Fully agree on this -- no way are the Clippers bottom 3. Solid and deep....not a playoff team, but not bad. If Gallinari stays healthy (heh-heh) they're really pretty decent. As well, the Free Boban movement seems to be picking up some steam, which is fun.
Yeah this is about where I have them at 28-30 wins around 6 to 7 from the basement (give or take a slot or two) with those bottom-3 in the teens and not getting out of the mid-20's. I think the Kings have too much scoring and too much overall talent to be considered in the same sentence as the Hawks, Knicks, Cavs and whoever else falls on their face from the Kings range (Mavs, Bulls, Suns, Magic, Nets, and Grizz) once injuries take their toll (which was why I included "injuries" as an opportunity for the Kings to join the bottom-3).
We're going to be one giant, collective nervous wreck on lottery night as they reveal the order.
Would definitely be a game changer and would likely move the pick into 2020 if he suffered a significant injury. Meanwhile, every Philly loss makes me smile and it has nothing to do with the division race.
Gasol is a pretty pedestrian player at this stage of his career and would lead to the Grizz playing more smallball which could actually benefit them. We're finally reaching the key years for this draft pick. Been a long time coming.
Which is what we want, right? I would much rather gamble on MEM being a bottom 5 team in 2020 than grabbing the 10'ish pick in this draft
It's top 6 protected in 2020 so finishing bottom 5 wouldn't be good for us unless their sucking continued into 2021 when we get it unprotected. I think there is some real potential for them to be bad in 2020-2021 so not having the pick convey this year wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. What would suck is if Gasol/Conley can scrape together one more decent year and we get like #14 or #15 and then we watch their team decay the following couple of years.
This has always been my dream path much like that of the Nets. Ainge and Zarren surely utilized an analytical approach to negotiate how this pick would best be conveyed. The Grizz being in a small market had/have a very strong probability to royally suck once the Gasol/Zach/C-Shoes-led team transitioned into a rebuilding effort. They still do.
Definitely agree. I like JJJ but he'll be far too green to lead a team to the playoffs in the next 3 years. Even if they get the #1 pick this year, that guy, too, will be too raw to impact the standings much. Ainge appears to have timed this one perfectly. Either he gets a late lotto pick in 2019 or he has a real good shot at a better lotto pick the following 2 years.
My draft binkie Cauley-Stein with a 26/13 following a 17/11/7 game vs the Wizards.
That wouldn’t be funny at all! This Kings stuff is already annoying me. Memphis looks on their way to another win as well. They could be a playoff team, which would really suck.
Sorry, I was more making the point that wacky stuff happens every year with NBA early season standings. The Kings aren't going to make the playoffs, but they well might finish ahead of the Suns, Mavs, and 4 or 5 dreck teams in the East. Not a great outcome, but fine as a bonus for Tatum.
No one is debating the value received on the trades. Clearly, they were great trades. But, if SAC pick conveys at like 12 when they were expected to be a bottom 5 team, that would be disappointing. The difference in value between a top 5 pick and, say, #12 pick can be substantial.
While it’s nice to believe that teams can will themselves to win, talent is necessary. And the Kings just don’t have enough of it unless they plan on running a four center lineup.
Disagree. The picks were not structured in the manner for which they were with a goal of landing in the 15-20 slots. Sure, the trades were won however the miscalculation of where these picks convey would be extremely disappointing to Ainge, Zarren, and most Celtics fans who follow this stuff.
Mostly agree, with the quibble that MEM definitely didn't think it was giving up a top-10 pick for Jeff Green at the time.
They were structured to get the most upside possible, but the timelines on the LAC and MEM picks was such that they were shots in the dark, there was no real reason to think that they would be top 10 picks, the protection was mostly to prevent getting a pick in the late 20s.
I'm going to hold you to this. Seriously, though, their schedule gets a lot tougher soon so I expect a healthy losing streak soon.
How bad is their defense though? They have some good individual defenders and seem to be clicking with Joerger's style. Their young core of Fox, Hield, WCS, and JJ are all a year closer to their prime while adding a top rookie in Bagley plus veteran reinforcements in Bjelica (who is wildly underrated), Shumpert, and Ferrell. It's reasonable to add 5-10 wins to the 27 they had last year while running out Garrett Temple and Vince Carter in their rotation now that we are seeing the leaps Fox, Hield and WCS appear to be taking.
I am unsure how many plus defenders they have though. Obviously hard to tell this early, and last years numbers are difficult to figure out because of how bad and the tanking. But Hield and Bjelica are most certianly not good defenders. Bagley being a rookie is going to struggle even if he his defense is not as bad as everyone expected.
You need to take into account pace if you are going to look at points given up. The Kings Def Rating is in the middle of the league at 110. As is their Offensive Rating.
This is exactly where I am as well. I want zero part of the Sixers getting the #1 pick in this upcoming draft.
Problem is they may be (slightly) better than that. I think a pic in that 5-7 range would be a very acceptable result for us. Not sure there is going to be a huge difference between 3 and 7 in this draft but we’ll have to see on that.
Current win streak is against the Grizzlies, Wizards, Heat, Magic, and tonight against the Hawks. Not quite a murderer's row, though they have showed something. Hopefully they wilt against better competition.
I hope they are a bad as possible, even at the risk of increasing the chance of the pick ending up #1. The new lotto odds go into effect for this upcoming 2019 lottery. To use the worst vs the 7th worst records as an example for 2019.
