[news.google.com] — Wednesday, May 17, 2023 2:06:00 AM
Nets’ Joe Tsai reveals reason for Jeremy Lin film showing at … ClutchPoints
[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 11:46:48 PM
What’s Next for New York Knicks After Playoff Letdown vs. Miami Heat? Bleacher Report
[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 10:44:00 PM
Knicks miss out on first-round pick after Mavericks’ tank job New York Post Knicks lose out on Mavericks’ first-round pick in 2023 NBA Draft Yahoo SportsKnicks News: Chances of first-round lottery draft pick, division rival future Daily Knicks
[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 10:30:00 PM
Knicks lose out on Mavericks’ first-round pick in 2023 NBA Draft Yahoo SportsMavericks’ misfortune could still make Knicks a winner at NBA draft lottery New York Post Knicks miss out on first-round pick after Mavericks’ tank job New York Post
[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 9:37:00 PM
Jeremy Lin hints at retirement after scary head injury New York Post
[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 8:27:04 PM
Scratch Off: Knicks Unlucky at NBA Draft Lottery, Mavs Keep Pick Sports Illustrated
[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 7:45:17 PM
DiDi Richards Among New York Liberty’s Final Roster Cuts Sports Illustrated
[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 5:05:00 PM
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[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 3:13:20 PM
East GM Provides Insight on Tom Thibodeau’s Job Security With Knicks Heavy.com
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[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 2:37:18 PM
WFAN’s Tiki Barber floated a very bad offseason idea for the Knicks Elite Sports NY
[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 2:26:00 PM
Joel Embiid-Knicks whispers are percolating as Doc Rivers gets fired New York Post
[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 1:11:15 PM
‘Come On!’: Dwight Howard Invites Knicks’ Julius Randle to Play in … Sports Illustrated
[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 1:09:55 PM
Knicks: 3 major offseason fixes to make to become contenders ClutchPoints
[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 12:54:49 PM
Knicks: Colin Cowherd links Doc Rivers to Tom Thibodeau’s future ClutchPoints
[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 9:58:01 AM
NBA Insider Pitches 6-Time All-Star for Knicks Over KAT Heavy.com
[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 9:10:18 AM
New York’s Future Lies In Randle and Thibodeau The Knicks Wall
[news.google.com] — Tuesday, May 16, 2023 8:26:25 AM
NBA insiders believe New York Knicks closely watching Joel Embiid and 76ers’ situation Sportsnaut
158 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2023.05.17)”
EarlyBird wrote:
If I’m counting right, the Spurs have been in the lottery 7 times and have now won 3 of them.
It actually even more impressive since the 3 they won had a clear cut no.1 prospect while the 4 they “lost” had no clear cut no.1.
I think the flattened odds are working out largely as intended. I don’t really have much of a problem with the level of tanking there is right now…as DET learned, there’s clearly no advantage to try to finish last vs. in the bottom 4-5. SA got lucky but they are also bereft of talent and it’s better that they got Wemby than if a team like the Thunder or Orlando or fucking DALLAS jumped up because the odds were actually TOO flat. All in all, it was a good night for Alan Silver.
But a bad night for Alan Sepinwall. Freaking Mavs…
God I hate the Spurs. I’m still bitter about 1999.
I’ve been in Austin for most of the past 21 years and San Antonio is the most dreadfully boring, milquetoast city I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting – Tim Duncan was personality-wise a chef’s-kiss of perfect alignment for that fanbase. I attended Game 6 of the 2003 Finals against the Nets and was basically the only unhappy person in the building.
I have also always found the Pop worship a bit weird – obviously he’s a GOAT-level coach, but he’s also sort of an abusive prick. Like… it’s funny that he doesn’t respect sideline reporters? OK. He partially won me over by being a lefty stalwart in a dumb red state but that carries a bit less juice for me these days.
I’ll cop to having *at times* rooted for the Celtics (KG-era), Heat (Lebron), Lakers (Lebron), Pacers (Artest), and Bulls (Artest again). I resent all those franchises for the battles or historical dominance but a player or team can sometimes win out.
But man, San Antonio?? Robinson, Duncan, and now this? The Knicks were bad for how many years and we still hear about the “fixed” Ewing lottery?
The Spurs are going to need a lot more than him to be competitive – that team was AWFUL this year. I saw Deandre Ayton de-pants them early in the season and then the Wolves came to Austin for a game and Jaden McDaniels convinced me he was the next Mikal Bridges just before breaking his hand. The Duncan team made good on Parker and Ginobili and later Kawhi.
Glad he’s going West, but wish it had been to Portland. We could talk lottery fixes all day long but I feel like whiffing on Jordan and Durant should warrant a compensatory pick – and that fanbase is awesome and I love Dame for his loyalty to the city.
The Spurs had Manu which always made them rootable for me. I think he’s my favorite player of the last twenty years.
Before the lottery, there was scuttlebutt that if the Mavs pick didn’t convey, Leon was going to try to acquire a first round pick. Presumably either outright purchasing one or swapping one of the protected picks for an actual one. Who in the late teens or 20s do you think is most likely to want to get out of the first round, whether for tax reasons or because their roster is too full?
The difference with the Spurs this time is that they don’t have a stacked team with David Robinson and the gang to which to add another all-time great. Their best player by a country mile this year was Keldon Johnson, and even with Wemby they have a long way to go to being contenders. They had arguably the worst roster in the league.
(As an aside, I think sometimes The Admiral gets lost in the discussion of who the greatest bigs of all time were. At his peak, he was as good as anyone…in a league with Ewing, Hakeem, and Shaq he led the league in WS48 and BPM 3 times and VORP twice. Only LeBron and MJ posted a higher single season VORP than his 11.4 in 1993-94.)
And I credit the Spurs for drafting extremely well in the Duncan years, finding Parker, Ginobili, and others way outside the lottery. And also for playing some of the most beautiful basketball ever played.
I have a friend who thinks The Spurs should trade Wemby for as many picks and young players as possible. His thinking is that dudes who are over 7′ 3″ always end up having major injuries that derail their careers and they never live up to their height. Wemby is super skinny and will need to put on weight and muscle but at his height, the more he does that, the more wear and tear he’s putting on his knees and hips.
I thought it was an interesting thought. Is Wemby that dominant that idea is dumb or does he have a valid idea?
“Who in the late teens or 20s do you think is most likely to want to get out of the first round, whether for tax reasons or because their roster is too full?”
Good question. The Pacers have 3 firsts, maybe they are willing to trade out of one. The Jazz also have 3. The Warriors might be looking for a player to help tham now, but probably have better places to shop (Nets?) And the Blazers might be willing to part with #23 since they have #3 and need to make Lillard happy.
