NBA PLAYOFFS THREAD

[Ignazzz]

So Garland on Trading błock soon

[JPB]

That is a lesson that we should learn from Utah. Put a piece of dog in the nicest tail in the world and it's garbage. Mix it right with good ingredients and it's world-beating. We shouldn't be saying Wemby can cover for a bad defensive player; we should be saying put good defensive players beside him and we'll be unbeatable...

SA needs first playmaking and shooting more than defense. Wemby isn't Gobert and you do'nt want to make the spurs a defensive minded team, but a team who make the best of Vicor's's incredible offensive abilities, and then give him a playmaker who can shoot, pass and lob first (then add 3&D guys around). Spurs were already top of the league on defense with Wemby on the floor but still one of the worst team in the NBA, which tells you what they need most.

There would be nothing worse than making the spurs a MIN type of team...I don't believe that version of MIN, who added Gobert Gobert (who isn't always finishing close games) to notably cover KAT mediocre defense, will ever win anything.

[TD 21]

Mobley takes a lot of flak nationally for stagnating, but like all the centers forced to masquerade as a power forward, he's so much better when he gets to play his natural position full time.

As good as Allen is, they need to trade him this off season.

Chill out, it’s not that serious, guy. Edwards is not there yet, but he can be. You have to be dominant in the playoffs before you can be considered the best in the league, so wemby has a ways to go still. Regardless, I’m excited to see these young guys take over the playoffs and the league from the Lebron/durant/curry era.

I am and it's called business. They think that's the easiest/best (and laziest) way to maximize profits, so that's what they're going to do and since most people can't think for themselves and don't know better anyway, they're going to lap it up.

[Ariel]

Tim Connelly was relentlessly clowned on last year for the Gobert trade, so it's kind of cool to see his vision of an oversized defensively oriented team come to fruition... I hated what Utah did with Gobert, which was to essentially think of him as the entire defense and surround him with undersized guys. Regardless of what happens vs Denver, the Timberwolves have constructed a pretty great roster, and Ant & KAT haven't even peaked yet.

In all honesty I thought the trade was horrendous at the time, still think value wise it was quite an overpay but their vision of Gobert as the missing piece to be a contender seems to be holding and if that's the case the return on those picks goes down the drain, so this must be sweet vindication for Connelly after all the flak he caught for the trade.

[R. DeMurre]

In all honesty I thought the trade was horrendous at the time, still think value wise it was quite an overpay but their vision of Gobert as the missing piece to be a contender seems to be holding and if that's the case the return on those picks goes down the drain, so this must be sweet vindication for Connelly after all the flak he caught for the trade.

I thought it was an interesting experiment, but it has been more successful than I expected. It's such a great thing to look at though, because I think so many people tend to start throwing around pla udes that reflect whatever current NBA trends are popular or successful in the moment-- ideas like twin towers can't win in this era and such. My thought earlier in the year was that KAT actually wasn't shooting enough three pointers, and that if he had the attempts per game of a prime Klay-- with the benefit of Gobert rebounding misses-- that their offense could be even better.

[Ariel]

Mobley takes a lot of flak nationally for stagnating, but like all the centers forced to masquerade as a power forward, he's so much better when he gets to play his natural position full time.

As good as Allen is, they need to trade him this off season.

Mobley is up for a big extension, if he asks for a max and Allen can be extended for a much more reasonable number, I'd look into moving Mobley instead. Garland should be also moved for some solid wing. New Orleans would make for an interesting trade partner, as their strengths and weaknesses are complementary.

[R. DeMurre]

I really think people are expecting too much of Banchero-- he was the popular flavor of the month in some ways before Anthony Edwards, but he still has a bunch of red flags-- mediocre shooting efficiency, mediocre rebounding, mediocre impact stats-- just as he had last year and in his one year at Duke. I think there's no question he's a good player, but if Orlando fans think he's going to be their Tim Duncan or KG, as opposed to their Derrick Coleman or Zach Randolph, I suspect they're going to be disappointed.

[timtonymanu]

People were calling jimmy butler Jordan just last year and now they’re doing the same with Edwards. I like Edwards but it’s very flavor of the month nonsense.

[TD 21]

Mobley is up for a big extension, if he asks for a max and Allen can be extended for a much more reasonable number, I'd look into moving Mobley instead. Garland should be also moved for some solid wing. New Orleans would make for an interesting trade partner, as their strengths and weaknesses are complementary.

I've thought about that and would consider it too if Mitc stays, but I'd prefer to trade Allen if I were them because Mobley's ceiling is probably borderline All-NBA caliber, while Allen's is borderline All-Star caliber.

I've thought about that too. If Ingram isn't traded for Murray (Young?), then he probably will be for Garland (if Mitc stays), of course with other pieces involved both ways.

