Lakers have AD and LeBron and are favourites to repeat.
Raptors aren't even favourites in the East.
NBA 2020-2021
- Thread starter altodevil
- Start date
Lakers have AD and LeBron and are favourites to repeat.
Raptors aren't even favourites in the East.
Maybe so. That's just normal for a young team like New Orleans - vets on short term, front-loaded deals.
Miami are re-signing Adebayo to a max which means they will not be going after Giannis. Considering Bam and Giannis share the same agent, it probably means Giannis is staying with the Bucks.
That Hayward deal is so idiotic for the Hornets I can’t even believe a thinking human being would have made it. Not only you are overpaying a merely good player who may turn you into a potential 8th seed, just so you can get destroyed by whoever you get to play against in the first round, and will inevitably be one of the worst contracts in the league in 2 years. You are also giving up the chance to pick up half decent draft picks in the upcoming two drafts - 2021 is a great class and 2022 is double draft, and you would have been almost nailed to get a top 7 pick without that dumb Hayward deal, and go properly into rebuild. And on top of that it now looks like they will have to stretch Batum to create cap space because guess what, they didn’t actually have enough cap space to sign Hayward in the first place and though Boston were going to take one of their other dumb contracts to make it S&T. So now Hayward won’t cost $30million per year, he will cost $39million per year for all but the final year of his contract because of Batum’s $9million owed.
All of this comes a year after they refused to pay Kenba $30million per year and they’ve only started pulling themselves out of incredibly idiotic deals they gave out in the Summer of 2016 - $27million to Batum and $16million to Zeller would be off the books next year and $16million to Marvin Williams and $13million to MKG is already done.
How can anyone be so dumb
All of this comes a year after they refused to pay Kenba $30million per year and they’ve only started pulling themselves out of incredibly idiotic deals they gave out in the Summer of 2016 - $27million to Batum and $16million to Zeller would be off the books next year and $16million to Marvin Williams and $13million to MKG is already done.
How can anyone be so dumb
I assume Jordan was heavily involved. He was supposedly leading the Hornets interest in Westbrook, too. Owners should just never be involved in basketball decisions.
Jones did fantastic IMO. He basically rebuilt the squad in 2 seasons.
Suns also added Langston Galloway and E'Twaun Moore at the wings. Combo guards who can play some at 1, but mostly 2 or 3 depth. Saric also got signed to a reasonable contract. The bench looks great on paper. Now just need for them to gel, and Suns would be in playoff for the first time in a decade.
Btw, James Jones impersonation of Kevin Costner character in the movie Draft Day made me laugh. He basically said feck mock draft, I'm gonna draft my guy.
Oh feckSo AD is waiting to see what Giannis does before he re-signs, the implication being if Giannis doesn't sign the supermax he'd accept to take less money to give us a shot at him next year...
I don't if i should believe this, but still,
Well, we are talking about genius owner Michael Jordan here, so...
So AD is waiting to see what Giannis does before he re-signs, the implication being if Giannis doesn't sign the supermax he'd accept to take less money to give us a shot at him next year...
I don't if i should believe this, but still,
That would make the NBA actually pointless, it'd be even worse than KD joining the Warriors. If the Lakers have 3 of the top 5 players, why even bother playing? I hope the PA raises all kinds of hell if this scenario threatens to become a reality. It would set a nasty precedent of supermax players leaving lots of money on the table to team up on a big market team where the endorsments and higher media attention will earn them more cash than they've lost because of their contract. It would turn the NBA contract system into a complete farce, forcing the small market teams to overpay for weaker players even more than they already have to while all the monsters gather in the few big markets for cheap.
Last edited:
Yes, really. I find it hard to take Portland seriously as a contender.
Do you mean playoffs contenders? That’s silly. Even if you mean championship contender that’s still silly when you have Suns (who haven’t even been in the playoffs for 10 years), Jazz and Mavs there. None of them have a better roster than Portland. Neither do Nuggets. For what it’s worth I don’t consider any of them definite contenders but Mavs, Nuggets and Blazers could be there if everything clicks for them (Suns and Jazz nope).
Last edited:
My tiers this season if nothing changes in the rosters (and it will):
Definite contenders:
Lakers
Clippers (bottlers)
Bucks (bottlers)
Contenders if things click, could be one move away :
Nets
Sixers
Heat
Celtics
Mavs
Blazers
Nuggets
Everyone else can be good, some are almost nailed for the playoffs like Raptors but without real chance of winning.
Definite contenders:
Lakers
Clippers (bottlers)
Bucks (bottlers)
Contenders if things click, could be one move away :
Nets
Sixers
Heat
Celtics
Mavs
Blazers
Nuggets
Everyone else can be good, some are almost nailed for the playoffs like Raptors but without real chance of winning.
Where would you have had the Warriors before Klay's injury? Just out of curiosity.
That second tier but assessing their realistic chances of winning the whole thing is a tough one. Truth is we haven’t seen them play at full strength since June 2019 and it’s a long time in basketball. They were diabolical beginning of last season before Curry got injured but a) that was only 4 games, b) Klay wasn’t there. Even with Draymond we have no idea how good he still is. They’ve basically gone 18 months without playing serious basketball.
