The Official 2015-2016 NBA Regular Season Thread

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

So, weren't ATL and MIL being held up as rebuild successes that PHI should aspire to?

Well the Hawks were pretty successful until the NYC police decided to go break one of their starters legs. Not sure I can say the same with the Bucks as I don't see them enough but haven't they given up on Parker already? Saw they were thinking of moving him already.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

So, weren't ATL and MIL being held up as rebuild successes that PHI should aspire to?

You left out Phoenix.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Atocep

You left out Phoenix.

Ah, that's riiiiiiiight.

[Groundhog]

Speaking of Phoenix, Goodwin and Morris got into a physical altercation (read: pushing match) during a timeout huddle today and had to be separated.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

So, weren't ATL and MIL being held up as rebuild successes that PHI should aspire to?

Both teams have multiple assets on their roster better than anything Philly has to build around.

[nol]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Both teams have multiple assets on their roster better than anything Philly has to build around.

Milwaukee has Antetokounmpo and Middleton; Atlanta has Horford and Millsap. Most teams aren't willing or able to trade for Horford and re-sign him to a long-term max deal this summer, so even when you ignore all the players and picks not on Philadelphia's roster (Milwaukee or Atlanta would trade any one of these players for the 1st/2nd pick in the draft) and just compare to Noel and Okafor that's a pretty dubious claim.

[wustin]

There's a rumor that Atlanta might move Horford to Boston for draft picks and David Lee.

[Brian Swartz]

So it's All-Star time and Golden State needs seven wins to guarantee a playoff spot.

My brain is failing to process this season.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by wustin

There's a rumor that Atlanta might move Horford to Boston for draft picks and David Lee.

Those better be some amazing draft picks. I can't possibly see Atlanta getting much better as a result of such a deal.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

So it's All-Star time and Golden State needs seven wins to guarantee a playoff spot.

My brain is failing to process this season.

Copied this from reddit but stats on the top 3 teams from the West.

San Antonio
14-4 on December 1st
45-8 today
31-4

Oklahoma City
11-8 on December 1st
40-14 today
29-6

Golden State
19-0 on December 1st
48-4 today
29-4

Obviously 2 of those losses were the result of playing each other. 3 of the other losses were in games Curry(Dallas), Duncan(Cleveland), and Durant(Sacramento) missed. So that makes these teams a ho-hum 87-10 against the rest of the NBA excluding the 3 losses incurred by the absence of Durant/Curry/Duncan.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Those better be some amazing draft picks. I can't possibly see Atlanta getting much better as a result of such a deal.

If the decision is already made not to give him the 5 yr deal though, why not move him for something now though?

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by nol

Milwaukee has Antetokounmpo and Middleton; Atlanta has Horford and Millsap. Most teams aren't willing or able to trade for Horford and re-sign him to a long-term max deal this summer, so even when you ignore all the players and picks not on Philadelphia's roster and just compare to Noel and Okafor that's a pretty dubious claim.

I'm not a huge fan of Noel and Okafor. Noel is a zero offensively and Okafor is a zero defensively (plus doesn't have nice range). Solid players but I don't think either are guys you build a team around. Giannis is someone you can build around. Plus I think Parker will get better and still has good potential.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I'm not a huge fan of Noel and Okafor. Noel is a zero offensively and Okafor is a zero defensively (plus doesn't have nice range). Solid players but I don't think either are guys you build a team around. Giannis is someone you can build around. Plus I think Parker will get better and still has good potential.

Parker isn't a zero defensively? So far he's has been a slightly better version of Derrick Williams.

Way too early to give up on him, but to bring up Noel and Okafor's limitations while ignoring the fact that Parker isn't doing much on either end is silly.

[RainMaker]

Parker is coming off an ACL. I just think he's a huge question mark at this point.

[nol]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I'm not a huge fan of Noel and Okafor. Noel is a zero offensively and Okafor is a zero defensively (plus doesn't have nice range). Solid players but I don't think either are guys you build a team around. Giannis is someone you can build around. Plus I think Parker will get better and still has good potential.

If Okafor doesn't have nice range, where does that leave Parker, who has made 0 three pointers this season and plays a position where one is actually expected to be able to shoot from distance? Also Noel scores more points per game (13 points per 36 compared to Parker's mighty 14), shoots a higher percentage, dishes more assists, and grabs more offensive rebounds, so if he's a zero offensively Parker's even less than that. I guess being a zero on offense and defense makes him have a more well-rounded game?

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

If the decision is already made not to give him the 5 yr deal though, why not move him for something now though?

