2021-2022 NBA Regular Season

[weepinwillow]

Has Anthony Bennett reached out to Cade Cunningham yet?

 

[Rich]

My early takes while catching up on last nights games:

Bye Bye Herro
The time to capitalize on Herro has passed. He was my preferred trade for Sexton before the season, he and Okpala (still obtainable) and now you see why. He had a skillset overlap where he was pinched between Duncan Robinson's perimeter shooting and Dragic's dribble drive with both of those guys seeking new contracts and Spo just not having patience for Herro last season. Where he benefit most is from Dragic moving on, Duncan getting his payday and Lowry/Tucker being super smart offensive IQ players who are willing to set him up to play to his strengths. Guess who would ALSO produce like this with a ultimate greenlight playing next to smart veterans in Rubio and Love as the first guy off the bench?

Celtics Overlap
Speaking of skillset overlaps... Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum will never work together as long as they are the best two players on the team. Marcus Smart is speaking with the blessing and power of Brad Stevens office, so please don't assume he is available or speaking out of turn. Stevens had a interview yesterday and he spoke glowingly of Smart not just voicing what he did, but also putting in the work to communicate with Tatum and Brown after the interview individually. If Boston could acquire a floor general with enough respect/cache to make Tatum stop pounding the ball (as long as he plays this way, Brown is the better all around player who makes teammates better, but Tatum is unquestionably more talented with a higher ceiling) they can save their season and this Udoke era, however, the overlap between Brown and Tatum will remain. Rubio, John Wall, Ghost of Rondo (limited playing role but more lockerroom/mentor role) are three acquisitions they could make. Schroder is looking for a payday and the language barrier/lack of floor general in his game is exacerbating this.

Fade the Cade
Please visit the Draft thread from last season if you need better context for why I said early and often not to draft Cade Cunningham. I get the excuses about injuries... will not make him quicker, more athletic and NOW taller/longer as he's easily the most misrepresented measurable guy since Isaac Okoro. He looks a good 6'5 to me and with his lack of burst and overall floor game (masked by Scottie Barnes and Moody in HS and masked by lesser talent with the whole offense running through him at OKSt) he's going to have a uphill battle to be better than average/replaceable as a pro on the perimeter. So grateful we didnt get stuck with him. His BEST CASE scenario to me, is if he can mature his body and the game slows down so that he can play like a smaller Steve Smith (post injuries).

I would not trade Sexton for him straight up, I considered it when I thought he was 6'8 and capable of being a slow SG with a solid jumper and above average IQ/passing. Not sure where the conventional thought came from that he was a cant miss. Weaver is now tied to him so he'll have to eventually make moves to highlight his skillset and minimize his limitations. We should keep Detroit on our short call list for the foreseeable future.

Contenders
Miami, Utah, GSW, Chicago, BK, LAL, ATL (Young is starting to adjust to officiating and will be fine by midseason), Knicks (trust me, league is playing Thibs ball)

Borderline, need to make moves
Bucks (replace Tucker), Philly (move Simmons for a PG and/or halfcourt shot creator), Denver (need to infuse toughness before deadline/Murray returns...Gordon doesnt fit), Phoenix (should have paid Ayton, need to upgrade Crowder)

Pretenders, no shot on contending this yr so make moves accordingly
Dallas, Portland, Clips, Boston, Indy, Washington

Only ones I disagree with on the contender pretender list are the teams missing big name guys.

I need to see Milwaukee with Holiday and Lopez before properly ranking them.

Same with the Clippers.

And Phoenix..I don't believe. Lightning in a bottle and they needed every team they played to have major, major injury issues to make it. That was the shot. It's gone.


Everywhere else though, we're on the same page, though I can't believe I'm buying into Utah yet again. This is the last time with this group. If they can't get to the conference Finals this season, they never will.


Feel the same on Tatum/Brown.

Brown is the better all-around player, but Tatum has the far higher ceiling it's just...this is now multiple years in a row of him playing like this. And I would not be stunned by Brad Stevens picking Brown over Tatum. easier to build with Brown AND you can get more in return for Tatum.

 

[Ozone]

Has Anthony Bennett reached out to Cade Cunningham yet?

no chance CC is that bad right smh

 

[NMCav]

no chance CC is that bad right smh

Only two first overall picks to have 8 combined points in first two games. So through 2 games? Yes he's likely worse because Cade likely took more shots then Bennett had in his first 2 games.

 

[Ozone]

Only two first overall picks to have 8 combined points in first two games. So through 2 games? Yes he's likely worse because Cade likely took more shots then Bennett had in his first 2 games.

I never loved his lack of driving ability in college and hated him settling for long shots. seems he will have to show us he has more to his game than that Luka step back that aint falling or he could very easily be quickly ushered into the bust cat

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

Only ones I disagree with on the contender pretender list are the teams missing big name guys.

I need to see Milwaukee with Holiday and Lopez before properly ranking them.

Same with the Clippers.

