"We're going to Disney World!" NBA to resume season July 31 at WDW

Sam Ray Not

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Jul 19, 2005
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I think the Lakers should be a little afraid of Houston. Eventually they’d probably grind the Rockets down with size and rebounding, but I’d give the Rockets’ high-variance game a puncher’s chance. They seem like the type of team that could lose a couple games by 30+ points and still pull out four wins.

I think the Clips match up a lot better with Houston than the Lakers do.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Jul 19, 2005
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Yeah, I agree that Dame and CJ going nuclear was the only (admittedly long) shot of the Laker facing some trouble in the first round.

Also would've been nice to see the Blazers win for the Grizz pick.

And now Dame is going at it with PatBev and Paul George on IG.

View: https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1292205316822556673?s=20


Dude is such a competitor, must be tough to keep on getting cut down by deeper, more talented teams.
He cut down the George/Westbrook Thunder the last time they matched up. But yeah, with the five-year Warrior WC hegemony ended, it's got to be frustrating seeing PG join Kawhi, Westbrook join Harden, and AD join LeBron while he toils away with the same ol' mediocre crew. And especially frustrating after embarrassing George and Westbrook last year to see them both strutting around like they won something.
 

scottyno

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Dec 7, 2008
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What's 3 seconds? I know Jokic lost the ball and regathered, but he was still in there longer than 3
 

scottyno

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Dec 7, 2008
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How the fuck is this a redo, who cares when the clock started, it wasn't going in anyway just use common sense
 

Sam Ray Not

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Late in the Portland/LAC game, I was shaking my head and marveling at how seemingly EVERY bubble game I’ve watched to date has been an absolute barn-burner. And then I watched this one...
 

ilol@u

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Mar 2, 2009
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Adam Silver is the best commissioner in sports right now. The NBA may end up overtaking the NFL in a few years.
 

Sam Ray Not

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The King has his first good offensive game in the bubble — and gets torched on the other end by TJ Warren.

Suck it, Lakers.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Aug 23, 2008
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Luka is absurd. Just threw a lefty pass off the bounce on the run to the far corner right into the shooter’s hands. One play after juking Brook out of his shorts with the Rondo fake.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Aug 23, 2008
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Luka is amazing. As much of a basketball savant as you’ll ever see. Sees and manipulates the defense so well.

Not a ton of long term money on the books, and a lot of it wrapped up in all the low/middling contracts behind KP/Luka. Really need a second fiddle to help share the load, or Luka is going to burn out.
 

Kliq

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Mar 31, 2013
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How was Luka not the #1 pick in 2018? It was really stupid at the time he went third and it is extra stupid now. Everything about the kid screamed transcendent talent. It is a fire-able offense
 

Sam Ray Not

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Ayton's looking pretty good lately; at least I can buy that pick in a Hakeem-over-Jordan way (even if the value of centers v. playmaking wings in the two eras was very different). Bagley III feels more like the Sam Bowie pick.
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
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How was Luka not the #1 pick in 2018? It was really stupid at the time he went third and it is extra stupid now. Everything about the kid screamed transcendent talent. It is a fire-able offense
Incredibly dumb. He was basically a surefire impact player. Marvin Bagley? C’mon. Trae Young is at least a really good offensive player and they got another pick out of it. I wouldn’t have done that trade at all but there was at least a little logic behind it since they got Reddish as well and he was playing much better towards the end of the season.
 

Kliq

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Mar 31, 2013
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Ayton's looking pretty good lately; at least I can buy that pick in a Hakeem-over-Jordan way (even if the value of centers v. playmaking wings in the two eras was very different). Bagley III feels more like the Sam Bowie pick.
I like Ayton but I just never saw why someone would take him over Luka outside of an outdated model for team success, and ignorance to the kind of success Luka was having in Europe and how special it was for a 18 year old to be doing that. All the smart draftniks were saying that this guy was a generational talent and yet...

