NBA Eastern Conference All-Star Reserves Predictions

This talk of whether it is a good move to trade for Beal is why it is so harmful for our coach to treat every single game like it’s game 7 of the finals. We are working to squeeze every possible win out of this roster, we have been lucky with injuries, and we still are not even .500. We are no better than any of the 5 or 6 teams behind us in the standings and are so much worse than everyone ahead of us. We cannot move forward like this team has playoff talent and make moves with that in mind.

We are still a rebuilding team, we are momentarily overachieving in a weird year, but we are not as good as our record and we certainly are not 6th seed material.

Our coach is the most eat the marshmallow now coach in the entire league, and he seems to be getting people on board with his shortsighted style. Please no trades for Beal, in fact, we shouldn’t trade away a first for almost anything.

The votes by the way, are for seven players. Two backcourt, three frontcourt and then two wild cards. The format wildly favors Randle and Sabonis, since the frontcourt depth is not as good as the backcourt depth.

abolish the ASG (during COVID times)

Continuing from last thread.

The Honorable Cock Jowles: Beal from 24-27 has had a 2.2, 2.9, 2.9 and 4.9 BPM. This year, he’s got a sky-high OBPM because he leads the league in USG% on a TS% that’s just ahead of Murray’s (102 to 104). That’s great! He is an exceptional offensive player right now.

But again, he’s going to turn 28 before the playoffs start. And Murray’s under contract through that age. Beal is not, and is eligible for an even bigger contract, possibly a 10-year supermax if he keeps up this level of play. That’s a HUGE edge to Murray, even if his potential is as of yet unrealized. I think Beal is a much better player on offense than Murray right now, but we’re talking about a huge bet on a short-term future play. Once Beal signs his supermax, whichever team is holding it better be ready to go deep into the playoffs, because they sure as hell ain’t adding help once he’s making $50M a year. And if he declines after 30, too bad. That’s a guaranteed contract and Jokic’s prime is wasted.

There’s no reason for Beal to fall off a cliff at the age of 30 and Murray doesn’t reach his potential you’ve also just wasted Jokic’s prime.

At a bare minimum, it would be insane to trade for Beal before getting a full set of data as to where the team’s core stands. Maybe we’ll finish around .500, but maybe we’ll finish 10 games under .500, both of which would have implications for the kinds of moves we should make.

The good news is I doubt Beal gets moved at this deadline anyway, as the Wizards have perked up a bit and he doesn’t seem to be pursuing it. We should brainstorm a name for the phenomenon in which events completely out of our control save us from doing something stupid as it seems to happen a lot (Charlotte giving Hayward a godfather offer, Phoenix beating our CP3 offer, etc.).

Yeah, I’m also against actually holding the ASG. Seems like a dumb option. Would be fun if they played horse or something at several different courts.

There’s definitely options to have a fun alternative that limits travel and still celebrates the winners.

Isn’t Adebayo ahead of Randle and Sabonis? He made the all star team last year, and has improved his game even more this year.

Also, what puts Randle ahead of Vucevic? Vucevic’s stats are better. Is the New York Is Back! narrative really that strong with all star reserves voters?

(And finally, nice post on the last thread Early Bird:)

Congratulations, Randle.

(His $1mil incentive is factored into next year’s cap, is that right?)

Nice, i’m happy for Julius. He deserves it.

Amazing career turnaround for Randle between Sept. 2020 and Feb. 2021. Most guys wouldn’t have bounced back at all after last year, let alone became an all-star.

Early Bird: This is really on Knickerblogger for not doing a better job developing E.

lol this gives new meaning to the early bird gets the worm….