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2021 NBA Offseason Thread

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Have you guys forgotten so quickly what a thrill it was to have home games in Cleveland during the playoffs?

I think home and away games are part of the fabric and challenge of the game, wouldn't want to get rid of them. You could get some of the benefits of the wider sidelines and better hoop backdrop without going to a neutral court.

What I do want to see is a shorter regular season. I think these guys have more gas in the tank for the playoffs this year because they didn't play the full 82.

There needs to be an in season tournament. They can do it at a single location like Disney or Vegas. have the in season tournament then have All Star week. The in season tourney can be single elimination with all teams in it.

Here's how it should work. The wins in the tournament should count towards your regular season record. For example, in the bubble PHX went 7-0. If the bubble ended with them being the champions of the tournament then they should add those 7 wins to what their regular season total was before the tournament started. So if at the beginning of the tournament they were a 10 seed in the west and 5 games out of the 8 seed then they would've made up 7 games in the standings. So They would move up from 10th and into 8th or wherever depending on how the teams in front of them fared in the tourney.
 
Have you guys forgotten so quickly what a thrill it was to have home games in Cleveland during the playoffs?

I think home and away games are part of the fabric and challenge of the game, wouldn't want to get rid of them. You could get some of the benefits of the wider sidelines and better hoop backdrop without going to a neutral court.

What I do want to see is a shorter regular season. I think these guys have more gas in the tank for the playoffs this year because they didn't play the full 82.

Yeah it is exciting, I just love the even playing field. Much less predictable. You are right, I don't think it would be fair to the fans, but I just like it.

I think you have a fair point about the playoffs. If they eliminated some games and there was a couple of weeks where the players could rest before the playoffs and get healthy it might be pretty cool.
 
There needs to be an in season tournament. They can do it at a single location like Disney or Vegas. have the in season tournament then have All Star week. The in season tourney can be single elimination with all teams in it.

Here's how it should work. The wins in the tournament should count towards your regular season record. For example, in the bubble PHX went 7-0. If the bubble ended with them being the champions of the tournament then they should add those 7 wins to what their regular season total was before the tournament started. So if at the beginning of the tournament they were a 10 seed in the west and 5 games out of the 8 seed then they would've made up 7 games in the standings. So They would move up from 10th and into 8th or wherever depending on how the teams in front of them fared in the tourney.

It's an interesting idea, but I just can't see the owners or the player's association agreeing to it. The idea that a team could in general not be that good for the whole season, get hot for two weeks and win the tournament, and then find themselves booting a team that played consistently better all season wouldn't sit that well with me. It'd have to be some sort of significant financial prize to make it worthwhile.

It seems like you could seriously be penalizing a lower-seeded team, especially if their star player managed to get hurt just prior to the tournament starting. For the example you gave above, imagine if Dame gets hurt a game or two prior to the tournament and has an injury that he'll only miss 2-3 games. One of the teams behind Portland catches fire and wins the tournament, jumping Portland for the 8th seed in the process.

In this scenario, Portland winds up missing the playoffs despite being the better team for the entire season all because Dame rolled his ankle, missed three games, and POR lost the first game of the tournament. Owners definitely aren't going to want to have anything like that happening. That's too big of a revenue swing.
 
It's an interesting idea, but I just can't see the owners or the player's association agreeing to it. The idea that a team could in general not be that good for the whole season, get hot for two weeks and win the tournament, and then find themselves booting a team that played consistently better all season wouldn't sit that well with me. It'd have to be some sort of significant financial prize to make it worthwhile.

It seems like you could seriously be penalizing a lower-seeded team, especially if their star player managed to get hurt just prior to the tournament starting. For the example you gave above, imagine if Dame gets hurt a game or two prior to the tournament and has an injury that he'll only miss 2-3 games. One of the teams behind Portland catches fire and wins the tournament, jumping Portland for the 8th seed in the process.

In this scenario, Portland winds up missing the playoffs despite being the better team for the entire season all because Dame rolled his ankle, missed three games, and POR lost the first game of the tournament. Owners definitely aren't going to want to have anything like that happening. That's too big of a revenue swing.

In that scenario POR wouldn't be the better team than PHX. In order to win the tournament you have to win 6 games in a row at least. Yes injuries could factor in but that already happens. Just like there were teams who could've brought back injured players for the bubble like BKN with Kyrie and KD. Injuries are apart of the game and no team should get special treatment because of them. teams already get the disabled player exception and that's only for guys who are out for the whole season and can't return.
 
Anybody give the Nuggets a shot at knocking off the Lakers? Yeah, the Lakers definitely look better, and match up better with them than the Clips. AD can single cover Jokic, and Jokic is the only guy on the Nuggets in the same universe as Lebron as a superstar. But the Nuggets look legit, not out of their depth in the conference finals
 
Anybody give the Nuggets a shot at knocking off the Lakers? Yeah, the Lakers definitely look better, and match up better with them than the Clips. AD can single cover Jokic, and Jokic is the only guy on the Nuggets in the same universe as Lebron as a superstar. But the Nuggets look legit, not out of their depth in the conference finals

They definitely have a shot to win. Malone is the better coach and The Lakers need to knock down 3's to put Denver away.
 
agreed, very possible for the Lakers to lose if they get cold shooting and the Nuggets get hot. Question is whether it will happen four out of seven games, given how smart and clutch Lebron is and how good Vogel is at defensive adjustments.

