NBA Regular Season & Playoffs 2018-19 Thread

leggo · 19-06-2019 7:01pm

Avery Scary Headache wrote: »

Possibly or high usage leads to Steph getting hurt again

To be fair, while that’s entirely possible, it’s also a bit unfair to assume too. He’s got to lower his minutes somewhat in recent years, true, but he’s hardly been on a LeBron regular season schedule either and managed to stay healthy. It’s similar to how Anthony Davis is considered injury prone but has stayed largely healthy the past couple of years.

Hitch2222 · 19-06-2019 8:04pm

Angliru wrote: »

Odds seem to be fluctuating between books, anyone see if a European book is offering odds? Hard to read and make a grasp of the American markets at times.

If I wanted a decent sweat I'd back someone like Jokic and maybe Towns. Embiid too perhaps who I hope starts taking things seriously again.

Cam Reddish for ROTY is one I'll be all over tbh as odds looks like they should be favourable.

They'd want to scandalous odds for ROY. My pick there is very easy, Michael Porter Jr. No1 projected 2 years ago, great scorer, a year in league which always helps as shown by Blake, Simmons & pretty much Embiid.
Excellent reports coming out of Denver.

I agree on Towns, a weakened WC could see TWolves make a move behind Town. Embiid issue obviously durability but on skillset definitely.

Porzingis is my out of left field pick. Doncic freeing up space, apparently he's 100% for months now with Mavs comfortable giving him the max.

After that based on what I've seen so far, nothing jumps out at me, plenty of guys who will be relatively short. Lillard maybe....

Hitch2222 · 19-06-2019 8:26pm

The Grizzles got a decent return for Mike Conley given his age and size of contract.

Jazz send Grayson Allen, Crowder, Korver, 23rd pick in draft and future 1st rounder.

Angliru · 19-06-2019 8:38pm

Hitch2222 wrote: »

They'd want to scandalous odds for ROY. My pick there is very easy, Michael Porter Jr. No1 projected 2 years ago, great scorer, a year in league which always helps as shown by Blake, Simmons & pretty much Embiid.
Excellent reports coming out of Denver.

I agree on Towns, a weakened WC could see TWolves make a move behind Town. Embiid issue obviously durability but on skillset definitely.

Porzingis is my out of left field pick. Doncic freeing up space, apparently he's 100% for months now with Mavs comfortable giving him the max.

After that based on what I've seen so far, nothing jumps out at me, plenty of guys who will be relatively short. Lillard maybe....

Porter is a shout but he recently developed drop foot so I'd be shocked if even plays next season. Don't think he'll ever play tbh.

Hopefully Porzingis kicks on and stays healthy. Really excited by him and Luka playing together.

Hitch2222 · 19-06-2019 8:48pm

Angliru wrote: »

Porter is a shout but he recently developed drop foot so I'd be shocked if even plays next season. Don't think he'll ever play tbh.

Hopefully Porzingis kicks on and stays healthy. Really excited by him and Luka playing together.

Fair enough, I wasnt aware he had been diagnosed with that. I know it usually signals other issues.

I think too early to say never play given even Embiid missed 2 years. Hopefully he can because the ability there but I remember watching that draft and waiting for him to get picked and thinking the doctor reports must have been very bad to go that low

Angliru · 19-06-2019 9:30pm

Hitch2222 wrote: »

Fair enough, I wasnt aware he had been diagnosed with that. I know it usually signals other issues.

I think too early to say never play given even Embiid missed 2 years. Hopefully he can because the ability there but I remember watching that draft and waiting for him to get picked and thinking the doctor reports must have been very bad to go that low

Yeah wasn't he projected like top 3 or something before injury? Damn shame, seems like his brother is plagued by injuries too and his sisters have had to retire due to injuries...one tore her ACL five times. Five! That is unheard of.

