NBA Finals - The Problem with Steph Curry

[Slurktan]

I was amused last night that damn near every pick was correctly broken by Woj before the pick was made. An exception and possibly the only exception? Toronto. It must burn Woj to not have a source in that front office.

Also koloko is from he same city as siakam, has a tremendous work ethic, is athletic 7 footer and has a 9'5" wingspan.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

27 minutes ago, Slurktan said:

I was amused last night that damn near every pick was correctly broken by Woj before the pick was made. An exception and possibly the only exception? Toronto. It must burn Woj to not have a source in that front office.

Also koloko is from he same city as siakam, has a tremendous work ethic, is athletic 7 footer and has a 9'5" wingspan.

If that were true he could probably fly. His standing reach is that high, his wingspan is 7'6.

[Calibandar]

22 hours ago, Proudfeet said:

How well regarded are this year's prospects compared to last year? I guess last year might have been a little deeper with a top four-five instead of three, but putting that aside, are the projections for the top three this year as positive as it was for last year?

I would say the drafts look pretty comparable. Last year with Cunningham, Green, Mobley Barnes Suggs, Giddey, Kuminga Wagner there were some really big talents in it, so perhaps people rate it higher than this year. However, Banchero, Smith, Holmgren and Ivey are all exciting players to be sure and some of the guys later on like Daniels ( great get for New Orleans) or Sharpe also looks good.

 

22 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Forcing his way out would only further damage his reputation, possibly to a point that’s beyond repair. As to where he could reasonably go, I have no idea in part because the Nets have no reason to play ball after he just effectively wrecked all their hopes and dreams.

I dont think it matters or should matter to Durant what it does to his reputation. If they dont-re-sign Irving becaause of Irving's demands, its understandable that he might want out.

21 hours ago, Maithanet said:

It might further damage his reputation, but not as badly as wasting his prime playing .500 ball.  If Durant wins another championship as the #1 guy, most NBA fans aren't gonna give a shit if he screwed over the Nets. 

Exactemundo.

15 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

But Surely is cool, right? 

Yeah, he projects to be a much better defender. I just think his offensive game is probably going to be more like Peja's, which isn't a bad thing. And hey, sometimes the scouts are just dead wrong:

 

Funny isn't, because 4 out of 5 of those points are proven false or at least not a concern at all in reality.

14 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

What could go wrong?:

 

And I agree, great pick up for the Pistons. They and the Rockets got steals that compliment their main young building block. 

I dont even remember having heard of T. Robinson.

BTW Tywin, came across this video on YT, thought you'd enjoy it.

 

5 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

Ivey and J Duren, stoked!

Cool thing about Ivey was that he actually wanted to come to Motown. His mama was a WNBA player for the Detroit Shock and Jadens uncle or somebody in the family used to be a Lion so Jadens got roots in the area. That's potentially positive on the "fit" side.

So far so good Weaver (Pistons GM), my man with the plan.

Now about that cap space, how we gonna spend it?

Am reading we still have 35-45 million depending on the various option (player/team) scenarios. A lot of buzz has now shifted towards Bridges (Hornets) who is from Detroit so there's some hope going around that angle.

I guess drafting Duren means Detroir is not in the Ayton race?

[Calibandar]

Anyways, I thought OKC got a really nice haul. Watched some stuff from Dieng and now I understand why he's been getting a lot of praise , he has huge potential for sure. Jalen Williams also a solid looking 6'6 wing. They could have had Jabari, who I worried they might miss out on, but clearly just preferred Chet, who I also like.

Houston now getting Jabari to pair with Green is also very intriguing. Detroit adding Ivey is a great get, apparently the Knicks really wanted him but couldnt get a deal done. Dallas will really have to shell out to keep Brunson. And Detroit add Duren to that, who has a very basic skillset which I just dont love but he might be better and bigger than Stewart.

[DireWolfSpirit]

13 minutes ago, Calibandar said:

I would say the drafts look pretty comparable. Last year with Cunningham, Green, Mobley Barnes Suggs, Giddey, Kuminga Wagner there were some really big talents in it, so perhaps people rate it higher than this year. However, Banchero, Smith, Holmgren and Ivey are all exciting players to be sure and some of the guys later on like Daniels ( great get for New Orleans) or Sharpe also looks good.

 

I dont think it matters or should matter to Durant what it does to his reputation. If they dont-re-sign Irving becaause of Irving's demands, its understandable that he might want out.

Exactemundo.

Funny isn't, because 4 out of 5 of those points are proven false or at least not a concern at all in reality.

I dont even remember having heard of T. Robinson.

BTW Tywin, came across this video on YT, thought you'd enjoy it.

 

I guess drafting Duren means Detroir is not in the Ayton race?

It seems less likely, although Weaver is a straight wheeler dealer and he's definitely not done making moves. He may not even go after a max till next year or may eat some contracts to stockpile some future picks.

I'd like to get Bridges back home, but we have a saying- "In Troy(Weaver) we trust."

[DMC]

Still pissed the Magic went with Banchero, but I do think its funny that his offensive BCS comp is probably Webber - who the Magic traded when they had the first pick.

[DireWolfSpirit]

^^^Banchero's a damn nice consolation prize though, hard to be too bummed with getting any of these top of the draft players.

[DMC]

3 minutes ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

^^^Banchero's a damn nice consolation prize though, hard to be too bummed with getting any of these top of the draft players.

I just think his defense is a clear weakness (not to mention he already demonstrates a lack of effort on that end) and with his size/body type it's incredibly likely to only get worse.  When in comparison the other two guys are very promising two-way players.  

