The Knicks head to Chicago for the first of two games (the COVID-inspired schedule is so weird) to get some measure of revenge for their coach, Tom Thibodeau, as they take on his old team, the Chicago Bulls, where Tom Thibodeau won a lot of games over the years.
Given what we know about Thibs, I suspect that the Knicks will go waaaaaaay out of their way to sweep these two games, so despite the Bulls actually being favored in this game, I sure would take the Knicks if I were a gambling man.
As part of our all-poll content, what do you folks think about Zach LaVine?
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.Come on, get back closer to .500, Knicks!
367 replies on “2020-21 Game Thread: Knicks @ Bulls”
Let’s go Knicks!
Noel’s back.
Hey! Ho! Let’s Go… Knicks!
(a Ramones inspired take)
Who voted ‘yes’? Honestly..
LOL!
But would you trade for LaVine if the cost was, like, Knox, Frank, and some second rounders?
this is the rare draft where there are like a million dudes that are like lavine…. or can approximate his value.. possibly right away…
and i really like lavine and he’s in the middle of a true breakout… but the guy to break the cap room for should be a pg….
yep
“but the guy to break the cap room for should be a pg….”
other than morant, young, fox or lillard…look around the league and tell me one point guard who would qualify as worthy of “breaking the cap for”…and that might be available…or are those the dudes you had in mind?
Let’s bully the bulls!
#Never trust a team which trades its *hottest* player#
It was nice to see Russ looking like Russ again…especially against the Nets
That fat kid down in Dallas with all the holes in his game and who does nothing but strat-stuff — I mean stat-stuff, looks pretty good…
They should try to put together a package to get both LaVine and Markkanen.
kyle lowry… cp3
they gonna wheel those guys out in wheel chairs…little long in the tooth…
i mean they’re still playing and doing pretty well… we don’t need all time level play from them… just better than what we have….
Mitch party tonight!
Why does Mitch not dunk that?
I could watch RJ to Mitch lobs all night long.
At 19.5 mil per? That’s not exactly getting something for nothing.
He heard you
Only have the Bulls broadcast, what a bummer!
#Only have the Bulls broadcast, what a bummer!#
Scout the enemy !
I keep thinking Coby White is Derrick Rose
RJ also has a floater now?
Elfrid with the fall back baby jumper
Randle should punish Markkanen
Crappy couple of minutes from Randle. No hustle on D, stupid turnaround J, matador D…bleah
old mitch…bonehead fouls
MItch quick fouls again. Maybe he is frustrated.
Payton just killed a mockingbird!
payton just dented the rim
They’re saying: “LaVine deserves to be an all-star! He already deserved it last year! Vote for him, Bulls nation!”
I think it’s fair to say this game will not be as aesthetically pleasing as the Clips game
Enough Payton. Insert Quickley please.
Payton’s 3 point shot is an abomination
Also, Chicago doesn’t seem to have the knack of crowd noise simulation
Lol.
On MSG the on court sound is mixed really low, I can barely hear whistles. Same for Clyde and Breen seems like. Frustrating.
I could drink beers and watch Elf shooting 3s all night long! It’s perverted but fun also!
Payton’s defense is definitely overrated by Thibs.
Payton is a good backup PG.
Knicks sloppy today. Not defending the perimeter well.
Randle hell bent on doing bad shit tonight
Seems as if we are playing down to the competition.
Defense major issue tonight… gonna be trouble
IQ with the missed flob (float/lob)
i 100% prefer frank playing over rivers
At least we have Quickley….
That was one hell of a make by Quickley on the and-1
Quickley for the rescue
obi plz more of that
I like Toppin because he very “alive” out there… a lively energetic player… i feel like once he really gets going into flow of games he excels with said liveliness
Tough shot by Thaddeus…always liked him
End of first: blah
Elsewhere: Malik Monk vs Max Strus in Miami
Knicks close with 8-2 run… Wonder what the key element in that run might have been…
rivers turned into a washed up vet in like three weeks…need to end the experiment
The ‘swiss cheese defense’ thing is really underselling how effectively the Bulls are using off-ball movement and little setups. Not that the Knicks shouldn’t be stepping it up obvi.
Obi’s head is set below his shoulders. If you just look at his body, he’s as tall/long as Noel.
I liked that the second unit buoyed things there. I’d almost go with Toppin for a spell to start the 2nd Q. He had a decent post-up and he looks quick on D.
