Not sure whether to laugh or cry at that comp
Svi for 3 will become a moniker this season though. I'm convinced the FO didn't sign any 'shooters' in FA because we already possess them or drafted for them in Kuzma, KCP, Ingram, Svi and Wagner.
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2018-19 NBA Thread
- Thread starter Celticpride
- Start date
Svi for 3 will become a moniker this season though. I'm convinced the FO didn't sign any 'shooters' in FA because we already possess them or drafted for them in Kuzma, KCP, Ingram, Svi and Wagner.
Josh Hart is too good to be playing in Summer League (though we were without Wagner and CarusGOD), and Mykhailiuk is a stud. I've watched Devin Ebanks and Derrick Caracter tear up the SL and then turn out to be garbage, so I've been wary about SL performances ever since. That said, the curve should be less steep for a guy like Mykhailiuk who's primarily a shooter. As long as Luke can steal some GSW plays to get him open in the Finals regular season, we have great passers in Lonzo/LeBron/Rondo and an above-average playmaker in Ingram who'll get him good looks all day long.
Insanely huge gamble on Masai'd part, acquiring Kahwi
I think it's more likely to work out than people think though. Essentially the deal is won or lost based on if we can get Kahwi to re-sign. Psychologically inertia is hard to break, once he's here he's a lot more likely to stay. Have to think too that if he has a positive experience in Toronto as compared to SA that reflects favorably.
The big unknown is the uncle Dennis factor, from all I've heard his group has been the primary force pushing Kahwi to LA, I think our front office is betting that they can sell Kahwi's camp on Toronto giving Kahwi everything he was looking for in LA - which as a TO native you come pretty dang close to.
Huge gamble on a move that makes us better in the short run. Cost is high but if we can keep him we just picked up a true superstar for the future as well.
I think it's more likely to work out than people think though. Essentially the deal is won or lost based on if we can get Kahwi to re-sign. Psychologically inertia is hard to break, once he's here he's a lot more likely to stay. Have to think too that if he has a positive experience in Toronto as compared to SA that reflects favorably.
The big unknown is the uncle Dennis factor, from all I've heard his group has been the primary force pushing Kahwi to LA, I think our front office is betting that they can sell Kahwi's camp on Toronto giving Kahwi everything he was looking for in LA - which as a TO native you come pretty dang close to.
Huge gamble on a move that makes us better in the short run. Cost is high but if we can keep him we just picked up a true superstar for the future as well.
What a steal for the Raptors. Amazing trade to dump that DeRozan contract with $83m left while only giving up Jakob Petilil and a 2019 first rounder protected 1-20, not even the lottery (which is irrelevant tbh because the Raps won't be a lottery team). At best they get Kawhi to re-sign, at the worst they cleared a ton of cap space since they got Danny Green too. Their defense will improve significantly just by not having DeRozan, but they added Green who has one of the highest DRPM at his position for a few years running.
The Spurs bluffed and overplayed their hand with those "still confident they can amend the relationship with Kawhi" and "he's still eligible for $221m supermax" leaks, as if they're oblivious to the fact that everyone was staring at their hand the entire time. They wanted two players (presumably Saric and Covington) plus three picks from Philly; Kuz, Ingram, Hart and two picks from the Big Ballers lmao only to end up with DeRozan, Petilil and a late first rounder (or two seconds).
Nobody is happier than me that the "Spurs are a model franchise" narrative can finally be buried. I've doubted Ujiri in the past but he deserves all the praise there is for this.
The Spurs bluffed and overplayed their hand with those "still confident they can amend the relationship with Kawhi" and "he's still eligible for $221m supermax" leaks, as if they're oblivious to the fact that everyone was staring at their hand the entire time. They wanted two players (presumably Saric and Covington) plus three picks from Philly; Kuz, Ingram, Hart and two picks from the Big Ballers lmao only to end up with DeRozan, Petilil and a late first rounder (or two seconds).
Nobody is happier than me that the "Spurs are a model franchise" narrative can finally be buried. I've doubted Ujiri in the past but he deserves all the praise there is for this.
Love the deal on paper; just slightly concerned about how upset the major players reportedly are. Kawhi is too professional to turn into Markieff Morris when he wanted out of Phoenix, right? I guess I don’t have anything to worry about with DeRozan, but I do feel kind of bad for him. Haven’t heard anything about Lowry’s reaction yet.
