The NBA 2014-15 Regular Season Thread

[RainMaker]

Raptors are good. Missing Derozan hurts a lot. Still a solid team.

[nol]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Does anyone really consider them contenders?

Plus, to be fair, they're missing their 2nd best player.

Contenders to make the Finals, and that's as good as you can say about any team in the East at this point.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Outside of a couple (literally) good games in November, Trey Burke is not looking like much of a starting-quality PG.

Gonna likely be a guy who puts a lot a lot more assists versus putting up lots of points and needs to be left open to make shots. His height limits him shooting over people, and I don't think he's that quick to create his own shot. Nobody begrudges the guy for leaving early, but he had limited upside.

[Brian Swartz]

The West certainly is ridiculous. The only way the Cavs were ever not going to become a machine is if players' egos got in the way of them playing with LeBron and accepting him as the 'player-coach' thing he's doing. Too much talent for them not to be. Being a machine in the East can be the same as not good enough to get out of the first round of the West, but they should be right there with a pretty good shot to be the team that gets to lose in the Finals, and they can score enough to scare whoever they play. Winning a title? I doubt it. Whoever comes out of the West will be battle-hardened and if not injured beyond recognition they'll be more than ready for whatever they see.

As a Spurs homer I see a team largely yawning it's way through the start of the year. Not all that unusual for them, and they didn't beat anybody good(something like 1-8 against the top teams) the first half of last year. I don't know how much drive they have to repeat, and there are certainly other teams out there who do have it. So we'll see what they have come after the All-Star break, like usual. Exception to this is Duncan. I really think this is his last year and he wants to repeat more than anyone else on the team for the obvious reasons. He's been clearly their best player this year, and he's 38. PER says he's 18th in the NBA. That's obscene. If they were able to repeat, aside from making Phil Jackson finally shut up(maybe), I wouldn't care if they didn't win a game the next five years. It'd be the perfect ending to a run which I've been extremely spoiled to be a fan of.

Anthony Davis is pleasantly proving me right. I remember watching the national title game when he was in college and telling my brother how he was going to be a great NBA player. I've often been wrong when saying such things(I thought Oden was going to be a great NBA player and that Durant would be eh-ok, I was convinced that the Darko pick was actually a good one ahead of Carmelo, I was very late to the party of the awesomeness that was AI, etc.), but it's nice to be right once in a while.

[JPhillips]

In ESPN's top 25 under 25, the top three are all from Kentucky, Davis, Cousins and Wall.

[Shkspr]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

I've often been wrong when saying such things(I thought Oden was going to be a great NBA player and that Durant would be eh-ok, I was convinced that the Darko pick was actually a good one ahead of Carmelo,

Hey, own those picks. Oden has played in just as many NBA Finals series as Durant, sporting the superior +/- rating of the two by far. And Darko's got a ring. Carmelo won't ever get one.

[whomario]

Nets send Kirilenko to Siberia, um, i mean, Philadelphia ...

[RainMaker]

Kyrie Irving just went down with a knee injury. Didn't look good. Hopefully just hyperextended it.

Edit: Looks like he's alright. Replay looked bad though.

[whomario]

Donatas Motiejunas is a really, really good Post scorer. Defenders seem confused playing him in a "wait, what is happening here ?" way since there you have a big man who actually has more than 1 or 2 moves with his back to the basket (seriously, he has a whole menu of moves and countermoves and is finishing with either hand. And that includes 10 foot hook shots).

The Rockets need to find a way to keep using him now with Howard back. Should definitely play with the bench some and be the focal point there.

[Alf]

Motiejunas looks like a young Arvydas Sabonis which is a big compliment ! Big guy that plays slow classic moves close to the basket (even playing back to the basket) but also has hands (and 3 pointer abilities)

[korme]

Sacto fires Mike Malone. What?

[Vince, Pt. II]

That seems crazy. They had a great start to the season, and they've been missing Cousins for a bunch of games in a row now, but they've been competitive in (almost) all of them. Weird.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Brooklyn Nets 'superfan' Jeffrey Gamblero dies after jump from window - ESPN New York

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Brooklyn Nets 'superfan' Jeffrey Gamblero dies after jump from window - ESPN New York

Geez. I don't know enough to guess if they're at fault but the Knicks and their security company are going to be sued for millions. Just another cloud over that franchise.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Geez. I don't know enough to guess if they're at fault but the Knicks and their security company are going to be sued for millions. Just another cloud over that franchise.