19-06-2019 10:23pm

leggo wrote: »

To be fair, while that’s entirely possible, it’s also a bit unfair to assume too. He’s got to lower his minutes somewhat in recent years, true, but he’s hardly been on a LeBron regular season schedule either and managed to stay healthy. It’s similar to how Anthony Davis is considered injury prone but has stayed largely healthy the past couple of years.

I dunno even in the finals when the load went heavily on him he started looking tired to me I'm very possibly being unfsir. I'm curious to see if I'm wrong

Gregk961 · 19-06-2019 10:44pm

Hitch2222 wrote: »

I know they're opening up the gaming market in the US but this seems like a rather odd manner to approach it

https://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/27007778/nba-launch-virtual-sports-betting-game

Not basketball related, but I was literally stunned by a figure in that article

"In the United Kingdom, £771.4 million was bet on virtual sports from April 2017 to May 2018"

That is insane.

Hitch2222 · 19-06-2019 10:59pm

Gregk961 wrote: »

Not basketball related, but I was literally stunned by a figure in that article

"In the United Kingdom, £771.4 million was bet on virtual sports from April 2017 to May 2018"

That is insane.

I had no specific figure in my head but any figure one would tell me had been gambled in a given domain wouldn't shock me at all at this stage.

Gambling companies prey on the vulnerable to a certain extent adjusting people's stake factor(multiple of punters max bet ie 1 means standard, 0.1 is 10% of standard and 4 is 400% standard).

On the topic of virtual gambling this is seen as shooting fish in a barrel. Someone starts hitting their max bet on virtuals and it's a quick bump in stake factor.

It's all quite pernicious behaviour, the bulk of punters dont fall beyond the standard but when they do, they put the squeeze on those who are hitting those max bets at bad prices

20-06-2019 12:20pm

What time does the draft kick off Irish time?

Gregk961 · 20-06-2019 3:01pm

Hitch2222 wrote: »

I had no specific figure in my head but any figure one would tell me had been gambled in a given domain wouldn't shock me at all at this stage.

Gambling companies prey on the vulnerable to a certain extent adjusting people's stake factor(multiple of punters max bet ie 1 means standard, 0.1 is 10% of standard and 4 is 400% standard).

On the topic of virtual gambling this is seen as shooting fish in a barrel. Someone starts hitting their max bet on virtuals and it's a quick bump in stake factor.

It's all quite pernicious behaviour, the bulk of punters dont fall beyond the standard but when they do, they put the squeeze on those who are hitting those max bets at bad prices

Oh yes I'm fully aware of bookies practices involving limiting punters etc. Just amazed that such a vast quantity of cash is thrown at virtual racing. I worked in a betting shop years ago and virtual racing, in my experience(Ireland 2014-15) was reserved 90%+ to problem gamblers.

Anyway apologies for the off-topic chat, I was just taken aback by that article!

For Forks Sake · 20-06-2019 3:57pm

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1141688710666346498

Celtics letting Baynes walk as well, you'd hope that this is part of a plan by Ainge to either (a) free up cash to have a last-minute go at offering Horford a better deal or (b) making room to have a run at someone (Vucevic / Cousins/ someone else), or they're going to have a large hole in the centre of that roster...

For Forks Sake · 20-06-2019 6:40pm

Avery Scary Headache wrote: »

What time does the draft kick off Irish time?

Around midnight I think, but there is a lot of filler

Osmosis Jones · 20-06-2019 8:02pm

All the usual media heads tweeting about there being a lot of trade activity expected during the trade, I'm willing to bet there'll be a couple small trades at most, just trying to hype it up for views.

Hitch2222 · 20-06-2019 8:57pm

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

All the usual media heads tweeting about there being a lot of trade activity expected during the trade, I'm willing to bet there'll be a couple small trades at most, just trying to hype it up for views.

Yeah definitely, Top 3 looks certain. Biggest moves will be Pelicans moving 4 for Bradley Beal or whoever else they're linked with or Hawks packaging their two lottery picks.

