NBA Thread

[Truth]

OG Anunoby is my pick for steal of the draft

I thought he'd go earlier than 23 and I like the selection for the Raptors. He may not turn into an All-Star, but he checks many boxes. Physically, he fits the bill at either forward spot being 6'8 with a 7'6 wingspan. He lacks acceleration, but he finishes at the rim with force and through contract. Plus rebounder for an SF. Quality on-the-ball defender, which could be his calling card early. He has good footwork and isn't easy to back up in the low post so he could stick with 4s the NBA level. And he can score from distance on catch-and-shoot triples. There's a lot to like about his game. And the fact that he'll play alongside of two ball-dominant players in Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan means that he won't be asked of too much offensively. DeMarre Carroll was seemingly a bust for them as an FA signing, which I found unsurprising, and Serge Ibaka will test the market; so at least one of the two forward spots could be left without a viable starter after FA, meaning Anunoby could see a good chunk of playing time from the onset of the season.

 

[29BmoreBird22]

And for a player his height.

Now why is that relevant?

 

[BloodRaven]

I thought he'd go earlier than 23 and I like the selection for the Raptors. He may not turn into an All-Star, but he checks many boxes. Physically, he fits the bill at either forward spot being 6'8 with a 7'6 wingspan. He lacks acceleration, but he finishes at the rim with force and through contract. Plus rebounder for an SF. Quality on-the-ball defender, which could be his calling card early. He has good footwork and isn't easy to back up in the low post so he could stick with 4s the NBA level. And he can score from distance on catch-and-shoot triples. There's a lot to like about his game. And the fact that he'll play alongside of two ball-dominant players in Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan means that he won't be asked of too much offensively. DeMarre Carroll was seemingly a bust for them as an FA signing, which I found unsurprising, and Serge Ibaka will test the market; so at least one of the two forward spots could be left without a viable starter after FA, meaning Anunoby could see a good chunk of playing time from the onset of the season.

Defensive traits always translate, at the very least he'll be an All Defense team candidate. If I'm Ibaka I like the upgrade from Carroll and the improved defense and balance. This is a young team that is better than last year, and the Cavs are at their twlilight.

 

[Truth]

Now why is that relevant?

We've seen great passers in the league regardless of height, so there's obviously no universal parallel or limitation; but for whatever reason, it's been seemingly uncommon in recent years to see a 6'6 PG with the potential to become one of the league's better or best passers. The closest we've come in recent memory has been Michael Carter-Williams.

 

[Oldfaithful]

I think it's pretty rare to see a distributor like him in college, isn't it?

Beyond rare. We haven't seen someone this good at passing since Chris Paul imo. John Wall comes close but still. Lonzo could be a very good player in this league. I'd love to see him play with George and Lebron. The ball movement would be insane.

 

[29BmoreBird22]

We've seen great passers in the league regardless of height, so there's obviously no universal parallel or limitation; but for whatever reason, it's been seemingly uncommon in recent years to see a 6'6 PG with the potential to become one of the league's better or best passers. The closest we've come in recent memory has been Michael Carter-Williams.

That's really interesting since I'd think a taller passer would lead to better visibility for passing lanes.

 

[BloodRaven]

P&R is bread and butter these days, on average a 6'6" point guard just isn't going to move as well as one who is 6'3"

 

[Oldfaithful]

P&R is bread and butter these days, on average a 6'6" point guard just isn't going to move as well as one who is 6'3"

And that remains true for Lonzo as well. That said, it's not like Lonzo is slow and given his rare court vision he should be able to work it out

 

[Dom McRaven]

I swear these rumors regarding the Cavs and Paul George and Melo is just.......funny to me. I'm already looking forward to next year's offseason.

 

[Oldfaithful]

Westbrook wins MVP and thank god. The beard continues to be overrated and should never EVER be discussed among the likes of Kobe and a Jordan

 

[Truth]

Good for Westbrook. It would've been weird if he didn't win MVP after averaging the triple double.

 

[Truth]

In breaking news, Chris Paul opted into his player option was traded to the Rockets for Patrick Beverley, Sam Dekker, Lou Williams and a 2018 1st round selection. Makes for arguably the best backcourt in the league between him and James Harden. Truthfully, I would've preferred to see him on the Spurs as the Rockets now have two ball-dominant players. But it's a smart move by Paul, who can now be rented for a season and then choose to re-sign or leave whether or not the experiment succeeds this season.

 

[Dom McRaven]

In breaking news, Chris Paul opted into his player option was traded to the Rockets for Patrick Beverley, Sam Dekker, Lou Williams and a 2018 1st round selection. Makes for arguably the best backcourt in the league between him and James Harden. Truthfully, I would've preferred to see him on the Spurs as the Rockets now have two ball-dominant players. But it's a smart move by Paul, who can now be rented for a season and then choose to re-sign or leave whether or not the experiment succeeds this season.

And it seems that the Rockets are rumored to be going after Paul George as well. Carmelo is apparently linked to them as well if the buyout goes through. This offseason has already been more interesting to watch than the actual season/postseason.

 

[Truth]

And it seems that the Rockets are rumored to be going after Paul George as well. Carmelo is apparently linked to them as well if the buyout goes through. This offseason has already been more interesting to watch than the actual season/postseason.

