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2021-22 NBA Thread: Bill Simmons furiously recording 2.5 hour long pod about how Boston is still better than Golden State (2 Viewers)

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I know that we have inundated this thread with Ben Simmons stuff, and that some of the trade suggestions have been "pie in the sky" but the Boston Fansided site suggesting this trade is beyond the pale:

Celtics Get:

BEN SIMMONS

SETH CURRY

TYRESE MAXEY

2022 1ST ROUND PICK

Sixers Get:

Jaylen Brown

Josh Richardson
why not just throw in Embiid to Boston as well?

 
DJackson10 said:
Just when you think Paul, Clutch and Ben Simmons couldn't sink to new lows they are now accessing the Sixers of trying to force Ben to play with a mental illness. Paul is gonna end his sports agent career trying to fight this to the death. Is he really sure he wants to die on the Ben Simmons Hill? Clearly there's better things to fight for 


This situation is extremely complex

Simmons could really have a mental health condition

Or he could not and this could be a strategy to get paid to sit at home and play The Long Dark all day

Or he could have some aspects of a mental health condition and the situation could oscillate between the two above.

The major problem of course is no matter which one of those is true, people in general with mental health issues lose because the media optics behind this looks like Simmons and Rich Paul are complicit in cooking this situation. Saying you don't want to play, then having Bill Simmons finally come out and point out that mental health is a backdoor loophole in the current CBA to get paid not to play, and then suddenly there are claims of a mental health issue.

Even if it's true, it looks cooked. Perception is what really kills in a public narrative.

What the Sixers are doing right now is their due diligence to say they did everything they could on their end to accommodate Simmons's situation so when there's an evaluation under the Chris Bosh Rule, they can push to have his contract rescinded.

So the next question is if the contract is rescinded, why can't Simmons just join another team? Well the pathway under the Chris Bosh Rule is actual salary cap relief but the practical consideration is an injury settlement of some form, likely not a 1 to 1 ratio of the actual current contract. But the injury settlement is based on the evaluation stating that the player is functionally incapable of playing again period. If Simmons gets a settlement and tries play again via lawsuit, then what happens is not just an issue with the NBA owners and the NBPA but also the insurance industry. How well will going to trial for insurance fraud work out for Simmons?

If this is a long con strategy by Simmons and Paul, this could formally end his NBA career by way of bureaucracy, not a real retirement and not by practical market forces.

So agents usually don't get their commission on a players contract as a lump sum upfront. It's prorated across the life of the contract. If Simmons finds a way to get his contract rescinded, Paul is out a lot of money. However is Simmons was dead, the contract value would forward to his estate, which would include the existing obligation to Paul and Klutch Sports. There's actually an incentive here now for Rich Paul to have Ben Simmons murdered if enough comes out for Philly to challenge the ethics clauses in the contract.

I bet people here didn't see that one coming. But Old Man Gekko always games out all the angles on things like this.

 
Since I was critical of Bazley recently I’ll come back to say this - he’s been really solid the last week or so. Great defense and efficient on offense. He is starting to work more off the ball and is dialing back the isolation stuff. He’s never going to be a volume scorer but he can be a really solid role player. 

 
i went to the warriors/bulls game last night, Curry in action in person is ridiculous. I haven’t been to a game since they moved across the bay and i had forgotten just how much he works on offense when he doesn’t have the ball. i think i lost my voice, the chase center was rocking last night 


He's very hard to keep track of...

Really a joy to watch, in the midst of the usual stand-around basketball that's often played.

 
Deamon said:
Olynyk out 6 weeks with a Grade 2 MCL sprain.  Detroit likely ends the season as a bottom 15 NBA team now.
NOW?!?!?! Bottom 15 was the high point of their goals for the season going in.