Which hopefully will get quickly squashed. If getting ejected for being loud from a Knicks game somehow contributes to a suicide attempt a week and a half later, there's something very wrong with that individual. It's going to be very difficult to prove causation and even if they do, they're going to have to prove that MSG did something to cause his mental state. Good luck with that.

[kingfc22]

Sacramento Kings have interest in hiring George Karl - ESPN

Just what the Western Conference needs.

[whomario]

assuming he gets his money, i say "good for everybody" re: Sacramento. The Owner clearly wants a different brand of Basketball than Malone was willing to play fully knowing both the Owner and the newly apointed GM wanted (even with Cousins out he rarely played small ball, for example). Why waste anyones time ?

Would just been more honest to just come out and say it, rather than hiding between bad results with your best player out.

Also, if you want to know what the owner wants, try catching a game of their Dleague affiliate (available for free on the dleague website, FYI) which averages 140 PPG and hoist 51 (!!) 3s a game. Brady Heslip alone is shooting 14 3s a game, hitting them at a 54% clip and is averaging 30 PPG.

Also, remember Grinnell College ? That crazy D3 team shooting 3s like crazy, pressing all game and rotating 15 players (and called it "The System") ? The Reno Coach (David Arseneault Jr.) is the Son of Grinnell´s Head Coach

EDIT: This is how it looks when really working, Heslip with 13 made 3s in one game:

[sterlingice]

I'm pretty sure there are big holes in it, but it would be interesting to see someone try that in the NBA

SI

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Which hopefully will get quickly squashed. If getting ejected for being loud from a Knicks game somehow contributes to a suicide attempt a week and a half later, there's something very wrong with that individual. It's going to be very difficult to prove causation and even if they do, they're going to have to prove that MSG did something to cause his mental state. Good luck with that.

He was allegedly dropped on his head while being carried out and went to the hospital for a brain injury. I agree causation will be impossible to prove but brain trauma can lead to drastic changes in behavior and occasionally suicidal tendencies, as seen in many CTE victims.

[BishopMVP]

BTW, the Thunder are now half a game out of a playoff spot. Granted they're still behind the 8-ball when it comes to homecourt for the playoffs, but there were a lot of people seriously writing they might miss the playoffs as recently as 2 weeks ago.

[nol]

Yeah, that was pretty funny.

About the only way for the Kings to not have major egg on their face for this move is if they do just badly enough under Corbin to not send the Bulls their protected first-rounder and then get an actual good coach next season. This is likely conceding that Cousins will be out for a while longer since they can clearly compete for a playoff spot with him in the lineup.

[nol]

Ugh, Jabari Parker is out for the season with a torn ACL.

[Groundhog]

Some real bad luck with injuries this season.

[RainMaker]

That really sucks. Bucks were fun to watch and might have gotten a playoff spot.

[DaddyTorgo]

Anyone want Rondo?

[sterlingice]

Anyone with a little more familiarity with the Japan/FIBA situation? Why does FIBA care how a country's pro leagues are?

Japan has six months to merge basketball domestic leagues: FIBA - Yahoo News

SI

[korme]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

BTW, the Thunder are now half a game out of a playoff spot. Granted they're still behind the 8-ball when it comes to homecourt for the playoffs, but there were a lot of people seriously writing they might miss the playoffs as recently as 2 weeks ago.

Well, Durant wasn't expected to come back until after Christmas.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Anyone want Rondo?

The Mavs do, I just hope they don't give up too much to get him.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Anyone with a little more familiarity with the Japan/FIBA situation? Why does FIBA care how a country's pro leagues are?

Japan has six months to merge basketball domestic leagues: FIBA - Yahoo News

FIBA seem to be overstepping their bounds here...

Not long ago FIBA made a statement that our Australian pro league should treat all Oceania/Pacific nationals as locals in our league - we have a 2 non-Aussie-or-NZ imports per team rule - to help improve basketball in our region of the world.