[itzsoweezee]

I really think people are expecting too much of Banchero-- he was the popular flavor of the month in some ways before Anthony Edwards, but he still has a bunch of red flags-- mediocre shooting efficiency, mediocre rebounding, mediocre impact stats-- just as he had last year and in his one year at Duke. I think there's no question he's a good player, but if Orlando fans think he's going to be their Tim Duncan or KG, as opposed to their Derrick Coleman or Zach Randolph, I suspect they're going to be disappointed.

This is just plain hate. Dude is 21 years old, led his team to a high seed, and would be in the second round right now if his running mate hadn’t the bed.

[itzsoweezee]

Mobley takes a lot of flak nationally for stagnating, but like all the centers forced to masquerade as a power forward, he's so much better when he gets to play his natural position full time.

As good as Allen is, they need to trade him this off season.



I am and it's called business. They think that's the easiest/best (and laziest) way to maximize profits, so that's what they're going to do and since most people can't think for themselves and don't know better anyway, they're going to lap it up.

Ok conspiracy guy. Who in the senior home gave you access to the internet?

[TD 21]

This is just plain hate. Dude is 21 years old, led his team to a high seed, and would be in the second round right now if his running mate hadn’t the bed.

The Magic's turnaround is similar to the Timberwolves one, in that it's primarily because of defense and depth (look into their team metrics for proof), but that's not a sexy story to sell to the masses.

Ok conspiracy guy. Who in the senior home gave you access to the internet?

I'm neither the former nor the latter, just someone with a brain and independent thought, who understands how the game within' the game works.

[daslicer]

Jokic, Embiid, Antetokounmpo, Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander are in another league from him and Wembanyama will be too.

The BSPN hype machine just can't handle the fact that they're all foreign and mostly bigs, so their narrative, which they telegraphed during the World Cup last summer, is brainwashing the masses into thinking their tried and true formula of the Jordan/Bryant archetype is better than he is.

Check his "catch-all" metrics, he's not even on track to be Bryant or Wade, neither of whom were ever the best player in the league.

They want their new "Captain America" to replace James/Curry/Durant and after trying out Tatum/Booker (not quite good, athletic or big enough personalities) and Williamson/Morant (off court transgressions made that kaput), they're onto him.

Agreed 100 percent it's very obvious the media and the league are desperate and is trying to make Edwards the new face of the league. They already going in full campaign mode for him. It's the same formula we have seen before since the early 90's when the league was in search of another Jordan and started hyping up a bunch of flashy athletic perimeter players in Harold Minor, and then shortly afterwards Penny, Grant Hill, Kobe. It's very predictable and annoying.

Edwards is an exciting young flashy player, but I would say he's not there yet when it comes to being the best player in the league. He hasn't proven himself yet to get that acclaim.

[CGD]

So Garland on Trading błock soon

The best shot at this is if CLE makes the BOS series somewhat compe ive. He may look around the league and think, of all the options, that CLE could be his best shot at winning. I still think he ends up in Miami somehow but we’ll see. I don’t think the Knicks want him.

[R. DeMurre]

This is just plain hate. Dude is 21 years old, led his team to a high seed, and would be in the second round right now if his running mate hadn’t the bed.

Geez, could you be more histrionic? Coleman and Randolph had very good careers, but they didn't have a Duncan-like impact. You think Paolo will have a Duncan-like impact in his career?

[Ignazzz]

Meloesque

[JPB]

The Magic's turnaround is similar to the Timberwolves one, in that it's primarily because of defense and depth (look into their team metrics for proof), but that's not a sexy story to sell to the masses.



I'm neither the former nor the latter, just someone with a brain and independent thought, who understands how the game within' the game works.

Yeah, contrary than the manipulated masses who can't think by themselves and are all manipulated...

That's playbook conspiracy rhetoric, there. Real smart people don't claim they're smarter than you (and the "masses").

Everyone knows how media and entertainment work, this isn't rocket science. Ofc You need stars, highlights and exciting stories to sell. Always been like that, always will. And that makes sense, they also talk about what people wanna hear of or read from, reason why the Lakers get so much coverage. They're certainly overreacting too easily today, in one way or another, and lack distance, but it's first of all a show and media are part of it, (You can also read a lot of interesting, deep, educated srories and articles on NBA media if you just make an effort to look for them).

[TD 21]

Yeah, contrary than the manipulated masses who can't think by themselves and are all manipulated...

That's playbook conspiracy rhetoric, there. Real smart people don't claim they're smarter than you (and the "masses").

Everyone knows how media and entertainment work, this isn't rocket science. Ofc You need stars, highlights and exciting stories to sell. Always been like that, always will. And that makes sense, they also talk about what people wanna hear of or read from, reason why the Lakers get so much coverage. They're certainly overreacting too easily today, in one way or another, and lack distance, but it's first of all a show and media are part of it, (You can also read a lot of interesting, deep, educated srories and articles on NBA media if you just make an effort to look for them).

