OFFICIAL Around The NBA Thread...... August

I think Cleveland coaches get a bad rap.

 

You might be right. It’s hard to tell at least for me. Dame covers up a lot of “bad” in Portland at times. Lebron is on a tier of his own though, he’s so good and has kind of become a coach on the court too. I think we will know more this year, Not sure they have the talent to be very good though.

 

I think if he can get them into the playoffs they would consider it a victory and good coachIng.
I mean it isnt like all they have are scrubs and they play in the west.

 

Cleveland could easily be a playoff team this year in the east.

 

For arguements sake I am not quite sure if they make it, I could see them sneaking in if health and things go there way. Boston, Philly, Toronto, Washington, Miami and Milwaukee are the teams I think are pretty close to playoff locks in my opinion. I guess Cleveland could be in the mix for the 7 or 8 seed, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re playing for ping pong balls either.

 

The thing is that Cleveland owes their 2019 1st round pick if it isn't in the top 10 so Cleveland trying to sneak into the playoffs or just missing is kind of a stupid strategy in my opinion.

 

Doesn’t that sound like a very Cleveland thing to do...

 

Indiana are a lock too. They got an outside shot at winning the entire conference too, they were already very good last season and got better.

Miami aren’t that good. They have one of the best coaches in the league but the team itself is average at best.

I think it’s Boston and Toronto fighting for the first seed, then Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Indiana in the following three spots and three of Washington, Miami, Charlotte, Cleveland and Detroit behind them.

Out of all remaining teams - Brooklyn, Chicago, Knicks, Orlando and Atlanta - I think only Bulls actually have any sort of a chance of making it near the playoffs.

So as you see, East has five teams who probably don’t even stand a chance, a couple who aren’t very good and would normally have zero chance if the conference wasn’t so weak and just a handful of semi decent rosters.

 

Indiana!!! Thank you I thought I was missing one. Miami has some talent, Dragic, JJ, and Whiteside. Spo’s a good coach too

 

Whiteside has been bad for a year or so, I think he has decided to stop giving a damn after he got that hefty contract.

Dragic and Johnson are fine but it’s not a very inspiring team out there. They also have next to zero young talent - Winslow and Adebayo are not that great a core going forward.

 

And I was called crazy by Gronk for not wanting him. Lmao. Nurk is better.

 

I agree, it’s the east though. It doesn’t take much... They may not be a “lock” but they’ll be in the mix.

 

I’d also like to add the Knicks IF Porzingis is able to play and be productive to teams that maybe have a shot at the making the playoffs, not that they’re going anywhere if they got in but they were alright before he went down.

 

BOS
TOR
PHI
IND
MIL
WAS
MIA
DET

CHA
CHI
CLE
BKN
ORL
NYK
ATL

 

Only good rap to come out of Cleveland was Bones Thugs and Harmony.

 

With healthy Porzingis they could maybe have a shot but I very much doubt he’s going to be at his best before January which will lose them too many games.

Ntilikina should be better, Knox is a good acquisition and I think some will be surprised at what Robinson can do but ultimately it’s a young team that will probably go for a high pick instead and will try their luck in free agency in 2019 offseason. I won’t be surprised if they set their sights on Durant and Irving, having a high pick in next year’s draft could help that as that could either put them in position to acquire talent through trade or draft a high profile player who would make them a more attractive destination.

 

Yessir.

 

I'm just gonna throw this in here. Nothing really new in it, but maybe interesting just to remind us what a tough place we are in. Here are some choice tidbits:

"Portland pulled up to the 2016 offseason in a Lexus SC 430 convertible, looked at the camera, and said “Get in loser. We’re going shopping.” With money to spend and an unwillingness to let several homegrown players leave for nothing, the front office signed Evan Turner, Allen Crabbe, Meyers Leonard, and Maurice Harkless to four-year deals worth a combined $228 million. They signed C.J. McCollum, 2015-16’s Most Improved Player, to a four-year, $107 million extension. And Festus Ezeli, the defensive center Portland needed, was brought in for a bargain: two years and $15 million, with only $8.4 million guaranteed.

What general manager Neil Olshey was looking for was security. What he got was a straightjacket. Turner, Leonard, even Harkless—20-something rotation players with upside—made it immediately clear they wouldn’t earn their keep. Ezeli missed the entire 2016-17 season because of a knee injury and was waived using the stretch provision without ever playing a minute for the Blazers. Portland, originally responsible for paying Ezeli for only one season, now has him on the books until 2019-20 along with most of that summer’s regretful deals. Crabbe, perhaps the best player of the bunch, was traded to the Nets—the very team that had extended an offer sheet to him in 2016, only for Portland to match—the following July for Andrew Nicholson, who was waived for tax relief. (The Trail Blazers will be sending Nicholson direct deposits until 2024.)"

"New Orleans eliminated Portland with one of the most basic defensive concepts: ruthlessly doubling their most important player. Swarmed, Lillard couldn’t penetrate, find a decent shot, or keep the ball safe. (He averaged four turnovers per game during the series, the worst of his career in either the regular season or the playoffs.) The offense went limp without him at full strength. McCollum is at his best when kept off the ball, but he couldn’t provide playmaking relief. Help also didn’t come from Jusuf Nurkic, whose confinement to the post was exposed by Anthony Davis and Nikola Mirotic. Lillard and McCollum’s defensive deficiencies were exacerbated. It was carnage.

The gaping holes in the frontcourt and on the wing are Olshey’s scarlet letter to wear, but the shortcomings in Stotts’s game plan were unignorable.

Stotts doesn’t have the spacing threats, the self-shot creators, or the paint options to thrive without sharing the ball. The problem is—yes, we’re not to the root of the problem yet—he doesn’t have passers, either."


https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/...land-trail-blazers-damian-lillard-cj-mccollum