Mitch Cumsteen

Corpse of the cavs season still warm and this JB Bickerstaff hit piece comes out. Lol he’s toast

I think their contract runs through next season. And they haven’t lost the NBA yet. They just don’t have exclusive negotiating rights. But it ain’t looking good.

No words for Jokic last night. An all time performance from an all time great. But Minnesota without Conley was completely constipated on offense. Edwards was consistently doubled off every screen. They put Jokic in the action and he doesn’t even look at Rudy. He just sags and makes Edwards take a tough shot or pass to someone who can’t shoot. Gobert is such a non factor on that end and the only guy who can spread the floor is KAT. And he was his typical non assertive, can’t post up a smaller guy, self. Reid was in foul trouble. It’s not an accident when McDaniels is wide ass open at the three point line. I would try benching Gobert and going small with Reid. They can’t stop Jokic with Gobert, they might as well try to make him work on defense and make him move to expend some energy. I don’t think it matters though. He’s just too great.

There's more to it than just Lebron flexing. Klutch has become one of the most influential agencies in the league. Nobody has leveraged their relationships more than them to get clients overpaid. If they can get someone to select Bronny in the first round with the guaranteed money that comes with it, then hats off to them.. It would be a coup. It would also be a really bad look for the Lakers to blow the #17 pick on him. But the second round has become open season for agents to direct their clients to friendly front offices and favorable circumstances. I could totally see that happening, but not without Klutch/Lebron's blessing. It's not worth the blowback from Klutch for someone like Detroit to select him. 2 more inches means a lot to South Austin's mom, too.

RIP Jam Master Jay. His sacrifice at Normandy will never be forgotten.

Scorching hot take incoming.

Good news. Topic apparently ok. That looked nasty. This draft could hardly afford losing talent at the top.

Doncic playing some really good defense tonight. Credit where credit is due.

And... down goes Topic. This doesn't look good, at all.

Defense is not the reason I'm anti-Trae Young. Well, that's not the only reason. I think he's a locker room cancer with a bad contract who plays losing basketball, and he's going to cost you a ton of assets. So crippling future flexibility for a one dimensional ball dominant loser is beyond stupid. I don't know what Dillingham will be defensively, but I would be willing to bet a decent amount that he will be significantly better than Trae Young mostly because he's a better athlete, but more importantly I think he will give the effort. I don't see Sheppard as much of an improvement defensively over Dillingham. His numbers are impressive both in the analytics and that vertical, but guys were blowing right past him on the regular. I think they take Risacher if he's there too. I'm iffy on him, but I do like him better than Buzelis. I keeping having this nagging feeling that there are going to be teams that regret passing on Cody Williams.

I don't want to pile on, but when I found out today that they're searching for a new president of basketball operations and using Billy King as the lead on the search committee, I almost shit myself laughing. Billy King oversaw arguably the worst trade in NBA history when he traded Boston the picks that turned out to be Jaylon Brown and Jayson Tatum for the rotting corpses of KG, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry. I guess Isiah was too busy fucking up the Suns to help out his old team, but come the fuck on. Billy King? Holy shit. https://sports.yahoo.com/the-big-lottery-moves-of-atlanta-houston-add-another-layer-of-offseason-intrigue-234442947.html

I think Atlanta is going to try to move Young this offseason, but I don't know what his actual trade value is. There is zero chance the Spurs are stupid enough to acquire him. None. Zilch. I wish the talk would go away because it's not happening and triggering. But you can see what Atlanta is thinking, right? It makes perfect sense to build around Dejounte, Jalen Johnson and Sarr. That's three really long, young pieces. And Murray's contract was below market value. If they can unload Young, they could add somebody in free agency next summer depending on how much money they have to take back for Young. That's a decent core - Murray, Johnson, Sarr, Bogdanovich, Hunter, Okongwu + free agent TBD. In a perfect world, they would unload Young now, tank next season and build with another pick plus a free agent but they stupidly gave that pick to the Spurs. Whatever happens, I trust their front office to fuck it up. But they are the arguably the most interesting team this off season, other than maybe Philly with its massive amount of cap. I fucking hate Chris Paul, but I think he would be amazing for a year or two strictly from a leadership perspective. Forget his on the court contribution, which we know will be injury-ridden and limited. Look what he did for SGA in OKC and then again for Booker in Phoenix. And especially if/when they add a point guard in this draft? It would be a no brainer for a mid-level type contract. Again, he's one of my most hated players in the last 20 years, but he would be an outstanding add for this young team. Getting back to the draft... I think the Spurs snag either Topic or Dillingham, plus one of the wings. I think there's a very good chance Dillingham and Topic are both there at 8 and they may want to pick their favorite wing at 4 instead and then wait This is how I think it shakes out, barring trades: 1. Atlanta - Sarr is the no brainer fit for them. It's about the closest thing to a certainty in this draft. They will probably do something crazy, but Sarr would be the right move. 2. Washington - They could go in any direction on a team that needs everything, but does Dillingham or Topic make sense for them? I think they have to gamble on upside, which means Risacher or another of the wings (Buzelis, Holland, Williams or Saluan). 3. Houston - needs a big and outside shooting. Clingan or Sheppard make the most sense. I don't see them taking a ball dominant Dillingham or Topic when they already have too many mouths to feed with Green and Sengun, and after picking Amen Thompson last year. 4. Spurs - if both Topic and Dillingham are still on the board, you can argue they should take a wing. I just can't see any of the next three teams even sniffing around a point guard. 5. Detroit - they've taken a guard in four straight drafts: Killian Hayes, Cunningham, Ivey and Ausar Thompson. There's just no way. Their frontcourt is nonexistent. They have to get some size. 6. Charlotte - Lamelo is signed through 2029 at PG, and they traded PJ Washington and may be moving off of Bridges. They have to take a wing or a big, right? Drafting a PG seems way down on their list. 7. Portland - just drafted Scoot and have Simons. Zero chance they take a point guard. 8. Spurs - Dillingham or Topic What are the chances that someone moves up between 4 and 8? Utah has the assets to do it and they need a point. OKC does too, but I would think PG is way down their list after taking Cason Wallace last year and already having SGA. They need size. I suppose Memphis could too, but they certainly don't need backcourt help.

