As Holinger tweeted "Any time you can trade two seconds for the right to overpay a player you just could have signed after the season, and then trade two more seconds just to dump his contract, you have to go ahead and do it. "
2023-2024 General NBA Season Thread
- Thread starter BigSoxFan
- Start date
I think everyone wins....both teams got rid of 4 players they didn't want.
The loser in all of this? Those poor kids selected with those 2nd round picks.
The loser in all of this? Those poor kids selected with those 2nd round picks.
And who is signing with the Pistons? They are clearing cap room to overpay more bad players.
I think everyone is mostly having fun at the Pistons/Wizards expense.
The move is a yawn. BUT I believe tankers should use cap space for bad contracts + draft picks.
Rehab bad contract player, recycle, repeat.
Maybe that's Detroits' plan with the 50-$70MM they will have available this summer.
BUT who knows what the heck they are up to, clearly one of the worst run teams in the NBA.
FWIW the new CBA makes 2nd round picks more valuable than in the past
The move is a yawn. BUT I believe tankers should use cap space for bad contracts + draft picks.
Rehab bad contract player, recycle, repeat.
Maybe that's Detroits' plan with the 50-$70MM they will have available this summer.
BUT who knows what the heck they are up to, clearly one of the worst run teams in the NBA.
FWIW the new CBA makes 2nd round picks more valuable than in the past
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The Bucks should have won in regulation but Griffin fouled when they were up three with way too much time left. This led to Giannis being fouled an extra time and inevitably missing a free throw so the Kings could tie it up.
Once Fox missed the 1st free throw, he should've just missed the 2nd too. 95% chance in that situation (5 seconds left, Dame with the ball) it's gonna be a 3 point shot regardless, you knock off at least one more second on the miss. Just bad situational basketball at the end for the Kings. Can't help missed free throws, but doubling off of Lopez to contest Giannis at the rim led to a wide open 3 from Lopez (when a 3 is the only thing that could really hurt you), then letting Dame get right to his spot with minimal resistance. This is not yet a serious team.
Griffin (coach) had the bucks foul Fox intentionally with a 3 point lead so that Sac couldn't tie the game. I don't hate that choice (Fox is shooting 72% from the line this year), but then he kept Giannis on the court after the FT makes, the ball found him and he missed a free throw, allowing Sac to tie it up with an easy layup.
I'm smelling this image being "memed" into oblivion now. Too perfect to switch out the image to whatever you want to rage about.
I am so happy that Danny Ainge hired Brad Stevens.
https://x.com/JoeDellera/status/1745984938120249464?s=20
https://x.com/JoeDellera/status/1745984938120249464?s=20
Warriors down 10 in the 4th to a Memphis team missing Morant, Bane, Smart and Adams. That's a bad look.
Lakers and Dubs would both miss the play in if the season ended today. Juicy.
Disgusted as I am by the Rockets looking like a play-in team, I'll forgive it if it means that one (or both) of the Warriors/Lakers miss the playoffs entirely.
I didn't watch it, but the Grizzlies shot 23 more 3 pointers AND took 30 more free throws. The math on that seems almost impossible.
The Lakers already won the IST and have nothing left to prove. They are still working through an extended hangover after the insane Inglewood victory parade.
Ya some guys named Vince Williams and GG Jacskon scored more points combined then Steph + any other GSW player.
Bail them out? Lakers had to trade a first and several second sto get some not very good players in Rui, Russell, Beasley, and Vanderbilt
Orlando beating the Knicks seems big for them. They've been scuffling since the C's beat down, and the Knicks were on a roll.
Never made sense to me. The media also fawned all over them when they traded all of their title depth for Westbrook. The 2022 Lakers starting the season with the 2nd highest title odds (behind Brooklyn!) with a win over/under of 52.5 was objectively insane. This isn't quite as bad, but maybe they'll again try spinning depth into a questionable star (Lavine this time).
You almost don't have to watch the game to know how bad the defense must have looked, to give up that shot profile.
Record wise yes but they have not had a significant injury to Davis or James yet (only six combined games missed). Hell, I think we're at one calendar year of Davis being healthy.
We'll see how long they can dodge that bullet.
Halfway through last season, Lebron had missed 10 games, AD 16. I don't know if Lakers fans should be excited that their guys have stayed healthy (pure luck, or motivated to hit the 65 game threshold?) or disappointed that even with their three best players healthy (Reaves hasn't missed a game yet, and he missed 18 last year and 21 the year before), they're on the outside looking in. There are always moves to be made, but they used some of their bullets at the deadline last year.
