Watching GS vs Milwaukee. First time seeing James Wiseman. Small sample, but he looks like he could be all star level by next year, and in the mix as one of the best 3-4 players in the league by year 3. Trading the pick or selecting Ball would have been a Steelers passing on Marino moment.
NBA Christmas games.
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Agreed - Just put money on him to win Rookie of the Year
Wiseman looks great out there but ooooh, boy is Golden State terrible, Oubre and Wiggins have been almost completely useless on both ends so far this season.
At least Brad had a nice game today.
At least Brad had a nice game today.
Injured his foot right before the start of the season but should be back for their next game. He's dropped off the past couple of seasons though, he's not really an elite defender any more and he hasn't been shooting the ball at a high level either. He seems kind of cooked but he's still useful in a supporting role.
I haven't seen Wiseman play yet, but I've seen Ball and he is going to be special. I love his game. He makes his team better by the way he pushes the tempo and distributes the ball. He's gonna be a triple double player like Russell Westbrook.
His weakness right now is his shooting, but he's still a teenager and that will improve with time.
I think that they will figure it out once Draymond returns, but clearly Wiggins and Oubre have disappointed so far. And you can tell that Steph is still getting his timing back.
Wiggins is hard to watch because he gets great shots and in great places and converts terribly it appears. It feels like he never has gotten much better though he has all of the physical tools you ever could want.
I would not be surprised to see them make some moves pretty early if those two persist with the substandard play. At least they both are moveable assets.
With Wiseman, I think it will just be a matter of time. He, to me, was easily the best player in this draft. As this team begins to come together more, I think they will need to make some decisions on where he should eat because the team has no real pecking order presently save Steph.
I think Melo is a lot of hype. He can play offense though I think he will be a sub-average volume shooter. He is a disaster on D and seems like he took his father's defensive philosophies to heart on that end.
I think he ends up being a lesser version of Lonzo with more scoring but less playmaking and defense. I am not very convinced of much with him so far, as you can tell. I will admit that he has a lot of space to grow; hopefully, he ends up justifying the hype and the pick.
But, honestly, since Michael Jordan drafted him, I am not expecting anything as Jordan has almost been as bad an executive as he was great as a player.
Agree with you on Wiseman, he was a pretty clear number 1 for me as well and I really like Ball too, it's just that Wiseman is such a perfect modern big. I wonder if Golden State can afford to tank again, with their pick and Minnesota's pick they could be in the lottery twice.
It's tough not to watch this game and not think that Boston definitely engaged in some subtraction by addition with Teague and Thompson.
Quick anecdote time about the Hornets because it's one of my favorite stories. My brother was interviewing for a job with their analytics department some years ago and one of the questions during the interview was "How would you construct a championship roster around Cody Zeller?"
He told them that you start by getting rid of Cody Zeller.
Needless to say, he didn't get that job.
I have never stood the infatuation with Thompson after he became a pro. I thought he was a great prospect in HS, but coasted a lot and never improved a ton. As a pro, he has made a ton of money due to being LeBron's friend and mostly contributed nothing to teams save a season or two.
I think Boston had a really nice mix of guys previously and I would have given Hayward and company one more run as much as the salary cap would allow. Hayward is a legit solid player that gave them so much flexibility. Without Kemba for a long period of time, they would have been fine as a top level team with Hayward while they waited.
I know that it is a big thing to just get in and get going, but they may have done your brother a favor. It seems like no one there understands what is going on in basketball.
FWIW, I would have actually told them that I would keep Zeller to tank, then look to get high draft picks and eventually trade Zeller.
Oh he ended up so much better off, thankfully he had a few more interviews. I just laugh every time that I see poor Cody Zeller: Franchise Savior now.
In another topic, I am not saying that Kyrie and Durant are two of the top five players in basketball at this moment, but they are certainly two of the top five in skill level. Their respective skill levels are absolutely ridiculous.
I am pretty stunned that anyone ever thought that would be the case. Very optimistic.
No one has drafted worse than Jordan's front office, I think.
I know that I shouldn't be but I'm surprised at how good that Durant has looked coming back. He's been a monster.
I'm stunned. It is the injury that took down Kobe but I think Durant had a lot less wear and tear on his body to that point. And, Durant plays such a smart game. He does not need the athleticism as much as some other guys that have had this injury. He has always played more with his mind and hands than anything else.
If he wins a championship in Brooklyn, I will never associate the word "soft" with him ever again. Especially after coming back so well from that injury.
Oh yeah, their talent "evaluation" has been insane. Kidd-Gilchrist at 2, Zeller at 4, Vonleh at 9, Kaminsky at 9 and Monk at 11 was their run of 5 1sts in 6 years. That's appalling...every pick between Kemba and PJ Washington was a ridiculous overdraft.
Yeah, his rebounding and defending are probably never coming back to his previous level but he's still just walking around out there like he's Larry Bird on the offensive end. It's wild.
It has been criminally bad. In their defense, some of those drafts did suck in total. But, they never have really helped themselves. They have traded away guys/picks better than they have made with SGA and Harris.
Watching his play today, I think he will be able to mentally get by without being a target. But, I have never expected much from him on that end. Anything you get from him there is a plus. At least he is not Harden, where he is a walking mark.
