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

[PeterMP]

9 hours ago, Dr. Do Itch Big said:

Dubs need more offense. Curry gets tired carrying the team offensively. Klay will help but another good offense player would help. 
 

i would be all for Simmons as a slasher IF he could hit free throws at 70%. Since he can’t, when the playoff come he will be useless again. 

I'm not a Simmons fan, but this is a bit ridiculous.

 

Simmons had an awful playoff series against the Atlanta.  It happens.  And he wasn't particularly good the last 1/4 of the regular season.

 

But he's a career 60% FT shooter.  And his FT% has improved since he was a rookie.  Unless there is some reason to believe he's going to permanently regress from his career norm, this is absurd.  Fouling a 60+% FT shooter intentionally on a regular basis is a losing proposition even in the playoffs.

Edited June 27, 2021 by PeterMP

[Dr. Do Itch Big]

I have no faith him. You know Draymond green once average 38% from 3. Sometimes players regress and I don’t see why anyone would have faith Simmons is going to get better. 

[PeterMP]

23 minutes ago, Dr. Do Itch Big said:

I have no faith him. You know Draymond green once average 38% from 3. Sometimes players regress and I don’t see why anyone would have faith Simmons is going to get better. 

 

Draymond's 3 point shooting was a minor regression and completely expected based on the injuries and wear and tear he's had (the back). (I was saying Green was going to regress years ago.)

 

Simmons not shooting around 60% and dropping to the point that he's unplayable would be a regression essentially never seen for somebody that is a multi-year NBA player.

 

You don't have to believe he's not going to get better.  You just have to believe his FT% isn't going to regress in what is a essentially unprecedented manner for somebody that's been a NBA player for years.

 

If you don't have faith in him, that's fine.  But that's different than saying he can't be a productive playoff player unless he shoots 70% from the FT line and that he can't do it.

 

(also Green's currently shooting below 30%.  GS in the future would probably be better off if he didn't shoot.  That he shoots the 3 at under 30% isn't a good thing.  If you shoot under 30% from 3, then you shouldn't shoot 3's except for an extreme situations (under 5 on the shot clock, etc.))

Edited June 27, 2021 by PeterMP

[PeterMP]

Giannis FT% is like 55% during the playoffs this year.  He's completely playable.

 

Now, he's better going to the rim than Simmons, but he's not as good defensively or a passer.  If Giannis can lead a team shooting 55% from the FT line.  Simmons can be the 2nd or 3rd best player on a team that goes deep into the playoffs shooting 55-60 FT%.

 

Maybe he will regress to the <50% level where is unplayable, but there is essentially no precedent for that.

 

And if people want to believe that's going to happen, that's fine, but it is a belief and nothing more.

Edited June 27, 2021 by PeterMP

[Destino]

Clippers only have 36 points at half time.  Yikes.

 

they’re only down 14 though so it’s not insurmountable.  

[Dr. Do Itch Big]

Simmons has a max contract, that’s another reason why I wouldn’t want the trade to happen 

 

we can agree to disagree. If he does get traded, I hope I’m wrong. 

[Dr. Do Itch Big]

Suns have gone ice cold

[Destino]

Both teams are frozen.  This is insane.  17 seconds left in the quarter and each team has scored just 10 points.  

[Hersh]

How do you not give Ayton a touch on the offensive end when you are struggling to make a jump shot? 

I'm surprised Suns didn't challenge that last foul. It looked pretty clean. 

[Dr. Do Itch Big]

Looked like the ball was out on Payne. Crazy 

[Destino]

Shame about Kawhi.  Suns have barely beaten them twice, and you have to think that wouldn’t be the case with a healthy Kawhi hitting mid range shots at 90% at the end of games.  Certainly could have used him tonight when neither team could get a bucket.  
 

Lakers without AD.  Nuggets without Murray.  Clippers without Kawhi.  Suns have had some serious luck on this playoff run.  

[Momma There Goes That Man]

5 hours ago, PeterMP said:

Giannis FT% is like 55% during the playoffs this year.  He's completely playable.

 

Now, he's better going to the rim than Simmons, but he's not as good defensively or a passer.  If Giannis can lead a team shooting 55% from the FT line.  Simmons can be the 2nd or 3rd best player on a team that goes deep into the playoffs shooting 55-60 FT%.

 

Maybe he will regress to the <50% level where is unplayable, but there is essentially no precedent for that.

