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[Neeva]

Grizzles are down BAD. Mavericks are way better than people thought, I don't think they are contenders but people thought they would be trash. They looks solid. Clippers look like a disaster. Lakers look like a mess early.

mavericks have had an easy schedule so far and lost to the only two decent teams they have played. I think the clippers look terrible.

[cmoss84]

I worry Connelly hasn’t worried about the financial aspect of the game enough, handing out big contracts in Denver maybe before earned (MPJ in particular) and making the Gobert trade knowing that bill would become due.

But I’ll say this, the guy knows talent and how to put a team together. I think a lot of us wanted DLo back because he is young and put up numbers, but there is no doubt he is a negative. Connelly got us a far superior fit/player in Conley, a useful defender in NAW, and a bunch of seconds while getting rid of a negative in DLo. Brilliant. I think he also realized that the team wouldn’t win with KAT as the rim protector. Current version of Gobert is so impactful. How the money will work out, we’ll see.

He’s also drafted Kessler and Leonard Miller late. Both looking like great picks. Connelly knows talent.

You’re right, I think that trade demonstrates Connelly’s ability.

I’ve never been a DLo fan, but even I knew that if we traded him for Mike Conley, we deserved additional stuff. In a vacuum, at that time it could be argued that DLo was worth more, even though MIN was incentivized to trade him for somebody to maintain that salary slot. At the time, I thought the trade was fine for MIN value-wise (all three teams, actually), and that Connelly had done a good job leveraging his position of saving Utah’s trade to maybe get a couple extra seconds.

Afterwards, I realized just how valuable this trade was. One of my mantras for a good trade is moving players that are “worth more to you than us” and this trade did that for all three teams. However, Connelly (and Finch) magnified the value of this. They gave Mike Conley a much bigger role that he said rejuvenated his career, and he is our leader on and off the court. They trusted NAW with minutes to show how he could defend, and perhaps his first solid home in his career. One of the three picks was half the value to get Leonard Miller, who looks like a steal. And I expect we’ll see more or Connelly’s ability to identify young talent with the WAS/MEM 2024 2nd and the 2025 UTA 2nd.

He got a fair return, and he turned it into an even better return. That’s a good GM.

Looks like we'll be picking last in RD1 and first in RD2!

[Neeva]

That second round pick is Definitely a reason to cheer against Memphis and the wizards. Connelly can pull out more second round magic.

[KGdaBom]

This rookie for the Warriors isn't seeing the light of day yet with the big club, but he has caught my eye and I'm confident he's going to be a good NBA player. This is his latest G League performance from NBA.Com. I know lots of people can put up great stats in the G League, you saw it here first.

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS
11/10/2023 8:12:49 PM
Jackson-Davis recorded 28 points (11-13 FG, 3-3 FT), 12 rebounds, one assist and one block across 31 minutes of Friday’s 125-114 win over Stockton. Jackson-Davis has already turned some heads with Golden State in six appearances, most of which were brief. If Friday was any indication, Jackson-Davis could post some serious stat lines in the G League as a focal point of Santa Cruz's offense.

[Klomp]

Interesting standings observation:

OKC is 5-4 overall, but 0-4 against the West.

[younggunsmn]

Yeah that lesser of Washington/Memphis '24 2nd is looking a lot better than it did at the time of the trade.
They aren't going to be as bad as they are now when Ja comes back, but they are also going to have a really hard time clawing their way out of the lottery with the hole they are digging.

What looked like a 55-60 pick should be 35-45.
Maybe there will be some depth in that range this year.

[cmoss84]

Suggs has 18 at the half against the Bucks...

[jpatrick]

Suggs has 18 at the half against the Bucks...

Playing and shooting well. He’s playing shooting guard, which is going to be his primary position in the NBA, and looking to attack whenever he touches the ball.

[TimberKat]

Yeah that lesser of Washington/Memphis '24 2nd is looking a lot better than it did at the time of the trade.
They aren't going to be as bad as they are now when Ja comes back, but they are also going to have a really hard time clawing their way out of the lottery with the hole they are digging.

What looked like a 55-60 pick should be 35-45.
Maybe there will be some depth in that range this year.

MEM is playing for picks this year. They already played POR and UTA twice and WAS. The only win was against POR. There are no easy games out west because they are the easy game this year. I think they will finish overall 6th worst.

[TimberKat]

Harden must be treating his new teammates to the finest night clubs in LA. Still winless and loss to MEM at home.

[KGdaBom]

The 3-6 Spurs are crushing the 5-4 Heat in the 2nd Quarter. 42-24.

[TimberKat]

Are the Rockets for real? VanVleet is going to win MVP. DAL look real enough. Maybe it's the Clippers that gets squeezed out of the playoffs

[twolves31]

Are the Rockets for real? VanVleet is going to win MVP. DAL look real enough. Maybe it's the Clippers that gets squeezed out of the playoffs

I remember going to the Rocket's reddit page after the third game, and they were all pissed off at VanVleet and thought they made a massive mistake at the time. Crazy that they beat Denver with Jalen Green shooting 1-13.

[Neeva]

Are the Rockets for real? VanVleet is going to win MVP. DAL look real enough. Maybe it's the Clippers that gets squeezed out of the playoffs

Nope they have benefited playing teams at home missing stars, sac with no fox, Denver with no Murray etc.

[KGdaBom]

Are the Rockets for real? VanVleet is going to win MVP. DAL look real enough. Maybe it's the Clippers that gets squeezed out of the playoffs

NOpe they have benefited playing teams at hime missing stars, sac with no fox, Denver with no Murray etc.

Depends on what you mean by for real. Are they the 4th best team in the west? I doubt it. Are they a team that can give good teams trouble and win against good teams sometimes? I think they are.

[Klomp]

Along those same lines, Dallas really has not played anyone decent yet either. It could be said that their best win was against Orlando.

[Baseline81]

Along those same lines, Dallas really has not played anyone decent yet either. It could be said that their best win was against Orlando.

That may be true, however, good teams also beat the those they should. Last year the Wolves struggled to do that.

[Klomp]

Along those same lines, Dallas really has not played anyone decent yet either. It could be said that their best win was against Orlando.

That may be true, however, good teams also beat the those they should. Last year the Wolves struggled to do that.

Of course, but they also don't have any "good wins" yet

[Baseline81]

Of course, but they also don't have any "good wins" yet

Other than the Nuggets, Dallas hasn't played another top-tier team.

After all, you can only beat who you play. Note the Mavs have defeated the Clippers and Pelicans -- both were predicted to be playoffs teams prior to the start of the season.

Like the Wolves, they lost to the Raptors.

[Neeva]

Once they play the better teams, the mavericks lack of defense will get exposed . Also waiting for Kyrie to go cuckoo, it’s only a matter of time.