All that said, I don’t see a deal happening. Maybe for a second rounder, but that’s it.
And I still feel Zach Edey is a good mid-late first round target if we decide to move on from Mitch.
I thought it was an interesting thought. Is Wemby that dominant that idea is dumb or does he have a valid idea?
Valid idea, personally not in favour of it, but if you do it you trade with Charlotte/Portland to land Scoot plus a couple of picks. That way if you are wrong you at least have a foundation piece, ala Atlanta with Luka and Trae.
GSW and LAC could both be looking to dump their picks for tax reasons. Besides those two, I don’t see a lot of options.
If Scoot’s ungettable, Anthony Black would be perfect for this team.
You may be able to buy a very low 1 from a team wanting to do something like avoid the tax or one that has a very cheap (early Sarver, Reinsdorf) owner. No one’s selling one because their roster’s too full — other than among a small faction of anti-anti-“Incineration” KBers, that’s not actually a thing.
“I thought it was an interesting thought. Is Wemby that dominant that idea is dumb or does he have a valid idea?”
I think that when a guy is hyped to the level of “greatest draft prospect ever” you have to keep him no matter what the downside concerns are. There are enough “he’s too skinny” guys that became great to take that chance.
But there surely are concerns. His center of gravity is super high (see: young KP), his 3pt stroke is not super pure, his handle is overrated…but you just can’t take the chance of losing out on a potential GOAT.
There’s a reason they’ve only been in the lottery 7 times, and 4 of them have been the last 4 lotteries.
Any chance the Pacers would give up 7 for Randle? I’d make that offer.
Maybe we could trade Josh Hart for pick 23?
How far do you reckon you’d have to go up from 23, offering Josh, before the team says “no”? Because if you offered him to BKN for 22, they’d say yes in a heartbeat, right?
“Reese Bobby, but only a little bits ays:
May 17, 2023 at 10:04
Any chance the Pacers would give up 7 for Randle? I’d make that offer.”
Still grappling with the nuances of the hybrid method I see…
Fifth dimensional chess.
The Knicks are almost certainly not trading anyone named Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes, Immanuel Quickley, Mitchell Robinson, of Isaiah Hartenstein for a draft pick. That leaves Obi, Deuce, Sims, Rokas, Rose and Fournier, and who wants them?
The only feasible way for them to acquire a first would be to offer multiple protected future firsts, possibly along with one of those last 6 guys.
A better question is: who should they target outside the lottery for a pick acquisition?
Run it back!
I’m guessing it’ll be a single protected 1st & Obi for a pick, maybe Deuce or Rokas too.
I don’t think it makes sense to move multiple future 1sts, unless they’re really sold on someone.
I don’t know anywhere near enough about this draft to offer an opinion on anything. I stopped caring when Dallas fucked us.
I guess now I might need to look into the late lotto…
We need Amen Thompson to go along with our Immanuel, Isaiah, Jericho, and Obadaiah (am I missing anyone?). We need a Higher Power on our side.
We had our most successful season in a decade. Next season it won’t take us 20 games to figure out the rotation and we’ll have Josh Hart off the bench for a full season.
Considering we have a team full of young players and can reasonably expect improvement from them, running it back is actually a pretty smart move by us. We can still pick up a vet for one year with a mini mid level or vet minimum contract if we want to bolster a position somewhere.
Let’s see if we can improve from last season before making some dumb move for the sake of shaking things up.
You forgot new Isaiah!!
There’s some truth to the really tall players and injury worries… and it’s even more of a worry for Wemby since he broke his foot already…. you kind of have to draft him tho… if drafting embiid #1 still made sense when he broke his back… you draft Wemby and build around the fact that you might not have 15 years to build a contender around him…..
if people thought our roster was too full for a first rd pick in 2021 and 2022… including our front office…. then i’d find it hard to believe that anything has materially changed…..
Maybe losing in a playoff series where we had to play Quentin Grimes 48 !minutes in a game will show the FO the roster is not as stuffed as they think
Wemby shouldn’t be throught of as a better prospect than Luka. I guess maybe he has more upside but Luka was as sure of a thing as you can get. It’s wild that after being so good in the NBA the chattering classes haven’t figured out that a huge wing who was the best player in the world’s second best league at 18 wasn’t a generational prospect.
Luka + Brunson = Conference Finals
Brunson – Luka = Conference SemiFinals
Luka – Brunson = Lottery Team.
Therefore, Brunson is better than Luka. 🙂
there was talk of Portland trading out if it wasn’t #1 …. #3 is probably making them think real hard about it…
it has no chance of happening but a Randle for #3 swap would be very tempting… i’m not really too crazy about what’s there for #3 but it’s fun to think about….
we gave up a lotto pick so we had the privilege to sign hartenstein…. i am hard pressed to think they’ve had a come to jesus moment….
A team that we were assured for years possessed “a bunch of extra picks” has no one on the roster from the class of 2022 and is not in the 2023 draft.
If I’m Portland I trade Dame, no question. He’s been great for the city but they’re a joke right now and they could put together a nice young core with this pick.
“run it back!
Just to clarify, I’m not saying that…just that if we deal anyone other than Obi, etc. it won’t be to acquire a draft pick, but to make a significant upgrade to the roster.
I don’t think the hybrid method involves trading our non-untouchable best assets (RJ, Randle, Mitch and IQ) for a pick, because that would set us back in the short term. What this means is that we are out of the hunt for top picks. Well, those picks would be a clear overpay anyway, so no biggie here.
The teams i think might trade a late 1st / early 2nd are the ones that have 3 or more:
– Hornets … 2, 27, 34, 39, 41
– Magic … 6, 11, 36
– Pacers … 7, 26, 29, 32
– Jazz … 9, 16, 28
So from pick #26 to pick #36, there’s 7 that might be open for trades. It looks promising.
But, like, we do still have a bunch of extra picks.
Oh no! We won’t make a draft pick this season! Whatever shall a team full of young players that just went to the second round of playoffs do?
Also Detroit has the first pick of the 2nd round (#31), they might be open to send us that pick for the pick that they owe us. Because of the pick they owe us, they only have the 2029 pick available to trade. I’m not saying they’re going to make trades this summer, but maybe in 2024 or 2025 they are. In 2027 the pick is top9 protected, meaning they’d have to be top9 to keep it, and then the Knicks would get a 2nd rounder between #31 and #39. I think they’d give us #31 now to avoid having to play according to the protections to keep the picks from 2024 to 2027, and to be able to use all their picks in trades whenever they want.
