2023/2024 NBA THREAD: WHO WANTS TO GO ON PARADE?!?

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Originally Posted by Adolf Allerbush

I'm sure I'll end up regretting saying this, but Cronin is kicking ass. A++ so far with this whole deal. Miami looks so stupid....not only did they miss the boat with Dame but now two of their top competitors in the east are better than they were before they decided to be idiots with one of the leagues best. Now Brogdon to be traded too? and I like Cinnepa's idea...76ers seems a fantastic fit. Maybe for a player and a pick.

and I'm sorry, but this Zers team might be ok. Not gonna win a chip but they could be a pain in the ass for a lot of teams.

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I agree with all of this, whole heartedly. And I was a bit sour on Cronin ..not raging butt ache, but I was thinking he was out of his element.

This team maaaaay make a play-in with their sheer athleticism. Having Scoot, Ant, Grant, TL and Ayton (with Sharpe coming off the bench!) will be a crazy amount of athleticism and very little experience. Williams and Ayton are the vets.

I called this last season and and I'll say it again: Anfernee goes off this season, a la https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/1...ers-heat-check

The dude is so capable and just coming into his own at 25, with better handles and more aggression. Loved Dames shout out to "Anferno" on the way out the door.

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Originally Posted by Danno

Agree with your first two takes, 100%.
Disagree on the 3rd, MPJ has WAY more potential but on the court right now? No way.
I don't think you watched enough White last year, he was better than KCP by a good stretch.
Gordon and Porzingis is interesting. Gordon is certainly more reliable historically and is a completely different kind of defender. KP is a much better rim protector and scorer. If he's healthy and plays like last season, I think your take is completely wrong. But he may be neither.

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Good discussion for sure. I think you're right that I didn't watch White enough last year. I'll give you that, and I'm down on him - maybe irrationally so. I'd counter with you not watching MPJ enough - if people only say him in the playoffs he struggled. That's a real thing that needs to be considered, but he's very, very good. There's reason he got his contract. His first two years in the league he averaged around a PER of 20. Jrue has never been that high and didn't crack 17 until like his 6th year. Last year he was working back from injury and still posted almost a 17. I think Jrue is a fantastic basketball player. But MPJ, when healthy, is better than almost anyone realizes. The Nuggets not having a local broadcaster keeps this stuff so far under the radar.

Porzingus - to be frank, I don't trust him. I don't think he can anchor the inside, and I don't understand how he helps a team with the three Js on either offense or defense. I think he's a stat guy on bad teams. But as you say, I may be wrong. That said, Porzingus averages about 20 per game historically usually as a first or second option and Gordon averaged 16 last year as about the 4th option on the Nuggets, so while I agree about offense it's not that drastically different. The difference is that Gordon can guard 1-5 at an extremely high level. He hasn't made an all defense team for the same reason it took Jokic so long to make an all star team - no exposure, no belief. That will likely change. But the dude is a lights out defender. That and reliability make me take Gordon.

But fun discussion for sure. Ya Celtics homer. Ha.

The Celtics keep putting together a roster of versatile, well rounded players that somehow don't fit together all that well on offense. They've got a bunch of guys who can do a bunch of things well but their O frequently devolves into a jumbled mess. I think Tatum and Brown (and formerly Smart) want to be more than they are and that the coaches allow it instead of demanding they focus on what they are good at. That gives everyone else license to do the same. Hopefully this year is different. My hope is that the addition of Jrue leads to less half court dribbling by Brown and that the addition of Porzingis leads to more passing out of double teams by Tatum. But I'm expecting more of the same.

I do think the C's are more talented than the Nuggets 2-5, but that the Nuggets should be the favorites without question. MPJ is tall and has a beautiful shooting stroke but it otherwise a bit of a dope. And Aaron Gordon does not create his own shot well at all. But Jokic pretty much erases those flaws while also nudging Murray away from his former tendency to be a ball hogging chucker. Jokic is like a magic carpet that really ties a room together. His selflessness, and good coaching, has everyone playing like the best version of themselves.

Right now I lean toward Milwaukee winning the East. I think Dame, Giannis and Middleton are inherently unselfish players who will eventually have that offense humming. But that team is old and not all that athletic beyond Giannis. We'll see how big the dip on D is without Jrue.

Miami will still have the best coaching. I'm not ruling them out at all.

I think both the Bucks and Celtics felt they simply had to shake it up instead of running it back again and coming up short. I like it. Sometimes you have to roll the dice and see what happens. I'll never count out Jimmy Butler and the Heat but they had a horrible off season and that team is only going to be a year older now.

Pretty much agree with all that ISBD said.

Jokic is a cheat code that makes the Nuggets 2-5 look amazeballs (and I do think Murray is amazing, but as a complementary piece to Jokic).

And I don't trust Porzingis at all. But when talking who is better 1-5, the presumption is 1-5 are actually playing and not injured. And there was a time when Porzingis was considered one of the true rising stars, but after the injuries and mediocre play, that talk went away. But the analytics guys say he was really good last year and is currently underrated; I didn't see him play at all so I am just hoping they are right.

All good comments from the last few posters.

Having said that, I just saw a photo of White's new hairdo and now I'm not sure what to think, besides that he aged about 10 years in one off season. Bring back the old 'do Derrick! I'll bump you up my rankings, I swear.

"hairdo"? Yes, the TRGs are a bunch of old ladies.

and I would say lack of one, no?

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Originally Posted by Danno

"hairdo"? Yes, the TRGs are a bunch of old ladies.

and I would say lack of one, no?

