2022-2023 NBA Season Thread

[thehef]

Irving's a Mav now, so James apparently didn't get his way...

[monkeyman576]

I see that. I'm surprised the Mavs did that considering Mark Cuban is Jewish.

[Syd Thrift]

Well, he didn’t go to the Lakers…

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2023/02/...mavericks.html

They lose Spencer Dinwiddie, an unprotected first but all the way out in. 2029, and 2 2nds. If it wasn’t literally Kyrie Irving they were trading for, I’d call that a good price. And I think clearly Dallas was like “yeah, we know what LA will offer, so here’s something marginally less bad”.

[Syd Thrift]

dola,

My initial thoughts were "if Irving decides to play and doesn't get himself suspended by saying Jewish people made the world flat or whatever, this is talent-wise a NBA Finals level team", followed by "biiiiig if, plus it's hard to see how Luka meshes with Irving", followed by "yeah but Syd, Luka doesn't really necessarily mesh with anyone".

I think Doncic might be a bit on the young side to allow even a hugely impactful player like Irving to take his share of the light and the heat, but that said he's probably one of like 5 to 10 players in the league who could legitimately force Luka to carve him out a role. The on-court side of things should be interesting to watch, so long as the off-court stuff doesn't get too overwhelming...

[rudel.dietrich]

If Dallas pays Irving $248 million they are really dumb.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

If Dallas pays Irving $248 million they are really dumb.

If anybody pays Irving max money they are dumb (thinking about this summer if he & Dallas don't agree to a long-term deal). Or at least they would be taking a huge risk given that Irving has a streak of less-than-idea departures - at less-than-ideal times - from teams...

I'm curious what Durant and the Nets do now. After a slow start, Bkn's role players had stepped up and the team was playing well. If the Nets don't also decide to trade Durant before the deadline, and assuming KD wants to return and do his thing, then a Nets team featuring him, the existing roster plus the two additions from Dallas (not to mention the sigh of relief in the locker room)... it's not bad. A clear cut below the Celtics and Bucks, but good enough for a potential deep-ish run... So in that case, might another pre-trade-deadline move (or post-deadline pickup from the buyout market) be on tap?

Not an impact player, but picking up Jae Crowder would be a solid move (and not just for the Nets).

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

If Dallas pays Irving $248 million they are really dumb.

this.

Short term, this is good deal.

Long term? What does it take to keep him & keep him available? That is what will determine the intelligence of this deal.

[Antonin]

Wondering what the Cavs will do as the trading deadline approaches. Kevin Love has not played recently, which might mean they are seeking to trade him and his "expiring contract." I hope not. there is a faction here in Cle that has wanted to trade Kevin since the week after the got here. But he's a good player and by all accounts a great teammate.

He has embraced his role as mentor and important bench player on today's Cavs. Last season, seeing him and Ricky Rubio coming off the bench together was a thing of beauty. Some national broadcaster was talking recently about Nikola Jokic and his ability to pass the length of the court. Well, that is something Kevin Love does all the time. And often, Cedi Osman is the first one down the court when there is a turnover, ready to receive a pass.

Some radio talk show callers are suggesting trading Osman and Okoro, but I would not want to lose some of our best defensive players. the same with Dean Wade.

When I got up from my nap this afternoon and the wife told me Kyrie Irving had been traded to Dallas my first thought was: "Why would Dallas want a nutball like Kyrie?" My second was: "How can he co-exist with Luka?" My third thought was: "Why should I care? At least he's not coming to Cleveland!"

Last summer there were radio callers here who actually insisted that the Cavs "get Kyrie back" by trading away Evan Mobley, Isaac Okoro and Cedi Osman. When I heard that I told my wife that maybe nursing homes should not let their dementia residents make calls outside the facility.

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

this.

Short term, this is good deal.

Long term? What does it take to keep him & keep him available? That is what will determine the intelligence of this deal.