Obi looked more comfortable out there. I would like to see him get some burn today. And it’s time for Quickly to start logging 30 minutes on the floor.
Obi stuck out his butt on that screen, lucky no foul
Rivers is like this, some games he looks very good, and the others he looks very bad, there’s no in-between. He’s good value with his contract. An end of rotation player.
Free Frank!
Toppin has not looked good on post-ups. He was working behind the backboard.
Obiiiii!!!!!
Nice PnR Rivers to Obi.
Defense still awful.
Good Lord, get Rivers out
i don’t think rivers can guard lavine…
Helter Skelter
this is gross
not sure what thibs sees in rivers
rivers stop … go away austin rivers go away
“not sure what thibs sees in rivers”
His father!
Choppy tempo to this game, I agree that frank should get some spin…
True – but I rather see this group (sub RJ in for Rivers pls) try to tread water until they can put together a bit of a run.
We are less than one week removed from Rivers scoring 25 in the first half on 10/10 shooting.
Feels like a preseason game
Bulls are doing a really good job exploiting Knicks aggressive help defense. Lot of easy buckets. I don’t think that changes unless the Knicks start staying home more but staying home gets you yelled at by Thibs..
Love that power dribble by Mitch
Exactly.
I feel like Burks tries to dominate the ball a bit with this unit… then u have rivers who needs ball in his hands (even though we dont want it) and quickly who we want ball in hands… something has to give there
Robinson in the dunker’s spot clogs the lane for Randle on his iso.
Patrick Williams is a big young man
Or like the first round of a fight where they are just feeling each other out
Lauri is tough
IQ sees the double and finds the open man. Randle takes Markannen to the hole.
Randle’s last two buckets came off IQ/Mitch PNRs. That is how Mitch helps on offense.
Enough 3’s Julius
ok julius calm down bro
Do the Bulls have the entire arena lit? It looks weird.
I don’t know why I keep getting “Your comment is awaiting moderation. This is a preview, your comment will be visible after it has been approved.”
Man, is that kid crafty…
iq shoot 3..yes….Randle…please no more
Julius The Hero Edition
Bullock is a dog
I think this game will heat up in the 2nd half
I get it too …
While I wish that Bullock was a better shooter, this lineup (IQ, RJ, Bullock, Randle and Mitch) is a good offensive team. There, I said it.
This homers said the LaVine foul on IQ’s 3 pointer was an offensive foul !?
He’d be very annoying to root against with some of his tricks. But, boy, do I love his craft.
stuck the leg out…
The low volume sound effects are hypnotic drone.
I’m almost ready to sleep…
refreshing…no payton…no knox
That shoulda been a no call
Mitch is realizing why Thaddeus Young has hung around the league so long…
IQ with almost a semi triple double!
Markkanen feeling it
come on randle man and ball… its lauri markennan not reggie miller…randle trying to prove something and hes being dumb
Games like these are why you can’t build around Randle
i was wondering where this version of thaddeus came from and apparently he’s doing what randle is doing which is doubling his assist rate …. at age 32…
Randle losing his cool
Maybe the 2nd half we should just have Markannen and Randle play one on one
Randle circa 2019-20
I cant watch Randle iso…get ill
Julius The Gladiator
Ugh. Randle’s hero ball tit for tat with Lauri is annoying. Dude needs to put his ego aside and just deal with the fact that Markkanen is cooking him.
Randle is getting toasted by Markkanen. He’s never going to be a great defender but he needs to get up on Lauri and make him work harder for those open 3s.
Team played pretty poorly for the part I was awake for so being down only 4 feels like a bit of a win
I’m just wondering what “word” triggered it..
The Bull’s production has a solid Big Bob’s Used Carpet ad feel.
The Knicks might have had the lead at the half were it were not for Lauri Markannen shooting like Steph Curry,
Sloppy game, that we’re still close despite shooting 2-15 from three is encouraging….
Markkanen hates us…
for me, it seemed to be plague… even tho others had been free to use…
Was about to say the exact same thing (and i was awake for the whole half :P)
WHG out of mothballs, putting up nice numbers tonight
How does Randle only have one TO?
That goes under the “weird season” label
Doncic is 0-3 with 3 TOs in 10 minutes…what’s going on with him?
Frank would be a fine addition to the second unit. Our defense has been porous the last 2 games, especially from the perimeter.
Quickley Triple Double in play … crash dem boards buddy
Agreed. Frank is no Knox/DSJ, he’s limited but he has value. He should play.
