IDK about everyone, but I have a personal rule that if you drop 50 you are allowed to talk shit even if your team loses.Or actually winning the game. GA getting in Ben's face in a losing effort doesn't impress at all.
IDK about everyone, but I have a personal rule that if you drop 50 you are allowed to talk shit even if your team loses.Or actually winning the game. GA getting in Ben's face in a losing effort doesn't impress at all.
Agreed.IDK about everyone, but I have a personal rule that if you drop 50 you are allowed to talk shit even if your team loses.
Let's be honest, the 2018-19 Celtics would be in a dogfight to make the playoffs in the West. Under .500 record vs. the West this season. Delicate lockerroom. #thetruthhurtsThere will be some minefields in the West, even the bottom playoff teams. The Jazz showed last season that they can take out a favored opponent. The Spurs will be a tough out. Portland plays hard and have a killer in Lilliard. OKC has two of the best 15 players in the league, and either or both can dominate a series. The Clippers really go after it, and will give a fight even as the eighth seed. The beat the Warriors once this year, in OT, and lost another by a bucket.
Finishes with 36 on 12-21 fg (8-14 from 3). Great to see, since he had been scuffling by his standards since the all-star break (.366 from 3, after .444 pre ASG).Wardell Stephen Curry currently has 33 points on 11-20 shooting including 7-13 from distance as well as five dimes as the Warriors are beating the T-Wolves in Minnesota by 20 part way through the fourth. In the process, he went over 300 made threes for the third time in his career. The Warriors radio guy, Tim Roye (who is the best in the business imho) makes the point that Curry has been so great for so long that he may actually be underrated. That may be true or it may just be that some people dislike his game or the way he carries himself.
All I know is the guy's shooting is so good that we are unlikely to ever see someone this great at it for a long, long time.
I guess I could imagine old school die hards not liking his game, but who doesn't like the way he carries himself? I think he's a great ambassador for the league.Wardell Stephen Curry currently has 33 points on 11-20 shooting including 7-13 from distance as well as five dimes as the Warriors are beating the T-Wolves in Minnesota by 20 part way through the fourth. In the process, he went over 300 made threes for the third time in his career. The Warriors radio guy, Tim Roye (who is the best in the business imho) makes the point that Curry has been so great for so long that he may actually be underrated. That may be true or it may just be that some people dislike his game or the way he carries himself.
All I know is the guy's shooting is so good that we are unlikely to ever see someone this great at it for a long, long time.
Yeah, seriously. Literally only thing that bothers me about Curry is that chewing the mouthpiece thing.I guess I could imagine old school die hards not liking his game, but who doesn't like the way he carries himself? I think he's a great ambassador for the league.
That is crazy. I thought BKNY had essentially conceded this game.Marvin Bagley with 24 pts (and counting) in 18 minutes on 11-12 fg (2-2 from 3) in a 103-78 Kings beatdown of the Nets through three quarters.
Man, it's kind of a shame the Kings have no shot at plucking #1, since the mere concept of a five-man unit of Fox-Hield-Zion-Bagley-Giles is deliriously entertaining.
Edit: lol wow, nice job, SRN: Kings had 28 point lead late in the 3rd Q and now it's tied 121-121. Nets timeout with 47 seconds left.
Reminder again that the Lakers traded him in a salary dump so that they could eventually sign KCP and Lance Stephenson.That is crazy. I thought BKNY had essentially conceded this game.
D'Angelo Russell is damn real. Wow. 44 points on 17-33 shooting and 12 dimes. RHJ takes the ball and throws up an over the head circus shot to win it with ~ one second on the clock.
MagicLinka ladies and gents...Reminder again that the Lakers traded him in a salary dump so that they could eventually sign KCP and Lance Stephenson.
Lakers basically gave back one of the lotto picks that Ainge stole. Happy for Brooklyn.MagicLinka ladies and gents...
I think SRN shortchanged DLo. Love the picture too...
That is absolutely not the reason Russell was traded. It has been pretty well documented what occurred.Reminder again that the Lakers traded him in a salary dump so that they could eventually sign KCP and Lance Stephenson.
Do the exact details matter? It was a horrible transaction. The kid is better than any other young asset they have had in years.That is absolutely not the reason Russell was traded. It has been pretty well documented what occurred.
