Arena The NBA Thread

The Browns took that title from the Raiders.

 

Pretty mad at myself that I didn't go to the Warriors-Nuggets game like I thought about last night. I can't believe I passed up a chance to boo Steph Curry and Draymond Green, and in the process missed an incredible performance by the Nuggets. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to correct that mistake in the first round of the playoffs.



And now, reports are saying Kevin Love will miss six weeks ...

 

D - League to become the Gatorade league.

 

Oh, ****. Serge Ibaka to Toronto.

1) Good short-term pickup for Toronto. No. Great pick up for this season. They have an actual shot at derailing the Cavs now. Sure, risk of losing him for nothing this summer, but if you're a Toronto fan, you've got to be happy with the trade.
2) What is Orlando thinking? They flipped Oladipo for half a season of Ibaka to flip him for ... Terrance Ross and a mediocre draft pick?

 

I really wish Bill Walton would call more NBA games than college ones on TV... alas, a treat when it happens.

 

thats a worse move than signing Rondo, and signing Rondo was a really crap move

 

I wonder if the Lakers will trade Lou Williams; he can clearly be a valuable asset for a contender.

 

what a terrible performance from memphis

 

Frank Isola was right! The Melo for Love swap is happening ...


... on the All-Star Team

 

Looks like Sacramento is about to trade Boogie

 

Is it great business? His own teammates thought he was a problem. Plus, Boogie is constantly out of shape, and that's why he's struggled with little injuries.

There's a reason so many GMs didn't want to touch him. To be fair, though, Sacramento is a complete dumpster fire of an organization. Everyone's talking about the Knicks right now, but the Kings are just as bad, and have been for years. The way they handled Cousins was just bad, bad, bad at all times.

If I were a Kings fan, I'd be saying good riddance. If I were a Pelicans fan, I'd be like "nooooooooo" and just hoping he isn't the total jackass he's been with the Kings the entire time. If it fails because they just don't play well together, that's one thing. If it fails because he's a jackass, the Pelicans should have known that's what they were getting.

Oh, and I've always thought Alvin Gentry was terrible. Not sure why he keeps getting head coaching positions.

 

It's a great pickup from New Orleans. They have a talent in Anthony Davis that should be a transformative talent. And they are at risk of another year or two of terrible roster management and ineptitude from him getting on camera and saying "I need to be traded". Cousins is a roll of the dice, but he's a talented roll of the dice. Remember all the issues Rasheed Wallace had in Portland? Put him in Detroit, and Detroit wins a title. New Orleans now has the ability to take some teams out of rhythm and dictate terms. And they didn't give up all that much to get him.

 

they've not exactly given up much. He's worth the risk. Maybe he will flourish when he's not the number 1. They weren't going anywhere anyway

 

so much of boogie's trouble in sacramento stemmed from his frustrations with being on such a consistently terrible team and horribly run organization. he's an elite talent who wants to win and who has trouble controlling his emotions. i haven't heard the stories about his own teammates thinking he's a problem i guess, but i know his olympic teammates love him. i think we'll see a slightly different cousins on a team that wins more than it loses and where all the pressure isn't squarely on his shoulders. that said, there will certainly still be flashes of the old boogie and that could be a huge problem since he is already at the point where he is suspended a game for every other technical and the pelicans are going to have to claw to get the 8 spot. i think they are now definitely the team that the warriors don't want to see in that spot and that they would for sure give the warriors more of a challenge than any of the other likely candidates.

on another topic, i'm just going to say this once as blasphemous as it might be for a warriors fan: i wish kevin durant was still on the thunder. i love kd, but i miss him as a rival. i liked the team the warriors built from scratch, and i'm not really that fond of rooting for a "super team". in the insufferable durant/westbrook feud it's impossible to take durant's side or to fault russ for the way he's handled it. anyway i still watch every game and cheer for my team but it's been a bit of an awkward year. the backlash was there a bit already last year, but durant's choice cemented them as villains and for me it's just been a bit strange and a struggle to embrace that role. also the thunder and warriors were so incredibly close and it sucks that we were robbed of that potential rematch. at least we got russ's epic season out of the deal. if he had anyone who could shoot on his team he'd easily be leading the league in scoring and assists.

 

I kinda understand tom as Knicks fan and an East Coast girl I always routed for whatever Eastern Conference team made it to the Finals until LeBron joined the Heat and it wasn't just LeBron Pat Riley had left the Knicks and he was there too. For several years I didn't care who won. I didn't like the Heat, I'd never routed for a Western Conference team the Knicks were awful. Of course then I fell in love with the Thunder, so now I got a Western Conference team to care about, but they aren't getting out of the first round. And I really don't want to see Warriors vs the Cavs round 3. So I'm routing for any two different teams

 

While I agree they can give the Warriors problems, Denver might give them more of a push. Jokic, as he showed in the last meeting of the two squads, creates match-up problems. There are about three players in the entire league that can do that right now against the Warriors. He has the ability for a night or two to be the best player on the court when he's hitting his shots, in a game that also features Durant and Steph. That's kind of incredible.

no way do I think the Nuggets can actually upset the Warriors. But can they push them to six? I think they can.

 

i really don't think so. only because i've seen every warriors game this year and they have consistently found a much higher level of basketball when the game is important or when they feel they have something to prove. i would throw out opening night because they clearly weren't ready for a team like the spurs. other than that, the cavs on christmas are really the only team that has been able to hang with the warriors in the context of a "big game". and you can bet the big game warriors will be the team that shows up in the post-season, when they can shrink their rotation, no longer have to worry about back to backs, and can focus on preparing for one team. i like the young core that the nuggets are building around jokic, but the warriors never showed up in that last meeting and the nuggets had the best 3 point shooting night in nba history. just can't see it happening in the playoffs.

 

Magic is the new president of basketball operations for the Lakers; Fredo Buss & Kupchak are FIRED.









Semi-immediate reaction & thoughts:


1) Will this affect greatly his involvement with the Dodgers?

2) Feel for Mitch (since he helped to engineer the Gasol trade, the essential move in the latest/most recent Laker title run... so many happy memories from all of that) in this, but Jim? Adios!

3) Nothing's ever guaranteed, frustration with decisions, etc, are inevitable... however, excited as hell to see Magic with this role; about time that he & Jeanie (fully) steer this franchise.

4) As of this post, still waiting for the Lakers channel (amazing, having the ability to access one's beloved team on TV...) to break in with coverage of this. Even as that wait still happens, the current programming is a nice coincidence:





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chances Magic is on the phone with jerry west right now

i don't think he does much with the dodgers other than attend games.

 

I hope Magic decides to coach again.

 

i have a lot of trouble understanding this from the kings side, to be blunt. just by the eye test, that's one of the worst trades in the last two or three decades. >_<

 

And the Lakers send Lou Williams to Houston.

 

just what the rockets clearly need, more offense.