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2024-25 NBA Thread: Jimmy Butler ready to take Wolves starters out with a bunch of backups again (134 Viewers)

Updated The Ringer Top 100 players by team:

MIN (6): 10, 44, 57, 66, 75, 89
NOP (6): 36, 55, 61, 64, 80, 81

BOS (5): 4, 13, 35, 43, 50
OKC (5): 5, 29, 32, 74, 86
NYK (5): 12, 28, 51, 58, 95
HOU (5): 43, 71, 79, 96, 97

DEN (4): 1, 38, 59, 67
MIL (4): 3, 31, 82, 93
CLE (4): 15, 34, 41, 56
IND (4): 18, 33, 76, 91
LAC (4), 23, 40, 68, 78

DAL (3): 2, 25, 88
GSW (3): 6, 52, 90
PHX (3): 7, 14, 69
LAL (3): 8, 11, 77
PHI (3): 9, 24, 30
SAS (3): 16, 70, 100
MEM (3): 17, 45, 53
SAC (3): 19, 20, 46
ORL (3): 21, 48, 62
MIA (3): 22, 26, 65
ATL (3): 39, 54, 84
TOR (3): 47, 72, 85
CHI (3): 60, 63, 94

CHA (2): 27, 83
POR (2): 73, 87
BRK (2): 92, 98

UTA (1): 37
DET (1): 49
WAS (1): 99
 
Updated The Ringer Top 100 players by team:

MIN (6): 10, 44, 57, 66, 75, 89
NOP (6): 36, 55, 61, 64, 80, 81

BOS (5): 4, 13, 35, 43, 50
OKC (5): 5, 29, 32, 74, 86
NYK (5): 12, 28, 51, 58, 95
HOU (5): 43, 71, 79, 96, 97

DEN (4): 1, 38, 59, 67
MIL (4): 3, 31, 82, 93
CLE (4): 15, 34, 41, 56
IND (4): 18, 33, 76, 91
LAC (4), 23, 40, 68, 78

DAL (3): 2, 25, 88
GSW (3): 6, 52, 90
PHX (3): 7, 14, 69
LAL (3): 8, 11, 77
PHI (3): 9, 24, 30
SAS (3): 16, 70, 100
MEM (3): 17, 45, 53
SAC (3): 19, 20, 46
ORL (3): 21, 48, 62
MIA (3): 22, 26, 65
ATL (3): 39, 54, 84
TOR (3): 47, 72, 85
CHI (3): 60, 63, 94

CHA (2): 27, 83
POR (2): 73, 87
BRK (2): 92, 98

UTA (1): 37
DET (1): 49
WAS (1): 99
how can kris middletorn count in this list to be a top player you need to actually play take that to the bank bromigos
 
I think top 50 is a better thing to look at. While it is nice to have guys in the 80 range, they don't move the needle too much compared to a guy ranked #110 or so.

BOS (5)

OKC (3)
CLE (3)
PHI (3)
SAC (3)

NYK (2)
MIN (2)
DEN (2)
MIL (2)
IND (2)
LAC (2)
DAL (2)
PHX (2)
LAL (2)
MEM (2)
ORL (2)
MIA (2)
 
jayrod im sorry to ask this but someone please make the case for how tatum is ahead of labronisausage kd sga and brown for that matter thank you take that to the bank brochachos
 
I think top 50 is a better thing to look at. While it is nice to have guys in the 80 range, they don't move the needle too much compared to a guy ranked #110 or so.

