NBA 2022 off-season: the Durant Decision

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, dbunting said:

So I am not a big or even little NBA guy but even I have a major bitch here. What the actual fuck are LeBron James and Holmgren doing playing in these games@@?@>@>?  So during the NBA season when people are paying big bucks to see them they can take time off for rest?? WTF

Yeah I'm sure they would practice anyway but damn I'd be extra pissed if the game I saved $$ to go to with my kid and he sat out for rest and then plays in this bullshit.

It’s nothing new. Most players take a month off after the season then start playing again. Pro-ams are very common and rarely an issue. In this specific instance the gym they were using was compromised by a heat wave and having too many people in small enclosed building with poor circulation. You can bet the NBA will put new requirements in place for these games.

[dbunting]

Not the point though. Years ago players weren't resting like they are now. You don't see Patrick Mahommes out there playing in the USFL(or some random pick up league) and then skipping NFL season games to rest right? It just seems ridiculous to an outsider like me.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 hours ago, dbunting said:

Not the point though. Years ago players weren't resting like they are now. You don't see Patrick Mahommes out there playing in the USFL(or some random pick up league) and then skipping NFL season games to rest right? It just seems ridiculous to an outsider like me.

There's no value in comparing football players to basketball players on this front. The latter are playing numerous times a week during the offseason. Some just go to random gyms for fun to drop 70 points on dudes. This was simply a freak accident that can be corrected for. The issue isn't that they were hooping, its that they did so in unsafe conditions which sucks because the upside to these games is that they're safer than hitting up some random gym.

[Wilbur]

Getting injured playing basketball is different for a basketball player than getting injured, I don't know, riding motorcycles in the mountains or water skiiing.

[dbunting]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

There's no value in comparing football players to basketball players on this front. The latter are playing numerous times a week during the offseason. Some just go to random gyms for fun to drop 70 points on dudes. This was simply a freak accident that can be corrected for. The issue isn't that they were hooping, its that they did so in unsafe conditions which sucks because the upside to these games is that they're safer than hitting up some random gym.

How is landing after defending someone a freak accident? Isn't it a common thing in the NBA, you know, jumping?

[Proudfeet]

@dbunting

Different issues here. They aren't playing these during the season. These are tune up / workout games before the season. It has no bearing on rest during the season. You don't get to save up rest before the season and cash them in when you play back to back to back games.

And if you jump and land multiple times a game for 100 games and not get injured, I think the one time you get injured qualifies as a freak accident. Think it happened to Paul George as well? 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, dbunting said:

How is landing after defending someone a freak accident? Isn't it a common thing in the NBA, you know, jumping?

Again, as I said, the court was in poor condition by all accounts and the game was canceled before halftime. The gym was swampy due to the heat and number of people in a small space. Trust me, that will never ever happen again. These events will go on, but the NBA is going to heavily regulate them to avoid something like this happening again, and to see that point:

20 minutes ago, Proudfeet said:

Think it happened to Paul George as well? 

I watched PG's leg snap like a toothpick on live TV and recognized what happened at once. Guess what also happened? The NBA made sure their players never step foot again on a court with a rim that was propped up that way because if PG had been playing in an NBA game he wouldn't have gotten hurt.

[Relic]

18 hours ago, dbunting said:

So I am not a big or even little NBA guy but even I have a major bitch here. What the actual fuck are LeBron James and Holmgren doing playing in these games@@?@>@>?  So during the NBA season when people are paying big bucks to see them they can take time off for rest?? WTF

Yeah I'm sure they would practice anyway but damn I'd be extra pissed if the game I saved $$ to go to with my kid and he sat out for rest and then plays in this bullshit.

What? Like, really, what?? You're upset that a basketball player got injured...playing basketball? Get a grip. 

[BigFatCoward]

Okc should go full tank mode so they can get that French fucker and have 2 players with a 10ft wing span. 

[Calibandar]

21 hours ago, Rhom said:

Lisfranc Injury.

Out for the season.  Damn.  Hate it for the kid and does not bode well given the history we've already talked about.  If I'm the Thunder, I go 100% in on the Embiid plan where they shut him down completely until fully healthy and then go slowly after that.

