Who’s sleeping on Trae Young? Besides the Nuggets backcourt.

Backcourts all across the league if the early returns are any indication.

He's making Jabari Parker into a useful NBA player. Weird world we live in.

More like a Lebron type. Walking triple double. Don't think Luka has as much scoring ability as Harden =)

Can someone do a wellness check on Mario Hezonja? I think he's still spinning in circles looking for Pascal Siakam.

since this fateful prediction, the clips are 2-2 against the Jazz/Lakers/Rockets.

Basketball Nerdery: Dunc'd On podcast is doing some weird stuff since Nate is traveling right now.

Last night they dropped the "All-Area" bracket which compared hypothetical teams made up of players "from" each city/region. The bracket looked something like this:

1) LA (Harden, Kawhi, PG, Jrue, Westbrook, Klay, DeRozan...)
16) Seattle (IT, DeJounte, Thybulle, Joe Harris...)

8) Dallas (Aldridge, Siakam, Miles Turner, Royce ONeal, CJ Miles)
9) Indiana (Hayward, Conley, Eric Gordon, JJJ, Zeller)

5) Ohio (Bron, McCollum, Rozier, LeVert, Kennard, Nance Jr.)
12) Philly (KLowery, Ellington, Waiters Island, Hunter, Morris Twins, Bamba)

4) N Carolina (Curry Bros, CP3, Trezl, Plumlees, Wall, Ingram, Tucker, Bam)
13) Missouri (Beal, Shamet, Tatum, OG Anunoby, Porter Jr, Tolliver)


3) Chicago (AD, Jabari Parker, Iggy, Beverley, FVV, Rose)
14) Atlanta (Brogdon, LouWill, Lamb, Jaylen Brown, Wendell Carter)

6) Houston (Fox, House, Caruso, Jimmy Butts, Justise Winslow, DA Jordan)
11) NorCal (Dame, Tyler Johnson, Lin, Aaron Gordon, Ryan Anderson, Chriss)

7) Michigan (Dray, Kuzma, Dev Booker, Monte Morris, Bryn Forbes, Horford)
10)DMV (KD, Oladipo, Fultz, Rudy Gay, Jerami Grant, Ed Davis)

2) NY/NJ (Kyrie, Kemba, Donovan Mitchell, Danny Green, Tobias Harris, KAT)
15) Florida (Vince Carter, Anfernee Simons, Kevin Knox, Isaac, John Collins)


It's remarkable to me how stacked the LA team is. I kinda think they'd win an LA vs the rest of US matchup.

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ggy8...y_ringer.0.jpg

lulz

Buddy who's a Knicks fan I check in with regularly to make sure he's not taking up cutting himself just to feel something again.

They are really really bad at this whole "competent NBA franchise" thing.

Boom! Good to see you back!

The knicks will forever be crap until James Dolan removes himself from the team.

You think young people and other folks didn't take notice of that Charles Oakley situation? He poured his heart out for the Knicks and the owner removes him because he's taunting from the stands? Dolan mistook passion for hatred. The whole Clippers debacle put the entire league on notice. People aren't playing for cities anymore, they're playing for the entire franchise, including upper management. The Knicks are one of the top icons of the sport, and you honestly think KD and Kyrie TRULY wanted to play in Brooklyn? They just were political about avoiding James Dolan questions.

This is a good take.
If you are a podcast person, it's worth listening to Lowe and Beck go in on the Knicks and Dolan in yesterday's Lowe Post.

Guess who's back?

https://instagram.fhel5-1.fna.fbcdn....et&_nc_cat=101

As a Blazers fan I am excited to go from a borderline contender for the title to a strong contender for most memable team. Can’t wait for a Whiteside Melo front court.

He sort of makes sense there. Iso-heavy offense, someone to run the bench and take the pressure off Lillard and McCollum.

Course, we said the same thing about Houston and we see how that turned out. He's just so bad defensively, I dunno...

But the Blazers had to do something. West isn't a place where you can figure it out over a month or wait for some folks to come back from injury. And 4-8 ain't the place to be for them.

I'm trying to figure out how this move works with what I thought they were going to do in the future - trade for Love or Gallinari.

Also trying to figure out how this move helps their defense, which is their real issue.