Payton made a dumb turnover and Thibs immediately signaled for IQ. Payton didn’t come back into the game after that. IQ needs to start.
He’s fed up with DAL and is going to demand a trade… to the Knicks! 😉
With Bullock and Rivers playing like shit Thibs should find minutes for Frank…
all kidding aside… a completely winnable game here tonight… they just have to go do it
What in hell is MIN doing? They only have their pick if it’s Top3! Are they banking on a 40% chance!?
KP: 11:25 min, 2pts, FG%: 25%; TReb: 5; TO 3
WTF Julius?
Great start to the 3rd. Nice hustle guys
dude…. the guy is killing you in first half… so you go and double someone else behind the arc… are you phucking kidding me… awful start already… im pissed
Healthy man’s KP has fuked us
Thank you RJ
Id sit all of em…
Thibs might blow a ventricular gasket
Good start of the third…
We’re playing 3 vs 5 with this lineup… wake up Thibs!
I would sub in the 2nd unit…
Payton tried the matador foul instead of playing D. The refs did not blow the whistle and Chicago got the easy 2.
Please, who are these guys? To lose with Clyde and Breen it’s one thing, to lose listening to this… bleh! 🙁
That was HORRIBLE defense.
reggie bullock shot doesnt get above the rim sometimes
Quick shall rescue us
whens the last time mitch has had a block … like a real one … randle needs to sit
Markkanen is 4 for 4 or something like that on friendly bounces
Can we guard Markkanen please??
Randle needs to be benched. He’s out of control.
CP3 was dicing up Dallas like he was 25 when I was watching and Luka was walking a little gimpy
3p specialist has lost its meaning
Randle musta emptied the minibar in his room last night
Imagine not extending Markannen
RJ imitating Randle playing dumb bully ball.
Was Mitch neutered recently?
Gotta break this current lineup up.
Thibs doesnt know what to do… when your starters come out like this… stick a fork in the game… how pathetic…
How the f is DAL winning that game?
The Knicks a playing like a team on the second of a back-to-back.
Porzingis is a turnover machine tonight. Looks like someone forgot how to play the game The Right Way!
3-18 3PT shooting from Phoenix, aka dumb luck
We are the slowest team in transition that I have ever seen…
There’s no paragraph in the rule book that states that we have to give every opponent a 10 point advantage playing this horrible starting five in the first and third quarter…
I don’t have the stats in front of me but Payton must be a minus 20 in limited minutes.
Mitch has been completely neutered for awhile now… if it’s not an offensive rebound and two hand jam, he doesnt score… his roll game has been weak or defenses are taking it away, which makes him utterly useless on offense… (as I’m typing this he actually blocked a shot)… Noel has outplayed him last couple of games, in terms of just “play” and energy
Anyone asked for a real block by Mitch?
thibs…go to the fucking bench
RJ toasted by Williams
Payton is a human rally killer
Payton switched onto Markkanen. Then he abandoned Markkanen to stop penetration, leading to a Markkanen dunk.
oh shush
Think I’m gonna end it all if I have to watch anymore of Reggie, Elfrid, or Rivers
Probably time to put Elf on the shelf
Sit Randle, please
i actually wanted more effort on that Lavine drive to the rack earlier in the quarter… that pissed me off…
Damn RJ
You know, the fact that Thibs doesn’t start IQ wouldn’t be so annoying if he didn’t obstinately stick with this shit starting lineup everytime in the 3rd to put the team down in a hole. At least stagger some fucking guys.
What’s the NBA record for uncontested dunks?
Sorry, was there a Knick in the paint at all for that Patrick Williams dunk? This would never happen if they just let Thibs suit up.
Does Coby White always play like this? He dribbles like he’s a cocky Frank. Does not look pro at all.
I’ll let you know after the game ends.
LMAO haha… Yeah I’m over Reggie and Elfrid. Rivers moves like a guard that’s litty but he… isn’t.
The starting 5 gets stale during games too quickly.
Hard to knock Randle overall, but he has not been good tonight. Rj needs to be featured more.
comebacks work better when you hit your free throws
Only down 7
Impressive
RJam!
Porter looks way out of shape
RJ is becoming a finisher in the open court.
finally…quickly
that’s a big boy move
lionel richie at the line
Haven’t watched the last few games, but wow don’t think I see enough of RJ skying to the basket. I like it.
