Official 2021-22 NBA Season Thread - Magic/Thunder/Rockets/Kings top 4 picks

[Complacent Deac]

Trae
LaMelo
Zach Lavine

Versus

Steph
Ja M
Devin Booker

That could be fun to watch...

[Fuck Your Couch]

ostensibly ben simmons is sitting out of games to force a trade right? and the trade deadline is february 10th. so what is he accomplishing by not coming back to play after that? just being butthurt?

[Strickland33]

ostensibly ben simmons is sitting out of games to force a trade right? and the trade deadline is february 10th. so what is he accomplishing by not coming back to play after that? just being butthurt?

self-immolation

[Fuck Your Couch]

strategically, if thats even a factor with him and rich paul right now, it seems obvious it will be way easier to actually get traded somewhere he wants to get traded to in the offseason (or at all) if he comes back after the trade deadline and plays well

his trade value declines every day he doesnt play, times 2 if its after the deadline (who wants to trade for that type of a guy?)

[SC DEAC]

my kid is a big Lebron fan and I thought about buying some hornet tickets for tonights game against the Lakers so he could see Lebron. One glance at ticket prices and I said, Nah we can watch it on TV. So I turn on the TV and find out Lebron and Anthony Davis are sitting it out. Oof for the dads out there who bought tickets to see Lebron.

[PhDeac]

We were going to be in Orlando last Friday when the Magic played the Lakers so I looked at tickets and it was $120 for nosebleeds. Same seats I think I paid like $80-100 for Game 3 in the playoffs a few years ago.

The Kings backed out of trade talks with the Sixers. I don’t know what Sixers brass is doing. Embiid is having an MVP season and they can trade nothing off this roster for a player who can elevate this team to a championship plus future assets. Ben tanked his value in the playoffs, tanked it more in the offseason, and continues to tank it more by sitting out and he has no way to boost his value off the court. Go ahead take Fox and a 1st and be happy.

[Deaconblue]

my kid is a big Lebron fan and I thought about buying some hornet tickets for tonights game against the Lakers so he could see Lebron. One glance at ticket prices and I said, Nah we can watch it on TV. So I turn on the TV and find out Lebron and Anthony Davis are sitting it out. Oof for the dads out there who bought tickets to see Lebron.

This is hurting the NBA with fans. A team makes a once a year visit to a city and half the stars are out because of "load management." Fans of the visiting team are upset because the stars they paid to see don't play. Next season, it's no tickets purchased.

[PhDeac]

We were going to be in Orlando last Friday when the Magic played the Lakers so I looked at tickets and it was $120 for nosebleeds. Same seats I think I paid like $80-100 for Game 3 in the playoffs a few years ago.

The Kings backed out of trade talks with the Sixers. I don’t know what Sixers brass is doing. Embiid is having an MVP season and they can trade nothing off this roster for a player who can elevate this team to a championship plus future assets. Ben tanked his value in the playoffs, tanked it more in the offseason, and continues to tank it more by sitting out and he has no way to boost his value off the court. Go ahead take Fox and a 1st and be happy.

The Western Conference forwards were kind of weak this year with Kawhi and PG on the shelf, but that doesn't justify Wiggins getting in with decent stats as the 3rd, now 4th best player on his team. The Wiggins push started before fan voting though. Someone needs to figure it out. I don't know why dude is getting this kind of love.

Here's a little comp. Here are five WC players. One is Wiggins. The others are 3 forwards and one guard who have no chance at getting anywhere close to the All-Star game.

Player A: 17.8 ppg, 4.4 reb, 2.4 ast, 42% 3PT
Player B: 18.1 ppg, 4.2 reb, 2.0 ast, 40% 3PT
Player C: 15.0 ppg, 6.1 reb, 1.7 ast, 44% 3PT
Player D: 16.5 ppg, 6.0 reb, 2.4 ast, 41% 3PT
Player E: 17.9 ppg, 4.2 reb, 1.7 ast, 39% 3PT

Do any of these clearly deserve to make the All-Star game over the others?

Here are the players:

A: Desmond Bane
B: Andrew Wiggins
C: Keldon Johnson
D: Harrison Barnes
E. Bojan Bogdanovic

[DeacDaddy]

Lakers Hornets coming down to the last 9 seconds. Hornets up by two.

[DeacDaddy]

Westbrook misses a three and Charlotte wins.

[uncaboref]

Ish was a huge part of the win tonight.

Hard to believe Westbrook got benched in the 4th a few games ago after watching him tonight...

[PhDeac]

Interesting stat. The Suns have 9 players averaging double figures. Six of them have played 40+ games. Only Biyombo and Kaminsky have played 10 or fewer.

[2&2 Slider To Leyritz]

Ish was a huge part of the win tonight.

Hard to believe Westbrook got benched in the 4th a few games ago after watching him tonight...

Ish won that game. 22 and 5 against the Lakers for him. It should never have been close, the Hornets were up by 20 or so for most of the game then let Westbrook go nuts at the end. They really need Hayward back from the dumbass Covid list. As Borrego says, Hayward and Ish are the only adults in the room with this group.

But the best part of the game was Da Baby's bagman/bodyguard getting into with DeAndre Jordan. They were yelling at each other across the court, the sheriff had to be called over, etc. Carmelo then got in the middle of it as well. It sparked the Lakers run though, of course.

[2&2 Slider To Leyritz]

Also, as yet another example of ref bias, how the fuck is this a technical? Every player in the NBA does this when possible. Westbrook is talking shit and making gestures the entire game and gets nothing, yet one person does it back to him and gets T'd up? Bullshit.

[TownieDeac]

Only 2.5 games separate 1 and 6 seed in the East, but the Suns are crushing the West. 9 teams .500 or better in the East, only 6 out West.

It’s hard for me to see Chicago or Miami as contenders, but the East just feels stacked this year.

[Deaconblue]

Only 2.5 games separate 1 and 6 seed in the East, but the Suns are crushing the West. 9 teams .500 or better in the East, only 6 out West.

It’s hard for me to see Chicago or Miami as contenders, but the East just feels stacked this year.

Strength has swung to the east this year. Not that long ago that the west was strong and the east weak.

[2&2 Slider To Leyritz]

Only 2.5 games separate 1 and 6 seed in the East, but the Suns are crushing the West. 9 teams .500 or better in the East, only 6 out West.

It’s hard for me to see Chicago or Miami as contenders, but the East just feels stacked this year.

Either of those two could win it all or get bounced in the first round based on who they might have to play. A lot depends on how far the Nets fall while Durant is out. Every win/loss in the East is going to be critical coming down the stretch for seedings and matchups.

[dartsndeacs]

Only 2.5 games separate 1 and 6 seed in the East, but the Suns are crushing the West. 9 teams .500 or better in the East, only 6 out West.

It’s hard for me to see Chicago or Miami as contenders, but the East just feels stacked this year.

I’m not sure stacked is the word. The reason more teams out East are over .500 is because no one in the east is as good as the suns/warriors

[nomadic]

I was pretty confident the winner of the Bucks/Nets series last year would win the finals. This year, I think the conferences are pretty evenly matched and should lead to a really good finals.

[plama]

Knicks Trading for Reddish and then giving him DNP's is bizarre. He's only played in 2 of 8 games, getting 5 mins and 10 mins. Seems like a move to depress his value to sign him to a cheaper contract.