Around The NBA : 2023-24 Season #2

[ImSlower]

Caitlyn Clark is such a joy to watch, especially at home games; makes me miss when I lived around the corner from Carver-Hawkeye arena. The raw energy from a roaring college crowd is tough to beat.

Also tOSU sports are my singular least favorite team in any sport (no offense Buckeyes here its just a rivalry thing) and this gorgeous day will be ruined if those rotten turdettes beat Clark again this season. Go Hawks!

[kodo]

The part of the Wemby hype I didn't agree with was that the Spurs would be a playoff team with him. In terms of actual W-L, Wemby has given the Spurs 3 more wins than the Pistons. Spurs had 22 Ws last season, they're going to be worse this year without losing anyone and adding Wemby.

Never doubted that Wemby can throw up monster boxscores, but carrying bad teams in the league to actual W's is still incredibly hard.

[DuckIII]

The part of the Wemby hype I didn't agree with was that the Spurs would be a playoff team with him. In terms of actual W-L, Wemby has given the Spurs 3 more wins than the Pistons. Spurs had 22 Ws last season, they're going to be worse this year without losing anyone and adding Wemby.

Never doubted that Wemby can throw up monster boxscores, but carrying bad teams in the league to actual W's is still incredibly hard.

Outside of internet fanboys did you ever see any real basketball analysts predict that Wemby as a rookie would elevate that team to a playoff seed out West?

I don’t recall that being part of the hype from any serious analysts.

[DuckIII]

Kind of a bummer that Caitlin Clark’s record breaking shot came off free throws from the most bull-shyte technical I’ve ever seen that Clark actually initiated herself.

[samwana]

Everyone wants everyone to bulk up in the NBA. Every training camp we hear news about how someone has gained X pounds of muscle, regardless of how they play. I remember when everyone was so psyched about Derrick proudly announcing he was up to 210 lbs. This is completely not specific to the Bulls or Markkanen. It's also probably a bad goal overall by all teams.

It's a fan goal too. There was a lot of talk on this board during Lauri's rookie year about how he had biceps but the rest of him was too skinny. Then various pictures expressing the hope that maybe he was in fact getting bigger. I don't recall anybody arguing that maybe he shouldn't do that.

I know I did, because all this bulking up may be good for some but defintely not for all players, Lauri never was the type of player to be big. Lean and mean.. bulk up ruined Derrick as well. It was the standard method from our staff. One size fits all is stupid.

[Dan Z]

The part of the Wemby hype I didn't agree with was that the Spurs would be a playoff team with him. In terms of actual W-L, Wemby has given the Spurs 3 more wins than the Pistons. Spurs had 22 Ws last season, they're going to be worse this year without losing anyone and adding Wemby.

Never doubted that Wemby can throw up monster boxscores, but carrying bad teams in the league to actual W's is still incredibly hard.

Outside of internet fanboys did you ever see any real basketball analysts predict that Wemby as a rookie would elevate that team to a playoff seed out West?

I don’t recall that being part of the hype from any serious analysts.

It was never a realistic expectation (I agree that it was fans saying it). I looked up LeBron's rookie year and the Cavs won 18 more games with him than the previous season.

Also, the Spurs aren't really trying to win. They were experimenting with players like Sochan running the point and are playing with the future in mind.

[Repeat 3-peat]

Not good.

Read on Twitter

[prolific passer]

Is it wrong that I'm just like meh when Lebron got his 40,000 point? I mean it's impressive but honestly I just don't care overall.

I'm the same. Of course I know he's amazing and everything, but it's just hard for me to be impressed by him given how much he's skewed the competition in his favor over the years.

I think for me it's just the Lebron burnout from his hardcore fans. Same with the Jordan and Kobe fans. Sorry to the hardcore Jordan fans to the board but it's just how I feel.

[sco]

Not good.

Read on Twitter

Such a bummer. I love that kid. Knicks may plummet from here if Brunson is done for season.

[Repeat 3-peat]

Not good.

Read on Twitter

Such a bummer. I love that kid. Knicks may plummet from here if Brunson is done for season.

Knicks twitter is reporting "sore knee", so maybe(hopefully) he got lucky.

[sco]

Not good.

Read on Twitter

Such a bummer. I love that kid. Knicks may plummet from here if Brunson is done for season.

Knicks twitter is reporting "sore knee", so maybe(hopefully) he got lucky.

I'll be optimistic you're right, but non-contact injuries like that come back as ACL's too often.

[ThisGuyFawkes]

OKC is such a fun team to watch. I think I'll be cheering for them to win it this season.

[GrowingHorns]

In a book coming out from Lauri's Finnish physical trainer since 2021, Lauri tells how he got made such a training programs on his time with Chicago, that slowed down his movement, and is also saying he is the kind of person that believes authorities.
So that's a closure for that. They messed up and Lauri was too young,too kind and obedient to be able to counter their methods. Which kinda makes sense for kids playing on rookie contracts.

