NBA Thread 2020-21 Season

[Melancer46]

what is Huerter's contract status? He came in with Young right so is he do for an extension? Ultimate glue guy who is only going to force them to play him more minutes as his game continues to grow.

Sixers have too many defensive studs who can't shoot (Simmons, Thybault), and in the modern NBA they aren't worth the money or minutes.

Huerter has one more year left on his deal before he'd be a restricted free agent.

 

[Melancer46]

Theoretically this should be a good matchup for Milwaukee to work out their shooting demons. They don't really have anyone on paper that should be able to guard the Bucks main guys. Trae and those shooters make me nervous on the defensive end though. Trae's in between game and passing abilities could destroy our drop defense. We'll see. Hard to imagine we'll ever have a better chance at reaching the Finals than this but this team doesn't instill the most confidence lol.

Edit: I'm nervous we won't be able to take advantage of Trae on the defensive end assuming we continue starting Tucker. Trae will just sit in the corner and save his energy for offense where he can just toast Brook Lopez all game.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Think that mostly coincides with Bogdanovic returning from injury as well. They're 38-18 with him in the lineup this year.

Fair enough. Bogdanovic did play the first 9 games of the season though. And it wasn't like he played big minutes when he first came back.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

It's interesting seeing the spotlight move on the narrative that you can't win with Gobert, to you can't win with Simmons. Maybe you can't go all the way with either.

That said, I feel a whole lot better about Rudy growing and adapting his game than Simmons. Gobert has made strides every off-season, while Simmons feels like he's pretty much the same guy every year.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Theoretically this should be a good matchup for Milwaukee to work out their shooting demons. They don't really have anyone on paper that should be able to guard the Bucks main guys. Trae and those shooters make me nervous on the defensive end though. Trae's in between game and passing abilities could destroy our drop defense. We'll see. Hard to imagine we'll ever have a better chance at reaching the Finals than this but this team doesn't instill the most confidence lol.

I say, your constant fear has worked in your favor so far, so keep rolling with the impending sense of terror and failure.

 

[shandeezy7]

Theoretically this should be a good matchup for Milwaukee to work out their shooting demons. They don't really have anyone on paper that should be able to guard the Bucks main guys. Trae and those shooters make me nervous on the defensive end though. Trae's in between game and passing abilities could destroy our drop defense. We'll see. Hard to imagine we'll ever have a better chance at reaching the Finals than this but this team doesn't instill the most confidence lol.

The pick & roll with Trae has been almost unguardable at times these playoffs. He seems to always know when to pull up from three off it or attack and put the defender between a rock and a hard place, forcing him to come up to defend the floater, leaving the lob wide open or sag off and give up an uncontested floater.

 

[NineOneSeven]

It's interesting seeing the spotlight move on the narrative that you can't win with Gobert, to you can't win with Simmons. Maybe you can't go all the way with either.

That said, I feel a whole lot better about Rudy growing and adapting his game than Simmons. Gobert has made strides every off-season, while Simmons feels like he's pretty much the same guy every year.

The difference is Rudy is a center.

 

[Alsacs]

Brown was a bit vindicated for last night. Not sure what else he could do. Simmons is a broken player.

What I meant was that draft was perceived as a 2 players were sure thing draft and Boston had the 3rd pick.
Brown wasn’t the consensus 3rd pick.
Ainge got lucky but he scouted well.
Celtics fans didn’t want brown on draft night and the pick got mocked.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Theoretically this should be a good matchup for Milwaukee to work out their shooting demons. They don't really have anyone on paper that should be able to guard the Bucks main guys. Trae and those shooters make me nervous on the defensive end though. Trae's in between game and passing abilities could destroy our drop defense. We'll see. Hard to imagine we'll ever have a better chance at reaching the Finals than this but this team doesn't instill the most confidence lol.

Edit: I'm nervous we won't be able to take advantage of Trae on the defensive end assuming we continue starting Tucker. Trae will just sit in the corner and save his energy for offense where he can just toast Brook Lopez all game.

