2019 NBA Season

[MtlJeff]

Paul George was second in the league in scoring last year, Russ was only 23 a game.

 

The main issue is both guys want the ball in their hands a LOT. Russ will need the ball because he can't shoot and Harden can.

 

If Harden can deal with having the ball less and catching and shooting , it could go ok

 

I could also see them killing each other

[pinhigh27]

I feel like so many of these teams blow up their pretty good situation with a big move instead of little pieces. Houston can't find a couple decent 3 and d guys for those couple firsts they gave up for westbrook? That would make them better than westbrook will IMO. More fine tuning not complete restructuring of the offense.

[MtlJeff]

I think the problem was without moving Paul, they couldn't take on any additional salary. So trading the pick for say, Jerami Grant instead wouldn't have worked .

 

They had to move Paul and get something back

[scratchswinger]

NBA needs to reseed for the playoffs.

[Loomis13]

By reseed do you mean like seeds 1-16? If so I totally agree. That would be so fun.

[MtlJeff]

They are talking about it. I'm not sure its imminent though

[deadsolid...shank]

> @pinhigh27 said:

> I feel like so many of these teams blow up their pretty good situation with a big move instead of little pieces. Houston can't find a couple decent 3 and d guys for those couple firsts they gave up for westbrook? That would make them better than westbrook will IMO. More fine tuning not complete restructuring of the offense.

 

Is D’Antoni (sp?) still the coach at Houston?

 

He wouldn’t know what to do with a defensive player.

[scratchswinger]

D’Antoni is an offensive genius, he is going to find a way to cut the ball in half and run two sets at once. ?

[deadsolid...shank]

> @scratchswinger said:

> D’Antoni is an offensive genius, he is going to find a way to cut the ball in half and run two sets at once. ?

 

With Hardin and Westbrook he’s going to need to find a way to get an extra ball on the court. I think he’s like the old Iowa girls style of play, he’d only coach the offensive side.

 

[MtlJeff]

Paul George was averaging 29ppg last year before the shoulder thing. Honestly if harden can't live with that than it may not work. But Russ deferred as a scorer last year he should do it again

[highergr0und]

I don't enjoy watching pro basketball but I'm always drawn in by the free agency period..... All the salaries and posturing and personalities are just fascinating. It's crazy how teams are willing to part with picks and players and take on contracts that all but guarantee rough times after a 1-2 year window.

[MtlJeff]

The clippers gave up so many picks and only got a 2+1 from Kawhi. It is kinda crazy.

 

Even Anthony Davis hasn't signed a new contract. He technically is an expiring deal.

 

The NBA is like game of thrones. No one is safe. Team or player

[scratchswinger]

I was talking to a friend about ADs presser yesterday and the first thing I said was “I hope he resigns”. He seems like a perfect fit for LA, lots of talent and a great personality that should really be able to take advantage of being a Laker and everything it offers.

 

Rob is an amazing troll, the levels in which he goes after Magic is a gods gift.

[MtlJeff]

You have to figure unless Lebron suffers a career altering injury or just looks like most 35yr old do, that Davis is a lock to resign

 

I just give up trying to figure out things though. Even now guys are like "giannis loves Milwaukee, he's not leaving "....its like yeah ok.

[HoosierHacker89]

I feel like it is safe to say this offseason has lived up to all the hype and then some. We have heard about the summer of 2019 for the last few seasons now and how crazy it was going to be. I have loved it! I am even excited about the pacers moves as we have put the same team out the last few years and been bounced in the first round repeatedly.

[Mych]

There are very few of the new big 2's/3's that I actually like together. Obviously Harden/Westbrook don't seem to fit. Curry/Klay/Russell don't seem to fit. Kawhi/PG don't seem to fit. Lebron and AD may fit, but I think Lebron will have to play more like Draymond Green for it to work. I think the best new fit should be KD and Kyrie, but for some reason Kyrie doesn't seem to shine in pairings with other superstars.

I think the most dangerous teams are some of the ones who didn't follow the 3 Max + 10 Crap roster strategy... the Nuggets and the Bucks.