True. I don't know that I agree with the thought of not giving him the deal, but if you have already decided he's done there, then yeah moving him for just about anything is a good call.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by nol

If Okafor doesn't have nice range, where does that leave Parker, who has made 0 three pointers this season and plays a position where one is actually expected to be able to shoot from distance? Also Noel scores more points per game (13 points per 36 compared to Parker's mighty 14), shoots a higher percentage, dishes more assists, and grabs more offensive rebounds, so if he's a zero offensively Parker's even less than that. I guess being a zero on offense and defense makes him have a more well-rounded game?

Like I said, Parker is coming off an ACL and I don't think we're going to know what he is for another year. He could be a huge bust but an ACL usually requires more time. It's clear he's struggling with his athleticism still.

As for Noel, he really only scores at the rim. If you're arguing he's a good offensive player, so be it. But I don't think many teams would consider him anything more than a guy who can slash to the rim or get putbacks. Nothing wrong with that as guys like Tyson Chandler have had solid careers doing so, but I wouldn't build a franchise around them.

The problem with the Sixers is their last 3 draft picks can't play on the court at the same time. They took 3 centers.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

The problem with the Sixers is their last 3 draft picks can't play on the court at the same time. They took 3 centers.

Big deal. Just move two of them to PF and with Saric they'll have one center and three PF.

Center logjam, solved.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by murrayyyyy

Copied this from reddit but stats on the top 3 teams from the West.

San Antonio
14-4 on December 1st
45-8 today
31-4

Oklahoma City
11-8 on December 1st
40-14 today
29-6

Golden State
19-0 on December 1st
48-4 today
29-4

Obviously 2 of those losses were the result of playing each other. 3 of the other losses were in games Curry(Dallas), Duncan(Cleveland), and Durant(Sacramento) missed. So that makes these teams a ho-hum 87-10 against the rest of the NBA excluding the 3 losses incurred by the absence of Durant/Curry/Duncan.

Crazy that of those three teams, at least one of them isn't getting beyond the second round because the Spurs and Thunder are likely going to play one another.

[MikeVic]

Well that was good. I think that Gordon sitting dunk should have won it for him, but it was tough to pick a winner.

[murrayyyyy]

I don't think it was even close. Gordon had the better last dunk also. He got jobbed

[wustin]

Blame the scoring system

[Vince, Pt. II]

What a fun evening for being a basketball fan. I loved every minute of it. I almost wish the skills contest was a little more drawn out. The three point contest was amazing, from the three-way tie for third in the first round, to watching Booker get hot, to watching Steph absolutely need to hit both of his last two shots and calmly knocking them down, to Klay catching fire in the finals.

And then there was the slam dunk contest.

That was the best dunk contest in a decade, perhaps multiple decades. Both Gordon and Lavine were fantastic. I agree with murrayyyyy that Gordon got jobbed, but what a treat. Hopefully this will augur in a new dunk contest era where it actually means something again. I remember back in the day when the dunk contest was one of my favorite sporting events of the entire sports year, let alone the NBA season.

[Groundhog]

After Drummond and Barton's first dunks I was thinking to myself it might be time to shelve the dunk comp for a couple of years again, but man, I'm glad I kept watching. That was amazing. Gordon's dunk was one of the best I've seen but yeah, the issue is with the scoring system.

[stevew]

I agree with the internet consensus that Dellavedova needs to marry Elena Delle Donne so she can be Elena Delle Donne Dellavedova

[murrayyyyy]

For those who didn't see, pretty sure this was Gordon's dunks in the championship round.

#nba aaron gordan get's robbed - Streamable

Streamable - simple video sharing

and here is a link to all the dunks between LeVine and Gordon

The Duel - Streamable

[TroyF]

First dunk contest I have watched in awhile.

Gordon should have won the thing. I'm still stunned at the last dunk of Gordon being scored under a 50. That was an unbelievable dunk. Simply amazing in slow motion. And his "sit down" dunk was one of the best I ever saw. Not taking anything away from Levine, he was terrific as well. He just wasn't the deserved winner.

[Groundhog]

I think after one tie-breaker if it remains a draw they should be co-winners.

[jbergey22]

So if the Clippers are thinking about moving Blake and KLove doesnt seem to fit in at Cleveland I wonder why these 2 dont try to work something out. Id presume Love would enjoy going back to LA and Blake probably wouldnt mind playing with Lebron.

I realize Cleveland would have to throw in a couple extra pieces but this trade seems to make sense from my perspective.

Thinking more about it the Clippers spacing might end up being even better after the trade. Jordan and Blake sometimes just clog up the lane.