BOS (5)

OKC (3)
CLE (3)
PHI (3)
SAC (3)

NYK (2)
MIN (2)
DEN (2)
MIL (2)
IND (2)
LAC (2)
DAL (2)
PHX (2)
LAL (2)
MEM (2)
ORL (2)
MIA (2)
Games played / missed by Top 50 players from these teams:

BOS: 55/20
CLE: 48/0
OKC: 42/6
SAC: 40/5
MIN: 30/0
IND: 30/0
NYK: 29/1
LAL: 29/1
DAL: 28/2
MIL: 26/4
PHX: 25/7
MIA: 22/4
MEM: 22/10
ORL: 22/12
DEN: 20/6
PHI: 20/24
LAC: 16/16
 
jayrod im sorry to ask this but someone please make the case for how tatum is ahead of labronisausage kd sga and brown for that matter thank you take that to the bank brochachos
I could buy him anywhere between 5 and like 10, but the only reason he is #4 on that list is because Bill Simmons is the boss.
 
jayrod im sorry to ask this but someone please make the case for how tatum is ahead of labronisausage kd sga and brown for that matter thank you take that to the bank brochachos
Because he is better at basketball bromigo
i dont think so i am trying to be delicate for my guy jayrod but i think he is the number two guy on his own team he might have better counting stats but he is less efficient take that to the bank bromigo
 
jayrod im sorry to ask this but someone please make the case for how tatum is ahead of labronisausage kd sga and brown for that matter thank you take that to the bank brochachos
Because he is better at basketball bromigo
i dont think so i am trying to be delicate for my guy jayrod but i think he is the number two guy on his own team he might have better counting stats but he is less efficient take that to the bank bromigo
Not even close brochacho

Tatum true shooting of 62.7%
Brown 53.7%

And for reference

Lebron 61.9%
SGA 61.5%
KD a completely bonkers number of 67%
 
jayrod im sorry to ask this but someone please make the case for how tatum is ahead of labronisausage kd sga and brown for that matter thank you take that to the bank brochachos
Because he is better at basketball bromigo
i dont think so i am trying to be delicate for my guy jayrod but i think he is the number two guy on his own team he might have better counting stats but he is less efficient take that to the bank bromigo
Not even close brochacho

Tatum true shooting of 62.7%
Brown 53.7%

And for reference

Lebron 61.9%
SGA 61.5%
KD a completely bonkers number of 67%
i should have said less efficient in the finals versus brown that is what i was referring to and i believe i am correct on that i believe that for his entire finals experience tatums is like a combined -15 or something while brown is a positive 15 literally a thirty point swing which is meaningful and i still felt like he was basically not passing the ball in the last game at the end of last years finals as he tried to get his to try to be mvp which i thought was a bad look and now look i like the celtics team and miss holiday a lot but i dont think that they are any worse off if they replace tatum with any number of players i think they would still be there at the end conversely i dont think that if they send tatum somewhere else that the somewhere else instantly becomes a contender i think he is the latest in a long line of long shooters who play relatively soft and who get a big payday becaue of a situation but go somewhere else and fizzle out take that to the bank brohans
 
The Wendell Carter and the #8 pick (which Orlando used on Wagner) for Vucevic altered the trajectory of both franchises--but in opposite directions.
At the same time, I feel like the Magic also made a bad trade in acquiring Hampton and Harris plus a highly protected first (which will convey this year) for Gordon. I never felt like the Magic were forward thinking during the dismantling, just opportunistic to take advantage of one of the worst franchises in basketball - that was a fleecing of epic proportions and would have been better if the Magic didn't make such a dumb pick with Jett Howard. Think of how bright things would be if Grady **** was the pick there instead. Not only was **** the obvious choice at the time based on both need and what people thought of him, but Howard was also arguably the biggest reach of the draft AND didn't have the projected skill set they needed.
 
Knecht and Reaves getting the same haircut before the game made things a bit confusing (messed up the announcers a few times too).

Nowadays, it's quite an oddity having two white Americans on the same team playing a significant role. They're a dying breed in the NBA.
Cavaliers - Strus, Merrill, Wade
Celtics - Pritchard, Hauser, Kornet
Bucks - Lopez, Connaughton
Heat - Herro, Robinson

Oof

Wolves - DiVincenzo, Garza (who I saw in the Minneapolis skyway yesterday and said hi to)
One of my best friends named his kid Luka after Luka Garza. Luka Garza also does Cameos. I'm amazed that he is liked enough by anybody for either of those two things to be true.
I was with a co-worker who grew up in Iowa (and is in his mid-twenties). He nearly lost his mind seeing Garza (the best player in Iowa basketball history). I should get him a Garza cameo for his birthday.
 
