Exclusive The OFFICIAL 2019 NBA Offseason Thread

I think Kyrie is better, but Im not sure by how much. Yeah Kyrie was good on a championship team, and hit a huge shot, but could Kemba have done that with Lebron? Maybe?

Lets not forget the Celtics made it further without Kyrie, and before Lebron came back to Cleveland, Kyrie hadn't done anything (I understand Kyrie was young).

Charlottes been kind of poorly ran, and Im not sure that the losing is all Kemba’s fault.

This isnt an argument that Kemba is “better”, I just think theres a lot nuances to the discussion.

 

Yeah, buddy! Lets get the market flooded with big guys, so we can keep Kanter....

 

Yeah after 4 winters in Chicago and Milwaukee that does sound pretty good. New Orleans, albeit a nice place to visit, is not exactly a great place to live either.

 

Now, the following is why I posted in a Ravens forum that I actively participate in (yes, the post is NBA related):

Folks, there's one Twitter account to pay attention to as free agency looms: https://twitter.com/In_the_know__

First of all, peep the pinned tweet. Second, this individual seems to have a pretty good track record regarding predictions. I'll share a couple of examples:

Were any of you aware of the recent news that Porzingis plans on signing a long-term extension with the Mavs? Well he/she predicted that a month ago by this tweet:

What about that recent Mike Conley trade to the Jazz? Again, peep the date.

The following tweet is a list of guarantees so this something to bookmark/keep track of this offseason:

If this individual is accurate with the predictions, he/she will be THE go-to account to follow NBA offseason transactions.

 

Kyrie, by all accounts last year, “sucked” and his PER was about 5 points higher than Kemba. And I know PER isn’t an end all, be all stat — but to me — one is clearly better. Not to mention Kemba and his size.

Kyrie did more than hit a big shot. He had 40.

I do agree Kyrie didn’t do anything before LeBron, and frankly that’s why I don’t see Kyrie as a top flight PG because he had the same troubles that Kemba has. And the Celtics did make it further last year — but apparently some of that could also be attributed to matchups, and despite Kyrie, there has been reports of players being disgruntled over Gordon Hayward more than anything with Kyrie — which explains Tatum and Brown’s regression more so than anything.

I think there could be a more nuanced discussion if each player was in the same tier — or even close to it.

I’ll stick to my example of Nurkic vs. Embiid. There isn’t a “nuanced” discussion to be had, in my opinion, because one player is clearly superior to the other. Anyway you slice it, the team with Embiid is going to be better than the one with Nurkic.

I’m actually not as high on Kyrie as many others are, but I would put him a tier or two above Kemba which is why I’m not sure there is a lot of nuance to go around.

But I completely understand if you think they are relatively close — I do not.

 

Boston has had big issues of late. I read where Stevens doesn't have the ability/persona to bring his players tougher for the good off the team.
There are those that say he's the best coach in the league after maybe POP? I don't think so....

 

I'll still listen to Woj first, but this could be an interesting person to follow. Almost as good as the one that @GhostOfPGA found.... Lol. J/k

 

We are looking at Taj Gibson with quite few other teams for FA.

 

Say we were to grade out PG’s (this gets very subjective), and Id say I think Kyrie and Kemba are both “B’s”, in terms of starting NBA PG’s, but I would probably have Kyrie as a B+ and Kemba as like a solid B maybe closer to a B-. So I would agree that Kyrie is probably a better player. Kyrie’s had some knee issues, Kemba’s short, they’re both similar in style being mainly shoot 1st not much defense Point Guards.

I honestly don't think you can build a champion around either. Both are capable of winning championships, but not as the player a team is built around.

So i sort of agree with you, though I dont know if I believe the gap is as big as you do.

I will admit, I think this year will be interesting for Kemba, its really the 1st year of his career he doesn't have the “bad roster”, excuse, Boston may lose some guys, but their a lot more talent there then whats been on Charlotte’s roster..

 

Of course, Woj and Shams will definitely be must-follows, but this might be a third go-to if that makes sense.

