NBA 2018-2019

kouroux said:
Dick move ? Pierce is the most egocentric ex player on TV. I've never seen a man so full of himself like that.
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To be fair to Pierce, he's not that far off if he honestly thinks he had a better NBA career than Wade. Wade had a higher peak, but Pierce is right up there in Celtics history and that might be a factor.

As a player, Wade beats him in everything other than 3s.
 
elmo said:
To be fair to Pierce, he's not that far off if he honestly thinks he had a better NBA career than Wade. Wade had a higher peak, but Pierce is right up there in Celtics history and that might be a factor.

As a player, Wade beats him in everything other than 3s.
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No doubt he was a great player, even underrated but some of the stuff he comes up with is crazy at times.
 
Time for end of season awards. Who you got?

1st team all NBA

Steph
Harden
KD (would have been PG until recently)
Giannis
Embiid

2nd team all NBA

Lillard
Russ
PG
Kawhi
Joker

3rd team all NBA

Kemba
Kyrie
LeBron
Griffin
KAT (probably would have been Davis until the Lakers fiasco, but his season has gone to hell since then)

DeRozan close for one of forward spots but Blake has been great for the Pistons and LeBron has still been putting up great numbers when he's on the floor.


ROY

Luka Doncic

Sixth Man

Lou Williams

Most Improved

D'Angelo Russell (toss up with Siakam but I go with Russell)

DPOY

Giannis

MVP

Giannis

Forgot Coach of the Year

Mike Budenholzer
 
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MrMarcello said:
Knicks are gonna land KD, KI, and Zion this summer, am I right?
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They have 14% chance, along two other teams and several who have just below that, to land Zion so not very likely. Barrett would be a half decent consolation price but if they land pick no. 4 instead it could become tough as there’s no clear choice there (though I would go with Culver).

Durant is almost a certainty IMO. Kyrie I would say is 50/50 but it would be the best for Celtics if he left I think.
 
Sarni said:
They have 14% chance, along two other teams and several who have just below that, to land Zion so not very likely. Barrett would be a half decent consolation price but if they land pick no. 4 instead it could become tough as there’s no clear choice there (though I would go with Culver).

Durant is almost a certainty IMO. Kyrie I would say is 50/50 but it would be the best for Celtics if he left I think.
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Durant --> Knicks
Kawhi --> Clippers
Irving --> Celtic/Knicks

Dream would be Clippers getting Durant and Kawhi.
 
Fosu-Mens said:
Durant --> Knicks
Kawhi --> Clippers
Irving --> Celtic/Knicks

Dream would be Clippers getting Durant and Kawhi.
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I agree. Plenty of good free agents this year. I expect:

Kawhi - most likely Clippers, could stay at Toronto, very minor chance of any other team.

KD - very likely Knicks, small chance he stays, zero chance he goes anywhere else.

Kyrie - most likely Knicks, could stay, small chance he goes to Lakers, zero chance he goes anywhere else.

Butler - likely to stay, could go to Nets, marginal chance of him being consolation prize for Lakers, Clippers or Knicks if they strike out on everyone else.

Klay - will definitely stay.

Middleton - likely to stay with Bucks, could be consolation prize for Lakers or Clippers.

Kemba - likely to stay, could go to Dallas or Lakers. Will definitely stay if they make playoffs.

Cousins - feck knows but he won’t get a max. Could go to Dallas.

DeAndre Jordan - won’t get more than $10million a year on a long term deal.
 
Western Conference matchups are almost certain now.

Warriors v Clippers - will probably be a sweep though LA could take one home game. Will be nice experience for Clippers. I love them.

Nuggets v Spurs - super interesting, Nuggets are great at home but inexperienced in the playoffs. Spurs will push them.

Rockets v Thunder - again very interesting. Depends on how well George and Westbrook shoot, it could either go to 7 games or be done in 5. I expect Rockets to go through.

Jazz v Blazers - likely a sweep for Jazz, could see Blazers maybe stealing one at home if CJ doesn’t play. With Nurkic in the team Portland would likely get this to 6 or 7 games.

In the East it’s tough to predict the correct order but I would expect:

Milwaukee v Detroit - probably a sweep for the Bucks, maybe Detroit steal one.

Toronto v Magic - could be very interesting considering how good Magic have been recently and how Toronto have always disappointed in the playoffs. Won’t be surprised if Magic win in 7.

Philadelphia v Nets - Sixers will have too much for them but I can see Nets stealing a game or two.

Boston v Indiana - feck knows which Boston team turns up. Could be 4-0 to Boston, could be 4-2 to Indiana. Pacers will definitely play them hard.
 
Where will PJ Washington be drafted? Mid first round?
 