Legion. · 20-06-2019 11:04pm

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1141827686836375553

David Griffin is a wizard

For Forks Sake · 20-06-2019 11:23pm

Legion. wrote: »

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1141827686836375553

David Griffin is a wizard

Just saw this, some pieces of horsetrading:

Anthony Davis has turned into:

- Zion Williamson
- Lonzo Ball
- Brandon Ingram
- Josh Hart
- No. 8 pick in 19
- No. 17 pick in 19
- No. 35 pick in 19
- L.A.' 21 pick if top 8
- L.A.' 22 pick if not
- L.A. swap in 23
- L.A.' 1st in either 24 or 25

And got rid of Solomon Hill's contract.

For Forks Sake · 20-06-2019 11:26pm

Phoenix firstly traded TJ Warren (who was productive and on a very palatable 3yr/$35m contract) to Indiana for cash plus no.32 pick , and then swapped their no.6 pick with Minnesota for no.11 and Dario Saric.

My only concern (as a Bulls fan) is that Forman and Paxson are sat there thinking "how can we do something even dumber....

Hitch2222 · 20-06-2019 11:30pm

Best part of that is moving that Soloman Hill contract. It basically means unless the Knicks pull something out of left field here that it could be a very uneventful draft.

My fav player not named Zion is Coby White, watched him quite a lot for NC and I think he can good at the next level.

Going above Garland wouldn't surprise me at all given Atlanta have Trae, hardly drafting a 6ft 2in guard to go alongside Trae.
Perhaps they really like Cam Reddish or Hunter but at almost 22 I dont see the logic. Know nothing about Culver, looks wide open from 4 onwards.

Legion. · 20-06-2019 11:33pm

Hitch2222 wrote: »

Best part of that is moving that Soloman Hill contract. It basically means unless the Knicks pull something out of left field here that it could be a very uneventful draft.

My fav player not named Zion is Coby White, watched him quite a lot for NC and I think he can good at the next level.

Going above Garland wouldn't surprise me at all given Atlanta have Trae, hardly drafting a 6ft 2in guard to go alongside Trae.
Perhaps they really like Cam Reddish or Hunter but at almost 22 I dont see the logic. Know nothing about Culver, looks wide open from 4 onwards.

Reading the Hawks will take Hunter.

Angliru · 20-06-2019 11:48pm

Timberwolves at 6, Suns at 11 and Saric moves.

Hawks should take Hunter I guess. Culver is someone I really don't rate.

Coby White's lack of defence and wingspan would be a huge worry for me. Very one dimensional in his scoring too. He's fast but not agile.

shamrock55 · 21-06-2019 12:06am

Aron baynes was at my local basketball club this wk training with the local kids

Osmosis Jones · 21-06-2019 12:17am

I figured they traded Warren to try get a free agent but then they go and get Saric who hits free agency next year and will command at least the 15m/yr Warren was getting.

Osmosis Jones · 21-06-2019 1:57am

And with the 11th pick the Suns select Cameron Johnson, a lad who was projected to maybe get drafted in the first round...

EDIT: In fact he was the 37th pick in the mock darft. He's also 9 months older than Devin Booker!

Osmosis Jones · 21-06-2019 3:47am

Nassir Little, projected in all mock drafts to be selected somewhere between 10-14, drops all the way to 25th and is selected by Portland. Last year Portland drafted Anfernee Simons at 24. In 2018 ESPN had them listed as 6th and 9th in their Top 100 NBA Recruits list.

Hitch2222 · 21-06-2019 5:06am

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

Nassir Little, projected in all mock drafts to be selected somewhere between 10-14, drops all the way to 25th and is selected by Portland. Last year Portland drafted Anfernee Simons at 24. In 2018 ESPN had them listed as 6th and 9th in their Top 100 NBA Recruits list.

Yeah Nassir Little at 25, Reddish at 10, Bol Bol at 44 all look like good value. Givony surprised by Little. Apparently Bol Bol raised huge off the court flags with injuries/recovery but like last year its Denver rolling the dice.

I actually thought Rui Hachimura might slip further than his 20th or so projection but 9th in the end for oldest player in R1.