The 2018 draft already looks like a potentially historic class. Doncic, Ayton, Trae, JJJ, SGA, Porter Jr., all look like decent bets to make multiple ASG. Plenty of other names are really interesting, either as potential breakout stars or guys who look like good role players for 15 years, Bagley, Carter, Sexton, Bridges, DiVencenzo, Shamet, Devonte Graham, Trent, Time Lord, Simons, Okogie, Mitchell Robinson, etc.
 

lovegtm

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Apr 30, 2013
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The Lakers should absolutely be scared of Houston, Denver, and Dallas. They’re better than those teams, but not 2017 Warriors better. I don’t think Utah and the Thunder have quite the upside of those others.
 

amfox1

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Aug 6, 2003
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EC 4-6 seeds

MIA 43-27 (IND, OKC, IND)
IND 43-27 (MIA, HOU, MIA)
PHI 42-27 (POR, PHX, TOR, HOU) - 0.5 GB

WC play-in game

MEM 33-37 (TOR, BOS, MIL)
POR 32-39 (PHI, DAL, BRK) - 1.5 GB
PHX 31-39 (OKC, PHI, DAL) - 2.0 GB
SAS 30-38 (NO, HOU, UTA) - 2.0 GB
NO 30-39 (SAS, SAC, ORL) - 2.5 GB
 

Kliq

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Mar 31, 2013
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The problem with the Lakers is that within the bubble they rank dead last in scoring. Since the trade deadline they rank 20th in the NBA in offensive efficiency. They really can’t score the ball the way you would expect a #1 seed. Portland is a flawed team but they are going to put up points. LA should still beat them, but it isn’t a great matchup because LA really doesn’t have the guns to win a lot of shootouts.
 
Incredibly dumb. He was basically a surefire impact player.
This revisionist history about Doncic is going to exist forever, isn't it? Many people thought he had the most upside going into the draft, and I'd agree that he probably should have been the #1 pick - and that the Hawks should have kept him at #3 instead of effectively trading for Trae and Reddish, even if I think time will prove they actually made out pretty well. But calling him "a surefire impact player" is not consistent with the majority scouting opinion heading into the draft - plenty of scouts, pundits and obviously GMs wondered how his game would translate to the NBA.
 

HowBoutDemSox

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Aug 12, 2009
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This revisionist history about Doncic is going to exist forever, isn't it? Many people thought he had the most upside going into the draft, and I'd agree that he probably should have been the #1 pick - and that the Hawks should have kept him at #3 instead of effectively trading for Trae and Reddish, even if I think time will prove they actually made out pretty well. But calling him "a surefire impact player" is not consistent with the majority scouting opinion heading into the draft - plenty of scouts, pundits and obviously GMs wondered how his game would translate to the NBA.
I thought the consensus on Doncic was the opposite, that his Euroleague success meant he had the highest floor, but a perceived lack of athleticism meant his ceiling was more up for debate?
 

Jimbodandy

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Jan 31, 2006
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around the way
I thought the consensus on Doncic was the opposite, that his Euroleague success meant he had the highest floor, but a perceived lack of athleticism meant his ceiling was more up for debate?
There was a lot of that for sure.

Plenty of people, including people here, had him as the obvious #1 pick. But in general, there was concern that he lacked explosiveness and didn't have that one elite NBA skill. Everyone knew that he could run an offense and had decent size for his position.
 

lovegtm

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Apr 30, 2013
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There was a lot of that for sure.

Plenty of people, including people here, had him as the obvious #1 pick. But in general, there was concern that he lacked explosiveness and didn't have that one elite NBA skill. Everyone knew that he could run an offense and had decent size for his position.
Yeah, I think we forget how much little margins matter for pre-NBA players. There's absolutely an alternate history in which Doncic is Lonzo Ball with worse defense--not athletic or crafty enough off the dribble to generate advantages, unable to finish against NBA length, and with a shot that isn't a big plus.

Everything feels obvious now that he's a superstar at age 21, but being the executive who actually has to make these decisions is hard. Imagine being Ainge if all of the things that went wrong with Lonzo went right, and Tatum is a midrange chucker who can't finish in the paint and is disengaged on D.
 

Kliq

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I disagree, I thought at the time Doncic was the clear top choice and people were crazy to doubt him, and I’m sure my posts from that time period will back me up.