@Frostillicus should we be worrying? Somehow we keep losing games that the wolves are favored to win by more than five points.
Worried yes, panicked no. They're playing like a bunch of idiots, which was the issue two years ago. Beat good teams and lose against teams they shouldn't. That's what they're doing again this year, and they had managed to stop doing that for the most part last year.

The chemistry is starting to get me worried. I don't know if you saw, but Rudy had Scottie Barnes completely sealed under the basket last night in a way where it should have been an easy pass from Randle into a dunk. Randle looked at him, then looked away. Rudy just stood there in disbelief and got a 3 second call, after which Ant yelled at him. So, that's not great.

Ant and basically the entire team are too talented to be terrible, but not talented enough to be a top team if they don't execute. Lots of time left to get this **** figured out. Don't forget we are still less than 25% into the season. Plus Randle's 30m expriring (well, next year is a player option and I am guessing he declines it) is very tradeable if they think they need to go that route.
 
@Frostillicus should we be worrying? Somehow we keep losing games that the wolves are favored to win by more than five points.
Another issue stemming from these struggles is they haven't been able to develop a bench. Minott and Dillingham are the 9th and 10th men and they're averaging less than 7 minutes per game each, will Dilly only having played in 8 games and Minott in 6. So the Wolves are already running a playoff type rotation trying to get their core guys to gel. That not only hurts this year, but next year Naz has a player option and NAW is a free agent - they could conceivably lose both of them and haven't developed anybody.

Terrence Shannon was thought to possibly be able to play, at least a little, right away because of his age but he's only played in four games and was just sent to the G-League (where he put up something like 37/6/6 in his first game). Leonard Miller, who the Wolves traded up to get with the first pick in round 2 two years ago, hasn't even gotten out of Iowa.
 
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From some Ringer NBA podcast....

Chris Vernon: “Team buses leave the hotel at 5 o’ clock [to FedEx Forum] and then there’s a 2nd bus that leaves at 5:15. The majority of the [road] team is always on the first bus… The guy said ‘Embiid did not leave that hotel until 5:55.’ And I was like ‘What? The game is at 7!’”

I shouldn't feel such joy in ****ting on Embiid, but here we are.
 
From some Ringer NBA podcast....

Chris Vernon: “Team buses leave the hotel at 5 o’ clock [to FedEx Forum] and then there’s a 2nd bus that leaves at 5:15. The majority of the [road] team is always on the first bus… The guy said ‘Embiid did not leave that hotel until 5:55.’ And I was like ‘What? The game is at 7!’”

I shouldn't feel such joy in ****ting on Embiid, but here we are.
And just for clarification, FedEx Forum is in Memphis, where they played Wednesday. Wednesday was after they had their team meeting/intervention.
 
At the same time, I feel like the Magic also made a bad trade in acquiring Hampton and Harris plus a highly protected first (which will convey this year) for Gordon
Gordon wasn’t a wanted asset then. They had him available for a while and only the nuggets really stepped forward with any kind of an offer. Good for him for reshaping his career but he wasn’t that player in Orlando, probably because the Magic didn’t have Joker.
 
would have been better if the Magic didn't make such a dumb pick with Jett Howard. Think of how bright things would be if Grady **** was the pick there instead. Not only was **** the obvious choice at the time based on both need and what people thought of him, but Howard was also arguably the biggest reach of the draft AND didn't have the projected skill set they needed.
Jett is shooting 38% from 3 in limited minutes. I think he’s going to be a good player when he learns defense to the standard the Magic want. His skill is exactly what the Magic need.

