The 2022–23 NBA Season

NonP

NonP

Legend
I'm guessing y'all have heard the bombshell, but just in case:

www.espn.com

Agent: Durant has requested trade from Nets

Kevin Durant has requested a trade from Brooklyn, his business manager told ESPN, but the Nets are not buoyed to honoring any of KD's preferred destinations and plan to make a deal that allows them the greatest return of assets, sources told ESPN.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

Going forward he might as well announce he doesn't plan to stick around for more than 2-3 seasons, LOL. I actually don't blame him this time around, but still.

Till KD finds a new home this is the biggest trade so far:

www.espn.com

Sources: Jazz trading Gobert to Wolves for 4 1sts

Minnesota is sending its 2023, 2025 and 2027 picks unprotected and a top-5-protected 2029 pick to Utah in exchange for Rudy Gobert, sources told ESPN.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

And the biggest signing, literally speaking:

sports.yahoo.com

2022 NBA free agency: Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic agrees to largest contract extension in NBA history

The 27-year-old Serbian's deal is in addition to the $32.5 million he is owed this coming season and will run through the 2027-28 campaign, when he will be paid $59.1 million.
sports.yahoo.com sports.yahoo.com

So who y'all got for next season? I'm with @-NN- in having next to no clue what to expect this time, but here's my wish list:
  • My boy Buckets being recognized as the real MVP of this past season, and Miami finding him stronger backup so they don't bank on remaining injury-free for a 4th straight season. (Yes, I want him to finally get that ring.)
  • My other boy Kawhi staying (relatively) healthy (that I felt compelled to add that parenthetical remark sez it all, really).
  • Shall I go there? Dame to request a blockbuster trade of his own. You can be loyal to a fault and I say he's more than paid his debt to drama-laden Portland.
  • Jayson to learn to finish to traffic. Until then the other J remains Boston's ace, no matter what the journos say.
  • Giannis to show us his FT shooting in #6 of last year's finals was no fluke. The guy has averaged 77% before and there's no reason why this freakishly gifted stud can't better that.
  • Ditto Russ from the stripe. And for him to cut down on treys, regardless of where he ends up. (Both wishful thinking, I know.)
  • Ja to heed my words of wisdom again and add a few more lbs. With that most explosive 2nd step since Derrick he'll need the extra mass to ward off his predecessor's injury curse.
No doubt I'm forgetting a few, but that does it for now. Next season is looking to be another wild one!
 
Thought about creating a new thread but since most of us have never seen the great man play:

www.nba.com

NBA legend Bill Russell dies at 88

Celtics icon, Hall of Famer and 11-time NBA champion Bill Russell died 'peacefully' at the age of 88, his family confirmed Sunday.
www.nba.com www.nba.com

I explain why he was quite possibly the greatest big ever here:

No tennis player will have the epilogue of the true GOAT of GOATS Diego Maradona

Many of Maradonas goals were penalties. so his numbers of goals are inflated. So? Ronaldo scored 12 penalties last season, I don't see anybody complaining about that. Not to mention that Maradona was more marked than any player anyway during the catenaccio era
tt.tennis-warehouse.com tt.tennis-warehouse.com

Anyone who has seen the fine 2016 doc Obit should know NYT has an army of writers dedicated to memorializing the famous and the not-so-famous. They delivered this time (gift article so don't worry about your monthly quota):

www.nytimes.com

Bill Russell, Who Transformed Pro Basketball, Dies at 88 (Published 2022)

A Hall of Famer who led the Celtics to 11 championships, he was “the single most devastating force in the history of the game,” his coach Red Auerbach said.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Rest in peace, Mr. Secretary.
 
Silver should commission a logo re-do for the season (I wouldn’t mind it being permanent) to replace the Jerry West silhouette with one of #6’s patented finger rolls at the rim. The man made the NBA almost single-handedly and was so much more vital to basketball rising up to be a strong third pro sport. That, and he was the purest definition of WINNER in a team sport. Retire that number association-wide with no grandfather clause and roll out universal #6 jerseys for all games played on MLK Day every January in the way MLB honors Jackie Robinson every April.

RIP
 
LeBron did what he could but the LAkers are what they are…roadkill. They kept it close for a half but a patented third quarter blitz by GSW was the difference.

