2022-2023 NBA Season Thread

[Cobra Mgr]

Best players in the NBA: Jokic, Giannis, Embiid.
Best duo in the NBA: Jokic & Murray
Next superstar in the NBA: Wembanyama

None of the above from the USA.

Discuss.............

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Best players in the NBA: Jokic, Giannis, Embiid.
Best duo in the NBA: Jokic & Murray
Next superstar in the NBA: Wembanyama

None of the above from the USA.

Discuss.............

I and a coworker were discussing whether a world team could defeat a US only team in an 82-game season.

We did a quick draft. The starting 5 were pretty competitive.
It was the bench where the US began to pull away.

This is only a good thing for basketball. The deeper the talent pool, the better the product.

It is also time for the league to expand to 32 teams. There is enough talent to support it.

[pilight]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Best players in the NBA: Jokic, Giannis, Embiid.
Best duo in the NBA: Jokic & Murray
Next superstar in the NBA: Wembanyama

None of the above from the USA.

Discuss.............

The talent pool is so much deeper than it used to be. That makes it harder to win championships. Winning four in the last dozen or so years is the equivalent of winning at least seven 30 years ago.

[Cobra Mgr]

Kobe Bryant Wanted to Sign with Memphis Grizzlies. Here's Why Jerry West Told Him No

I got a problem w/this. IDK about you guys, but there was a lot of talk about how Jerry West was still working for LA when he traded Paul Gasol to the Lakers & established a 2nd title run for Kobe. I personally dismissed this. But when you see Jerry admit he tried to convince a future HOF to stay where he was instead of joining him in Memphis, your eyes gotta pop open. Memphis should sue him for all the salary they paid him,

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

I and a coworker were discussing whether a world team could defeat a US only team in an 82-game season.

We did a quick draft. The starting 5 were pretty competitive.
It was the bench where the US began to pull away.

This is only a good thing for basketball. The deeper the talent pool, the better the product.

It is also time for the league to expand to 32 teams. There is enough talent to support it.

I agree. Basketball is becoming a truly international sport, more so than baseball.

[Antonin]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Best players in the NBA: Jokic, Giannis, Embiid.
Best duo in the NBA: Jokic & Murray
Next superstar in the NBA: Wembanyama

None of the above from the USA.

Discuss.............

I agree. I hope it's true about Wembanyama. The NBA, moreso than the other major American sports, is a league that can more easily renew itself with just a couple draft classes.

Except for the early exit of my Cavaliers, I really enjoyed this season's playoffs. There was some great, great basketball. Maybe part of that is due to the fact that the COVID pandemic is finally over, which makes it easier to go back to enjoying normal things. My wife and I went to several Cavs games this past season, and had a wonderful time.

We thought the playoffs were extremely exciting. We are looking forward to what the draft and free agency will bring.

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by Antonin

I agree. I hope it's true about Wembanyama. The NBA, moreso than the other major American sports, is a league that can more easily renew itself with just a couple draft classes.

Except for the early exit of my Cavaliers, I really enjoyed this season's playoffs. There was some great, great basketball. Maybe part of that is due to the fact that the COVID pandemic is finally over, which makes it easier to go back to enjoying normal things. My wife and I went to several Cavs games this past season, and had a wonderful time.

We thought the playoffs were extremely exciting. We are looking forward to what the draft and free agency will bring.

The Cavs have a window.
I like their team a lot. They just need a tertiary ball handler and scorer.
Probably in that Okoro spot or off the bench. I am not sold on him.
In todays NBA it is really hard to have an offensive black hole unless your team has 2-3 amazing scorers.


But I love the combo of Allen and Mobley.
They have Allen on a really good contract too. 5 years at $100 million and a flat $20 million against the cap every year with no escalations is a really good deal for a borderline AS.

And then there is Mobley whom I love.
To steal Bill Simmons idea of a trade value list. He is too 10 for me.
He had a bad playoff, but it was 5 games and he is 20 years old.

I love his game and think he is a future all NBA player.
His defense is already really good for a 20 year old. And his offensive game is good and will only grow.
He will become your best player in the next few years barring injury or some weird development issue

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Best players in the NBA: Jokic, Giannis, Embiid.
Best duo in the NBA: Jokic & Murray
Next superstar in the NBA: Wembanyama

None of the above from the USA.

Discuss.............

Seeing as how the population of the US is less than 5% of the world's population, this doesn't surprise me much.

Also pretty comfortable stating that the US has more than 5% of the world's best players. YMMV.

[Cobra Mgr]

I'm not sure I get all the Zion trade bait stuff. Am I missing something? As a GM of the 2nd pick, would Zion even begin to tempt you?

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

I'm not sure I get all the Zion trade bait stuff. Am I missing something? As a GM of the 2nd pick, would Zion even begin to tempt you?

