The OFFICIAL 2022 NBA Offseason thread

[daeve]

Originally Posted by mfw13

It's possible, because there are fewer NBA players than in any other major sport, so the financial pie gets spread amongst fewer players.

Somewhere between 1200-1500 players appear on a MLB roster each season.
Somewhere around 2000 players appear on a NFL roster each season.

But the NBA has only 450 players, and about a third of those are on vet minimum or two-way deals. So the money does get concentrated among a much smaller number of players than in other major sports.

The bar for entry is also [kinda literally] higher... you can't really be under ~6'2 and hope to make it in the NBA anymore, unless you are in the very very top of the game skills-wise. It's just simply tougher to make it in this league than in baseball/football where height is way less of a barrier to playing at the highest level.

[daeve]

Mobley rolled ankle, out 1-2 weeks - hopefully will be available for opening night as it'd be fun to see him vs. Scottie on day 1.

[RogerGodahell]

They are freaks of nature. NFL players are too but NBA players more so. I don't know a lot of 6'-6'' people. How many do you know? That is the average height in the NBA out of 450 people.

[tjforce]

Ben Simmons returned to action after 400+ days off.

6 pts, 4 rebs, 5 assists, 1 steal in a half.

Pretty much what we've always seen out of him.

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by daeve

Mobley rolled ankle, out 1-2 weeks - hopefully will be available for opening night as it'd be fun to see him vs. Scottie on day 1.

16 days until 1st game. So hopefully he's good to go.

[daeve]

Originally Posted by tjforce

Ben Simmons returned to action after 400+ days off.

6 pts, 4 rebs, 5 assists, 1 steal in a half.

Pretty much what we've always seen out of him.

Took the words right out of my mouth

https://streamable.com/gxqho5

[daeve]

Paolo with the mean slam in Memphis traffic - nice to see him aggressive right off the bat

https://streamable.com/vecc47

[drobfan8]

Originally Posted by daeve

Took the words right out of my mouth

https://streamable.com/gxqho5

Damn.

Simmons still lives rent free in your head.

Is he your Dad and left your Mommy or something?

[jcardstore]

The Lakers bench is hilariously bad.

[drobfan8]

The Suns got rolled by an Aussie team. Lol.

McCarron is legit tho

[Aultimate21]

Originally Posted by jcardstore

The Lakers bench is hilariously bad.

New Orleans loves it

[daeve]

https://twitter.com/danwoikesports/s...NeG76U1sB_rQXQ

Ham said that sometimes Ws and Ls are less important than “wisdom and lessons.”

gonna be a long year for Lakers fans

https://twitter.com/Cpofffff/status/1577166103825960963

Lakers gonna have 50 lessons this year

[rhigh2390]

Originally Posted by daeve

https://twitter.com/danwoikesports/s...NeG76U1sB_rQXQ



gonna be a long year for Lakers fans

https://twitter.com/Cpofffff/status/1577166103825960963

Crazy that this is a hot take on here, but if lebron and AD are healthy, the Lakers are one of the top teams in the West this year.

Same with the Nets in the East, if KD, Kyrie, and Ben are healthy.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by rhigh2390

Crazy that this is a hot take on here, but if lebron and AD are healthy, the Lakers are one of the top teams in the West this year

Top 15 for sure.

[jcardstore]

Originally Posted by rhigh2390

Crazy that this is a hot take on here, but if lebron and AD are healthy, the Lakers are one of the top teams in the West this year.

Same with the Nets in the East, if KD, Kyrie, and Ben are healthy.

No, they're not. You pump up LeBron teams every year just to say " oh look how they underperformed haha you suck LeBron"

Who knew basketball was played with more than 2 players.

[smalltown]

Originally Posted by rhigh2390

if lebron and AD are healthy, the Lakers are one of the top teams in the West this year.

They don't need to be a top team. Just a playoff team while keeping those two healthy and engaged. Get to the playoffs with a short bench with the grind behind them and they become a team that just needs to win 16 games.

My issue with them is getting there.

[Scottish Punk]

Originally Posted by smalltown

They don't need to be a top team. Just a playoff team while keeping those two healthy and engaged. Get to the playoffs with a short bench with the grind behind them and they become a team that just needs to win 16 games.

My issue with them is getting there.

Yeah, they very well could be a very dangerous playoff team. We can just assume Davis is going to miss 20 games and Lebron is likely as well (between small injuries and some load management). There role players need to suck up minutes and produce some wins, that is the crux of their problems.

Also, "Get it, go!". Does that not sound like the big three just going out and getting their numbers and not really focusing on team basketball?

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by daeve

Took the words right out of my mouth

https://streamable.com/gxqho5

Yep. The same game that's made him a 3 time all star. It's all the Nets need out of him.

Originally Posted by rhigh2390

Crazy that this is a hot take on here, but if lebron and AD are healthy, the Lakers are one of the top teams in the West this year.

Same with the Nets in the East, if KD, Kyrie, and Ben are healthy.

The Nets are a team that could win a title or miss the playoffs entirely.

Those 3 healthy and engaged make them the most talented team in the NBA (esp when you consider some of the parts around them).

Those 3 injured and disengaged means a disaster. It'll be an interesting experiment to watch.

[daeve]

Originally Posted by rhigh2390

Crazy that this is a hot take on here, but if lebron and AD are healthy, the Lakers are one of the top teams in the West this year.

Same with the Nets in the East, if KD, Kyrie, and Ben are healthy.

