2020-2021 NBA Season Thread

[NYCdog]

55 minutes ago, LA Fakers+ LA Snippers said:

The only way Brooklyn repeats history is if  2/3 stars get hurt. In 2012 the core was aging. In 2021 the core is all relatively in their respective primes.

 

Disagree. I’m excited to see all this firepower on one court but I’m also concerned if Kyrie, Harden, & KD can all coexist on the same court together. KD’s played with multiple All-Stars before (GSW), but Harden’s a diva who never made it work with 3 stars Houston has paired him up with, and then there’s Kyrie ...we don’t even know where he (both head and body) is at? All 3 have player options after next season. 

 

It’s championship or bust for Joe Tsai & BK and I love them taking the risk but it could easily go bust. If it does, eeeee pobrecito. Houston controls BK drafts for the next 7 years, which could be devastating for the Nets in the long run if this grand gamble craps out. 
 

I hate giving up Allen to CLE. The Cavs got a young 5 to build around. Who’s playing defense for BK? Nash & D’Antoni should be used to all offense/no defense from their Suns days. Did that get them a ring tho? 
 

Liked what Indy did here too. If Oladipo wasn’t happy, move him before you lose him for nothing. LaVert is a good piece to pair with Brogdon and Sabonis. 

 

As for Houston, they got a godfather deal of pics to rebuild around, especially if it doesn’t work out in BK. And with his expiring contract, they also get a lemgthy trial period with Oladipo to decide if they want to keep him or let him walk, opening up a max slot. They did good.

 

Really, no one loses in this deal, which I feel like is rare these days. 

[dont care]

1 hour ago, LA Fakers+ LA Snippers said:

The only way Brooklyn repeats history is if  2/3 stars get hurt. In 2012 the core was aging. In 2021 the core is all relatively in their respective primes.

KD is coming off a torn Achilles, and kyrie is probably the most injury prone star player in the league right now between actual injuries and mental.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

 

[Indigo]

1 hour ago, NYCdog said:

 

Disagree. I’m excited to see all this firepower on one court but I’m also concerned if Kyrie, Harden, & KD can all coexist on the same court together. KD’s played with multiple All-Stars before (GSW), but Harden’s a diva who never made it work with 3 stars Houston has paired him up with, and then there’s Kyrie ...we don’t even know where he (both head and body) is at? All 3 have player options after next season. 

 

It’s championship or bust for Joe Tsai & BK and I love them taking the risk but it could easily go bust. If it does, eeeee pobrecito. Houston controls BK drafts for the next 7 years, which could be devastating for the Nets in the long run if this grand gamble craps out. 
 

I hate giving up Allen to CLE. The Cavs got a young 5 to build around. Who’s playing defense for BK? Nash & D’Antoni should be used to all offense/no defense from their Suns days. Did that get them a ring tho? 
 

Liked what Indy did here too. If Oladipo wasn’t happy, move him before you lose him for nothing. LaVert is a good piece to pair with Brogdon and Sabonis. 

 

As for Houston, they got a godfather deal of pics to rebuild around, especially if it doesn’t work out in BK. And with his expiring contract, they also get a lemgthy trial period with Oladipo to decide if they want to keep him or let him walk, opening up a max slot. They did good.

 

Really, no one loses in this deal, which I feel like is rare these days. 

Steve Nash, Mike D’Antoni, and whoever else on that staff will like find a way to split the ball in thirds, whether that means KD becomes a spot-up, corner shooter or Harden has to—gasp—give up the ball(and his ego, while he’s at it). Nash, Harden and Kyrie(if he’s ever mentally ready to return)have all ran the PG at some point, so D’Antoni should run his PHX “7 seconds or less” offense with a few bumps here and there. 

Cleveland now has Drummond, Love, Nance and now Allen. In a league that’s going small-ball, their trending in the wrong direction (although the 2020 champ Lakers may have proven the contrary). 
 

I agree with your viewpoint on Indiana. Trading Oladipo(who’s free agency decision looms) for a player with relatively the same output, a higher ceiling and a guaranteed contract seems like a smart move.

 

Houston’s Rafael Stone saw Sam Presti and OKC and said “Hold my beer”. Your Oladipo assessment is also accurate. 

[OaklandIsBack]

15 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

Laker fans acting like they killed Houston when Golden State knocked them out of the playoffs 4 times in 5 years 

 

 

[Digby]

Meanwhile there’s a bunch of scuttlebutt on NBA socials that Kyrie is quitting on the Nets because he didn’t want Coach Nash and he’s not friends with KD anymore. So might be a shortlived big 3. OTOH if they could make Kyrie someone else’s problem in exchange for a deferential PG and defensive help, arguably that’s a better squad.

[Lana_del_Bae]

1 hour ago, Digby said:

Meanwhile there’s a bunch of scuttlebutt on NBA socials that Kyrie is quitting on the Nets because he didn’t want Coach Nash and he’s not friends with KD anymore. So might be a shortlived big 3. OTOH if they could make Kyrie someone else’s problem in exchange for a deferential PG and defensive help, arguably that’s a better squad.

