Haliburton has always been a rough defender to my eye, but he also doesn't look healthy to me. No quick twitch or explosion. I really wonder if he's still dealing with something.
General NBA season thread: 24-25 edition
- Thread starter RorschachsMask
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Poole is the only one of that group who seems to give as little resistance at his size as Halliburton. (Although I don't watch Portland or Utah much). They're very similar, in that guys just go right through them when going up for shots, as if their arms aren't even there.
Herro, though it makes some sense given that he’s 6’5 with just a 6’3 wingspan.
Pritchard bullying Haliburton under the basket on back to back possessions, including getting a couple of offensive rebounds and resulting in 5 points, should be an embarrassing wakeup call. Pritchard is really strong for his size and the deserving favorite for 6th MOY (he’s a bigger favorite for the award than any player is for any award), but Haliburton is 4 inches taller, an all-NBA player and Olympian just entering his prime. Have some fucking pride.
Pride begins in the offseason, in Tyrese's case.
He's just incredibly weak, particularly in his base/core, and has never done anything about it.
He's really rich, and loved by his fanbase, so maybe he's fine with that?
StatMuse with worst defensive PG by rating (could only get 1-16 in my snip). Funny seeing "Offnight" at #2 (with standard disclaimer that DRtg is very context- and teammate-dependant).
Cite: https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/worst-defensive-rating-point-guards-in-the-nba
Ha, OFF-NIGHT! another player living off their NCAA reputation.
#9 pick by Sacramento.
Will have
Not just getting bullied by Pritchard, his play off of the first Brown steal and breakaway dunk was nearly as bad:
View: https://youtu.be/VlbKsuu6UhY?si=nkmevUgHeoP7Yvs4
Go to 1:25. He realizes right away it was a bad pass and hustles back to get the angle (helped by JB taking a few dribbles to really get the ball under control)…and just keeps backpedaling, without providing any resistance to Brown, taking a half hearted swipe at the ball when he’s already under the rim. Might as well have not been there at all. I get that JB is significantly longer and has probably around 40 pounds on him, but there’s just no effort at all to play real defense. This is where the pride thing comes in again, this was off of a bad pass that HE made, and there’s no effort to make up for it.
View: https://youtu.be/VlbKsuu6UhY?si=nkmevUgHeoP7Yvs4
Go to 1:25. He realizes right away it was a bad pass and hustles back to get the angle (helped by JB taking a few dribbles to really get the ball under control)…and just keeps backpedaling, without providing any resistance to Brown, taking a half hearted swipe at the ball when he’s already under the rim. Might as well have not been there at all. I get that JB is significantly longer and has probably around 40 pounds on him, but there’s just no effort at all to play real defense. This is where the pride thing comes in again, this was off of a bad pass that HE made, and there’s no effort to make up for it.
You can ask the people who are at every game in every city.
As you can see the Heat rank 9th if you assume that every player that said "other" meant the Heat.
In any case, there has to be a better way to rank that then how many moms bought their kids NBA jerseys for Christmas and how many people push a like button.
Lavine is real high up there in a list of players that defend a lot smaller than they actually are, but I wouldn’t have him (or anyone else in this list) with the aforementioned list of worst defenders in the league, other than Cam Thomas (who might actually be worse than all of them). Darko D-DPM agrees, has Thomas far below the other 4 guys here.
The Cs hunted Garland HARD in last year's playoffs, but I was impressed at how much stronger and tougher he seemed when the teams played this year.
That's a really good deal for LA. Finney-Smith will help them. As will Russell not playing for them.
FFS, why do teams insist on allowing LA to undo their terrible personnel mistakes. I get the tanking but stop helping them.
DFS is sub-0 DPM, and -1 O-DPM on DARKO. He's just not that good, 3 point % notwithstanding. He also has a $15M player option next year.
Freeing up that salary next season, plus getting 3 2nds, is a quite solid deal for the Nets, and definitely not "helping" LA in any sense beyond teams getting helped whenever they are fine to trade some assets for a player.
Think of it as helping them to make new and exciting personnel mistakes. BTW, where did they get three seconds?
Fake edit. They have their own in 2025, 2030 and 2031 and the Clippers in 2025.
Hahaha, thank you.
May not be the buyout guy everyone thinks.
View: https://twitter.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1873423286182498452
Write-up on the Lakers-Nets trade coming later today. One quick reminder with D’Angelo Russell: Because he makes more than the NTMLE, Russell would not be eligible to sign with an apron team following a buyout. Not sure I would bank on a buyout coming for Russell.
Lakers still have Rui’s $17 mil as trade ballast but this deal makes it tougher for them to add a material guy. DFS is a solid two way wing…which is certainly a need…but not an impact guy.
Lakers offense has been OK though. Ranked 12th. Their defense, and in particular perimeter defense has been poor. DFS certainly helps that. He is an excellent 3 and D guy who will stand in the corner and make 40% of his threes while giving them a perimeter option on defense that they just don't have
Yeah, he can help LA, it's just not some sort of giveaway/heist, as the other poster said.
The Lakers have made normal trades and paid normal prices for those trades the past couple years.