I have no dog in the Laurie fight. I believed strongly in Lauri’s ceiling being high as a matter of talent and potential. But I also believe the Bulls gave Lauri plenty of opportunities to succeed and reject the “told to stand in a corner” narrative of his biggest fans. I blame both the Bulls and Lauri for his situation in Chicago, which extended to Cleveland, and am happy for Lauri today.

But regardless of how I feel about it, Lauri’s private trainer has a clear personal bias and a financial incentive to say his own training was superior and it was the Bulls’ training, rather than him or Lauri, who was responsible for whatever negative views people have of Lauri’s game in Chicago. His unilateral declaration is hardly “closure” of anything.

It's Lauri himself telling those things. I have no doubt Bulls had issues all over the staff. If I recall it correctly, in the garpax era, Bulls was among teams having the least developmental coaches too in the league. And top portion of the injury lists for years.

[erlim]

In a book coming out from Lauri's Finnish physical trainer since 2021, Lauri tells how he got made such a training programs on his time with Chicago, that slowed down his movement, and is also saying he is the kind of person that believes authorities.
So that's a closure for that. They messed up and Lauri was too young,too kind and obedient to be able to counter their methods. Which kinda makes sense for kids playing on rookie contracts.

I have no dog in the Laurie fight. I believed strongly in Lauri’s ceiling being high as a matter of talent and potential. But I also believe the Bulls gave Lauri plenty of opportunities to succeed and reject the “told to stand in a corner” narrative of his biggest fans. I blame both the Bulls and Lauri for his situation in Chicago, which extended to Cleveland, and am happy for Lauri today.

But regardless of how I feel about it, Lauri’s private trainer has a clear personal bias and a financial incentive to say his own training was superior and it was the Bulls’ training, rather than him or Lauri, who was responsible for whatever negative views people have of Lauri’s game in Chicago. His unilateral declaration is hardly “closure” of anything.

It's Lauri himself telling those things. I have no doubt Bulls had issues all over the staff. If I recall it correctly, in the garpax era, Bulls was among teams having the least developmental coaches too in the league. And top portion of the injury lists for years.

We had Jim Boylen for the majority of Lauri's time here. It doesn't matter if we had an emerging T-Mac, he's gonna barely get the floor out of any player. He's going to fail at putting together winning basketball and make any player look far less than their worth, especially one that has no history yet.

[Dan Z]

I have no dog in the Laurie fight. I believed strongly in Lauri’s ceiling being high as a matter of talent and potential. But I also believe the Bulls gave Lauri plenty of opportunities to succeed and reject the “told to stand in a corner” narrative of his biggest fans. I blame both the Bulls and Lauri for his situation in Chicago, which extended to Cleveland, and am happy for Lauri today.

But regardless of how I feel about it, Lauri’s private trainer has a clear personal bias and a financial incentive to say his own training was superior and it was the Bulls’ training, rather than him or Lauri, who was responsible for whatever negative views people have of Lauri’s game in Chicago. His unilateral declaration is hardly “closure” of anything.

It's Lauri himself telling those things. I have no doubt Bulls had issues all over the staff. If I recall it correctly, in the garpax era, Bulls was among teams having the least developmental coaches too in the league. And top portion of the injury lists for years.

We had Jim Boylen for the majority of Lauri's time here. It doesn't matter if we had an emerging T-Mac, he's gonna barely get the floor out of any player. He's going to fail at putting together winning basketball and make any player look far less than their worth, especially one that has no history yet.

I wonder if Markkanen will ask to be traded if Ainge decides to tank again next year...? At some point I'm sure it's frustrating.

[The Explorer]

Is it wrong that I'm just like meh when Lebron got his 40,000 point? I mean it's impressive but honestly I just don't care overall.

I'm the same. Of course I know he's amazing and everything, but it's just hard for me to be impressed by him given how much he's skewed the competition in his favor over the years.

I think for me it's just the Lebron burnout from his hardcore fans. Same with the Jordan and Kobe fans. Sorry to the hardcore Jordan fans to the board but it's just how I feel.

Not sure if people on this forum visit the General board or the PC board, but Jordan was ranked a distant 3rd place behind James and Abdul Jabbar in the top 100 all time list project they do every few years. There is a large pro-Lebron, anti-Kobe, anti-MJ sentiment on realm...

[drosestruts]

I thought one team would slip into the play-in but I thought that team would be the Embidless 76ers - not the Pacers.

Time is slipping our ability to move up at all - would love to have a chance at playing anyone other than Boston in the first round (if we're ableto make it out of the play-in).

I know there's various contributing factors but since the trade deadline the Knicks are 3-6 and the Pacers are 5-4. Hardly the big splash either were hoping for I imagine.