Trade Cryrie for Westbrick just for the nostalgia

[Rockstar Matt]

3 hours ago, Lana_del_Bae said:

Trade Cryrie for Westbrick just for the nostalgia

For some reason, I immediately assume that whenever someone talks like this about sports, they know absolutely nothing about whatever sport they’re talking about. 
 

 

22 hours ago, The Six said:

And the tradition of Durant needing to be on a staked team to contend continues. Still has won zero championships in my personal record book, and if the Nets win this year it'll remain zero.

Listen, I hated those Warriors teams as much as any good, decent person should, but he still won two championships. Doesn’t matter how cowardly it was, it still counts. 
 

And the Nets ain’t winning it this year.

[Indigo]

On 1/14/2021 at 4:57 PM, Rockstar Matt said:

Listen, I hated those Warriors teams as much as any good, decent person should, but he still won two championships. Doesn’t matter how cowardly it was, it still counts. 
 

And the Nets ain’t winning it this year.

It’s one of those things where, yes, they count, but when discussing KD’s legacy, they get discounted kinda like LBJ’s ‘07 Finals loss.

 

Lakers in 6

[BBTV]

,,

 

[Digby]

James Harden gets to masklessly force his way to Brooklyn and now slaps the referee’s ass without consequence. What a league!

[Lana_del_Bae]

15 hours ago, Digby said:

James Harden gets to masklessly force his way to Brooklyn and now slaps the referee’s ass without consequence. What a league!

Can't blame him with all the time he spends in strip clubs, if he sees a thicc ass he's gonna slap it

[SFGiants58]

32 minutes ago, Lana_del_Bae said:

Can't blame him with all the time he spends in strip clubs, if he sees a thicc ass he's gonna slap it

 

But he's just coming for the hot wings! How do you think he got so fat?

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The Warriors really spanked the Lakers last night. It's really messing with my narrative that Steph is overrated.

[Indigo]

19 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

The Warriors really spanked the Lakers last night. It's really messing with my narrative that Steph is overrated.

So Steph coming up clutch and rallying back from down 14 in a two-point win is “spanking”?

[DG_ThenNowForever]

1 hour ago, LA Fakers+ LA Snippers said:

So Steph coming up clutch and rallying back from down 14 in a two-point win is “spanking”?

 

Yeah. The Lakers were up 19 at one point, and then up 10 at multiple points after and couldn't put the Warriors away. They slept walked through the second half and had no killer instinct.

 

Does it mean the Lakers stink? Absolutely not. I just have a personal narrative that Steph has been propped up by great teammates and has never had to will a team to win. Well, now he's willing his team to win.

[Indigo]

1 hour ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

Yeah. The Lakers were up 19 at one point, and then up 10 at multiple points after and couldn't put the Warriors away. They slept walked through the second half and had no killer instinct.

 

Does it mean the Lakers stink? Absolutely not. I just have a personal narrative that Steph has been propped up by great teammates and has never had to will a team to win. Well, now he's willing his team to win.

Fair. 
What’s not fair is the notion that...

1 hour ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

Steph has been propped up by great teammates and has never had to will a team to win. Well, now he's willing his team to win.

Steph literally willed teams to the playoffs in 12-13 and 13-14 while Klay and Draymond developed. Even on a 73-win team with multiple all-stars, he was an unanimous MVP. Now, I’m a LeBron fan. I have not personal bias towards Curry, but greatness is greatness. But please continue to doubt him, so he can drop 60 on the league’s headtop. 

[dont care]

Everyone knows steph shouldn’t have been elected as the unanimous MVP that year, much less the first. His performance or lack there of in the playoffs that year confirms that.

[SFGiants58]

2 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 I just have a personal narrative that Steph has been propped up by great teammates and has never had to will a team to win. Well, now he's willing his team to win.

Or he’s getting lucky. Well, getting lucky and learning that he can’t depend on Klay, Draymond, and/or KD. Once you lose your co-stars (at the very least, your co-stars being 100%), you have to adapt. He’s lucky he’s still got enough left in the tank to properly adapt and not flail around helplessly.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

2 minutes ago, dont care said:

Everyone knows steph shouldn’t have been elected as the unanimous MVP that year, much less the first. His performance or lack there of in the playoffs that year confirms that.

 

For me, that's the biggest sticking point. Steph got an honor that didn't go to Kareem or Wilt or MJ or LeBron or Bird or Shaq or Magic. It didn't feel right in the moment, and looks ridiculous now.

 

Steph can will 8-seeds to the playoffs in the early 2010s all he wants; LeBron willed garbage to the NBA Finals. None of the 2015-2016 Steph Mania made sense in the context of the game. He's a great shooter and playmaker and helped evolve the game. However, I don't know why the brakes fell off with basketball media for a while.