The NBA Thread

[SilentOne]

The Clippers are the best team in the West. Prior to this off-season they took a fully loaded golden state warriors to six games in the 1st round.

Now you add the best player in the league, Kawhi, with PG13 without losing any of your core players. The battle of LA will be nice but the edge goes to the Clippers. They are going to be a top 10 defensive team with the likes of Beverly, PG13, and the Claw.

 

[eradicator]

Probably top 5 defense.

 

[Cr33pin]

I think the NBA just got exciting again for the first time in years. When KD went to the Warriors the NBA was pretty irrelevant cause there were only a few teams that had a chance of making it to the finals. Now there are a handful of teams that can go all the way....

GS is still a threat but they are no where near the favorite they used to be... specially with Klay's injury

 

[captain_shane]

Jerry West is a damn wizard. Best GM ever.

 

[Brosemite]

Well I’m not going to predict injuries for the clippers, but they will still have to win against 3 good teams in the first 3 rounds against the likes of the Jazz, lakers, warriors rockets, nuggets and then face a loaded Celtics/ 76ers//bucks team in the finals.

If they end up not matching up well with one of those teams they could simply lose

Last time Kawahi got through the West, he had Duncan, Ginobli, Parker, Splitter, Diaw, Mills, Green, Belinelli, etc.

Can't discount a Clippers team that overachieved with the rebuilding roster they had but a possible lack of depth & gimpy Paul George within their roster could make it difficult in a more packed Western Conference.

 

[zoom]

Well I’m not going to predict injuries for the clippers, but they will still have to win against 3 good teams in the first 3 rounds against the likes of the Jazz, lakers, warriors rockets, nuggets and then face a loaded Celtics/ 76ers//bucks team in the finals.

If they end up not matching up well with one of those teams they could simply lose

No Eastern Conference team is loaded, especially not the Celtics who got worse this offseason. The Clippers are much better on paper than any Eastern Conference team.

 

[eradicator]

Right, even if they get a number one or 2 seed, they have to face a dangerous Mavericks or Spurs team, then the warriors or lakers or nuggets, then in the western conference finals the warriors, lakers, nuggets, then in the finals the bucks or 76ers or nets (if Durant comes back for the playoffs) or Celtics .

This is actually one of the most interesting seasons the nba has had in years because it is so wide open. I’d say the clippers should be favorites but it is certainly not a done deal, I wouldn’t be surprised if any of the ten teams I just mentioned won the championship

The Clippers are much better on paper than any Eastern Conference team.

Couple of things, let’s see how healthy all of these teams are in April and May. Let’s see is the 76ers young talent continue to improve. You honestly don’t think the Bucks are loaded? They are legit contenders.

It wouldn’t shock me to see the 76ers or Celtics improve over last year( maybe Gordon Hayward actually puts together a healthy season)

 

[jcrew247]

Well I’m not going to predict injuries for the clippers, but they will still have to win against 3 good teams in the first 3 rounds against the likes of the Jazz, lakers, warriors rockets, nuggets and then face a loaded Celtics/ 76ers//bucks team in the finals.

If they end up not matching up well with one of those teams they could simply lose

Last time Kawahi got through the West, he had Duncan, Ginobli, Parker, Splitter, Diaw, Mills, Green, Belinelli, etc.

Can't discount a Clippers team that overachieved with the rebuilding roster they had but a possible lack of depth & gimpy Paul George within their roster could make it difficult in a more packed Western Conference.

Yeah this is a big risk for the Clippers esp giving up 5 of the next 1st round picks. PG is an injury risk and so is Kawhi. So there is no guarantee that they will make it through a full season and the playoffs. PG was even hurt during the 2nd half of last season. I guess the Clippers will have to see how their role players respond with less load and double teams.

The Lakers are also older and injury prone with Lebron and AD. And I'm wondering if Kawhi dislikes Lebron or playing with Lebron or the new coach Vogel. He probably didn't want lebron in his face during losses. I still sort of expect the Clippers to move to Seattle once they get the arena finished remodeling for the NHL team. So I guess Ballmer figures he will try to win a championship now, then tank and move the team to Seattle.

 

[zoom]

Couple of things, let’s see how healthy all of these teams are in April and May. Let’s see is the 76ers young talent continue to improve. You honestly don’t think the Bucks are loaded? They are legit contenders.

I think if the 76ers mature and become more professional then they should win the East. I don't think the Bucks are loaded and Giannis is overrated.

 

[eradicator]

Couple of things, let’s see how healthy all of these teams are in April and May. Let’s see is the 76ers young talent continue to improve. You honestly don’t think the Bucks are loaded? They are legit contenders.