Despite it not being a "do it or no FIBA tourneys for you" directive and never even formally being adopted, two of our league's teams this past offseason used it to sneakily sign two Americans who were born in Guam, but moved to the states when they were young and played college ball - Tai Wesley (Utah State) and Earnest Ross (Missouri). Those two teams also happened to be the top two teams in the league, meaning they essentially got to have 3 imports thanks to a rule that never really seemed to be an official rule, so the rich got richer.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by cartman

The Mavs do, I just hope they don't give up too much to get him.

They got him.

[nol]

Wow, Rondo to the Mavs looks like it's really going to happen. No idea who the Celtics would be getting back besides draft picks.

EDIT: Brandan Wright, Jameer Nelson, Jae Crowder, the Mavs' 2015 first-rounder and one other pick.

[Desnudo]

The poo poo platter special. I know Rondo can walk, but that seems like a worthless trade for Boston.

[Groundhog]

Wright and Crowder are solid rotation guys - both are limited, but would be rotation guys on most teams in the league. Not sure they fit a rebuild job like the Celtics, but hey.

[nol]

Rondo can walk and he's not an All-Star level player at this point. I'm sure that draft pick was the highest one offered for him, and Wright is an upgrade over their big guys right now.

Hopefully Rondo will be rejuvenated some playing on a good team, but the learning curve for getting acclimated to Dallas will have to be steep given how intense the playoff race is looking.

[Desnudo]

He's certainly not the player he once was, at least currently. I think Dallas may be buying low since he's only 28. The trade deadline is months away. I don't get the urgency to ship him out now for castoffs and a 20s 1st rounder. Surely some dumber team would pony up a better prospect in January.

[nol]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

He's certainly not the player he once was, at least currently. I think Dallas may be buying low since he's only 28. The trade deadline is months away. I don't get the urgency to ship him out now for castoffs and a 20s 1st rounder. Surely some dumber team would pony up a better prospect in January.

He could only be traded to a good team, and the only other good team that doesn't already have a better PG is Houston (and even that's debatable given that you don't want to take the ball out of Harden's hands the way he's been playing).

[jeff061]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

He's certainly not the player he once was, at least currently. I think Dallas may be buying low since he's only 28. The trade deadline is months away. I don't get the urgency to ship him out now for castoffs and a 20s 1st rounder. Surely some dumber team would pony up a better prospect in January.

Was listening to the radio and if I understood right, if they wanted to be able to trade whatever players they got in this trade again this year, they'd have to have them on the team by tomorrow. After that they are locked in.

I was only half listening, but that's what I got out of it.

[Galaril]

I heard similar to Jeff somewhere and they were saying Green is likely next so maybe a package of some of these guys and him for God only knows what . Celtics might have just assured themselves of a top three pick for the next few years with these trades.

[Logan]

So the Celtics weren't able to get Hardaway Jr, Early, Amare's expiring, and two 1sts from the Knicks like Simmons predicted a few months ago?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Galaril

I heard similar to Jeff somewhere and they were saying Green is likely next so maybe a package of some of these guys and him for God only knows what .

Judging from what they got in this deal, I'd figure something like 2 basketballs, the air to fill them, a starting pitching prospect and a quart of chowdah

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Galaril

I heard similar to Jeff somewhere and they were saying Green is likely next so maybe a package of some of these guys and him for God only knows what . Celtics might have just assured themselves of a top three pick for the next few years with these trades.

I hope we do get a top 3 pick but I'll take that bet. Celtics last 3 years

With Rondo: 32-58 (.356)
Without him: 43-53 (.448)

The guy is unique and fun to watch, and I hope he regains that intensity and aggression from those couple playoff series, but it's clear he wasn't a difference maker on this Celtics team. We were a late lottery/borderline playoff team in a shitty conference with him and I think we'll still be a mid-late lottery team in a shitty conference without him. I also wish we got more, but understand why his value was so low. There's a glut of good PG's, he's not a guy you can project seamlessly sliding into any system (it'll be fun to see how Rick Carlisle does it), and it's a salary cap league where he's paid what he's worth, if not more.

