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The fact that their first rounder is protected 1-10 probably played a large role in their decision to tank. An extra win could have torpedoed any chance at a first or the slim chance at Wemby. Without that 1-10 protection, I don't know if Dallas would have done what they did.

It’s Slovenia night in Dallas.

If i had an MVP ballot - 1a Embiid 1b Giannis 3 Jokic

No Lillard, no Grant, no Nurkic, no Simons, and yet... And the missed layup at the end made me legit lol. I mean...really? I'm trying to think of another example, ever, where an open layup goes OVER THE BACKBOARD.

And the current 4-5 matchup is Phoenix-Golden State. Giggidy.

AD stayed in the game and shredded tonight. Lakers are now in the 7 spot in the West, just a game behind GS (playing now vs SA) and 1.5 behind the Clippers.

NBA TV tonight.

@Sbbruin

Fuck Trae Young and the Hawks. Total screw job by the officials last night but it wouldn’t be the NBA if they weren’t actively fucking over the Cavs. I can’t wait for the Cavs-Knicks playoff series!

No way the Wizards would do this. I mean, c’mon man.

Yeah, this is not promising at all. THJ, Bertrans, Maxi, and Javale taking up a combined $50+ million in cap space next season makes my eyes bleed. Salary Player Age 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 2026-27 2027-28 Guaranteed Kyrie Irving 31 $38,917,057 $38,917,057 Luka Dončić 24 $37,096,500 $40,064,220 $43,031,940 $45,999,660 $48,967,380 $215,159,700 Tim Hardaway Jr. 31 $19,602,273 $17,897,728 $16,193,183 $53,693,184 Dāvis Bertāns 30 $16,000,000 $17,000,000 $16,000,000 $44,000,000 Christian Wood 27 $14,317,459 $14,317,459 Dwight Powell 31 $11,080,125 $11,080,125 Reggie Bullock 32 $10,012,800 $10,489,600 $15,464,000 Maxi Kleber 31 $9,000,000 $11,000,000 $11,000,000 $11,000,000 $42,000,000 JaVale McGee 35 $5,461,219 $5,734,280 $6,007,341 $17,202,840 Josh Green 22 $3,098,400 $4,765,339 $7,863,739 Frank Ntilikina 24 $2,036,318 $2,036,318 Markieff Morris 33 $1,836,090 $1,836,090 Theo Pinson 27 $1,836,090 $1,836,090 Jaden Hardy 20 $1,017,781 $1,719,864 $2,019,699 $3,137,645 Justin Holiday 33 $569,821 $569,821 McKinley Wright IV 24 A.J. Lawson 22

Aristotle, Plato, and Socretes all rolled into one.

Scorching hot take #1 - The Mavs issues are as much Luka as it is Kyrie. The incessant bitching at refs and just slightly-less-incessant bitching and side-eyes at teammates & coaches, coupled with his gravity bound disinterest in defense and now he's admitting in press conferences that his head hasn't been in the game is not the stuff of a franchise player. Captain Obvious here, but Luka is way more Harden than Lebron. I probably wouldn't have Luka in my top 10 MVP ballot for this season. The problem is that this works when Kyrie is paired with Lebron, but as I mentioned above, Luka ain't Lebron. Not even close and because Luka cannot dominate a game like Lebron so Kyrie is going to have to bear more responsibility, which he can't do (this is more an indictment of the Mavs front office, actually). Luka is also too narcissistic to worry about things like leadership, team building, and defense. Scorching hot take #2 - The Mavs should shut down Luka and Kyrie for the rest of the season. The Mavs' 2023 pick is owed to the Knicks, but it is top 10 protected and the Mavs are right now in the 11 spot. https://www.tankathon.com/ Keeping that first round pick (which would bring about a 1 in 6 shot at landing a top 4 pick) is much more valuable to the franchise than a (gentleman's) sweep in the first round at the hands of Denver or Memphis. Because the Mavs front office have so badly mismanaged the last few years (trading for Kristaps, letting Brunson walk, trading for Kyrie) their paths to improvement are quite narrow - almost non-existent. The Mavs payroll is already about $100 million next season - and that's before giving a single penny to Kyrie or Christian Wood, if they choose to re-sign either. So forget free agency. So this potential top 10 pick (and shot in the dark at Wemby) is probably a more realistic path to improvement than anything else. Kyrie is dealing with plantar fascitis and Luka is distracted anyway, so just shut the two of them down and give Green and Hardy massive run over the final 2 weeks of the season.

The Mavs...smh. Oh yeah, and Kyrie has been playing through plantar fasciitis.

Austin Reaves is such a matchup nightmare with his length and physicality that teams have no choice but to foul him (13 FTs last night).

Golden State-Phoenix in Round 1? I’ll take it.

And even if the Clippers somehow make the playoffs, there is no way that Kawhi or a gimpy PG13 will be able to get through more than a week or 2 of the playoff grind without succumbing to injury.

Speaking of PG13…yikes.

Yep. Jalen Williams was one of my draft crushes and an excellent pick by Presti. Just an unbelievably bright future for that franchise especially considering the treasure trove of picks over the next 5 years or so.