[MrSparkle]

The part of the Wemby hype I didn't agree with was that the Spurs would be a playoff team with him. In terms of actual W-L, Wemby has given the Spurs 3 more wins than the Pistons. Spurs had 22 Ws last season, they're going to be worse this year without losing anyone and adding Wemby.

Never doubted that Wemby can throw up monster boxscores, but carrying bad teams in the league to actual W's is still incredibly hard.

Pretty sure it was just me, man.

I thought Tre, Keldon, Branham and Sochan would be better.

I also think Popovich intentionally tanked. He was candid about it all year. He benched Tre for the first half of the season, even though he’s clearly a better option at PG than… Sochan (zero shooting/penetrating threat). Seemed like McDermott, Collins and new addition Osman slipped into sub-scrub territory after solid seasons, so not having any reliable veterans made them lose any competitive edge.

He also said he’s just letting Wemby play, and figure things out. One of his press conferences he laughed and said he feels like a grandpa with a bunch of kids who have no idea what they’re doing… but seeing their energy and fire is revitalizing him. But alas, sounds like extended training camp, until vets are added.

[drosestruts]

The part of the Wemby hype I didn't agree with was that the Spurs would be a playoff team with him. In terms of actual W-L, Wemby has given the Spurs 3 more wins than the Pistons. Spurs had 22 Ws last season, they're going to be worse this year without losing anyone and adding Wemby.

Never doubted that Wemby can throw up monster boxscores, but carrying bad teams in the league to actual W's is still incredibly hard.

Pretty sure it was just me, man.

I thought Tre, Keldon, Branham and Sochan would be better.

I also think Popovich intentionally tanked. He was candid about it all year. He benched Tre for the first half of the season, even though he’s clearly a better option at PG than… Sochan (zero shooting/penetrating threat). Seemed like McDermott, Collins and new addition Osman slipped into sub-scrub territory after solid seasons, so not having any reliable veterans made them lose any competitive edge.

He also said he’s just letting Wemby play, and figure things out. One of his press conferences he laughed and said he feels like a grandpa with a bunch of kids who have no idea what they’re doing… but seeing their energy and fire is revitalizing him. But alas, sounds like extended training camp, until vets are added.

So let's say the Spurs were intentionally bad this year - what's their plan for being intentionally good? They've signed some of these players like Johnson, Vassell, and Collins to extensions and are expected to have arund $30mm in cap space along with a top 3 pick.

They're currently 20 games behind teams in the play-in, that's a lot of ground to make up.

Do they throw the max at someone like OG Anunoby and hope the Knicks balk?

Every top-10 projected pick is pretty young - I don't personally have the best insights into which will be immediate contributors and which will require seasoning/development

[MrSparkle]

The part of the Wemby hype I didn't agree with was that the Spurs would be a playoff team with him. In terms of actual W-L, Wemby has given the Spurs 3 more wins than the Pistons. Spurs had 22 Ws last season, they're going to be worse this year without losing anyone and adding Wemby.

Never doubted that Wemby can throw up monster boxscores, but carrying bad teams in the league to actual W's is still incredibly hard.

Pretty sure it was just me, man.

I thought Tre, Keldon, Branham and Sochan would be better.

I also think Popovich intentionally tanked. He was candid about it all year. He benched Tre for the first half of the season, even though he’s clearly a better option at PG than… Sochan (zero shooting/penetrating threat). Seemed like McDermott, Collins and new addition Osman slipped into sub-scrub territory after solid seasons, so not having any reliable veterans made them lose any competitive edge.

He also said he’s just letting Wemby play, and figure things out. One of his press conferences he laughed and said he feels like a grandpa with a bunch of kids who have no idea what they’re doing… but seeing their energy and fire is revitalizing him. But alas, sounds like extended training camp, until vets are added.

So let's say the Spurs were intentionally bad this year - what's their plan for being intentionally good? They've signed some of these players like Johnson, Vassell, and Collins to extensions and are expected to have arund $30mm in cap space along with a top 3 pick.

They're currently 20 games behind teams in the play-in, that's a lot of ground to make up.

Do they throw the max at someone like OG Anunoby and hope the Knicks balk?

Every top-10 projected pick is pretty young - I don't personally have the best insights into which will be immediate contributors and which will require seasoning/development

I think they'll take BPAs with their (possibly) two top-10 picks in this draft: Ron Holland and Matas would be quite the haul.

Suck for one more year while Wemby becomes a true superstar, and start tearing up the league in 2025/26. They'll probably dump expiring Collins and prime/talented Keldon before then. A top-10 pick in the 2024 would be a huge chip.

2025 FA pool is pretty big.

In the meantime, I think they could get away with a stop-gap PG to help run the show and mentor. P-Bev says hi! Also: Dinwiddie, Dunn, Dennis Smith and Monte Morris.