2018-19 NBA Season Thread

[BigOrange1 6471]

29 minutes ago, NowThis said:

AD puts up major number sometimes, but isn't a championship value. Very overpaid, just split the money among 2 or 3 more reliable, hungrier and unselfish team oriented ballers. 

maybe the worst post in this history of the basketball board and that is saying A LOT.

[Reynolds Woodcock 4801]

AD puts up major number sometimes, but isn't a championship value. Very overpaid, just split the money among 2 or 3 more reliable, hungrier and unselfish team oriented ballers. 

jfc, this is jhawk-level bad

[NowThis 931]

that tells me you guys don't understand people.  Earlier in this thread, i was right about Boston and Milwaukee, despite the 'experts' arguing with me. No one is right 100% but with confidence I say that AD isn't as great as advertised.  

[aggie08 21531]

7 minutes ago, NowThis said:

Earlier in this thread, i was right about Boston

No, you weren't. They have concerns, but they sure as shit aren't better without Kyrie.

I can't remember your Milwaukee take, but I'm sure it was stellar. Other than Agua's crazy ass, has anyone said a single negative thing about Milwaukee all season? Literally everyone saw them vastly improving with a real coach. So what "experts" were arguing with you?

And the Warriors definitely don't need Boogie to win a championship. Dray got healthy, and Klay found his shot, and they're back to crushing folks, with or without Cousins. Shocking.

You're a hot take machine. You'd make Stephen A. blush.

There is an argument that AD isn't a true top 5 player because he hasn't proven that he can elevate an entire team. There may even be something to that. But I'd argue that New Orleans may have the worst #5-12 players in the entire league, and their #2-4 players aren't exactly perennial all-stars. The Western Conference is a bitch. Put him on a half dozen other teams, and they'd almost instantly have "championship value", whatever the hell that means. He, Kawhi, and Giannis are, without question, the three best two-way players in the league, and AD is arguably the most dominant among them. Pretty much impossible to overpay for that, especially since he hasn't even signed a supermax yet.

What, in AD's entire career leads you to question his selfishness or hunger? A gut feeling?

[NowThis 931]

16 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

No, you weren't. They have concerns, but they sure as shit aren't better without Kyrie.

I can't remember your Milwaukee take, but I'm sure it was stellar. Other than Agua's crazy ass, has anyone said a single negative thing about Milwaukee all season? Literally everyone saw them vastly improving with a real coach. So what "experts" were arguing with you?

And the Warriors definitely don't need Boogie to win a championship. Dray got healthy, and Klay found his shot, and they're back to crushing folks, with or without Cousins. Shocking.

You're a hot take machine. You'd make Stephen A. blush.

There is an argument that AD isn't a true top 5 player because he hasn't proven that he can elevate an entire team. There may even be something to that. But I'd argue that New Orleans may have the worst #5-12 players in the entire league, and their #2-4 players aren't exactly perennial all-stars. The Western Conference is a bitch. Put him on a half dozen other teams, and they'd almost instantly have "championship value", whatever the hell that means. He, Kawhi, and Giannis are, without question, the three best two-way players in the league, and AD is arguably the most dominant among them. Pretty much impossible to overpay for that, especially since he hasn't even signed a supermax yet.

What, in AD's entire career leads you to question his selfishness or hunger? A gut feeling?

yes, i'm right about Boston and the Bucks. Sorry dude. 

yes, GS needs Cousins to take it all. 

AD doesn't play hard a lot, doesn't seem to give a shit about teammates, plays with no passion and isn't a leader.  I'd pass on a huge supermax type contract on the guy. That'd be a franchise killer.  And Greek is 10X the player of AD.  The more i watch AD, the older he gets, the less respect I have for him year by year. 

Edited January 20, 2019 by NowThis

[Vic Mackey 47151]

that tells me you guys don't understand people.  Earlier in this thread, i was right about Boston and Milwaukee, despite the 'experts' arguing with me. No one is right 100% but with confidence I say that AD isn't as great as advertised.  

You stepped outside the groupthink tank. Be prepared to be ridiculed. Most won't give any rebuttal as to why you are wrong. Just a bunch of juvenile name calling.

Aggie08 is usually the only one who will give any sort of breakdown in terms of rebuttal. Derka, too.