Obviously some people were not as high on him, otherwise he would have gone first instead of three teams passing on him, but the point is those people were wrong at the time and now in hindsight, are extra wrong.

Saying “What if Doncic was Ball?” doesnt make much sense. Lonzo didn’t dominate Europe, Lonzo clearly had issues attacking the basket, his jumper was clearly broken, etc.
 

ifmanis5

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Sep 29, 2007
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The problem with the Lakers is that within the bubble they rank dead last in scoring. Since the trade deadline they rank 20th in the NBA in offensive efficiency. They really can’t score the ball the way you would expect a #1 seed. Portland is a flawed team but they are going to put up points. LA should still beat them, but it isn’t a great matchup because LA really doesn’t have the guns to win a lot of shootouts.
Very true. They are struggling to find a consistent 3rd scorer. Kuzma, KCP, Waiters, Cook have not delivered game to game.
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
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This revisionist history about Doncic is going to exist forever, isn't it? Many people thought he had the most upside going into the draft, and I'd agree that he probably should have been the #1 pick - and that the Hawks should have kept him at #3 instead of effectively trading for Trae and Reddish, even if I think time will prove they actually made out pretty well. But calling him "a surefire impact player" is not consistent with the majority scouting opinion heading into the draft - plenty of scouts, pundits and obviously GMs wondered how his game would translate to the NBA.
This isn’t even remotely true at all
 

BigSoxFan

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Yeah, I think we forget how much little margins matter for pre-NBA players. There's absolutely an alternate history in which Doncic is Lonzo Ball with worse defense--not athletic or crafty enough off the dribble to generate advantages, unable to finish against NBA length, and with a shot that isn't a big plus.

Everything feels obvious now that he's a superstar at age 21, but being the executive who actually has to make these decisions is hard. Imagine being Ainge if all of the things that went wrong with Lonzo went right, and Tatum is a midrange chucker who can't finish in the paint and is disengaged on D.
Lonzo Ball? Are you serious with that comp? Doncic was never going to be Lonzo Ball. He was always going to be a much better scorer.
 
You guys are right - I mixed up "upside" and "high floor" in the pre-draft consensus about Doncic. But my broader point was that many people had him as their #1 choice, but very few people thought of him as an automatic superstar. (I wonder what SoSH's thread about the 1984 draft would have looked like vis-a-vis MJ...)
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
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You guys are right - I mixed up "upside" and "high floor" in the pre-draft consensus about Doncic. But my broader point was that many people had him as their #1 choice, but very few people thought of him as an automatic superstar. (I wonder what SoSH's thread about the 1984 draft would have looked like vis-a-vis MJ...)
That’s fair. I thought he would be good and he’d quickly exceeded my bullish projection. Didn’t think he’d be steaming ahead to top 5 status.
 

Euclis20

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Aug 3, 2004
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I just looked up a bunch of 2018 mock drafts, here's where he went:

4th (SI)
3rd (NBA Draft Room)
3rd (Business Insider)
3rd (BR)
2nd (NBA.com)
2nd (Forbes)
3rd (CBS Sports)
2nd (ESPN)
3rd (WaPo)
3rd (NBC Sports)
3rd (USA Today)
2nd (The Athletic)

Ayton was the consensus #1, nearly no one had Luka going first (no one with a column, anyway). Everyone mentions his playmaking, size and incredibly high floor, but plenty worried that his athleticism would keep him from being a superstar, which is what everyone is looking for with the #1 pick. That's not to say that the GMs who passed him over shouldn't pay the price, but it is 100% revisionist history to pretend that he was the surefire #1 and teams were reaching taking Ayton and Bagley (and Young, sort of) over him.
 
Aug 20, 2017
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Portland
That was a fun read with some great discussion. Almost all of the posts aged well.
:fonz:

A positive one to share,

"Ainge will kick the tires on everything, but I think in the end a move into the top 4 or 5 for Bamba or Doncic will be too expensive for his tastes. I would not be surprised if he makes a move into the mid-teens to grab Robert Williams. I think he wants a big man out of this draft to pair with Brown and Tatum down the road for the 2022 NBA champs."
 
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