NBA 2022-2023 Season Thread

[Dutchrudder 11139]

I don't see why Golden State would push back on the deal, they save a ton of tax money by dropping Wiseman's salary down to Payton's.  If he's hurt and can't play until May, then maybe they just pull a couple 2nds back from Portland and everyone is happy to complete the transaction. That seems fair, but it appears the Blazers hid the injury from the Warriors, which is really shitty of them. 

I guess they may be able to keep the 5 2nds and not do the Blazers part of the deal and save a lot more money too, so maybe that's the best option for them to save 10s of millions. 

 

Quote

This was a surprise revelation to the Warriors during the intake process. There have been behind the scenes discussions on Friday about the possibility of amendments to the trade — or full reversal of the deal. The amount of parties involved (four teams, four players) complicates matters.

Payton, according to sources, had been playing through pain in Portland. Sources added that the Blazers training staff had been pushing him to gut through it, giving him Toradol shots. This had not been relayed to the Warriors during the negotiation process.

Payton had abdominal surgery during the summer. The Blazers initially projected he’d be ready for the regular season. But his rehab lingered, his timeline kept getting pushed back and Payton ended up missing the season’s first 35 games, hinting after his return that he still didn’t feel fully right, mentioning a few setbacks.

“It is what it is,” Payton said the night he came back. “Probably my fourth or fifth surgery the last five or six years…It’s at the point that it’s the best it’s going to be for this year. Just gotta thug it out.”

https://theathletic.com/4180625/2023/02/10/gary-payton-physical-trade/

Edited February 11, 2023 by Dutchrudder

[shadow_operative 15932]

[ztejas 43420]

4 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

I think he's a top 25 guy in the league at this point. Just a phenomenal floor general and for his position a plus on D as well. 

And thank you for reminding me to tune into this. 

Edited February 11, 2023 by ztejas

[Dutchrudder 11139]

No Zion for the Pelicans again, so should be an easy win for the Cavs. I think the most intriguing thing about the Cavs roster right now is that they still haven't settled on a 3+D wing. Okoro, Dean Wade, Lamar Stevens and even Levert have been put in that role in different lineups, and JB Bickerstaff still hasn't settled one of them as far as I can tell.  Okoro tends to get the start, but those other guys tend to get a lot of minutes off the bench too, and before Wade's injury, he was looking like the best of the bunch. 

[ztejas 43420]

1 minute ago, Dutchrudder said:

No Zion for the Pelicans again, so should be an easy win for the Cavs. I think the most intriguing thing about the Cavs roster right now is that they still haven't settled on a 3+D wing. Okoro, Dean Wade, Lamar Stevens and even Levert have been put in that role in different lineups, and JB Bickerstaff still hasn't settled one of them as far as I can tell.  Okoro tends to get the start, but those other guys tend to get a lot of minutes off the bench too, and before Wade's injury, he was looking like the best of the bunch. 

Levert isn't 3 and D he's a shitty sixth man scoring guard. I'd like their team better if they dealt him. 

[ztejas 43420]

What the fuck is going on in this game I've never seen this. NOLA's floor is all fucked up. 

[Dutchrudder 11139]

1 hour ago, ztejas said:

Levert isn't 3 and D he's a shitty sixth man scoring guard. I'd like their team better if they dealt him. 

Yeah I agree, but there have been lineups with Garland, DM and LeVert on the floor at the same time. It's not very good, but it happens. I wish LeVert was traded so they wouldn't be able to play him, he's so streaky, but cold much more often than hot.

 

[Message Board User 12395]

And this was before tonight’s beatdown in NOLA.

The Cavs will forever be in debt to KPJ.  Because KPJ was such an asshole at USC (when Evan Mobley’s dad was staff), the Mobley family made it clear they did not want Evan going to Houston.  So KPJ is on Houston (busy making friends there) and the Cavs luck into far and away the best player from that draft class.  He’s made a huge leap over the past month and really should be an All Star.

 

Edited February 11, 2023 by Message Board User

[ztejas 43420]

1 minute ago, Message Board User said:

And this was before tonight’s beatdown in NOLA.

The Cavs will forever be in debt to KPJ.  Because KPJ was such an asshole at USC (when Evan Mobley’s dad was staff), the Mobley family made it clear they did not want Evan going to Houston.  So the Cavs luck into far and away the best player from that draft class.  He’s made a huge leap over the past month and really should be an All Star.