I wouldn’t do that at all but I could see, say, the Bulls trading Zach Lavine for him. I really like Zach and he’s a PNW link to this team but he’s also about the only guy they have who has trade power and a trade for Williamson could work out for them if he’s healthy as well as if he’s not, if that makes sense. That said, no way I’d do Zach + picks or even a single pick. Zion already has strings attached and that diminishes his value.

I think Portland is also kind of desperate to get an adult partner for Dame and so the #3 overall could get dangled. As with the Bulls, if he doesn’t come back that could be a blessing in disguise, as it’d allow the Blazers to move on from Lillard. Unlike the Bulls, they’d be giving up draft capital directly.

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

I'm not sure I get all the Zion trade bait stuff. Am I missing something? As a GM of the 2nd pick, would Zion even begin to tempt you?

I would be tempted. But I would try and push out those picks for down the line.
I also am not sure what the Hornets have to match salary wise that New Orleans would even want.

Hayward and Rozier have next to no value.
Rozier maybe some limited value as a high volume scorer. But last year in Charlotte they were so rudderless that he was allowed to just throw up shots from anywhere to get his 21 a night.


I would think if Portland intends to keep giving it a try with Lillard then that would be a better fit.

But I am still not sure how the salary matching would go.

Would New Orleans benefit from Simmons or Nurkic?

Probably not

[rudel.dietrich]

I am still high on Zion too.
I mean the injury history is for sure troubling.

But we literally just had a player who played 31 games in his first three seasons win back to back scoring titles and MVP.

When he plays, he is an offensive force. Like a top 10 offensive player.
If someone, anyone, can just find that one method that keeps him motivated and healthy then the talent is for sure there.

You can see the reason he was taken #1 overall and got all the hype.
When he plays it is pretty much instant production.


But I can see why people are wary of him. I just really want it to happen for him, basketball is more exciting when he is playing.

[Cobra Mgr]

Jordan selling of Hornets nearly finalized.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

I am still high on Zion too.
I mean the injury history is for sure troubling.

But we literally just had a player who played 31 games in his first three seasons win back to back scoring titles and MVP.

When he plays, he is an offensive force. Like a top 10 offensive player.
If someone, anyone, can just find that one method that keeps him motivated and healthy then the talent is for sure there.

You can see the reason he was taken #1 overall and got all the hype.
When he plays it is pretty much instant production.


But I can see why people are wary of him. I just really want it to happen for him, basketball is more exciting when he is playing.

The problem w/Zion is the mental aspect as well. Does he perfectionism (what is appears to me from my end) overwhelm his desire to play? I agree w/Stephen A when he said what is troubling is the fact he said his body was ready ,but he didn't feel like Zion yet. I think the kid is afraid of being a bust and that fear is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. If he can't overcome that, he will always be a white elephant to any franchise.

[thehef]

Too many issues with Zion. Obviously the inability to stay healthy, but also several questions about what's going on between the ears. So IMO it's a hard pass until he re-establishes that he's a franchise cornerstone type, or establishes that he's worth the risk on a veteran minimum deal (if he totally flames out), or becomes something serviceable in-between.

[Marinersfan51]

The positive comp for Zion would be Embiid who dealt with tons on injury and conditioning issues early in his career, but has been able to overcome most of those and be about as available as any star the last few years. IIRC there were also commitment/"want to" questions with Embiid that seem to pop up with any player who isn't able to stay on the court consistently.

On the other hand Ben Simmons has dealt with a lot of the same questions and he hasn't exactly been able to put those to bed.

It's really hard to tell from the outside what's going on in a player's head. What we do know is that Zion is All-NBA level when he's played, figuring out how frequently that will be in the future is supposedly why the GMs are the ones making the big bucks.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Marinersfan51

The positive comp for Zion would be Embiid who dealt with tons on injury and conditioning issues early in his career, but has been able to overcome most of those and be about as available as any star the last few years. IIRC there were also commitment/"want to" questions with Embiid that seem to pop up with any player who isn't able to stay on the court consistently.

On the other hand Ben Simmons has dealt with a lot of the same questions and he hasn't exactly been able to put those to bed.

It's really hard to tell from the outside what's going on in a player's head. What we do know is that Zion is All-NBA level when he's played, figuring out how frequently that will be in the future is supposedly why the GMs are the ones making the big bucks.

All good points.

Re "hard to tell... what's going on in a player's head," guys can generally do whatever they want in their personal lives as long as they're not hurting anybody or doing things like Morant... but when we're not sure what's going on between the ears, the hanging-with-porn-stars & the associated drama is not quite helpful in that respect

[Cobra Mgr]

Bradley Beal to the Suns

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Bradley Beal to the Suns

As a former DMV resident and Wizards fan. This one just boggles the mind.
They got nothing back for him, that may be the least a team has ever gotten back for an All-NBA players still in his prime.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

As a former DMV resident and Wizards fan. This one just boggles the mind.
They got nothing back for him, that may be the least a team has ever gotten back for an All-NBA players still in his prime.

Beal's no trade clause put them in a bind. His agent is also the Suns CEO's son. Washington evidently decided it was time to strip it down & chose to rip the band aid off.