Exclusive Official Around the NBA: November 2022

Ah, never mind then. Yeah, it basically looks like a dartboard approach would yield the same "improvements" as have any technical changes the front offices have made.

 

The Timberwolves are terrible and they screwed their future with the Gobert trade.

 

Utah beats Atlanta!

 

My ultimate hope is KAT asks out eventually.

 

Very glad we don't have to pull our hair out anymore.

 

t-wolves perplex me. They have 3-4 excellent starters, but with zero chemistry. It was most likely one of the worst trades in a long time. Not only is the fit terrible but they mortgaged the farm to get Gobert. They will have to do something if they cant turn it around by the deadline.

 

watch him absolutely destroy us tomorrow

 

KAT has been a consistent element in their awful results, and he's always shown disinterest in half the game (defense), so unless you're banking on much of his makeup changing with better leadership around him, that's a pretty underwhelming ultimate hope.

Come to think of it, has Minnesota built a roster entirely of one-way players? I know they love to acquire ex-Blazers, but it's almost like they've taken Olshey roster construction to the extreme.

 

Weird that the Jazz have played 2 more games than any other team

 

CJ is certainly not an elite shooter; but he's also not as bad a shooter as he's been so far this year. I think CJ is dependable in one way and that is he will always regress, or progress, to his norms. His norms define him, not his hot streaks. He won't continue to shoot this bad; in the last 9 games he's scored 168 points on 174 shots.

I'd wonder if his 'refusal' to moderate his shot volume and usage is going to start rubbing teammates the wrong way

FGA/game:

CJ McCollum 19.4
Zion Williamson 17.6
Brandon Ingram 17.0
Jonas Valančiūnas 10.1
Trey Murphy III 8.6
Herbert Jones 8.2

TS%:

Trey Murphy III .675
Jonas Valančiūnas .607
Brandon Ingram .586
Zion Williamson .574
Herbert Jones .524
CJ McCollum .497 (12th on the team)

that was before his 3-13 tonight

 

Yeah, I’m definitely banking on our leadership helping him change. Of course we’d have to do our due diligence on him—if he can’t commit to becoming a better rebounder and at least trying on defense, don’t trade for him.

We’re really going to need to work out the kinks in our zone defense, but I do see signs of encouragement. Also, at this point, I’ve been pleasantly surprised that Nurk getting switched onto guards hasn’t been as scary as I imagined. I think that if everything around Nurk on defense perfects itself eventually, you could plop KAT in Nurk’s place and probably get the same results. Rebounding would be the one concern, but that’s gonna be on Dame to reach out and see if he could commit to that part of the game. Bur are guys here that rebound well who can help him. Walker will become a rotational player who can really rebound eventually, and a guy like Josh Hart will need to be re-signed. If Nas isn’t in a trade for KAT, he’s gonna really help rebounding as well.

Offensively, Dame + KAT is Dame + Aldridge on steroids. KAT could pick and pop everyone to death, but I really hope he could punish guys down low going against opposing benches. Dame + Sharpe + Hart + Grant + KAT does sound like a contender in my head. And with guys like GPII, Nas, Watford, and Walker on the bench, I think there is enough defense throughout the roster that his defense won’t be an issue.

 

I think there are only 2 C's in the NBA worth more than 30M/year: Jokic & Embiid

no fucking way is KAT worth 55M/year but that's what he'll be making on his 4 year extension

 

You could be right, holy crap I thought he was making $36m/year not $55m/yr.

Oops ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

So are the Jazz for real or what

 

Mavs are dog water

Luka is overrated, yes, I said it…

Dude IS NOT a winner

I’m sure some are going to say it’s his team and not him. Swap Dame with Doncic and the Mavs are better, Blazers are worse.

 

I wouldn't trade for KAT. He's a bad pairing with Lillard or Simons let alone both.

 

Blazers were 2-2 without Lillard. Mavs would be one of the worst teams in the NBA without Luka.

You could make an argument that Lillard in many ways is better than Luka, and yes you could argue Lillard ultimately contributes more to winning. Others could make many arguments the other direction.

Ultimately their both clear elite stars in this game. Personally I'd put Luka a bit above Dame mostly just for his physical size, as well as his youth which gives him more potential to improve. I don't believe Luka can really be overrated when he's a clear top5 player in this league.

If your saying Luka is not a winner then surely Dame isn't either. Luka at 23 carried his teams to the WCF last year winning a game. 32 year old Lillard never has.

 

Lol he generates a lot of haters. He carried a scrubby cast to the western conference finals last year. Seems like a winner to me