Today he is. At the time of the trade nobody on his own team would even speak to him and no other GM made a reasonable attempt to acquire him which refutes the claim that he had any trade value.Do the exact details matter? It was a horrible transaction. The kid is better than any other young asset they have had in years.
What Russell did was stupid but there was literally nobody, outside of a bunch of kids on the roster, who was worth keeping around if they couldn't forgive him. And presumably Ingram and Randle would gotten over it while the newcomers in Ball and Kuzma weren't involved.Today he is. At the time of the trade nobody on his own team would even speak to him and no other GM made a reasonable attempt to acquire him which refutes the claim that he had any trade value.
Per this article, the Lakers offered the Pacers Clarkson, Randle and the 27th and 28th pick. Who knows if that is accurate but the question is that if the trade is to effectively give up Russell with Mozgov bolted on to get George, why not deal with Pacers directly. They may well havetried but nothing clearly got done.Still....if you could move Russell with Mozgov's contract to open up space for Paul George are you saying you wouldn't do it? The problem of course was that they didn't lure George along with LeBron.
That wasn’t the choice though. The Lakers made that move to bring in LeBron and Paul George......and that’s a choice you make every time knowing what you knew at the time. Magic miscalculated big time by not feeling he needed to move any assets for George.What Russell did was stupid but there was literally nobody, outside of a bunch of kids on the roster, who was worth keeping around if they couldn't forgive him. And presumably Ingram and Randle would gotten over it while the newcomers in Ball and Kuzma weren't involved.
In short, if you have a choice between keeping Corey Brewer, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. happy or keeping a 21 year old kid who, in his second season, had already started to show signs of elite scoring capability, you do the former every time.
SI did a nice trade grade at the time. They favored the Nets (A grade), but it made complete sense for the Lakers (B-, who not only salary dumped but added Kuzma/Lopez).That wasn’t the choice though. The Lakers made that move to bring in LeBron and Paul George......and that’s a choice you make every time knowing what you knew at the time. Magic miscalculated big time by not feeling he needed to move any assets for George.
You are right but I still think either keeping him or dealing him directly for George was the way to go. Hindsight of course but I am just not a fan of dealing away young assets without a strong sense that you can nail a follow on move.Didn't the Lakers get Kuzma out of that deal too? I'd rather Russell but Kuzma takes some of the sting away. I think Russell is very underrated though.
I do too but some people really like Kuzma. I think Russell could be someone like Damian Lillard, Kuzma is Marcus Morris.You are right but I still think either keeping him or dealing him directly for George was the way to go. Hindsight of course but I am just not a fan of dealing away young assets without a strong sense that you can nail a follow on move.
If they didn't trade Mozgov, they weren't getting LBJ from a cap perspective IIRC. Mozgov's contract was ridiculous: $15.2MM-$16.7M for 3 yrs.You are right but I still think either keeping him or dealing him directly for George was the way to go. Hindsight of course but I am just not a fan of dealing away young assets without a strong sense that you can nail a follow on move.
That is absolutely not the reason Russell was traded. It has been pretty well documented what occurred.
The order of operations doesn't matter. The Lakers traded Russell, Mozgov, Clarkson, and Nance, released Deng, and renounced Randle and Lopez to open up cap space. That cap space was subsequently used on Lebron, KCP, Rondo, Stephenson, and Beasley. Everything outside of the Lebron signing was a clear miscalculation on their part. That's three very talented young players out and just one true max guy in.If they didn't trade Mozgov, they weren't getting LBJ from a cap perspective IIRC. Mozgov's contract was ridiculous: $15.2MM-$16.7M for 3 yrs.
And IND wasn't taking that contract with or without Russell.
And he’s finally playing like himself again. He’s dished out 10+ assists in 3 straight games now that everyone’s healthy and he has shooters around. I mean, I enjoyed January for the sheer absurdity of it, the once in 15 years kind of run thing. But I enjoy his normal game far more.Some interesting Harden stats:
He is on pace to score 2,800 points this season, something only Wilt (4 times), MJ (twice), Kobe, Kareem and Bob McAdoo (wow!) have done.