I think bucks win this in 5, or 6. Doesn’t mean hawks can’t win but bucks should... should... win this series. Holiday on Trae will be great. Expect Giannis to do what he does. Hawks have some size but Collins isn’t quite big enough and capela isn’t quick enough.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

What I meant was that draft was perceived as a 2 players were sure thing draft and Boston had the 3rd pick.
Brown wasn’t the consensus 3rd pick.
Ainge got lucky but he scouted well.
Celtics fans didn’t want brown on draft night and the pick got mocked.

I do recall at the time that the pick had the feel of a reach/they must see something they really like that nobody else seems to notice.

 

[Melancer46]

I think bucks win this in 5, or 6. Doesn’t mean hawks can’t win but bucks should... should... win this series. Holiday on Trae will be great. Expect Giannis to do what he does. Hawks have some size but Collins isn’t quite big enough and capela isn’t quick enough.

I agree the Bucks should win if they play disciplined. Like I said, they'll probably never have a better opportunity to reach the Finals than this.

I am nervous though with the way we've shot most of this postseason and the way Atlanta can score. It'll be interesting to see what we do defensively. Might have to put Brook on Collins and hope they continue using Capela as the main screener so that Giannis is the one helping on Trae.

 

[jncuse]

So is Simmons the best player from the 2016 draft?
You got Siakim, Brown, Murray, Ingram or Sabonis as contenders.

Most of those listed trended down a bit this year in terms of rep or held flat.

Simmons certainly did.

Siakam had a few decent 6-8 game stretches, but he is nowhere near the player he was for the first half of 2020/2021.

Murray played fairly well until the injury although I think more may have been expected from him after the great bubble playoffs.

I think people were expecting Ingram and the Pels to make a bit more of an impression this year.

Sabonis took some hits for his not wanting to play D.

I don't think Brown went down a value and even if he was not his fault, I think the expectation was for the Celts to remain a contender.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I think bucks win this in 5, or 6. Doesn’t mean hawks can’t win but bucks should... should... win this series. Holiday on Trae will be great. Expect Giannis to do what he does. Hawks have some size but Collins isn’t quite big enough and capela isn’t quick enough.

Agreed, on paper this is a good matchup for the Bucks, but the Hawks have really strong young and dumb energy going. Should be a fun series.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Hawks and Bucks win big game 7's over the weekend and ESPN got Magic and Stephen A on right now talking Lebron and the Lakers lol. Barf.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

 

[Alsacs]

Hawks and Bucks win big game 7's over the weekend and ESPN got Magic and Stephen A on right now talking Lebron and the Lakers lol. Barf.

I really don’t see how the Lakers can upgrade the roster. . Kuzma is literally their only piece they can trade.

They could sign and trade Schroder but what would they get for him?

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I really don’t see how the Lakers can upgrade the roster. . Kuzma is literally their only piece they can trade.

They could sign and trade Schroder but what would they get for him?

You're starting to repeat yourself. You're starting to repeat yourself.

 

[Melancer46]

The other thing that makes me nervous about Atlanta is that Jrue is really the only guy on our roster that seemingly has any chance of defending Trae, and with his ability to draw fouls, there's a very good chance we have to go to our backup plan in a few of these games and we seemingly don't have one.

I kinda wonder if at that point we'd just put Giannis on him and defend him the way he did Jimmy Butler; go under the screens and use your length to just try to envelop him and force him into jumpers and hope he struggles shooting over Giannis' long arms.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

The other thing that makes me nervous about Atlanta is that Jrue is really the only guy on our roster that seemingly has any chance of defending Trae, and with his ability to draw fouls, there's a very good chance we have to go to our backup plan in a few of these games and we seemingly don't have one.

I kinda wonder if at that point we'd just put Giannis on him and defend him the way he did Jimmy Butler; go under the screens and use your length to just try to envelop him and force him into jumpers and hope he struggles shooting over Giannis' long arms.