Kawhi will want to at least prove that he can still play to get paid next summer. He knows he can't afford to tank his value. Part of me is curious as to whether Masai wants to flip him at the deadline, though if he does, then he won't get much in return.
It's ridiculous that players (looking at DeMarre Carroll, Terrence Ross, Lou Williams) still react to players being traded. As much as I hate the Celtics and Danny Ainge, I give him credit for being ruthless. You think he blinked twice when he traded the core that won Boston its first title in two decades? You think he cared about trading a player who played through a serious back injury and the loss of his sister in the playoffs? There's no room for emotions if you want to win as a franchise, and his disregard for loyalty doesn't stop players from wanting to play in Boston because guess what, Boston has shown a commitment to winning these past few years, and that's what players care about. That said, do I think it was wrong of the Raptors to tell DeRozan they weren't trading him only to ship him out a few days later? Yes. These talks have been ongoing for 2 weeks. At some point his name must've popped up. Do I think DeRozan needs to man up instead of asking management for assurance they won't trade him? Yes, how insecure can you get?
If Lowry is upset at management and wants out too, even better, icing on the cake for a Raptors team wanting to clear out salary.
It's ridiculous that players (looking at DeMarre Carroll, Terrence Ross, Lou Williams) still react to players being traded. As much as I hate the Celtics and Danny Ainge, I give him credit for being ruthless. You think he blinked twice when he traded the core that won Boston its first title in two decades? You think he cared about trading a player who played through a serious back injury and the loss of his sister in the playoffs? There's no room for emotions if you want to win as a franchise, and his disregard for loyalty doesn't stop players from wanting to play in Boston because guess what, Boston has shown a commitment to winning these past few years, and that's what players care about. That said, do I think it was wrong of the Raptors to tell DeRozan they weren't trading him only to ship him out a few days later? Yes. These talks have been ongoing for 2 weeks. At some point his name must've popped up. Do I think DeRozan needs to man up instead of asking management for assurance they won't trade him? Yes, how insecure can you get?
If Lowry is upset at management and wants out too, even better, icing on the cake for a Raptors team wanting to clear out salary.
Yeah, fair enough. And some of those guys who used to play for Toronto (Carroll is a good example, Patrick Patterson is another) were already known to be salty for whatever reasons anyway.
You're right about how a front office needs to behave, and I don't feel bad enough for DeRozan to want them not to have traded him. I definitely think it was the right move. But I'm not Masai; I'm just a fan who watches these guys play and can have some room for emotions. There are plenty of people getting carried away though; I took a look at some Raptors social media after that first post and the comments were seriously polarized.
As for Lowry, you must already know that I'm holding onto some small amount of hope that the Raptors can contend for a title this upcoming season. If they actually manage to do that, Lowry should still be an important part of it. What happens to him after that is a different question.
You're right about how a front office needs to behave, and I don't feel bad enough for DeRozan to want them not to have traded him. I definitely think it was the right move. But I'm not Masai; I'm just a fan who watches these guys play and can have some room for emotions. There are plenty of people getting carried away though; I took a look at some Raptors social media after that first post and the comments were seriously polarized.
As for Lowry, you must already know that I'm holding onto some small amount of hope that the Raptors can contend for a title this upcoming season. If they actually manage to do that, Lowry should still be an important part of it. What happens to him after that is a different question.
As a fan I get that you can get emotionally attached to players, and every fan is different, but I'm a Lakers fan first and foremost. I went through the same with Shaq, Pau, and Lamar, though Shaq's situation was different because he was legit clashing with Kobe. For the team to succeed, I understood that Pau and Lamar had to go (and eventually Bynum too) for Chris Paul. Nevertheless, it's a different situation for fans and players/management, and as players they must understand that. It sucks for DeRozan that it happened, but he gets to play for Popovich. Kudos to the Spurs for committing to the midrange game between LaMarcus and DeMar, too.
Some Raptors fans I know were really against the idea of trading DeRozan for Kawhi, but after they learned about the rest of the deal (i.e. Danny Green, Poeltl, the heavily-protected first rounder), they changed their minds on it. It became difficult for them to argue that it was a bad deal from a basketball perspective.