It's not like I essentially said as much here:

I am and it's called business. They think that's the easiest/best (and laziest) way to maximize profits, so that's what they're going to do and since most people can't think for themselves and don't know better anyway, they're going to lap it up.

I never claimed I was smarter than anyone else, you insecure, inferiority complex types just take my knowledge of the NBA as such.

Apparently everyone doesn't know, which is why you get ludicrous comments like the one I initially responded to, where there's no credible argument to be made.

The coverage of this league is lazy (you can talk about what sells, but what about the role they had in creating that?) and more agenda driven than ever. That's not "conspiracy theory" talk; a lot of this is thinly veiled at best.

[Mitch Cumsteen]

Jokic, Embiid, Antetokounmpo, Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander are in another league from him and Wembanyama will be too.

The BSPN hype machine just can't handle the fact that they're all foreign and mostly bigs, so their narrative, which they telegraphed during the World Cup last summer, is brainwashing the masses into thinking their tried and true formula of the Jordan/Bryant archetype is better than he is.

Check his "catch-all" metrics, he's not even on track to be Bryant or Wade, neither of whom were ever the best player in the league.

They want their new "Captain America" to replace James/Curry/Durant and after trying out Tatum/Booker (not quite good, athletic or big enough personalities) and Williamson/Morant (off court transgressions made that kaput), they're onto him.

Jokic = 28
Embiid = 29
Giannis = 29
Doncic = 24
SGA = 25

Edwards is only 22. In five playoff games so far this year, he's put up 33, 15, 36, 40, and 43 points and his team hasn't lost yet. Maybe it's an aberration because Phoenix is terrible defensively and the Nuggets have some warts (and injuries) defensively as well, but it's not all hype with Edwards. He made Kevin Durant and Devin Booker look like role players in round one. He may go out crap down his leg the rest of the playoffs, but he's on a of a roll right now.

Beyond that, he's taken one of the most historically inept franchises in the league and given them actual belief that they can win. Rudy Gobert and Karl Anthony Townes are two of the most mentally weak playoff chokers that I've ever seen, and he's got them actually balling out in big games. Again, this may just be fool's gold and overreaction and hype, and maybe Denver goes on to choke them out the rest of this series, but this guy is doing some insane things on the basketball court right now.

[JPB]

Edwards can really ball. Highly dynamic with amazing handles and speed. And still young. When he gets going, he's really hard to stop. This is his breakout year and he's gonna be a top superstar in this league.

[TD 21]

Jokic = 28
Embiid = 29
Giannis = 29
Doncic = 24
SGA = 25

Edwards is only 22. In five playoff games so far this year, he's put up 33, 15, 36, 40, and 43 points and his team hasn't lost yet. Maybe it's an aberration because Phoenix is terrible defensively and the Nuggets have some warts (and injuries) defensively as well, but it's not all hype with Edwards. He made Kevin Durant and Devin Booker look like role players in round one. He may go out crap down his leg the rest of the playoffs, but he's on a of a roll right now.

Beyond that, he's taken one of the most historically inept franchises in the league and given them actual belief that they can win. Rudy Gobert and Karl Anthony Townes are two of the most mentally weak playoff chokers that I've ever seen, and he's got them actually balling out in big games. Again, this may just be fool's gold and overreaction and hype, and maybe Denver goes on to choke them out the rest of this series, but this guy is doing some insane things on the basketball court right now.

1) Overrated shouldn't be conflated with sucks or anything less than very good.

2) Other than Gilgeous-Alexander, by their 4th season or by 22 they were already MVP caliber players or clearly on that trajectory. Edwards performed at a fringe All-NBA caliber level this season.

3) If you look at most MVP caliber players throughout history, the same holds true by their 4th season or by 22.

4) Booker and Butler had unsustainable starts to the '23 playoffs and came crashing back down to earth towards the end and in the former's case the '24 playoffs. Murray (albeit banged up) is also seeing regression from his '20 and '23 playoff runs. It's called small sample size theatre.

5) Again, defense and depth have been their primary drivers unlike say the Nuggets, who are totally reliant on Jokic. This isn't opinion, it's statistically supported.

[ace3g]

[spurraider21]

not getting a tech here can only be explained by white privilege tbh

[baseline bum]

ROFL Minnesota's defense minus the DPOY dominating Denver. Can't believe he's going to win DPOY because he has way better teammates than Wemby.

[BackHome]

Mobley is up for a big extension, if he asks for a max and Allen can be extended for a much more reasonable number, I'd look into moving Mobley instead. Garland should be also moved for some solid wing. New Orleans would make for an interesting trade partner, as their strengths and weaknesses are complementary.

That would be a great trade for both teams...