I saw that as well, and I'm anxious to see whom they pursue. Right? lol I could not agree more on the latter.

 

[Oldfaithful]

And it seems that the Rockets are rumored to be going after Paul George as well. Carmelo is apparently linked to them as well if the buyout goes through. This offseason has already been more interesting to watch than the actual season/postseason.

So the idea of D'antoni and co. that we should take three guys who can't really make it past the second round on the same team. I'm a big Chris Paul fan, but I'm skeptical of how he'd fit with Melo if they acquire him. I think Paul and Harden(even if he's my least favorite player. Suck it. Westbrook deserved it) would work well together, but Melo is a vacuum. I'd rather see a Paul-Harden-George team

 

[BloodRaven]

Everyone wants Paul George

I think Carmelo gets traded now Phil Jackson is out

I'm looking at my Thunder wondering how you make the team better, no cap, scrub supporting cast and small market team. They're looking at one last big year with Wbrook which is basically a participation award

 

[Dom McRaven]

So the idea of D'antoni and co. that we should take three guys who can't really make it past the second round on the same team. I'm a big Chris Paul fan, but I'm skeptical of how he'd fit with Melo if they acquire him. I think Paul and Harden(even if he's my least favorite player. Suck it. Westbrook deserved it) would work well together, but Melo is a vacuum. I'd rather see a Paul-Harden-George team

Indeed. I don't know how 3 players in CP3, Harden, and Melo who don't have much playoff success overall can reverse their lack of fortunes on the same team.

Everyone wants Paul George

I think Carmelo gets traded now Phil Jackson is out

I'm looking at my Thunder wondering how you make the team better, no cap, scrub supporting cast and small market team. They're looking at one last big year with Wbrook which is basically a participation award

From my understanding, isn't Westbrook going to stay with OKC since they're offering him 5 yrs/200+?

 

[BloodRaven]

Indeed. I don't know how 3 players in CP3, Harden, and Melo who don't have much playoff success overall can reverse their lack of fortunes on the same team.

From my understanding, isn't Westbrook going to stay with OKC since they're offering him 5 yrs/200+?

Then they build around him like Kobe when they moved Shaq. Right now the pieces are all wrong and overpriced, they need to move Kanter and Oladipo for some 3D pieces and move to small ball. Dipo is a good player but with WB its a poorly balanced backfield

 

[Truth]

So the idea of D'antoni and co. that we should take three guys who can't really make it past the second round on the same team. I'm a big Chris Paul fan, but I'm skeptical of how he'd fit with Melo if they acquire him. I think Paul and Harden(even if he's my least favorite player. Suck it. Westbrook deserved it) would work well together, but Melo is a vacuum. I'd rather see a Paul-Harden-George team

On paper, the trio of Paul, Harden and Anthony looks disgusting. Could very well be. But it's difficult not to wonder about the fact that Harden and Anthony had the 3rd and 4th highest percentage of ISO scoring plays of the league's 391 players. Chris Paul wasn't far behind at 13th. I personally feel more comfortable with Paul considering that he's a historically efficient passer who's arguably the best double threat in the league given that he's been no worse than 3rd in pull up points over the past 4 seasons. More impressively, he's shot 43.4%, 47.7%, 42.7% and 46.1% in that span. Those are better averages than the likes of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant; granted that the degree of difficulty on their shots is arguably higher, but the data only means to serve the point that Paul is a highly underrated scorer in the pull up game.

Harden was basically right behind Paul in ISO scoring on a points basis, though he was worse than 10% lower in his FG% at 35.1%, par for the course as he hasn't shot above 38% himself in the same span. You could very well argue that having Paul could take the pressure off of Harden, as long as his role doesn't change to playing more off-the-ball. The duo of Paul of Harden absolutely has a chance to survive. Harden was unsurprisingly among the league leaders in USG% with 34.1%. However, Paul was a distant second in comparison with just 24.3%, with Blake Griffin eclipsing him at 27.8%. Furthermore on the plus side, we've seen two ball-dominant duos thrive in Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, who were neck-and-neck among the league leaders in both USG% with 30.2% and 29.7% and ISO scoring plays with 21.4% and 20.3%, respectively, the latter good for 6th and 7th best in the league. In a general sense, under the same roles, introducing a third ISO-heavy scorer is likely to stunt ball movement to an extent in a league where the latter is key, it could slightly dull Paul's value. The determining factor will likely be whether one of the two outside of Paul is willing to accept a larger role as catch-and-shoot scorers, which isn't an impossibility with Anthony being in the Top 20 in CAS points and a rock solid FG% of 44.8%. George was 4th in the league in points in this category and had a steady FG% himself with 43.6%. Obviously the latter would be the better get, especially since they'd sandwich Harden between two very good defenders. It might work with Anthony as well as long as they can alter the roles to the benefit of ball movement. In either case, even if they don't land another highly touted FA, this dynamic will be one of the most interesting story lines to watch this season.

 

[JAAM]

Good for Westbrook. It would've been weird if he didn't win MVP after averaging the triple double.

That's what I'm saying. Would've been a travesty had he not won.