I think if the 76ers mature and become more professional then they should win the East. I don't think the Bucks are loaded and Giannis is overrated.

Are Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving over rated?

 

[zoom]

Couple of things, let’s see how healthy all of these teams are in April and May. Let’s see is the 76ers young talent continue to improve. You honestly don’t think the Bucks are loaded? They are legit contenders.

I think if the 76ers mature and become more professional then they should win the East. I don't think the Bucks are loaded and Giannis is overrated.

Are Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving over rated?

No, those guys can actually shoot.

 

[SilentOne]

Yeah this is a big risk for the Clippers esp giving up 5 of the next 1st round picks. PG is an injury risk and so is Kawhi. So there is no guarantee that they will make it through a full season and the playoffs. PG was even hurt during the 2nd half of last season. I guess the Clippers will have to see how their role players respond with less load and double teams.

Big Risk? Both of these guys always wanted to play in LA. They plan to stay there unlike Toronto's one year pickup. Now that was a high risk/high reward deal which paid out.

This is a low risk/high reward deal. When you got arguably the best player and a top 5 small forward joining your squad, who cares about 5 unproven 1st round draft picks lol. Clippers are now relevant with kawhi there.

 

[Repo]

Yeah you have to think of it as all those picks netting both Kawhi and PG, because Kawhi wasnt coming if they couldnt get him. So is PG by himself worth all those picks, probably not, but for both of them it definately is.

 

[SeaFM]

As a bandwagon Raptors fan, I feel a bit let down by Kawhi leaving. I really thought he was staying. Especially after Jalen Rose said so the other day.

I really don’t get all the love he’s getting on social media from Raptors fans.

He’s dead to me as of this morning. I won’t bash the guy but I’m not going to send well wishes and thank you’s and all the other nonsense I’ve seen all day.

It’s like a girlfriend dumping you. No contact all the way.

 

[Repo]

He literally said before the trade he wanted to be in LA. The Raptors knew this was a huge risk so I dont think he let anyone down. He played his heart out while he was there, compared to AD who punked out and stop trying.

 

[jcrew247]

Yeah this is a big risk for the Clippers esp giving up 5 of the next 1st round picks. PG is an injury risk and so is Kawhi. So there is no guarantee that they will make it through a full season and the playoffs. PG was even hurt during the 2nd half of last season. I guess the Clippers will have to see how their role players respond with less load and double teams.

Big Risk? Both of these guys always wanted to play in LA. They plan to stay there unlike Toronto's one year pickup. Now that was a high risk/high reward deal which paid out.

This is a low risk/high reward deal. When you got arguably the best player and a top 5 small forward joining your squad, who cares about 5 unproven 1st round draft picks lol. Clippers are now relevant with kawhi there.

They are both Big Injury Risk. PG has shoulder issues and KL has quad issues. Would not surprise me if both spend more than 20 days on DL next year and/or miss playoffs. KL got lucky in his walk year to stay healthy enough for the playoffs, but I wonder how much incentive he has to play hurt once he has the comfortable 4 year contract.

 

[SilentOne]

jcrew247

The Clippers are only relevant because of Kawhi. The Clippers had 1st round draft picks year after year... and remained irrelevant year after year.

SeaFM

You have your right to hate whomever. Although I think its a bit silly since he never wanted to be there in the 1st place, he was sent there involuntarily. He wants to be with his family back at home in LA.

Remember you guys are champions only because of him.

 

[Cr33pin]

Boogie Cousins and Rondo to LA

 

[Repo]

Where will Lance -make-em-dance end up though? I need to see him on the Clippers irritating Lebron again.

 

[Brosemite]

I think if the 76ers mature and become more professional then they should win the East. I don't think the Bucks are loaded and Giannis is overrated.

Wouldn't necessarily say that Giannis is overrated but the Bucks however are indeed not the deepest team.

As talented as Giannis is, it's extremely hard to revolve a team around an old school power forward in the modern NBA.

The last time a team won the NBA Championship with a true old school power forward as the main focal point of a team (especially offensively) was the 2007 Spurs with Tim Duncan.......

Yes Dirk Nowitzki was able to win a ring in 2011 as the main focal point of the Mavericks offense but he was such a unique specimen that possessed terrific stretch 4 capabilities on the perimeter on top of being an elite scorer on the inside as well.

And yes...the Spurs won in 2014 as Duncan got his 5th ring despite being past his prime; the main focal point of that offense wasn't so much just Kawahi but just a really damn good balanced offense where everybody was equally responsible for terrific production.