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Official 2018 NBA Offseason Thread: the preseason cometh

i hope the kings don't draft JC. they've been under .500 for 13 straight years, don't have an all-star on the team, and don't have their 2019 first round pick (unprotected). that's a tough trifecta to pull off.
 
Just stating the terms, fellas. Celtics being locked out of the #1 pick is the more interesting detail, obviously.

grizzlies will be the #1 pick that year, and the kings will be #2

we got this
 
But this is bullshit; you're conflating two separate arguments.

Yes, LeBron has run through the East over and over again over the past decade, and aside from him, the only players to lead teams to the Finals in the past ~8 years in the East have been Dwight and Rondo.

But that's a different argument than "there are no active players who have led EC teams to the Finals in the past 20 years ha ha ha", because 20 years is a significantly long time, and guys like Ewing, Iverson, Miller, Kidd, Billups, and Pierce/Garnett, each of whom has led a team to the Finals in the past 20 years, don't play basketball anymore. The East went 3-3 in Finals from 2003-08, and LeBron was involved in exactly one of those series (which happened to be a loss). It's a stupid argument from a Spurs fuccboi.

The argument is that the West has more talent than the East. I just gave an example. And yes, saying that those players have retired is part of an argument that the remaining talent can't carry water for the East.

People keep arguing against me but they don't want to list who they think are generational players in the East who aren't on the Cavs.

i hope the kings don't draft JC. they've been under .500 for 13 straight years, don't have an all-star on the team, and don't have their 2019 first round pick (unprotected). that's a tough trifecta to pull off.

If the Kings pick him, it's more likely JC will go to [insert your team here] in a bad trade or free agency.
 
I don't think it's an anomaly. I think it's been that way for close to 20 years, since Jordan's 2nd retirement. The top teams in the West have been significantly better than the top teams in the East.

Name a current Eastern Conference player who has led an Eastern Conference team to a Finals? Not a championship. Just the Finals.

Wade
Lebron
Howard

You can throw in Rondo if you want.

It's been this way for a long time but still mostly an anomaly and not because of anything the league is doing wrong.

SAS drafted Duncan, Parker, Manu and Kawhi
OKC became good when they drafted Durant, Westbrook, Harden.
GS became good when they drafted Curry, Thompson, and Green.

Superstars are on Western Conference rosters now as a result of free agency/trades have mostly come from WC teams so haven't changed balance of power between conferences
Durant OKC>GS, Aldridge Por>SAS, CP3 NO>LAC, Harden OKC>Hou, Cousins SAC>NO

And just as many big inter-conference moves during that time have been W>E: Garnett, Amare, Carmelo, Ray Allen, Kevin Love, prime Kidd, prime Pau
(Only big ones I can come up with where major talent when East to West are Shaq, Dwight, McGrady)

tldr: West has had way more talent because it's been drafted by WC teams and stayed there not because league is doing something wrong
 
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Sure. I don't disagree with that. But it's something the league has to deal with.
 
Paul George. San Antonio Spurs. Collision Course.
 
The argument is that the West has more talent than the East. I just gave an example. And yes, saying that those players have retired is part of an argument that the remaining talent can't carry water for the East.

People keep arguing against me but they don't want to list who they think are generational players in the East who aren't on the Cavs.

What are the criteria to be a "generational player"?

Non-Cavs players in the East that might fit the criteria, either now or in the future (in rough order of how good they are right now):

Giannis
Healthy Embiid
Wall
Butler
PG13
IT
Lowry
Derozan
Beal
Whiteside
Melo
Porzingis
Wade
Rondo

There's a clear disparity between the top level talent in the East vs West but it's not like the East is barren.
 
What are the criteria to be a "generational player"?

Non-Cavs players in the East that might fit the criteria, either now or in the future (in rough order of how good they are right now):

Giannis
Healthy Embiid
Wall
Butler
PG13
IT
Lowry
Derozan
Beal
Whiteside
Melo
Porzingis
Wade
Rondo

There's a clear disparity between the top level talent in the East vs West but it's not like the East is barren.
Giannis, Embiid, and Porzingis. That's it besides the Cavs stars and Wade. Melo is a career of missed opportunities. Nobody cares about the rest of that list. Who gets truly hyped to see Wall and Beal besides Wiz fans? The East has a lot of guys who are entering their prime and they've done nothing of note in their careers. Do they really move tickets? Does a kid cry if Derozan is resting when the Raptors come to town?
 
Giannis, Embiid, and Porzingis. That's it besides the Cavs stars and Wade. Melo is a career of missed opportunities. Nobody cares about the rest of that list. Who gets truly hyped to see Wall and Beal besides Wiz fans? The East has a lot of guys who are entering their prime and they've done nothing of note in their careers. Do they really move tickets? Does a kid cry if Derozan is resting when the Raptors come to town?

lol

interesting criteria, goalposts: moved
 
lol

interesting criteria, goalposts: moved

Moved from where? I keep getting asked the same questions and I'm giving different examples of my point. Obviously Giannis, Embiid, and Porzingis are based on potential. I already said the only EC game I really got excited to watch was Bucks-Knicks. How did restating the point move the goalpost?

Do you think the East stacks up with the West? I see a lot of people mocking the argument, but no disagreement.
 
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LeBron
Durant
Kawhi
CP3
Steph
Anthony Davis

That's the list of "generational players" in the NBA for me, and even that list might be too long.
 
Cavs are working on a 3 team trade to acquire Jimmy Butler per Marc Stein.
 
Good. I sure as hell don't want him. Overrated. Might be a good fit for the Cavs, though.
 
Unfortunately the future doesn't look much brighter for the East:

There are about 8 guys 25 or younger that seems like surefire stars (if healthy):

Kawhi
Giannis
AD
Kyrie
Gobert
Jokic
KAT
Embiid

Only 3 of those are in the East and one has had serious health issues.

They also only have 4 of the top 10 draft picks in a 10 potential all stars draft.
 
Giannis, Embiid, and Porzingis. That's it besides the Cavs stars and Wade. Melo is a career of missed opportunities. Nobody cares about the rest of that list. Who gets truly hyped to see Wall and Beal besides Wiz fans? The East has a lot of guys who are entering their prime and they've done nothing of note in their careers. Do they really move tickets? Does a kid cry if Derozan is resting when the Raptors come to town?

Who qualifies in the West?
 
Good. I sure as hell don't want him. Overrated. Might be a good fit for the Cavs, though.

Yeah, I wouldn't be sad to see him go for the right package. He's the best player on a team in Purgatory.

Doubt Wade re-signs if Butler is out, though 24 mil is hard to pass up.
 
I'll be impressed if the Cavs can put together a poo poo plater of #assets to get Butler
 
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