Porter looks like an extra from White Men Can’t Jump
He went for the Harden approach to the season! 😉
lionel richie at the line
Lol!
Payton needs that adrenaline shot Wolverine got near the end of Logan to play like a decent PG.
Foolish foul
—Clyde
Clyde “We need defense here”… gosh Clyde, I couldnt agree more…
Hey Garrett, why the long face?
Game7 knicks are back!
to be down 3… i dont want to finish this obvious cliche
IQ got the end-of-quarter iso, which he turned into a Noel alley oop.
Randle was on the weak side and not involved in the play. His gravity helped open the lane.
I expect The Ultimate Comeback on the 4th!
I’ll let you know after the game ends.
Was he hanging around with Omari Spellman in the offseason?
Knicks backup unit + Randle would murder the starting lineup
I’d rather have 25 minutes of unneutered Mitch than 35 minutes of the neutered variety.
what the heck was that call
malik monk…game if his life tonight
stop fouling bros… 2 in 1st minute…
we love just murdering our own momemtum… we LOVE it… Toppin quick hook… yo dude… BOX THE PHUCK OUT
Obi with some poor rebounding and then immediately to the bench.
The IQ/Noel PNR works. Noel actually sets picks.
We need to grab the lead before Steph Markannen comes back in
Randle continues to be out of it
D is shit tonight
I don’t like when Quickley calls for the pick and then heaves one… We love you IQ, but not only are you taking a $hit shot, you just pulled our tallest guy away from a potential offensive rebound…
IQ was feeling himself too much with that 4 pointer he attempted.
Our interior defense is so bad that I’d consider playing both Mitch and Nerlens together for a few minutes right now.
Is anyone defending this Gafford guy?
If the Knicks will not guard the dive, the Bulls will be happy to keep getting uncontested dunks.
Thanks AUstin!
Tough to win when you’re 19% from 3
Just when you think you know most NBA players, some guy named Max Strus has 19 points for the Heat
its a comedy out here…
Is Toppin not boxing out properly?
Malik is running aMonk
There’s a host of defensive issues…that’s one of them
What was Rivers doing on that defensive sequence?
Noel is such a zero on offense.
I feel like there are some passing lanes that a better passer would exploit during transition that the Knicks aren’t able to take advantage of.
Lots of good looks…
Noel playing his ass off
im just gonna post this because im on edge
Nerlens blocked that shot straight to hell
How does Obi only get 9 minutes in this game? Chi doesnt’ have a center. Not just saying this because Halliburton is doing so well. If we knew our best player was a PF, why did we draft a PF!!
Amazingly, this game is still there for us if they can put together like 3 minutes of competent play.
just incredible bricklaying tonight
we’re getting breaks here…
b/c our best player before the start of this season was not Julius Randle. Randle’s improvement was unforeseen – Toppin was drafted to be his replacement after this year. Now…?
the worst team in chicago just took the lead
IQqqqqqqqqq!!!!
At some point, RJ will get the call on contact when he drives. It may not be this year.
Egregious blunder
—Clyde
Randle cooked Lauri
“get a stop”
-all of us
Protect the fkn paint
Damn, RJ, knock that down!
some of these 3s dont have a chance!!! god dang
RJ you gotta hit that
If the Knicks could hit a shot …
But either way, it was a messy but hard fought game.
From Randle’s rebound to RJ’s wide open corner 3, that was a beautiful moment. If only RJ hit the shot.
This got better
This game is so frustrating.
we need more crowd noise to drown out the suck
We can’t give Frank 10 minutes instead Reggie Bullock?
Damn Coby
IQ was late on that
For the love of God stop bullshit trapping the pick and roll, every single damn time it leads to Young wide open in the middle hitting the open shooter in the corner. Every single damn time.
3sian Roulette!
How long before Mitch rumblings get louder… that tweet the other day was clearly not “personal”… why take it down… now he’s keeping the bench warm late in a close game…
He was covering the big man who was left unguarded in the paint.
The return of orange Julius
Julius throwback night
Noel does some stupid double teams on the perimeter, and then his guy is open cutting to the basket
yup… that makes sense…good night
Well, this is a “good for the tank” kinda game
Nothing like leaving a guy that shoots 42% open from 3 in crunch time
yeah that was such a bad defensive possession. So many open Bulls.
RJ had to hit that shot. That was the moment.
Oh well.
Randle is so frustrating sometimes.