 
NOW?!?!?! Bottom 15 was the high point of their goals for the season going in.
tru dat.

i was excited for the new age backcourt of CadeKill, but maaaan, early returns are making that look like an immense waste of draft capital. i've never seen a guard more one-hand-heavy than Hayes, and Cunningham - while obviously as well skilled as advertised - has a level of disconnect between talent and performance (esp in a winshare sense) that one might describe as Simmonsian. one of the reasons i was excited is that Casey seemed a PG whisperer with Lowry & VanVleet & bringing some lesser talents to the fore in a way they didnt continue with outside his tutelage, but Killian aint any farther along than he was a year ago. oops!

 
haven't watched a ton of Celtics basketball.. does Tatum know he has teammates? he plays like this is a 1v1 game. no passing. no movement. when the ball touches his hands, it's done moving. he's shooting.

he's a black hole.

 
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haven't watched a ton of Celtics basketball.. does Tatum know he has teammates? he plays like this is a 1v1 game. no passing. no movement. when the ball touches his hands, it's done moving. he's shooting.

he's a black hole.


Cons - Poor court vision which bleeds into everything. Horrible shot selection. Doesn't have humility/confidence to accept he has to do other things to help the team when his shot is not falling. Thinks he can shoot his way out of any situation. ( i.e. the Favre mentality where he'd just throw it into triple coverage )  Not confident/hesitates that he can consistently finish around the rim. Just hasn't gotten progressively better with time ( a few things have gotten incrementally better but the bedrock flaw is the poor court vision/bad decision making)

Pros - Solid fundamentals. Still productive despite being shadowed by the opposites team best individual cover man and while being doubled teamed and the focus of the defense. Can consistently create his own shot, even with bracketed, albeit those are generally bad shots. Legitimate tool set to accomplish anything, the limitations are not his athletic floor.

Playing with Kyrie Irving doesn't help anyone's shot selection post Kyrie Irving if that player isn't a high BBIQ player. Irving is excellent at making bad shots. There's no other way to put it. There aren't too many players who can do this. Trae Young is also good at making objectively bad shots. Just sort of rubbed off onto Tatum. Young player who wants to be Kobe 2.0 ( without realizing Kobe was a supercharged compiler who basically got free reign from the refs ) and doesn't understand that Kobe Bryant actually understood the difference between a good shot and a bad shot, but was too much of a toxic narcissistic sociopath to care. 

You know everything you needed to know about Kobe as a chucking shotjacker when he was in a police interrogation room in Colorado and start ratting out his team mates. "If I can't win, everyone else has to lose, even my own teammates"   Mamba Mentality washed away from the pedantic boot licking sports media narrative is just Snitch Mentality. Snitch Mentality ruins everything (Just look at what the mouthbreathers who hover their fist over the Report Button in these forums have done to the general community. Everyone needs to pay because they want to grab their football and run home to Mommy)

Jaylen Brown has a lower talent ceiling and a lesser tool set but has actually improved every season. To be fair, he was never bracketed by the opposing defenses like Tatum. It's not that Brown and Tatum can't play together, it's that they clearly don't want to play together. Tatum understands if he passes the ball to Brown, he's not getting it back. Brown knows if he passes Tatum the ball, this hero baller will fire up an ugly contested shot with 22 seconds left on the shot clock. It's a pathetic **** measuring contest by two players not elite enough to have a #### measuring contest.

If you build around Tatum, you have to build a team around him to feature all of Tatum's strengths and shade around his weaknesses. Sort of like how OKC built around Westbrook when Durant, Ibaka and Harden were all gone. You won't win a ring but you will be a nice profitable treadmill team. There's nothing wrong with that, but you have to understand what you are getting.

If you want to win a championship, then you trade both Tatum and Brown, no matter how unpopular that seems.

I've seen Wikkid try to rationalize the upside to this team's construction and core without facing any of the hard truth to it. It's like watching a widely and badly reviewed marriage counselor on Yelp be in constant fear of losing the few clients he has left. When Wikkid talks about his beloved Celtics, the twinge of non authentic desperation just comes seeping out. Kind of like Kobe in an interrogation room who has too much ego to actually invoke.

If Tatum wants to keep doing this, he has to be able to take over individual games and sometimes weeks at a time. This is how Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony stayed useful and relevant for a long time. Have your pure overwhelming moments outstrip your shot jacking your way to some losses. The problem is Tatum is just NOT as talented as other Tier 2 elite guys in the past who have gotten away with it.