[MtlJeff]

The most interesting thing to me is the seeding in the West next year. Because the 2 L.A teams will be the favorites to win the conference, but i could easily see them being the 4,5 or 6 seeds. So how much will home court and seeding matter?

 

To me, Houston and Denver are the clear favorites to win the 1 and 2 seeds. Houston has 2 of the top 12/13 players in the league, who will be playing with a massive chip on their shoulder and tend to not do load management. Denver has a superstar who doesn't do load management and great depth (Harris, Murray, Grant, Millsap, Morris, Beasley , Porter Jr etc). Than you have Utah and Portland who will be really good

 

It's not entirely crazy that the LA teams could be the 5 or 6 seeds. Especially the Clippers who may only get 50 or so games of Leonard and George together in a tough west. The Lakers aren't super deep and Lebron doesn't play defense in the regular season

 

I am fascinated to see how home court advantage and seeds matter next year. It's not crazy that the Lakers and Clippers could play each other in the first round. Houston is a good bet for the #1 seed. Will it matter? Do the teams care?

[MtlJeff]

> @Mych said:

> There are very few of the new big 2's/3's that I actually like together. Obviously Harden/Westbrook don't seem to fit. Curry/Klay/Russell don't seem to fit. Kawhi/PG don't seem to fit. Lebron and AD may fit, but I think Lebron will have to play more like Draymond Green for it to work. I think the best new fit should be KD and Kyrie, but for some reason Kyrie doesn't seem to shine in pairings with other superstars.

> I think the most dangerous teams are some of the ones who didn't follow the 3 Max + 10 Crap roster strategy... the Nuggets and the Bucks.

 

Harden and Westbrook fit pretty well according to the numbers, it's the attitudes people are worried about. But the stats say he created one of the most (i think it was the most in fact) opportunities for 3-pters in the league last year. And he did that on a team without a ton of shooters. That is basically Houston's actual recipe.

 

As long as Harden can live without having the ball literally 100% of the time, it should work fine. Houston only has 2 1/2 scorers (Gordon being the half) so there should be plenty of opps for both Westbrook and Harden to average over 20 shots a game. Westbrook was 20.2 last year , only about 1 more per game than when he played with Kevin Durant

[Mych]

> @MtlJeff said:

> > @Mych said:

> > There are very few of the new big 2's/3's that I actually like together. Obviously Harden/Westbrook don't seem to fit. Curry/Klay/Russell don't seem to fit. Kawhi/PG don't seem to fit. Lebron and AD may fit, but I think Lebron will have to play more like Draymond Green for it to work. I think the best new fit should be KD and Kyrie, but for some reason Kyrie doesn't seem to shine in pairings with other superstars.

> > I think the most dangerous teams are some of the ones who didn't follow the 3 Max + 10 Crap roster strategy... the Nuggets and the Bucks.

>

> Harden and Westbrook fit pretty well according to the numbers, it's the attitudes people are worried about. But the stats say he created one of the most (i think it was the most in fact) opportunities for 3-pters in the league last year. And he did that on a team without a ton of shooters. That is basically Houston's actual recipe.

>

> As long as Harden can live without having the ball literally 100% of the time, it should work fine. Houston only has 2 1/2 scorers (Gordon being the half) so there should be plenty of opps for both Westbrook and Harden to average over 20 shots a game. Westbrook was 20.2 last year , only about 1 more per game than when he played with Kevin Durant

 

I can see it on paper. It's hard to think that anyone who averages a triple double would ever be a bad fit, but if Chris Paul's ability to create shots wasn't good enough, then nobody is going to get it done. Houston's offense may be a decent spot for Westbrook because they don't mind a few bad shots from time to time, but it'll be interesting how their personalities mix when Harden starts calling Westbrook out for playing hero ball or vice versa.

[spk7]

Lebrons gonna have an mvp season

[Chief Illiniwek]

> @spk7 said:

> Lebrons gonna have an mvp season

 

There's gotta be about a 0.1% chance he's MVP. Why would he push himself that hard in the regular season? It would be a waste of energy.

