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NBA 2022-2023 Season Thread

Mitch Cumsteen

By Mitch Cumsteen
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9 hours ago, SilasCoade said:

I think the frustrating thing is that he's not actually dumb. He just willfully chooses to embrace the stupidest things.  He's dumb like Stockton, not dumb like Malone.

Having closely followed Kyrie's career closely since the 2011 lotto (thank you Baron Davis and LAC for that #1 overall pick), I've been sitting back amused over the last couple days at all of the apoplectic reactions to Kyrie's demanding a trade.

This is who he is.  This should be utterly unsurprising.

Not an excuse, but he has always been a different breed of cat.  He's always been an absolute witch with the basketball and one of the most talented guys in the league.  Kyrie's performance in that Cavs at Spurs March 2015 game is still the best regular season performance I've seen in the last 10 years (just an unreal game for him).  But he was always aloof with his teammates, not good in the locker room, hated playing defense, and didn't seem to enjoy the grind - that basketball was a means to an end with Kyrie.  It seems ludicrous to think about now, but during those 2012-14 years (pre-Lebron 2), there were some Cavs fans who thought the Cavs should keep DION WAITERS instead of Kyrie after it became apparent the two couldn't co-exist.  Looking back on that, it's laughable but a lot of Cavs fans (even back then) were wary of Kyrie's moodiness, selfishness, and maddening idiosyncracies - that some fans (not a majority, mind you) suggested the Cavs keep Dion and get rid of Kyrie (even though Kyrie was supremely talented and Dion was...not) should tell you something.  But it was because that Dion at least seemed like he cared about the game and there are times that Kyrie just couldn't be bothered to deal with fans, the press, coaches, or teammates.

Then Lebron decides he can't win in Miami and his only other option is returning to Cleveland.  Back during the lead up to the decision, Chris Broussard tweeted out that Kyrie didn't want Lebron on the team as he knew that Lebron would instantly suck up all the oxygen and spotlight on the team.  It would forever be Lebron's team.  Because it was Chris Broussard, that report was met with its requisite degree of skepticism for any Broussard report.  But I've always wondered how much truth there was in that report and did Kyrie really not want to play with Lebron because of what happened eventually.  I mean, Kyrie seriously considered demanding a trade IMMEDIATELY AFTER GAME 7 and his series-clinching shot!  I mean, what the actual fuck?  who does that?  Kyrie was talked out of demanding a trade at that time, but that just lasted a year before he followed through and demanded a trade after the 16-17 season and said if he didn't get a trade he would have knee surgery and sit out the 17-18 season, so off to Boston he went.

All of this is to say that this is nothing new with Kyrie.

This (the wanderlust, the unpredictability, the aloofness, the moodiness, the strange beliefs) is who he is. 

Now, if another team wants to roll the dice and is tantalized by Kyrie's talent, that's on them.  Not sure if a team will ever be a good enough fit for Kyrie, but I'm sure that there is some team out there that will convince itself it is.

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Wulaw Horn

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2 hours ago, Message Board User said:

Having closely followed Kyrie's career closely since the 2011 lotto (thank you Baron Davis and LAC for that #1 overall pick), I've been sitting back amused over the last couple days at all of the apoplectic reactions to Kyrie's demanding a trade.

This is who he is.  This should be utterly unsurprising.

Not an excuse, but he has always been a different breed of cat.  He's always been an absolute witch with the basketball and one of the most talented guys in the league.  Kyrie's performance in that Cavs at Spurs March 2015 game is still the best regular season performance I've seen in the last 10 years (just an unreal game for him).  But he was always aloof with his teammates, not good in the locker room, hated playing defense, and didn't seem to enjoy the grind - that basketball was a means to an end with Kyrie.  It seems ludicrous to think about now, but during those 2012-14 years (pre-Lebron 2), there were some Cavs fans who thought the Cavs should keep DION WAITERS instead of Kyrie after it became apparent the two couldn't co-exist.  Looking back on that, it's laughable but a lot of Cavs fans (even back then) were wary of Kyrie's moodiness, selfishness, and maddening idiosyncracies - that some fans (not a majority, mind you) suggested the Cavs keep Dion and get rid of Kyrie (even though Kyrie was supremely talented and Dion was...not) should tell you something.  But it was because that Dion at least seemed like he cared about the game and there are times that Kyrie just couldn't be bothered to deal with fans, the press, coaches, or teammates.

Then Lebron decides he can't win in Miami and his only other option is returning to Cleveland.  Back during the lead up to the decision, Chris Broussard tweeted out that Kyrie didn't want Lebron on the team as he knew that Lebron would instantly suck up all the oxygen and spotlight on the team.  It would forever be Lebron's team.  Because it was Chris Broussard, that report was met with its requisite degree of skepticism for any Broussard report.  But I've always wondered how much truth there was in that report and did Kyrie really not want to play with Lebron because of what happened eventually.  I mean, Kyrie seriously considered demanding a trade IMMEDIATELY AFTER GAME 7 and his series-clinching shot!  I mean, what the actual fuck?  who does that?  Kyrie was talked out of demanding a trade at that time, but that just lasted a year before he followed through and demanded a trade after the 16-17 season and said if he didn't get a trade he would have knee surgery and sit out the 17-18 season, so off to Boston he went.

All of this is to say that this is nothing new with Kyrie.

This (the wanderlust, the unpredictability, the aloofness, the moodiness, the strange beliefs) is who he is. 

