2023/24/25 NBA Hoops & Hollers

[Kevin Bresnahan]

5 hours ago, soulpope said:

https://www.nba.com/news/victor-wembanyama-30-point-10-block

The show keeps rollin' ....

But the Spurs are still just 15-13 and out of the playoffs.

[soulpope]

1 minute ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

But the Spurs are still just 15-13 and out of the playoffs.

Correct .... it is another "turnaround" season with a number of young players (and via the next drafts more top potential incoming) guided by CP .... a winning record (even at this early stage) is a success and the team is fun to watch ....

[jlhoots]

Bucks defeat Wizards without Giannis or Lillard. Portis scores 34.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

6 hours ago, jlhoots said:

Bucks defeat Wizards without Giannis or Lillard. Portis scores 34.

The Wizards are 4-22. They have the worst record in the NBA. Were you expecting something different?

[jlhoots]

2 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

The Wizards are 4-22. They have the worst record in the NBA. Were you expecting something different?

I suppose a good high school team could have defeated them. Just liked the performance by Portis. 😜

[JSngry]

The Bucks definitely have righted the ship though. The way they dominated OKC in the Cup final spoke to that.

[soulpope]

On the way up .... only the sky is the limit ....

[soulpope]

https://www.nba.com/news/victor-wembanyama-plays-chess-new-york-city

On his way up .... but still down to earth .... remarkable ....

[jlhoots]

Giannis outplays Wembanyama tonight.

[JSngry]

Just now, jlhoots said:

Giannis outplays Wembanyama tonight.

Unambiguously!!!

[T.D.]

I don't really follow hoops, but was shocked at the big trade:
Dallas basically traded L. Dončić to Lakers for A. Davis.

Edited 6 hours ago by T.D.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

33 minutes ago, T.D. said:

I don't really follow hoops, but was shocked at the big trade:
Dallas basically traded L. Dončić to Lakers for A. Davis.

I don't understand the Mavs on this one. Luka is 25 and Davis is 31. That alone is a reason to say no to this trade.

Sure, the Mavs need help on defense, but you don't trade the leading scorer & MVP of the previous season for a shot blocker, even if that shot blocker can score & especially if that shot blocker is 31. After all, one guy can't cover all 5 players on the other team. Team defense wins games, not one player's defense. When the Mavs play the Celtics, are they going to put Davis on Tatum? I don't see that working out for them.

[felser]

Mavs must be convinced that Doncic was not going to re-up in 2026.  They also get Christie and a 2029 #1, and dump some bad contracts, but still...

Edited 5 hours ago by felser

[JSngry]

Not seeing the logic in that trade at all. Nobody is.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

1 hour ago, felser said:

Mavs must be convinced that Doncic was not going to re-up in 2026.  They also get Christie and a 2029 #1, and dump some bad contracts, but still...

But does that make sense? Dončić would have gotten a super-max contract with the Mavs. He can't with any other team, including the Lakers. Also his current contract has him near max contract $$ and his player option for 2026 is $49 Million, which is more than a lot of the superstars around the league are getting on their max contracts.

I think this is all on the Mavs management not wanting to pay Luka with a super-max contract. They basically screwed him.

From: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10153150-nba-insider-luka-doncic-ineligible-for-345m-supermax-contract-after-lakers-trade

"ESPN's Bobby Marks reported he is no longer eligible for the super-max extension this summer that would have paid him $345 million over five years."

Given how this looks, I would think that this  hurts the Mavs for future free agent signings. Who wants to play for a team that screws over their best player?

[JSngry]

The only way that this makes sense is if they have learned something about Luka's durability and tendency towards injury that's only going to get worse over time. But even at that, Anthony Davis?

And we don't even get good new operas.

[Joe]

9 minutes ago, JSngry said:

The only way that this makes sense is if they have learned something about Luka's durability and tendency towards injury that's only going to get worse over time. But even at that, Anthony Davis?

And we don't even get good new operas.

That is my guess. The kind of nagging calf injury Luka's been dealing with is often prelude to an Achille blowout. And he seems disinterested in conditioning. If anyone can change his mind about that, it might be LeBron (and LeBron sure as hell has authority on that topic). 

End of the day, it's about the money. As great as Luka can be, $345M is a lot to lock up in one guy who you may have doubts about. 

Also interesting to watch has been the player reaction to this deal. Many of them are saying things like: "Damn, I guess anyone can ge traded." In other words: as powerful as players are in this league, it's still the billionaires who call the shots. And boy are the billionaires having a moment right now. (Let's hope it stays a moment, for everyone's sake... multimillionaires included.)

[Tom in RI]

It’s a head scratcher, hard to believe Dallas couldn’t have gotten two starters and some picks for Luka. From what I read Doncic is less than fully engaged on conditioning, now he’ll have LeBron as a role model. As to how screwed Doncic is by missing a super max deal, I don’t think he needs to worry about money, the super max is worth a 5% bump.

[JSngry]

2 hours ago, Joe said:

And boy are the billionaires having a moment right now. (Let's hope it stays a moment, for everyone's sake... multimillionaires included.)

Miriam Adelson has begun flooding my streaming channels with "aw shucks, it's wholesome and it will go to the schools and besides, it's evil to not have it!!!" ads for "destination resorts" aka casinos.

That's said to gave been her motivation in buying the Mavs, to build a "destination resorts" for the Mavs to call home.

I've had wildly mixed feelings about Mark Cuban over the decades, but I have zero ambiguity about Miriam Adelson.

[Joe]

37 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Miriam Adelson has begun flooding my streaming channels with "aw shucks, it's wholesome and it will go to the schools and besides, it's evil to not have it!!!" ads for "destination resorts" aka casinos.

That's said to gave been her motivation in buying the Mavs, to build a "destination resorts" for the Mavs to call home.

I've had wildly mixed feelings about Mark Cuban over the decades, but I have zero ambiguity about Miriam Adelson.

100%. How long before they are the Las Vegas Mavericks?