I think we are going to see an old school rivalry in the finals...Los Angles vs Boston!
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I think we are going to see an old school rivalry in the finals...Los Angles vs Boston!
I agree, I think Pascal is better than he played in the bubble. His contract should age well.
As far as the raptors go with the center rotation. I'd try to resign Serge pending how much money he wants but if it's around 10m/year I'd do it. I also try to trade for the pacers C Turner since it seems they want to stay with Sabonis as the starting center, can't pay 2 bigs that money while 1 comes off the bench. Maybe even sign boogie on a prove it deal, if he gets anything close to healthy and is surrounded by the right team/coaches he could be dangerous but you have to consider a backup plan with him because of his injury history.
Raptors are in decent shape moving forward to be competitive and to have open books.
Very happy Denver beat the clips, I really wanted to see KL run it back 1 more year with the raps but since he didn't, I'm happy he's out.
Miami looking like trouble for Boston too, that team just seems to want it.
Lakers should take Denver out, LeBron and Davis is an amazing duo. Looking forward to the series.
I sure hope you guys are right an I'm wrong
I hope so too. I don't think he's #1 on a team, maybe but I don't think. He's more of a 1B or your #2 as he showed when they won the championship. 30m is a lot but considering max money is over 40m, it's in line with where he should be, 20 something would be better mind you.
dang lakers lol
Nuggets will be trouble for years to come with joker and Murray as a 1 2. I'm curious to see if Grant opts out, stays or signs elsewhere. He's going to be a top free agent if he opts out. Lots of teams could use his skill set. Nuggets need to keep him and maybe bring back Millsap but on a much cheaper deal.
MPJ if he stays healthy is going to be such a threat for years to come, hopefully he improves his defense because his offense is already there.
Heat and Lakers in the finals. I'm picking the Lakers, hard to bet against lebron but it's a series that could go 7.
Starts Wednesday!
Mad props to jimmy butler and the Heat organization for what they did this year. Wow.
This is gonna be an awesome series.
I figured someone was going to bring that up. He's still the guy most people are picking if they need to win a game/series and he's got AD with him. The Lakers have the 2 best players out of both teams, the Heat have the next best 8 players probably haha. The heat are definitely a deeper team and I'm not saying the Lakers are winning in 4, I'm picking them essentially because of LeBron & AD. I really think they're going to get it done.
I'm a Raptors fan through and through so I'm just enjoying what's left to watch.
Clippers and Doc Rivers part ways. That's pretty big, interested to see who replaces him and where he ends up.
I didn't get to watch the whole game, but most of the second half. Lakers stomped the heat in game 1. If dragic, bam and butler are all still banged up for game 2, it's basically a wrap!
Miami started off quickly but then it was nation of domination lol Only thing I am hoping is AD wins finals mvp lol
damn Miami might be doomed with the injuries.
if LA sweeps them or go 4-1 this will have been the most disappointing and anti-climatic finals.
Yeah I was thinking it could go to 6 or 7 games for either team (I was picking Lakers to win but really think either team could). With the injuries though, if the Lakers stay healthy and the heat really don't get healthy, this could be a 4-0 win for the Lakers.
I thought MIA would give Lakers a run for their money. Other than the injury concerns the other takeaways from game 1 are they're being physically overpowered/bullied by LA in the paint and on the perimeter. Nobody stands a chance guarding LBJ so they're trying to double which is a good strategy and the only team so far to try it so far in the playoffs but LA is a great passing team and it's giving wide open looks or drives every time. Miami is also very young and teams this young almost never beats the veteran team in the playoffs. It usually takes a few trips to the playoffs before players really get it and are able to bring their intensity level higher enough to win it all...even the first LBJ team in Miami which was stacked fell to Dallas.
Yes LA did have a relatively easy road to win it all in avoiding Bucks & Clippers but those teams both had their flaws that led them to early exits (over relying on Giannis and Clippers being Clippers). They would've been exposed sooner or later. I think this championship will be remembered even more given the circumstances, neutral courts (disadvantage to top seeds who earned home court), and players sacrificing to be away from families to focus on games.
I think Lakers sweep. Any takers? :D
Haha jimmy butler. Mad props to that guy for game 3. Such a gamer.
Miami controlled that game essentially from start to finish, even when the lakers took the lead in the 4th for a couple minutes it didn't seem like they were taking over. Makes the series interesting again, even though the lakers are still the heavy favorites.