 

If Mitchell was 3 inches taller you'd be my title favorite. 

Y'all could make the finals this season - but you'd need at least one of BOS or MIL to have some health issues. 

[Dutchrudder 11139]

4 minutes ago, ztejas said:

If Mitchell was 3 inches taller you'd be my title favorite. 

Y'all could make the finals this season - but you'd need at least one of BOS or MIL to have some health issues. 

Yup, but hey, that's how the Raptors won 1 random title, so ya never know...

[Aqua Buddha 14595]

SGA against Portland with an old school game.  44 points, 13-16 from the floor, 18-19 from the line and 7 assists.  0-1 from three.  Every made basket was in the paint.  In an era when everyone just chucks up 3's, he easily gets to the rim or has the pull up mid range.

Then there was this:

 

[SilasCoade 2622]

If Portland legitimately tried to hide the extent of Payton's injury they've got to be sanctioned by the league, right?

[ChickenSandwich 9834]

4 minutes ago, SilasCoade said:

If Portland legitimately tried to hide the extent of Payton's injury they've got to be sanctioned by the league, right?

incompetence seems more likely due to the fact they knew the trade would be subject to a physical. 
 

other possibilities 

He made the injury worse by playing or GS knew but didn't know he couldn't play for months. 
 

they will probably complete the trade for the tax savings 

Edited February 11, 2023 by ChickenSandwich

[d2o 1602]

22 hours ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Some awkward moments coming up for some teams haha. Do they get a chance to rework a deal or is it it done?

 

 

[SilasCoade 2622]

Watching nets sixers and Brooklyn might have won the trade deadline. They have to figure out who is going to be that guy to get a bucket at the end of the game, but they are deeper, much better on defense, and able to play with more pace in offense. Dark horse for a deep playoff run this year.

Priority one is getting Ben Simmons off the team in the summer. Ship him to Detroit or San Antonio for a bag of chips just to clear cap space.

The unit of bridges, Johnson, dinwiddie, claxton, and Harris is tough. Bring in dfs, Thomas, and yuta off the bench and the second unit is going to be tough as well.

[SilasCoade 2622]

Just a brutal 4th quarter cold snap for the nets to end up losing a game they led almost coast to coast. Still like their team a lot right now. Clearly have some kinks to work out. Dinwiddie missed an open claxton a ton to instead force an iso that was low percentage.

[statsman 5461]

https://theathletic.com/4173328/2023/02/09/russell-westbrook-lakers-toxic-end/?amp=1
 

Anyone with an Athletic sub?

[Message Board User 12395]

11 minutes ago, statsman said:

https://theathletic.com/4173328/2023/02/09/russell-westbrook-lakers-toxic-end/?amp=1
 

Anyone with an Athletic sub?

Just use this website to remove the paywall for this or any article - cut & paste the URL into the space on this page and voila.

https://www.removepaywall.com/

[Pam Cummings 9641]

Lakers look so much better with D'lo, they will probably scrape it together and make the playoffs if AD stays healthy.

[statsman 5461]

Thanks!

Quote

After a tumultuous 18 months, the Lakers and Russell Westbrook finally moved on from one another.

As part of a three-team deal with the Utah Jazzand Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers traded Westbrook, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones and a first-round pick to Utah, and a 2024 second-round pick to Minnesota, league sources told The Athletic on Wednesday. The Lakers received D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt in the trade. Westbrook was sent to the Jazz, though he’s expected to be bought out and will command interest from the Clippers and Bulls, according to The Athletic and Turner Sports.

 

The Lakers believe there is an addition-by-subtraction element to dealing the nine-time All-Star. The situation had become untenable over the past week or so, multiple team and league sources close to the situation told The Athletic, all of whom were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely. Two sources described the situation as “toxic.” And while Lakers owner Jeanie Buss was known to be against the idea of waiving Westbrook, sources say there was a strong sense from the coaching staff that it might be necessary if no trade was forthcoming.

Lakers coaches had grown frustrated with Westbrook’s recent behavior, and he was known to be upset with being openly mentioned in trade discussions. Both sides were ready to move on from an imperfect partnership.

The trade ends Westbrook’s disastrous tenure with the Lakers – a homecoming marred by his awkward fit on and off the court, and multiple injuries to the Lakers’ two other stars. Los Angeles was 22-22 in the 44 games that LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Westbrook played together across two seasons, a subpar record for a trio of Top 75 players and future Hall of Famers still producing at high levels.