 

I followed him. Would be cool. Thanks for the heads up!

 

https://www.blazersedge.com/2019/6/...e-rumors-offseason-kawhi-leonard-kevin-durant

 

I would say they are a full letter grade apart however you want to slice it - which in the NBA - is a pretty huge difference. I also don’t think either can be the best player on a championship team; I don’t think Kemba could be the second best either which is the issue - in my eyes. Danny Ainge is a whole lot smarter than me though.

The interesting thing, in my opinion, is Kemba is coming into a very combustible situation with guys who want to “get theirs” after last year. Kemba has never had to share the ball like he will, but he also has never played with players that are as selfish as what he is about to encounter. Playing with Batum is a lot different than JB and Tatum who aren’t exactly passive. It’ll be interesting. I don’t think I said I hated the move, just thought it may not be the best decision in the long run, and doesn’t make a ton of logical sense in my eyes. Seems like you’d want a better passer, not worse.

 

When he sign with Klutch sports, we know who he's playing with!

 

The KD memes really write themselves at this point...

 

https://swarmandsting.com/2016/10/03/kemba-walker-unquestioned-leader-charlotte-hornets/

https://sports.yahoo.com/jim-calhoun-kemba-walker-celtics-205228973.html

Also led his collegiate team to a NCAA championship, inducted to UConn hall of honor which is a rare feat, been with the same small market team for some time, always has said the right thing, volunteers in the Charlotte community for years. Saying his team has been trash is a bit extreme. Sure Kyrie is better but all I said is that it’s something to consider. Culture can mean a lot to a team, which I think is part of Irving’s downfall. Just look at Lillard and the Blazers and how Kanter and others talk about it. I think it’s a solid move by Boston.

 

That all seems fair, Im not sure Im with you (all the way), but I understand / respect your opinion on it.

 

Being the unquestioned leader of a Charlotte Hornets team isn’t exactly that impressive in my eyes, especially when you aren’t winning. He is also the unquestioned leader because he has pretty much been the only consistent player on that team. Once again, not exactly a roaring endorsement. It’s also a Fansided article. At any rate — if that article was even somewhat accurate — you’d think they’d have a better record if he was an amazing leader. Notice how Dame gets results ON the court with his leadership and it’s not just a bunch of puff pieces talking about how great of a leader he is. They talk how great of a leader he is — in accordance with how far we consistently go in the playoffs with him running our team.

As for the Calhoun article — once again — if he is going to help Tatum and JB so much, why didn’t any of the Hornets younger guys play amazingly better with him? Why didn’t Batum play better with him? And the list goes on...

Once again, there is no statistical relevance proving he is a great leader - he simply hasn’t gotten it done on the court. So, sure, he might be a great locker room presence but it doesn’t mean jack if a) the players around him don’t play better and b) it’s not reflected in winning games — which neither have happened.

Also — Kyrie was with the same small market team for a long team. Kyrie also said all the right things in both Cleveland and Boston (until the very end.) LMA said all the right things. LMA stayed with the same small market team... do I need to continue?

His average finish has been 10th place since he has been in the league — in the piss poor eastern conference — his team has been trash and that’s not being extreme in my opinion. It’s the truth of the matter.

And if culture matters — they still have the massive Gordon Hayward problem — which insiders have stated is a bigger issue than the Kyrie problem.

And comparing the culture of the Blazers, who are consistently winning and in the playoffs, to that of the Charlotte hornets who absolutely suck, is a massive disservice to what we have cultivated here and another reason I say — “show me the money”. Whatever you wanna say, it’s a losing culture, even if Kemba is a great guy it doesn’t translate.

Players around the entire league virtually acknowledge we are one of a kind when it comes to culture.

Also — winning an NCAA championship doesn’t tell me a whole lot about the NBA — particularly when we can look at your track record in the league.

I’m not saying Kemba is a worse leader — I’m saying it hasn’t translated at any point to winning in the NBA — and he is a worse player by a significant margin. And the primary “chemistry issue” (according to insiders) is still there in Gordon hayward.