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Yes.

And yes.

As long as what White does with his hair doesn't affect what he does on the court, I'm all for it. I like him more and more each day. And I like his path to the NBA. He sorta appeared out of nowhere, especially since he was a mid-season trade that factored big in the finals. Pretty good for a "nobody". I like that.

bald is beautiful

I already love Time Lord.

When he was asked about Scoot Henderson:

https://twitter.com/AaronJFentress/s...292659184?s=19

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Originally Posted by The Reverend Floater

I already love Time Lord.

When he was asked about Scoot Henderson:

https://twitter.com/AaronJFentress/s...292659184?s=19

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TimeLord seemed like an awesome guy in his time in Boston. Def a guy to root for.

Yeah, the entire Boston fan base loved that guy.

When he's healthy, the game noticeably changes when he's on the floor, at both ends of the court. The lob threat and shot blocking he adds bends offenses and defenses.

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Originally Posted by Danno

Yeah, the entire Boston fan base loved that guy.

When he's healthy, the game noticeably changes when he's on the floor, at both ends of the court. The lob threat and shot blocking he adds bends offenses and defenses.

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Yup. He's awesome.

Fun times to watch the Pistons again, even though it’s the preseason. I like this time of the season where I can still be optimistic, I can still believe in them before my hopes are crushed.

They took Phoenix to overtime tonight, several of them looked like actual NBA players. Unfortunately Cade wasn’t one of them. Bagley looked like he wanted to play in the NBA, obviously he wants that back up center position more than Wiseman. At this point Wiseman looks to be another in Weaver’s long list of unfounded rehabilitation projects. Perhaps he can still salvage an NBA career, but if you can’t get minutes on the Pistons, where is your career headed?

Killian looked like he knows his next contract is in the balance, he was aggressive but yet still didn’t have his shot. Ivey came off the bench and gave some spark, he shot the ball well and drove at times. Ausar Thompson is going to be a stud, dude will stuff the stat sheet. He’s going to put up Andrei Kirilenko type numbers.

I’m hoping for that play in!

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Originally Posted by BobMc

Fun times to watch the Pistons again, even though it’s the preseason. I like this time of the season where I can still be optimistic, I can still believe in them before my hopes are crushed.

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Gotta love the optimism! I did see that the Suns dropped 46 points in the first quarter of the game last night so I was surprised it went to OT when I just looked up the score. And for what its worth, reports were that Cade impressed this summer on the Team USA practice squad so hopefully it was just a one-game, first game on the preseason thing. It is preseason after all, and its a long season. I think Cade has a lot of potential.

I did like seeing some of the Jazz's highlights last night and I'm excited to see what the Jazz can do this year. Particularly interested to see who ends up being their starting PG and the development of rookie Keyonte George. I still understand the Jazz are rebuilding so likely won't do much this season.

Either way, I'm stoked for the upcoming season!

JJ and Lowe have a good season review podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...=1000632350396

Also Lowe's tier article came out: https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/sto...st-worst-teams

Well the Nuggets are rolling early.

And so is Pozingus!

I'm not sure what to think of the Celtics at Knicks game.

Cavs, now under new ownership, are 1-0 after a thrilling come from behind [after choking a 10pt lead] 1-point win.

The disappointing thing is no matter how good this team is this year (should be pretty f'in good), all the national talking heads will still be talking about how long till Donovan bolts for the Knicks or some such shit.

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Originally Posted by BmillsSkier

Cavs, now under new ownership, are 1-0 after a thrilling come from behind [after choking a 10pt lead] 1-point win.

The disappointing thing is no matter how good this team is this year (should be pretty f'in good), all the national talking heads will still be talking about how long till Donovan bolts for the Knicks or some such shit.

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Cavs, now under new *minority* ownership. Pretty rad for the Browns that Myles Garrett is now a minority owner of the local bball team, definitely shows commitment to the city and the football team.

No surprise about Donovan Mitchell.... His desire to be a knickbocker is well known and he even said one of the great things about being traded to Clevland was the shorter flight to NYC than Utah. This is the year to trade him if you are going to as it will be a lot harder next season when he's potentially in his final year of his contract. I think it would actually benefit the Cavs if they could get back some good players because as is the Cavs have two ball-dominant guards so it's hindering Garland's development. Donovan would be a great compliment to a better player imo but as a Jazz fan, I don't think he's going to be a number one guy on a championship team.

For a guy that has been making everyone think he doesn't really like basketball (top-quality trolling), Jokic looked damn good on opening night!

Go sixers. No exclamation point. 2nd or even 1st round playoff exit i predict.

Go Pistons! Exclamation point.

First game was fun to watch, lost to the Heat by one, with a shot to win as the buzzer went off. They look markedly improved since last season, Monty has shaken up the rotation a bit. No longer are players let play on after mistakes or not playing defense. Accountability seems to be helping to turn things around.

Tonight they led the Hornets from start to finish, once again on the road. The Hornets didn’t have an answer to the physicality of Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren. I had to watch the Hornets feed, for some reason the app won’t let me select the Detroit feed. But, it was interesting listening to the Hornets announcers gush about what a “beast” Duren is. Cade was the best player on the floor against the Heat, he was off tonight and it was nice to see some of the other Pistons (I’m looking at you Alec Burks) step up and carry the load.

I’m basking in the glory of .500, hopefully it keeps up. I’m looking forward to watching the home opener against the Bulls tomorrow.

Celtics.

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/17180...0%2Fframe.html