[nol]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

So if the Clippers are thinking about moving Blake and KLove doesnt seem to fit in at Cleveland I wonder why these 2 dont try to work something out. Id presume Love would enjoy going back to LA and Blake probably wouldnt mind playing with Lebron.

I realize Cleveland would have to throw in a couple extra pieces but this trade seems to make sense from my perspective.

Thinking more about it the Clippers spacing might end up being even better after the trade. Jordan and Blake sometimes just clog up the lane.

Because Cleveland doesn't have any extra pieces.

[whomario]

+ Blake would be a bad fit with Cleveland IMO. I realize he can shoot it a little, but theres a reason the Cavs are desperately trying to make this thing work with Love. Playing Lebron/Blake and one of Mozgov/Thompson would murder their spacing, at least thats my best guess here. Plus, Griffin needs touches to be effective and would be even more wasted than Love on that team.

If the Cavs somehow got Ryan Anderson and a fringe-starter type 2/3 who can shoot, that would go much further than trying desperately to switch Love for a different "star" type like Griffin. If it gets close in the Playoffs, they will run Lebron Isos, Lebron pick and Rolls, Lebron backdowns or Kyrie pick and shoots anyway.

[rjolley]

Since Lebron doesn't like to take advantage of this size advantage in the post often, Blake might not be a bad fit. It would give them a good finisher to run the floor with Lebron and Irving as well as a player that can be the focus in the post and pull attention away from the wings. Plus, if they go against a small lineup like GS, having Blake at the 5 would be better than having Love. I don't think it'll happen, but it would be interesting to see.

[wustin]

To only advantage I see with Blake is having a more effective pick and roll. His defense and post-game isn't any better than Love's.

[RainMaker]

I feel like Blake for Carmelo makes the most sense for both those teams.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I feel like Blake for Carmelo makes the most sense for both those teams.

I see a huge advantage for the Knicks. Not really seeing how that would help the Clippers. They have a great point guard that can create opportunities and melo isnt exactly good at anything other than being a good volume scorer.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by rjolley

Since Lebron doesn't like to take advantage of this size advantage in the post often, Blake might not be a bad fit. It would give them a good finisher to run the floor with Lebron and Irving as well as a player that can be the focus in the post and pull attention away from the wings. Plus, if they go against a small lineup like GS, having Blake at the 5 would be better than having Love. I don't think it'll happen, but it would be interesting to see.

Exactly. With the way Cleveland wants to get out and run Blake would fit in nicely. And you nailed it with their matchup against Golden State. Have to match their speed and firepower with more speed and firepower of your own. Need athletes on the court that can create matchup problems and contest 3s.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by whomario

+ Blake would be a bad fit with Cleveland IMO. I realize he can shoot it a little, but theres a reason the Cavs are desperately trying to make this thing work with Love. Playing Lebron/Blake and one of Mozgov/Thompson would murder their spacing, at least thats my best guess here. Plus, Griffin needs touches to be effective and would be even more wasted than Love on that team.

If the Cavs somehow got Ryan Anderson and a fringe-starter type 2/3 who can shoot, that would go much further than trying desperately to switch Love for a different "star" type like Griffin. If it gets close in the Playoffs, they will run Lebron Isos, Lebron pick and Rolls, Lebron backdowns or Kyrie pick and shoots anyway.

I agree that Anderson would be a nice addition to their current situation. Not so sure I agree that Blake(the most athletically gifted PF in the NBA) wouldnt be able to fit in. Blake is also a great passer something Love is not.

[Zinto]

Multiple sources around the NBA tell me Chris Bosh's situation is much worse than people are being made aware of.

— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) February 16, 2016

Hoping it isn't blood clots again if this is true.

[nol]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

I agree that Anderson would be a nice addition to their current situation. Not so sure I agree that Blake(the most athletically gifted PF in the NBA) wouldnt be able to fit in. Blake is also a great passer something Love is not.

Also Blake is a much better post-up and isolation scorer than the version of Kevin Love that plays on the Cavs. It goes back to neither the Cavs nor the Clippers having any picks or young players worth anything to throw into the deal to either bring a 3rd team in or otherwise compensate the Clippers for giving up the better player.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by nol

Also Blake is a much better post-up and isolation scorer than the version of Kevin Love that plays on the Cavs. It goes back to neither the Cavs nor the Clippers having any picks or young players worth anything to throw into the deal to either bring a 3rd team in or otherwise compensate the Clippers for giving up the better player.

Yup it would be very difficult. Irving, Paul, and Thompson would all have to be in it basically blowing up both teams midway through the year.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

I see a huge advantage for the Knicks. Not really seeing how that would help the Clippers. They have a great point guard that can create opportunities and melo isnt exactly good at anything other than being a good volume scorer.