Tatum is still though a vastly talented player but not an authentic one. Authentic meaning he understands what he does and does not do well and shapes his game to show an acceptance of those realities to win games. Juan Toscano Anderson is not a talented player. He's a 15th man candidate. He's a fringe guy struggling to stay on a roster and fight for scraps of rotation minutes.  But he's completely authentic. He has that Courtney Lee mindset where he knows what he can do and where he will never be strong and adapts to a functional role.

Cue up Wikkid to take four gallons of A1 Sauce to drown a hot dog and try to convince everyone this current Celtics roster is actually a steak.

 
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yep, i'm loving the whole thing. the logo, the number placement, the colors on the collar.

great look


Also glad they kept their current team colors.  Major pet peeve is seeing teams like the Lakers in Blue/White, etc paying homage to past uniforms that have no resemblance to the current.  The Rockets copying the old Oilers uniforms was a major WTF for me.  

 
Slightly off-topic, but will be in Denver over the next week and may be attending a game there.

For anyone familiar with their stadium, do their club level seats offer free drinks/dinner as part of the ticket? I've been to games in Chicago where that is an option as part of single game package (not floor or suites though).

Thank you in advance!

 
 😂 Frank the Tank goes for 31 tonight. He's always looked good whenever with Suns. Yet another reminder tonight how replaceable Ayton is. Mcgee-Frank the Tank combo goes for 45-15-4 over their 48 minutes .... :eek:
JaVale McGee  19-14 3 blocks in 25 mins 💪

Stay out Ayton.

Doubt he'd get much of a return but I'd throw him out on trade market and see what's there if you don't think he'll return on a 15-20 m/yr deal. He's simply been JAG for all but a short period in his career.

 
I’m starting to worry about Dame. Was this lower abdominal tendinopathy what he was dealing with in the Olympics too?

I know NBA players have the best access to trainers and therapist but I don’t think that is an injury that will clear up easily. If that’s what’s messing up his shooting, it might be a very difficult year for him. And he isn’t getting any younger.

 
I haven't talked about the Nuggets much but they are starting to look pretty good now that their bench situation is somewhat resolved. 

Jokic is looking like a plus on defense and the Nuggets are 2nd in Drtg. By the eye test, it looks like it's real -  nearly the entire bench are plus defenders and Gordon is looking All-Defense level good. By that stats, it looks mostly real other than opponent 3pt%. 

Offensively, Jokic is having one of the best starts in NBA history. His counting stats don't necessarily pop out other than rebounds (13.7 per game and a 37% Dreb%), but his efficiency and usage are up. If the season were to end today, he would crush the records for PER, WS/48, and BPM.

The guy that has helped turn around the season a little bit has been Bones Hyland. He looked like a pure gunner in college, but the dude has a slick handle, with PG-level vision and understanding, and just the right amount of swagger. Per 36 (and more than 50 total minutes played), he's leading all rookies in points, 3PM, 3rd in Assists, 4th in steals, 2nd in Ortg, 2nd in Ast/TO, and doing it all with a decent .567 TS%. 

 
I haven't talked about the Nuggets much but they are starting to look pretty good now that their bench situation is somewhat resolved. 

Jokic is looking like a plus on defense and the Nuggets are 2nd in Drtg. By the eye test, it looks like it's real -  nearly the entire bench are plus defenders and Gordon is looking All-Defense level good. By that stats, it looks mostly real other than opponent 3pt%. 

Offensively, Jokic is having one of the best starts in NBA history. His counting stats don't necessarily pop out other than rebounds (13.7 per game and a 37% Dreb%), but his efficiency and usage are up. If the season were to end today, he would crush the records for PER, WS/48, and BPM.

