NBA Thread 2022-23 Season

[Cusefan0307]

I mean he’s a high teens/20 ppg guy… and he isn’t a ball stopper. Put him on a team that actually spaces the floor so he has lanes and he’s a valuable piece as a third scorer. The problem against the heat is Randle was a no show and that impacted everything. I would only trade RJ if it was a part of a deal that got me a Donovan Mitchell. He needs to commit to being a better defender though.

Really the big problem is shooting… The Knicks offense relies on offensive rebounding and being somewhat efficient. The heat played really good D and held their own on the boards… bye bye Knicks. You give the Knicks even one more shooter to space the floor and make the heat pay for doubling Brunson and they win.

I hope Rose sees through the regular season mirage when evaluating Randle, Quickley and Grimes who all no-showed in the playoffs. I really want to know what happened to Quickley… when Brunson was hurt in regular season, he looked like an all star. He was terrible during the playoffs.

Quickley and Grimes are role players. Grimes also was battling an injury.

You‘re a lot higher on RJ than I am. He scores 20 points on a high volume of shots. He can play defense, but offensively he’s not it.

 

[shandeezy7]

I mean he’s a high teens/20 ppg guy… and he isn’t a ball stopper. Put him on a team that actually spaces the floor so he has lanes and he’s a valuable piece as a third scorer. The problem against the heat is Randle was a no show and that impacted everything. I would only trade RJ if it was a part of a deal that got me a Donovan Mitchell. He needs to commit to being a better defender though.

Really the big problem is shooting… The Knicks offense relies on offensive rebounding and being somewhat efficient. The heat played really good D and held their own on the boards… bye bye Knicks. You give the Knicks even one more shooter to space the floor and make the heat pay for doubling Brunson and they win.

I hope Rose sees through the regular season mirage when evaluating Randle, Quickley and Grimes who all no-showed in the playoffs. I really want to know what happened to Quickley… when Brunson was hurt in regular season, he looked like an all star. He was terrible during the playoffs.

Quickley was the real head scratcher. Went from being runner up for 6th man to looking in the playoffs like a guy who shouldn’t even have been in the rotation. Bizarre.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Not sold on the Warriors being cooked. As long as Steph is playing like he has the past two seasons they’ll still be contenders. They need to do something about the role players though. Poole took a huge step back this season.

 

[MikeSU02]

Knicks:

Pros: not the bottom of the barrel and laughingstock anymore. Set up to be a solid team that can make the playoffs each year. Competent play. Brunson is legit.

Cons: probably two degrees away from contending for a chip. RJ is way overpaid for his role and people have been making excuses for his performances dating back to Duke, Randle is a solid player, but not a guy that’s a #2 on a title team. Thibs isn’t a title coach. Dolan still owns the team.

One note on Randle making the all nba team (and jaylen brown for example). With a ton of stars sitting a bunch of games, the all nba teams are really wonky.

Luka, Giannis, Jokic, Embiid are the new elite level.

The old guard that can hit it still: Bron, Steph, KD, Kawhi (don’t know if we’ll ever see Kawhi play more than 20 games in a row again).

Second level: Tatum (I may bump him to top level), SGA, Book, Butler (playoffs only), Mitchell. Sure I missed a few.

Young guys that could make a leap to second level: Paolo and Ant

Point being is this, Knicks don’t have a guy to make the leap. Not sure what to do, because second round of the playoffs feels way better than being a joke.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Kenyon Martin was upset that Julius Randle went over and kissed his wife after their Game 5 win. What a strange dude.

He has scrambled eggs for brains

 

[MikeSU02]

Not sold on the Warriors being cooked. As long as Steph is playing like he has the past two seasons they’ll still be contenders. They need to do something about the role players though. Poole took a huge step back this season.

Gave you a like, but at this point Draymond and Klay are also role players and missing on Wiseman, Kuminga and Moody without any of them popping is pretty bad. Add in the Poole contract and Klay going to ask for a legacy max…

They have some hard decisions to make.

 

[OrangeDW]

Not sold on the Warriors being cooked. As long as Steph is playing like he has the past two seasons they’ll still be contenders. They need to do something about the role players though. Poole took a huge step back this season.

Imagine if they had drafted LaMelo Ball instead of Wiseman?

 

[MikeSU02]

Imagine if they had drafted LaMelo Ball instead of Wiseman?

I am 99% certain Draymond would have punched him as well.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

What idiot team is going to give draymond all the money? Someone will. I just can’t imagine how you justify it

 

[OrangeDW]

Took out the 2 seed and the defending champs in impressive fashion!

Denver will be an even steeper challenge, but if there’s a player who could potentially get the best of Jokic in a series - I think it’s Davis. Obviously Jokic was younger and has gotten better since then, but Davis outplayed him in the 2020 WCF.

 

[OrangeDW]

I am 99% certain Draymond would have punched him as well.

I think that would’ve ended in a very different outcome for Draymond as LaMelo would’ve had a lot more clout built up than Poole.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Took out the 2 seed and the defending champs in impressive fashion!

Denver will be an even steeper challenge, but if there’s a player who could potentially get the best of Jokic in a series - I think it’s Davis. Obviously Jokic was younger and has gotten better since then, but Davis outplayed him in the 2020 WCF.

It’s going to be fun watching the brow get cooked by a fat boy.

 

[Knicks411]

RJ Barrett was worse than both of them. I can’t stand watching him.

RJ was all over the place these playoffs. He had some amazing games, but then you see the games like last night where his issues finishing in and around the rim are obvious.

If you look at wings who played 1000 min this year, RJ was 8th in the % of his shots that came at the rim. (Josh Hart was 2nd, I am sensing a pattern here). That's good! Those shots are valuable. Of the 54 players who qualified though, he was 48th in FG% on those shots.

