NBA 2024-2025: Celtic Pride

[RichRed]

Jokic put up 56-16-8 but the Nuggets lost to the [wait a second…what??] Wizards, who snapped a 16-game losing streak.
Sports!

[texasdave]

Jokic was.slavking off tonight. Only,46/14/8 against the Hawks. And counting.

[goreds2]

Hopefully, they can get on a roll.

Embiid scores 31 in his return, Maxey has his first triple-double, Sixers beat Bulls 108-100

https://apnews.com/article/76ers-bul...1ebcc530dc625b

[Rojo Rijo]

Orlando, now down Banchero and Wagner, managed to defeat Phoenix last night 115-110 at home.

Upcoming schedule - @MIL (NBA Cup), v OKC, v MIA, v BOS, v MIA, v NYK, v BKN. Good thing that after the Cup we have a 6 game homestand.

Time to find out how much of a star Jalen Suggs can be....

[Kingspoint]

Orlando, now down Banchero and Wagner, managed to defeat Phoenix last night 115-110 at home.

Upcoming schedule - @MIL (NBA Cup), v OKC, v MIA, v BOS, v MIA, v NYK, v BKN. Good thing that after the Cup we have a 6 game homestand.

Time to find out how much of a star Jalen Suggs can be....

Catching PHO at the right time...minus Nurkic and Durant.

Losing Wagner AND Banchero is just too much to overcome.

They should fall to 7th before Banchero returns. Then they can start climbing back up again through the rankings.

PHI might even catch them and push them to 8th before ORL can make their playoff run.

[KoryMac5]

Heat are willing to deal Butler according to Shams

3 team list: Houston, GS, Dallas

If I was Houston I would be on the horn quick...I don't see Dallas as a fit.

[Mutaman]

Took 17 minutes to play the last 40 seconds of the Bucks' game. NBA needs to start using a little common sense.

[Kingspoint]

The Rockets will get a couple of key reinforcements back for Wednesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal against Golden State, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Point guard Fred VanVleet said he’ll return to action after missing Sunday’s game with a right knee injury, and third-year forward Tari Eason has cleared the league’s concussion protocol following a two-game absence.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle recently provided updates on injured wings Aaron Nesmith and Ben Sheppard, as Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star relays. Nesmith, who has been out since Nov. 1 due to a left ankle sprain, is still “weeks away” from returning, while Sheppard, who has been sidelined since Nov. 17 due to an oblique injury, is closer to a return.

[Kingspoint]

Stein offers inside information from around the NBA:

---The Wizards, Jazz and Nets are the primary sellers as the league’s unofficial trade season gets set to open Sunday, with a rival executive telling Stein, “When you call them, they’re willing to make a deal right now.”

---Stein hears that the Raptors, Trail Blazers and Bulls are also being monitored to see if they’re interested in parting with certain players. Sources tell Stein that Brooklyn is asking for at least one first-round pick in exchange for swingman Dorian Finney-Smith or point guard Dennis Schröder. Washington is “increasingly regarded as likely” to pursue trades involving Jonas Valanciunas and Malcolm Brogdon while listening to offers for Kyle Kuzma, who is in the second season of a four-year, $90MM contract.

---Sources tell Stein that the Pelicans have no interest in fielding offers for Herbert Jones despite the team’s disastrous 5-20 start. Jones is the team’s best perimeter defender and is under contract through the 2026/27 season.

---The Sixers aren’t expected to be active in December, according to Stein, because two of their most sought-after trade assets — KJ Martin and Kelly Oubre — don’t become trade eligible until January 15.

---Scouts believe the Cavaliers will try to acquire at least one more wing before the deadline, Stein adds. Even though Cleveland is at the top of the East, there’s a belief that the team will need to upgrade its perimeter defense for the playoffs.

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2024/12/...cavaliers.html

[15fan]

Trae throwing dice on Knicks logo as time expires and Hawks move on to Vegas?