[NowThis 931]

5 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

You stepped outside the groupthink tank. Be prepared to be ridiculed. Most won't give any rebuttal as to why you are wrong. Just a bunch of juvenile name calling.

Aggie08 is usually the only one who will give any sort of breakdown in terms of rebuttal. Derka, too.

i lost most respect for Derka's basketball takes based on his dunk threads.

[aggie08 21531]

7 minutes ago, NowThis said:

yes, i'm right about Boston and the Bucks. Sorry dude. 

yes, GS needs Cousins to take it all. 

AD doesn't play hard a lot, doesn't seem to give a shit about teammates, plays with no passion and isn't a leader.  I'd pass on a huge supermax type contract on the guy. That'd be a franchise killer. 

Ok, now I'm intrigued. What is your Milwaukee hot take?

Here's a fun thought exercise: AD makes $25.4M this year. Find me 2 or 3 players that add up to about that number that, if you were to put them alongside Holiday, Randle, and Mirotic, you'd say, "Yep, that's definitely a playoff team in the West."

[d2o 1602]

This is pretty fascinating

[Patrick Bateman 3932]

10 hours ago, Dutchrudder said:

That Russ/Embiid collision was weird. It was like Russ tried to full stop under the hoop while turning around. I assume he was looking for someone to pass to, but the way he did it was awkward.

Think Russ lost lost the ball and was going to gather it and Embiid had already gone up to contest.  Accident, Embiid was right, Westy needs to cool his jets.

 

[Patrick Bateman 3932]

1 hour ago, NowThis said:

AD puts up major number sometimes, but isn't a championship value. Very overpaid, just split the money among 2 or 3 more reliable, hungrier and unselfish team oriented ballers. 

 

1 hour ago, Llogg said:

This is terrible, this take.

 

1 hour ago, BigOrange1 said:

maybe the worst post in this history of the basketball board and that is saying A LOT.

I don't agree with his take persay about breaking up the salary and giving it to 3 "hungrier" players.  I don't even know what that means.  I'm sure there are 3 guys in the G-league that be thirsty.  That written, I do think it's fair to start questioning if he's a little soft.  Again, he's a great, great player (top 5 in the league) but I wonder how tough he is and also if he's the type of leader who makes other guys better.  I think those questions are fair to at least have a conversation about.  Maybe he's Garnett and needs a couple of other players including an Alpha (Paul Pierce) on offense to win big....

 

 

 

[NowThis 931]

23 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Ok, now I'm intrigued. What is your Milwaukee hot take?

Here's a fun thought exercise: AD makes $25.4M this year. Find me 2 or 3 players that add up to about that number that, if you were to put them alongside Holiday, Randle, and Mirotic, you'd say, "Yep, that's definitely a playoff team in the West."

KAT only makes $8mil? I'm going by this http://www.espn.com/nba/salaries/_/page/4

add in PJ Tucker for $8mil and Rondo for $9 mil.  It's a little over AD's.   NOP are 21-25 right now, take away AD and add those 3 and it's still 21-25 or IMO better.   

Heck, i have tons more respect for Capela or Horn Jonathen Allen, a rising star. 

[Machinator 32099]

3 minutes ago, NowThis said:

KAT only makes $8mil? I'm going by this http://www.espn.com/nba/salaries/_/page/4

add in PJ Tucker for $8mil and Rondo for $9 mil.  It's a little over AD's.   NOP are 21-25 right now, take away AD and add those 3 and it's still 21-25 or IMO better.   

Heck, i have tons more respect for Capela or Horn Jonathen Allen, a rising star. 

Towns will not be making anywhere close to $8M after this year.

[conVINCEd 21469]

He’s gonna miss a couple of weeks with a sprained finger while his team is fighting an uphill battle to stay in the playoff race?  That certainly sounds a little soft to me.  That being said, I’d be happy for my Mavs to give him a max contract and take my chances.

[aggie08 21531]

11 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

That written, I do think it's fair to start questioning if he's a little soft.  Again, he's a great, great player (top 5 in the league) but I wonder how tough he is and also if he's the type of leader who makes other guys better.  I think those questions are fair to at least have a conversation about.  Maybe he's Garnett and needs a couple of other players including an Alpha (Paul Pierce) on offense to win big....

And that's fair criticism. Really, it's not even criticism. There's only a few guys who you could surround without a single other All-Star caliber player and reasonably expect them to still make the playoffs year after year. AD hasn't shown that, and may never.