I don’t know, this is… weird. If they traded away Dinwiddie and what’s his name for 30 games plus the playoffs of Irving, that’s a lot for flags fly forever. On the other hand, yeah, I too would be very worried about being stuck with Irving long-term. I’m sure the Lakers will try to get him and Irving will probably even try to engineer a sign and trade (involving… a re-signed Westbrook? They don’t have assets, which is why the Nets didn’t trade with them in the first place but you just know that if Dallas gets bounced early then that’s where Irving will try to go and he’ll sulk when reality hits) so they won’t be able to bring him back on the cheap or even on an incentive based deal like the one the Nets tried to ink him to before he demanded the trade.

I’m just happy as a Bulls fan, whatever other issues my team has, that they weren’t the team to jump on that particular hand grenade. KD on the other hand…

[Cobra Mgr]

There is some serious *bleep* going on surrounding the Grizzlies.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

There is some serious *bleep* going on surrounding the Grizzlies.

[Removed]

[Déjà Bru]

The Athletic says, after a short period of being in the vicinity of Kyrie Irving, "the league’s most radioactive player," Luka Dončić is going to want out.

[Antonin]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

The Athletic says, after a short period of being in the vicinity of Kyrie Irving, "the league’s most radioactive player," Luka Dončić is going to want out.

As I have said before, the NBA is the world's greatest soap opera. With Irving going to the west, at least he won't be on TV here in Cle so often.

We have more important things to worry about, such as what will happen to Kevin Love, Caris Levert, Cedi Osman, Isaac Okoro, Lamar Stevens, Dean Wade, etc etc. All good players and good citizens who make our city proud.

The core of our team is guys like Evan Mobley, who is only 21 years old (!!!).

[pilight]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Thuggery. The inner-city aspect of this game continues to be evident.

Your euphemism game is weak

[Antonin]

[Removed]

????

[Syd Thrift]

Yeah, this is nuts. As long as Grayson Allen is still in the league, no other player gets to be called a thug.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Thuggery. The inner-city aspect of this game continues to be evident.

Thuggery yes. However thuggery does not describe the inner city or gangs. No more than a few klansmen in the south makes the southern states full of kkk, just Mississippi (j/k).

The problem is Ja has not taken a cue from LeBron. James has a bunch of friends in his entourage. But they work for him. Not just provide a buffer for him. He sent them to school so that they could help him handle his business & get some for themselves.

When you have a bunch of guys around you who do nothing but hang out& party they feel they have to show themselves useful. They usually have drank, smoked &/or sniffed some courage all thru the day & are jumpy to turn benign situations violent. Cause they have to show you you need them. It's going to bring Ja nothing but trouble.

The NBA & the Grizzlies need to sit Ja down and give him some straightforward advice. Cause now that the public knows he's rollin' like that, others are going to know they need to be ready to "pop-pop" when something pops off. Or someone in his crew is going to turn a mild dust up into a Dateline episode. And I'm including his pop. These so-called friends got nothing going on in their life but Ja. And they are about to get stupid.

[Déjà Bru]

.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Antonin

????

Sorry. I did not intend for that to sound racist and I have removed the comment (even though it has been quoted — can't control that).

I live in the suburbs and there is thuggery out here as well. And there are plenty of good people of all colors living inner-city.*

If anything, I am troubled by what I perceive to be a degradation of society and I don't like seeing aspects of that intrude in things that I enjoy, such as sports. I fear for what my grandchildren will have to deal with.

*Heh, I just realized that includes my oldest son who lives in the wonderfully diverse neighborhood of Flushing, Queens. Mea culpa, but that should indicate that I meant no offense for an admittedly thoughtless remark.

[Syd Thrift]

Just to be clear though, the term “thug” is heavily associated with the inner city and racism directed towards it on the 80s and 90s. Im not sure you can just change it to mean “stuff I don’t like” without removing that. To be fair, I also deliberately repurposed the word to refer to a white player who plays dirty and who graduated from a university that seems to produce nothing but dirty white players, but tbh even that’s probably just keeping the word out there and not helping the lexicon.

It also needs to be noted that degradation of whatever, violent crime in the US is still way, way down from where it was at its peak in the early 90s and I think basketball in particular is a whole hell of a lot more professional and prone to less on-court violence than it has in the past. Guys will still have questionable entourages but even there I don’t think it’s like it was back in the day. If anything the biggest change was basketball players treating the game more like a business they need to take seriously instead of the culmination of their skills that it kind of was for some guys.