Nice rings BTW. Lots of symbolism revealed in closeup photos of the yellow and white diamond encrusted bauble. A section of the Golden Gate Bridge is depicted in the main panel on the top of the ring.
 
The Lakers outside of LeBron and AD are no joke the worst team in the entire league. Spots 3-10 on the roster are genuinely the worst collection of any team even the Jazz and Thunder. They are seriously doomed.

The Russ trade ruined LeBron’s chance at contention…
 
stringertom said:
LeBron did what he could but the LAkers are what they are…roadkill. They kept it close for a half but a patented third quarter blitz by GSW was the difference.

Nice rings BTW. Lots of symbolism revealed in closeup photos of the yellow and white diamond encrusted bauble. A section of the Golden Gate Bridge is depicted in the main panel on the top of the ring.
Click to expand...
Lakers are too old and have too many gaps on defense.
 
Purestriker said:
Lakers are too old and have too many gaps on defense.
Click to expand...
The gang can’t shoot straight from the arc. They went 25% (10 of 40) on treys.

LAL added PBev to shut down WC backcourt heavy presences. If RW can play some complementary D, they will compete on that end of the floor. Unfortunately, neither of them are top threats from outside.
 
stringertom said:
The gang can’t shoot straight from the arc. They went 25% (10 of 40) on treys.

LAL added PBev to shut down WC backcourt heavy presences. If RW can play some complementary D, they will compete on that end of the floor. Unfortunately, neither of them are top threats from outside.
Click to expand...
I think they can finish in the 5-7 range in the West. They need AD to step up.
 
LBJ surely misses Ray.
1371628032000-USATSI-7309477-1306190411_3_4.jpg
 
Last edited:
Kralingen said:
It’s not quite the franchise destroyer that Billy King orchestrated for Pierce and KG but in terms of utter patheticness it’s gotta be up there.
Click to expand...
How do you rate the 1996 Divac for Kobe trade in comparison to Ainge fleecing King? IMO, that was WOAT trade and GOAT fleecing.

Will Mike Gansey (Cavs GM) replace King or Bob Bass (Hornets GM in 1996) as GOAT fleecee? He just sold the farm to Ainge for Donovan Mitchell. The deal sent Sexton, Markkanen, 1R pick Agjabi AND 3 1R picks. I like Spida a lot but he’s not worth that package.
 
stringertom said:
How do you rate the 1996 Divac for Kobe trade in comparison to Ainge fleecing King? IMO, that was WOAT trade and GOAT fleecing.

Will Mike Gansey (Cavs GM) replace King or Bob Bass (Hornets GM in 1996) as GOAT fleecee? He just sold the farm to Ainge for Donovan Mitchell. The deal sent Sexton, Markkanen, 1R pick Agjabi AND 3 1R picks. I like Spida a lot but he’s not worth that package.
Click to expand...
It's not like Divac was a bad player.
 
Purestriker said:
#betterthanbaseball/hockey
Click to expand...
Regular season for all three are too long. Playoffs are where the boys are crowbarred from the men. NHL, with real sudden death instead of the new NFL lingering death, is King; NBA is a close second but all the video review delays are a clutter; then comes NFL and last, by a long distance, is MLB.
 
stringertom said:
Regular season for all three are too long. Playoffs are where the boys are crowbarred from the men. NHL, with real sudden death instead of the new NFL lingering death, is King; NBA is a close second but all the video review delays are a clutter; then comes NFL and last, by a long distance, is MLB.
Click to expand...
Agreed. The NBA should cut at least 20 games out. Then cut the best of 7 to 5 until the conference finals. Baseball needs to speed up the game and cut the season half.
 
There is a scheduled sighting of The Claw starting in a few minutes but for once the Clips are being wise by easing Kawhi into play off the bench.

LAC are easily the better team in LA if Leonard is healthy and stays in the lineup for the season. Adding John Wall (again a big health question) is going to be electric if he displays even a shadow of his level from his days before his injury.
 