Just going to continue my lifelong practice of agreeing with something DRed wrote. Luka was the MVP of the second best league in the world at 18. There is no greater proof of concept than that and it remains totally insane he wasn’t picked first. Tim Duncan, Lebron, AD, and Luka is the list of sure things in the past 25 years and I will never understand how people didn’t realize it.
You can’t not take Wemby and you can’t trade him. There is basically no way to hedge exposure to him, you just have to take the ride. I don’t know if he has the mobility to succeed on offense but I think he has the athleticism to be a premier defender, even with my concerns about his shooting.
I think there is a possibility he could end up a Durant type player with better defense. But I’d generally fade any top 10-20 all time player predictions because that’s just the smart thing to do.
Still, will be a lot of fun watching him. Fascinating player and definitely a giant leap up from the Cade Cunningham’s of the world.
Wasn’t Zion a sure thing too, at the time of the draft? Or are you applying hindsight?
I don’t think the Knicks will trade a player for a 1st round pick unless it’s part of some kind of combination deal. Maybe we’ll offer a player as part of a large package to upgrade, but the other team will want another pick. So we’ll trade that player to someone else for a pick to then include in the bigger deal.
The goal here is use picks (future value) as currency to get players that make us better now (current value).
My ideal scenario (absent landing a whale) is still moving Randle (if there is a sensible deal) and trading for Anunoby to play both PF/SF here. I think that speeds us up, opens the floor, keeps us young, and gives us more versatility.
I’d love to have Mikal Bridges, but I think he’s going to be a core Net player.
I also think Cameron Johnson would be an interesting fit spreading the floor. But he’s another player the Nets will probably keep.
DFS might be available, but I think he fits better on a team that has plenty of scoring and just wants some defense and 3 point shooting. He had a bit of down year last year anyway. So I’m not interested.
I don’t fall for the KB hype machine (smile), and I *really* don’t fall for the Disney/ESPN/NBA hype machine.
Wemby is being oversold. In reality, even if we stay completely in the internet hype era, he isn’t as good a prospect as LeBron was.(*) There’s obviously no shame in that, you can still be a fantastic prospect even if you fall short of LeBron.
The body type is an obvious worry. Seven-five and thin. The association graveyard is positively filled with guys at that body type struggling with health.
Ralph Sampson — adjusted for era and play style, himself as good or better a prospect than Wemby — 7-4, thin as a rail, actually very similar in style and purported “all around game” to Wemby. Body didn’t come close to surviving association rigor, effectively done after 4-5 years.
A lot of the board is too young to remember or have seen Ralph — he was a virtual carbon copy of Wemby. Wanted to be a guard, had a good handle, good outside shot (not out to 3, because nobody gave a shit about that in 1984), Rockets tanked to get him.
Shawn Bradley, 7-7 and thin, hurt and bad virtually right away.
Kristaps Porzingis.
Gheorge Muresan — Google him.
Bol Bol’s Dad.
I mean honestly, I might be completely spacing out and forgetting somebody, but is there a single player over 7-2 who’s stayed healthy and panned out?
Abdul-Jabbar was 7-2 and stayed healthy and panned out. Seems to be the upper bound. Wasn’t as skinny/frail as the Wemby/KP/Ralph/Bradley line.
Back of the envelope theory is that Mother Nature has put a limit on the ability to play basketball well and stay healthy, if thin, at 7 feet 2 inches. (Again, I’m under the weather and might be spacing out and forgetting somebody. If I am, I’d call the person I’m forgetting an outlier given the large number of counters in the sample as a whole.)
It’s unquestionably caveat emptor. But like Owen said, you have to take him and ride it out. But it could easily go south, and he’s nothing like the greatest prospect ever.
(*) This isn’t taking into account the fact that LBJ lived up to his prospect level; based strictly on what they were going into the draft and they way they were thought of, LBJ was a better prospect. LeBron’s the best draft prospect of the internet era; pre-internet, probably Alcindor. Wemby’s below both of them.
I agree Luka should have been #1, and although people like to make fun of the Kings because they selected Marvin Bagley, the Suns at the time of the draft had a coach that was Slovenia’s national team coach during Eurobasket 2017 and relied on Luka to win the competition. I can’t understand why he couldn’t convince the team to take Luka.
Brunson had a better on/off numbers than Doncic over their last few years together, which mostly includes the period Brunson was backing him up. Compared to most “superstars” Doncic’s on/off has never been impressive. I’m obviously not saying Brunson is the better player. A lot goes into those numbers (including noise), but I think those numbers were a very good clue that Brunson’s value was underrated.
Yeah, I’m obviously joking but also….BRUNSON IS REALLY GOOD AND HE’S OURS!!!!!
E,
You’re also leaving out Sabonis, who still had a great euro career and was a big part of the Blazers teams in the late 90s. But he had knee injuries that kept him from being the elite player he should have been. He’s probably the best outcome for a big guy that size getting injured and still being good. But he was definitely hobbled when he came to the NBA and he wasn’t even 30.
Speaking of Doncic and Wemby, I think if they swapped diets it would help both of them.
I don’t think you can replace Randle with OG unless you make a move to massively upgrade your scoring and rebounding elsewhere.
You’re losing (exactly) 10% of your usage and 5.1 reb/36.
He’s a much better defender but he only makes sense as a replacement for RJ or Grimes.
Yao Ming? Good for 7 seasons.
Shaq was 7’1″ and played forever. He got hurt a lot in the later years but was healthy for the first 13.
Not exactly skinny but in theory his excess weight could’ve been hell on his lower body like it has been for Zion.
I think you’re underselling Sabonis, he played 78 games at 38 & put up a 4.6 BPM. He didn’t play as much as guys in those days, but would’ve fit in with modern players and their rest days.
I agree Wemby is a huge injury risk and I might put Scoot over him on my big board, but as a GM I’d never make that call.
I don’t think I’d ever count Yao as healthy, but he was incredibly talented.
I made the Samson vs. Wemby comparison at length (npi) months ago and think it is the most valid, except that the most important measurement of all is between the ears, and that was never Ralph’s strong suit. This kid seems very intellectually precocious.
I would also suggest that the sciences of sports medicine and of athletic training have advanced light years beyond where they were in the 40 years since Ralph was drafted (and he was drafted at age 23, so really since Clyde and Earl were still playing) But the physical issues are definitely similar and while training and medical advances might mitigate some issues, it’s still a serious concern.