Which is precisely what they did, pronounced out for the year.

33 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Okc should go full tank mode so they can get that French fucker and have 2 players with a 10ft wing span. 

Very much suspect thats the plan. Downside is that without Holmgren all year its possibly gonna be another year of not great OKC basketball and you do have to take into account what that does for someone like SGA. This being OKC though there is also a good chance they will be better than they seem on paper.

[Maithanet]

NBA players will play better in the season if they also play some in the offseason.  If they just take 5 months off with only lifting weights (as football players basically do), they would be rusty and not as effective. 

If football players could get away with playing hard practices year round, they would do so, and they would undoubtedly be sharper.  The problem is that if you do that, your whole team will be injured by the end of the year, which is obviously not what any coach is going for. 

The risk of playing (practice level) basketball is relatively low for NBA players, so it is a tradeoff worth making.  But in this case, OKC and Holmgren got unlucky and that sucks, but there's not much that can be done about that. 

[DMC]

I think it's hard to separate the Sam Bowie comparisons from the two players he sandwiched between - Olajuwon and Jordan (plus Perkins and Barkley at 4 and 5).  Relatively speaking, Bowie didn't have that bad a career for the second pick in the NBA draft - perhaps the most cursed pick in all of (American) professional sports.

Here are some of the second picks since Bowie:  Len Bias, Shawn Bradley, Keith Van Horn, Stromile Swift, Jay Williams, Darko Milicic, Michael Beasley, Hasheem Thabeet, Evan Turner, Derrick Williams, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Jabari Parker.

[DireWolfSpirit]

Holmgren may have one of those Zion windows, really dominant for 3/4's of one season then off a year rehabbing, rinse, repeat cycle.

400 games in 10 yrs maybe. I think of Bill Walton, capable of a big role in fits and spurts, so you take what the player can deliver on and just have to work around when they are mending.

Holmgren could prove to be a valuable post season piece after one of these rehabs if OKC ever gets its talent drafted and arranged.

Way too soon to give up on Chet but the alarm flags are fluttering a bit after this week.

[dbunting]

5 hours ago, Relic said:

What? Like, really, what?? You're upset that a basketball player got injured...playing basketball? Get a grip. 

Firstly, genuinely, kiss my ass for that snarky comment. This was a discussion about getting hurt in the offseason playing games when superstars are taking time off to rest during the season, from the games that are PAYING them. 

This hurts the OKC team that has to pay him for an entire year to not play. That is an issue.

[DireWolfSpirit]

OKC isnt paying tbe salary while Chet is hurt though. That contractually falls to OKC's reinsurrer, well 80% of the salary is thier (the insurers) liability according to what i read.

And really phuk insurance companies anyways, theyve got more money than the Gods, let em payup!

[Relic]

14 hours ago, dbunting said:

 from the games that are PAYING them. 

Will anyone think of the billionaire owners? And the poor children that wont get to see their favorite rookie play? Sorry if you find that snarky, but your outrage just smacks of entitlement. The dude got injured doing what he loves to do while prepping for the season. Shit happens. 

 

[Relic]

Not sure what the Lakers are doing. Win now mode i guess, but how does Pat Bev raise their bar?

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

51 minutes ago, Relic said:

Not sure what the Lakers are doing. Win now mode i guess, but how does Pat Bev raise their bar?

Makes Westbrook more willing to leave?

[DanteGabriel]

5 hours ago, Relic said:

Not sure what the Lakers are doing. Win now mode i guess, but how does Pat Bev raise their bar?

 

I thought it was a good move for them but him being there with Westbrook is high comedy. 

[Calibandar]

8 hours ago, Relic said:

Not sure what the Lakers are doing. Win now mode i guess, but how does Pat Bev raise their bar?

 

They brought in the player Westbrook hates the most which definitely suggests they want him out but its not up to Russ either way is it. They should hope they can make that deal with Indiana for Hield and Turner, that vaults them back into serious contenders. I would that deal in a moment and hand over those 2 picks if I was the Lakers.