Great tank game
Lots of bumbling across the board, but start to finish this was the Bad Julius game.
Here’s a legit question…would you include RJ in a LaVine trade?
Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaannn. can we get one of these open shots to go down????
they kept running the same play down the stretch and nobody was defending it well….
no idea why noel was out there instead of mitch….
I dont know whats more frustrating, watching this type of loss or reading people here talk about oh well at least its good for the tank. This team isnt tanking and is not going to try to tank, stop with these fairytale dreams of tanking and getting a Top 5 pick.
No let’s just sign him in 2022
Let’s take a lot more threes, you said. Modern NBA offense, you said. Best shot in basketball.
I think it’s bc he sucks.
pivot to rooting for cp3 to get the triple double and the w
I mean the ping pong balls are distributed independent of a team’s intent, and it’s not like all non top-5 picks are created equal. 7 is better than 10, and so on.
How about the Hornets beating the Heat in OT? Monk with 36 points on 18 shots!
I’m drained and angry, we continue to play down to the competition…
Another winnable game that slips away, good for the lottery (I hear you Al, but it’s 4,30 AM here, I need something positive to try to sleep a couple of hours 🙂 )
We need to change two players in the starting five and give Rivers’ minute to Frank.
If it’s the choice between the #11 pick and playing our way into the first round of playoffs and the #15 pick by beating Orlando or Cleveland in the play in before getting slaughtered by Milwaukee, I’ll take the #11 pick please. It’s not a pipe dream—it’s just asset maximization.
Thanks, I needed that…
Granted, I haven’t seen Robinson play much in my life, but I posed the question here over the summer and got scolded off: how is Robinson better than Jarrett Allen? Does the same answer then still hold for now? Cause I just don’t see it.
You can’t tell me Frank couldn’t do what Bullock did tonight…which was nothing.
He’s not.
uggghhhh.
That was a dreadful series.
Well, that sucked. Except ping pong ball-wise.
Wow, people here have turned on Mitch.
Chicago is pretty much us.
Starting Lineup should change.
Thibs should stop watching workouts and start REwatching games.
We need serious adjustments.
the bulls played well… they were pretty prepared with some nice offensive sets.. and we were on the tail end of a back 2 back….
it’s not like we’re wildly better than the bulls….
People think the Rockets are fucking around. They’re not.
I at 28 could have done what Bullock did tonight 🙂
CP3 is making tonight hurt a lot less.
I think that’s mental pivoting to mute the pain of losing a winnable game that the team did not play well in, especially defensively (save for certain spurts).
Something about the rhythm of the offense was bad tonight. three-point shooting is about rhythm, and it just looked like the ball movement was anti-rhythm – like me when I was 13 years old.
Well, the idea on the previous thread to switch DSJ for Monk expired quite fast! 😉
What year was Monk drafted again? Wasn’t there talk about the Knicks being interested in drafting Monk?
I haven’t. He just didn’t play well today. Noel played better defensively but was meh on offense.
No, no. Still Team Mitch here! Way better than Jarrett Allen for God sake!
Bench Austin Rivers, please.
There was, because it was believed he was the most Knicksiest pick at the time…
2017. The Knicks were undecided between Frank, DSJ and Monk. As they didn’t knew which player to choose, they let the lame duck POBO make the pick and he selected Frank for the triangle we were just getting away from. I think this sums it up pretty well.
Yes that’s right, also there was some talk about Donovan Mitchell too. JFC if only the Knicks wouldn’t have blown the Frank and Knox picks.
Mitch was a phenom in year 1 with unlimited potential. But in year 3, he’s still a one-dimensional offensive player. I wonder where he’ll be next year and what his next contract will look like.
go suns!
Ayton is clearly stupid
It’s funny, Quickley is scoring well without the three. Imagine if he starts hitting his threes!
Wow Chris Paul missed a bunny
should read ‘imagine WHEN he starts hitting 3s’
I have not turned on Mitch. He should have been out there.
Ayton looking like Noel on offense the past couple of minutes.
WOW Booker
Booker!!
Booker!!!
Devin Booker is a knick!
Bullock 1-7, 0-4 on threes, 4 pts in 22 minutes.
Rivers 0-4, 1 pt in 15 minutes.
Yeah, I think Frank could do that.
FY Luka
BOOKER
Dallas lost.
Another fine night for The Tank.
oh those sweet maverick tears….
The double barreled tank, baby.
On a related note how is Chris Paul still so fucking good? I am 26 and have definitely experienced some age related decline.