AD's offense cratered in the same way Lebron's defensive tenacity did... how many consecutive seasons are Lakers stans gonna parrot "if they're healthy..." until they see the writing on the wall?

AD shot 18% from 3 last year and was worth -0.3 offensive Raptor - he was straight bad on O. Lebron is turning 38 and had to give up on defense a lot last year to save himself for offense - they need at minimum to be surrounded by 3 good and very complimentary pieces - newsflash : they aren't.

[daeve]

Originally Posted by tjforce

Yep. The same game that's made him a 3 time all star. It's all the Nets need out of him.



The Nets are a team that could win a title or miss the playoffs entirely.

Those 3 healthy and engaged make them the most talented team in the NBA (esp when you consider some of the parts around them).

Those 3 injured and disengaged means a disaster. It'll be an interesting experiment to watch.

They are not going to be good defensively in crunchtime when they can't play Claxton and Simmons together due to spacing. Simmons has still shown nothing by way of half-court offense improvement - he does the same stupid dribble a few times and then dump off pass - which does nothing to gain the offense an advantage. You're smarter than this. Advantages are gained by beating opposition off the dribble or creating other spacing advantages in half-court, Simmons still doesn't actively try to beat people off the dribble in half-court because he's still scared of being fouled. So he's once again [still] relegated to little dump off passes and then standing out-of-position or in a corner and providing zero spacing.

The bigger question is will Nash choose to bench him late in favor of Royce O'Neale or TJ Warren or will he go small and force Simmons/KD to guard an opposing big [hint: they will get crushed in the paint].

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by daeve

They are not going to be good defensively in crunchtime when they can't play Claxton and Simmons together due to spacing. Simmons has still shown nothing by way of half-court offense improvement - he does the same stupid dribble a few times and then dump off pass - which does nothing to gain the offense an advantage. You're smarter than this. Advantages are gained by beating opposition off the dribble or creating other spacing advantages in half-court, Simmons still doesn't actively try to beat people off the dribble in half-court because he's still scared of being fouled. So he's once again [still] relegated to little dump off passes and then standing out-of-position or in a corner and providing zero spacing.

The bigger question is will Nash choose to bench him late in favor of Royce O'Neale or TJ Warren or will he go small and force Simmons/KD to guard an opposing big [hint: they will get crushed in the paint].

Didn't look scared to get fouled yesterday.

Begged for a call after finishing at the rim yesterday, and got to the line another time, (and bricked em both).

Regardless, what he brings to the table has been enough to make 3 all star games and be named to all nba 3rd team. Combine that with a top 5 in the NBA KD and All NBA Kyrie, they are top level. Not sure how many other teams have 3 All-NBA level guys, or that close to it.

Now, do I think all of those things will come together that well? No. Just some of those things coming together doesn't do it. But the team's ceiling is certainly higher than most teams because of the off chance it does.

[daeve]

Originally Posted by tjforce

Didn't look scared to get fouled yesterday.

Begged for a call after finishing at the rim yesterday, and got to the line another time, (and bricked em both).

Regardless, what he brings to the table has been enough to make 3 all star games and be named to all nba 3rd team. Combine that with a top 5 in the NBA KD and All NBA Kyrie, they are top level. Not sure how many other teams have 3 All-NBA level guys, or that close to it.

Now, do I think all of those things will come together that well? No. Just some of those things coming together doesn't do it. But the team's ceiling is certainly higher than most teams because of the off chance it does.

His accolades don't matter moving forward - they don't help what he will be in the 22-23 season. He will certainly help their defense more than Harden did - and that's pretty vital - but when the other 4 defenders are going to be mediocre/bad, well it won't matter a whole lot. Warren has shown some defensive ability but is coming off major injury and probably lost a step. Royce O'Neale has been good in the past but was trending down before he arrived in Bkn.

Then you have Kyrie and KD in the closing lineup and one of Harris/Curry [bad]. As we saw last year with Lakers + Nets, and have seen with Phx very recently, chemistry matters. And so does defensive identity. The real contenders have defensive identity and they have stalwarts who understand what's needed. I don't see the Nets having that, ergo they are not at all the 'most talented team in the NBA if healthy'.

[Dame]

Flawed roster construction. Key players dealing with multiple mental issues and most especially.... Poor leadership.


Even Stevie Wonder can see that team is going nowhere.


Come on.

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by daeve

His accolades don't matter moving forward - they don't help what he will be in the 22-23 season. He will certainly help their defense more than Harden did - and that's pretty vital - but when the other 4 defenders are going to be mediocre/bad, well it won't matter a whole lot. Warren has shown some defensive ability but is coming off major injury and probably lost a step. Royce O'Neale has been good in the past but was trending down before he arrived in Bkn.

Then you have Kyrie and KD in the closing lineup and one of Harris/Curry [bad]. As we saw last year with Lakers + Nets, and have seen with Phx very recently, chemistry matters. And so does defensive identity. The real contenders have defensive identity and they have stalwarts who understand what's needed. I don't see the Nets having that, ergo they are not at all the 'most talented team in the NBA if healthy'.

Agree to disagree.

Which is fine.

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by Dame

Flawed roster construction. Key players dealing with multiple mental issues and most especially.... Poor leadership.


Even Stevie Wonder can see that team is going nowhere.


Come on.

If you are arguing that the sum of the parts is more that the team as a whole, I agree.

If we are judging only the pieces individually, this team is top level talent.