The guy that has helped turn around the season a little bit has been Bones Hyland. He looked like a pure gunner in college, but the dude has a slick handle, with PG-level vision and understanding, and just the right amount of swagger. Per 36 (and more than 50 total minutes played), he's leading all rookies in points, 3PM, 3rd in Assists, 4th in steals, 2nd in Ortg, 2nd in Ast/TO, and doing it all with a decent .567 TS%. 
I really like watching Denver play.  Jokic is a basketball savant.

 
haven't watched a ton of Celtics basketball.. does Tatum know he has teammates? he plays like this is a 1v1 game. no passing. no movement. when the ball touches his hands, it's done moving. he's shooting.

he's a black hole.
I haven't watched a game in a couple of weeks, but their offense has been ungood all season and while Tatum is a great 1 on 1 player, that is a very inefficient system if that is the core of your offense.

 
haven't watched a ton of Celtics basketball.. does Tatum know he has teammates? he plays like this is a 1v1 game. no passing. no movement. when the ball touches his hands, it's done moving. he's shooting.

he's a black hole.


he did the same thing after his rookie year. he had spent the summer w Kobe, learned a bunch of multi-stage moves which caused him to look like a first-week Dancing with the Stars contestant counting his steps to the hoop. he spent half a season learning it, then half a season unlearning it. it paid off in his 3rd year cuz the moves were actually really good once they were 2nd nature, but made him a very usage-intensive player. apparently attempting to take it to the next level, he learned a set of new moves this offseason and not only arent they very good and not only doesnt he have them down yet, but it's caused him to lose his rhythm on the last set of moves. so he's out there doing his Worst Hits album and his teammates dont even try to get open as an option (which he always found well, late in the move) anymore cuz he's sucked all the oxygen off the court. in other words....

he's a black hole.

 
I haven't watched a game in a couple of weeks, but their offense has been ungood all season and while Tatum is a great 1 on 1 player, that is a very inefficient system if that is the core of your offense.


Tatum is not a great 1 Vs 1 type player. He's not a true three level scorer. As much as I despise everything that is James Harden, that is a classic example of modern Space And Pace three level scorer.

Tatum has to do better attacking the rim and getting himself to the line more often. He also has to understand that if he's constantly being doubled but he works relentlessly to have "plus" three point range, that opens up the floor spacing tremendously for this team. Floor spacing isn't a consideration though because Tatum sees passing the basketball as his own personal Kryptonite.

Is there any value in an offbalance long mid range jumper while draped by two defenders with 20 seconds left on the shot clock that's clearly an exercise in toxic shot selection? In the playoffs, defenses will try to limit your opportunities at two levels - At the rim and behind the arc. Most defenses will give you mid range jumpers most of the time. As you progress in the playoffs, the talent you face increases and those rotations shorten. Thus your conversion rate when there is 10 seconds left on the clock and then 5 seconds left on the shot clock become more paramount. Teams do better in these situations if they work on it all the time. If Tatum shot jacks with 20 seconds left on the clock, no one gets to work on those skills as a full unit.

Sometimes what Tatum does would be the best shot option but only in some pretty limited circumstances. This is when being able to create your own shot at will becomes so valuable to teams. There is a time and a place for "hero ball"

Part of the problem is no one can force the more elite players in the NBA to do anything. Zach Lowe was in a podcast and someone asked him why Dwayne Wade of the Heat didn't lose 20-25 pounds to make it easier to play back to backs and why didn't he try on defense anymore ( he would just fall and complain to the refs after he didn't get a foul call for jumping into defenders) and why he didn't work on an effective three point shot. All of those things would have helped the Heat immeasurably during the LeBron Jame era and even after it. Lowe replied that you can't force the "star" players to do anything. They buy in or they don't, and if you push them too hard, the biggest divas of the bunch will try to get you fired. Then Lowe pointed out the massive insecurity that players have to reach beyond what got them to the NBA and to accept they are longer the player they used to be.

It's easier to blame the system than to blame the dip #### player. Could it be the system? Sure, that's possible. But until Tatum stops chucking it up like a dip #### player, that secondary question can never be answered.

You just have to know when you aren't talented enough to get away with being an egomaniac. Randy Moss was so infinitely talented, he pretty much coasted to the Hall Of Fame. He got to chirp and yap almost as much as he wanted. Freddie Mitchell should have shut up and worked relentlessly. Think about Trey Burke, who was a child basketball prodigy and had success all throughout his life. He was always the best player. He won a National Championship with Michigan and won all the awards. He was supposed to turn the Jazz around. There were even some rumblings that he should be the first overall pick in his draft. He knew he would be the first point guard taken off the board in his draft class. And then he ended up a fringe journeyman. It took a long time and a healthy dose Rick Carlisle yelling at him to understand finally that all he would ever be in the NBA is a role player. Some players mentally and emotionally can't handle not being the top guy everywhere anymore.