[redsfan9988]

Trae throwing dice on Knicks logo as time expires and Hawks move on to Vegas?

Rockets too!

First win against Golden State since COVID. Ugly game. A rock fight.

I’ll take it. Ready for OKC to pound our faces in, but until then? Vegas, man!!

[Kingspoint]

Damian Lillard has adjusted his game to fit the Bucks’ style and personnel. He’s driving into the paint more, though it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll take the shot. It often turn into a “hockey assist” or a direct assist to a teammate, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. “It’s like completely changing your game and for someone that’s been the best at what he does his whole career, who’s going down as one of the greatest of all time, that’s such a wild ask,” center Brook Lopez said. “But for him to still be as good as he is and our team to be successful and winning right now, it’s a testament to the player he is. It shows he is one of the greatest of all time.”

[Mutaman]

Damian Lillard has adjusted his game to fit the Bucks’ style and personnel. He’s driving into the paint more, though it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll take the shot. It often turn into a “hockey assist” or a direct assist to a teammate, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. “It’s like completely changing your game and for someone that’s been the best at what he does his whole career, who’s going down as one of the greatest of all time, that’s such a wild ask,” center Brook Lopez said. “But for him to still be as good as he is and our team to be successful and winning right now, it’s a testament to the player he is. It shows he is one of the greatest of all time.”

We’ll see. To me, Lillard and the Bucks are still a work in progress. Clyde said that it took him and The Pearl half a season to get it together. Watching Middleton’s chemistry with Giannis recently, shows me that even after a full year , Lillard and Giannis , while improving, still have a ways to go.

I do like the fact that Lillard has cooperated with Rivers in allowing himself to be switched out on defense at the end of games.
Main thing is for for Giannis to stay healthy.
Saturday should be an interesting test.

[Kingspoint]

We’ll see. To me, Lillard and the Bucks are still a work in progress. Clyde said that it took him and The Pearl half a season to get it together. Watching Middleton’s chemistry with Giannis recently, shows me that even after a full year , Lillard and Giannis , while improving, still have a ways to go.

I do like the fact that Lillard has cooperated with Rivers in allowing himself to be switched out on defense at the end of games.
Main thing is for for Giannis to stay healthy.
Saturday should be an interesting test.

They are at the beginning stages of "a work in progress", which shows how much more potential there is.

[Kingspoint]

It's ridiculous some of the trade ideas that "bloggers", as I won't call any of them reporters, come up with.

The latest is by some idiot named Anthony Irwin of Clutch Points.

Here's his trade idea that he believes the Lakers will offer once Valanciunas becomes available on Sunday;

WAS gets 28-year old Gabe Vincent, some crappy 2nd round picks, and another crappy player to make the money work.

What in the world would WAS want with a 28-year old Wing who is a crappy 3-pt shooter (career 32.7% and 26.2% this season), an even crappier Rebounder (1.7 per game career), and an even crappier than that penetrator (2/3rd's of one free throw per game over his career). This is one incredibly lazy human being who is deathly afraid of contact with another human being on the basketball floor? The Lakers couldn't get a 2nd Round pick 4 years down the road if they tried to trade away Gabe Vincent by himself.

What would WAS want with a bunch of crappy 2nd round picks?

Valanciunas is a good commodity and offers more as a teacher/mentor to the young WAS bigs than anything the LAL would offer in this scenario.

https://clutchpoints.com/charting-ou...h-trade-season

Of course, I need to give the Lakers a break here. This isn't the Lakers actually making this offer, but some bozo who thinks he actually knows anything at all about basketball making this offer. How a guy like this gets a job makes me question the hiring process of who gave it to him.

LAL are going to have to admit to themselves that nobody is going to help them unless they are willing to give up the 2029 1st Rd pick, and with little protection [no more than Top-10 protected with it reverting to an unprotected future 1st after that (or top-4 protected)].