*Just read the report a Bol Bol, apparently outside of not impressing teams in person. He somehow found 30 pounds to lose and weighed in recently at 208lbs

ButtersSuki · 21-06-2019 7:35am

shamrock55 wrote: »

Aron baynes was at my local basketball club this wk training with the local kids

Where’s that?

Angliru · 21-06-2019 7:45am

Hawks did well. Shocked Rui was top 10 tbh, think he'll have problems playing against men compared to the boys he's played against.

Bol looked depressed. Hopefully he uses it as fire but it is not a good sign. Still don't know how a lad so skinny already loses so much weight while not doing any strenuous physical activity.

I'll have to run through the draft after work to get my head around it. Celtics picking up Romeo Langford is interesting. If he gets his stroke going again after injury he could be a fine steal.

shamrock55 · 21-06-2019 10:00am

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Where’s that?

Bantry, co cork

simongurnick · 21-06-2019 3:34pm

So looks like Kawhi didn't exactly jump on the first flight back to California after the victory parade. Got mobbed in niagara falls this week while visiting with the family. Was at the blue jays game last night and got a standing ovation from 24k people, to which he raised one finger in acknowledgement to!
Hope he is leaving some time for contract negotiations in between all the vacation stuff!

Hitch2222 · 21-06-2019 7:23pm

simongurnick wrote: »

So looks like Kawhi didn't exactly jump on the first flight back to California after the victory parade. Got mobbed in niagara falls this week while visiting with the family. Was at the blue jays game last night and got a standing ovation from 24k people, to which he raised one finger in acknowledgement to!
Hope he is leaving some time for contract negotiations in between all the vacation stuff!

What contract negotiations?

Hi Kawhi it's Frank Vogel, do you want the max with the Lakers?

Hi Kawhi it's Doc Rivers, do you want the max with the Clippers?

That's the whole negotiation.

FWIW I think he chooses the latter

ButtersSuki · 21-06-2019 11:07pm

shamrock55 wrote: »

Bantry, co cork

Mad I didn’t hear he was in. In the very late 80s - pre mobile phones/internet etc. John Stockton was here and everyone and anyone in basketball circles knew about it pretty much through word of mouth. It’s smazing that we have an NBA player in the country and not one national media outlet covers it. Shows once again what a minority sport it is here. Sigh.

Did you meet Baynes?

Angliru · 22-06-2019 12:09am

In the midst of all the goings on, post season has well and truly arrived. Dame Lillard and Marvin Bagley had a quick rap 'beef', with both guys making two diss tracks before amicably calling it quits and being good sports. I can't listen to rap these days as it has gone down the toilet with this hummana hummana hummana trap nonsense but these two guys are better than 99% of the bollocks I hear these days and can actually spit.

Lillard's first track and Bagley's second track are great efforts. I might be biased but feel like Bagley takes the W here.

simongurnick · 22-06-2019 1:35am

Hitch2222 wrote: »

What contract negotiations?

Hi Kawhi it's Frank Vogel, do you want the max with the Lakers?

Hi Kawhi it's Doc Rivers, do you want the max with the Clippers?

That's the whole negotiation.

FWIW I think he chooses the latter

Not sure its that cut and dry
Plus raptors can offer 50 mil more than anyone else

Hitch2222 · 22-06-2019 9:06am

simongurnick wrote: »

Not sure its that cut and dry
Plus raptors can offer 50 mil more than anyone else

Just joking, I wouldn't be shocked to see him run it back but I do think the Clippers deal is fav.
Yeah 50m a lot of money but LA will close a chunk of that in other ways.

I honestly think he just wants to play in LA, that's what will make him happy.

Hitch2222 · 22-06-2019 9:15am

Angliru wrote: »

In the midst of all the goings on, post season has well and truly arrived. Dame Lillard and Marvin Bagley had a quick rap 'beef', with both guys making two diss tracks before amicably calling it quits and being good sports. I can't listen to rap these days as it has gone down the toilet with this hummana hummana hummana trap nonsense but these two guys are better than 99% of the bollocks I hear these days and can actually spit.