Westbrook’s exit was nearly a year in the making. The Lakers explored trading him at the 2022 trade deadline before more seriously considering it last offseason in potential deals with Brooklyn for Kyrie Irving and Indiana for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield. Those developments being so public naturally affected Westbrook, though he denied it publicly.

“No. I do not,” he said Saturday when asked if trade rumors affected him. “That’s not up to me. Like I said, I’ve known this was a business since I was 18, 19 years old, since I got into it. My dad taught me that at that age, getting to this league is a business, and people make whatever decision they make. And I’ll make sure I’m ready and professional, like I always have been and always will be.”

 

Tension had been rising inside the Lakers’ locker room with James’ scoring record, the team’s inconsistency and the trade deadline looming, as demonstrated by the silent, awkward atmosphere before and after losses in New Orleans and against Oklahoma City – the latter despite James passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. James’ pro-Irving tweets, postgame “duh” comment in New Orleans and interview with ESPN about being disappointed in not trading for Irving added even more eyes on the Lakers’ internal dynamics.

During the second quarter of Tuesday’s 133-130 loss to the Thunder, Westbrook and assistant coach Phil Handy had a verbal confrontation on the sideline — their second in roughly a month — which eventually earned the Lakers a delay of game warning. That upset the bench and led to a more contentious argument between Westbrook and head coach Darvin Ham during intermission, as first reported by ESPN on Wednesday.

Halftime of Westbrook’s Lakers finale was an emblematic ending to his time with the franchise. Ham went, well, HAM on the entire team because of its porous defensive effort in the first half. The Lakers had given up 76 first-half points to a young Thunder team that entered play averaging just 58.1 points in every other first half of this season.

So Ham, whose offseason pitch to land this coaching job had included a promise to communicate directly, candidly and fearlessly with his players, did just that when the team reached the locker room. He admonished them for focusing too much on their individual play, and implored them to take more pride and compete.

“His message was that it’s bulls—,” one team source said.

But when Ham turned his attention to Westbrook and his specific individual struggles, sources say the future Hall of Famer appeared to take it personally. As had been the case so many times before, when the coaching staff struggled with Westbrook’s unwillingness to be held accountable for his play, Westbrook wasn’t hearing it.

 

Ham, sources say, was upset at a number of on-court developments from the first half. But the final straw, it seems, was Westbrook’s choice to walk off the court so slowly after he was replaced late in the second quarter. For both parties, the topic of great disagreement centered on respect — or lack thereof. In the end, with the tension in the room adding to the toxicity of their environment yet again, they agreed to disagree.

 

Russell Westbrook’s Lakers tenure is over. (Brett Davis / USA Today)

Only Westbrook truly knows what these past 18 months have been like for him and his family. This was a lifelong dream realized, a chance to come back to the city of Los Angeles, where he rose to prominence at Leuzinger High and then UCLA. He had been personally recruited by James and Davis during their summer of superstar shopping in 2021, then helped get the trade over the finish line by making a personal plea to Wizards owner Ted Leonsis to let him head for home.

Remember, the Lakers had been on the verge of doing a deal with Sacramento that would have landed them shooting guard Buddy Hieldin exchange for Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell. The Kings, league sources said then, firmly believed that the deal was all but done. But just like that, everything changed and the Lakers got Westbrook instead.

While James now often says that roster management is vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka’s job, the proverbial separation of church and state didn’t exist when this deal went down. From both ends of this spectrum – Westbrook’s maneuvering with Washington, James and Davis exerting their influence on the Lakers – this was a superstar-driven trade if ever there was one. It was a partnership born out of a power play, one that would ultimately prove costly to the Lakers in ways that went well beyond what they gave up in the deal (Kuzma, Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and the draft rights to Isiaah Jackson, the No. 22 pick in the 2021 draft).

Former Lakers coach Frank Vogel paid a price for the Westbrook addition, as his inability to inspire total buy-in from the future Hall of Famer was a significant factor in his April 2022 firing. Never mind that he was just 18 months removed from leading the Lakers to the storied franchise’s 17th title in the Orlando bubble.