[MtlJeff]

The NBA has changed so much and voters have gotten a lot smarter. Lebron paces himself too much to win MVP (as is his right, he will be 3rd alltime in minutes as of this season)

 

considering guys like Kawhi do load management too. Westbrook in Houston with Harden....

 

I mean Giannis has to be a massive favorite to repeat right? I would guess that the Klutch guys will push Anthony Davis very hard and he's a good bet for a top 3-4 finish if the Lakers are a top 4 seed ,but i'm not sure their team is deep enough or cares enough to be a really high seed. Steph Curry should have a great season but the Warriors are likely a 6 or 7 seed which is too low. Nikola Jokic would probably be the odds-on favorite for #2 behind Giannis. If they get the #1 seed especially. Giannis and Jokic are true superstars who will try to play 75+ games

 

You know who might be a sneaky good long shot pick? Kemba Walker. It sounds bonkers but if he goes like 27-7 or something (not all that crazy considering he's on a team with better finishers that will still need him to score) and they trade for a center (Steven Adams?) i feel like Boston could be the surprise team of the league. If they go like 55-27 , and Giannis gets hurt or load managed or something....I don't know. I feel like Boston might be better than people think. They just need a big man

 

 

[MtlJeff]

My top 5 MVP candidates though would be:

 

1) Giannis

2) Jokic

3) Lillard

4) Anthony Davis and his looney toons shirts

5) Curry

 

Embiid if he is healthy and not out of shape, could win but it's hard to see him play 70 + games.

 

Is it possible Donovan Mitchell has some massive breakout year? Utah should be pretty good and it may not be crazy for him to have some crazy Dwayne Wade-ish breakout. If hes like 50-1 that might be worth a bet

 

Karl Towns might be worth long shot money if Minnesota trades for DeAngelo Russell or Chris Paul, so the Wolves can actually make the playoffs in a respectable seed. But he'd need to throw down like a beastly 28-12 or something (he's capable)

 

If Pascal Siakam is 100-1 , take all of my money! LOL

[spk7]

> @"Chief Illiniwek" said:

> > @spk7 said:

> > Lebrons gonna have an mvp season

>

> There's gotta be about a 0.1% chance he's MVP. Why would he push himself that hard in the regular season? It would be a waste of energy.

I’m not sayings he going to win mvp because you’re right he won’t push himself that hard, I just mean that he’s gonna have one of the best years of his career

 

[Richsgbox]

> @spk7 said:

> Lebrons gonna have an mvp season

 

I feel like he is for one reason...Kawhi is in LA. However, you can't have two MVP players on one team. AD should be the focal of this team.

[HoosierHacker89]

Poor boogie cousins, this guys career has just gone from bad to worse over the past few days. Guy can’t get and stay healthy for anything. Talk about loosing well over 100 million dollars when he supposed to be in his prime. I was looking forward to seeing him and the brow back together. I’ve really gotta wonder if his career is over after the acl unjustly. That left leg isn’t right, and he isn’t going to get healthier with age.

[MtlJeff]

One of the greatest what-ifs of our era. There's a lot of people who liked the guy even though he was moody. He put up some of the best numbers ever for a guy who basically never made the playoffs. Was the team so terrible or was it him? Etc

 

I dont think he'll ever be a relevant player again. But it's fun to think of how things may have been different if he'd just been drafted by like, the Timberwolves at #4 and played with kevin love. They took wesley Johnson!

[HoosierHacker89]

Guys getting hurt is something I hate seeing, but when you’ve sustained an achellies, quad, and acl all on the same it’s paintful to watch as a fan. The guy is such a great passer I really was looking forward to seeing him on the floor with lbj and ad. I thought that offense would be near impossible to defend.

[SnapHooker_307]

If Jamal Murray can ever get any consistency, watch out for the Nuggets. If Jokic can play mad more often with Murray heating up, and if either Porter Jr. or Bol Bol develop at all they will be a force. Jokic and Murray are locked down for years.