Btw... I know the general consensus is that the Spurs got bent over in that trade, but considering how over the barrel they were, that's a pretty good return for a guy who has gone on to be hurt every season while gobbling up a max contract.

Let the record show I still said it was fucking stupid when they were up 2-0. And he’s been putrid this quarter.

That would be a kind description of what KAT has done tonight.

I take it back. The last seconds of that half were the most Minnesota thing ever. But holy shit the last 5 minutes of that quarter were fucking awesome. Both teams throwing haymakers at each other. Playoff basketball is the absolute best.

It would be the most Minnesota thing ever to win the first two games of this series and then drop the next four.

The spurs get lucky again in the lottery. Other than Atlanta moving all the way up and improving their outlook, this was about as good as you could have hoped for. I imagine Sarr and Risacher go top two in either order,Houston takes Clingan, and then the spurs pick between Topic and Dillingham. But who knows with this messed up draft class.

This game is bonkers.

Giddey a smooth -20 in 10 minutes tonight. Woof. Looks like we got ourselves a series.

I don’t know if Dallas can play much better than this and they’re only up 3 after 1q. I guess they could knock down some of those open threes but if I’m okc I’m feeling pretty good.

Yes. You’re crazy if you think he’s called a good playoffs. He is way more tolerable with a second guy because it’s cutting down his air time but he still sucks.

OG done for the night. I’m no Knicks fan but I respect the hell out of this team.

I’m no expert but I think the Knicks might not be as good if Brunson can’t go.

Should we be that surprised that two teams that had tied for the best record in the conference (along with Denver) are favorites for the WCF? Maybe, but they are also the only two teams without any injuries. To me, that's the biggest factor in all of this. I think the playoffs look a bit different with teams at closer to full strength: I think New Orleans gives OKC a series with Zion. Not that he's ever healthy or that they would have won, but if you had to draw up a bad matchup for OKC, it would be an paint bully like him. Phoenix was a horribly flawed and thin team that wasn't going to win that series regardless, but Grayson Allen being out made it damn near hopeless for them. Not that the Clippers are ever healthy, but losing Kawhi Leonard is kind of a big deal. Luka is clearly hurt for Dallas. He can hardly move out there. Beyond that, I lost track of how many open threes they missed last night that maybe they have a better shot of making if Maxi Klieber is taking them instead of Tim Hardaway Jr? Klieber has been on fire this post season. Even the shitty Lakers were down Vanderbilt, who would have been a useful defensive rotation piece in some tight games. Jamal Murray is not anywhere close to 100%. Hell, he's so beat up he could barely reach the court with his heating pad. He's the only guy who can create off the dribble (other than Jokic bully ball) for Denver and they have become completely stagnant. That doesn't even include what is going on in the East - Giannis, Lillard, Butler, Embiid at half strength, Randle/Bogdanovich/Robinson, etc. But we see this every year and I'm always somehow surprised by it. Maybe I have selective memory, but I just don't remember this many injuries in the playoffs back in the day. It's counterintuitive with the advances in science and medicine that it's worse now than it was 30 years ago. This is for another discussion that I think we've had elsewhere, but my working theory is that allowing more physical defense where guys just can't run and jump and move freely was actually causing less wear and tear than the repetitive stress from the pace and space era.