Lakers lacked intensity in gm 3. So much so that in Q1 it felt like I was watching a summer league pick up game not the finals especially with the quiet arena. Kinda expected a let down (Patrick Ewing theory) given how lopsided the rosters became. Heat were playing loose with nothing to lose and no expectations. Expecting LA to play lock down D and give Butler the Harden/Lillard treatment for next 2 games to wrap it up.
So glad Lakers lost.
Fucking idiots celebrating with their 1 pt lead with 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter like they won, jumping up and down and bumping each other.
Robinson is clutch.
Let's go Game 6!!!
Glad Lakers used Green on their final play, might as well put Kuzma as well, they've both been useless on the finals :rofl:
Looking forward to a game 6 now
Danny Green's shot has been off the entire season not just the bubble. His defense is what keeps him on the floor. Raptors dodged a bullet not re-signing him. The thing that bugs me the most about the last miss 3 is he was wide open and missed it by a mile. Something is fundamentally wrong his shot and there's no correcting it at this point in the season. Morris choked too with the turnover although he had the right idea. I wouldn't have passed it back to Green either. Lebron was wide open though.
Game 6 wasn't pretty to watch for me regardless of outcome. Both teams have made good defensive adjustments so it was tough to get quality looks for either team besides jack up 3's all game. Almost half the shot attempts were 3's. The other thing that did the Lakers in was the stretch in the 3Q when they allowed 2 separate 4 point plays and a possession where Miami scored 6 points on a flagrant foul. Those 3 possessions combined for half the Miami points in the quarter and kept LA from taking control of the game.
Gets really interesting now to see if LA can mentally recover from that late collapse with the added pressure of being expected to close out the series. When JR ran out the clock by mistake against GSW it really changed the series. It seemed like the Cavs never mentally recovered from missing out on the opportunity to win game 1.
Back and forth game even though the heat led most of the way. Green got a good look but couldn't knock that down. I thought he actually played a good game and was finally hitting shots, except the one that mattered. Terrible entry pass by Morris, didn't help that bam was moving Davis out.
Herro and Duncan are fantastic shooters, Duncan had a big game. It's crazy how well he can shoot after moving around screens full speed.
It'll be interesting to see if Davis is 100% for Sunday, he was looking pretty banged up by the end of the game.
Series is a whole lot more interesting after last night's game.
Oh Danny.
Case of the yips ?? That whole sequence was just whacked. There was so much time could have given the ball back to Danny boy to try again lol what a choke job !!
But seriously this is why I love sports lol the drama
The death threats tho, not cool. Wtf. I do feel for bron tho lol he needs Ray Allen to take that shot - probably DM’d him after and was like broooooo lol can you play game 6 haha
100 bucks Lakers take it tonight? :rofl:
Here comes the GOAT talk again lol if he somehow wins 3 and goes 6-6 lol just like the accord, he just might be the goat lol
GOAT talk is warranted. The longevity may get him there, he lost 2 finals to the greatest team ever assembled, 1 he lost his two all-stars for the finals, 07 he had no business even making the finals. The only finals anyone should hold against him is 11 against Dallas and the 15 finals against the spurs. Don’t come back with the Jordan never lost bs, he had a 2 year break and as much as people like to think he would have won 8 in a row it wouldn’t have happened. Those years off probably helped him during the second 3 peat because just making the finals is a grind.
I'll say it and I believe it.
Lebron is the best to ever play the game.
It’s impressive. Credit where credit is due. Congrats to the Lakers!
Thank goodness Danny is going to live.
CP3 to Suns for Oubre, Rubio + other small pieces. I think this is a good trade for the Suns, Paul played at a very high level last year in OKC. Should get the Suns into the playoffs for the first time in a long time.
Jrue Holiday going to the Bucks for 3 picks, I wonder if the still try to move Bledsoe. This move tries to show Giannis they're committed to winning and get him to sign the supermax.
Covington to Houston for Ariza and picks. Good trade for the Blazers IMO. Houston should try to move Ariza and get some more value out of that trade.
Apparently both Westbrook and Harden want out of Houston. Harden only wants to go to the Nets or maybe 76ers.
Danny Green to OKC for Dennis Schroder. Gives LA another competent ball handler / scorer.
More moves to be made for sure, draft tomorrow and FA on the 20th.
Interesting trades. CP3 to Suns is great move. He gets to mentor and set up Booker and Deandre...but he's not winning a ring if he stays there.
Surprised anyone would want Danny Green on a roster at this point. OKC is in tank mode after trading CP3 and probably values the pick more than Green.
Crazy how far Westbrook's value has dropped. The same player that averaged a triple double for a whole season. But he was a huge liability during the playoffs against Lakers.