Plus, the predominate appeal of Banchero over the other two is he's the most NBA ready, which means the Magic are clearly trying to compete immediately.  Whereas I would've much preferred them taking the higher upside guy and writing off next year too in the hope of winning the Wembanyama sweepstakes.

Finally, if they really wanted Banchero they could have explored trading with OKC or even Houston.  I mean, maybe they did, but while I'm sure they might not have gotten much from OKC to move up a spot, they clearly wanted Holmgren so I gotta believe they could've wrangled away one of their nineteen thousand future picks.

[Calibandar]

Quote

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, contract negotiations between the Nets and Kyrie Irving have turned acrimonious. Irving missed most of last season due to vaccine requirements, and the Nets reportedly offered him an incentive-laden four-year deal with the first two years guaranteed. He's seeking max money, but the market is pretty scarce for him at that price

 

So he expects a max deal for 4 years. Which is totally unreasonable. I'm surprised the Nets have even offered a 4 year deal, be it with incentives. Clearly thats as far as they can go with his history of unavailability and sheer unreliability. That the first 2 years are guaranteed should be a surprising bonus for him.

In other news...

Quote

On a recent episode of the Lowe Post Podcast, Zach Lowe said that NBA teams are preparing for the possibility of Kevin Durant being available if Kyrie Irving leaves Brooklyn.
According to Lowe, “I can tell you this. This is what teams are doing. Teams are already operating under, not the assumption, but ‘we need to prepare for the contingency that Kevin Durant is available via trade in six days or seven days.’ … The whole league is now.

As a Durant fan, I've been thinking about what I want. Irving could sign with the Nets and then they have what you could describe as a decent shot at being good. Though it feels the Kyrie-Nets relationship has soured ( because of Kyrie) and Kyrie actually playing full seasons seems so unlikely so its probably a pipe dream. So where to, if Riving leaves?

The Ringer had a few suggestions: Memphis, back to OKC, Chicago, Phoenix, Philly

Of that list I am going to outright dismiss a return to OKC, and Philly.

I like the idea of him at Chicago. Same for Phoenix, and Memphis is not a team you'd think of but that would be cool actually.

 

On 6/24/2022 at 9:44 PM, DireWolfSpirit said:

It seems less likely, although Weaver is a straight wheeler dealer and he's definitely not done making moves. He may not even go after a max till next year or may eat some contracts to stockpile some future picks.

I'd like to get Bridges back home, but we have a saying- "In Troy(Weaver) we trust."

Rumor now is that Detroit no longer wants Ayton and has made Bridges their priority.

[Maithanet]

Suns being a target for Irving?  I can't see that at all.  For one, the Suns are usually pretty cheap and Irving isn't gonna come cheap.  For two they already have an extremely skilled but unreliable point guard in Paul.  After you talking about the Suns trading Paul for Irving?  I'm not sure Paul would be ok with that (he'd have to talk to Durant first at the very least).  And if they aren't keeping Ayton, a Booker/Irving paper is gonna be horrific defensively.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

What team should want Kyrie? Among the real contenders the only one I can even half consider is the Bucks swapping him out for Holiday, but even if it's an upgrade I'm not sure I risk doing it. I don't think either LA team are contenders as is, but I can at least rationalize it. But after that? What viable team would want him? Why would a bad and/or developing team want him? And that's before we discuss the money because I wouldn't pay him anything close to the max, if I were to even consider trading for him. The only way he should get the money he wants is if a crap team is willing to do it for the press, and that team will immediately regret signing him. 

[DireWolfSpirit]

I wouldn't want him in my clubhouse for free, honestly. And Brooklyn doesn't have enough First rounders to pay me to take him, I would demand at least 6 as I'm hanging up the phone on them.

[DireWolfSpirit]

4 hours ago, Calibandar said:

 

Rumor now is that Detroit no longer wants Ayton and has made Bridges their priority.

That's my best wish currently.

[Maithanet]

If the Lakers could somehow swap Westbrook for Kyrie, that would make sense, although nobody in the league wants Westbrook, so it's pretty damn hard to make that trade happen. 

The bucks absolutely do not want to trade Holiday for Kyrie.  Holiday is a great fit for what they do, and they are a defense first team.  He has been huge in the playoffs for them.  

I will say the idea of a big 3 of Holiday, Simmons, Durant would be interesting in Brooklyn, but it's not gonna happen.

[DireWolfSpirit]

It's going to be an off the chain free agency period this year imo.

I'm expecting a lot of interesting roster moves.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 hours ago, Maithanet said:

although nobody in the league wants Westbrook

He's on the last year of his deal and can clear $50m in bad contracts. In the new NBA he now has some value.

[DMC]

48 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

He's on the last year of his deal and can clear $50m in bad contracts. In the new NBA he now has some value.

I mean, expiring contracts have been particularly valuable in the NBA for quite awhile now.  $47 million though...

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

41 minutes ago, DMC said:

I mean, expiring contracts have been particularly valuable in the NBA for quite awhile now.  $47 million though...

It will come with some picks. I'd take it on if my team was dead in the water and I wanted to move on from some bad signings. That number just lets you shed more players, and if your team is shit already you can buy him out and do that much more to chase Victor. 

[DMC]

5 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

It will come with some picks. I'd take it on if my team was dead in the water and I wanted to move on from some bad signings. That number just lets you shed more players, and if your team is shit already you can buy him out and do that much more to chase Victor. 

Yeah I'm just saying it's a lot to match up for undesirable contracts.

[DireWolfSpirit]

Miles Bridges thinks he's on the move.

He's removed Charlotte Hornets player from his Twitter title lol.