[stevew]

I may be wrong but all the guys the Celtics guys were picked up using trade exceptions meaning they can get traded asap. I may be wrong, but they received a full exception of Rondo's salary.

Wright to the Cavs for a trade exception and a #1 or for Waiters seems like it would cure a lot of the Cavs ills.

[cartman]

If they can get Rondo to sign an extension, then this ends up being a great deal for the Mavs. If he doesn't, then they pretty much have to win a title this season. But now that they have a true PG, that offense has the potential to be really scary.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by cartman

If they can get Rondo to sign an extension, then this ends up being a great deal for the Mavs. If he doesn't, then they pretty much have to win a title this season. But now that they have a true PG, that offense has the potential to be really scary.

And plenty of time before the playoffs for Rondo to learn where the shooters on the Mavs like the ball before the playoffs if he's motivated to wni.

Going to make things a lot easier for Dirk!

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by stevew

I may be wrong but all the guys the Celtics guys were picked up using trade exceptions meaning they can get traded asap. I may be wrong, but they received a full exception of Rondo's salary.

Wright to the Cavs for a trade exception and a #1 or for Waiters seems like it would cure a lot of the Cavs ills.

The $12.9m trade exception is actually the biggest asset in this deal. It's probably worth about a mid-round 1st in itself.

The Celtics just became possible trade partners for almost anyone in the league. With a number of expiring salaries coming off the books, they'll have the cap space (overrated) to absorb anyone. The $13m trade exception allows them to both take a salary dump and facilitate movement of most players in the league. They have likely lotto picks (theirs, Brooklyns), mid-range 1sts (Dallas in 2016 projects to be this), end of the round 1sts (Clippers 2015 and Cleveland in 2016), high 2nds (Phillys), mid 2nds, etc. They have different types of PFs depending on what a team needs (vets, scorers, rebounders, shot blockers), fireworks off the bench (Thornton), defensive specialists, proven scorers (Green) and most of their players are young. In short, they can make a deal with most anyone. Not necessarily blockbuster deals, but opportunistic deals. In short, Ainge is now on 29 other speed dials around the league.

Ainge turned an $8m exception into a 1st, Zeller and Thornton. It should be interesting to see what he does with a $13m exception.

In the meanwhile, the Cs don't have the looming FA of Rondo over their heads anymore. Rondo can be an excellent player with the right guys around him - he's a rarity in that case - but he wasn't a good fit for the Celtics anymore and not worth what he'll be seeking in FA. The move also clears playing time for Marcus Smart as he returns from injury.

This move probably helps the Celtics long term and also probably helps Rondo and the Mavs. It's not the blockbuster deal that Celtics fans were hoping for, but it's the best they could get at the time and they needed to move Rondo for a host of reasons. This deal was the first of quite a few deals they'll make in the coming weeks/months, so the whole trade can't be evaluated until then.

[korme]

This quick video from Zach Lowe shows just how deadly this Mavs offense has already been:

[nilodor]

Originally Posted by stevew

The Raptors are a fraud.

I'd still rate them the third best team in the east. Maybe eighth best in the league. With DeRozan I would think they would be fringe contenders. While they may not be as good as their current metrics state (2nd in offense, top 10 defense, 2nd in SRS). I think it's pretty harsh to call them fraudulent.

[RainMaker]

I think it's a good trade for both teams. I'm not a huge Rondo fan but he's a big upgrade from what they had. The Celtics have also stockpiled picks for the next few years. And they were even smart to ensure this pick doesn't come through till 2016.

[nol]

For the Mavs it's a pretty big gamble. It's going to be hard for Rondo to make their offense any better than it already was, and even if he miraculously returns to playing defense like in his prime it won't be enough to fix their perimeter defense.

If they're not keeping him around and paying him after Dirk retires, it's worth rolling the dice, but it's not it will guarantee they even make it out of the first round.

The Celtics will definitely know whether Marcus Smart is the PG they want to build around after this season, and if one of theirs or the Nets' picks moves up in the lottery, their haul of young players these next couple years could rival the Sixers'.

[DaddyTorgo]

Apparently the pick is top 3 and bottom 15 protected for this year, and top 7 protected for next year.