2025-26 NBA Thread: Chris Paul retires after having to play with Clippers again (5 Viewers)

[Master of Subservience]

NBA Cup - Last Night of Group Play

Still only two groups have winners decided - Raptors and Lakers. Lots still up for grabs.

Games where winner takes the group
Orl (3-0) @ Det (2-1)
Phoenix (3-0) @ OKC (3-0)
SA (2-1) @ Den (2-1)

Other group deciding game
Mil (2-1) @ NY (2-1) - NY gets the group with a win, a Bucks win gives Miami (3-1) the group due to their head to head


East Wild Card
Orl (3-0) +61 - if they lose @ Det
Mia (3-1) +49 - if NY wins vs Mil
Cle (2-1) +33 - if they win @ Atl
Mil (2-1) +13 - if they win @ NY

Al games at the same time (4:30 PT), so point differential should get interesting down the stretch. Cavs and Bucks rooting for a Magic win and a Knicks loss.


West Wild Card
OKC (3-0) +71 - if they lose vs Pho
Pho (3-0) +31 - if they lose @ OKC
Mem (2-1) +9 - if they win @ LAC
LAC (2-1) -15 - if they win vs Mem

Mem/LAC need to win and hope OKC beats Pho by a lot to have a chance here, otherwise the OKC/Pho loser look fairly safe for the WC. Clippers need to blow Grizz out to have any chance. Mem/LAC starts 30 minutes later than OKC/Pho, so they’ll have an idea what they need as the game progresses.

The Clippers should mathematically eliminated from the entire NBA.

The thread title is whatever's above chef's-kiss level, just angelic perfection

I don't know that we've seen the biblical level of screwedness the Clippers are facing before. They're committed to the entire team sans Paul next year, too, with no legit first-round pick until 2029, and that (and more) might be in jeopardy via Aspiration fallout

Mike Ditka traded his whole draft for Ganja Bush that one year, it's like seven of those

My Clippers-fan buddy likes to bring up Aspiration as some sort of positive, like Balmer has a master plan and they/he will be ones laughing in the end because it's all based on podcaster click-bait. Real Kim Jong-Un level stuff. He has to, because facing reality would make him go blind.

 

[Capella]

The Orlando Magic

 

[Mister CIA]

Nice, Spurs emerge from Murderer's Row in the Cup, sans Wemby and Castle.

 

[Yo Mama]

NBA Cup Playoffs are set

East
4) Miami @ 1) Orlando
3) Knicks @ 2) Toronto

West
4) Phoenix @ 1) OKC
3) SA @ 2) Lakers

 

[Master of Subservience]

Anyone else shocked by Phoenix? I haven't paid them one lick of attention, but something's going on over there.

Chicago and Philly and a handful of other teams have gotten golf clap-level attention for being better than expected, and I pimped Portland in this very thread, but Phoenix has a better record than all of them and I haven't heard a peep. Make Ishbia cool again I guess.

I just learned he spells his name with one T, "Mat". That's too much to ask, dude. Coolness beyond repair

 

[Master of Subservience]

"Hi, my name's M@"

 

[scoobus]

Reminder, the NBA cup champion has never won a playoff series. I'd be tanking this.

 

[jvdesigns2002]

Anyone else shocked by Phoenix? I haven't paid them one lick of attention, but something's going on over there.

Chicago and Philly and a handful of other teams have gotten golf clap-level attention for being better than expected, and I pimped Portland in this very thread, but Phoenix has a better record than all of them and I haven't heard a peep. Make Ishbia cool again I guess.

I just learned he spells his name with one T, "Mat". That's too much to ask, dude. Coolness beyond repair

I don’t disagree about Phoenix. It’s early in the season and I don’t know if they’ll be able to maintain their place in the standings, but I certainly didn’t think they would be where they are (especially with Green missing so much time). I disagree with you about Chicago. The Bulls finished last season going something like 16-9 in their last 25 regular season games. They are sitting at 0.500 and are currently ranked 10th in the East. I think they are a fun team with some nice pieces, but I don’t think they have over-exceeded expectations so far. I figured they would be somewhere in that 8-10 range in the East. I think the team that has really surpassed my expectations in the East has been the Heat.

 

[Juxtatarot]

Anyone else shocked by Phoenix? I haven't paid them one lick of attention, but something's going on over there.

Chicago and Philly and a handful of other teams have gotten golf clap-level attention for being better than expected, and I pimped Portland in this very thread, but Phoenix has a better record than all of them and I haven't heard a peep. Make Ishbia cool again I guess.

I just learned he spells his name with one T, "Mat". That's too much to ask, dude. Coolness beyond repair

I don’t disagree about Phoenix. It’s early in the season and I don’t know if they’ll be able to maintain their place in the standings, but I certainly didn’t think they would be where they are (especially with Green missing so much time). I disagree with you about Chicago. The Bulls finished last season going something like 16-9 in their last 25 regular season games. They are sitting at 0.500 and are currently ranked 10th in the East. I think they are a fun team with some nice pieces, but I don’t think they have over-exceeded expectations so far. I figured they would be somewhere in that 8-10 range in the East. I think the team that has really surpassed my expectations in the East has been the Heat.

Bulls have played like a cellar dweller recently. We’ll see. They might end up worse than play-in.

 

[Major]

Anyone else shocked by Phoenix? I haven't paid them one lick of attention, but something's going on over there.

Chicago and Philly and a handful of other teams have gotten golf clap-level attention for being better than expected, and I pimped Portland in this very thread, but Phoenix has a better record than all of them and I haven't heard a peep. Make Ishbia cool again I guess.

