishment.

To be fair, the Warriors should have been making the Finals every year. They got KD so their Finals chances wouldn't be reliant on focus, motivation or luck, but rather on how they stacked their team to a level that was literally impossible for the rest of the league to keep up with. The Bucks and Suns weren't stacked like that, so they were always going to be more vulnerable.

LeBron's eight straight Finals, on the other hand, are still mindblowing. Especially when there were comparable or better teams in his way a lot of the time and he'd end up having to do historic individual carry jobs to keep the streak alive.

Gee, thanks so much. Hearing "stacked" yet again is like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Rant:

Spoiler:

Nice job applying KD to the entire run even though he was only there for three years, and because they gave up much of their vaunted "strength in numbers" depth to get him, they were paper-thin, so that once Durant got injured in the 2019 PS, this was their "stacked" team:

Curry
Klay
Draymond
Iguodala
Looney

Then these guys:

The desiccated corpse of Andrew Bogut, brought back from Australia for a farewell tour
Shaun Livingston in his final season
Quinn Cook
Alphonso McKinnie
Jonas Jerebko in his final season
Jordan Bell

They also had DeMarcus Cousins, but he got hurt in game 2 of the first round and came back, but not until the finals, and he was little more than a year removed from his Achilles tear.

When KD got injured in the third quarter of game 5 against Houston, the series was tied 2-2 and the Warriors were leading by three. Yet that decidedly unstacked team beat the Rockets, swept the Blazers in the WCF, and gave the Raptors a decent run in the finals despite not having Durant and losing Klay during the series (he missed game 3 with a sprained ankle and tore his ACL in game 6).

So the Warriors losing their second-best player (Durant) in the second round in 2019 and still making it to the finals can be dismissed because Warriors stacked, but the Bucks losing their second-best player for the second round in 2022 and not advancing is excusable? Okay.

My mistake. The Warriors only had four Hall of Famers, a Finals MVP sixth man, and Looney. You're right, they weren't stacked at all.

[parsnips33]

To be fair, the Warriors should have been making the Finals every year. They got KD so their Finals chances wouldn't be reliant on focus, motivation or luck, but rather on how they stacked their team to a level that was literally impossible for the rest of the league to keep up with. The Bucks and Suns weren't stacked like that, so they were always going to be more vulnerable.

LeBron's eight straight Finals, on the other hand, are still mindblowing. Especially when there were comparable or better teams in his way a lot of the time and he'd end up having to do historic individual carry jobs to keep the streak alive.

Gee, thanks so much. Hearing "stacked" yet again is like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Rant:

Spoiler:

Nice job applying KD to the entire run even though he was only there for three years, and because they gave up much of their vaunted "strength in numbers" depth to get him, they were paper-thin, so that once Durant got injured in the 2019 PS, this was their "stacked" team:

Curry
Klay
Draymond
Iguodala
Looney

Then these guys:

The desiccated corpse of Andrew Bogut, brought back from Australia for a farewell tour
Shaun Livingston in his final season
Quinn Cook
Alphonso McKinnie
Jonas Jerebko in his final season
Jordan Bell

They also had DeMarcus Cousins, but he got hurt in game 2 of the first round and came back, but not until the finals, and he was little more than a year removed from his Achilles tear.

When KD got injured in the third quarter of game 5 against Houston, the series was tied 2-2 and the Warriors were leading by three. Yet that decidedly unstacked team beat the Rockets, swept the Blazers in the WCF, and gave the Raptors a decent run in the finals despite not having Durant and losing Klay during the series (he missed game 3 with a sprained ankle and tore his ACL in game 6).

So the Warriors losing their second-best player (Durant) in the second round in 2019 and still making it to the finals can be dismissed because Warriors stacked, but the Bucks losing their second-best player for the second round in 2022 and not advancing is excusable? Okay.

My mistake. The Warriors only had four Hall of Famers, a Finals MVP sixth man, and Looney. You're right, they weren't stacked at all.

Kevon Looney now being included in the "Warriors are stacked" calculus

Proud of my boy, hard work pays off

[MartinToVaught]

Read on Twitter

Good lord. Stuff like this is why I think the draft lottery is counterproductive compared to just doing it by record.

[BIGJ1ER]

Damn Orlando gets number 1, they already have a stacked front court, Wendell, Isaac and Bamba, but I'm assuming they take Paolo since they need a real creator.

Chet in OKC is a perfect fit.

Hate seeing the kings get a high pick, that franchise makes dumb decisions every time.

Feel like the Knicks, Blazers and Pistons are the losers from this lottery.

[jalengreen]

Damn Orlando gets number 1, they already have a stacked front court, Wendell, Isaac and Bamba, but I'm assuming they take Paolo since they need a real creator.

Chet in OKC is a perfect fit.

Hate seeing the kings get a high pick, that franchise makes dumb decisions every time.

Feel like the Knicks, Blazers and Pistons are the losers from this lottery.

i dont think teams at the top of the draft should be thinking too much about fit unless they're already established (i.e. warriors 2021).

if they think chet is the best player in the draft, the magic need to take him. bamba and isaac (does he even play basketball anymore lol) shouldn't get in the way of that

[BIGJ1ER]

Damn Orlando gets number 1, they already have a stacked front court, Wendell, Isaac and Bamba, but I'm assuming they take Paolo since they need a real creator.

