NBA Thread 2020-21 Season

[jncuse]

My early analysis of the Raptors.

Malachi Flynn, the 29th overall pick, has been very good for the Raptors so far in two pre-season games and he has largely played against rotation players. He has looked very composed and NBA Calm.
40 minutes
26 points, 7 assists
6-14 from 3

The Raptors are either great at evaluating guards and/or have a great system for guards. I believe they have the best guard depth 1-6 in the NBA and other than Kyle Lowry they were acquired as follows:
FVV (undrafted FA)
Norm Powell (47th overall)
Flynn (29th overall)
Terence Davis (Undrafted FA)
Matt Thomas (3 point bomber on cheap contract from Europe)

They lack the "elite star" power but are very deep at the guards. They have a defensive beast SF in Anunoby who might have some offensive upside. A little weak at Center with Baynes (who is and looks old right now), and Boucher. Boucher is a stat sheet filler -- good attitude but he just really struggles with his defensive play other than getting blocks. That being said against Boston last year and Nursedid not play Gasol or Ibaka down the stretch in a few games. Gasol was in a really tough stretch, and Ibaka does struggle on defence at times in the new NBA. I will assume Nurse knows more than me because I would have played Ibaka more.

Going forward it ultimately comes down to Siakam can play like he did for the 1/3 of the season last year, when he was a legit top 10 player in the league. He was a bit of a mental mess last year in the bubble -- added to the fact that teams seemed to adapt to him by January of last year, and he really struggled offensively. But he is a great playoff defender -- if he can get back to his level early last year Toronto can be top of second tier contenders again. But that is a tall ask of Siakam.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Otto .. after harden is traded and with Westbrook gone .. you can’t really hate us anymore can you ?

To clarify, I never had a problem with Westbrook. In fact, I think he kind of gets a raw deal from a lot of fans. For me it was the trifecta of Morey, D'Antoni, and Harden. That was my Rockets holy trinity of hate. So yeah, if they trade Harden, so long as they don't end up with Kevin Love or somebody else I dislike, I wouldn't have a problem with the Rockets.

 

[Alsacs]

My early analysis of the Raptors.

Malachi Flynn, the 29th overall pick, has been very good for the Raptors so far in two pre-season games and he has largely played against rotation players. He has looked very composed and NBA Calm.
40 minutes
26 points, 7 assists
6-14 from 3

The Raptors are either great at evaluating guards and/or have a great system for guards. I believe they have the best guard depth 1-6 in the NBA and other than Kyle Lowry they were acquired as follows:
FVV (undrafted FA)
Norm Powell (47th overall)
Flynn (29th overall)
Terence Davis (Undrafted FA)
Matt Thomas (3 point bomber on cheap contract from Europe)

They lack the "elite star" power but are very deep at the guards. They have a defensive beast SF in Anunoby who might have some offensive upside. A little weak at Center with Baynes (who is and looks old right now), and Boucher. Boucher is a stat sheet filler -- good attitude but he just really struggles with his defensive play other than getting blocks. That being said against Boston last year and Nursedid not play Gasol or Ibaka down the stretch in a few games. Gasol was in a really tough stretch, and Ibaka does struggle on defence at times in the new NBA. I will assume Nurse knows more than me because I would have played Ibaka more.

Going forward it ultimately comes down to Siakam can play like he did for the 1/3 of the season last year, when he was a legit top 10 player in the league. He was a bit of a mental mess last year in the bubble -- added to the fact that teams seemed to adapt to him by January of last year, and he really struggled offensively. But he is a great playoff defender -- if he can get back to his level early last year Toronto can be top of second tier contenders again. But that is a tall ask of Siakam.

The East is going to be more competitive 2-7 this year.

Milwaukee barring an injury we all don’t want is going to be the 1 seed.

Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, Miami, Indiana are all going to be jocking back and forth 2-7.
If Durant is old Durant maybe they could challenge Milwaukee but I think Durant and Kylie will load manage.
One of these teams will have to deal with the playin round.

Washington, Orlando, Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicago will fight for playins.

Detroit, New York, Cleveland are going to suck.

 

[Melancer46]

The East is going to be more competitive 2-7 this year.

Milwaukee barring an injury we all don’t want is going to be the 1 seed.

Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, Miami, Indiana are all going to be jocking back and forth 2-7.
If Durant is old Durant maybe they could challenge Milwaukee but I think Durant and Kylie will load manage.
One of these teams will have to deal with the playin round.

Washington, Orlando, Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicago will fight for playins.

Detroit, New York, Cleveland are going to suck.