If he signs a supermax in New Orleans, he'll likely never win a title there. The Garnet comparison is apt. Though, as you said, that wouldn't make it a bad contract. That franchise has dumpster fire potential without him, unless they hit home runs on the draft picks they get in exchange.

[aggie08 21531]

I will say that a team with AD and Holiday on it HAS to be better defensively. Their offense is still just fine--and has been ever since they started playing fast last season after Boogie went down--but their defense was crucial to them punking Portland and getting to the 2nd round. They're currently 27th. That shit's embarrassing.

AD is in the DPOY conversation seemingly every year, but I question his impact on team defense. Dude should be a totally unfair version of Draymond, being everywhere and doing everything. But he doesn't come anywhere near that level of consistent impact. It's probably unfair to compare him to one of the smartest defensive minds ever (who also doesn't have nearly the same offensive workload and responsibility), but I question his instincts and ability to see a step ahead. And you certainly don't feel AD like you do a Dray or Kawhi, even Gobert.

[NowThis 931]

12 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

I will say that a team with AD and Holiday on it HAS to be better defensively. Their offense is still just fine--and has been ever since they started playing fast last season after Boogie went down--but their defense was crucial to them punking Portland and getting to the 2nd round. They're currently 27th. That shit's embarrassing.

AD is in the DPOY conversation seemingly every year, but I question his impact on team defense. Dude should be a totally unfair version of Draymond, being everywhere and doing everything. But he doesn't come anywhere near that level of consistent impact. It's probably unfair to compare him to one of the smartest defensive minds ever (who also doesn't have nearly the same offensive workload and responsibility), but I question his instincts and ability to see a step ahead. And you certainly don't feel AD like you do a Dray or Kawhi, even Gobert.

or even  a Javale McGee on D. 

[Dutchrudder 11151]

AD just needs to find a Batman so he can be Robin. I'm sure LBJ would happily oblige in LA.

[SilasCoade 2622]

2 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

You stepped outside the groupthink tank. Be prepared to be ridiculed. Most won't give any rebuttal as to why you are wrong. Just a bunch of juvenile name calling.

Aggie08 is usually the only one who will give any sort of breakdown in terms of rebuttal. Derka, too.

1. No one called him names.

2. It's not stepping outside of groupthink to say the earth is flat. Nor is it stepping outside of groupthink to basically say AD is the new Dwight Howard. It's just wrong. I can't remember ever reading a complaint from teammates about AD. How is he selfish?

3. The Pelicans have disappointed this year, no doubt. A combo of AD, Randle, Holiday, and Mirotic is a solid core. I don't see how you pin it all on AD though. They need to get better on defense and find someone to lead the second unit.

 

[hobbes2702 13073]

1 hour ago, NowThis said:

or even  a Javale McGee on D. 

Lol wut?

[NowThis 931]

55 minutes ago, Llogg said:

1. No one called him names.

2. It's not stepping outside of groupthink to say the earth is flat. Nor is it stepping outside of groupthink to basically say AD is the new Dwight Howard. It's just wrong. I can't remember ever reading a complaint from teammates about AD. How is he selfish?

3. The Pelicans have disappointed this year, no doubt. A combo of AD, Randle, Holiday, and Mirotic is a solid core. I don't see how you pin it all on AD though. They need to get better on defense and find someone to lead the second unit.

 

nobody said AD is the new D. Howard or the Earth is flat. 

[SilasCoade 2622]

20 minutes ago, NowThis said:

nobody said AD is the new D. Howard or the Earth is flat. 

Quote

AD puts up major number sometimes, but isn't a championship value. Very overpaid, just split the money among 2 or 3 more reliable, hungrier and unselfish team oriented ballers. 

That shit is an exact description of Dwight Howard in his prime. Overpaid, selfish, unreliable player without a chance of bringing a team up to championship level despite putting up impressive numbers at times. Maybe you're just exaggerating your distaste for AD. That's cool. Hyperbole drives the internet. If your statement was sincere you are simply wrong.