Chet in OKC is a perfect fit.

Hate seeing the kings get a high pick, that franchise makes dumb decisions every time.

Feel like the Knicks, Blazers and Pistons are the losers from this lottery.

i dont think teams at the top of the draft should be thinking too much about fit unless they're already established (i.e. warriors 2021).

if they think chet is the best player in the draft, the magic need to take him. bamba and isaac (does he even play basketball anymore lol) shouldn't get in the way of that

True, I do think Chet and Paolo are hard to seperate imo, if I had to choose I'd say Chet but it's always somewhat of a crapshoot barring generational guys. If Orlando takes Chet then Bamba and Isaac become very acquirable assets.

I just think Orlando have no nice offensive engine prospects, suggs looks to be a two way guard (I'm not writing him off) but not a true engine, WCJ is a nice piece but obviously not an engine, I just think an offensive centrepiece makes sense for them.

OKC on the other hand has SGA and Giddey, Chet is a dream fit there to give them the skinniest front court in the nba with Chet and Poku

I've seen rumblings of OKC being interested in Jabari which is interesting

[jalengreen]

Damn Orlando gets number 1, they already have a stacked front court, Wendell, Isaac and Bamba, but I'm assuming they take Paolo since they need a real creator.

Chet in OKC is a perfect fit.

Hate seeing the kings get a high pick, that franchise makes dumb decisions every time.

Feel like the Knicks, Blazers and Pistons are the losers from this lottery.

i dont think teams at the top of the draft should be thinking too much about fit unless they're already established (i.e. warriors 2021).

if they think chet is the best player in the draft, the magic need to take him. bamba and isaac (does he even play basketball anymore lol) shouldn't get in the way of that

True, I do think Chet and Paolo are hard to seperate imo, if I had to choose I'd say Chet but it's always somewhat of a crapshoot barring generational guys. If Orlando takes Chet then Bamba and Isaac become very acquirable assets.

I just think Orlando have no nice offensive engine prospects, suggs looks to be a two way guard (I'm not writing him off) but not a true engine, WCJ is a nice piece but obviously not an engine, I just think an offensive centrepiece makes sense for them.

OKC on the other hand has SGA and Giddey, Chet is a dream fit there to give them the skinniest front court in the nba with Chet and Poku

I've seen rumblings of OKC being interested in Jabari which is interesting

jabari is a tough prospect

it really seems like he doesn't have much offensive talent outside of shooting. there's no evidence for him being able to put the ball on the floor at all or get to the rim. i saw a stat about how historically low his percentage of FGA at the rim is for forwards

he's an AMAZING shooter (which *would* slot well on OKC with sga and giddey as opposed to another ball-dominant player like paolo), but it's hard to ignore the flaws.

an optimistic projection could see him becoming an elite catch-and-shoot player along with being a positive switchable defensive player at 6'10.. that's really good, no doubt about it. but someone may value paolo's upside to be a true superstar as an offensive engine like you said.

[eminence]

Feels like Boston has easily controlled the 1st half, but 8 isn't much of a dominant lead.

[dontcalltimeout]

That was the best half of basketball of Jayson Tatum's career. On both ends.

[sp6r=underrated]

Read on Twitter

So, so tired of the Adam Silver era. Ten years from now, the NBA will have a different gimmick every five minutes of the season and the same unaddressed issues of out-of-control "player empowerment" and competitiveness.

I can tell from your posts you have a problems with the current NBA but you also don't like Silver's solutions. Do you have any solutions to offer?

[Colbinii]

Read on Twitter

So, so tired of the Adam Silver era. Ten years from now, the NBA will have a different gimmick every five minutes of the season and the same unaddressed issues of out-of-control "player empowerment" and competitiveness.

I can tell from your posts you have a problems with the current NBA but you also don't like Silver's solutions. Do you have any solutions to offer?

I love a mid-season tournament with real incentives. It really helps break a season into two parts [All-star game too late].

[TheGOATRises007]

The Heat are similar to the Bucks in that they have players you can attack defensively, but they don't have the Bucks' interior defense.

I'd be shocked if they won this series.

Celtics are looking really good right now.

[eminence]

I don't love the initial idea of a mid-season tournament, but I'd need a lot more details to say much.

[sp6r=underrated]

Read on Twitter

So, so tired of the Adam Silver era. Ten years from now, the NBA will have a different gimmick every five minutes of the season and the same unaddressed issues of out-of-control "player empowerment" and competitiveness.

I can tell from your posts you have a problems with the current NBA but you also don't like Silver's solutions. Do you have any solutions to offer?

I love a mid-season tournament with real incentives. It really helps break a season into two parts [All-star game too late].

The incentives have to be things fans care about. The problem with the regular season is a significant subset of fans only care about championships so they need to create a tournament with an outcome fans care about.

[BIGJ1ER]

The Celtics already having 42 paint points says alot about the different caliber of rim protection between Miami and Milwaukee (along with defensive schemes tbf).

If they're going to able to attack the paint that relentlessly, then things are going to be tough for Miami.

Not sure why the Heat aren't playing Robinson, he's not amazing defensively but they need help offensively, and he was playable against Boston a few years ago.

Also Herro seemingly matching up well against Boston (if the trend from the 2020 series continues) is interesting, on paper you'd think Boston would do a really good job against him.