In that sense, the “floors” for LeBron and Luca were much, much higher…probably top-50 player for Luca and top-20 for LeBron. But Wemby’s ceiling is about as high as it gets..I think still below LeBron but above Luka. I don’t see Luka ever displacing LeBron, MJ, Wilt, Russ Kareem, Magic, Bird, Durant, Steph…others are more arguable, so for me his ceiling is somewhere around #10.
Wemby is purely theoretical but how can you possibly put a ceiling on him at age 19? What is he going to be at age 21, when 8 of the top 10 were just about entering the league? It defies imagination.
I’m a bit late to the discussion because I’m still trying to understand from where Rokas’ numbers posted yesterday came from… 😀
To me (like Z-Man), from a body type and playing skills standpoint, Sampson’s the best comp for Wemby (Ralph’s career was derailed by injuries and the Sichting assault), and while the hype train is running at full speed and some comparisons are plainly foolish, I think Wemby’s at least a very good prospect with a high injury risk, right now he’s thin as a breadstick (Louis Orr like).
Sabonis came to the league at 31 and 280 lbs but his body type was very different from the start, and he was a fucking beast even after the injuries.
Prime time/pre injuries Arvidas was incredible.
Luka’s snub is still one of the most unexplicable thing I’ve ever seen in a draft.
Yao was the other one I was thinking of. Terrific but oft-injured.
I talked about this ridiculous overselling of Wemby in my fantasy basketball group chat yesterday and basically agree with E, Owen, etc. Just looking at this stats, his tape, and his frame there’s no way he can be in the same tier of prospect as Luka, Duncan, Kareem, AD, and Lebron, who were all basically good from day 1 and could reasonably be expected to be MVP candidates by year 2 (something I’m not sure of re: Victor.)
He strikes me as more of a Zion, KAT, KD, etc. level prospect, obviously the #1 guy to take in the draft but too many question marks (especially health and frame) that make him less of a sure thing than the Mt. Rushmore NBA prospects.
@Max
The Rokas numbers came from here:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/international/players/rokas-jokubaitis-1.html
Bref has finally started filling out their international stats, thankfully.
One thing I’ve sensed is that there are lots of good big men in the league, and more coming.
I can’t weigh in on the injury risk beyond the anecdotal observation everyone else has made–dudes this big tend to get injured a lot. However, I am really high on Wembanyama as a prospect in general such that it’s hard to conceive of an even semi-realistic package I’d accept for that pick.
The tape speaks for itself, but he put up downright dominant numbers in one of the tougher leagues in Europe at an age most European players are glued to the bench. This is despite the fact that, for lack of a better term, he fucked around a lot (the stepback threes, etc.).
I think he’s 2nd to Luka in terms of where I’d rank him as a prospect since I started following this stuff (an admittedly completely arbitrary timetable–probably around 2010).
On a Macri podcast it was noted that in the last 6 years, of the 48 teams to make it to the second round (8×6) the Knicks were the second youngest, next to 2021-22 Memphis who also lost in the second round.
Fun anecdote from Lowe’s piece on the lottery (https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/insider/story/_/id/37666205/lowe-happened-secret-nba-lottery-drawing-room):
The Frank proposal!
TNFH, you loved Poku and Chet…so Wemby fits right in!
It would take so many players and picks to get Wemby that maybe the league should allow multiple teams to trade for him. One year he’ll play for the Knicks, another years for the Lakers, and for the Spurs only every 3rd year. I mean, why not?
The glass half-full view of the Sampson/Victor comparison is that Sampson came into the league at a time when guys his size were expected to bang down low, and he was going up against absolute bruisers like Moses Malone, Ewing, Mark Eaton, etc. The notion of a “stretch five” or “point center” or “unicorn” or whatever was laughable then. Pop is a genius. He will put Victor in positions that will play to his strengths and hide his weaknesses. I would not be at all surprised, for instance, if the Spurs were to make sure to pair him with a really strong old-school power forward who can handle defensive duties against tougher centers like Embiid and Bam.
That in and of itself should mitigate some of the injury fears. But, yes, it does seem like there is an upper limit for the human body to extend to and still be durable enough to consistently play basketball at the highest levels, and he is beyond that limit.
I’d definitely put Zion higher than Wemby as a prospect if it weren’t for injury concerns.
@TUKoB
And without context they are meaningless.
– “per-36” numbers are less meaningful in Europe, where the games last 40 minutes and very few players play more than 30 minutes a game (9 in this year EL, with the leader at 33:07).
– Given his “true” playing time, to get “per-36” stats we need to multiply Rokas’ stat for, more or less 2.5 times. To me that’s a bit too much.
– It makes no sense mixing EL and ACB stats together. The worst EL teams are still very good teams, the very best of each country, the worst ACB teams aren’t*. We don’t count McBride’s stats mixing NBA and G-League ones (the gap is wider between NBA and G-League but the sense remain).
Not surprisingly Rokas has a little more playing time and a little better stats in ACB than in EL.
– He still came from the bench. Last year the main reason was Calathes, this year it was Satoransky. But no matter who was the other guy, he wasn’t deemed good enough to start.
– This year in the same number of Euroleague regular season games (37) he did play 70 less minutes (from 16:46 MPG to 14:50 MPG). Not a good sign for a player “on the rise” (as an example IQ, Grimes and Deuce all got more playing time from season to season).
Let’s instead focus on the best competition and parse EL numbers:
Scoring and shooting numbers, except FT% are down.
– 5.4 PPG (last year 7.0)
– 42.0% 2FG (last year 56.1%)
– 44.1% 3FG on 1.16 tries/game (last year 56.8% on 1.18 tries/game)
– 77.5% FT on 58 tries (last year 71.4% on 42 tries)
Other primary stats are better.
– 2.0 REB/Game (1.62 last year)
– 0.89 TO/Game (last year 1.70)
– Assists are basically even (2.56 AST/Game this year in less PT against 2.64 AST/Game last year).
I watched him play around 50 EL games in the last 2 years, 2 of them in person.
In my opinion he’s a very good passer with great court vision, an average ball-handler, a decent defender who gives good effort but has an high center of gravity, good at attacking the rim with his left hand, a little too shy as a shooter.
He had 3 pretty games recently in Barca’s best-of-5 sweep against Kaunas (his former team) and I’m eagerly awaiting friday’s EL Final Four game against Real Madrid.
To me right now Deuce is a notch above him, but I’d be glad to be wrong and watch Rokas come to the States and become the next Manu… 😀
* 8 ACB teams out of 18 have a sub .400 record. 5 are .333 or under (In Italy we call them “mattress teams”). When Barca or Real Madrid face these teams they usually give some rest to their best players and use the bench more, especially if there’s a close EL game in the schedule.