It would be helpful if the Jazz didn't punt on their season again. They were a game and a half up on the Lakers last year when they started shipping everyone off last year.
The Jazz haven't punted. They have won six straight, are 22-20 and are ahead of the Lakers for the play-in.
Not sure why the Jazz would punt when they are playing as well right now as any team in the league winning 12 of 14. Vanderbilt and Reaves have taken a huge step back and Hachimura was out for awhile too. It’s hard to count LeBron and AD out as we saw in the games they committed to this year.
Yea, I wonder if the Jazz become buyers at this deadline. If they can make a move that helps them this year and beyond, I see no reason why they shouldn't make a little run here and cash in some of their many, many assets
The Jazz got a pretty good Lakers pick (1-4 protected, but still quality) in exchange for some very marginal players. I think most here would have made the same trade in Danny's shoes.
Not sure where the "other teams gifted LAL players" narrative comes from. They paid for them.
Not sure where the "other teams gifted LAL players" narrative comes from. They paid for them.
The Lakers ran into some fools gold in the playoffs with some role players playing very, very well. And maybe those guys can still play very well in a big game setting, but throughout the season their consistency is very questionable.
Reaves has had a very interesting trajectory. When he first started playing real minutes, the expectations were so low for him he was easily shattering them and seemed like a total steal of a player, which carried into the playoffs. Can he be the third best guy on a very good team? I think the hype kind of overloaded on him heading into the offseason and while it made sense for the Lakers to resign him, I don't know how much of a foundational piece he really is for a team with championship aspirations.
With the pacing and spacing of the NBA, counting stats do feel pretty fake at the moment. LeBron, Durant and Steph are all having peak-years just based on typical counting stats, defying expectations given their respective ages, yet all of their teams are pretty mediocre. In the past you would think peak years from those guys has you hovering around 50 wins, but the league is deep and the numbers are all inflated, it's noticeable that these guys don't win that much anymore.
Reaves has had a very interesting trajectory. When he first started playing real minutes, the expectations were so low for him he was easily shattering them and seemed like a total steal of a player, which carried into the playoffs. Can he be the third best guy on a very good team? I think the hype kind of overloaded on him heading into the offseason and while it made sense for the Lakers to resign him, I don't know how much of a foundational piece he really is for a team with championship aspirations.
With the pacing and spacing of the NBA, counting stats do feel pretty fake at the moment. LeBron, Durant and Steph are all having peak-years just based on typical counting stats, defying expectations given their respective ages, yet all of their teams are pretty mediocre. In the past you would think peak years from those guys has you hovering around 50 wins, but the league is deep and the numbers are all inflated, it's noticeable that these guys don't win that much anymore.
Sorry, meant to say if it would be helpful if they DON'T punt on their season AGAIN. They traded Conley, Vanderbilt, Alexander-Walker and Beasley at the trade deadline, despite being just a half game out of 10th (and 2 games ahead of LA) and unsurprisingly went 8-14 after the ASB. It was annoying last year, and it'll be annoying if they do something similar this year. They're the hottest team in the league so it doesn't look like it, but we don't know. They are two games better than they were at this point last season, not exactly night and day.
I agree that is why Reaves has the buzz he does, and personally I don't think he's close to what you want/need as the third guy on a contender. He's a nice find, and a good value, and a guy I'd be thrilled to have on Celtics. But he'd also be their sixth or seventh best player, depending on how you think about bigs vs wings and defense vs scoring.
Shouldn't more teams do this though?
The Jazz got decent assets, and weren't going anywhere. Any other team could have outbid the Lakers (the Wolves did indeed end up with Conley, who is far superior to DLo).
Makes sense.
Like @moops I can just as easily see Utah as buyers rather than sellers. The buyer case is tough to me because while there are some interesting names out there, they are more like complimentary pieces versus true difference makers but maybe that's a bad read. Perhaps there is a blockbuster trade out there that can really swing somebody's fortune this season - its just really hard to see given the players as well as teams expected to play in the market.
At the same time last year the Jazz were finishing up with their 8th loss in 11 games. This year they are finishing up their 12th win in 14. Yes, it is night and day from last year at this time. Log of shit quote if they act similarly to last year unless there are dramatic changes from now to the deadline.
LeBron, Durant and Steph have all had major issues with their supporting casts this year and have all shown some career moments at other times. I’d say we aren’t seeing each carry their teams bc they are mid-30’s and higher halfway through a regular season that matters little….just as it meant little last year when people were saying the Lakers were going to miss the playoffs.