I think Ujiri might have gotten the feeling that he was on a timer and had to take a huge risk. There was hardly any flexibility on that payroll for the next few years and he did what he had to do, kudos to him.
I have to say, though, as a Lakers fan I'm excited to see how well Kawhi can still play after basically a year off. Thanks to Ujiri for giving him that season-long tryout period for us.
Some Raptors fans I know were really against the idea of trading DeRozan for Kawhi, but after they learned about the rest of the deal (i.e. Danny Green, Poeltl, the heavily-protected first rounder), they changed their minds on it. It became difficult for them to argue that it was a bad deal from a basketball perspective.
I think Ujiri might have gotten the feeling that he was on a timer and had to take a huge risk. There was hardly any flexibility on that payroll for the next few years and he did what he had to do, kudos to him.
I have to say, though, as a Lakers fan I'm excited to see how well Kawhi can still play after basically a year off. Thanks to Ujiri for giving him that season-long tryout period for us.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the Meme Team.
PG: Lonzo Ball, Rajon Rondo, Isaac Bonga, Alex Caruso (2-way)
SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Josh Hart, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk
SF: Brandon Ingram, Lance Stephenson, Luol Deng
PF: LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, Michael Beasley
C: JaVale McGee, Ivica Zubac, Moritz Wagner
At this point we have to bring Swaggy P back, right?
Naturally, Hart can shift to SF, Ingram can shift to PG/SG, Lance can shift to SG, Bron can go PF/C as well, Kuzma can play SF.
PG: Lonzo Ball, Rajon Rondo, Isaac Bonga, Alex Caruso (2-way)
SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Josh Hart, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk
SF: Brandon Ingram, Lance Stephenson, Luol Deng
PF: LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, Michael Beasley
C: JaVale McGee, Ivica Zubac, Moritz Wagner
At this point we have to bring Swaggy P back, right?
Naturally, Hart can shift to SF, Ingram can shift to PG/SG, Lance can shift to SG, Bron can go PF/C as well, Kuzma can play SF.
I'm ok with our 1-year rentals but we overpaid like crazy for KCP and rondo. Hart should be starting over pope or at least get the majority of the SG mins. Yeah sure he's a klutch sports guy but we already gave him a massive overpay (JJ Reddick $) last season. He can come off the bench for cheap or gtfo after this season.
As for Rondo, I understand why he is valuable but 9mil!? Who else was even offering him the MLE? The competition will be good for Zo but that's still a big overpay.
As for Rondo, I understand why he is valuable but 9mil!? Who else was even offering him the MLE? The competition will be good for Zo but that's still a big overpay.
Playoff Rondo is a thing brah.
Memes and playoff buff
Interested to see a Rondo and Boogie-less Davis and NOLA, one of the more interesting stories going into the season imo
Despite all the complaints about Warriors ruining the NBA etc. this season, like last season is shaping up to be quite exciting. Once again, there are multiple interesting storylines to play out that I'll be keeping a watch on despite yes, the overwhelming likelyhood the Warriors will win. Houston... will Melo get benched? Will he make the team worse by being on the court? Or will D'Antoni be able to make it work. Portland, I'm just a Curry lover <3 Lakers obviously, how will the team work, LeBron with a lack of shooters, is he transitioning his style of play to more off the ball? How will Kuzma and Ball develop? OKC, without Melo, will they improve or not? Have they become a legit top 4 team? Utah, Donovan Mitchell, need I say more? How well will DeRozan fit in with the Spurs, will they be a genuine playoff threat? How well will Davis play without Boogie and Rondo? Out East, how will Kyrie and Hayward re-integrate themselves into a Celtics team that has already proven to be the favourites out East? Does Simmons expand his game, does he get a jumpshot? How much will Philly challenge Boston? Speaking of challengers, how will the Raptors do with Kawhi, do they make the conference finals, or further? Does Kawhi go to LA or can he be sold on Toronto? Looking forward to seeing further development of players such as Oladipo, Antetokounmpo. And of course, I'll be following the rookies keenly too, especially Young, Doncic, Ayton.
