NBA 23/24:season

eagle eye

Can the Nuggets repeat? Will Jokic get the MVP this year? What team will fail to live up to expectations?

Many, many questions to be answered.

Osmosis Jones

Miles Bridges arrested again, this time for a warrant that's been out on him since January, Hornets saying they weren't aware of this warrant.

This came literally one hour after they waived Kai Jones, who (speculation) seems to be going through some sort of mental episode these past couple weeks.

Corvo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121227166#Comment_121227166

Feel really bad for Kai Jones. Obviously a lot of promise but the fact he may not have access to care / guidance / healthcare without the franchise pushing him into it makes me worried. Out on his own, god knows how he will end up.

Miles Bridges of course can go f*ck himself

ButtersSuki

Dallas lose to Luka’s firmer Euroleague team Real Madrid. I know it’s a friendly, but still…they look like they’re going to have a really bad year and the season hasn’t even started.

irishguitarlad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231142#Comment_121231142

I'd pay no attention to that friendly to be honest, both teams used about 17 players and it had the intensity of an all star game.

ButtersSuki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231571#Comment_121231571

You’re forgetting the fact of pride and not wanting to lose to a non-NBA team, how Dallas finished last season, the clock ticking on Luka etc.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231142#Comment_121231142

It's very hard to gauge how they'll do. They've two rookies with potential and if they got goung straight out of the blocks they could be a very serious outfit. They've made a few good depth signings too, Grant Williams being one of them.

ButtersSuki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231658#Comment_121231658

My own feelings on Dallas (and I say this as a huge Luka fab) is they're incredibly ill-balanced and top heavy. Given how strong the West is I see their best hope is to make the Play In positions 6-10, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they don't even do that. I know from listening to my usual podcasts a lot of people are very down on them this year after sh*tting the bed last year. I know they tanked towards the end of the season but going from a WCF to not making the Play Offs is a very bad sign.

If they don't start showing Luka they can win we know how the story goes.......

Corvo

Bill Simmons really pushing OKC to finish 4th in the West. Think that's crazy to be honest, despite their obvious potential.

And that's before a possible Harden to Clippers trade.

Osmosis Jones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121232181#Comment_121232181

Yeah I'd have OKC as a low seed playoff/play-in team, somewhere in the 6-9 range. The league is just so loaded with talent right now.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121231771#Comment_121231771

I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just saying that if their two first round picks work out and hit the ground running it'll make a huge difference to them. A center and a small/power forward tweener is where they need help.

Corvo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121232737#Comment_121232737

Yep, I mean your obvious ones being - Denver, Phoenix, Golden State, Sacremento, Lakers, Clippers and if Zion is fit (LOL) New Orleans. That's a lot of talent swipe away unless the arse falls out of someone (Phoenix and/or Lakers, Clippers)

johnnyk29

My top 8 in order in the east and west would be

1.Celtics

2 Bucks

3.Cleveland

4.Sixers

5.Toronto

6. Miami

7.Atlanta

8. Brooklyn

West

1. Lakers

2.Kings

3.Nuggets

4.Phoenix

5. Warriors

6. Clippers

7. New Orleans

8 Rockets

I think the Nuggets need to add at least 2 bench rotation players. Bench looks very light. Suns and Warriors will need to time to figure out how to use Beal and Paul.

Rockets will be my surprise team of the year I think they might win 38 /40 games this year with their new coach and roster additions

ButtersSuki

Big move from Boston adding Jeff Van Gundy to the coaching roster. It seems it’s a more overarching role than a game day bench role, but it’s a good move nonetheless.

A good start to the week. Now if the Lakers hire Mark Jackson it would become a great week!

Corvo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121235589#Comment_121235589

I think Phoenix are going to absolutely blow everyone out of the park in the regular season before being beaten in the second round of the play offs by a semi competent locked in team.

So I think they will battle it out for the top spot with Denver

ButtersSuki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121244521#Comment_121244521

They could in theory but I’d imagine between injury, injury prevention, rest (even with the new protocols), and being in a very tough conference they’ll be Top 4 in the West, but not 1. What they’re more likely to do IMO is put the hurt on some teams some nights when the top 3 are clicking and absolutely blow them out of the water. Wouldn’t rule out nights with 3 players scoring 30+ each either (it’s happened before but is a rare enough thing).

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121244517#Comment_121244517

Do you think Joe Mazzulla will be happy with that?

I look at that move as hiring a ready made replacement in house if things aren't working out for Joe in the early going.

And things could be rough early on, it's like a completely different team with only Tatum, Brown, 37 year old Horford and Derrick White left from the players who got big minutes last year.

I can see this falling apart, I'm not saying it will but I don't like it.

They had a championship calibre roster, now it's into the big unknown again.

I'm honestly not looking forward to the season.

I'm expecting to see our former players enhance their new teams. The Trailblazers have Brogdon and Rob Williams. Nobody is even talking about them as playoff contenders. They have the two mentioned, above, drafted Scoot, and Kris Murray, to go with Ayton, Simons, Grant and a potential big improver this year in Sharp.