He’s going to be here. We’ll decline the option for next year to have him as a restricted free agent this summer (avoiding the risk of letting him go away for nothing in 2022 as an UFA).
I’m not rooting for us to lose, but when we do lose it eases the sting to think about how it helps the tank. We now have the 7th & 9th picks in the draft. That’s nice to think about.
I think he was trying to throw it off the backboard to Ayton, weirdly enough.
and cp3 lost a bit off his fastball but he’s still throwing straight heat out there….
The Booker theme song: https://youtu.be/tH4ySG-KLm8
I am still pro-Mitch and think shit like having Noel out there to close the game because he may have been playing a little bit better tonight (thought it was close, he was more active defensively but useless offensively) is an unfortunate side effect of having a coach who chases every win
CP3 leading this Suns team is so fun to watch, I almost get a jealous that we never got to see him with us, even though it obviously didn’t make sense sense trade for him. Always been my favorite to watch out of his generation of mega stars.
Chris Paul is a lot more like LeBron James than he is a normal basketball player. He’ll probably be great next year, too.
Mitch is playing better than last season and clearly better than Noel, but Noel is a fine backup, so if Noel closes over Mitch occasionally, it’s not a big deal (I don’t think it is a good idea, but it’s not a big deal). That said, that the Knicks don’t try featuring the pick and roll with Mitch, like, ever, is a big knock on Thibs. “Oh, we musn’t try to mess up this amazing 24th ranked offense by trying something new!”
DAL is tied for 6th, and yes we’re 9th. So if the season ended now, we would have a 55% chance to get to the Top4 with one of the picks. Amazing isn’t it?
I’m calling two top four picks in the 2021 draft.
Then maybe… maybe… Strat will admit the Porzingis trade worked out.
All this may be true, but there is a major endowment effect thing going on with Mitch. Is he actually any better than Robert Williams on the C’s? Nobody talks about RW like he’s a budding superstar…
it’s going to be tough for the mavs to squeeze into the playoffs unless golden state or portland fade… which is possible… but you also have san antonio who is likely going to be somewhere in the mix also…
going to be a real dogfight for them….
Chris Paul is amazing. I’d love to see his numbers on midrange jumpers in the clutch. He never seems to miss.
I have watched him play hundreds of hours and throwing a pass off the backboard in that spot does not seem his style.
I don’t know what the hell is going on with Mitch but I don’t think Thibs is doing all this because he wants to sign him to a cheap extension.
Noel is a nice player but he is not a future piece in the way Mitch could be, with a little help.
Take no Mavs loss for granted. As much as I enjoy seeing some winning basketball, two high picks in this draft could change the franchise for a decade. BRING ONE LAST TANK TO ME.
robert williams has played 800 minutes in his career and already a year old older than mitch… mitch is the starting center of the #7 defense in the league with defensive stalwart julius randle as his frontcourt partner…
this is not close…
The Richard Greico reference deserves two thumbs up. That show was a long forgotten 21 Jump Street spinoff I enjoyed in the late 80s early 90s.
I guess all the discussions about per minute stats being consistent are moot because you say they are.
Mitch’s centrality to a really good defense is very important.
They’re booking a lot of losses early. Those losses don’t go away.
Are you so sure that switching them out would affect our defensive rating? Have you really looked at RW’s per minute stats?
Their schedule gets softer and KP and LD are going to get better with each other. I think they’ll be closer to .500 in a month. They might miss the playoffs because the West is so tough but they will likely improve. Carlisle is a good coach and they have decent players.
I don’t think any of us is saying Mitch is a star, Z-Man. I think many of us think if he’s developed right, he can be a good center, like the 18M centers (eg. Myles Turner or Clint Capela). That’s a good player to have, isn’t it?
That’s my point, though. I agree that they will improve, but that’s why them banking all of these losses early is so important.
And there’s a non zero chance that the season gets derailed by covid and doesn’t get near the 72 games, so who’s behind stays behind.
I don’t know if that is currently true, but people definitely thought of him as a potential star in year 1. Can we at least agree that he is not anything all that special in today’s game? In other words, closer to the Nerlens Noels than the Christian Woods? In otyher words, if he’s included in a trade for an actually really good player, it’s not a big deal?
Sure. I just wanted to clarify that their current record is not likely to be a reflection of where it will wind up after 72 games.