“In the past, at least one team has proposed a system under which after some point in time — very close to the end of the season — teams outside the playoff picture could boost their lottery odds with each additional win.”
But what would that really accomplish? If the goal of the lottery is to balance rosters and star distribution, isn’t it likely that the lottery team with the most stars (and likely the best records) would leave the doormats further in the dust? Wouldn’t Dallas benefit even more from a system like that and be even more likely to tank their way out of the play-in?
I think this is a solution in search of a problem. The system worked really well this year, and I think in all years since the flattening of the odds.
If Rokas can run a competent offense for a few minutes a game if Brunson or Quickley is out with injury, I might prefer that over Deuce at the moment. I think Deuce still very much has a place on this team, but he can’t be on the court without an actual point guard alongside him.
“I’d definitely put Zion higher than Wemby as a prospect if it weren’t for injury concerns.”
I disagreed with this at draft time even without the injuries. Zion has some glaring flaws. He was an average at best defensive prospect, had a very suspect shot, and is on the short side with a non-elite wingspan. I think the wow factor obscured very real skill/fit issues with him in the modern game. People were comparing him to LeBron and I thought that was absurd. He was never going to be a top-10 of all-time player, even without the injuries.
“If Rokas can run a competent offense for a few minutes a game if Brunson or Quickley is out with injury, I might prefer that over Deuce at the moment. I think Deuce still very much has a place on this team, but he can’t be on the court without an actual point guard alongside him.”
Rokas or no Rokas, other than Brunson, IQ might be our most valuable trade chip in terms of marketable players that aren’t indespensible. Trading him for a stud 2, moving Grimes to the bench, and using either Deuce, Rokas or a low-cost vet for our backup 2 might be a possible way to go.
But I’d be careful not to undervalue IQ, he does some really impressive stuff on both ends and it would have to be a pretty obvious upgrade to let him go. Maybe Zach LaVine is that guy (I hope not, but it’s fair to consider it) or maybe IQ plus Obi, filler and picks for Kawhi (also hope not).
@Max
While you’re right that EL and ACB shouldn’t be mixed 50/50, his ACB stats aren’t useless and should be included in any projection of his productivity. From what I’ve seen of his tape (not nearly as much as you, to be fair!) he seems a notch above Deuce, especially for this team, partly because of his better size and his ability to actually run an offense, penetrate, and pass (all of which Deuce hasn’t really shown).
I love Deuce, but am ultimately pretty low on him, and we shouldn’t imagine him as a rotation player unless he shows some serious improvement from y2 to y3–he’s been an anchor on offense so far, and his inability to score in 2pt range is worrying to say the least!
Also, I don’t think you can really move IQ for fair value at this point–every team is going to try and lowball you and dare you to extend him, especially given his playoff struggles. Maybe he works as the main piece of a star trade when including a bevy of picks, I don’t know. Barring that, he should stay–if anything we should be dangling Grimes and Obi, who have shown much less but retain enough value to do things with in a trade package (not that IQ doesn’t–he has greater value, but I think he has greater value to this team than as a trade chip, whereas the reverse is true of Obi and Grimes.)
You’re absolutely right on this.
P.S. And I’d like to watch Rokas play in a more “free-flowing” system, Barca’s offense is very structured.
I think guys who have the passing and savvy that Rokas seems to have tend to outperform their other limitations. It just speaks to a high-level understanding of the game.
He & Deuce could be ideal backcourt partners if Deuce ever fixes his shot.
I think the simpler solution would be to just start IQ at the 2. Trade RJ plus picks for OG, which is more viable with IQs usage.
Great shooting & defense.
I do worry about how awful IQ looked on offense in the playoffs. It wasn’t just bad shooting or decision-making, it looked like he couldn’t get to the basket cleanly. Obviously, Cleveland & Miami have stellar defenses and IQ is a kid, but it still worries me.
Unfortunately we have Thibs. He really needs to open up the offense on the 2nd unit. Obi & Hartenstein are used so poorly.
“…if anything we should be dangling Grimes and Obi, who have shown much less but retain enough value to do things with in a trade package (not that IQ doesn’t–he has greater value, but I think he has greater value to this team than as a trade chip, whereas the reverse is true of Obi and Grimes.)”
That’s fair, although I am not sure opposing FOs will place much stock in the playoff performance of 22-23 year olds…I still think he will have more value as a trade chip relative to his actual value to us.
As much as I love IQ, I just don’t see him as a starter right now or in the near future. Not a super-strong opinion on it, but I need more than what I’ve seen to convince me that it’s a viable option.
I agree it’s going to take more than just Anunoby, but if you choose to move Randle, you are going get something back that makes sense otherwise you don’t make the deal. It’s hard to get too detailed because in any deal players are going out and you don’t know what you getting, what you are going to still need, and what will be left.
I just think Anunoby is a perfect fit and versatile enough to play some PF.
Well, but it doesn’t make sense for Toronto. They have Siakam, why would they want Randle?
i would say duncan and lebron were on another level in the modern era… zion wasn’t a sure sure thing given his size and comps had guys like michael beasley in ther.e.. but he was in that next tier of consensus #1s … AD had some questions about his offense developing and certainly the narrative was that he was the next duncan but he was never the offensive guy duncan showed in college… blake griffin was also a consensus #1 but nothing like a surefire hall of famer… but probably a small tier below AD and Zion…
luka probably belongs with duncan and lebron…. when you’re ACB mvp at age 18 your ceiling is going to be in that conversation….
I have it as…
1. Duncan (probably the best prospect ever)
2. Lebron
3. Luka
4. Greg Oden
5. Dwight Howard
6. Anthony Davis
7. Karl Anthony Towns
8. Yao Ming
9.. Kevin Durant
10. Zion
11. Blake Griffin
12. Kyrie
13. Elton Brand
it gets a bit dicey after this… maybe rose vs kenyon martin is interesting…
Where would you slot Wemby? Somewhere after that list?
If you extend the modern era back to 1990 and leave it only with the clear-cut consensus number 1s (so no Luka, no KD), I’d put it:
1. LeBron
2. Shaq
3. Duncan
4. Zion
Then I’d probably slot Wemby in right after Zion although maybe ahead of him. There’s massive recency/hype bias in something like this — the association and its media partners are “next big thing” hypesters nonpareil. Four short years ago, Zion was thought of as a massive, clearly “generational” prospect. He still might pan out as that. A healthy, bought-in Zion is a fantastic basketball player.
(There’s a “perception” element, albeit small, to my list that might not be there in Djphan’s. A proxy for perception would be something like “How big was the lottery and how big was it seen to be?”)
