***2021-2022 NBA Season Thread***

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

I'm not getting that pickup either, but whatever. Also the Lakers don't even have their 2015 1st round pick after the season, they only picked up the Rockets 2015 with the Lin trade. Welp, guess I have to deal with another year of missing the playoffs and I'm actually fine with it. Time to usher a new era in.

Expiring contract.

And hey Lakers fans, you renounced your Bird's rights to Karl Malone today. The future is now!! (And no, I'm not kidding.)

[DCranon21]

Expiring contract.

And hey Lakers fans, you renounced your Bird's rights to Karl Malone today. The future is now!! (And no, I'm not kidding.)

 

Yeah I just seen that...times are bad right now...LOL

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Yeah I just seen that...times are bad right now...LOL

But for real, you all are playing it smart at least. Basically doing the same thing as the Wizards, signing everyone to 1 and 2 year deals (like Boozer here). Big difference is your star player is closer to 40 while ours are closer to 20 (Beal just turned 21 a few weeks ago and Wall was born in 19****ing90--God I feel old). Being in LA though and just being the Lakers should make up for SOME of that. Eventually.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I would trade either of the Wizards' top two players for a 25 year old Kevin Love.  Wall would be tough, but I probably would do it anyway.  If you are talking Beal instead of Wall, I'd make that trade fast that the tarmac on Interstate 76 between DC and Cleveland would catch on fire.

 

 

I'm not sure I would trade Wall for Love. But I would need a night to really study it. It's a league loaded with point guards right now, and Wall could be special. Watching Love and Beal trade jumpers doesn't sound like a path to glory.

 

Beal for Love? Oh, Christ, yes. Beal is good. And he seems especially good with Wall. But Love is in a different category.

[@DCGoldPants]

NBA trade rumor: Warriors willing to trade Klay Thompson in package for Kevin Love - Golden State Of Mind http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2014/7/18/5914769/nba-trade-rumor-2014-kevin-love-klay-thompson-golden-state-warriors

 

If this is true and Minny would be getting Thompson, Lee and Barnes. Then Love is going to San Fran. Nothing Cleveland will offer could match that.

[DCranon21]

But for real, you all are playing it smart at least. Basically doing the same thing as the Wizards, signing everyone to 1 and 2 year deals (like Boozer here). Big difference is your star player is closer to 40 while ours are closer to 20 (Beal just turned 21 a few weeks ago and Wall was born in 19****ing90--God I feel old). Being in LA though and just being the Lakers should make up for SOME of that. Eventually.

 

Yeah, next season is a wash. I hope the Boozer move doesn't stunt Randle's 1st year. Also Henry was just brought back and they waived Randall, but I think they want to get a one year deal with him. I'm expecting a 35 win season coming up.

 

And hire Byron Scott already.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

NBA trade rumor: Warriors willing to trade Klay Thompson in package for Kevin Love - Golden State Of Mind http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2014/7/18/5914769/nba-trade-rumor-2014-kevin-love-klay-thompson-golden-state-warriors

 

If this is true and Minny would be getting Thompson, Lee and Barnes. Then Love is going to San Fran. Nothing Cleveland will offer could match that.

 

Why would Golden State rush? The trade deadlines in February. That offer will still look good then, right?

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Mixed reports now, that Cavs have NOT offered Wiggins and that the Warriors have NOT offered Thompson, that both rumors are just bull**** put out by Flip to up the ante. Who knows.

[DCranon21]

Mixed reports now, that Cavs have NOT offered Wiggins and that the Warriors have NOT offered Thompson, that both rumors are just bull**** put out by Flip to up the ante. Who knows.

 

Cavs should keep Wiggins IMO. I think the Wolves want way too much, and he can be had after this season by the Cavs. Again, that's my opinion.

[Going Commando]

I would trade either of the Wizards' top two players for a 25 year old Kevin Love.  Wall would be tough, but I probably would do it anyway.  If you are talking Beal instead of Wall, I'd make that trade fast that the tarmac on Interstate 76 between DC and Cleveland would catch on fire.

Well I wouldn't deal Wall for Love because I need Wall as my leader. Minny wouldn't trade love for a PG anyway.

But the reason I wouldn't trade Beal for Love is because a Wall/Love construction isn't good enough to be a title favorite IMO. The team that'd be special is Wall + Beal + Love, that team would be a perennial title contender. You're better off keeping Beal the next two seasons and either go after Kevin Love as a UFA or Kevin Durant the next summer than trading Beal and then that's it, you're team is locked in for years.