Yeah, it still seems super early but we’re reaching the 1/3 mark of the season really fast with the condensed schedule. I wouldn’t be too sure the Mavs are definitely getting there, if Porzingis takes too long to get to 100% or never does, they’re not really a playoff team, the west is still ruthless. The Grizzlies, Suns, Blazers and Warriors will all be hard to beat, and you still have to play the LA teams, Jokic in MVP form and Utah blazing hot… the Mavs are currently 4-8 inside the conference
Well even a .500 record is not a lock for a top-8 team in the West. I think the real question is whether they will be in the 9-10 spot or whether we will get a live lottery pick out of them. If I had to settle on a 4-pick range, I would bet on a 12-15 pick. Which is fine! Anything better than that is a bonus.
Chris Paul is 35 years old and 6 feet tall. Nobody from his draft class is still in the NBA. He just dropped 34-9-9 on some of the best athletes in the world who are all much younger and bigger than him. That shit is incredible.
Or… they’re having an unlucky season. Porzingis and Doncic start to hate each other. Janis Porzingis gets involved. Tim Hardaway Jr boards a team plane with asymptomatic covid. Josh Richardson pulls a hammy. The possibilities are endless.
Start thinking Evan Mobley vs Jalen Green.
Sure, but that’s the point of noting that they’re banking a lot of losses early. Those losses don’t go away, so the more early losses they take, the harder it is to make them up.
I disagree on this,,,barring injury, teams will wind up being who they are. Put differently, where do you predict they will end up in terms of draft ranking? I said 12-15. Would you bet outside that range? If you had to bet outside it, would you take the over or under?
I only know this because I looked it up when we played the Clips but Lou Williams was the same draft year.
He really is incredible though and while a lot of people seem not to like him I’d root for him to win a title.
Want to feel old-it was the David Lee draft
The fact DLee went and won a chip without me is still so hard….
I really can’t believe Paul and Lebron are older than me and still playing at this level. The Knicks have always disappointed us, but at least we can say we’ve had some hella impressive stuff to watch in the NBA in those 2 decades.
And maybe in the next decade too.
Lebron is shooting a career high 41% from three this year on a career high 6.8 attempts per game.
We had 4 wins through the same number of games last year. Fizdale was fired after this game, coming on the heels of 2 blowout losses (a combined 81pt deficit).
when you’re an alltime great you can play for a really long time because you can decline and still be a top 10-50 player… magic didn’t play for 5 seasons and had freaking hiv and put up a 5bpm .181 ws48 season at age 35…
that’s why a 3 year deal for cp3 wouldn’t be all that crazy.. if he can avoid injury…
I mean, why didn’t the Rockets want Jarrett Allen? The nba makes no sense to me some days…
I agree that they are almost certainly not finishing in the bottom six teams in the league, so sure, 12-15 isn’t unreasonable. The issue is that if we assume that they’re still really the .570 winning team they were last year, playing the remaining 51 games at a .570 pace would leave them at 37-35 at season’s end. Maybe they’re better than a .570 team, in which case they’ll be fine. What if they’re slightly worse, though?
But yes, the important thing is that they are almost certainly not as bad as they have looked so far.
The 12th pick would be massive to be honest, this draft seems a bit crapshooty but there’s a lot of talent. Anything higher is just a bonus, and let’s not forget the wild jumps happening at the lottery since the system changed (not that’s its likely that we’ll get lucky this way since we never do, but there’s a chance)
As improved as Mitch is defensively, is this version of him worth $18 million in the modern NBA? Turner has a much more versatile and consistent offensive game, and Danny Ainge wouldn’t take him basically for free in a Hayward sign-and-trade. Capela has gone off in this recent stretch of games in a way that suggests the platonic ideal of Mitch — or, at least, a version of Mitch who gets featured in the pick-and-roll much more often than the actual Mitch — and I’m still not sure how many teams in the league would want to take on that contract. Unless a guy is a Gobert-level game changer of a defender — which Mitch can be, but isn’t right now, especially night to night — there’s just a limit on how much the league currently values centers who are limited on offense. Mitch is a fantastic player to have on his current contract, and would be great to still have if his next contract was in, say, the $10-14 million range. Once it starts creeping above that, though, he’s a guy you can’t move as well as someone whose deal makes it harder to acquire other players to place around him.
All of which is me saying that I’ve gone from wanting to tear out what’s left of my hair if the team were to trade Mitch, to being at peace with the idea depending on the circumstances and return.