For Westbrook’s part, he spent last summer wondering what might come next. In mid-July, he parted ways with his longtime agent, Thad Foucher of the Wasserman Media Group, who cited “irreconcilable differences” over their view of the Lakers’ situation. Westbrook later signed with Jeff Schwartz of Excel. His future was as uncertain as ever entering the season, with Lakers officials spending those days before training camp deciding whether to execute the well-chronicled deal with Indianathat would have landed them center Turner and Hield.

When the games resumed, Ham followed through on his promise to hold Westbrook accountable. He developed a strong relationship with him upon arrival, then leaned on that personal capital in all of their hard conversations along the way. He convinced Westbrook to come off the bench in mid-October, and that ‘exploratory move’ went well enough in those next two months that the Lakers were no longer focused on trading Westbrook because he wasn’t seen as a pivotal reason for their problems.

 

But that would eventually change. The familiar discomfort of this Westbrook-Lakers dynamic returned when Davis’ extended absence brought their on-court issues back to the surface. James’ social media posts at the end made the off-court element with Westbrook uncomfortable again.

Once James started publicly declaring that he wanted a reunion with Irving, it became clear that Westbrook’s feelings were not top of mind for the franchise centerpiece.  Everyone knew that an Irving trade with the Nets would have ended Westbrook’s Lakers tenure, with him likely going to a third team because the Nets did not want him, league sources say.

Yet James sent that conspicuously-timed tweeton Friday, sharing the eyes-wide-open emoji and a champion’s crown not long after Irving asked for a trade out of Brooklyn. The following day, when James was asked if Irving would help the Lakers, he made his view more transparently known by deeming it a ‘duh’ question. After Irving was traded to Dallas on Sunday, he told ESPN’s Michael Wilbon that he was “disappointed” the Lakers didn’t land his former running mate. Within the Lakers’ walls, there was some sympathy for the position Westbrook was put in as a result of James’ messaging, and confusion as to why James chose to use his voice in that way.

There were always going to be limitations to the Lakers-Westbrook partnership. Both sides attempted to make adjustments, but neither could provide the other with what they needed. Westbrook wasn’t capable of adjusting without the ball in his hands and embracing role-player duties after 13 years of being a superstar. The Lakers didn’t have the requisite shooting or perimeter defense to embolden him offensively and hide his off-ball defensive errors.

There were glimpses of potential every so often. There were also particularly challenging moments, never more so than in the final week. But when this three-team deal was finally done, with the very real possibility of missing the playoffs a driving force for these underachieving Lakers and more roster moves to come, this harrowing homecoming finally came to an end.

Nothing really revelatory. Just Russ being Russ. He figured that accepting being 2b on the Lakers was the most humility he would have to have. It sounds like he bristled at the thought of being 4 or less. 
 
(And of course, he wasn’t about to explore new ways of playing, of adapting his game. I remember a 2016 report that, in a sit down with KD to encourage him to resign with OKC, Russ said he would play any way that KD wanted him to. Durant was wise to not take him up on that). 

[SilasCoade 2622]

If it's true that the Lakers could have turned Westbrook into Hield and Turner but did not do it then their entire front office needs to be fired and the team sold to new owners.

[Brothahorn 10087]

"I didn't just ask to leave for no reason," Harden said after the Sixers' 101-98 win over the Nets. "I was in a really good place in Houston. Obviously, we didn't have a chance to win a championship, but I was comfortable. So for me to up and leave my family, all the things I created there, to come to Brooklyn for a year and a half to try to just get up and leave, it was for a reason, you know what I mean? But I'm happy for the organization and what they've got back. They got some really good pieces."



You lying muthafucka!

[Brothahorn 10087]

If it's true that the Lakers could have turned Westbrook into Hield and Turner but did not do it then their entire front office needs to be fired and the team sold to new owners.

You can't fire LeBron.

[Francisco 2.0 32389]

15 hours ago, SilasCoade said:

Watching nets sixers and Brooklyn might have won the trade deadline. They have to figure out who is going to be that guy to get a bucket at the end of the game, but they are deeper, much better on defense, and able to play with more pace in offense. Dark horse for a deep playoff run this year.

Priority one is getting Ben Simmons off the team in the summer. Ship him to Detroit or San Antonio for a bag of chips just to clear cap space.

 

 

I probably have a better chance of tagging Scarlett Johansson over the course of this next year than the Nets do of dumping Simmons this summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PittsburghTiger 6181]

It’s amazing that Zion Williamson has played in just 114 games in his four years. With the plague schedule adjustments I think that there were a possible 284 games that he could have played. 