I’m talking about two sperate deals.
Anunoby is a great fit with or without Randle.
If Randle stays, OG can play SF. That immediately improves the defense and spacing. RJ will either slide back to SG, be part of the trade or be part of another trade.
When Randle is on the bench, out, or if we want to go small, Anunoby can slide over to PF and we are faster, have very good spacing, and still have better defense.
He’s an ideal player for what we need.
What else you do is dependent on what it takes to bring him here and what else is available. But moving Randle and bringing in Anunoby in a logical way would be my two off season goals.
if you go by the numbers… what he’s doing in the french league.. which isn’t a bad league btw… is bananas…. if he didn’t have the injury concerns he’d be right there with luka…. and as it stands he’s somewhere between oden who had some minor rumblings of injuries that turned into major ones…. and embiid.. who actually had major injuries and turned out fine….
24/11/3.4 with a 80% ft… donatas montejunias was an nba player and he put up 11/7 per 36 in the nba… and putting up 17/7 in the french league now… i’m just eyeballing translations but it’s certainly possible for him to approach 20/10/3 next year…. AD did 16/10/3 at age 19 and Wemby is coming in better than him….
I’m actually now curious what happens with Scoot. Charlotte & Portland are two teams that don’t need a PG. So it’s possible he does end up on the trade block. I still think it’d be stupid to trade him.
Wemby is coming in with the same exact hype as Oden did… with the same minor rumblings about injuries to boot.. which is kind of eery.. but like Oden… Wemby is delivering everywhere he goes… it’s a matter of how long his body holds up….
I agree OG would be a great get for us, i just don’t think Randle can be in the trade. But i also don’t think OG is gettable, because Masai will never set for a reasonable deal with us. Maybe this is why i’m not talking about OG anymore.
Tangentially (very tangentially) related to historical drafts, the top 3 picks of the 2003 draft all have metrics named after them:
LEBRON
DARKO
CARMELO (a now defunct metric from 538)
The greatest draft ever (for naming metrics).
If Charlotte takes Miller, the Knicks should be immediately on the phone with Portland. That pick will be available. Obviously you offer up Randle. It’s going to take more than that, but Portland by all indications would trade that pick to help Dame win. Given that desperation, Portland could be your sucker.
If Charlotte takes Scoot, then nah.
I think we would be nuts to trade either Grimes or Quickley unless it’s part of deal that’s too good and important to refuse.
To be honest, I think all the trade talk around Obi is craziness too unless it’s part of big deal. Obi is likeable, a great teammate, young, hard working, slowly improving, and perfect in his role as energy player off the bench. He’s not going to start on any other higher level team anyway. He’s a bench quality player now. So why wouldn’t he want to stay in NY closer to home and play on a good team with teammates he obviously likes. If he wants more minutes, he has to get better and make Randle expendable. He’s not going to get them somewhere else unless it’s a scrub team.
ESPN.com’s first mock has Charlotte taking Miller.
I agree Randle won’t be going to Toronto. That was never part of my thinking. As to the price for OG, there were all sorts of stories out there about how many picks teams were offering and how hot a commodity he was. I think there’s plenty of interest, but the stories being told about what teams were offering were probably nonsense. I recently read that Masai made him available at the deadline, but the offers weren’t anywhere near what was being reported. He’s available and you aren’t going to steal him, but it’s not going to take a treasure chest either.
I said I thought he would be an All-NBA player but would have a lot of trouble staying on the floor and probably have a relatively short career. Very happy with that draft take and very unhappy with how little we have gotten to see of Zion.
He’s one of the best offensive players in the NBA when healthy, like a much better Larry Johnson. But being short and wide and making your living driving to the hoop all game long, it’s not easy.
I don’t know how I rate Wemby v Zion. I think Wemby’s floor is a lot higher because he can always go out there and be an impact defender with his frame. And the chance to be a truly special defender is there, in which case you don’t even need that much offense. I also think that while I worry about injury, I worry about it more with Zion because his skill set is tilted so much towards his athleticism, while Wemby’s is tilted more towards his frame.
I don’t know, going to be a lot of fun to see how it turns out. It’s nice that Wemby seems happy about going to the Spurs. Apparently everyone in France was rooting for it because of Parker and Diaw.
The Blazers have Jerami Grant at PF. I don’t think there would be any interest in Randle.
And E, there is absolutely zero chance we can trade for the third pick. It’s never happening.
Obviously not going to happen, but it’s worth entertaining the hypothetical:
Say Scoot falls to 3 and Portland is intent on trading the pick. How much would we have to pay to get the pick and would you pull the trigger?
This would be an interesting “all-in” move in the following sense: you sacrifice 2 years of (faux?)contention for long-term franchise health and possible championship upside later down the line. Can Scoot play SG?
I think at the cost required (I’m assuming 3 firsts and IQ + RJ or something) it’s a big ask. But fun to think about.
Again, not gonna happen (other teams can probably offer much more attractive packages), but a good summer basketball thread.
If there’s someone on the board this year they have the hots for, I could see an effort to consolidate a few of the excess picks they have to get into this draft, but they’d have to really love the guy because they will need a stash of picks to make a bigger deal.
Oh, that’s nice. Wasn’t aware of that but it makes perfect sense. I think Wemby is happy because he thinks the Spurs are like those great Parker teams, he’ll probably be less happy when he starts scrimmaging with his new teammates. 😀
If you go after Scoot, you probably send out Grimes & IQ. They desperately need 2 way palyers.
Maybe you need to include one of Mitch or Hartenstein to shore up their defense.
Perhaps some of the protected future picks so they can make a 2nd trade.
He’s a UFA this summer.
Scoot is not really a pg…. he played pg for ignite.. and he can probably play the position like westbrook does or how doncic does it but his best talent is scoring…. in all likelihood he’s like a donovan mitchell type where he’ll have the ball in his hands a lot and has a talent to score… but he’s not a cp3 or steve nash type at all…
you would have to trade Randle to Portland to start… they are not going to give up the #3 pick for loose change… but if it’s for Scoot you should trade someone as good as Randle… for Miller it’s a bit shakey….
The Athletic did a post-lottery drawing mock draft where the beat writers made the top 14 picks: https://theathletic.com/4506397/2023/05/17/nba-mock-draft-beat-writers-wembanyama-henderson/
The funny thing is that the beats for Portland, Houston, Detroit, Indiana, Dallas, and New Orleans all suggest their team might want to trade the pick — and, in the cases of Portland, Houston, and Dallas, the beats expect the pick to be traded. (Indiana is a bit different, as their guy suggested they might try to trade up, rather than down/out.)
