NBA 2016-17 Season Thread - Knicks in 6

If I was a Celtics fan, I'd really be wondering if they offered something similar to get Jimmy Butler or low-balled it. I would much rather have Butler than Irving.

Some guy that posted on twitter about a conversation he had with Ainge the day before the trade went down, said Ainge told him the Celtics offered the Nets pick+ for Paul George. For some idiotic reason the Pacers were hellbent on shipping him out of the conference, so they took Oladipo and Sabonis instead lol. Inexcusable for a team that clearly needs to start rebuilding to care that much about sending their star out of conference vs. getting the max value possible. Ainge may have gone in the opposite direction of that on this trade though - getting great value but at the cost of helping the Cavs out, and that does matter to the Celtics today.

a_skeleton_06 said:

I think that Brooklyn pick has the very real potential of being outside the top 5. They have 0 reason to tank this year and the East is SO BAD. I can see the Pacers, Bulls, Magic, Pistons, Hawks and maybe Knicks all racing to bottom out the hardest. If this time next year LeBron is gone and they don't re-sign IT and have like the Nets #7 pick...that's pretty goddamn rough.

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They had 0 reason to tank last year too, they just don't have talent to win games. They arguably have even less than they had last year. There are other bad teams, but the Nets are about as bad as you can get. Really good chance for top 5, and as good a chance as anybody else for top 2.

Kyrie Irving is a top 3 PG in the league. He has a ring. He hit the crunch time shot to win that title against the greatest team in history. He is an All Star.

He's only 25! He hasn't even hit his prime, yet has championship experience. You don't usually ever get a chance to land a player of such caliber.

They still have Marcus Smart on short money, who is one of the best defenders in the NBA. Steven's can hide Kyrie defensively just like he did Thomas who was even worse, OR challenge him to evolve into a better defender. There is only upside for him, and he has already reached the apex of basketball.

Thomas in the other hand is approaching 30 and probably has already produced his best season last year. He isn't going to get better.

Crowder could turn out to be a great asset but until he can hit an open 3 consistently he will be a middling option like he was in Boston.

Edit: Also ball handling is becoming a lost art in the NBA. So many teams are either having a forward run point or playing hot potato with the ball, spreading it out, trying to get that open 3. Guys aren't really handling the ball as much anymore so there has been less importance in ball handling. Some good players STRUGGLE to bring the ball up the court or iso a defender effectively without turning the ball over. Only a couple guys are master ball handlers in today's game, Westbrook, Paul, Harden, Irving and maybe a few others but Kyrie is better than them all and it isn't an argument. That is huge for the Celtics shitty transition offense as well as half court.

Just going to ignore Curry's ball handling skills?

You know I always forget someone or something when I do my long assessments. But yes, he has the crazy handle as well. Shit done changed since the days of Allen Iverson crossing people up, or Mitch Richmond type players who can keep defenders at bay to let shit develop and go deep into the shot clock.

Now motherfuckers are just bringing the ball up and taking a 3 point shot from 27 feet with 20 seconds left on the shot clock. And if not they pass the ball around the perimeter or try a high screen just to settle for a contested triple anyway.

How is 40% from three on 5.5 attempts not a consistent three point shot?

DickTrickle said:

How is 40% from three on 5.5 attempts not a consistent three point shot?

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It's less than half!

They can't all be Pau Gasol!

Nerlens Noel, he of 8.5 PPG and 6.8 RPG, turned down a 17.5 million per year offer. What is this guy's ceiling? A poor man's Deandre Jordan? Seems like a bad move, especially with his injury history.

Saw Charles Oakley at my job yesterday, dude looked old as shit.

So the Cavs, Boston trade might fall through. I have a question though...does any team have a better offer to make for Irving? Would the Cavs be stupid enough to void the deal and take Irving back?

Now that we know that IT's hip is fucked, this deal swings in Boston's favor IMO.

Word was that Lebron really wanted a Bledsoe / Josh Jackson deal with Phoenix but Phoenix didn't want to part with Jackson. You can understand Phoenix wanting to stay younger because of how ridiculous the west is right now, and even with a Irving / Booker backcourt they may make the playoffs but only as a bottom seed. Still, not bad to try to start something with a backcourt like that. I wonder if there's a chance they'd reconsider since seeing that Ainge was willing to give up so much for Kyrie.

I never said taking a pull up 3 early in the shot clock was necessarily a good or bad thing I was just highlighting how times have changed.

Shooting 3s is all the rage now, I get it. It's just a different era. I remember when And1 basketball tournaments used to be a thing and the most anticipated and coveted skill was ball handling. A guy who could dribble was more exciting than a guy who could jump out of the gym.

Now no one cares it's just lol3s. They mine as well add a 4 point shot like Ice Cubes basketball league.

Crowder isn't a bad shooter, if that's what you meant I think I'm biased I just felt like every time a Celtics game happened to be on Crowder had just missed a 3.

Kevin Durant has fake twitter accounts he uses to talk about himself.

http://deadspin.com/kevin-durant-trashes-former-coach-teammates-on-twitter-1818504820

Rengak said:

Kevin Durant has fake twitter accounts he uses to talk about himself.

http://deadspin.com/kevin-durant-trashes-former-coach-teammates-on-twitter-1818504820

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Dude's off his rocker. He's got the cupcake shoes and now this. He seems to be the only one talking about his move anymore.

Don't care as long as he keeps hitting title-clinching daggers in Lebron's eye.

Dumb shit like this is why I don't trust sports news. I means the Warriors over San Antonio?? Come on!

Pigbenis said:

Dumb shit like this is why I don't trust sports news. I means the Warriors over San Antonio?? Come on!

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I'll take my 6.5%.