Agreed, which makes it all the more remarkable what they did in 2017. 67 wins, 1st in offensive rating, 2nd in defensive rating, 3rd best net rating (+11.6) of all time, only behind the 96 and 97 Bulls. Amazing that they weren't even going 100% in the regular season (and it paid off when they went 16-1 in the playoffs).
Oh yea. I knew where you stood...I just find it hilarious that RWB is a slight favorite over MB to win 6th Man of the Year
Of course….EVERYONE is fatigued in The Finals and playing more minutes against higher intensity defense. I get that. My point is that this wasn’t some team limping to the finish line or beat up in the prior two series…..if they were they wouldn’t have won 2 of the first 3 games of The Finals by double digits!
I’m not the biggest Russ fan and certainly wouldn’t want him on this team with our personnel but he’s been pretty freakin good in his role on that team which needs exactly what he’s been giving coming off the bench.
We're talking about the 24-28 Lakers, right?
Win/Loss isn’t really relevant with LeBron and Davis missing so many games. They are a middle of the pack playoff team, like a 5-6 seed with the three of them and Russ playing as he has in this role.
I agree with this. I love to laugh at the Lakers as much as anyone, but I actually think it's not a team I'd love to face in the first round if healthy. Hopefully nagging injuries and the refs stealing games from them will keep them on the outside looking in.
I know Vegas has him as the odds-on favorite but there are a dozen bench players across the NBA I'd rather have on my team than RWB (and so would the Lakers)
Davis has missed a lot of time, but Lebron has only missed ten games. That's not a small chunk of change, it's true, but he hasn't missed that many games.
They are 10-12 when both AD and Lebron play together this year (net rating of -0.4)), after going 11-11 when both guys were healthy last season (net rating of -1.1). I didn't bother seeing how many of those games were with Russ, as the one real positive thing you can say about him is that he's been healthy (just 7 games missed since the start of last season). The hilarious truth about the Lakers since the start of last year is that even when their big 2 (and Westbrook) play, they've been shockingly average. Maybe that's enough to get a 5-6 seed in the west given that they're just 3 games back, but let's not act like this team when healthy is even a lock to make the play in games.
Yes, the discussion was about the Award. I don’t think anyone, including the Lakers, were expecting MVP Russ of OKC. If the Lakers, let’s just say LeBron and AD, remaining relatively healthy the rest of the way, make the playoffs which they surely will under those conditions, and Russ keeps putting up numbers never seen by a 6th man (yes I’m aware of the flaws), I’d fully expect the voters to check off his box. That’s all I’m saying in response to @benhogan finding it hilarious that he’s favored to win the award.
If the 3 of them remain healthy they are pretty much a lock to make the playoffs without much trouble when you consider they have already been through both long EC trips and have a favorable schedule without all of those condensed games and travel.
Poor form, making me go hunt this down:
The Western Conf will be a nightly knife fight. Not many tankers to fatten up on.
What are the odds that even half those things happen? GS's problems may be deeper than caring. Zion healthy seems a dream. Where's Dallas going to find a star? And Minny is actually better without KAT.
each of those teams has similar excuses as the Lakers...
Sorry, I listened to it on League Pass and didn't have time to check Twitter.
Well, clearly, then, the best strategy for getting Tatum appropriate rest is to blow the shit out of everyone in the playoffs.
I don’t disagree with any of this, but wouldn’t giving him the award because he took a reduced role after declining so much from his peak over Brogdon who took a reduced role not out of decline but to win be sorta like when incredibly beautiful actors and actresses get Oscar nomination nods just because they put on weight for a role?
The big change for Boston last year was that they went to a playoff rotation half way through the season. After four and a half months of playoff basketball they just wore out. Aside from Marcus no one's wired that way. I don't see it as a problem this year because the 9-11 spots are better this year and they added another effective player at the top of the rotation. If they can bring in someone like Barton or Richardson on the buyout market to take Hauser's minutes I think they roll.
I would argue that these (fatigue and failure to counter adjustments) are not mutually exclusive.
Mortal? Sure. But it’s worth noting that that .593 win% would still be good for the 4th seed in the East and the 3rd in the West.
Team is +9.5 with Tatum on, -3.7 pts/100 off. Huge difference. Keith is right, they need to figure out how to play without Tatum. Maybe more starters when he's off?
So fatigue began to hit EXACTLY after a couple double digit wins and two days off between games? Hmmmm….sorry can’t buy that one.
I was say that fatigue left them more vulnerable to and less able to react to the effective adjustments made by Golden State.
Especially when the Warriors big adjustment was going to a ten man rotation and playing as fast as they could.
Certainly can understand Joe’s desire to have him out there 40+ per night.
Agreed . The team let's Jaylen lead the offense when he's out there without Tatum, and I get why, because they want him to get better at it, but he's miserable at it. He turns the ball over, tries to drive through obvious double-teams, and when he does make the right pass, it's often a second too late, which is an eternity in basketball. And then suddenly whatever lead they had is evaporated. Obviously sometimes he's great and gets three buckets in a row, but the man is afflicted with scoring tunnel-vision.
The three years the Dubs had from 14/15 through 16/17 was absolutely insane.
There's enough talent on this team that they ought to be able to figure it out.
I'm not saying that this deal fits the trade machine, but I'm not saying that it doesn't either.My interpretation:
Jaylen, Luke and Rob will “probably” not be traded…..but we can’t yet be sure.
And I would go outside to see whether the Sun is likely to still rise in the East, because I basically can't see that happening under almost any circumstances. On his current contract, TimeLord has major positive asset value, he's only being paid what he is because of the injury risk sustained in his rookie contract. $12M AAV is almost absurd value. You would need, like, Paolo Banchero on his rookie deal to get that kind of value in return.
This is baffling to me given that TL has already missed 34 games this year, after missing 7 games in the the Celtics' playoff run last year (and being nowhere near 100% in the games that he did play), all after signing his extension. His contract is reasonable given his extremely high risk of injury, but it's just not a major positive asset given how much time he misses. Bill Simmons, noted hater of Celtics, didn't include him in his top 70 trade value a few days ago (though he was one of 13 in his "toughest omissions" list), while Banchero and his rookie deal were 15th out of 70.
I’d say it’s very unlikely as I’d guess he’d have trouble passing the acquiring teams physical. Tricky situation if Brad knows he’s damaged goods moving forward we can’t really move him.
Not that tricky, given his low salary for the on court value he brings. He doesn't need to be in full health to provide a positive return on that.