Sarni said:
Won’t be surprised if Magic win in 7.
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agree with your post, except this. i'd be absolutely shocked if Magic get through. yeah Toronto have had their past playoff issues but a) LeBron isn't there anymore and more importantly b) they have Kawhi, who went and won a finals MVP once upon a time. they'll get through.

can't wait for the playoffs to start, this last month has been painful. let's just get on with it now.
 
stepic said:
agree with your post, except this. i'd be absolutely shocked if Magic get through. yeah Toronto have had their past playoff issues but a) LeBron isn't there anymore and more importantly b) they have Kawhi, who went and won a finals MVP once upon a time. they'll get through.

can't wait for the playoffs to start, this last month has been painful. let's just get on with it now.
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They don’t really need LeBron playing against them to struggle. Last year they dropped two games against mediocre Wizards team, the season before they dropped two games to Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee who were not really anywhere near current Bucks team and the season before they went to 7 games against Pacers and Heat as well. In 2015 they got swept by Wizards while having homecourt advantage. Basically they’ve not been comfortable in a single playoffs series in any of the previous 4 seasons.

What will give them advantage is the fact that DeRozan was a huge playoffs choker while Kawhi has won championship. Let’s see but I really won’t be surprised if Magic push them hard.
 
Players I like for the draft that will probably go too low:

  • Jarrett Culver (if he goes below top 5) - very high basketball IQ
  • Matisse Thybulle (if he goes below 20) - seems like a Spurs player, excellent defender, decent shooter, NBA ready
  • Brandon Clarke (if he goes below 10) - plenty of qualities, good at almost everything, doesn’t suck at anything except maybe shooting which he can improve
Players I expect to disappoint:
  • Cam Reddish (if he goes top 5) - unreliable shooter, doesn’t seem very intelligent. Good defender though.
  • Darius Garland (if he goes top 8) - too much of a risk, hasn’t played enough
  • Jaxson Hayes (if he goes top 8) - can’t shoot, doesn’t rebound well. Seems a good defender against NCAA players but that’s not enough.
  • Rui Hachimura (if he goes in the lottery) - he has no standout qualities whatsoever that would translate to NBA.
 
Sarni said:
Late first or early second, I would guess. It’s a toss though because below 5th anybody could go anywhere.
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I’m wrong it seems. Everyone is now projecting him to be mid-first indeed.

I don’t think he will be great in the league, a good role player is his ceiling. Thing is this draft might actually be more aimed towards contributing that rather than star potential. He’s unlikely to completely suck and become unplayable but he’s also unlikely to become a top 3 player on a good team. Low risk, low reward.

Someone like Reddish is high risk, high reward. Hachimura is high risk, zero rewards. Bol Bol is the ultimate high risk, high reward though.
 
Sarni said:
I’m wrong it seems. Everyone is now projecting him to be mid-first indeed.

I don’t think he will be great in the league, a good role player is his ceiling. Thing is this draft might actually be more aimed towards contributing that rather than star potential. He’s unlikely to completely suck and become unplayable but he’s also unlikely to become a top 3 player on a good team. Low risk, low reward.

Someone like Reddish is high risk, high reward. Hachimura is high risk, zero rewards. Bol Bol is the ultimate high risk, high reward though.
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That's what the Kentucky commentators constantly mentioned but I didn't know how reliable/biased they were. Keldon Johnson is also supposed to go mid-first according to them.

I don't think Reddish will be a top 5 pick anymore. It looks like it's anyone's guess after Zion, Morant and Barrett.
 
RobinLFC said:
That's what the Kentucky commentators constantly mentioned but I didn't know how reliable/biased they were. Keldon Johnson is also supposed to go mid-first according to them.

I don't think Reddish will be a top 5 pick anymore. It looks like it's anyone's guess after Zion, Morant and Barrett.
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Yeah Zion will go first regardless who is picking. Morant will go second if it’s Phoenix or Chicago picking, could go third if Cleveland, Knicks or Atlanta are second (all of them would probably find more use for Barrett).

Below that it’s really anyone’s guess. I think we will see plenty of team drafting for fit rather going for the best player available as it’ll be very hard to even establish who is BPA.
 
1st team all NBA

Curry
Harden
Kawhi
Giannis
Jokic

2nd team all NBA

Lillard
Westbrook
George
Durant
Embiid

3rd team all NBA

Irving
Bledsoe
Gallinari
Aldridge
Gobert

ROY

Luka Doncic

Sixth Man

Domantis Sabonis

Most Improved

D'Angelo Russell

DPOY

Giannis

MVP

Giannis

Coach of the Year

Nate McMillan
 
MVP is 50/50 between Giannis and Harden but I’d personally give it to Harden.

Giannis has to be DPOY, Doncic has to be ROTY although Trae Young has made a good case for himself recently and Budenholzer has to be COTY and MIP has to go to Russell. I think 6MOY will be Lou Williams.

As far as All-NBA teams go, first team has to have Harden, Giannis and Jokic, and third team has to have Gallinari (who will probably miss out anyway). I would still have Paul George on the first team.
 