Feels like there is a lot of depth this year, especially western conference. Looking forward to watching and betting a lot of games :)
 
The theme earlier this week was bad trades. Tonight I was reminded quite often of the rocks in Rob Pelinka’s head. He had to sign off on the Westbrook trade to allow real GM James to bring in the very high priced 0-fer bricklayer. However, equally feeble was the 2019 trade of Ivika Zubac to LAC (along with Michael Beasley) for wait for it…Mike Muscala. Muscala now plays for OKC, off and on due to injuries. Zubac OTOH has been a steady big for LAC since the trade. Tonight all he did was 14/17 and 5 blocks. That had to hurt while LAL lost a close one, Rob.

#ThankYouRobPelinka (Rob Lowe lookalike but much dumber)
 
stringertom said:
The theme earlier this week was bad trades. Tonight I was reminded quite often of the rocks in Rob Pelinka’s head. He had to sign off on the Westbrook trade to allow real GM James to bring in the very high priced 0-fer bricklayer. However, equally feeble was the 2019 trade of Ivika Zubac to LAC (along with Michael Beasley) for wait for it…Mike Muscala. Muscala now plays for OKC, off and on due to injuries. Zubac OTOH has been a steady big for LAC since the trade. Tonight all he did was 14/17 and 5 blocks. That had to hurt while LAL lost a close one, Rob.

#ThankYouRobPelinka (Rob Lowe lookalike but much dumber)
Click to expand...
Sometimes the Buss family is too loyal to their friends and family.
 
stringertom said:
How do you rate the 1996 Divac for Kobe trade in comparison to Ainge fleecing King? IMO, that was WOAT trade and GOAT fleecing.

Will Mike Gansey (Cavs GM) replace King or Bob Bass (Hornets GM in 1996) as GOAT fleecee? He just sold the farm to Ainge for Donovan Mitchell. The deal sent Sexton, Markkanen, 1R pick Agjabi AND 3 1R picks. I like Spida a lot but he’s not worth that package.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that’s the one that usually tops the list in popular discourse - hard to argue with the player of a generation and top 10 all time Kobe for Vlade. But I don’t think it demonstrates gross incompetence the way a couple others do… perhaps in outcome but not in intent, and I don’t think it’s fair to call it the worst.

Some facts: Kobe was one of the first high school players to come to the league, at a time when the league appetite for HS wasn’t as strong as the early 2000s. Thus, he dropped to the 13th pick, going behind GOATs like Todd Fuller, Samaki Walker and Vitali Potapenko— if you want to blame a GM, blame the guys who didn’t take him (side note, 96 is an all time great draft, Nash and Peja actually went after Kobe)

So it wasn’t like this was a sure thing. He was the youngest player in the league.

Some more facts: there are rumors Kobe wasn’t going to play in Charlotte and wanted to be traded (his dad being a former Laker helps this). Also, Charlotte had just paid Glen Rice big money who was playing at an elite level, being a 50 win team the next 3 years and making the playoffs. It made a ton of sense to get an established big man (and Vlade was no mug, he was a legit 15-10 guy with good defense) and it fit their win now timeline.

I just don’t feel like it’s the worst. Something that might be the worst? Clippers trading Baron Davis for Mo Williams in 2010, along with a certain unprotected first rounder that ended up being … Kyrie Irving.
 
Also:

Russ is no longer just the worst contract in the league and worst value for money (that’s not even up for debate). Now, after that display last night, I genuinely think he may in fact be the worst player in the entire NBA, given that he has a complete inability to accept his role and actively sabotages his team. At least the less talented G league guys will fit in and not try to do too much.
 
Kralingen said:
Also:

Russ is no longer just the worst contract in the league and worst value for money (that’s not even up for debate). Now, after that display last night, I genuinely think he may in fact be the worst player in the entire NBA, given that he has a complete inability to accept his role and actively sabotages his team. At least the less talented G league guys will fit in and not try to do too much.
Click to expand...
RW0 rated his performance as “solid.” That says all we need to know about the LAker status quo. He did play a bit of good D but not enough to offset the RW0for11 offering on offense.
 
Kralingen said:
Yeah, that’s the one that usually tops the list in popular discourse - hard to argue with the player of a generation and top 10 all time Kobe for Vlade. But I don’t think it demonstrates gross incompetence the way a couple others do… perhaps in outcome but not in intent, and I don’t think it’s fair to call it the worst.