So the Houston guy is counting on the Harden homecoming, right?
That’s what the extra picks are for, move those for a different star. The guys I listed are probably more interesting to POR than Randle.
POR could be high on IQ who is both a win now and win later for POR’s failing hybrid strategy.
Grant is very likely to be re-signed, part of why they parted with Hart. If we do include Randle, then Grant could play the 3.
Maybe send RJ (or whoever) and picks to TOR who sends OG to POR.
Add in IQ (who Scoot takes over for) and perhaps Hartenstein. I doubt it gets done because that starts approaching Spida territory for an unproven player.
Wow, already. I guess time flies when you miss the playoffs. 🙂
Shawn Bradley was bad? Every season except his first and last he had a PER above 14. 4 seasons with PER over 17. Led the league in block percentage 7 times. His career TS% is underwhelming, but in Dallas it was a decent 51.9%. 7 seasons where he played 73+ games.
No he wasn’t the superstar he was expected to be at #2, but he was a solid pro IIRC. Also it was super fun to play him in SNES NBA.
Taking a quick look, I’d probably trade for Bufkin or Kris Murray among late 1st prospects.
Murray would be a solid choice to takeover for Obi. Also, he just seems like the kind of guy the Knicks draft (which I know goes against some people’s draft philosophy).
Bufkin seems like he’s been underrated all year. He might climb out of the tradable range.
I think I’ve told this story before on here, but I was in college in Philly for the 1993 draft, so I remember the machinations well. Orlando won the lottery, the Sixers were second, and Golden State was third. By all accounts, Don Nelson desperately wanted Shawn Bradley, and had set up a deal with Orlando similar to the one they ultimate made where Chris Webber became a Warrior. The problem was, the Sixers GM also desperately wanted Shawn Bradley, and he knew that Orlando wanted Penny Hardaway. So he allegedly told the other two teams that he was going to ruin their deal by taking Bradley himself. If he had played his cards right, he could have had either Penny or CWebb, but he just got blinded by the idea of having the 7’6″ 76er.
After what most would deem a “successful” season, I can’t see Brunson or Randle going anywhere.
RJ had a nice playoffs, but we can’t underestimate how badly he hurt the team during the entire regular season. And even with the playoff showing, I don’t think he’s much of a trade chip.
So we are probably looking at moves around the margins. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to trade RJ and a pick for a solid vet like OG, but I don’t see that working out. Obi and a pick might get us a solid starter.
But what the FO really wants is to get a top-20 player to team up with Randle/Brunson through a trade demand where we can dangle a package of three of RJ/Obi/Quick/Mitch/Grimes plus multiple draft picks.
The only possible options for such a trade as of now are: 1. Embiid 2. Jaylen Brown, and neither seem likely to be traded within the division. But you never know who will want out or become available; it could be anyone, from Giannis to Markkanen.
So it seems feasible that Leon will simply “keep the powder dry” with that idea in mind.
From what I’ve seen Edey isn’t even mocked in a lot of drafts. He probably gets a 2-way or some scoops him in the late 2nd.
I’ve seen you compare him to Kessler, but their games are completely different and Kessler was mocked in the 1st round.
this made my day swifty, well done…well done indeed…
Nobody mentioned Boban. Of course he’s not that skinny and has played fewer minutes than most of the oft-injured guys anyway.
bit of a downer reading all the dire health prognostications for wemby…
truth is though – it’s what a lot of us are thinking…we’re thinking that because professional sports are really taxing on the human body…
and, wemby’s body type isn’t all that typical, for any activity…
i liked what someone said about getting him an old school power forward to work with – that is a great idea…
the whole team is gonna have to watch out for him – every one is gonna wanna test that kid around the rim…
didn’t know he’s already experienced a broken foot…that’s tough…
Rik Smits was like 7’3″ or 7’4″ and played until he was 33. There have been so few guys that tall it’s hard to say if you can’t be that tall and hold up or there are so few people that tall most of them aren’t good athletes and you can’t hold up in the NBA if you’re not a good athlete. Or maybe a combination of the two
Mark Eaton did pretty well…but he was like a tank..
Buck Showalter’s lineups are bizarre. The Mets finally call up Mark Vientos after he smashed AAA pitching for 6 weeks, then they put him in the lineup, but instead of DHing him (he’s a poor defender) they put him at 3B and bench Brett Baty (he’s a good defender and just broke out of a slump) so they can play the oh so mediocre Tommy Pham at DH. Eduardo Escobar, who can’t hit or play defense, is batting second.
Portland is over the cap and tax threshold, so there isn’t a clear path for them to trade the #3 pick for an established star without including Simmons and/or Nurkic. Or an S&T with Grant I guess, but it seems that of all teams, the Knicks are most specifically precluded from a deal because all they can do is offer Randle, which is a relatively lateral move for the Blazers since they have Grant’s bird rights, and it’s not worth giving up the #3 for that kind of upgrade.
It will be interesting to see how Cronin rebuilds it now that he’s got #3. He inherited a rather shitty hand, but has only really made it worse since taking over.
I was trying to figure out how Ben Simmons landed on the Blazers. But then I realized…….
I think Wemby is a Sampson clone and will end up needing to play 4 rather than 5. Don’t forget Sampson played 4 in a twin towers lineup with some guy named Olajuwon!
Hey, Brian is doing his best; he’s just been busy building Knickerblogger posts.
Keeping a close eye on all the beef sizzling on this blog is a full time occupation!!!!
The beef has actually gotten pretty cold here over the past day or two. And I for one certainly have no complaints about that.
Nurkic and #3 for Ayton makes both teams better.
Really? (But even if it did, the salaries don’t match, Ayton makes double what Nurkic makes)
The Blazers are clearly DOOMED.
I’ve been trying to figure out a possible trade for a draft pick, but I don’t see much out there. It’s probably true Portland would prefer an established player to using their pick, but teams that would make that sort of trade are usually rebuilding ones. Think of San Antonio trading Murray to Atlanta for picks or NY trading Morris the Clippers. We are not in that situation. I could see us exchanging a future pick for a current one, but that won’t get us a high pick because we are unlikely to want to blow our draft wad on a pick instead of an established player. So if there is some particular player we like late in the draft, maybe we will trade for him on draft day, assuming we can just give up one pick to do that. That might happen with a trade partner that is likely to be in the tax in the future since the new CBA probably makes draft picks more valuable to such teams.
I’m actually half expecting a deal like Robinson and Fournier and one pick for Ayton. I hate giving up Robinson, but it is very hard to claim that we aren’t getting the best player in that deal.