I like their depth beyond the ‘big 3’ though. Oubre is a very solid wing, better than Barnes was. I think if you asked Wiggins to be your sixth man, which he would have been if Klay stayed healthy, I think he would blossom. I like the addition of Wiseman and Paschall looks like a solid option off the bench. Even their recent acquisitions of Wanamaker and Bazemore have been good I think.
I would definitely not be writing them off for the title. Even if they lost 20% of their edge from 2016-19 they should have still been damn good players, and their depth has gotten better.
They could still make the playoffs this year with those play-ins, it’s not absurd to think they may still be a top 10 team in the West ahead of the likes of Kings, Pelicans, Thunder, Wolves, Spurs or even anyone from current playoffs ‘contenders’.
Wow, Westbrook to the Wizards for John Wall and a 2023 first-rounder, according to Woj! Big one. Not sure who wins that trade.
Surgeons and Physical Therapists in Houston.
So Houston have basically traded Paul, got a net loss of 1 pick and 2 swaps + a worse player on a longer deal.
I thought Westbrook's deal was shorter than Wall's so was about to say Wizards come out on top but it's the same length, expires in 2023. Uninspiring trade overall, this probably elevates Wizards to a playoffs contender and makes them a bit more interesting (certainly more interesting than they were last season) but a ceiling of that team is still perhaps 40 odd wins and a first round exit. It does absolutely nothing for Houston except maybe bringing them slightly closer to trading Harden and netting them another pick as they try to stock up on them again after Morey traded every single one he could for shite.
I thought Westbrook's deal was shorter than Wall's so was about to say Wizards come out on top but it's the same length, expires in 2023. Uninspiring trade overall, this probably elevates Wizards to a playoffs contender and makes them a bit more interesting (certainly more interesting than they were last season) but a ceiling of that team is still perhaps 40 odd wins and a first round exit. It does absolutely nothing for Houston except maybe bringing them slightly closer to trading Harden and netting them another pick as they try to stock up on them again after Morey traded every single one he could for shite.
Well this trade does absolutely nothing for both teams, very weird.
24/25 season is a player option at $43m.
Bradley Beal has to be the unhappiest man in the world today. You find out Wall is finally gone but you get Russ instead.
Surprised by the view that people think this trade is a wash. Seems most feel that way, too. This is pretty clearly a win for the Wizards in my view. They got rid of a player who hasn't played for 2 years and is coming back from an Achilles injury. He was also the inferior player to Westbrook.
They're getting someone who will actually be able to play and will help them make the playoffs (which they clearly want since they refuse to trade Beal). Westbrook was all nba last year! Wall hasn't played in 2 years. A bad playoffs coming back from covid and a thigh injury is all people are remembering of Westbrook. The pick they traded will also be nothing.
They're getting someone who will actually be able to play and will help them make the playoffs (which they clearly want since they refuse to trade Beal). Westbrook was all nba last year! Wall hasn't played in 2 years. A bad playoffs coming back from covid and a thigh injury is all people are remembering of Westbrook. The pick they traded will also be nothing.
With LeBron and Davis signed to long term maxes, hopefully that means no talk of Giannis.
No ultra super teams is kind of fun.
No ultra super teams is kind of fun.
The picture 
That's a difficult thing to read, you can feel his pain.
The shit Harden is pulling is ridiculous. It's one thing to just not turn up to camp, but to be out partying in the middle of a pandemic is just idiotic. I've never really liked him but this takes it to another level.
It is absolutely insane that they are back in training already.
Wait. Harden not performing when it matters and people are counting on him to be responsible? Well I never.
Season starts in 2 weeks. Seems surreal seeing them back in training again right now, feels like last season only just ended.
On the other hand, excited to have some basketball again. Nothing better than some NBA on Christmas day.
On the other hand, excited to have some basketball again. Nothing better than some NBA on Christmas day.
To be fair the Wolves haven't played in 9 months.
@Sarni
How do you feel about that Portland team? I think you guys made some great moves this offseason. Really solid moves actually. Will be good to see that team play healthy. I think people are underrating them.
How do you feel about that Portland team? I think you guys made some great moves this offseason. Really solid moves actually. Will be good to see that team play healthy. I think people are underrating them.
I don't know if I've been as excited about a Hawks team in my adult life as I am about this one. I'm sure there'll be kinks to work out and it may take some time to dial in the starting 5 that gets the best out of who we've got, but this team looks legit. We should be in the mix for the playoffs this year and maybe a 4/5 seed next year.
Despite the relative success of our Teague/Korver/Carroll/Millsap/Horford team a few years back, it lacked the star power we have now.
Despite the relative success of our Teague/Korver/Carroll/Millsap/Horford team a few years back, it lacked the star power we have now.
Good roster but very little defense.
It's been a decade imo. When you had Josh Smith doing 5 put-back slams a game, Joe Johnson, Al Horford and Bibby, that was a really fun team too! Took Boston to a Game 7 in the first round too iirc.
nothing easy nothing easy we going to game seven baby game seven game sevennnnnnnnn
You'll need Rondo and Galinari to stay healthy for your team to make the playoffs.