Lillard's first track and Bagley's second track are great efforts. I might be biased but feel like Bagley takes the W here.

Rap disses are such a funny concept.

All they really are are grown men making up poems about why they dont like one another

ButtersSuki · 22-06-2019 9:19am

Hitch2222 wrote: »

Just joking, I wouldn't be shocked to see him run it back but I do think the Clippers deal is fav.
Yeah 50m a lot of money but LA will close a chunk of that in other ways.

I honestly think he just wants to play in LA, that's what HE THINKS will make him happy.

Be careful what you wish for and all that. Look at KD and his GS experience. He wasn’t fully happy despite being the best player on the team as in the fans’ eyes, it was still Steph’s team.

With Leonard, who knows?

Hitch2222 · 22-06-2019 9:23am

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Be careful what you wish for and all that. Look at KD and his GS experience. He wasn’t fully happy despite being the best player on the team as in the fans’ eyes, it was still Steph’s team.

With Leonard, who knows?

Leonard's motivation is different imo. KD went to GSW first and foremost to win titles.
I'm sure that plays a part for Kawhi but his motivation is simply being back in LA as that's where he's happiest.

He wants to win but KD made the move to get out of OKC and get the championship monkey off his back
Kawhi isn't dealing with any of that, he just wants to be in LA on his terms which is why he avoids the Lakers and takes the Clippers imo.

ButtersSuki · 22-06-2019 9:24am

Was listening to the usual pods this week and pretty much all of them agreed it was a huge overpay by the Lakers got AD. I’m a huge admirer of AD, but considering there was no other serious bidder it’s hard to disagree with that. For LA to miscalculations the math on top of that is just very Lakers 2013-present day behaviour.

I forget exactly who said it at this stage but someone used the Leonard trade as a benchmark and when you consider what San Antonio gave up and got it return it’s almost comical by comparison. You have to wonder do they (SA) regret not dealing with the Lakers now?

ButtersSuki · 22-06-2019 9:27am

Hitch2222 wrote: »

Leonard's motivation is different imo. KD went to GSW first and foremost to win titles.
I'm sure that plays a part for Kawhi but his motivation is simply being back in LA as that's where he's happiest.

He wants to win but KD made the move to get out of OKC and get the championship monkey off his back
Kawhi isn't dealing with any of that, he just wants to be in LA on his terms which is why he avoids the Lakers and takes the Clippers imo.

I’m not disagreeing and yes they are different, my point being with Leonard, who knows? We have so little insight into what he’s really like, do we really know if he’ll actually be happy in LA? We’re all guessing tbh. I’d guess he wouldn’t want to be near the Lakers media circus, but it’s just a guess. It’s a moot point as he isn’t taking less than a max anywhere and the Lakers can’t offer that, but all things bring equal I’d guess (that word again) he wouldn’t want to be there.

Hitch2222 · 22-06-2019 9:48am

ButtersSuki wrote: »

I’m not disagreeing and yes they are different, my point being with Leonard, who knows? We have so little insight into what he’s really like, do we really know if he’ll actually be happy in LA? We’re all guessing tbh. I’d guess he wouldn’t want to be near the Lakers media circus, but it’s just a guess. It’s a moot point as he isn’t taking less than a max anywhere and the Lakers can’t offer that, but all things bring equal I’d guess (that word again) he wouldn’t want to be there.

No different to any other player and how likely they are to be happy but he has made it know if reports are to be believed that he wants LA.
That's where he is from so I suspect he feels it's the most likely place to make him his happiest.

Additionally, Ive never got the impression that Kawhi is an unhappy or sulky player. He's just quite introverted, pretty controlled, overall seems very content any time he speaks imo. It's more a case of happier vs happy.