First Team
Curry / Harden / PG / Giannis / Jokic

Second Team
Dame / Russ / KD / Aldridge / Embiid

Third Team
Kemba / Beal / Kawhi / Galinari / Gobert

DPOY
Gobert / Giannis

MVP
Giannis

MIP
Siakam (I'll have Fox, but they never give it to sophermore players, so Siakam it is)

6th Man
Danny Green (If he's eligible) / Siakam

ROTY
Doncic

COTY
Bud

EOTY
Divac (Kings punched way above their weight and you can tell he has a plan that he set in motion ever since he traded Cousins)
 
elmo said:
First Team
Curry / Harden / PG / Giannis / Jokic

Second Team
Dame / Russ / KD / Aldridge / Embiid

Third Team
Kemba / Beal / Kawhi / Galinari / Gobert

DPOY
Gobert / Giannis

MVP
Giannis

MIP
Siakam (I'll have Fox, but they never give it to sophermore players, so Siakam it is)

6th Man
Danny Green (If he's eligible) / Siakam

ROTY
Doncic

COTY
Bud

EOTY
Divac (Kings punched way above their weight and you can tell he has a plan that he set in motion ever since he traded Cousins)
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You can make a case for Sean Marks(of the Nets) as EOTY. And Harden as the MVP. Other than that, I agree with this list.
 
It’s super complicated but I think Thunder go to 8th if they lose to Houston tonight. Their final game of season is against Milwaukee who will rest everyone but on the other hand Spurs will play Mavericks at home while Clippers will host Jazz who will have nothing to play for either as they already know they will be fifth.

It seems that it’s very likely we will have Warriors v Thunder in the first round. Tasty. On paper Warriors shouldn’t drop more than one game in these series but with the way Thunder have played this season all range of final outcomes are possible.

Detroit play Knicks in the final game of season and Hornets have a tie-breaker over them and play Magic at home. Knicks don’t need to tank anymore so they might try to spoil the season for Pistons for what it’s worth. Seems like Miami are done though, not only do they not own tie-breaker, they are also playing Nets who will probably prefer to avoid Milwaukee and Toronto with a win and keep the sixth seed.
 
Russ’ shooting has been ridiculously bad this season and I thought he was somehow way below his career average but it turns out he isn’t. His 28.5% from three is just shy of his career 30.8%, his 42.5% from the field is just 1% below his career average too. He only suffers at the foul line with 65% this year compared to 80% over the course of his career which is plain weird because you wouldn’t expect this to deviate downwards by more than a few per cent.
 
OKC with a 15-0 run to come back and lead!

Important game for both teams when it comes to playoffs seeding.
 
It’s turning into a fierce game. Nice.

That’s what I am talking about with regards to OKC by the way, even within a single game they can go from bad to great. They have a number of skillful defenders who can annoy Warriors, shame that Roberson hasn’t managed to return this season as initially expected as he would come handy against Klay and KD.
 
What a shot by George!

Seems like they will end up playing each other in the first round.
 
No indeed Rockets have it.

On the plus side we won’t be playing Warriors in the semis then.

On the other hand it doesn’t matter because OKC will sweep us anyway.
 
So it seems likely that we'd have the 3 best teams in the Western Conference on one side of the bracket and the Nuggets as the favorites to reach the finals from the other side. It gets even uglier if OKC lose to the Bucks. I hope they do. Throw everything at the Warriors.
 
Sarni said:
MVP is 50/50 between Giannis and Harden but I’d personally give it to Harden.

Giannis has to be DPOY, Doncic has to be ROTY although Trae Young has made a good case for himself recently and Budenholzer has to be COTY and MIP has to go to Russell. I think 6MOY will be Lou Williams.

As far as All-NBA teams go, first team has to have Harden, Giannis and Jokic, and third team has to have Gallinari (who will probably miss out anyway). I would still have Paul George on the first team.
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I agree it's pretty much 50/50 for MVP. I gave it to Giannis because his team has the best record. Bud has been amazing but I think McMillan is a magician to have that Pacers roster without Oladipo where they are. Agree 100% on Gallanari, prob LEbron or Griffin will get in over him.
 
freeurmind said:
I agree it's pretty much 50/50 for MVP. I gave it to Giannis because his team has the best record. Bud has been amazing but I think McMillan is a magician to have that Pacers roster without Oladipo where they are. Agree 100% on Gallanari, prob LEbron or Griffin will get in over him.
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Bud has transformed Bucks from a slightly .500 team playing inconsistent basketball to the best regular season team playing the most exciting brand of basketball in the league. He has to get the award.

McMillan’s record with Pacers is super impressive I admit but Bud has done beyond that. I actually have Doc Rivers ahead of McMillan too, he basically did the same but in West which is more impressive.
 
As Dirk is retiring, who do people have as the best European to ever play in the NBA?
 
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