 

And if people want to believe that's going to happen, that's fine, but it is a belief and nothing more.

giannis is aggressive and has no problem getting fouled, going 1-2 from the line and even airballing a FT. It doesn’t impact the way he plays. He’s kind of like Shaq in that regard. Simmons is terrified of going to the line and embarrassing himself and it’s why he hides in the 4th quarter and doesn’t want the ball. It changes the way he plays. Maybe he gets thru that or someone coaches him up but it’s a valid critique considering how much it impacts him as a player 

[bearrock]

4 hours ago, Momma There Goes That Man said:

giannis is aggressive and has no problem getting fouled, going 1-2 from the line and even airballing a FT. It doesn’t impact the way he plays. He’s kind of like Shaq in that regard. Simmons is terrified of going to the line and embarrassing himself and it’s why he hides in the 4th quarter and doesn’t want the ball. It changes the way he plays. Maybe he gets thru that or someone coaches him up but it’s a valid critique considering how much it impacts him as a player 

 

Simmons shooting his career avg of around 60% from the line is perfectly fine.  Whether 36% from the line against ATL was just an aberration or him having mental blocks in big time situations remains to be seen. 

[Going Commando]

Simmons is an obviously bad fit in GS, another team whose future is going to revolve around a highly drafted center.

 

Also seems like we need a more punitive luxury tax if GS can keep throwing away money by keeping 4+ max or near max contracts without pause.  They need to be hard capped from adding any additional salary by now.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

1 hour ago, bearrock said:

 

Simmons shooting his career avg of around 60% from the line is perfectly fine.  Whether 36% from the line against ATL was just an aberration or him having mental blocks in big time situations remains to be seen. 

i know you can be very successful with that but it’s only fine if he’s ok with being fouled and going to the line meaning he still wants the ball and will still drive to the basket 

[PeterMP]

There's no doubt in the Atlanta series his FT shooting affected his play.  But he wasn't shooting 50-60% in the series.  He was struggling, and he knew it (and even admitted that it was mental).  If somebody knows they are struggling from the line for mental reasons, it is going to affect their play.  That's not surprising.

 

I'm not saying that GS should trade for him.  He would be a bad fit.  If they can get him for something really cheap (like the MN pick) or they come up with a reasonable trade for Green that brings back more shooting to go with it, maybe it makes sense.  But if I'm GS there is no way that I'm putting Wiseman into a package to get Simmons and keeping Green.  (And I doubt anybody is going to give up much to get Green so I don't think that's likely.)

 

My point was only that he doesn't need to be a 70% FT to make it as a quality playoff NBA player or have a large improvement from what he generally is.  He can't shoot less that 40% from the line or even really below 50%.  But the last few years he's been above 60% the last few years.  If he just does that, he can be the 2nd or 3rd best player on a championship team.

[Ball Security]

If I’m GS, I’m keeping the two picks.  Getting Klay back sets them up to be competitive next year, then you have a super young core of Wiseman, Poole, JTA, Paschall, and the two 21 top half first rounders.  You can then make a move at the deadline if you need to.

[Mooka]

2 hours ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

Also seems like we need a more punitive luxury tax if GS can keep throwing away money by keeping 4+ max or near max contracts without pause.  They need to be hard capped from adding any additional salary by now.

 

I still don't understand how GS can trade for Simmons 

 

They're going to gave 4 max players + Wiggins making 30mil a year? How is that possible?

[The Evil Genius]

35 minutes ago, Mooka said:

 

I still don't understand how GS can trade for Simmons 

 

They're going to gave 4 max players + Wiggins making 30mil a year? How is that possible?

 

Wiggins would likely be part of the package to make it fit. Thus the rumors of Wiggins and a pick. 

 

Also..Draymond isn't going anywhere. He fits that team moreso than any other NBA team and largely runs the offense (plus his absolute +++ skills on defense and in game knowledge). He's also going to star as as a studio analyst post career.

Edited June 27, 2021 by The Evil Genius

[Mooka]

20 minutes ago, The Evil Genius said:

 

Wiggins would likely be part of the package to make it fit. Thus the rumors of Wiggins and a pick. 

 

Ah ok, that makes sense. 

 

Not sure if Simmons is an upgrade over Wiggins+picks. Seems like a bad deal for GS. 

[Destino]

I don’t see how playing Draymond and Simmons makes sense for golden state.  Defensively it would be great but on the other end?  You’d have two guys that can shoot and the rest guys that you can ignore when they aren’t at the rim.  

[TradeTheBeal!]

 

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Incredible 

[Ball Security]

Milwaukee is so much better when they play inside-out instead of relying on threes.

[Spaceman Spiff]

6 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

Milwaukee is so much better when they play inside-out instead of relying on threes.

 

I know Middleton can shoot a little but it hasn't seemed that way lately.