 

 

I also don't know where the idea keeps coming from that Love can't play any defense in any scheme.   No, he's not a rim protector, but he's strong and smart, he can body up, and if you miss your shot, you never get a second shot because he will get the rebound.   Preventing second shots is part of defense.  Plenty of strong defensive teams have a player like that at PF.  Memphis has Zach Randolph, who has short arms and is a mediocre defender on his own, and they are a defensive juggernaut.  The Warriors have David Lee, who is a liability on defense for all the same reasons as Love (except even more so), and they were third in the NBA in defensive efficiency.   The Chicago Bulls started Carlos freaking Boozer at PF last year, and played defense like the Bulls all year long.  

 

If you have a stopper, and a rim protector, you can scheme a defense that covers for a great offensive player with defensive flaws.  Lebron is that stopper.  If they get a good rim protector behind Love, they will be fine.  

 

To be honest, I think I would be much more worried about Kyrie's lack of defense than Love's.   Kyrie not only lacks defensive skills, he just doesn't care about defense.

Agreed, but I'll point out that a rim protector of true quality can be expensive and hard to find. There are lots of tall, athletic guys that block shots that aren't actually good defenders. JaVale McGee comes to mind. An Andrew Bogut or a Roy Hibbert is tough to find.

Miami would, admittedly, have a difficult time finding a rim protector to play behind Love with three max players on the books. If I were them, I'd be calling Milwaukee about John Henson and be prepared to give up anything but one of my top three guys to get either him or Sanders.

But I also don't think Miami would have to build an elite defense to be good enough to win a title. Their offense would be the best in the league and those three stars mesh together perfectly on offense.

I will say, Love's problems on D go beyond lack of rim protection. You have clear effort issues and you have a lack of mobility to guard in space and cover PnRs. But you're right, he is strong and uses positioning to his advantage and he finishes the D by getting the rebound. Although bodying up posting bigs is less primary now that you don't have many low post scoring big men in the league.

But you're right, Love is a much better defensive player than Kyrie Irving. Kyrie doesn't really do anything redeeming on D.

Love, Harden, and Irving are all similar "stars" IMO. They're not leaders nor well rounded players. They're like super duper specialists. They can be highly valuable in the right team structure. And I think the right structure could be had in Cleveland because of LeBron.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Yup. I've said before that Love reminds me of Harden. And I've said about all three (Love, Harden and Irving) that you'll never win it all if they're THE guy on your team (that's why I take Wall over Irving all day, everyday). Now does LeBron make up for Irving and Love being your #2 and #3? Guess we'll be finding out.

[Going Commando]

I'm not sure I would trade Wall for Love. But I would need a night to really study it. It's a league loaded with point guards right now, and Wall could be special. Watching Love and Beal trade jumpers doesn't sound like a path to glory.

 

Beal for Love? Oh, Christ, yes. Beal is good. And he seems especially good with Wall. But Love is in a different category.

Beal for Love is a win in a vacuum. You're trading a worse player for a better one. But like I said to Predicto: what's the move after Beal for Love?

That's my issue. It's the same issue as the potential Harden for Beal trade two summers ago. I think Love would be a fantastic fit in DC with Wall. Same reason I think he'd be a fantastic fit with LeBron.

But is Wall + Love + Gortat enough to win a championship? I don't see it unfortunately. And you wouldn't have any other assets. You'd be praying Otto Porter ends up being really really really good to get you over the hump.

With Beal, you've got two more seasons of rookie deals. You've got the cap flexibility to make the next move.

Cleveland is in a different position. They've already got the assets to make the Love deal without giving up one of their two best players. The Wizards unfortunately do not. The only way the Wizards can get Love without giving up Wall or Beal is if Love is dead set on coming here and gets Minny to do a S&T next summer. That's not happening, someone will trade for him before then.

Cavs should keep Wiggins IMO. I think the Wolves want way too much, and he can be had after this season by the Cavs. Again, that's my opinion.

Love will get traded or Minny will go off this season and he'll re-up for a 5 year extension. I don't think he ever hits the open market. If the Cavs want him, they need to trade for him.

[JoeWolf990]

Love is absolutely not resigning in Minnesota.

No amount of money will keep him around. Its one thing if it was a big market, like Melo in NYC, but Love does not like Minneapolis.

Edited July 18, 2014 by JoeWolf990

[Going Commando]

Why would Golden State rush? The trade deadlines in February. That offer will still look good then, right?

Unless Cleveland beats them to the punch.

If I'm Golden State, I go ahead and pull the trigger if Lee + Barnes + Thompson gets me Love. They've got the players in place to play good defense around Curry in Love because they're already playing good defense around Lee.