[NowThis 931]

39 minutes ago, Llogg said:

That shit is an exact description of Dwight Howard in his prime. Overpaid, selfish, unreliable player without a chance of bringing a team up to championship level despite putting up impressive numbers at times. Maybe you're just exaggerating your distaste for AD. That's cool. Hyperbole drives the internet. If your statement was sincere you are simply wrong.

to be exact, i never even had D Howard in my thoughts regarding AD, so no need to go in that direction. I've somewhat reconsidered my position on him after reviewing his numbers this year - but despite the 29/13/4/2/2 he just doesn't seem to give 100% very routinely which is very bothersome to me. One thing from years ago that i will never forget: I'm  a Rockets fan, not Spurs, but once Tim Duncan extended his hand to AD after AD fell into the stand and was walking back to the court -- AD just walked past Tim D in a very asshole douche move. That's when i lost respect for him as a person, plus he's ugly as hell, and he just seems very lazy and selfish. With his talents, he should be carrying the team just like Greek, Harden, Bron, KL or prime Steph, so I'll never put him with those 5 ever. 

[d2o 1602]

wow

[aggie08 21531]

AD sucks because he's a mean ol' poopoo head. Got it.

[d2o 1602]

4 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

AD sucks because he's a mean ol' poopoo head. Got it.

He didnt let Timmy help him up..................................and he's ugly too.   dafuq???

Edited January 20, 2019 by d2o

[CBT 1285]

Fun MLK lineup.

Future MVPs Luka and Giannis

Current MVP Harden faces the 76ers

super-overated will never win an another game much less an MVP AD versus the Grizz (ok this one isn't that great)

Past MVPs Steph and KD face Kyle Kuzma

[ztejas 43537]

23 hours ago, NowThis said:

AD doesn't play hard a lot, doesn't seem to give a shit about teammates, plays with no passion and isn't a leader. 

I get dissenting opinions but this is absolute baloney. You have nothing to back this up besides conjecture.

Ironically enough I would have agreed with some of this prior to last season's playoffs and this season, but currently AD is the only thing keeping the Pelicans from being a bottom dweller. He is leading the league in PER and WS - putting up 29/13/4 (all with some change) 2.6 blocks and 1.7 steals per game on close to .600 TS%. He has almost doubled his previous career AST% this season while posting his lowest TOV% in 4 years. 

Jrue and Randle are nice pieces but they aren't good enough to contend in the West. You simply can't build a contending team in the current iteration of the NBA around one superstar. Harden is doing his damnedest to prove that wrong but there's no way he keeps it up throughout the rest of the season and into the playoffs. Giannis is a force of nature but has a much better roster around him than AD and his team plays an easier schedule. 

I don't understand what you think AD isn't doing right now that he should be. What player in the league could you replace him with and have the Pelicans be anything better than a 1st round exit? 

22 hours ago, aggie08 said:

AD is in the DPOY conversation seemingly every year, but I question his impact on team defense.

21 hours ago, NowThis said:

or even  a Javale McGee on D. 

JFC you two. I don't know if he's as good (and when I say good I probably mean as versatile) as Kawhi or Draymond or Gobert on defense but you cannot question his impact. 2.6 blocks and 1.7 steals per game. That is Hakeem, Ben Wallace level shit. 

 

[aggie08 21531]

9 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I don't know if he's as good (and when I say good I probably mean as versatile) as Kawhi or Draymond or Gobert on defense but you cannot question his impact. 2.6 blocks and 1.7 steals per game. That is Hakeem, Ben Wallace level shit. 

And they're still 27th in defense. I have no argument that he's one of the 10, probably 5, best individual defensive talents in the sport. But when you want to be in conversation as the best, nits must be picked. Other guys seem to have a greater team-wide effect.

Again, admittedly unfair because those other guys don't have nearly the same game-to-game burden.

[Dutchrudder 11151]

Per Woj:

The Houston Rockets have agreed to trade Carmelo Anthony and cash to the Chicago Bulls, league sources tell ESPN.

@wojespn

The NBA office will not execute the trade today because it's a holiday, league sources tell ESPN. To clear the way for Kenneth Faried to sign and play tonight in Philadelphia, Rockets had to waive to James Nunnally. Trade call on 'Melo will likely be Tuesday.

 

This is the roster spot needed to sign Faried the Manimal!

Edited January 21, 2019 by Dutchrudder

[Machinator 32099]

 

[Machinator 32099]

 

[Dr Fear 1268]

4 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

Per Woj:

The Houston Rockets have agreed to trade Carmelo Anthony and cash to the Chicago Bulls, league sources tell ESPN.

 

This is the roster spot needed to sign Faried the Manimal!