Kinda fun when you can foresee how the chess match could unfold.

 

[Alsacs]

Who on here called Ben Simmons a rich man’s Michael Carter-Williams?
They are right.

 

[Knicks411]

The difference is Rudy is a center.

Also while Rudy is seemingly getting better, Simmons seems like he is regressing.

I ended up going to Bucks-Nets Game 7. Quite the game. To say the least

 

[MikeSU02]

It's interesting seeing the spotlight move on the narrative that you can't win with Gobert, to you can't win with Simmons. Maybe you can't go all the way with either.

That said, I feel a whole lot better about Rudy growing and adapting his game than Simmons. Gobert has made strides every off-season, while Simmons feels like he's pretty much the same guy every year.

At the very least, Gobert would have dunked that ball at the end of the game.

I think you can win with Gobert, I just think he's overvalued bc 1) he's a center, not a wing and 2) he's limited on offense.

The Simmons situation is a much worse. It seems to be in his head. His FT% by playoff series has gone from 71% down to 33%. He won't shoot a three. He won't shoot a jumper. He won't attack the rim in close games.

I dunno, unless you are willing to go full on trying to help him and be VERY patient during that process without assurances that he will be better, I think you have to move him. If you want to win now, you try to get CJ even if you have to attach picks. I'm still not sure if they'd be interested. Otherwise you just have to take what you can get and plan for Maxey to step up.

 

[MikeSU02]

Who on here called Ben Simmons a rich man’s Michael Carter-Williams?
They are right.

Quite literally a rich man's MCW, with that insane contract Simmons have.

 

[Knicks411]

At the very least, Gobert would have dunked that ball at the end of the game.

I think you can win with Gobert, I just think he's overvalued bc 1) he's a center, not a wing and 2) he's limited on offense.

The Simmons situation is a much worse. It seems to be in his head. His FT% by playoff series has gone from 71% down to 33%. He won't shoot a three. He won't shoot a jumper. He won't attack the rim in close games.

I dunno, unless you are willing to go full on trying to help him and be VERY patient during that process without assurances that he will be better, I think you have to move him. If you want to win now, you try to get CJ even if you have to attach picks. I'm still not sure if they'd be interested. Otherwise you just have to take what you can get and plan for Maxey to step up.

I feel like I have been pushing for this trade for years and years. Might actually happen!

Simmons does have strengths, great in transition, really good defender (he totally locked up Trae a few times down the stretch) but if a guy you are paying that much money to is literally afraid to shoot the ball down the stretch, I just don't know what choice you have

 

[Melancer46]

At the very least, Gobert would have dunked that ball at the end of the game.

I think you can win with Gobert, I just think he's overvalued bc 1) he's a center, not a wing and 2) he's limited on offense.

The Simmons situation is a much worse. It seems to be in his head. His FT% by playoff series has gone from 71% down to 33%. He won't shoot a three. He won't shoot a jumper. He won't attack the rim in close games.

I dunno, unless you are willing to go full on trying to help him and be VERY patient during that process without assurances that he will be better, I think you have to move him. If you want to win now, you try to get CJ even if you have to attach picks. I'm still not sure if they'd be interested. Otherwise you just have to take what you can get and plan for Maxey to step up.

Kevin O'Connor was saying this morning that executives around the league believe a CJ-Simmons swap is a reasonable sensible move for both teams.

I'm just not a fan of Simmons fit in Portland personally. I think he needs a rebuilding team that can be patient with him and build a team around him; not another high-pressure situation where he has to play without the ball in his hands which he's clearly struggled with as Embiid has become more and more the center of the offense (and rightfully so obviously).

I get that theoretically he has the skillset to essentially be the Draymond to Dame's Steph, but he hasn't really shown the ability to play that way lately and I'm just not confident that's the best way forward for either him or Portland.

And on Philly's end, I also think a CJ-Seth Curry backcourt would be an absolute disaster defensively.