Tatum is a bad mix of dumb and arrogant. He won the genetic lottery ( incredible raw NBA tool set) but he also lost the genetic lottery ( no damn common sense)

The path of a true chucker - Tatum is not a loser because he will literally shoot you out of a game all my himself. He's a loser because he'll do it and not give a damn that the team lost because of it.

 
he did the same thing after his rookie year. he had spent the summer w Kobe, learned a bunch of multi-stage moves which caused him to look like a first-week Dancing with the Stars contestant counting his steps to the hoop. he spent half a season learning it, then half a season unlearning it. it paid off in his 3rd year cuz the moves were actually really good once they were 2nd nature, but made him a very usage-intensive player. apparently attempting to take it to the next level, he learned a set of new moves this offseason and not only arent they very good and not only doesnt he have them down yet, but it's caused him to lose his rhythm on the last set of moves. so he's out there doing his Worst Hits album and his teammates dont even try to get open as an option (which he always found well, late in the move) anymore cuz he's sucked all the oxygen off the court. in other words....

he's a black hole.
he definitely looked like a guy who was thinking a lot instead of just reacting

 
I really like watching Denver play.  Jokic is a basketball savant.


Love watching him as well.  Haven't seen a big man with such great footwork since Olajuwon and his fadeaway is equally deadly.  He's one part Hakeem (sans defense), one part Divac and a splash of Dirk.

 
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tru dat.

i was excited for the new age backcourt of CadeKill, but maaaan, early returns are making that look like an immense waste of draft capital. i've never seen a guard more one-hand-heavy than Hayes, and Cunningham - while obviously as well skilled as advertised - has a level of disconnect between talent and performance (esp in a winshare sense) that one might describe as Simmonsian. one of the reasons i was excited is that Casey seemed a PG whisperer with Lowry & VanVleet & bringing some lesser talents to the fore in a way they didnt continue with outside his tutelage, but Killian aint any farther along than he was a year ago. oops!
Hayes is shooting 43% from 3 this year

 
i like watching jokic whiplash guys after they cheap shot him and then try to run away that just warms the corners of my cold dead heart take that to the bank brohans 

 
reading about dudes in the ABA decking other dudes right at the tip like a scene from Slapshot and nobody batting an eye is making me think we really have gone soft... or sane. both?

 
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tru dat.

i was excited for the new age backcourt of CadeKill, but maaaan, early returns are making that look like an immense waste of draft capital. i've never seen a guard more one-hand-heavy than Hayes, and Cunningham - while obviously as well skilled as advertised - has a level of disconnect between talent and performance (esp in a winshare sense) that one might describe as Simmonsian. one of the reasons i was excited is that Casey seemed a PG whisperer with Lowry & VanVleet & bringing some lesser talents to the fore in a way they didnt continue with outside his tutelage, but Killian aint any farther along than he was a year ago. oops!


Killian Hayes played less than 30 games his rookie season. He was out most of the season with a hip injury. Prior to that just about every level of basketball on the planet suffered from the pandemic.

Would the Pistons be better off with Haliburton instead? Yes. But I'll give Troy Weaver the benefit of the doubt for now ( Getting Jerami Grant in FA, finding a way to fix Josh Jackson, and drafting Saddiq Bey/Beef Stew/Saben Lee was an incredible haul even without Hayes)  Your beloved Celtics drafted Nesmith when they would have better off with Bey, Stewart, Maxey, Cole Anthony and Poku. You want to argue about wishing for draft do overs now?

Hayes is a good defender and has some clear upside defensively. As long as he can hit a set shot open three pointer and do well with catch and shoot three point attempts and operate as a secondary playmaker, he can help this team. Weaver probably was hoping for more than a cost controlled potential 3 And D rotation guy, but it's still better than not having a potential 3 And D rotation guy at all.

Cunningham was injured in the preseason and has a sample size of all of seven games. How about letting these young guys get some actual burn before you heap more coal on them.