I agree I dont think anyone that big wants the LBJ show in the Lakers though I suspect he'd take less to make it work if he really wanted it. Not a fan of players taking less anyway but that's a different debate.

shamrock55 · 23-06-2019 3:27pm

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Mad I didn’t hear he was in. In the very late 80s - pre mobile phones/internet etc. John Stockton was here and everyone and anyone in basketball circles knew about it pretty much through word of mouth. It’s smazing that we have an NBA player in the country and not one national media outlet covers it. Shows once again what a minority sport it is here. Sigh.

Did you meet Baynes?

No, I didn't even know about it either till I saw a video on Facebook, was all very hush hush, I heard he was on holiday and someone local who's friends with his family just organised a few local kids from underage teams to meet him and have a bit of a play around, I'd say he probably didn't want to make a big thing of it which is fair enough if he was on hols

LuckyLloyd · 24-06-2019 8:27am

Kawhi opting out, per Haynes.

kmart6 · 24-06-2019 9:12am

He was never going to opt in.

Hitch2222 · 24-06-2019 11:39am

I wonder if the potentially career altering injuries of Klay & KD would factor into his thinking at all?

I was somewhat being swayed by the 1+1 idea but I just wonder whether he'd prefer to lock into a 5 year deal elsewhere as a safety net?

LuckyLloyd · 24-06-2019 12:02pm

kmart6 wrote: »

He was never going to opt in.

Agreed, the story Haynes wrote indicates that he is “seriously considering” the Raptors. But he’s also arranging visits, which has never been a good sign for the incumbent team in FA.

If locking in the most money right now is the concern then the Raptors can give him the most.

ButtersSuki · 24-06-2019 12:10pm

Hitch2222 wrote: »

I wonder if the potentially career altering injuries of Klay & KD would factor into his thinking at all?

I was somewhat being swayed by the 1+1 idea but I just wonder whether he'd prefer to lock into a 5 year deal elsewhere as a safety net?

With his injury profile and history he’d be daft not to consider it at least.

ButtersSuki · 24-06-2019 12:14pm

French International and former Raptor and Spurs player Nando DeColo wants to return to the NBA from CSKA Moscow. He’s seriously good - not All Star level or anything like that, but would be a help to a contender. Always liked his game, and the way the league has gone in recent years it probably suits him more now than it did a few years ago when he was actually in the league. On the other hand he’s 32, so might be a little late for him.

Hitch2222 · 24-06-2019 1:47pm

ButtersSuki wrote: »

French International and former Raptor and Spurs player Nando DeColo wants to return to the NBA from CSKA Moscow. He’s seriously good - not All Star level or anything like that, but would be a help to a contender. Always liked his game, and the way the league has gone in recent years it probably suits him more now than it did a few years ago when he was actually in the league. On the other hand he’s 32, so might be a little late for him.

Milos Tedosivc said recently he wishes he came earlier. I know DeColo was there before but it was short. I think late arriving euro guards look great at times on offensive but are complete liabilities defensively. A newly arrived 32year old seems like the type of guy to get eaten alive on the defensive end.

ButtersSuki · 24-06-2019 1:59pm

Hitch2222 wrote: »

Milos Tedosivc said recently he wishes he came earlier. I know DeColo was there before but it was short. I think late arriving euro guards look great at times on offensive but are complete liabilities defensively. A newly arrived 32year old seems like the type of guy to get eaten alive on the defensive end.

Teodosic came too late no doubt, he was and still is smoking (laughably) and apparently “likes a drink” too - somewhat bizarre for a professional athlete these days but there you go.

That said, he’s nowehere near as athletic as DeColo who is lean and explosive, can dunk for fun and run like a rabbit. He’s no defensive stopper for sure, but he won’t be a massive liability either. DeColo is a “young” 32, Milos looked old in his 20s.

One of my biggest EuroLeague-players-not-going-to-the-NBA regrets however is Theo Papaloukas. One of my Top 5 favourite all time players. Sad to see he never went despite lots of courting. He was a teammate of Trajan Langdon who I mentioned recently on here in CSKA. I saw Theo play in the flesh a few times, guy was a genius.

NBA Regular Season & Playoffs 2018-19 Thread

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