shoutout to my boy here for putting this into words, mad respect
Now that I'm out of my 2nd departure year of LeBron leaving my cavs funk is over. (Congrats Laker fans, you got a real one. Bright future for you guys!) I wanna talk about an interesting team out in the west that often gets overlooked a bit on how poorly they went, that being Minnesota Timberwolves. Ohhh boy, are they in an awkward situation at the moment. Lets talk about the stuff we know about them currently. First, I think coming into the 17-18 season we had huge expectation from the young core in Karl-Anthony Towns & Andrew Wiggins, w/ the former coming out his sophomore season and the ladder coming out his 3rd year; and with the addition Jimmy Butler & a couple of noticeable free agent signings & trades made in Jamal Crawford, Jeff Teague etc. They were seen as 'true' title contenders alongside the Warriors, Rockets, Cavaliers, Thunder, Celtics, and the Spurs. However, that expectation didn't happen.
Mainly, due to the fact people sort of overhyped Jimmy Butler when he was implemented onto roster. People saw him as the person who can single handlely put them into title contenders; while they were only borderline contenders at the time like Pelicans and 76ers. I also found that KAT is also tad bit overrated when he's on the court; what I mean by this is that is, while his offensive game is amazing; I find his defensive game 'mediocre' at best. I viewed him before the 17-18 season as an easy top ten player in the league and saw him as the best player on the team w/ Jimmy Butler. Now I find Jimmy Buckets as the leader of the squad (IMO) and have a hard time placing him in the top ten; especially after the playoffs. Now for Wiggins; before the season there were questioning in his style of play, whether he was actually a star or just putting up empty stats on a bad team like MCW. As for me? I legit thought he was a star on a bad team and they just didn't have a roster built for the playoffs. Yeah there was in need of improvement in his playmaking and defense; but you know that happens with a lot of young players. So l saw it as a kind of thing he could work on during the off-season. I also somewhat kind of supported the contract he was given at the time. I was like, "What could go wrong, besides a major injury happening?" Well remember me mentioning him putting up empty stats on a bad team and in need of improving his defense and playmaking? Well.. you kind of know where i'm trying getting at, so i'll save myself the writing and tell you that he made more FGA than KAT & Jimmy Buckets. Why? Because of the OVERRATED, HOT garbage of a coach in Tom Thibodeau. (But I'll get to him very soon.) Any who, I only see Wiggins as only a scorer and just that. But, I guess there's a chance he could improve in the future. (Keep in mind, he's heading into his fifth season!) And by the sound of things, Jimmy Butler ain't to happy with either KAT or Wiggins work ethic, so that's not really a good sign.
Now on to Tom Thibodaeu, I always despise his style of play always making the starters put on the heavy workload. It's probably why Jamal Crawford left that team. It also led to Drose and Joakim Noah having terrible injuries. The former shouldn't even have been on the court at the time. (smh) That fate almost got to Jimmy Buckets during the regular season but ending up as a meniscus injury. I honestly think he should be fired. He obviously doesn't know how to utilized a bench at all, he decided it was OK to have Wiggins lead the team FGA when he's the third best player on that squad. I just don't buy into his coaching at all, kind of like Billy Donvan and the legendary coach in Ty lue.
Now, this comes back onto one person.. the GM. If they would've not sign Tom Thibodeau (a win now coach) to a five year contract and kept their 2017 first pick (Which was probably still going to be Lauri Markkanen), Zach Lavine and Kris Dunn. They would've set for years and can slowly progress without being rushed. But impatience got the best of them.. Thanks for reading!