Grady **** has had a good few weeks but was as useless as Jett last year and still has a PER under 13. I don’t think that story is finished yet.
 
would have been better if the Magic didn't make such a dumb pick with Jett Howard. Think of how bright things would be if Grady **** was the pick there instead. Not only was **** the obvious choice at the time based on both need and what people thought of him, but Howard was also arguably the biggest reach of the draft AND didn't have the projected skill set they needed.
Jett is shooting 38% from 3 in limited minutes. I think he’s going to be a good player when he learns defense to the standard the Magic want. His skill is exactly what the Magic need.

Grady **** has had a good few weeks but was as useless as Jett last year and still has a PER under 13. I don’t think that story is finished yet.
Capella loves ****.
 
Franz Wagner!!!!!

I missed the game but that 3 to win it was cold. Helluva stat line as well. Looks like his brother Hans is playing some ball as well. Definitely not the Antetokounmpo bros.
Cmon man, don’t do WORLD CHAMPION Moritz like that. And also nice to see Tristan da Silva contributing. No idea where all these Germans “suddenly“ come from but I like it for the national team.
 
Only Ben Simmons could miss a layup this bad but I do give him credit for actually attempting it. Love the announcers "So close" :lmao:

 
Crazy Mavs Nuggets game. Mavs manage to blow it and then pull it out without Luka.

I love PJ Washington. I feel so good about the trades for him and Gafford. Among the best moves any GM has made recently.
 
Crazy Mavs Nuggets game. Mavs manage to blow it and then pull it out without Luka.

I love PJ Washington. I feel so good about the trades for him and Gafford. Among the best moves any GM has made recently.
Both of those trades were not home runs amongst the smart basketball media, either. PJ Washington working out surprises me less than Gafford - I thought the Gafford deal was a bad move at the time. Shows what playing in Washington does to a player, I guess.
 
Crazy Mavs Nuggets game. Mavs manage to blow it and then pull it out without Luka.

I love PJ Washington. I feel so good about the trades for him and Gafford. Among the best moves any GM has made recently.
Both of those trades were not home runs amongst the smart basketball media, either. PJ Washington working out surprises me less than Gafford - I thought the Gafford deal was a bad move at the time. Shows what playing in Washington does to a player, I guess.
I thought they were decent moves in a vacuum, but I didn't think it was worth pushing in most of the rest of Dallas's draft capital in given how the team had been playing to that point. It's pretty wild that those two players gave the team that much juice.
 
Crazy Mavs Nuggets game. Mavs manage to blow it and then pull it out without Luka.

I love PJ Washington. I feel so good about the trades for him and Gafford. Among the best moves any GM has made recently.
Both of those trades were not home runs amongst the smart basketball media, either. PJ Washington working out surprises me less than Gafford - I thought the Gafford deal was a bad move at the time. Shows what playing in Washington does to a player, I guess.
I thought they were decent moves in a vacuum, but I didn't think it was worth pushing in most of the rest of Dallas's draft capital in given how the team had been playing to that point. It's pretty wild that those two players gave the team that much juice.
The PJ move was widely panned IIRC. But there was a vocal minority that really liked him for years and thought Charlotte was just a garbage situation. That side seems to have been right.

Gafford was basically free wasn't he?
 
Crazy Mavs Nuggets game. Mavs manage to blow it and then pull it out without Luka.

I love PJ Washington. I feel so good about the trades for him and Gafford. Among the best moves any GM has made recently.
Both of those trades were not home runs amongst the smart basketball media, either. PJ Washington working out surprises me less than Gafford - I thought the Gafford deal was a bad move at the time. Shows what playing in Washington does to a player, I guess.
I thought they were decent moves in a vacuum, but I didn't think it was worth pushing in most of the rest of Dallas's draft capital in given how the team had been playing to that point. It's pretty wild that those two players gave the team that much juice.
The PJ move was widely panned IIRC. But there was a vocal minority that really liked him for years and thought Charlotte was just a garbage situation. That side seems to have been right.

Gafford was basically free wasn't he?
I thought gafford (and the associated salary dump of Holmes) cost a first rounder.
 
Crazy Mavs Nuggets game. Mavs manage to blow it and then pull it out without Luka.