Carmelo's base salary with the Rockets is only $2.4 million and they STILL had to throw cash into the deal.

[Machinator 32099]

 

[Dutchrudder 11151]

1 minute ago, Dr Fear said:

Carmelo's base salary with the Rockets is only $2.4 million and they STILL had to throw cash into the deal.

It's actually 1.5m for cap purposes. The Rockets are covering the cost for Chicago to buy him out. That cash does not hit the cap or luxury taxes, so it saves the rockets a couple million in taxes.  

[Dr Fear 1268]

1 minute ago, Dutchrudder said:

It's actually 1.5m for cap purposes. The Rockets are covering the cost for Chicago to buy him out. That cash does not hit the cap or luxury taxes, so it saves the rockets a couple million in taxes.  

The NBA Salary Cap is so complicatedly strange.

[Dutchrudder 11151]

1 minute ago, Dr Fear said:

The NBA Salary Cap is so complicatedly strange.

They do it like that so that when a player is a veteran, they can get a "fair" price for years of service, but still be competitive with younger players as far as cost goes. The NBA League office picks up the additional cost above the 1.5m, and it doesn't count against the cap. 

[ztejas 43537]

5 hours ago, aggie08 said:

And they're still 27th in defense. I have no argument that he's one of the 10, probably 5, best individual defensive talents in the sport. But when you want to be in conversation as the best, nits must be picked. Other guys seem to have a greater team-wide effect.

Again, admittedly unfair because those other guys don't have nearly the same game-to-game burden.

I didn't mean to take what you said out of context - you can definitely question whether he's making his teammates better defenders or not (which the GOAT defenders did/do).

Pretty sure when you break down his on/off splits the Pels have always been pretty good on D with him on the floor and pretty awful on D when he sits.

[ztejas 43537]

This Ws team is just disgusting to watch. I mean I'm watching it live in front of me and still can't beleive it's a real thing.

They are going to fucking roll everyone. They might not lose a game until April.

[aggie08 21531]

So, yeah...Klay's back.

[aggie08 21531]

good god

[aggie08 21531]

17/19 shooting, 10/10 on threes through 32 minutes.

[aggie08 21531]

Welcome to meme life, Steph. Slips going up for a wide open dunk, immediately goes out to behind the arc...air balls. That'll make the rounds.

[Patrick Bateman 3932]

When's Lebron get back?  This weekend?  The Lakers may only be a game above .500 by then..... with a nasty 6 game road trip going into the ASB.

 

[Goo Punch 4275]

21 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

When's Lebron get back?  This weekend?  The Lakers may only be a game above .500 by then..... with a nasty 6 game road trip going into the ASB.

 

good. they should tank for Zion.

[Patrick Bateman 3932]

5 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

good. they should tank for Zion.

Well, that's not gonna happen..... I guess they could get lottery lucky if they don't make the playoffs but it won't be because they tanked.  Knicks have a good shot at Zion though.

 

[Patrick Bateman 3932]

We like you.... just not better than anyone on our roster.  But if someone gets hurt!!!!  You're our guy.

 

[Chad 1728]

Anyone that wasn't a Rockets fan knew that Melo was going to flop after the OKC debacle (That was totally on Russ and PG). Talking about a roller coaster decline dating back to last season, it wasn't even gradual. I was never a fan of Melo, he was nothing more than a ball stops here volume shooter with a shitty attitude who failed to win anything of significance during his NBA career. Last season was a clear indication he was washed up, I'll be surprised if any teams bother kicking the tires on that bum. 

[aggie08 21531]

6 hours ago, Patrick Bateman said:

We like you.... just not better than anyone on our roster.  But if someone gets hurt!!!!  You're our guy.

 

Every single time Melo becomes available, it "slips" out that whatever team LeBron is on is interested, with nothing ever actually happening.

Just a friend doing a friend a solid to try to drive up interest...without actually having to play with him.

[d2o 1602]

Just now, aggie08 said:

Every single time Melo becomes available, it "slips" out that whatever team LeBron is on is interested, with nothing ever actually happening.

Just a friend doing a friend a solid to try to drive up interest...without actually having to play with him.

Sometimes its not good to work with your friends.   Similar to working with a spouse.   Bron found that out in the 2nd go round with Wade.   Doubt he makes the same mistake with Melo.   Unless Melo just wants to go along for the ride at the end of the bench.