And Phoenix..I don't believe. Lightning in a bottle and they needed every team they played to have major, major injury issues to make it. That was the shot. It's gone.


Everywhere else though, we're on the same page, though I can't believe I'm buying into Utah yet again. This is the last time with this group. If they can't get to the conference Finals this season, they never will.


Feel the same on Tatum/Brown.

Brown is the better all-around player, but Tatum has the far higher ceiling it's just...this is now multiple years in a row of him playing like this. And I would not be stunned by Brad Stevens picking Brown over Tatum. easier to build with Brown AND you can get more in return for Tatum.

I struggled with Phoenix myself (as you see they are the last team in borderline)

I initially made them the first pretender but truly believe they are ONE toughness addition from being a contender again. The loss of Saric should not be understated as he along with the Cam's (Payne and Johnson) was instrumental to their run off the bench. He was the most unheralded of those 3 but he often was a stabilizer for the bench unit offensively. He balanced Payne's impulsive shoot first play by being a high post initiator, outlet and screen setter (think a poor man's Sabonis). Huge dropoff from Saric to Kaminsky.

If they could leverage Jae Crowder, Jalen Smith's potential and the two expirings of Kaminsky and Elf Payton (weird signing that hurts spacing and Monty is forcing him onto the court in this early season) into a tougher 4 who is smart and keeps the ball moving, they could go right back to the contender tier for me. They really missed the boat on bringing PJ Tucker back home. Would have been perfect. Aaron Gordon or JaMychel Green in Denver would be ideal but Denver is in no position to help balance their roster after they sent them home last season.

Another dark horse who would be perfect for them who you mentioned a few pages back... Pascal Siakam.

But I don't believe their window has closed just yet.

As constructed, I could see them beating the Lakers again in a 7 game series, honestly

 

[JMoneyYourHoney]

Tyrone Lue proving once again he’s an awful coach unless he has one of the leagues top 5 players

I'm an avowed Lue hater, but he did an excellent job with that team once Kawhi went out with injury, embarrassing the #1 seed (paper tiger) Jazz en route to the franchise's first WCF and taking 2 games off the finalist Suns. In the Mavericks and Jazz series they came back from down 0-2, which reflects both an ability to adjust and an aptitude for instilling poise/composure.

Feckless regular season coach but even I'll admit that he comports himself much better in the playoffs.

 

[Cassity14]

I struggled with Phoenix myself (as you see they are the last team in borderline)

I initially made them the first pretender but truly believe they are ONE toughness addition from being a contender again. The loss of Saric should not be understated as he along with the Cam's (Payne and Johnson) was instrumental to their run off the bench. He was the most unheralded of those 3 but he often was a stabilizer for the bench unit offensively. He balanced Payne's impulsive shoot first play by being a high post initiator, outlet and screen setter (think a poor man's Sabonis). Huge dropoff from Saric to Kaminsky.

If they could leverage Jae Crowder, Jalen Smith's potential and the two expirings of Kaminsky and Elf Payton (weird signing that hurts spacing and Monty is forcing him onto the court in this early season) into a tougher 4 who is smart and keeps the ball moving, they could go right back to the contender tier for me. They really missed the boat on bringing PJ Tucker back home. Would have been perfect. Aaron Gordon or JaMychel Green in Denver would be ideal but Denver is in no position to help balance their roster after they sent them home last season.

Another dark horse who would be perfect for them who you mentioned a few pages back... Pascal Siakam.

But I don't believe their window has closed just yet.

As constructed, I could see them beating the Lakers again in a 7 game series, honestly

I agree a lot with your last statement.

The West feels very matchup-dependent. I thought the same thing last year.

I really hope teams can get and stay healthy to see how it all shakes out. I know people believe the east is full of parity, but I just don't see it without Brooklyn and Milwaukee getting/staying injured.

 

[2 For The Brew]

Sixers beat the Bulls at home without Tobias Harris, Danny Green or the mentally incapacitated Ben Simmons. They are 6-2. Not exactly a lot of pressure on Morey to sell Ben for peanuts.

 

[sailfish]

Sixers beat the Bulls at home without Tobias Harris, Danny Green or the mentally incapacitated Ben Simmons. They are 6-2. Not exactly a lot of pressure on Morey to sell Ben for peanuts.

This all is showing what a really good coach Doc Rivers is and perhaps how irrelevant Ben Simmons really is.

 

[Rich]

There's never been a player advanced statistics love so much that does so little as Robert Covington.

 

[foucault87]

There's never been a player advanced statistics love so much that does so little as Robert Covington.

Can I introduce you to Chuck Hayes?

 

[MirORich]

Harden only took ONE free throw tonight and I LOVE it.

 

[Dr. Claw]

Harden only took ONE free throw tonight and I LOVE it.

It's wild seeing him actually have to score straight up. Might have been the best rule change in some time.

Good game from the Nets though. Patty Mills continues to show that he was a worthy acquisition for them.

 

[Surge]

Next rule change needs to eliminate the "Take a foul to stop fast breaks."

Then we might be set for a while.