Offensively, he is arguably the hardest guy to defend ever given his height/length. He still largely looks like the same guy, two games in. Not a big sample size, but I think it is fair to say that he still has a good amount of offense left in the tank.
They are loaded but it’s early to book that spot. If they stay healthy...sure they have a great chance but that’s a big if. Kyrie always gets injured...
They're two different individuals and I hate to see them being compared.
And by the way, Lonzo's shooting has improved. Check the stats!
He's only 19yrs old, so I'm not too worried about his weaknesses right now.
I am thoroughly impressed with his playmaking abilities right now.
I think it is a pretty fair comparison.
They are roughly the same height, have a similar handle/mannerisms, both started as guys that shot a little from the left though they are right handed, they both like to push the ball and make flashy passes.
Melo is not nearly the defender that Lonzo was at the same stage while Melo is a lot more comfortable hunting his own shot now than Lonzo ever has been. Lonzo passes up more good shots at the rim than anyone I have ever seen. That will not be a problem with Melo.
They are both very similar players and of that Jason Kidd type style. Melo will score more in time than Lonzo or Kidd did.
But, I think Lonzo is literally the perfect guy to compare to Melo. They have a lot of similarities, which is not surprisingly given they come from literally the same basketball past.
In something funny, Lonzo would be better if he had more of Melo's scoring temperament and Melo would be better if he had Lonzo's commitment to defense and knack for team ball in places. There is just a lot of overlap between the two.
It's not that I think he's gonna be a bad player. He was the proper selection for Charlotte at 3. It's just that choosing between him and Wiseman, Wiseman was a no brainer choice. If he only reaches his floor, he's Chris Bosh, but his ceiling is probably Kevin Garnett, or even higher.
LBJ is still the best player in the NBA. He could easily play until he is 40 and still be a good player. He just won MVP of the Finals and was dominant.
I'd have to agree that he's still the best. Or at least that's the conclusion I came to when watching the bubble in Sept-Oct.
Picking up Schroder and Harrell and locking down Kuzma pretty much guarantees that LeBron can take care of himself until playoff time, combine that with his otherworldly conditioning and I think that he can maintain this level for at least two or three more years. It's something to see.
I Love the NBA but I found myself less interested in the games yesterday than normal. Probably because they were blowouts. I just don’t see the intrigue of those games yesterday other than Nets vs. Boston.
I’ll still watch about 80-90 percent of 76ers games but the National games without fans seem brutal to me.
I’ll still watch about 80-90 percent of 76ers games but the National games without fans seem brutal to me.
Pelinka has shown himself to be quite strong as a major NBA executive. It makes Magic trying to toss him under the bus seem a lot more comical than it even was in the moment (and it was funny then).
He (and Magic) were seemingly forced into Lonzo Ball by ownership, but his picks of Kuzma and Hart were excellent. Mo Wagner was a good pick too though that trade with him and Bonga sucked for LA. Svi and THT were good draft picks as well relative to draft position, it appears.
They get LeBron, fill out the roster poorly around him, look mid-level until he gets hurt and then decide in the offseason that they made poor decisions and need to switch the deck. They leverage everything for AD and put pretty good pieces around the two guys considering what was available.
They win a championship, have a ton of free agents, somehow swing a deal for Schroder, sign Harrell and once again put quality depth on the roster. I think they signed Kuzma and Matthews for good value, KCP for okay value and Harrell, Morris and Gasol for outstanding value.
They locked LeBron and Davis through what is likely the remainder of LeBron's prime. It seems like they are about to do the same with Schroder. They probably also will be able to move Kuzma at some point in the near future and get some draft capital back if THT plays in the regular season as he looked in the preseason.
Pelinka deserves a lot of respect.
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I think 38 is about as old as you can be and still play at that kind of level. When Jordan came back at 38, he was still a monster the first half of the season, then his body began to break down. They weren't doing load management then, or perhaps he could have maintained a near elite level of play until he was 40. Will be interesting to see if LeBron will accept playing as a somewhat lesser player, or walk away while at the top, as Jordan did before deciding to come back.
To me, Jordan looked pretty out of shape at 38. He was a lot heavier then (around 15-20 lbs easy) and the bounce was gone. All of what he did while with the Wizards was about guile and smarts. If he would have taken more care of his body, I think he could have extended longer. But, I am not sure the plan was ever for him to come back (the first time he retired, it clearly was), I think he just got the itch the second time around as I am not sure he truly wanted to retire that time (the Bulls management sort of forced him into it in ways).
But, LeBron came around the season after Jordan retired for the final time. From then to now, the science is just so much better with recovery, etc. And, LeBron has lived by it for a long time.
It is easy to see LeBron, even if he has a major injury in the next few years, settling into being a total dominant point forward out of the post in a few years. He is a guy that could lose 3-4 steps and still be on the plus athletic side with his size combination. His coordination would cover a ton of gaps. He is otherworldly.
I think LeBron's real longevity comparison at the end of the day will be Abdul-Jabbar. Kareem was as dominant as he felt the need to be until he was 40-41. He fell off a little that last year or so but was still very formidable. I would not be surprised to see LeBron playing solid basketball into his early/mid 40s. He is just a lot different.
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