The overall spacing issues really shone through in this series, especially when IQ was bad, and then hurt. They have to do something to juice the shooting/spacing. I think they need to really look at moving Randle.

 

[OrangeDW]

It’s going to be fun watching the brow get cooked by a fat boy.

Davis might average 30?

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Took out the 2 seed and the defending champs in impressive fashion!

Denver will be an even steeper challenge, but if there’s a player who could potentially get the best of Jokic in a series - I think it’s Davis. Obviously Jokic was younger and has gotten better since then, but Davis outplayed him in the 2020 WCF.

As Lakers courtside regular Larry David would say about LA’s playoff run so far — pretty, pretty, pretty good.

AD has, for the most part, been a stud. Twenty rebounds alone in closeout against the Warriors. And Austin Reaves is on the fast track to the Hall of Fame.

And then, of course, there is the 49-year-old team leader, LBJ, who put on a master class in closing out a great team/franchise last night. He, like Jake & Elwood, is on a mission from God. Don’t sleep on the old head or take him for granted.

A few words from 17-year NBA player & current Phoenix announcer Eddie Johnson.

 

[OrangeDW]

As Lakers courtside regular Larry David would say about LA’s playoff run so far — pretty, pretty, pretty good.

AD has, for the most part, been a stud. Twenty rebounds alone in closeout against the Warriors. And Austin Reaves is on the fast track to the Hall of Fame.

And then, of course, there is the 49-year-old team leader, LBJ, who put on a master class in closing out a great team/franchise last night. He, like Jake & Elwood, is on a mission from God. Don’t sleep on the old head or take him for granted.

A few words from 17-year NBA player & current Phoenix announcer Eddie Johnson.

LeBron punctuating it with that Magic Johnson like look away pass for a dunk on the break was amazing. That whole play was pure Magic…get the rebound, immediately push it and create a fast break, and the look away pass for the dunk.

 

[OrangeDW]

 

[shandeezy7]

RJ was all over the place these playoffs. He had some amazing games, but then you see the games like last night where his issues finishing in and around the rim are obvious.

If you look at wings who played 1000 min this year, RJ was 8th in the % of his shots that came at the rim. (Josh Hart was 2nd, I am sensing a pattern here). That's good! Those shots are valuable. Of the 54 players who qualified though, he was 48th in FG% on those shots.

The overall spacing issues really shone through in this series, especially when IQ was bad, and then hurt. They have to do something to juice the shooting/spacing. I think they need to really look at moving Randle.

They need to figure out a way to move on from Mitch too. His only value is offensive rebounding. His defense is subpar for an athletic shot blocker and he is an absolute liability on offense. It’s 4 on 5 with him on the floor on offense and he’s not even a reliable guy to drop a pass off to for a dunk in the lane because he drops half of them. Would love to figure out a way to sign a guy like Vucevic in the off-season. Can stretch the D so teams actually have to defend him on the pick and roll and is a solid defender/rebounder.

 

[Knicks411]

They need to figure out a way to move on from Mitch too. His only value is offensive rebounding. His defense is subpar for an athletic shot blocker and he is an absolute liability on offense. It’s 4 on 5 with him on the floor on offense and he’s not even a reliable guy to drop a pass off to for a dunk in the lane because he drops half of them. Would love to figure out a way to sign a guy like Vucevic in the off-season. Can stretch the D so teams actually have to defend him on the pick and roll and is a solid defender/rebounder.

Disagree with this. Vuc is a terrible defender. That would be a big step back IMO.

I wouldn't mind seeing them add some kind of a stretch 5 if possible. (Myles Turner? Guy has been on the block for years) But Mitch was maybe their second best player in the Cle series. He was nowhere near as good against Miami. he needs to work on the FT shooting, and he needs to work on his hands (also Randle, you need to stop trying to dump the ball off to him in traffic)

 

[Orangezoo]

LA has been playing some of the best basketball of anyone in the playoffs. Good D, good balance on offense with production from a number of guys and of course AD playing maybe the best of his career in terms of putting up good b2b performances.

I've got LA Denver going 7.. Unless AD reverts...

Selfish part of me doesn't want to see Joker get them to the finals and have that over Melo as a Nugget too

 

[Newhouser]

Gave you a like, but at this point Draymond and Klay are also role players and missing on Wiseman, Kuminga and Moody without any of them popping is pretty bad. Add in the Poole contract and Klay going to ask for a legacy max…

They have some hard decisions to make.

The draft misses make me wonder why people fear the GM leaving?

 

[NineOneSeven]

Klay and Poole were absolutely horrible

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Klay and Poole were absolutely horrible

 

[MikeSU02]

The draft misses make me wonder why people fear the GM leaving?

 

[shandeezy7]

Disagree with this. Vuc is a terrible defender. That would be a big step back IMO.

I wouldn't mind seeing them add some kind of a stretch 5 if possible. (Myles Turner? Guy has been on the block for years) But Mitch was maybe their second best player in the Cle series. He was nowhere near as good against Miami. he needs to work on the FT shooting, and he needs to work on his hands (also Randle, you need to stop trying to dump the ball off to him in traffic)

I don’t think the drop off from Mitch to Vuc would be as big of a step back on defense as you think. Mitch seems to have a rep as a good defender but he really isn’t. I mean he got toasted in the post by freaking Kyle Lowry last night. Mitch and Vuc both had a defensive rating of 109.5 this season. On the offensive side of the ball, it literally isn’t close. One guy averaged 18 ppg on 52% from the field while the other guy I wouldn’t trust holding the ball outside of a foot from the rim. 4 on 5 on offense for 30 mpg isn’t gonna win in this league.