Mainly, due to the fact people sort of overhyped Jimmy Butler when he was implemented onto roster. People saw him as the person who can single handlely put them into title contenders; while they were only borderline contenders at the time like Pelicans and 76ers. I also found that KAT is also tad bit overrated when he's on the court; what I mean by this is that is, while his offensive game is amazing; I find his defensive game 'mediocre' at best. I viewed him before the 17-18 season as an easy top ten player in the league and saw him as the best player on the team w/ Jimmy Butler. Now I find Jimmy Buckets as the leader of the squad (IMO) and have a hard time placing him in the top ten; especially after the playoffs. Now for Wiggins; before the season there were questioning in his style of play, whether he was actually a star or just putting up empty stats on a bad team like MCW. As for me? I legit thought he was a star on a bad team and they just didn't have a roster built for the playoffs. Yeah there was in need of improvement in his playmaking and defense; but you know that happens with a lot of young players. So l saw it as a kind of thing he could work on during the off-season. I also somewhat kind of supported the contract he was given at the time. I was like, "What could go wrong, besides a major injury happening?" Well remember me mentioning him putting up empty stats on a bad team and in need of improving his defense and playmaking? Well.. you kind of know where i'm trying getting at, so i'll save myself the writing and tell you that he made more FGA than KAT & Jimmy Buckets. Why? Because of the OVERRATED, HOT garbage of a coach in Tom Thibodeau. (But I'll get to him very soon.) Any who, I only see Wiggins as only a scorer and just that. But, I guess there's a chance he could improve in the future. (Keep in mind, he's heading into his fifth season!) And by the sound of things, Jimmy Butler ain't to happy with either KAT or Wiggins work ethic, so that's not really a good sign.
Now on to Tom Thibodaeu, I always despise his style of play always making the starters put on the heavy workload. It's probably why Jamal Crawford left that team. It also led to Drose and Joakim Noah having terrible injuries. The former shouldn't even have been on the court at the time. (smh) That fate almost got to Jimmy Buckets during the regular season but ending up as a meniscus injury. I honestly think he should be fired. He obviously doesn't know how to utilized a bench at all, he decided it was OK to have Wiggins lead the team FGA when he's the third best player on that squad. I just don't buy into his coaching at all, kind of like Billy Donvan and the legendary coach in Ty lue.
Now, this comes back onto one person.. the GM. If they would've not sign Tom Thibodeau (a win now coach) to a five year contract and kept their 2017 first pick (Which was probably still going to be Lauri Markkanen), Zach Lavine and Kris Dunn. They would've set for years and can slowly progress without being rushed. But impatience got the best of them.. Thanks for reading!
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I have no respect for Andrew Wiggins. Dude has been the same since coming into the league. It seems like he just has zero work ethic and desire to get better. Even dumber of Glen Taylor to give him that max contract way early on. Look at the deals that have been given out to free agents this season, and especially that draft class. Andrew Wiggins after his play last season would never have gotten a max deal from any team. What a disastrous franchise.
EDIT:
For reference, the deals that each of the top ten picks in 2014 got:
1. Andrew Wiggins: $146.5M, 5 years
2. Jabari Parker: $40M, 2 yrs, team option year 2
3. Joel Embiid: $148M, 5 years
4. Aaron Gordon: $84M, 4 years
5. Dante Exum: $33M, 3 years
6. Marcus Smart: $52M, 4 years
7. Julius Randle: $18M, 2 years
8. Nik Stauskas: $1.6M, 1 year
9. Noah Vonleh: $?, 1 year partially guaranteed
10. Elfrid Payton: $2.7M, 1 year
EDIT:
For reference, the deals that each of the top ten picks in 2014 got:
1. Andrew Wiggins: $146.5M, 5 years
2. Jabari Parker: $40M, 2 yrs, team option year 2
3. Joel Embiid: $148M, 5 years
4. Aaron Gordon: $84M, 4 years
5. Dante Exum: $33M, 3 years
6. Marcus Smart: $52M, 4 years
7. Julius Randle: $18M, 2 years
8. Nik Stauskas: $1.6M, 1 year
9. Noah Vonleh: $?, 1 year partially guaranteed
10. Elfrid Payton: $2.7M, 1 year
I feel bad for the Minnesota fans but not the team. FO/ownership has been dumb as hell for decades. The Joe Smith scandal ruined their chance at contention with KG. Then you had the Kahn gm years... and now they finally had a young core to build into the future and they hire the worst coach and overpay the worst of the young players.
But hey, if thibs runs Jimmy into the ground this season, maybe the Lakers can get him for cheaper when he bolts next summer
But hey, if thibs runs Jimmy into the ground this season, maybe the Lakers can get him for cheaper when he bolts next summer
I'm not sure I want someone who has played for Thibs for that long, though.
Ideally it would be three years with a team option for the last year. So he can leave when lebron does it it doesn't work out
naw Bron would've bought them matching suits.
$1m custom alligator skin suits