Clippers can't play Deandre and Blake at the same time against the top teams. Carmelo allows them to matchup small. They could also swap Lance for Afflalo to make it more even and that gives the Clippers a really scary lineup.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Clippers can't play Deandre and Blake at the same time against the top teams. Carmelo allows them to matchup small. They could also swap Lance for Afflalo to make it more even and that gives the Clippers a really scary lineup.

They usually play at the same time. The only trouble is with the Warriors and their small lineup. Blake usually sits around the free throw line while Jordan sits under the hoop waiting for put backs. Doc runs a good offensive scheme for their talent. Trading a gifted 26 year old power forward for a 31 year old volume scorer with bad knees just doesnt seem like a good move. Maybe the 90s Clippers would do that.

[IMG][/IMG]

[RainMaker]

But their window is right now. So if the Warriors small lineup is their achilles heel, they have to find a way to combat it. You just aren't winning these days with two traditional bigs in the lineup. Slotting Carmelo into the 4 makes them really scary.

Carmelo's deal isn't that bad moving forward with the cap going up. Blake has one year left and will then be able to command a lot more. They'd have to do something to even it more like Afflalo for Stephenson's contract. A lineup of Paul, Reddick, Afflalo, Carmelo, and Jordan has a shot against the Warriors. This current roster does not.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

But their window is right now. So if the Warriors small lineup is their achilles heel, they have to find a way to combat it. You just aren't winning these days with two traditional bigs in the lineup. Slotting Carmelo into the 4 makes them really scary.

Carmelo's deal isn't that bad moving forward with the cap going up. Blake has one year left and will then be able to command a lot more. They'd have to do something to even it more like Afflalo for Stephenson's contract. A lineup of Paul, Reddick, Afflalo, Carmelo, and Jordan has a shot against the Warriors. This current roster does not.

Jordan is the problem against the Warriors. He is basically a non factor because he is a rim protector. Blake has some of his best games against Golden State. If you mean trading Jordan for Carmelo it makes a lot of sense in the "winning now" attitude. I am not sure if you are unfamiliar with how good of a player Blake Griffin is or still see melo as the player he was 6 years ago but a trade with them two as the primary pieces doesnt make a lot of sense. NBA Trade Machine has both teams losing wins with a trade built around them two. Carmelo is basically done as an elite player. Blake Griffin has been steadily improving his game each year.

The Clippers have one of the top offenses in the NBA. They dont need to add offense to beat the Warriors. They need stronger defense and more versatile players. Carmelo Anthony and defense are two words you rarely see in the same sentence.

Maybe the Warriors are just too talented to be beat and they are matchup proof. But I strongly disagree that the Clippers would have a better chance of winning a NBA Championship with a team of Paul, Reddick, Affalo, Anthony and Jordan over Paul, Reddick, Johnson/Pierce, Blake, and Jordan.

[nol]

The Pistons are getting Tobias Harris from the Magic for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilysaova.

Almost a Doc Rivers type of move for Orlando in that both players played their best ball a couple years ago when Skiles coached the Bucks.

[Zinto]

Originally Posted by nol

The Pistons are getting Tobias Harris from the Magic for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilysaova.

Almost a Doc Rivers type of move for Orlando in that both players played their best ball a couple years ago when Skiles coached the Bucks.

As a Pistons fan, I am pretty excited. But our bench is back to being super bad.

[nol]

Originally Posted by Zinto

As a Pistons fan, I am pretty excited. But our bench is back to being super bad.

This is where the Pistons will regret buying Josh Smith out rather than just trading him away for nothing. Jackson, Caldwell-Pope, Johnson, Harris, and Drummond is an interesting group that could attract a bigger free agent, but Detroit likely won't have enough money before extending Drummond thanks to the $5 million or so of Josh Smith's deal that's still counting against their cap.

[Logan]

Seeing the deal Detroit and Houston just made with a protected 1st round pick, I was wondering if anyone has done any sort of large scale analysis/review of protected 1st round pick trades over the past 10 years or so. Something like how often a protected 1st actually results in a 1st being swapped in the given year to how often it turns into two 2nd round picks 5 years down the road. Also if there is any correlation to unprotected picks being moved for better players like you would expect.

[stevew]

Sad to see Andy go. Probably my favorite Cav of all time. Hopefully Frye can help.

[murrayyyyy]

Orlando has a really young core and a lot of money to play with now (45 mill under cap?) but who the hell is going to Orlando?