I'm about 5 games from writing the Blazers out of the playoff picture, especially if Minnesota and Phoenix stay frisky.

Yeah some fans are making noise about just throwing in the towel for the season, but I think that would be too depressing for Lillard who is putting up MVP type stats right now. CJ and Dame were apparently trying to recruit Melo a couple years ago, and buy-in from them is pretty important for the team.

It doesn’t seem like Melo is the right type of forward since our defense is the biggest problem, but it can’t be worse than playing Tolliver and Hezonja 25 minutes a game. And as bad as the season is so far, every game has been close so theoretically small moves could make a difference.

This is the glass-half full take, which I can buy. My concern is that Lillard has been supernova so far this year, and they are still underwater. Is he really going to do this for 82 games? If so, I stand by my post above that he would deserve MVP if he could drag this roster to the 6 seed or whatever. Maybe Nurkic makes a difference? When is he back?

It's tremendously depressing to think that they are in the tax and they still have this roster construction.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...093bc026ba.jpg

We have 4 court side seats at my job which I use pretty regularly. It’s always amazing to me just how fast these guys can move the ball around.

Plus, a hell of a good way to entertain clients that are sports fans (which I am not, but they’re super entertaining)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep, I see both sides of it, but they might as well stay competitive until it’s clear that there’s no hope, either because their starters returns are delayed or the hole is too deep . No solid date for Nurk, but I have heard as early as February. But what he is like and how many minutes he can play who knows. Collins is on a similar timeline I think.

Blazers are one of the worst examples of small market teams throwing too much money at mediocre players, no doubt.

I still don't understand the HYPE around Carmelo....

This isn't Carmelo in Denver, or his first year in New York.
This is the an aged, never played stellar defense, never saw a shot he didn't want to take, declining shooting percentage Carmleo Anthony.. This is the same guy who said "I would never come off of the bench".

Good luck to Portland when he goes 3-24 on about every single night. Does he even have his "Bully ball" burst anymore? He was good at taking people off of the dribble and getting to his spots, but that faded in Denver when Iverson was still beside him..

He's BBQ Chicken (Shaq voice)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Blt0jU9CUAA8oB7.jpg

Totally agree. I agreed with your Knicks comments as well. I loved Oakley. I just couldn't stand watching the Knicks in their mid 90s heyday. Boring as hell.

IMHO, the James Dolan and Oakley thing just shined a spotlight on Dolan. Almost like the tape recordings of Sterling, but not anywhere as offensive. It just showed an owner TOO involved with everything, even to the point where he's having security escort out ex-legend players.

I wish KD and Kyrie went to the Knicks, as I would love to see that city win. Lakers, Knicks and Celtics are the cream of the crop of the NBA. I bet you anything KD wanted to go there, but was really questioning Dolan and the way that franchise has been ran in the last 20 years. These players are business savvy and aren't playing for crappy owners. Look how they got Porzingis out of there...

To be fair, the smart NBA people are almost universally somewhere between skeptical to making outright fun of this move. Not seeing a lot of hype.

I bet Olshey really wishes he had Moe Harkless or Aminu back right now.

Yeah but they did go to New York.

Unfortunately neither of those guys are coming off the street on a nonguaranteed deal.

It's a free bite at the apple for the Blazers. If he's horrid, they cut him loose and you get the kitschy jersey to wear 5 years from now. If it hits it keeps them afloat in a deadly serious stacked West.

I doubt they're even having this conversation of Collins is still healthy and playing. And yet here we are.

Good thing they paid Whiteside instead of signing just one of their forwards (even Jake Layman!) last July. Or maybe JaMychal Green or even DeMarre Carroll could have helped.

Collins going down sucks, but there is a reason everyone said they were the #1 candidate for an inseason trade for a forward.

Your right, the price/risk is low, and he is still somehow probably better at propping up bench units than Hezonja/Little/Tolliver/Skal.

I wasn't speaking to the HYPE of the signing, but more about the HYPE of a declining/aging basketball player.

I get you. My point is that that is mostly ESPN/sports radio BS, and I only brought it up here to make fun of it.