Harden to Nets would be pretty wild. Funny how that OKC core keeps reuniting in different ways with Harden/Westbrook now Harden/KD. Big 3 of KD/Harden/Irving would be insane. They'd be immediate favors out of the east if not the league.
Giannis needs to find a jumper. They got exposed during the playoffs.
thanks for the update, heard about Harden.. would be interesting to see him with KI and KD if it happens.
Rondo looking to leave, which is why LA was interested on Schroder and getting rid of overpaid Green.
Giannis would be nice in Miami too but most likely will be staying with the Bucks.
I really like CP to Suns, he's not going to get a ring there but he's going to help make that team better and get into the playoffs.
Green is still good, apparently he was banged up towards the end of the playoffs. Over 40% 3pt shooter for his career and okay defender, slightly overpaid.
I wouldn't want Westbrook, stats chaser and needs the ball in his hands. Not productive to a team game. Charlotte or Knicks are the top destination rumor.
Harden to Nets, if they kept Irving and Durant (Houston is apparently asking for one of those back in trade) would be a crazy offense if there were able to work, only one basketball to go around and they all like to have it. All of them are elite though, so defenses would have to pick their poison.
Giannis is still improving, he's likely to become an average league shooter in his career or close to it and that's all he needs to do.
Rondo is going to get paid too much to stay with the Lakers and he isn't worth that money to the Lakers.
Apparently the Lakers are also trying to get Derozan, original rumors was Green & Kuz for Derozan. See if anything else comes of it.
Rumors around Aldridge to the Warriors. Tthe Warriors still have a big trade exception to use from last seasons trade with Iggy, so that could be an interesting fit.
EDIT: Holiday to bucks for Bledsoe/Hill + picks. Pretty big haul considering Holiday has a player option next year.
Also the pelicans future should be bright :
Attachment 95391
I saw that Derozan opted in and probably smart, hard to say what kind of money he could of got as a FA. I'm not saying the Lakers will get him, just rumors I've read.
They don't really have the assets to get him anyways, Green and Kuz might of been good enough but since Green is gone there isn't really much appealing. I've also read that Kuz wants to get paid on his next contract, so I could see the Lakers moving on from him as I doubt they want to tie up a lot of money in him.
EDIT: Milwaukee agreed to a sign-and-trade deal with the Sacramento Kings, acquiring sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic for Donte DiVincenzo, Ersan Ilyasova and D.J. Wilson
Lakers looking good to repeat. The Clippers might be a total disaster if they don't get it together here :eek: :eek:
Marc Gasol is going to Lakers
Westbrook to Wizards and Wall to Rockets
James staying with the Lakers for 2 more years too.
any other major moves happening?
AD 5 more years to the Lakers.
Lakers got better all around this off season for sure.
I like what Toronto did with signing Baynes but I would of liked Serge back on a big inflated 1 year deal.
Mavs got considerably better this year, trading Curry for Richardson is going to be a good move for both teams. Mavs got bigger and better defensively, offense might slip slightly but they had the best offense ever in history last year, so a little slip there and getting better on defense should have a big impact for them. Luka is so damn good already, really like watching him. Still mad about covid, was supposed to see so many guys in LA 1 day after the league was cancelled.
76ers are going to be better this year now they have a lot more shooting around Simmons & Embid.
Russ / Wall trade is a net neutral trade in my mind if Wall is healthy.
I think Harden is gone some point this season, apparently he still hasn't shown up for camp. Also turned down a 2 year 103 mil extension.
Lakers will be a slight favorite to win the title but they still gotta work hard, it's not like the GSW days when Durant was on there. I do enjoy the parity now in the NBA.
Lakers are going to take it easy for at least the first half of the season, ramp up second half and be ready for the playoffs.
I doubt LeBron is going to lose much if any productivity this year, if Dennis and Montrezl develop good chemistry and Gasol doesn't regress too much, they're going to be considerable favorites this year.
The unfortunate thing is that Raptors got the last year of Gasol's contract in a year in which he went as deep as possible in the playoffs (yes, I know they won), but also then went off and played 2 months with Spain in FIBA World Cup (which he won) and then back into the NBA season before it got stopped. It's not surprising that he struggled with some health issues during the Raptors season. What will be interesting is to see how the Raptors learn to play without him. When he's on the court, it's evident how much the offense revolves around Gasol getting the ball in the high-post and as a swing man. On defense, he does a lot in protecting the rim and moving a lot of those pieces around, especially when the Raptors like to switch into zones and junks.