He is on pace for 750 made free throws, something only seven players have done, all once (Wilt, West, Robertson, Jordan, Durant, Barry and Adrian Dantley) and Harden would be the first guard to do it since Jordan in 1987. He is on pace for more than 850 attempts,and at 87 percent shooting from the line, he has the highest shooting percentage out of anyone with that many attempts.
He joins Oscar, MJ, Tiny, Westbrook and Iverson as the only player to average at least 30 ppg and at least 7.5 apg in a single season.
Will join himself from last season as the only player to average at least 10 3PA and 10 FTA per game.
I think it really helps his MVP case; he did what he had to do for his team to pick up wins when they were dealing with significant injuries, and now that he has a healthier supporting case, he is reverting to the correct way to play with those guys and pick up wins that way. He has shown a remarkable ability to understand what is required from him a night-to-night basis.And he’s finally playing like himself again. He’s dished out 10+ assists in 3 straight games now that everyone’s healthy and he has shooters around. I mean, I enjoyed January for the sheer absurdity of it, the once in 15 years kind of run thing. But I enjoy his normal game far more.
None of us on the board thought that signing KCP, Rondo, Stephenson, and Beasley was a good idea. But that has nothing to do with the actual trade of Russell - LAL was trying to do something with cap space so they could field a team around LBJ plus keep their cap room for next season.The order of operations doesn't matter. The Lakers traded Russell, Mozgov, Clarkson, and Nance, released Deng, and renounced Randle and Lopez to open up cap space. That cap space was subsequently used on Lebron, KCP, Rondo, Stephenson, and Beasley. Everything outside of the Lebron signing was a clear miscalculation on their part. That's three very talented young players out and just one true max guy in.
Russell was a former #2 pick two years into his career at the time of the deal. If he wasn't meshing with the locker room, trade the other guys (e.g. Nick Young). It's disingenuous to say that he wasn't an All-Star talent then and had less value than Ingram and Lonzo. It is the job of a front office to identify which players can be developed and which can't and to maximize their value. They clearly didn't do that. Kuzma was a nice save on their side of the ledger, but it doesn't swing that deal back to their side.
Having a plan to get Paul George and not getting Paul George doesn't make the initial plan sound. It indicates the opposite. Russell and PG also share an agent and we can all connect the dots there. They needed to do everything in their power to secure PG when he was available rather than moving pieces with value in the hopes of luring him in free agency. This is the same reason the Knicks got killed for trading KP. If the Knicks get Irving and KD as expected then it is in some ways defensible, but if they blow it is a franchise-altering mistake.
The Lakers shouldn't get any kind of pass for the past two years. They added the 2nd best player of all time to their roster and ended up worse than they were before. That is mind-blowing.
Reasonable minds can differ, but in my opinion a Lakers team with Russell/PG/Lebron is 2nd in the West right now. Of course the variables there are whether or not Russell develops the same in LA as he did in Brooklyn and whether they have the same coach and system, but on pure talent that team is a contender.None of us on the board thought that signing KCP, Rondo, Stephenson, and Beasley was a good idea. But that has nothing to do with the actual trade of Russell - LAL was trying to do something with cap space so they could field a team around LBJ plus keep their cap room for next season.
However, I can't find the numbers anywhere but I am reasonably certain that LAL could not have opened up two max slots without getting rid of Mozgov's salary. Without the two max slots, who knows if they get LBJ?
As for the bolded, I can't find any figures so I'm not sure how it would have worked for LAL to acquire PG in a trade since IND wanted the #2 or Ingram. And even if there was some way forward where LAL could have traded for PG, gotten rid of Mozgov to create a salary slot for LBJ, I'm not sure they would be in any better shape than they are now as it would be LBJ, PG, Russell, Ball/Ingram, and not much else around them.
The list of players, since the turn of the century, who have averaged 20 points, six assists and two 3-pointers made per game before the age of 25? Stephen Curry, James Harden, Baron Davis, Gilbert Arenas, Damian Lillard, Booker and Russell.Didn't the Lakers get Kuzma out of that deal too? I'd rather Russell but Kuzma takes some of the sting away. I think Russell is very underrated though.
57 points and he was 9-22 from inside the arc. He got most of his points via the three where he was 9-17 and hitting all 12 of his FTA. He also had eight dimes.James fucking Harden is the MVP. He is just unreal.