Predicto questioned Beal's value being based on potential and he wouldn't hesitate to include Beal for Love. But IMO Beal is FAR more valuable than Thompson. Beal at 20 is as good as Thompson at 24. Beal has a legit chance to be the best SG in the game in two years or so. Thompson does not. Lee is good but will decline from here on out. Barnes is not actually very good.

That's another trade that is absolutely a no brainer IMO. You'd be giving up three players who have zero chance of being close to as good as Love to create a team that has a chance to jump into the top four of the West for the next couple of years.

Love is absolutely not resigning in Minnesota.

No amount of money will keep him around. Its one thing if it was a big market, like Melo in NYC, but Love does not like Minneapolis.

Love will play there if they win 50+ next season.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Unless Cleveland beats them to the punch.

 

 

I'm mocking the people telling Cleveland to wait.

[Going Commando]

I'm mocking the people telling Cleveland to wait.

Oh, whups. My sarcasm meter was turned off.

[Predicto]

 Beal at 20 is as good as Thompson at 24. Beal has a legit chance to be the best SG in the game in two years or so. Thompson does not.

 

I guess it is all in how you value Beal.  I don't see Beal as being nearly as good as Thompson right now.  

 

Right now, Thompson is taller and longer, is a much better shooter, a better defender, has a post up game when the offense breaks down, and has missed one game to injury in 3 years, while playing many more games against the tougher teams in the western conference.  Thompson guards the opposing point guard most of the time, something that Wall does in Washington rather than Beal.  

 

Beal has better highlight reels and athleticism, is a better finisher, and may have more star potential, but potential often is not realized.  That handful of games in the playoffs last year may mean that he has taken the next step, but it may not.   

[Warhead36]

I don't know if there are 5 guys in the league I trade Beal for straight up. He stepped up big in the playoffs and is going to be a star in this league.

 

Love is a great player but trading Beal for him would make no sense. We don't improve enough as a team.

 

Our best shot at getting that 3rd star is to make a push for Durant in 2016. Till then it's Wall and Beal and hope to build a solid supporting cast to make deep playoff runs.

[Predicto]

I don't know if there are 5 guys in the league I trade Beal for straight up. 

 

[Warhead36]

I'm not saying Beal is a top 5 player in the league. I'm saying I wouldn't trade him for all but a few players. He's too valuable when you factor in his age, his upside, and his cheap contract. You don't trade a player like Beal, you build your franchise around him for the next 10+ years.

[Predicto]

I'm not saying Beal is a top 5 player in the league. I'm saying I wouldn't trade him for all but a few players. He's too valuable when you factor in his age, his upside, and his cheap contract. You don't trade a player like Beal, you build your franchise around him for the next 10+ years.

 

But Beal hasn't superstarred up yet.  Half the teams in the league have someone that they think is about to blow up.  Heck, after Harrison Barnes looked awesome in the 2013 playoffs, we GSW fans thought we had the next superstar.  

 

But we didn't.

[Destino]

But Beal hasn't superstarred up yet.  Half the teams in the league have someone that they think is about to blow up.  Heck, after Harrison Barnes looked awesome in the 2013 playoffs, we GSW fans thought we had the next superstar.  

 

But we didn't.

 

Wall is the only wizard that really showing star power.  He is an excellent passer, he's greatly improved his scoring ability to the point where he is approaching 20ppg, and when motivated he's a standout defender.  He's highly ranked among point guards in virtually every statistical category.  Wall is also one of the few players in the league that can be described as a one man fast break.  Wall forces defenders to block off the rim which makes pick n pop opportunities for bigs essentially always wide open, sadly we do not have a big with a fantastic mid range shot.  Despite all that, Wall is just now crossing into star territory.

 

Star players tend to do a lot of things well.  Beal really doesn't stand out in anyway other than shooting right now.  His handles are still average, his defense isn't great, he's a good passer but nothing really to get all that excited about, he's less effective when he has to create his own shot, and he's not a great rebounder.  There is reason to feel good about him but eggs are not chickens.  As a wizard fan it's easy to over rate Beal because when he does flash potential it's brilliant, but until he's consistently affecting the game in multiple ways he's not a star.  

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

Wall is a game changer. Plain and simple. That's a true superstar. When he's in, the pace changes completely

[Going Commando]

Destino Beal does everything well given his age IMO. Give it a year or two and he'll have no real holes in his game. That's what makes him so special. He's not just a shooter.

[Destino]

Destino Beal does everything well given his age IMO. Give it a year or two and he'll have no real holes in his game. That's what makes him so special. He's not just a shooter.

I agree but potential isn't guaranteed. It looks like he'll get there but he might not and it's important to remember that.

Edited July 19, 2014 by Destino