One of those Top-7 has to play a play-in game vs the 10th seed. Bad idea by the NBA. The 10th (and 9th) seed should have to win twice (like the non-winner's bracket winner in the College World Series) No reward for finishing 7th, even if it's by 15 games over the 10th, which in this case could be. Perhaps they'll be fans in the stands by then and they could get a home-court advantage.Originally Posted by M2
"One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues."
Forgot they were taking it out to 10 this season. Yeah, that 7th seed in the East is going to have some raw feelings. Looks like the format is 7 plays 8 and 9 plays 10. Loser of the 7/8 game plays the winner of the 9/10 game for the final spot, so the lower seed will need to win two games to make it in.
Last edited by M2; 11-23-2020 at 01:51 AM.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Kingspoint (11-23-2020)
Saric needs exactly zero motivation. He's one of the highest-motor players around and was a fantastic teammate while in Philly. His only downside is that he's not athletically gifted, which limits his value as a finisher and perimeter defender.
"The problem with strikeouts isn't that they hurt your team, it's that they hurt your feelings..." --Rob Neyer
"The single most important thing for a hitter is to get a good pitch to hit. A good hitter can hit a pitch that’s over the plate three times better than a great hitter with a ball in a tough spot.”
--Ted Williams
Revering4Blue (11-23-2020)
Per Woj.
Dario Saric has agreed to re-sign with the Suns on a 3-year, $27M deal.
Phoenix will be happy with their offseason so far, adding Chris Paul, Jae Crowder and Jalen Smith while re-signing Saric and Jevon Carter.
Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
That Jalen Smith pick just looks so painful.
They could have grabbed Saddiq Bey, Vassell, or Nesmith (re replace Crowder and save that cash) or Haliburton (as a replacement for Carter) or any number of other options. They could have likely traded down and still gotten Smith too. (Or grabbed a stretch five like Oturo far lower.)
Poor roster and draft allocation of resources.
Speaking of, it'll be interesting to see how they allocate the playing time for their bigs (and smalls).
PG Chris Paul, JeVon Carter, Cam Payne
SG Devin Booker, E'Twaun Moore, Cam Payne
SF Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson
PF Dario Saric, Jae Crowder
C Ayton, Jalen Smith
That's a good lineup if Bridges proves for real from deep.
Last edited by Bourgeois Zee; 11-23-2020 at 12:52 PM.
Good for him. He got paid. Was starting to wonder if the Suns considered him surplus.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
SteelSD (11-23-2020)
I have seen some writeups today praising Pelinka and the Lakers FO for their offseason. The best I can tell, Lakers fans are mostly very pleased. I also think the team is in position to contend again....but that is mostly because of Lebron and AD. The Lakers were contenders no matter who they added because that is how the NBA works....still 90% about the stars. Personally, I am not a Gasol fan, but that is more about style...I 100% get why it can work. I still like my Centers to be rim runners and very athletic...and yes I am like the only NBA fan that is not crazy about Jokic for this similar stylistic preference. I am all good with 7'ers shooting 3's, but rubbed the wrong way when the big bulky slow footed shooters pop that ugly set shot. AD is 7' and shoots 3's like a wing.....Giannis looks like a shooter....but the Gasol, Lopez, Jokic 3's are ugly! (I know it is a bad opinion, yet I still hold it).
In all seriousness, the real issue I had was the Harrell signing. Never been a big fan, and find most of what he does is regular season empty calories. My issue with the signing is Harrell was not worth hard capping the team. I was ok using the full non taxpayer mid-level which hard capped us if one of the top tier FA's wanted to take a discount to join a top contender...someone like Gallinari or even Hayward, but those guys were smart and took the money. Harrell does not likely improve the team by enough margin to accept the hard cap. It is easy being hard capped early in the season, but around buyout season it is often the difference between losing in the Semi Finals and winning in the Finals. Just look at the roster tweaks the Lakers made from the beginning of last year to the Finals roster....Dion Waiter, Markeiff Morris and JR Smith. None were game changers, but Dion helped early in the bubble, and Morris impacted games in every playoff series. Flexibility is extremely important. I would have much preferred to use the mini MLE and keep Dwight and McGee...and we could have still added Gasol.
Finally, I think there is real risk in the type of roster turnover in the locker room that the Lakers have went through this offseason. As of right now, Dudley, Cook, Morris, Rondo, McGee, Dwight, J.R. Smith, Dion Waiters, and Danny Green are getting rings for the 2019-20 season, but not on the roster to start the 2020-21 season. I think they hope to bring back Morris and may give one of the open roster spots to someone like Dudley. It is a very different team, and what it looks like on paper will not matter in the playoffs.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”― Marcus Aurelius
Revering4Blue (11-23-2020)
My Lakers fan brother believes the Harrell move is for the regular season to help give Lebron and AD more rest time. He believes since the season is beginning so soon AD and especially Lebron will need more time on the bench during the regular season to help rest up for another deep postseason run and Harrell can provide some scoring off the bench, especially against mediocre and bad teams. Basically, you nailed it with regular season empty calories, but that is by design.
What would you say.....ya do here?
M2 (11-23-2020)
If so, they spent too much money on him.
