2021-2022 NBA Regular Season

Rich said:

Watching the game last night and the way the game is called now is so different that I think it completely flips who is and is not a contender if this keeps up.


Teams led by tougher, more physical players should be favored. Miami, for instance, won't have a problem playing a more physical style. Butler, Lowry, and Adebayo will thrive in an environment wherein they're allowed to be physical all night.

Think this could finally be Utah's year. Gobert will have a much bigger impact in the post-season if they keep calling fouls like this.

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I love the return to physical play and fewer whistles.

I am against any return to the short shorts.

I think the biggest issue with the Celtics is, if you are trading one of these guys, you probably aren't going to be any better this season.

So if you aren't going to be any better, you just need draft pick assets to try to retool around whichever player you keep.

I keep seeing these trades of Brown for Lillard, etc.......but where exactly is that getting you in the East? A 4 or 5 seed? Are you better than any of the title contenders in the East?

This is always the problem when you only have two truly good young assets. The math is almost never there for you to trade 1 of the 2 and have it make any sense in the near term. If you are trying to win now, there are no trades out there that probably make sense.

If you are trying to win in 18-24 months, with the remaining guy bought in......then a trade a young team could offer (1 promising young player and 2-3 1sts) is the way you can be better in a retool situation. I suspect Boston really doesn't want to do that though.....and probably overvalues a veteran player in return.

I'mWithDan said:

I think the biggest issue with the Celtics is, if you are trading one of these guys, you probably aren't going to be any better this season.

So if you aren't going to be any better, you just need draft pick assets to try to retool around whichever player you keep.

I keep seeing these trades of Brown for Lillard, etc.......but where exactly is that getting you in the East? A 4 or 5 seed? Are you better than any of the title contenders in the East?

This is always the problem when you only have two truly good young assets. The math is almost never there for you to trade 1 of the 2 and have it make any sense in the near term. If you are trying to win now, there are no trades out there that probably make sense.

If you are trying to win in 18-24 months, with the remaining guy bought in......then a trade a young team could offer (1 promising young player and 2-3 1sts) is the way you can be better in a retool situation. I suspect Boston really doesn't want to do that though.....and probably overvalues a veteran player in return.

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I actually think an alpha PG like Lillard would make a massive difference for Tatum and could actually catapult them to more than just a 1st round team.

Celtics certainly didn't max out on that horde of assets
they had a few seasons ago.

I'm like the only guy here who defends Danny Ainge but the Celtics just got extremely unlucky and were still wildly successful.

They cashed in on Kyrie and he was a nutcase and they went out and swung for Hayward and he immediately broke his leg in game 1.

I mean...that's bad luck. They tried. They didn't just horde everything and not try.

Rich said:

I actually think an alpha PG like Lillard would make a massive difference for Tatum and could actually catapult them to more than just a 1st round team.

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The problem is there's no way Tatum is playing sidekick, right?

The dude is obsessed with pounding the ball in to oblivion and taking ISO jumpers.

Any trade, to me, needs to be for a player that has star power but isn't a ball dominant guy. So it is such a needle thread exercise.

Unless you think Tatum is accepting of a complete alpha like Dame coming in and immediately wrestling that ball dominating role away from him.

I do agree Tatum would be better in that supporting role. I just don't think there's any way that is a role he's likely willing to play.

SuperSurge said:

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Follow up story:

As timeline for Zion Williamson's return pushed back again, skepticism takes hold​

• BY SCOTT KUSHNER | Contributing writer
• 
  
• Nov 2, 2021

New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson supports his team from the bench during the first half of their season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday at the Smoothie King Center.




The timeline moved again.

Zion Williamson is going to be out for at least two to three more weeks.

At least that’s when the New Orleans Pelicans expect to see the next round of medical scans, which will determine when their 21-year old superstar will recover from a foot surgery that’s become as opaque as it is damaging.



An injury Williamson himself said would not cause him to miss a regular-season game will now sideline him for at least a month. Yet there’s been no mention of a setback or an explanation of what’s unfolded.

Just another delay.