Yea. I am surprised that BRK couldn't get a late or even fake first for him though. Three seconds and Russell is pretty meh
Yeah, this strikes me as rearranging deckchairs. Can't see it moving the needle for LAL. Brooklyn, I guess, had won too many games recently so they needed to pull a trigger, and at age 31, DFS wasn't a player they were building around for the future.
The Lakers desperately need Rui to carry the load of defending opposing wings, especially when Lebron is out, which he does quite ably. Unless a wing upgrade becomes available, like a Giannis-type deal, I have a very hard time seeing them moving Hachimura.
From Brooklyn’s perspective, I’m not so sure that they don’t win more games with DAR than with DFS. Russell seems like a guy who can pile up numbers on a bad team, and he did make his only AS team with the Nets.
DFS is the wing defender they need. Rui has been fine and I am unsure they move him, but the reason for this move was to have a legit 3 and D guy
Yeah, that’s right - just like Schroeder. That said, they could waive D’Lo if they can’t trade him again.
I think there’s some PR value to adding D-Lo for Nets, he was popular there previously (when he was better) and can put up some points to keep fans entertained while they tank. Their D will be BAD, so they still aren’t going to win games (Schroder is better at this point, IMO, and they lost a quality wing defender in this deal, and might still move Cam Johnson, who is probably their best player).
If D-Lo leads them to wins, they can move him again, or offer a buy-out.
As for Finney-Smith, I suspect recent D-DPM is dragged down by the rest of the Nets D being bad, now at least he’ll have AD behind him, and Rui/LeBron at the forwards (and Reaves at PG now? Playing bigger will help them on D). This is a reasonable price for LAL, and I think it makes them better.
If D-Lo leads them to wins, they can move him again, or offer a buy-out.
As for Finney-Smith, I suspect recent D-DPM is dragged down by the rest of the Nets D being bad, now at least he’ll have AD behind him, and Rui/LeBron at the forwards (and Reaves at PG now? Playing bigger will help them on D). This is a reasonable price for LAL, and I think it makes them better.
The Stein report above claims Grizz offered a protected late 1st (with “F. You, Kennard!” and Konchar (overpaid now, but useful) and Brooklyn preferred 3 Laker 2nds.
Which I can see, especially given two of the Laker picks are going to be post-LeBron, when Lakers might be very bad.
Given the cap implications, there's also a case for seconds over a late first at this point, generically. That's certainly true if you get three chances at a 'good' second and three bites at the apple, seems to me
I'd guess they went back to Memphis and said that they'd have to offer a first with at least a small chance of real upside to beat that Laker offer, and Memphis passed
I'd guess they went back to Memphis and said that they'd have to offer a first with at least a small chance of real upside to beat that Laker offer, and Memphis passed
And that was without Suggs, who sprained his wrist in the 2nd quarter and didn’t return. Unbelievably bad injury luck.
Who is even healthy for them right now?
Jonathan Issac, somehow, right? But beyond that I have no idea…
KCP, who has shot like absolute dog shit this season (.297 from 3 so far, after shooting .415 in two years in Denver).
Amen Thompson tosses Herro like a rag doll to the ground.
View: https://twitter.com/BricksCenter/status/1873556161255100461?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
View: https://twitter.com/BricksCenter/status/1873556161255100461?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
I have no supporting evidence but I am convinced that the vast majority of NBA fans would love to do exactly what Thompson did here to Tyler.
Herro really is the perfect villain. Scrawny white dude who is really good and really cocky.
So now Darko is irrefutable evidence of a player's value? Clasic 3-D guy for who context matters greatly.
Somehow Herro gets tossed twice since he was ejected as well lol. And Rozier, embedded Celtic dirtdog/good teammate, jumping at Thompson after the throw.
I don't think it's irrefutable at all. Just giving context as to why the league didn't value DFS that highly.
"Lakers 2nds are better than late 1sts" also was a good point.
This article from a NOP website - Lakers-Nets trade reveals disappointing reality for the Pelicans - says that the MEM pick was top 17 protected. If that is the case, yeah, taking the 3 seconds is understandable, particularly given the way the cap works.
I’ve also seen somewhere (can’t find it quickly now, but it felt reputable; Stein?) that not only did Memphis want to protect their 2025 1st, but they wanted Brooklyn’s 2nd back in the deal, too.
So it might not even have been an outright 1st, it was more like Brooklyn moving up from the mid-30s to the mid-20s. Depending how far BRK can fall in the standings, and how high MEM finishes, a very high 2nd (31-33) might actually be more valuable than a very late first (27-30), so that kind of swap could end up being negative value for the Nets.
Three likely post-LeBron, including 1-2 potentially post-AD 2nds from the Lakers DEFINITELY feels more valuable than the Nets swapping their own 2025 2nd for a top-17 protected MEM 1st.
It appears that it was Pelton who reported that MEM wanted BRK's 2025 second, at least according to this article: Why Nets rejected Grizzlies offer for Dorian Finney-Smith featuring first-round pick (Pelton's article is paywalled).
That article also points out that Konchar is under contract for next season for $6.2M, which would reduce BRK's cap flexibility next year.
So yes, the LAL was a lot better than MEM's if this is all true.
BRK now has 15 first-round picks and 16 second-round picks in the next 7 years, which is the most in the NBA (even more than OKC). Truly amazing.