Now, if another team wants to roll the dice and is tantalized by Kyrie's talent, that's on them.  Not sure if a team will ever be a good enough fit for Kyrie, but I'm sure that there is some team out there that will convince itself it is.

He’s just a supreme jackass at the end of the day. I would not doubt that the dude has actual diagnosable mental issues. 

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Reynolds Woodcock

Reynolds Woodcock 4,758

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6 minutes ago, ztejas said:

What in the fuck are the Mavs doing. 

Desperately trying to dramatically improve a deadlocked roster so that their once in a generation star doesn’t demand a trade in the next 2 years. I don’t think it will work, because Kyrie is just that much of a shithead, but I understand the logic.

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ztejas

ztejas 43,475

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3 minutes ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

True. If Kyrie bolts/quits and Luka demands a trade, just like that the Mavs become a smoking pile of shit just like the Spurs!

You're about to give Kyrie something like 3 years 100M. Good luck. We'll take our chances with Sochan and a top 3 pick in the draft. 

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Blotto

Blotto 23,559

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KI is obviously more talented than either of the two guys they gave up, and that 2029 pick will probably change hands 6 more times before that draft. If the dude wasnt such a fucking headcase/cancer it would be a great trade, but then again, if KI wasnt such a mental fucktard he wouldnt need to be traded. Hopefully he at least makes it to the end of the season without demanding another trade. 

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Dutchrudder

Dutchrudder 11,141

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Dumping DFS and Dinwiddie for an expiring contract seems like a good move for the Mavs. Both are average players and taking up cap space. Throwing in a pick is a small price to pay. If Kyrie somehow works with Luka, then they will have quite a team, but he's so unpredictable I can't see this ending well.

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Mitch Cumsteen

Mitch Cumsteen 18,550

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34 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Why exactly did KI force a trade so suddenly? Brooklyn was humming along pretty good without KD. I know he’s a wack job but did I just answer my question?

Brooklyn wouldn’t re-up him without incentives and he wanted his bird rights traded so he could max out his money. They can talk about freed up cap space all they want to with this trade, but I’m sure that Dallas has already agreed in principle to extend him. Otherwise he’s in the same situation he was in Brooklyn. Why would he even bother?

From a purely basketball perspective I’m interested to see how he and Luka mesh. That team is going to have to outscore folks because neither of them play defense for shit. 

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ztejas

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31 minutes ago, Message Board User said:

 

So I guess you can be pretty stupid and still have 20k twitter followers as a self-described sports analyst.

Mavs are giving him at least 2 years at 35 per. 

13 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

but I’m sure that Dallas has already agreed in principle to extend him.

Yes - and it's why LA backed out of trade talks. They didn't want to commit to extending him. 

However - Cuban is obviously desperate which means he is probably also willing to go deep into the tax - so if they have to eat 70M of Kyrie dead money then they have to eat 70M of Kyrie dead money. 

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1 hour ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

From a purely basketball perspective I’m interested to see how he and Luka mesh. That team is going to have to outscore folks because neither of them play defense for shit. 

This would be my concern as well - and Kyrie and Luka lack in athleticism they also lack in effort on the defensive end.  

I hope THJ, Wood, and Powell become all world defenders overnight because they'll have to clean up a lot of their mess.

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UpperWestside

UpperWestside 6,169

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3 hours ago, ztejas said:

What in the fuck are the Mavs doing. 

Let’s take that F word in your message and combine it with “Around and find out.” The more they F around the more they are going to find out. Right now they are really about to start finding out why it’s not good to mess around with the ultimate team killer. 

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ztejas

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6 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

Kyrie isn’t going to sign for that. He’s looking for the full 4yr/$198M bird right max. 

No matter what he signs the point remains. 

6 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Or he plays great this season, they sign him to a 4 year/$200M deal and he only plays half the games because of whatever fucking reason that week.

He isn't playing a game until they sign him. 

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Aqua Buddha

Aqua Buddha 14,598

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2 hours ago, Message Board User said:

Sorry KD, but this roster ain't getting to the Finals (I do wonder if the Nets are done dealing, however).

 

Fucking lulz.  I kind of feel sorry for him but I don't.  On one hand, he's a great player and a seemingly good guy who just cares about basketball.  You want to see him do well.  On the other hand, he couldn't win in OKC (although they were odds on favorite had he stayed), goes to GS and wins a lot and gets to live in SF and make tech deals.  For some reason, leaves that to be "the man" and then goes to the Nets with a flat earth anti-semite, a strip club warrior, and then a Kardashian.   Now it's KD, Ben Simmons, and Spencer Dinwiddie.  Just a mediocre ending to what will be great, HOF career.  He'll never get the credit for leading a team to a title (fair or not) and I'm not sure where his jersey is retired or even if he cares about that.

He's made allusions to how much he likes Okie City's roster and future which makes me think he'd like to go back there to finish.  (They're the favorite with him.)  They can offer a shit load of draft picks (good ones) but the salaries aren't even close to matching.  The only one close is SGA and they're not trading him for KD.  Not a fucking chance.

But yes, him going back to OKC, winning a title there, being the "man"/elder statesman vet would be a great story.  Gets his jersey retired, statue in front of the stadium, legacy intact, etc.

He's just in a bad spot but he made his own bed.

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Francisco 2.0

Francisco 2.0 32,395

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5 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

So the Mavs have no cap space and no draft picks. Well done…

 

Well, it's complicated.  If Kyrie decides not to sign a new contract with Dallas this summer, then they will have cap space; possibly a max slot.

Getting out from under the Dinwiddie and Smith contracts was big.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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