Some facts: Kobe was one of the first high school players to come to the league, at a time when the league appetite for HS wasn’t as strong as the early 2000s. Thus, he dropped to the 13th pick, going behind GOATs like Todd Fuller, Samaki Walker and Vitali Potapenko— if you want to blame a GM, blame the guys who didn’t take him (side note, 96 is an all time great draft, Nash and Peja actually went after Kobe)

So it wasn’t like this was a sure thing. He was the youngest player in the league.

Some more facts: there are rumors Kobe wasn’t going to play in Charlotte and wanted to be traded (his dad being a former Laker helps this). Also, Charlotte had just paid Glen Rice big money who was playing at an elite level, being a 50 win team the next 3 years and making the playoffs. It made a ton of sense to get an established big man (and Vlade was no mug, he was a legit 15-10 guy with good defense) and it fit their win now timeline.

I just don’t feel like it’s the worst. Something that might be the worst? Clippers trading Baron Davis for Mo Williams in 2010, along with a certain unprotected first rounder that ended up being … Kyrie Irving.
Click to expand...
Yeah this is what I meant to say.
 
Jokic gets his 10th assist to finish a trip dub in spectacular fashion with a court length football pass to seal a road win in SF. His lob immediately followed a GSW steal and score by Poole that got the Warriors within one point after trailing by 20 in the first half.

Denver is very deep; they won tonight without Murray in the building, resting the repaired knee for their home opener. Two prominent contributors tonight were veteran signees Bruce Brown and KCP. If Murray and Porter stay healthy they will easily win 50 plus and be a top 4 seed in the WC.

Ja dropping stuff in Houston as the Grizzlies win with Morant’s 49 points and the superstar guard getting on a crazy high elevator to block a shot on defense.
 
The young talent in the NBA is absurd and almost overwhelming. There’s legitimately a star on at all times. Extremely fun to watch.
 
Sadly, another Zion vs Luka matchup is cancelled tonight due to the hard fall Williamson took over the weekend. Zion has managed to be healthy for just two of the 11 games they could have played against each other. Brandon Ingram is also out for the Pelicans due to concussion protocol.
 
stringertom said:
Sadly, another Zion vs Luka matchup is cancelled tonight due to the hard fall Williamson took over the weekend. Zion has managed to be healthy for just two of the 11 games they could have played against each other. Brandon Ingram is also out for the Pelicans due to concussion protocol.
Click to expand...
Brandon break Zion's fall? Unaware the Cadavers picked up Donovan Mitchell,
844c447b-6bb3-4c6e-9029-b3fb4d6fe4d0_1.ecc26f6b5ffc98b5483f1de8a61658c5.jpeg
 
Without their two best, NOP scores 40 in the first quarter on 74% shooting and lead 40-31. McCollum has six dimes and everyone is touching the ball.
 
The Jokic was one dime shy of the trip dub (33/13/9) as Denver continues the Lakers drought.

It’s down time, not Dame time in Portland after Lillard limped away and didn’t return while his side lost to visiting Miami. That leaves Milwaukee as the only unbeaten team in the association; Giannis was unstoppable (43/14/5) as the Bucks overcame a slow first half to win by 11.
 
It’s awfully late in the season to say Cleveland is second in their division, second in the conference AND second in the association. Spida is shouldering great responsibility for this success but that core group is shaped for success come playoff time. It’s an eye opener that they could send Markkanen, Agbaji and Sexton and really not skip a beat. Markkanen and Sexton are thriving in SLC too! 6-3 and leading LAL in the second half tonight.
 
Bucks win in 2OT at OKC without Giannis (knee soreness) and Jrue (ankle). They still scored 136 (119 in regulation) without their Core 3 from 2020-22. Middleton is nearing full recovery from his hand surgery. 10-1 with Giannis’ Robin is impressive. Jevon Carter had 36 to lead five others in double figures.

SGA was impressive for OKC with 39. I’m still sad he was the necessary piece LAC had to part with in the PG13 trade. He languishes in a small market franchise on a team slowly rebuilding. Definitely a top 10 SG.
 
Anthony Davis doesn't suck! 55 points, 17 rebounds, 3 blocks on Sun Dec 4th. 44 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks on Fri Dec 2nd.
 
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