Yeah that's pretty much how I see it, though I'm kinda hoping the Bucks are more experimental this season and end up fading in with Brooklyn, Boston, and Philly at the top of the conference (those are my personal top 4).

If Blake Griffin stays healthy all year I suppose there's a chance that Detroit could hang around the playins but it just feels like they're starting to transition to a new teambuilding philosophy with the moves they made this offseason and the new pieces and old pieces seem unlikely to gel IMO.

I'm fading the Hawks this year just like I did last year. Maybe Trae makes a leap this season and becomes more impactful rather than being an empty stats guy, but they seem pretty much all in on trying to build the worst defensive team possible. I'm pretty skeptical how their team is going to work.

A part of me thinks Charlotte will sneak up on people; they just seem to have really good ball movement already and I think it's a weird and relatively untalented team that might actually kinda work. We'll see though. I would lean towards Washington being the favorite to finish 8th, followed by Atlanta and Orlando.

 

[Day2]

My early analysis of the Raptors.

Malachi Flynn, the 29th overall pick, has been very good for the Raptors so far in two pre-season games and he has largely played against rotation players. He has looked very composed and NBA Calm.
40 minutes
26 points, 7 assists
6-14 from 3

The Raptors are either great at evaluating guards and/or have a great system for guards. I believe they have the best guard depth 1-6 in the NBA and other than Kyle Lowry they were acquired as follows:
FVV (undrafted FA)
Norm Powell (47th overall)
Flynn (29th overall)
Terence Davis (Undrafted FA)
Matt Thomas (3 point bomber on cheap contract from Europe)

They lack the "elite star" power but are very deep at the guards. They have a defensive beast SF in Anunoby who might have some offensive upside. A little weak at Center with Baynes (who is and looks old right now), and Boucher. Boucher is a stat sheet filler -- good attitude but he just really struggles with his defensive play other than getting blocks. That being said against Boston last year and Nursedid not play Gasol or Ibaka down the stretch in a few games. Gasol was in a really tough stretch, and Ibaka does struggle on defence at times in the new NBA. I will assume Nurse knows more than me because I would have played Ibaka more.

Going forward it ultimately comes down to Siakam can play like he did for the 1/3 of the season last year, when he was a legit top 10 player in the league. He was a bit of a mental mess last year in the bubble -- added to the fact that teams seemed to adapt to him by January of last year, and he really struggled offensively. But he is a great playoff defender -- if he can get back to his level early last year Toronto can be top of second tier contenders again. But that is a tall ask of Siakam.

I can’t wait to read this the next time I’m having trouble falling asleep.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I can’t wait to read this the next time I’m having trouble falling asleep.

Man you’re really digging the whole stir up the thread huh. You and runner could take down an army!

 

[Day2]

Man you’re really digging the whole stir up the thread huh. You and runner could take down an army!

It’s a two-way street.

 

[Melancer46]

The Athletic came out with a piece today about the 4 teams on Harden's trade list. Basically says Brooklyn feels like they have no chance at him at this point and Milwaukee and Miami don't want him.

So if their sources are correct, it's basically Philly unless a team not on Harden's list (Denver? Dallas? Portland?) comes forward.

Realistically though, if Simmons is actually on the table (which Morey denies, but his word has never meant much before), it's hard to envision another team topping that.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Harden(with his special rules) and an already somewhat lazy Embiid do not sound like a great winning combination.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

The Athletic came out with a piece today about the 4 teams on Harden's trade list. Basically says Brooklyn feels like they have no chance at him at this point and Milwaukee and Miami don't want him.

So if their sources are correct, it's basically Philly unless a team not on Harden's list (Denver? Dallas? Portland?) comes forward.

Realistically though, if Simmons is actually on the table (which Morey denies, but his word has never meant much before), it's hard to envision another team topping that.

Harden could make things interesting if he gets sent to a super non-descript franchise like the Magic or Kings.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I guess if you are Portland you should roll the dice. If I am Denver, Dallas, Philly etc I would do a hard pass. It's not worth it just for a year and who knows what locker room problems you end up with.

 

[Day2]

I guess if you are Portland you should roll the dice. If I am Denver, Dallas, Philly etc I would do a hard pass. It's not worth it just for a year and who knows what locker room problems you end up with.

I don’t think Portland needs to take on the risk either.

 

[Alsacs]

I can’t wait to read this the next time I’m having trouble falling aslee

Being a fan of Clippers is probably good enough to do that in itself.
Fans of teams that have actually won stuff are posting. You may get to understand that one day.

Clip Show preparing to try and defend their opening night championship against the Lakers.