Yeah, Gasol played a lot of ball and it certainly showed.
I'm sure they will miss him, he's a very smart player on both sides of the ball. He's still going to be effective, I'm just saying it's tied to how healthy he is after the last few years along with his age.
Rough start for the Raps. What will Masai do??
Curry’s 60pt game was fun tho.
Raptors have lost too many important pieces to be a contender, they need to big some big splashes, maybe try to land Harden.
I mean, it's not really a surprise when you lose two key big men and replace them with Baynes and Len. The general consensus has been that they were getting better by getting worse through a strategy of trying to preserve cap space for Greek, which obviously didn't work out.
Harden could be an answer, but that I don't know if Siakam's bubble and recent struggles have hurt his trade value to the point where the Raps may end up having to add another trade piece. Personally, as good as Harden is, I don't know if he's worth the risk of adding to the roster. This is a team that puts an extraordinary amount of faith in the management apparatus from the coaching staff up through to the team president. How many professional teams will actually try to run a diamond press in a real game, let along the box+ and triangles? From all accounts (here's really good ESPN article about how the organization bent to Harden's will at every turn: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...breaking-point).
I'm not entirely convinced that Harden would fit into the Raps culture nor do I think that he'd want to.
I'm not sure if Siakam is actually the player that everyone is hoping that he is. I think he's more of a player of circumstance. During the championship run there was much for focus on Kawhi, Kyle, Marc and Serge. The opposing teams had him much further down the scouting report. This worked out great as teams would double team Kawhi it would opened up the floor for Siakam to do his thing. Also with a big man like Marc there was an guy that could feed to him.
Kawhi moves on but now you still have two veteran smart centers who are able to open the floor up which can also shoot the 3 make a big difference. Siakam is able to continue doing his thing but as the season goes by teams scouting reports learn what his play style is as he has develop into a more in depth player. These teams start to collapse onto him and you see what was happening leading up to the Covid break. During the covid break he admit to not picking up a ball during the whole time which is going to be a problem for some guys.
Now look at this season we lost our two big men, the floor isn't opened up as it once was you got a big man that looks lost and doesn't fit with the style the team once had. All the focus is on Siakam and you can see that he's tentative and doing dumb things on both sides of the court when pressured. Your all star money man shouldn't be getting fouled out in two games in a row and cause unnecessary free throws in the 4th.
Hopefully he can turn it around and prove me wrong but he is by no means a number 1, but a very good number two that can open up the floor until he is able to further develop his game.
havent followed the season closely but looks like Harden is going to the Brooklyn Nets with KI and KD.
will be interesting to see how Harden fits with the team.
Holy now isn’t that something :eek: :eek:
Rockets then flipped Lavert for Oladipo.
The Nets is obviously the focal point in this. It's crazy to think what could happen on a team with 3 of the most prolific individual scorers in the league - both good and bad. There's the old criticism that has been thrown around to describe a lot of teams recently (GSW, Lakers, MIA and maybe even the 2nd-era Cavs), but you could at least see that some of the pieces were off-ball, shoot if you're open types like Klay, Wade and Bosh, Love, etc.). In the Nets' case, all 3 players are live-ball, every-shot-I-shoot-is-a-good-shot types.
I'm curious to see how those 3 are going to work. Also, the Nets bench is just crushed now. Durant should still be the #1 guy. No idea how KI is going to play with 2 other ball dominate players, he couldn't wait to leave LeBron after they won the championship.
So many blowouts so far this year, many teams playing better than projected, lots of story lines so far.
Raptors are playing like trash so far. Chris Boucher, FVV are playing well and PS is finally starting to come around, they should be a .500 team so far but some tough losses so far.
I think another thing that's getting lost is the weirdness with what's going on with Irving's situation right now. He's missed 4 games now to "personal reasons" and there's unverified video of him at an indoor family gathering without a mask.
That Nets locker room is probably going to be really fucked up. 3 of the most prolific scorers who also happen to be 3 of the moodiest personalities in the league.
Does that Russian oligarch still own the Nets? Because under his management they made one of the worst trades in NBA history bringing in KG & Pierce well past their primes that mortgaged away the team's future for the next 5 years. Even though their core stars are younger this time around it could still potentially end just as badly. This team is full of toxic personalities and ball hogs with no consideration for how the pieces fit together. Most importantly there's no leader amongst them - KD is a ring chasing snake, Harden is a strip club loving whiner that threw his whole team under the bus in the middle of a season, and Kyrie is living on his own (flat) planet.