I just learned he spells his name with one T, "Mat". That's too much to ask, dude. Coolness beyond repair

I don’t disagree about Phoenix. It’s early in the season and I don’t know if they’ll be able to maintain their place in the standings, but I certainly didn’t think they would be where they are (especially with Green missing so much time). I disagree with you about Chicago. The Bulls finished last season going something like 16-9 in their last 25 regular season games. They are sitting at 0.500 and are currently ranked 10th in the East. I think they are a fun team with some nice pieces, but I don’t think they have over-exceeded expectations so far. I figured they would be somewhere in that 8-10 range in the East. I think the team that has really surpassed my expectations in the East has been the Heat.

I actually think not having Green is a plus for this squad and what they're trying to do. I saw him bog down the Rockets with his lack of efficiency and defensive prowess.

 

[Master of Subservience]

Anyone else shocked by Phoenix? I haven't paid them one lick of attention, but something's going on over there.

Chicago and Philly and a handful of other teams have gotten golf clap-level attention for being better than expected, and I pimped Portland in this very thread, but Phoenix has a better record than all of them and I haven't heard a peep. Make Ishbia cool again I guess.

I just learned he spells his name with one T, "Mat". That's too much to ask, dude. Coolness beyond repair

I don’t disagree about Phoenix. It’s early in the season and I don’t know if they’ll be able to maintain their place in the standings, but I certainly didn’t think they would be where they are (especially with Green missing so much time). I disagree with you about Chicago. The Bulls finished last season going something like 16-9 in their last 25 regular season games. They are sitting at 0.500 and are currently ranked 10th in the East. I think they are a fun team with some nice pieces, but I don’t think they have over-exceeded expectations so far. I figured they would be somewhere in that 8-10 range in the East. I think the team that has really surpassed my expectations in the East has been the Heat.

I think you're right about Chicago, my comment was more about the coverage the different teams have gotten, and thought of Chicago because of the praise they were getting during their hot start. I don't recall Phoenix coming up at all, except in the vein of Major's comment that they might be better off without Green. Maybe they will now, with the Cup at stake.

I just think it's interesting how narratives and counternarratives drive attention, and it might be that Mat Ishbia is a particularly juicy target (deservedly, at least to some degree) because "new owner syndrome" fits a particular self-congratulatory, perhaps unconscious storyline where he's an NBA moron and the NBA experts in the media are, in fact, experts, so Phoenix playing well is slower to garner attention than they otherwise would. Not for some nefarious, conspiratorial reason, but for understandable social-psychological reasons. Just a supposition more than anything, I really don't know.

To me, it's kind of shocking that Phoenix is 12-8. Maybe that's due to my own flavor of media consumption or I just haven't been paying attention, but it's surprising to me how surprising it is to me, if that makes sense.

 

[Yo Mama]

Man, the Clippers are really going to hand OKC a top five pick this year, aren’t they.

 

[Master of Subservience]

Man, the Clippers are really going to hand OKC a top five pick this year, aren’t they.

Next year, too, unless OKC has a worse record

Unknown if it will be top 5 of course, but the Clippers will functionally have the same creaky/bad roster only a year older. And no pick in '27-'28. It's stunningly bleak

 

[Major]

Anyone else shocked by Phoenix? I haven't paid them one lick of attention, but something's going on over there.

Chicago and Philly and a handful of other teams have gotten golf clap-level attention for being better than expected, and I pimped Portland in this very thread, but Phoenix has a better record than all of them and I haven't heard a peep. Make Ishbia cool again I guess.

I just learned he spells his name with one T, "Mat". That's too much to ask, dude. Coolness beyond repair

I don’t disagree about Phoenix. It’s early in the season and I don’t know if they’ll be able to maintain their place in the standings, but I certainly didn’t think they would be where they are (especially with Green missing so much time). I disagree with you about Chicago. The Bulls finished last season going something like 16-9 in their last 25 regular season games. They are sitting at 0.500 and are currently ranked 10th in the East. I think they are a fun team with some nice pieces, but I don’t think they have over-exceeded expectations so far. I figured they would be somewhere in that 8-10 range in the East. I think the team that has really surpassed my expectations in the East has been the Heat.

I think you're right about Chicago, my comment was more about the coverage the different teams have gotten, and thought of Chicago because of the praise they were getting during their hot start. I don't recall Phoenix coming up at all, except in the vein of Major's comment that they might be better off without Green. Maybe they will now, with the Cup at stake.

I just think it's interesting how narratives and counternarratives drive attention, and it might be that Mat Ishbia is a particularly juicy target (deservedly, at least to some degree) because "new owner syndrome" fits a particular self-congratulatory, perhaps unconscious storyline where he's an NBA moron and the NBA experts in the media are, in fact, experts, so Phoenix playing well is slower to garner attention than they otherwise would. Not for some nefarious, conspiratorial reason, but for understandable social-psychological reasons. Just a supposition more than anything, I really don't know.

To me, it's kind of shocking that Phoenix is 12-8. Maybe that's due to my own flavor of media consumption or I just haven't been paying attention, but it's surprising to me how surprising it is to me, if that makes sense.

Have you watched PHX play? They're almost doing an Indiana light i.e. full court pressure, annoying defense with Brooks leading the charge and small ball in general. Definitely a 180 from the soft PHX teams that were Booker centric and relied less on team ball. They're actually fun to watch under the new coach/system.