That’s not money well-spent for a $44,000,000 guaranteed rookie deal, that has since been extended to a five-year, $193,000,000 deal.

Crazy.

[SilasCoade 2622]

47 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

I probably have a better chance of tagging Scarlett Johansson over the course of this next year than the Nets do of dumping Simmons this summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just buy him out then. He's a net negative on the court and in the locker room who is paid like a superstar.

[Wulaw Horn 19069]

45 minutes ago, PittsburghTiger said:

It’s amazing that Zion Williamson has played in just 114 games in his four years. With the plague schedule adjustments I think that there were a possible 284 games that he could have played. 

That’s not money well-spent for a $44,000,000 guaranteed rookie deal, that has since been extended to a five-year, $193,000,000 deal.

Crazy.

I’d crawl over broken glass to have the rights to Zion at less than 40 a year for the next 5 years. Embiid’s first 4 or 5 years were like this too. 

[HtownHorn 14678]

46 minutes ago, PittsburghTiger said:

It’s amazing that Zion Williamson has played in just 114 games in his four years. With the plague schedule adjustments I think that there were a possible 284 games that he could have played. 

That’s not money well-spent for a $44,000,000 guaranteed rookie deal, that has since been extended to a five-year, $193,000,000 deal.

Crazy.

Wembanyama will be joining him shortly.

[ztejas 43420]

16 hours ago, SilasCoade said:

They have to figure out who is going to be that guy to get a bucket at the end of the game, but they are deeper, much better on defense, and able to play with more pace in offense. Dark horse for a deep playoff run this year.

They were one of the best 4-5 teams in the league before Durant got hurt. This Nets team could still make the playoffs because they got a huge head start but the lack of a star closer probably keeps them from winning a playoff series. 

[PittsburghTiger 6181]

14 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

I’d crawl over broken glass to have the rights to Zion at less than 40 a year for the next 5 years. Embiid’s first 4 or 5 years were like this too. 

I get what you are saying, to a degree. Embid didn’t play his first two seasons and just 31 games in his third season.

And he has missed a lot of games but, It doesn’t seem like Williamson’s trend is changing. I think Williamson has to progress a great deal to equal Embid. I may be wrong but, he just seems too injury-prone.

[Message Board User 12395]

I get that everyone likes to clown Javale Mcgee.  

But Andre Drummond is more McGee than McGee.  Poetry in motion - just a beautiful game.

 

[Message Board User 12395]

 

[Francisco 2.0 32389]

46 minutes ago, SilasCoade said:

Just buy him out then. He's a net negative on the court and in the locker room who is paid like a superstar.

You do realize just how much that would cost, and he would still be on the books cap-wise, correct?  Because Ben doesn't owe them any favors.  He could tell the Nets to cut what is left of the deal in half, which would help out the Nets cap situation in a potential buyout, but why would he?

He's owed $77 million for the next 2 seasons...after this season.   I'm not a Ben fan, but honestly, he has the least valuable contract in the league. No one is willing to take $77 million off of the Nets hands (and remember, the Nets have to take back roughly equal in player(s) salaries), the Nets don't have the first round picks to bundle for someone to take Ben off their hands, and the Nets best chance to unload him is in his final year at the deadline, because by that point a $40 million expiring is a nice thing to have come off your books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pam Cummings 9641]

Simmons is the worst contract in American sports, easily. Can't think of a worse one. Having him as your highest paid guy in the building can't be good for the locker room.

[Message Board User 12395]

4 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said:

Simmons is the worst contract in American sports, easily.

I agree with the first part - but maybe not the "easily" part.  There are several horrific contracts out there that will be punshing teams for the next several years:

Beal - 5 years, $251 million

Lillard - 5 years, $258 million

Ayton - 4 years, $132 million

Tobias - 2 years, $76 million

KAT - 6 years, almost $300 million

Duncan Robinson - 4 years, $74 million

Bertrans - 3 years, almost $50 million

Hayward - 2 years, $61 million

 

[Pam Cummings 9641]

2 minutes ago, Message Board User said:

I agree with the first part - but maybe not the "easily" part.  There are several horrific contracts out there that will be punshing teams for the next several years:

Beal - 5 years, $251 million

Lillard - 5 years, $258 million

Ayton - 4 years, $132 million

Tobias - 2 years, $76 million

KAT - 6 years, almost $300 million

Duncan Robinson - 4 years, $74 million

Bertrans - 3 years, almost $50 million

Hayward - 2 years, $61 million

 

All of those make me wanna puke blood honestly lol

[Underdog 28623]

Bobby Bonilla? How many more decades Mets paying him? 