Then you've got the one that really hurt me. He took over as my favourite player once Paul Pierce retired. His name gives him away, he's a really smart player, yes Marcus. Why do you trade away a fan favourite who'd been here for the whole nine years of his professional career?

There's a little part of me that wants these changes to fail.

Watch Smart improve the Grizzlies.

ButtersSuki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121244705#Comment_121244705

I think he will yes, because the alternative is to lose your job.

I don't blame him for last year as much as others do. He was catapulted into a head coach job less than a week before the start of the season after the whole sh*t show with Udoka so I think he needs to be cut a lot of slack. If they were going to fire him, they'd have done it in the pre-season and given a new coach the pre-season to work with. I am absolutely not a fan of changing coaches mid-season. And I don't think SVG wants a full time coaching job. If they wanted to replace Mazzulla, then Stevens would be the ideal candidate. You'd hope all parties view it as a "brains trust collective" type arrangement, rather than a "my way or the highway" one.

As for the players who left looking better - of course they will! They'll all be getting more time than they did in Boston so naturally will look better and put up better stats. It happens with a lot of players who are traded.

Smart? Yes, it hurts, no question - I was a big fan - was since his Rookie Season (I even picked him for Rookie of the Year before the season started on here!). I'm still a little surprised they went there with him, but, looking at it from a cold business perspective, Holiday is an upgrade. And all that said, there's obviously no hard feelings on Smart's side as Grosbeck, Mazzulla, Stevens, Tatum etc. were all at his wedding. He also wasn't the first choice in. that trade, it would have been Brogdon if he hadn't failed/had questions asked in the medical.

That aside, not sure how Holiday would fir with Smart.

I wouldn't rule out Smart coming back to Boston at some stage either.

And Porzingis is looking very good in pre-season.

I genuinely think they'll be better.

pjohnson

The starting 5 is better definitely but depth has really took a hit and Horford being a likely starter isn't great, they'll need Gabriel, Mykhailuk, Banton et al to really make a big jump forward.

And letting Grant Williams walk looks terrible in hindsight. If they were always open to letting Rob Williams leave they shoulda kept Grant.

pjohnson

Mutual salary dump trade OKC offload Robinson-Earl and Oladipo to take and waive Kevin Porter (plus obligatory picks) from the Rockets.

Corvo

OKC now have 37 picks in the next 7 years.

37.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121244754#Comment_121244754

Porzingis is at best inconsistent.

Jrue is a very good player but if anything he's overrated by many. Exact opposite of Smart whose underestimated by a whole bunch of people.

I'd have Marcus over Jrue anyday. They are not the same type of player but your whole team is better organised when you have Marcus Smart.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121253100#Comment_121253100

That's insane. Over a period of three years they could draft a championship winning team with no salary cap issues.

ButtersSuki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121244809#Comment_121244809

Grant Williams played SFA last year, esp. in the playoffs. He was clearly out of favour there.

As for the bench, that will likely change mid way through the season. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. 🤷‍♂️

ButtersSuki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121255402#Comment_121255402

KP had his best year last year, and has started well. Is he consistent? For sure he can be, but that’s not a guarantee he will continue to be. Guys play differently playing for contenders than they do for teams with no chance. It’s wait and see.

Look I love Smart, but Holiday is a better player than him - at least right now. Marcus may be a better long term bet given the age difference but Boston are in win-now mode. If they win a title this year all is forgiven, and that’s really the bottom line. If they don’t, then sure, there’ll be criticism. But you’re never more than an injury away from losing it all, regardless of whatever roster you assemble.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121255490#Comment_121255490

Williams played a bunch against the Heat. His usage was in and out before then, I don't know why that was, maybe there was fitness issues or something. He played decent enough minutes in a couple of the games against the sixers but hardly played, if at all, in some other games.

ButtersSuki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121256903#Comment_121256903

He was also going to be too expensive with the contract. I understand it.

One thing he does have is size. He’s as wide as he is tall. With Horford aging like he is it might have be a loss but I’m sure they’re banking on replacing him at a cheaper cost.

There were allegedly lots of issues with him on and off court though (by off court I mean practice etc) as he apparently always wanted to have his say and had something to say across multiple coaches now. I understand why he’s gone.

Not sure if you saw that clip of him goofing around before of the pre season games and it cuts to Kyrie who’s giving it the roll eyes/wtf look? So it seems like he’s annoyed Kyrie already in Dallas….

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121257072#Comment_121257072

I wasn't too bothered about Williams going. I was just responding to what you were saying about him not being involved in the playoffs.

ButtersSuki

Embiid leaves Under Armor to sign with Skechers.

Cool.

🤣

Corvo

So Harden isn't turning up to scrimmages etc. Personal reasons :)

Bill Simmons made me laugh this morning saying Harden should go full anti-Philly. Criticise Rocky, cheesesteaks, Always Sunny...

ButtersSuki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121261768#Comment_121261768

That was mildly amusing. Whilst Rick Barry got away with that in Virginia many years ago, I wouldn’t be advising Harden to criticize a fan base like Philly’s……