I love PJ Washington. I feel so good about the trades for him and Gafford. Among the best moves any GM has made recently.
Both of those trades were not home runs amongst the smart basketball media, either. PJ Washington working out surprises me less than Gafford - I thought the Gafford deal was a bad move at the time. Shows what playing in Washington does to a player, I guess.
I thought they were decent moves in a vacuum, but I didn't think it was worth pushing in most of the rest of Dallas's draft capital in given how the team had been playing to that point. It's pretty wild that those two players gave the team that much juice.
I think that was mostly the consensus at the time. They would probably be improved (mostly addition by subtraction in Williams/Washington) but it wasn't worth the effort for a team kind of going nowhere around Luka.

Turns out Lively continued to develop and play better as the season progressed (which was not a universally loved pick either at the time for the win-now Mavs), Washington being a slight overpay in terms of salary was offset by him being a better fit than Williams, and Gafford helped provide 48 minutes of positive center play that they hadn't had in a long time.

I don't often feel like a front office is outsmarting the rest of the league very often but it does seems like the Mavs mostly did that last year.
 
Crazy Mavs Nuggets game. Mavs manage to blow it and then pull it out without Luka.

I love PJ Washington. I feel so good about the trades for him and Gafford. Among the best moves any GM has made recently.
Both of those trades were not home runs amongst the smart basketball media, either. PJ Washington working out surprises me less than Gafford - I thought the Gafford deal was a bad move at the time. Shows what playing in Washington does to a player, I guess.
I thought they were decent moves in a vacuum, but I didn't think it was worth pushing in most of the rest of Dallas's draft capital in given how the team had been playing to that point. It's pretty wild that those two players gave the team that much juice.
The PJ move was widely panned IIRC. But there was a vocal minority that really liked him for years and thought Charlotte was just a garbage situation. That side seems to have been right.

Gafford was basically free wasn't he?
I thought gafford (and the associated salary dump of Holmes) cost a first rounder.
It did. The #26 pick in the 2024 draft
 
And thats in addition to taking a relatively big risk on Kyrie the season before. The Kyrie trade, if I remember, was seen as a reasonable risk at the time, but it was still a risk due to his fallout in BK. That move has turned out to be an absolute steal.
 
Crazy Mavs Nuggets game. Mavs manage to blow it and then pull it out without Luka.

I love PJ Washington. I feel so good about the trades for him and Gafford. Among the best moves any GM has made recently.
Both of those trades were not home runs amongst the smart basketball media, either. PJ Washington working out surprises me less than Gafford - I thought the Gafford deal was a bad move at the time. Shows what playing in Washington does to a player, I guess.
I thought they were decent moves in a vacuum, but I didn't think it was worth pushing in most of the rest of Dallas's draft capital in given how the team had been playing to that point. It's pretty wild that those two players gave the team that much juice.
The PJ move was widely panned IIRC. But there was a vocal minority that really liked him for years and thought Charlotte was just a garbage situation. That side seems to have been right.

Gafford was basically free wasn't he?
I thought gafford (and the associated salary dump of Holmes) cost a first rounder.
It did. The #26 pick in the 2024 draft
Just looked it up - when the trade was made, the Mavs were 8th in the Western conference (14th overall), so that pick had the potential to really be worth something.
 
Crazy Mavs Nuggets game. Mavs manage to blow it and then pull it out without Luka.

I love PJ Washington. I feel so good about the trades for him and Gafford. Among the best moves any GM has made recently.
Both of those trades were not home runs amongst the smart basketball media, either. PJ Washington working out surprises me less than Gafford - I thought the Gafford deal was a bad move at the time. Shows what playing in Washington does to a player, I guess.
I thought they were decent moves in a vacuum, but I didn't think it was worth pushing in most of the rest of Dallas's draft capital in given how the team had been playing to that point. It's pretty wild that those two players gave the team that much juice.
The PJ move was widely panned IIRC. But there was a vocal minority that really liked him for years and thought Charlotte was just a garbage situation. That side seems to have been right.