It feels eerily similar to Zion’s much anticipated rookie year, which was derailed by missing the season’s first 44 games (three months) under the enigmatic cloud of a preseason knee injury, initially prescribed as a six-to-eight week recovery.


This time around, it was coach Willie Green who was sent in front of the media to spin this latest postponement as a positive, claiming doctors were “encouraged” by the results of Williamson’s latest images. The scans now allow the Pelicans’ All-Star to do more individual work on the court, but still bar him from playing actual basketball.

“He can participate in practice, just not any 5-on-5,” Green said.

So, here we go again.

Another status update. Another recalibration measuring when Zion takes the court.

The Pelicans started the season 1-6 without Williamson available. Most nights they are rendered helpless as opponents expose the obvious void in their roster.

Without their leading scorer and primary ball handler, it doesn’t seem to matter how cohesive or determined the Pelicans play. The talent differential typically catches up to them, saddling New Orleans with loss after loss.

“We need him,” center Jonas Valanciunas said. “We are waiting every day for him to come back. It’s going to be a different look with our team. But he’s a huge piece for us. We need him back. Then we’re going to see what everything looks like.”

But by then, who knows what the Pelicans’ record will be?

If Williamson is cleared in two weeks, he will miss the next eight games. If it’s three weeks, that’s 12 contests.

Considering the evidence at our disposal, and the schedule awaiting them, New Orleans might be so buried in the standings that even achieving the low bar of 10th place in the Western Conference could become too steep of a climb.

And that’s only if the next set of scans reveals good news. At this point, it’s hard to carry much optimism into any evaluation of Williamson’s surgically-repaired foot.


But, for their part, the Pelicans are seeing progress.

I'mWithDan said:

The problem is there's no way Tatum is playing sidekick, right?

The dude is obsessed with pounding the ball in to oblivion and taking ISO jumpers.

Any trade, to me, needs to be for a player that has star power but isn't a ball dominant guy. So it is such a needle thread exercise.

Unless you think Tatum is accepting of a complete alpha like Dame coming in and immediately wrestling that ball dominating role away from him.

I do agree Tatum would be better in that supporting role. I just don't think there's any way that is a role he's likely willing to play.

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I've said this for years. Tatum needs to be more like Klay and less like Kobe. Tatum is a very good shooter, but I think Kobe took him under his wing a little bit and Tatum has always been very up front for his love of Kobe. It's a detriment to his game. He could be so much better if he didn't try and pound the rock and create these mediocre shot attempts.

As much as I’d love a Boston wing, I’m so skeptical of any trade with Boston. We’d probably acquire Brown and find out he has a herniated disc in his back or some shit.

Soar said:

As much as I’d love a Boston wing, I’m so skeptical of any trade with Boston. We’d probably acquire Brown and find out he has a herniated disc in his back or some shit.

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BOTH have had lingering symptoms and physical limitations ongoing from having getting Covid. Probably with Tatum anyway before vaccination was even available. When professional athletes are suffering possibly permanently from this it opens the eyes more than before.
Sounds like Tatum still has breathing limitations and Brown's biggest issues is exhaustion and joint pain currently.
I don't know if I am supposed to be talking about this here or not and this is not a political thing for me just a observation but it seems pretty obvious both Boston wings are damaged goods thanks to the pandemic smh
I would rather play Cedi

adam81king said:

*I* have zero issue with what Marcus Smart said...but a backup/role player calling out the teams 2 best players publicly, and specifically, usually doesn't bode well for that role player.

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he is a starter not a role player

sailfish said:

Zion’s weight will always be an issue and as he gets older I think we’ll see more & more injuries. Bodies just aren’t meant to be that explosive with that much weight.

I truly think he might’ve been better playing football, where he wouldn’t have to run and make sudden movements as much. Could you imagine Zion as a tight end?!?

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TE? With his body style and explosive athletisicm he woild have been a freak DT.

Ozone said:

he is a starter not a role player

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Hes been a starter the last 1.5yrs, but he's absolutely a role player.

Gonna tune into Miami tonight.

They have just been absolutely annihilating teams so far.