Joe Johnson > Carmelo Anthony at this stage of their careers. haha

Whiteside and Bazemore come off the books this summer though giving them some wiggle room to go get a Love or someone else if they're a free agent player. But you're right, took a definite step back in both depth and flexibility this year as a result.

As someone who watched entirely too much Iso Joe for entirely too long, and enjoyed him as a frisky bench component for the Jazz a couple years ago, this is wildly off base.

Even now Carmelo's the better offensive player and neither of their defense was ever anything to write home about.

Whether either one should be on an NBA roster today is debatable, but if its anyone, it would be Melo, Joe's Big Three MVP season notwithstanding.

Olshey has historically been a pretty solid GM, so he deserves the benefit of the doubt here. Whiteside and Bazemore could be trade chips in-season for someone like Love. I guess it's more of a strategic question - do we go all in while we have Dame + McCollum in their primes and the W's out of the picture, or do we realize that the 2019 WCF run was largely due to a pretty fortunate draw and Dame playing out of his mind, and continue to build without hamstringing the future.

The Blazers have prized continuity and so far it seems to have paid off. Otherwise they'd have shipped McCollum for Love and other pieces long ago.

I think they're akin to those mid 00s Mavs teams in terms of consistent approach.

Totally brilliant observation that you'll only hear here (I don't just give this stuff away for free, you know): Rajon Rondo isn't particularly good at basketball anymore. For people, including me, who thought he was a fascinating player earlier in his career, it's a bummer, but there it is: time comes for us all.

Anyway, Rondo is elderly; KCP is getting booed at home, because he's playing so badly (though he shot pretty well last night for the first time this season); Danny Green is incredibly cold from three (though he's defending quite well); and AD's shoulder seems to be hindering him just enough that he's human. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Bradley out for a couple of weeks.

It's a long season, but so far youre getting the engaged version of LeBron. That guy still has a claim for best player on the planet, which papers over a lot of sins. Kuz has been pretty solid too.

I've been to four games this season and watched the rest on teevee, and the team is loose and having a lot of fun. LeBron and AD both seem to enjoy playing with another top-five player. Howard and McGee are on their best behavior. Green and Bradley are/were playing terrific defense. Everyone is moving without the ball, because LBJ apparently wants to lead the league in assists. And they're getting contributions from a bunch of surprising people (see above re. Howard).

That said, your point is correct: it's a long season. Without Bradley on the floor, they need Kuzma to improve his defense (I suspect he can't or won't) and keep shooting well. They also need one of KCP, Rondo, or Caruso to start (in the case of KCP or Rondo) or keep (in the case of Caruso) playing well, and I think that's too much to ask. And they need Howard to remain engaged and willing to accept his role (could happen as long as the team is happy; unlikely to happen the second the team, meaning LeBron, gets frustrated).

All of which is to say, what everybody knew to be true before the season still is true: this is an incredibly thin team that's going to need some good fortune to keep playing at a high level. Regardless, it's been fun so far.

Your 5(ish) man MVP watch as of 12/2/19:

(all stats BBRef)

1) Giannis: 2nd in VORP, 2nd in Box +/-, 1st in Defensive WS, 4th in Offensive WS, Bucks are 17-3 with a 10.3 Net Rating (1st) Narrative: Best player on the best team

2) Luka Doncic: 1st in VORP, 1st in Box +/-, bad in Defensive WS, 2nd in Offensive WS, Mavs are 13-6 with a 7.7 Net Rating (3rd) Narrative: the kid is for real.

3) LeBron: 4th in VORP, 4th in Box +/-, 6th in Defensive WS, 4th in Offensive WS, Lakers are 17-3 with a 7.6 Net Rating;. Narrative: the king is back.

4) Harden: 3rd in VORP, 3rd in Box +/-, bad in Defensive WS, 1st in Offensive WS, Rockets are 13-6 with a 5.3 Net Rating;. Narrative: unguardable - best offensive player since Jordan.

5) Others, in conversations to be on the ballot but won't win, in no particular order: KAT, Anthony Davis, Pascal Siakam.

How are we really talking about MVP after 20 games? Really?

I gotta say,. Doncic is a lot better than I expected. obviously he was a top prospect in the draft but I thought he was over rated. He’d plug into any team and have solid stats. I don’t see how he could fall out of the top 3 for mvp voting