I'd be happy to eat my words if they win a ring together or even reach the finals but this is one of those teams you love to hate.
Their offense, even if it is a "my turn, your turn" type offense, will be hard to guard as all 3 guys are able to score from anywhere on the floor.
Defense will be a problem, they're going to miss Allen. Durant is the only good defender of the starting 5. Jordan isn't anything like he used to be, Harris plays hard but not a stout defender, Harden hasn't been interested on defense in years, although he can be okay.
Needless to say, going to fun to watch and see what happens.
The hope and the prayer is that Harden took defensive possessions off because he had to carry the weight of the entire offense. With 2 other major contributors on that end, maybe (MAYBE) he re-engages on the defensive end.
I'll be curious to see how he'll react in plays where he's not involved since that was the major criticism when he played with Paul.
I'm thinking the same, since he was the offense he took defense off most of the time. He's never been a great defender though, so it'll be interesting to see. For the nets to be successful, he has to put effort into both sides of the ball. Standing off ball while CP3 was running the offense was shitty of him too, if he had of done more than basically walk up passed half court, it would of added another difficult layer to that offense to deal with.
Durant and Irving are elite 1 on 1 scorers, so that won't matter as much but even a pick and roll with any 2 of them would be a nightmare to defend with the 3rd guy and Harris tucked in the corners.
Only saw highlights but Harden and Durant looked good last night.
Boucher is out playing the contract he signed in the offseason, exceeding my expectations for sure.
Oh man deadly. Almost quadruple double for harden. I think he’s gonna be motivated af now. Just trade Kyrie for Russell and get help in the middle aka serge and the gang is back!!
Anyone watching playoffs?
Bucks are much improved.
Nets offense is crazy.
I think Philly is coming out of the east since nets / bucks have to play each other and it's likely to be a long, tough series.
Wanted Knicks to beat hawks, I dislike Trae. Philly going to take out the hawks.
I'm not sure lebron can carry the Lakers through the suns if Davis misses time.
Luka is hurt, clips getting lucky and going to win the series.
Jazz could go to the finals.
Blazers and Nuggets don't matter.
Yup!
I wasn't following the season much but with playoffs, things are starting to get interesting.
Disappointed for the Heat but happy for the Bucks at the same time.
Bucks vs Nets will be bloody but I would like to see the Nets winning.
Hawks vs 76ers doesnt matter much to me although I was cheering for Knicks to advance for D Rose.
Lakers in trouble without AD, I prefer the Suns to advance anyway for CP3.
LAC got lucky with Luka being injured.
West doesn't really matter to me without GS, happy for any teams to win other than the Lakers lol.
Agreed on all points.
Not a Knicks fan tho, put them in the category of Cowboys and Leafs. Stop the parade planning!
Different without GS in, but it was nice to see the Grizz get in at the same time.
If the Bucks don't make the finals, I think coach bud is fired.
Would be nice to see the Suns go deep, I'd like to see cp3 win it all but I don't know if they'll get there. The rest of the team is young.
It was nice to see meaningful basketball being played at MSG again. Would of been crazy being in the crowd there for the first couple games.
While I think you're right, I'm a little more forgiving when it comes to Bud and playoff outcomes. The road for the Bucks will involve a supercharged Nets and, if they make it, a 76ers team, both of whom are playing extraordinarily well. I don't think there's any shame in losing to those teams. As a big time MJ (and thus Bulls fan) during their 90s runs, even I have to credit organizations like the Jazz who don't blame Sloan, Malone or Stockton for not being able to get past those all-time great Bulls teams.
Hopefully CP3 can get his neck right in time. But also, I hope his tendency to rely on referee chicanery in the playoffs stops too. He's far too good of a player to rely so heavily on that, and it's backfired on him on more than a few occasions.
While I don't disagree with you about Bud, I just think it's a very real outcome. It wouldn't necessarily be his fault this year, in previous years he owns a lot of the blame for not making changes.
I didn't get to see the whole LA/Suns game yesterday but from what I saw, cp3 looked better. Hopefully that's a sign that he's improving daily.
I really hope Luka can shake what is bothering him and they can regain control of that series, wishful thinking though.
Suns are stroking the Lakers right now but I'm sure all the talk will be that AD is out and James isn't 100%
yeah stopped watching Lakers vs Suns and tuned in on Blazers vs Nuggets, much better game!
wow... Lillard is unreal...
money on Leflop going down sometime on injury next game because they are behind?
Dame is so fun to watch, definitely my favorite in the league right now. Too bad they couldn't pull off the win but I mean he had no help