2019 Celtics draft Romeo Langford and Grant Williams and Carsen Edwards. They have Matisse Thybulle in their hands and then trade him. You'll say Semi Ojeleye, Jabari Bird and Kadeem Allen were just 2nd round picks and those don't pan out too often. But you start to rely on those kind of picks when you blow assets for a long time like burning money on Yabusele, RJ Hunter, Jordan Mickey, James Young and Zizic.

A floor of a back of the rotation 3 And D wing and secondary playmaker looks like pure sweet Jesus on Earth compared to that southie island of misfit toys.  The best thing I can say about the Celtics drafting acumen is they didn't at least draft someone like Rae Carruth.

Troy Weaver picks up Bey and Stewart, who would have been a tremendous help to this current Celtics team after Boston spends a pick on what might end up being a homeless man's version of Anthony Morrow and you want to criticize how Detroit is spending their draft picks?

Your view of practical team construction in the modern Space And Pace game is using a time machine to apply concepts that mattered to the NBA in 1992. Hayes' defensive pedigree and his upside as a secondary playmaker is pretty critical here, not just his raw counting stats, and modern NBA history has shown players can develop, over time, a better and more functional 3 point shot. Lonzo Ball did it and his mechanics were some of the ugliest anyone had ever seen from a rookie player.

In 1992, you could buy two Big Macs for two dollars. Brian Bosworth was headlining movies. Many people still waited until college to have sex. Kevin Costner had not yet inflicted David Brin's The Postman onto all of the movie going public in America. Try reading some Kirk Goldsberry sometime and join everyone else in the present.

https://muckrack.com/kirk-goldsberry/articles

 
The Bulls play the Lakers tonight and bring two outcasted Lakers because Lebron the GM didn't want them there in Lonzo and AC. 

One thing that no one brings up about Lebron that is a huge negative is his overall long impact on franchises he's with and then leaves. He doesn't stay very long besides his first Cavs stint which was 7 yrs. other then that he avgs 4 yrs per stay. Lebron went to LA in 2018. Yes he impacts the team and potentially makes you an instant contender for top guys but we've seen over the years teams have to sacrifice the future of their clubs. Some players you may want to keep Lebron may not want. 

Perfect example is the 2 above guys of this. So really when taking on Lebron you have to think is sacrificing your future for the present and selling your soul to the devil for a title really worth it with Lebron? Or do you want to build a contender similar to the Warriors that will last more then a few yrs? 

 
AD has been tossed emphatically by the officials in the game after his 2nd T. Derick Jones is also shredding the Lakers Defense right now. Lakers are getting smoked  

 
The Bulls play the Lakers tonight and bring two outcasted Lakers because Lebron the GM didn't want them there in Lonzo and AC. 

One thing that no one brings up about Lebron that is a huge negative is his overall long impact on franchises he's with and then leaves. He doesn't stay very long besides his first Cavs stint which was 7 yrs. other then that he avgs 4 yrs per stay. Lebron went to LA in 2018. Yes he impacts the team and potentially makes you an instant contender for top guys but we've seen over the years teams have to sacrifice the future of their clubs. Some players you may want to keep Lebron may not want. 

Perfect example is the 2 above guys of this. So really when taking on Lebron you have to think is sacrificing your future for the present and selling your soul to the devil for a title really worth it with Lebron? Or do you want to build a contender similar to the Warriors that will last more then a few yrs? 


An argument could be made that the Lakers should have held onto Ingram, Ball, Hart and those draft picks, including the 4th overall in 2019, and just waited for AD to become a free agent. Davis was signed with Klutch Sports so that was an easy pathway to get him to the Lakers. Then there is the opportunity cost of the cap space.

Anthony Davis is obviously an elite player but it's very likely the Lakers don't win that championship without the Bubble situation.

Two of LBJ's rings come from shortened seasons based on large scale circumstances that impacted the entire league. Another ring was a gift from the league to appease Nike. The other I don't think happens without Chris Bosh massively changing his game, Birdman being accessible through the amnesty and Spolestra just plain making steak out of corn beef hash ( That would be finding some kind of usefulness out of Mario Chalmers and Joel Anthony)

If LBJ stayed in Cleveland ( taking advantage of the weaker Eastern Conference), demanded someone like Morey become the GM and just walk away from being "LeGM" and play a more motion based offensive system like the GSW, then he'd probably have 10 rings.