 

[Melancer46]

Harden could make things interesting if he gets sent to a super non-descript franchise like the Magic or Kings.

I've been waiting for years now for Hammond to finally swing a trade like this for Orlando. There would obviously be a very large risk that Harden walks in a couple years, but Orlando needs to shuffle the deck IMO and if they were able to keep Vucevic to pair with Harden, they could theoretically compete with some of the mid-tier East teams.

The other long shot team I've had my eye on for awhile now is Chicago (I guess the same logic here kinda applies to the Knicks as well, but Chicago just has better trade chips). Chicago has a pretty decent number of young and promising-ish prospects, along with high enough salaries to make it happen. Something built around LaVine and Markkanen for example could work depending on how Houston feels about those guys. Or they could try to build a package around Otto Porter being the main salary piece involved since he's a $28 million expiring contract.

I guess if you are Portland you should roll the dice. If I am Denver, Dallas, Philly etc I would do a hard pass. It's not worth it just for a year and who knows what locker room problems you end up with.

I think I'd definitely pass if I were Dallas. I just don't think Luka and Harden make sense together. They should be looking at trades for someone else though (maybe Gobert if he and Utah aren't able to agree on an extension?)

I'd tend to want to see how Simmons looks now that Philly has some actual shooting around him for once, but if it still isn't looking good, I think it's worth pushing your chips in for the Harden and Embiid combo. Could still come up short but that isn't any different from where they've been the past few years either.

I think it's worth considering for Denver, but the defense of the Murray/Harden/Jokic trio would be...challenging to say the least.

 

[MikeSU02]

The East is going to be more competitive 2-7 this year.

Milwaukee barring an injury we all don’t want is going to be the 1 seed.

Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, Miami, Indiana are all going to be jocking back and forth 2-7.
If Durant is old Durant maybe they could challenge Milwaukee but I think Durant and Kylie will load manage.
One of these teams will have to deal with the playin round.

Washington, Orlando, Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicago will fight for playins.

Detroit, New York, Cleveland are going to suck.

I'd fully bump the Nets into the MIL category. if KD is even 90% of his old self, he's still the best pure scorer in the league.

I actually think Washington will be a decent regular season team with Russ, Beal, Rui, Deni, etc. I would bump them up into the second tier.

I honestly don't think the teams after the Nets and Mil have legit shots. I do think the East will be a better conference, top to bottom, than it has been, but that isn't saying much.

 

[Day2]

Being a fan of Clippers is probably good enough to do that in itself.
Fans of teams that have actually won stuff are posting. You may get to understand that one day.

Clip Show preparing to try and defend their opening night championship against the Lakers.

I don't take advice from fair-weather fans.

 

[Horn88]

My early analysis of the Raptors.

Malachi Flynn, the 29th overall pick, has been very good for the Raptors so far in two pre-season games and he has largely played against rotation players. He has looked very composed and NBA Calm.
40 minutes
26 points, 7 assists
6-14 from 3

The Raptors are either great at evaluating guards and/or have a great system for guards. I believe they have the best guard depth 1-6 in the NBA and other than Kyle Lowry they were acquired as follows:
FVV (undrafted FA)
Norm Powell (47th overall)
Flynn (29th overall)
Terence Davis (Undrafted FA)
Matt Thomas (3 point bomber on cheap contract from Europe)

They lack the "elite star" power but are very deep at the guards. They have a defensive beast SF in Anunoby who might have some offensive upside. A little weak at Center with Baynes (who is and looks old right now), and Boucher. Boucher is a stat sheet filler -- good attitude but he just really struggles with his defensive play other than getting blocks. That being said against Boston last year and Nursedid not play Gasol or Ibaka down the stretch in a few games. Gasol was in a really tough stretch, and Ibaka does struggle on defence at times in the new NBA. I will assume Nurse knows more than me because I would have played Ibaka more.

Going forward it ultimately comes down to Siakam can play like he did for the 1/3 of the season last year, when he was a legit top 10 player in the league. He was a bit of a mental mess last year in the bubble -- added to the fact that teams seemed to adapt to him by January of last year, and he really struggled offensively. But he is a great playoff defender -- if he can get back to his level early last year Toronto can be top of second tier contenders again. But that is a tall ask of Siakam.

Nekias is a guy I found relatively recently who I think puts out good content. Here’s a link to his preview on the Atlantic division with a Raptors write up I think you’d enjoy. All of his division preview have been pretty good reads.