The best prospect of all time has to be Kareem, you essentially knew you were drafting someone who was going to be the best player in the NBA in a couple years.
Speaking of KP, would any of you be happy to see the Knicks take him back? He’d be an upgrade over Randle defensively or help the spread the floor better than Mitch.
I know it’s beyond unlikely.
Portland would have to make an ancillary move or 2 to clear cap space, but I think it is doable and Ayton needs a fresh start.
Okay, I actually don’t remember the gang discussing this. With a 34-21-14 stat line against LeBron and AD, and seasons and seasons of incredible basketball and two actual MVPs (arguably deserving a third and the only real candidate still playing…), where does one think Jokic is going to end up in the pantheon of the greatest?
It’s kind of hard to place a guy with a giant red nose and the speed of molasses coming out of a thin-necked bottle, but seriously, holy cow.
Lowry thinks he’s still playing the Knicks.
Here’s my recollection:
There are three “prospects” that are clearly above all others: Wilt (a territorial pick, but still hyped off the charts) Kareem, and LeBron. No one had any doubt whatsoever that they would be the best players of their respective eras. Shaq is pretty close and the only one that belongs in the conversation. These guys were considered both unstoppable and indestructable forces that would be dominant on Day 1. Absolute no-doubters to be in the top-5 of all time conversation, and Shaq would probably be there if he cared more and stayed in shape.
A level below those 4 you have Magic, Duncan, and Sampson. Probably Yao Ming too. Splitting hairs, though. This is probably the tier I would put Wemby in just by hype.
Then you have the 3 late ’80’s Cs: Hakeem, Ewing and Robinson. Ewing was probably the most hyped due to the lottery and Georgetown, but not by much. Zion might fit with these guys. I don’t put Oden in this class because there was at least some debate as to whether he should be taken #1 over Durant, while everyone else named was an absolute sure-fire #1.
Danny Manning was pretty hyped as well and a sure fire first pick, head and shoulders over the rest. Not sure where he would fit, but he was certainly big-time hyped. Probably something like AD and Oden.
I can’t really speak to guys before like Baylor, Oscar and Russell. Basketball wasn’t really talked much about in the mainstream until the Wilt larger than life freak show came along.
I should include Bird in the hype list somewhere, but he was scammed into the 6th pick a year early and all the hype was about when he came to the Celts. But he was plenty hyped, probably in that second level with Magic, appropriately.
Heat having a lot of trouble against a healthy team
Celtics are just better. That lob was pretty
Oh, one guy I left out is Bill Walton, he was incredibly hyped, straddling that first and second level.
Would definitely like any of Max Lewis, Kris Murray, or Bufkin with a late first.
Bilal Coulibaly and Brandin Podziemski look interesting in the early second…
Wait for the Spo adjustment and we’ll see if Boston can weather that.
I actually think Mitch is better than Ayton. And for the tax hit we’d rack up I think it’s a no brainier to keep Mitch.
It’s easy to fall in love with skillset, but Ayton just isn’t productive enough, or at least hasn’t shown it.
That did not age well
“From what I’ve seen Edey isn’t even mocked in a lot of drafts. He probably gets a 2-way or some scoops him in the late 2nd.
I’ve seen you compare him to Kessler, but their games are completely different and Kessler was mocked in the 1st round.”
Edey is undecided as to whether to stay in the draft. He was widely mocked at various locations in the second round. I think if he stays, someone will nab him in the very late first, or early in the second, which says as much about this draft as about him. That said, I think he’s going to surprise.
Oh please, please PLEASE let me be wrong about the Celts!
I think the Knicks would be in a similar position the Heat are in right now against the Celtics.
Boston is deep with very very good players. I’m not sure they have the top end talent to put them over the top.
Butler is once again the best player in the series and, with all due respect to Tatum, I don’t think it’s close.
Using TNFH’s heuristic, Boston only has 1 player over a 4 BPM. Lots of 2 & 3 BPM guys but I think the lack of top end guys is gonna hurt, like it did us.
Was that Bam injuring another player?
Bam is a hazard out there…
Z-man is feeling dumb but happy!
YouTubeTV crapping out with 4 minutes to go in this game is unbelievable
Fuck you, Celtics!
My definitely legal feed also cut out, showed the same 5 seconds of the little mermaid ad about 30 times.
I’m feeling a bit better about losing to the Heat
Glad I’m not the only one who’s YouTube TV feed crapped out. Although looks like it’s only TNT for some reason the other channels are fine.
The Heat beat the Bucks, beat us, and took home court from the Celtics. Can we all agree we lost to a very good team?
I really despise these Celtics. Bam and Butler were awesome. It’s hard not to feel like a complete waste of time to watch two and a half hours and then have the streaming provider shit the bed in crunch time.
I also despise Twitter, but watching people lose their minds over this fiasco there is cathartic.
I would love if the Heat won in 5. First, because fuck the Celtics, second, so that all the bs about how an inferior team beat us would be stuffed back the piehole.
Celtics won’t go that easily, though. We’ll see.
(Also, maybe they’d be more open to a sign and trade off Brown if they lost?)
Meanwhile…how ’bout those Mets?
The Mets should play the kids. The kids are better than the vets.
The Heat sweeping would be amazing. It’d also be funny if they played the Lakers, and Miami would have home court as a #8 seed!!!
You could be right. I remember the team acquired Fournier because we needed shooting and it didn’t work out well even though he is a definitely a good shooter.
Remember when the Heat got Kyle Lowry and we all thought, “Wow, that was a perfect move for them,” and then he sucked for two years but is now playing like how we all thought he would play when they got him? That’s weird, right?
The thing with Ayton is that his advanced metrics are pretty poor. He was meaningfully worse than Mitch in all of them this year.
That said, last year’s Ayton put up a 2.2 OBPM, over double this year’s Mitch (but still worse by ORAPTOR). Ayton still put up a .600 TS% on 23% usage this year anyway.
The question is if Ayton is being held back statistically because Phoenix runs their offense through their guards & wings rather than featuring Ayton. Can he up his usage to Randle ranges on a different team? If he does, can he sustain his TS%? Ayton was assisted on ~80% of his shots.
On the other hand Mitch is pretty well liked by every advanced metrics, literally doubled Ayton’s ORB%, and plays much better defense.
Ayton doesn’t play defense. We know how that ends.
I did not know how the Celts game would end but wow. Jimmy with six steals, just to choose one data point. Although it looks like Bam, Strus and Gabe did damage.
… and then if they beat the 8 seed, in the ECF they’ll likely play a team coached by Joe Mazzulla …