[conVINCEd 21469]

31 minutes ago, Underdog said:

Bobby Bonilla? How many more decades Mets paying him? 

The USFL guys had some pretty ridiculous contracts for the time.  The worst contract in American sports history is the deal the NBA made with the owner of the St. Louis Spirit to dissolve his franchise during the NBA/ABA merger.  They needed him to go away quietly and he negotiated a percentage of the NBA’s television revenue, which wasn’t much at the time, in perpetuity.

[Message Board User 12395]

3 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

I’d crawl over broken glass to have the rights to Zion at less than 40 a year for the next 5 years. Embiid’s first 4 or 5 years were like this too. 

Still?

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Message Board User

[Message Board User 12395]

Welcome back!  long time no see.

 

[Wulaw Horn 19069]

53 minutes ago, Message Board User said:

Still?

 

 

I mean I’m a rockets fan so yeah 

[SilasCoade 2622]

3 hours ago, Message Board User said:

I agree with the first part - but maybe not the "easily" part.  There are several horrific contracts out there that will be punshing teams for the next several years:

Beal - 5 years, $251 million

Lillard - 5 years, $258 million

Ayton - 4 years, $132 million

Tobias - 2 years, $76 million

KAT - 6 years, almost $300 million

Duncan Robinson - 4 years, $74 million

Bertrans - 3 years, almost $50 million

Hayward - 2 years, $61 million

 

Ben is worse than all of those because his production and reliability is light years below all of them, even Hayward. Duncan Robinson and Bertans are terrible contracts but at least they are available and possess one elite skill.

[Aqua Buddha 14595]

6 hours ago, Message Board User said:

Still?

 

 

It's multiple weeks past the ASG basically the rest of the season?

But yes, that's a terrible contract all things considered.  Everyone knew it when they signed it but they had to.  Believe it or not, he's only 22 years old.  This will continue to get worse.

[Brothahorn 10087]

It's multiple weeks past the ASG basically the rest of the season?
But yes, that's a terrible contract all things considered.  Everyone knew it when they signed it but they had to.  Believe it or not, he's only 22 years old.  This will continue to get worse.

No, they didn't have to sign him. They chose to sign him based on emotional decision-making. All the signs were there. But they were more concerned with what could be than reality.

[Aqua Buddha 14595]

42 minutes ago, Brothahorn said:

46 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

It's multiple weeks past the ASG basically the rest of the season?
But yes, that's a terrible contract all things considered.  Everyone knew it when they signed it but they had to.  Believe it or not, he's only 22 years old.  This will continue to get worse.

No, they didn't have to sign him. They chose to sign him based on emotional decision-making. All the signs were there. But they were more concerned with what could be than reality.

He was a star in a small market team.  They basically had to do it even though everyone knew the outcome.

[Dutchrudder 11139]

9 hours ago, Message Board User said:

Welcome back!  long time no see.

 

Championship!

[d2o 1602]

21 hours ago, Brothahorn said:

"I didn't just ask to leave for no reason," Harden said after the Sixers' 101-98 win over the Nets. "I was in a really good place in Houston. Obviously, we didn't have a chance to win a championship, but I was comfortable. So for me to up and leave my family, all the things I created there, to come to Brooklyn for a year and a half to try to just get up and leave, it was for a reason, you know what I mean? But I'm happy for the organization and what they've got back. They got some really good pieces."



You lying muthafucka!

Exactly!!!   That fucker flat QUIT in HOU.   His whole plan was to go to BKN and win an "easy" ring with KD and Kyrie then go to PHI since Fertita refused to trade him PHI.

[Brothahorn 10087]

But if you bite the bullet and make the smart choice, you get back to the lottery faster to get another potential superstar. Now you just have an oft injured, highly paid guy helping you stay 1 game above .500 and out of the lottery.

[Aqua Buddha 14595]

They get the Lakers draft picks so there's that.  Best outcome might be those picks with what they have minus Zion are solid and they get lucky and have him healthy for the playoffs.

[Baboontyme 2810]

Looks like the Dubs accepted the trade. Wiseman should make his debut Wednesday against Boston. Glove Jr to be revaluated in a month.