Won the genetic lottery ( generational level talent) but also lost the genetic lottery ( just the wrong combination of narcissism and plain stupid together like  peanut butter and jelly)  On the Heat, you have two Top 5 players and a Top 15 player, they all take paycuts. So you can sign Haslem and Mike Miller to moderate bigger money deals?  How about some rim protection and a defensive anchor?

Jerry Krause took a lot of crap for not giving into to Michael Jordan's personnel demands. But over time, after watching Jordan run the Wizards and Hornets into the ground ( His Airness finally had to get a real GM and just let him do his job recently), who is actually vindicated long term here? Krause actually built some pretty good teams around Jordan.

Meddling owners are bad enough. But meddling players is probably worse.

 
Was it really because he was putting his shoe on??
Think it's what he said to the official. NBATV had the Lakers feed so they never saw AD's face just his hand trying to get his shoe in. It was his second Tech of the game though. I think he was upset they didn't stop play for him losing his shoe

 
An argument could be made that the Lakers should have held onto Ingram, Ball, Hart and those draft picks, including the 4th overall in 2019, and just waited for AD to become a free agent. Davis was signed with Klutch Sports so that was an easy pathway to get him to the Lakers. Then there is the opportunity cost of the cap space.

Anthony Davis is obviously an elite player but it's very likely the Lakers don't win that championship without the Bubble situation.

Two of LBJ's rings come from shortened seasons based on large scale circumstances that impacted the entire league. Another ring was a gift from the league to appease Nike. The other I don't think happens without Chris Bosh massively changing his game, Birdman being accessible through the amnesty and Spolestra just plain making steak out of corn beef hash ( That would be finding some kind of usefulness out of Mario Chalmers and Joel Anthony)

If LBJ stayed in Cleveland ( taking advantage of the weaker Eastern Conference), demanded someone like Morey become the GM and just walk away from being "LeGM" and play a more motion based offensive system like the GSW, then he'd probably have 10 rings.

Won the genetic lottery ( generational level talent) but also lost the genetic lottery ( just the wrong combination of narcissism and plain stupid together like  peanut butter and jelly)  On the Heat, you have two Top 5 players and a Top 15 player, they all take paycuts. So you can sign Haslem and Mike Miller to moderate bigger money deals?  How about some rim protection and a defensive anchor?

Jerry Krause took a lot of crap for not giving into to Michael Jordan's personnel demands. But over time, after watching Jordan run the Wizards and Hornets into the ground ( His Airness finally had to get a real GM and just let him do his job recently), who is actually vindicated long term here? Krause actually built some pretty good teams around Jordan.

Meddling owners are bad enough. But meddling players is probably worse.


Yep Lebron might be the most overrated teammate of all time when it comes to this. The biggest issue is the league was so desperate for a new face after MJ when they had one in Kobe still but failed to use him properly. Lebron is a good player but I question really how he'd have succeeded in the Jordan ERA with his ego and narcism and demanding things. 

 
Also not mentioned is the Fact Lebron quit on the team last night and didn't even play. Left with 5 mins in the game remaining. He also left his seat and went almost to half court to smooth talk the ref after the AD ejection. That has to be a fine if not at least a few games suspension since he wasn't an active player on the court. 

 
Yep Lebron might be the most overrated teammate of all time when it comes to this. The biggest issue is the league was so desperate for a new face after MJ when they had one in Kobe still but failed to use him properly. Lebron is a good player but I question really how he'd have succeeded in the Jordan ERA with his ego and narcism and demanding things. 
you mean like Jordan and his ego and narcism and demanding fouls?

 
you mean like Jordan and his ego and narcism and demanding fouls?


You mean like how Lebron quit on his teams constantly and runs to another team every time he sees the team he mercenary for was on the decline. Has destroyed teams futures. yes a couple of titles but 3 of them were gifted by the NBA desperate for a new MJ. 