2020-21 NBA Season Preview: Atlantic Division

Nekias Duncan looks ahead to how the five teams in the Atlantic Division will fare in the upcoming NBA season.

www.basketballnews.com

 

[STEVEHOLT]

To clarify, I never had a problem with Westbrook. In fact, I think he kind of gets a raw deal from a lot of fans. For me it was the trifecta of Morey, D'Antoni, and Harden. That was my Rockets holy trinity of hate. So yeah, if they trade Harden, so long as they don't end up with Kevin Love or somebody else I dislike, I wouldn't have a problem with the Rockets.

So if Harden goes to Philly.. the holy trinity reforms in full capacity .. I take it then The Sixers are the team facing your personal exorcists ?

 

[OttoinGrotto]

So if Harden goes to Philly.. the holy trinity reforms in full capacity .. I take it then The Sixers are the team facing your personal exorcists ?

Yes, but not as fully as when they were the Rockets. The east doesn't compete so I just can't get as worked up about it.

I already have some hate for Philly though because I hate the process philosophy and also feel Simmons stole Donovan Mitchell's ROY because I believe he was healthy enough to play the back end of his actual rookie season.

 

[jncuse]

I can’t wait to read this the next time I’m having trouble falling asleep.

Thanks

 

[jncuse]

I'd fully bump the Nets into the MIL category. if KD is even 90% of his old self, he's still the best pure scorer in the league.

I actually think Washington will be a decent regular season team with Russ, Beal, Rui, Deni, etc. I would bump them up into the second tier.

I honestly don't think the teams after the Nets and Mil have legit shots. I do think the East will be a better conference, top to bottom, than it has been, but that isn't saying much.

I think the Nets are the second best playoff team in the East if healthy. But I am sure Durant will load manage, and the Artist will ask for similar load management. The Artist will probably also have a few fits at some points. So that limits their success in the regular season. But they can certainly figure it out all out come play-off time. So I would like their value at +260 to win the East, and not Toronto at +900. But if we are talking about regular season it's a different sotry.

I like the value of the Raptors at +400 to win the Atlantic as compared to Brooklyn at +160. I don't think the Raps are much of a playoff threat this year, but the Raptors have always been a good regular season team.
The Raps were a 60-22 team last year paced over 82 games. They played at a 63-19 pace in the 22 regular season games that Kawhi did not play in 2019. They won 59 games the year before. They seem to be equipped for regular season success.

They have a coach who is not afraid to play his guys heavy minutes, they don't load manage, and most importantly they play hard on defence with a desire to win as much as anybody (nature of the core). It's a good formula for regular season success. But when other teams ramp up the intensity in the playoffs that regular season edge for the Raptors is lost.

They are a little weaker than last year, but Gasol and Baynes is a wash. The downgrade from Ibaka to Boucher is significant, but it can't be worth more than 5 games.

 

[jncuse]

I have seen two American analysts on TV say that Harden could end up on the Raptors. Not sure if that makes me excited or frightens me. A little of both. Maybe the culture in Toronto could reign in Harden but that is a tough ask.

Toronto does have the pieces to give due to their depth and having all their picks, but not a big piece like Simmons either. But given that the Raptors already are deep at guard, and the Rockets might be looking for size for Harden (not sure?) the fit positionally for both teams is not great.

 

[Alsacs]

What the hell is up with Kyrie Irving?
He just acts insane and behaves like he thinks he is the smartest person in the world.

I wish Southpark would do what they to Kanye West years ago with the Fishsticks joke. That humbled Kanye for like a month or so.

 

[OrangeDW]

What the hell is up with Kyrie Irving?
He just acts insane and behaves like he thinks he is the smartest person in the world.

I wish Southpark would do what they to Kanye West years ago with the Fishsticks joke. That humbled Kanye for like a month or so.

Barkley, lol.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I have seen two American analysts on TV say that Harden could end up on the Raptors. Not sure if that makes me excited or frightens me. A little of both. Maybe the culture in Toronto could reign in Harden but that is a tough ask.

Toronto does have the pieces to give due to their depth and having all their picks, but not a big piece like Simmons either. But given that the Raptors already are deep at guard, and the Rockets might be looking for size for Harden (not sure?) the fit positionally for both teams is not great.

I think the principle guys coming back would be siakam and Powell .. not sure that would do it from the rockets perspective.. and not sure Why the raptors would want harden

Haden’s best fit is to go to a crappy team and make them a playoff team singlehandedly ..

He’s the last guy Id want to add as a finishing piece on a contender..

Of course he wants to go to a contender .. but guess what ... he’s under contract for two more years and doesn’t have a no trade ... so he has to go where they send him