Gafford was basically free wasn't he?
I thought gafford (and the associated salary dump of Holmes) cost a first rounder.
Yeah I thought of it as it cost a first to get rid of Holmes, Gafford was free.

And it was a bad pick I think
 
Crazy Mavs Nuggets game. Mavs manage to blow it and then pull it out without Luka.

I love PJ Washington. I feel so good about the trades for him and Gafford. Among the best moves any GM has made recently.
Both of those trades were not home runs amongst the smart basketball media, either. PJ Washington working out surprises me less than Gafford - I thought the Gafford deal was a bad move at the time. Shows what playing in Washington does to a player, I guess.
I thought they were decent moves in a vacuum, but I didn't think it was worth pushing in most of the rest of Dallas's draft capital in given how the team had been playing to that point. It's pretty wild that those two players gave the team that much juice.
The PJ move was widely panned IIRC. But there was a vocal minority that really liked him for years and thought Charlotte was just a garbage situation. That side seems to have been right.

Gafford was basically free wasn't he?
I thought gafford (and the associated salary dump of Holmes) cost a first rounder.
It did. The #26 pick in the 2024 draft
Just looked it up - when the trade was made, the Mavs were 8th in the Western conference (14th overall), so that pick had the potential to really be worth something.
It wasn’t Dallas pick though. It was an OKC first via Dallas
 
jayrod im sorry to ask this but someone please make the case for how tatum is ahead of labronisausage kd sga and brown for that matter thank you take that to the bank brochachos
Because he is better at basketball bromigo
i dont think so i am trying to be delicate for my guy jayrod but i think he is the number two guy on his own team he might have better counting stats but he is less efficient take that to the bank bromigo
Not even close brochacho

Tatum true shooting of 62.7%
Brown 53.7%

And for reference

Lebron 61.9%
SGA 61.5%
KD a completely bonkers number of 67%
i should have said less efficient in the finals versus brown that is what i was referring to and i believe i am correct on that i believe that for his entire finals experience tatums is like a combined -15 or something while brown is a positive 15 literally a thirty point swing which is meaningful and i still felt like he was basically not passing the ball in the last game at the end of last years finals as he tried to get his to try to be mvp which i thought was a bad look and now look i like the celtics team and miss holiday a lot but i dont think that they are any worse off if they replace tatum with any number of players i think they would still be there at the end conversely i dont think that if they send tatum somewhere else that the somewhere else instantly becomes a contender i think he is the latest in a long line of long shooters who play relatively soft and who get a big payday becaue of a situation but go somewhere else and fizzle out take that to the bank brohans
Maybe you only watched him in the Finals, but you are missing a ton of Tatum's game that effects what the Celtics do and how they win on a regular basis.

Brown is BY FAR the streakier player. He is also not a good passer and more prone to high turnovers. Tatum is a much better rebounder also. I'd give Brown a slight edge in defending, but that depends on who they are defending. Tatum's better guarding bigger guys, Brown's better vs quicker guards. Tatums FT shooting is massively better, especially at the end of games.

This season, Tatum is off to a great start and it isn't just the counting stats. His advanced stats are all better so far than any season before and he's always outperformed Brown there.

I get that in the Finals Brown looked better most of the time, but his game plays off of Tatum more than the other way around.

I'm not really a Tatum fan honestly. I think he cares too much about style points and does stat pad at times when games are already decided. But objectively he is the best player on the team and at minimum a top 7 guy in the league. His durability and consistency gives him an edge which is why he was 1st team all NBA 3x's in a row and is often considered top 5. He shows up to work every day which is the one thing he's copied from Kobe I actually like.
 
Y'all I dislike the Celtics as much as the next guy but if you're taking Brown over Tatum my immediate reaction is you don't know much about basketball. Let's be somewhat realistic.

Now if we're just baiting Celtics fans and being funny about stuff like who's the alpha, I'm here for it. But they're not even the same tier of player.
 

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