I love the Gasol signing, but hate the Harrell signing. Gasol is a smart passer and willing pick and pop guy. He's also good in space defensively (despite having lost a couple of steps). Pairing him with AD means the All-NBA PF won't have to bang inside (and he apparently hates doing just that) and can spend his time on the perimeter. That moves LeBron to SF-- but not really, right? Kuzma will have to play somewhere and, with Morris (newly re-signed) and Harrell, he's going to spend his time at the SF and backup PF spots. That moves LeBron to PG-- which means he's going to have to guard a jitterbug off screens.
Which is hard.
LeBron could, then, play most of his minutes at the wing. KCP and Schroder can handle the heavy guard minutes, with Caruso a third guard and Talen Horton-Tucker (who sowed some promise last season) getting the big minutes. That's asking a lot of Caruso, IMO, who profiles much better as a fourth or fifth guy. However, if that's Vogel's plan, that'd mean Kuzma gets 15 mpg at most. Ditto Morris. James could toggle back and forth between guard and forward spots, but that's a heavy load for a soon-to-be 36-year-old. Especially in the regular season where he'll need more rest than normal (due to the short turnaround).
A better plan would have been one of Gasol or Harrell and not both, then a focus on backcourt depth.
Revering4Blue (11-23-2020)
How does anyone stop a Bron-Trez pick-and-roll? They added an easy button. I'm not an X's and O's guy, but I know exactly what they're going to do with those two.
The Laker's crunch 5 are Bron, AD, KCP and Schroder with wild card - Trez, Gasol, Kuzma, Morris, Matthews, Caruso. That seems like a pretty flexible group.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Looking for Kentucky fan feedback on scouting for Hagans and Maxey. Twolves just signed Hagans to a two-way contract to hopefully duplicate Naz Reid’s success from 19-20. I thought Hagans was a pretty good guard for UK last year. I liked Maxey better, but both were inconsistent and neither one could shoot 3s well. Maxey seemed more athletic and confident, but also more predictable. I liked Hagan’s defense and the higher speed of play than other UK players, but he seemed less assertive and also worse at shooting. I known scouts are saying Maxey will shoot better as a pro. Do you think Hagans could also improve? I still don’t know how Malik Monk was so good in college, but can’t shoot as a pro.
Before the draft, Clutch sports held a workout for Anthony Edwards and Maxey. Maxey looked like an athletic pro prospect. He dribbles the ball like LeBron - medium/high and forces the ball down with vigor. Edwards dribbled the ball much lower to the floor, and did not dribble with the same obvious effort as Maxey. He also moved differently than Maxey: he moved quicker and with more suddenness laterally and vertically.
So in summary, Maxey looks like a prospect, Hagans needs more skill to be a pro, and Anthony Edwards looks like a very athletic prospect.
Last edited by Betterread; 11-23-2020 at 02:26 PM.
Punt.
M2 (11-23-2020),Revering4Blue (11-23-2020)
Don't get the utter confidence on this take. Smith's got loads of potential, and he was only taken ~10 spots ahead of where he was projected. He's not gonna walk in the door and dominate, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he out Win-Shares Bey, Vassell and Nesmith. We all have our favorites in the draft, but it's ultimately a pretty big crapshoot after the first few picks. Might as well take the guy you like. I love teams have the conviction to draft the guy they like, mocks be damned. They caught hell for taking Cam Johnson last year, and he already looks like a stretchy knockdown shooter that'll play in the league for 10 years.
honestly, McGee and Howard were solid in that role.....also, just because it looks good on paper, does not always result in a weapon. I recall all of the Lebron and AD pick n roll cannot be stopped talk before they played together.....then they rarely ever ran pick n roll together, and when they did early in the season, their timing was not great. I have also seen a lot of stuff on the internet making comparisons like Harrell averaged 18 PPG, and Dwight only averaged 8 PPG off the bench as some type of evidence it being an upgrade. The take totally ignores that Dwight was specifically asked to diminish his offensive game to focus on defense and rebounding. Dwight has a career average of near 17 PPG over a 16 year career....I am pretty sure if Dwights goal was to score, he could get 18 points a night...it would hurt the team, but he could do it. At the same time, that is basically all Harrell and Lou Williams have ever been asked to do is score points. I am not sure what Harrell gives this team over Dwight beyond less rim protection, the inability to defend large Centers, younger legs and a little more ability to defend outside the paint. Do not think that justifies $7+ Million more and hard capping the team. One more thing...anything that Harrell can do at the #5, AD can do 3x better....so why would I ever close with Harrell at the #5?
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”― Marcus Aurelius
Revering4Blue (11-23-2020)
Maxey is clearly the netter prospect and should improve with time . I’m not saying he’s as good as SGA or Herro, but he could make a similar improvement as he enters the league compared to his freshman year. He’s a bit of a jack of all trades, master of none. He did seem to play better in big games but needs to learn not try to go into the lane 1-on-4 and try crazy shots. He also is a good young man and teammate - he has a great smile. That probably means nothing, but he’s easy to root for when he struggles and should not be a problem on any team.
Hagans was a bit of a disappointment - not only with his outside shot, but also his struggles making even layups, though his FT shooting improved last year (per my memory) so that might be a positive sign. He also is turnover prone and sometimes gambles too much on defense. He’s not a bad sign as an in drafted guy and may develop with time and maturity, but I see him as potentially a bench piece.
Of course, I am in no way, shape or form, a scout, so take these words with a grain of salt, but those were my impressions of these two guys.
Betterread (11-23-2020)
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