The pure talent gap, although it is in the Lakers favor overall I think, is not overwhelming. Honestly Jokic overall might already be as good as AD. Obviously a TOTALLY different player, a genius at orchestrating the offense and mediocre on defense. But in terms of game impact.
 
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agreed, very possible for the Lakers to lose if they get cold shooting and the Nuggets get hot. Question is whether it will happen four out of seven games, given how smart and clutch Lebron is and how good Vogel is at defensive adjustments.

The pure talent gap, although it is in the Lakers favor overall I think, is not overwhelming. Honestly Jokic overall might already be as good as AD. Obviously a TOTALLY different player, a genius at orchestrating the offense and mediocre on defense. But in terms of game impact.

They have to make LeBron work on defense. Wear his ass out on defense so that he can be slightly slowed down on the offensive end.
 
At the end of the day I think the Lakers will have the edge because Lebron will just be more smart and experienced about making the Lakers offense work when they are cold. He just has such a huge bag of tricks for making things work that he's accumulated over the years. And yes, his fatigue is an X factor, but he has gotten more rest over the past year and a half than he has ever had in his entire career. In addition to all that rest, he also has averaged just 34 MPG this playoffs, by far his lowest minutes per game in any playoffs ever.

But this new Lakers team has not yet been tested in true adversity...a bit like the Clippers that way...but Lebron gives you automatic team chemistry. And Lebron KNOWS that everything is lined up for his 4th championship, he will have the eye of the tiger for sure.
 
The Lakers are not losing this series...anybody even half-believing that are setting themselves up for disappointment.

LeBron is writing another storybook Finals journey to sit on the shelf beside his Cleveland one.
 
At the end of the day I think the Lakers will have the edge because Lebron will just be more smart and experienced about making the Lakers offense work when they are cold. He just has such a huge bag of tricks for making things work that he's accumulated over the years. And yes, his fatigue is an X factor, but he has gotten more rest over the past year and a half than he has ever had in his entire career. In addition to all that rest, he also has averaged just 34 MPG this playoffs, by far his lowest minutes per game in any playoffs ever.

But this new Lakers team has not yet been tested in true adversity...a bit like the Clippers that way...but Lebron gives you automatic team chemistry. And Lebron KNOWS that everything is lined up for his 4th championship, he will have the eye of the tiger for sure.

Yeah I don't really think Denver can win. However, I have seen over and over teams that were hardened by fire in the earlier rounds be more resilient than the ones who coasted to victory. Lakers have had a fairly easy time. Made adjustments their opponents could not adapt to. Denver is deeper and more adaptable than anyone they faced so far. Nuggets get better over the series, so they need to knock them out in 5 or they will have a real battle.

I don't have any doubt Lebron and AD will be good. There is a possibility though that the rest of the team could falter. I would bet on Lakers roleplayers struggling more than Denver at this point.

Not enough credit is given to Denver's defense since the end of the Jazz series. they were terrible initially, but they have really played great team D, and people have been giving Wes Unseld Jr props for coming up with the scheme. I did not think they could shut the offense down like they did against the Clippers.

Ultimately I think Lebron's experience gives them the win, but I think it could be more interesting than people think.
 
Lakers are not a good matchup for Denver. Who is going to check AD? What if AD can slow down Jokic? they can also throw Howard and even McGee at him. Lakers can go small or big, and I think both could pose problems for the Denver defense.

Their best hope, IMO, is that:

A. Jokic forces the Lakers to go big inside, which gums up the Lakers' offense a little.

B. Murray has multiple games where he goes off for 40-50 points.
 
Their best hope, IMO, is that:

A. Jokic forces the Lakers to go big inside, which gums up the Lakers' offense a little.

B. Murray has multiple games where he goes off for 40-50 points.

I'd put Murray or Harris on Lebron and have him attack his dribble. Just try to steal the ball in traffic. That's an area he doesn't get calls. They would be at a severe strength advantage, but I think it is underused strategy on him. It makes him have to use more energy.

Davis has definitely given Joker problems, I think they would rather have Howard on him? Who guards Davis?

It does seem like Guarding AD and Lebron will be harder for Denver than LA guarding Joker and Murray. Denver needs to junk it up as often and in as many way s as possible.
 
I'd put Murray or Harris on Lebron and have him attack his dribble. Just try to steal the ball in traffic. That's an area he doesn't get calls. They would be at a severe strength advantage, but I think it is underused strategy on him. It makes him have to use more energy.

Davis has definitely given Joker problems, I think they would rather have Howard on him? Who guards Davis?

It does seem like Guarding AD and Lebron will be harder for Denver than LA guarding Joker and Murray. Denver needs to junk it up as often and in as many way s as possible.

Grant and Milsap will have some minutes guarding AD
 
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