MJ also made guys around him better Lebron does not. 

 
Jerry Krause took a lot of crap for not giving into to Michael Jordan's personnel demands. But over time, after watching Jordan run the Wizards and Hornets into the ground ( His Airness finally had to get a real GM and just let him do his job recently), who is actually vindicated long term here? Krause actually built some pretty good teams around Jordan.


Ben Simmons, James Harden, Kyrie and Lebron and others would've hated Krause as a GM today. I'd feel really bad for the guy because Krause would've probably taken the fall as teams are so desperate to glad hand these players in fear of upsetting them too much and wanting out. I know I was young then but I never really appreciated Krause's work with The Bulls until yrs later. Today's league and how players act and how GMs cater to it emphasizes how great Krause was back then. 

 
Nets aren't bad but they don't exactly seem like a championship-caliber team right now. They could really use another playmaking scoring threat, maybe at PG.... :bag:  


Net's had a pretty good draft.

Giving away Jarrett Allen for basically nothing and signing DeAndre Jordan to that idiotic contract just to appease Durant/Irving were huge mistakes.

Cam Thomas is a legitimate offensive threat. The guy can create his own shot and given where he was taken in the draft, that's a tremendous value. I'm not so hot on DayRon Sharpe as a prospect but Kessler Edwards would have been a legitimate early 20s type first rounder in many other drafts. I'd call Edwards a real sleeper for this team.

But this past draft class was extremely strong. You'd have to really screw up to not find someone useful in this past draft.

The NBA and Adam Silver must appease the CCP, esp now that Enes Kanter is unloading on them with social justice for the Uighurs, so they have to hand Joe Tsai a championship at some point.

The refs are going to give the Nets as much home cooking as possible.

 
The NBA and Adam Silver must appease the CCP, esp now that Enes Kanter is unloading on them with social justice for the Uighurs, so they have to hand Joe Tsai a championship at some point.


Enes Kanter the hero no one thought we needed. I love that guy. True hero and dude has really made a lot of risks in his life. Dude has an FBI survaliance around the clock in fear of the Turkish Government trying to kidnap him and take him back to Turkey and jail or kill him. 

 
Yep Lebron might be the most overrated teammate of all time when it comes to this. The biggest issue is the league was so desperate for a new face after MJ when they had one in Kobe still but failed to use him properly. Lebron is a good player but I question really how he'd have succeeded in the Jordan ERA with his ego and narcism and demanding things. 


LeBron James might have been forced to play center during the early stages of the Jordan era.

There was real scarcity in functional pivots who could give you legitimate rim protection back then. Any offense was as bonus.

LBJ needs floor spacing by having multiple bail out shooters, but the Jordan era didn't rely on the three ball as much. You had far more players using the mid range jumper as their bread and butter zone. Then there was hand checking and real enforcers. The last enforcer that LBJ probably had to play was Danny Fortson. However a deep dose of Tyrone Hill or Kevin Willis might have changed things really fast in the paint.

LBJ has a functional post game and it would have been more utilized in a previous era. But he'd have to put on more weight and have more durability issues.

Player movement was more muted. There was no social media. There was more adherence to veteran leadership in the past in locker rooms.

The big issue IMHO is LBJ would have gotten injured quite a bit in a previous era. Can you imagine someone like Anthony Mason just manhandling him with impunity?

Back then, David Stern only tolerated a certain number of players who could get away with being punks for the sake of having a few punks to market. LBJ wouldn't have been one of them.

 
GordonGekko said:
The big issue IMHO is LBJ would have gotten injured quite a bit in a previous era. Can you imagine someone like Anthony Mason just manhandling him with impunity?
Until the recent weight loss, LBJ would have had 15lbs on Mason.  He was playing ten pounds heavier than what Karl Malone played at.

 
Warriors looked awesome vs Brooklyn last night.  I was originally going to the game (work travel to NY), but the trip got cancelled.   😡😡
Curry lighting up Blake on back to back possessions in the first quarter after Griffin tried to get physical with him on the perimeter. Steps back from 28 feet, then pulls up in his grill from 30. Nothing brütet in the league right now than watching Steph when he's feeling it. 

 
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