Everything 2019 Offseason!

[Rudy Bargnani]

I guess I'm more talking about the people saying they lost depth because they don't Gallinari and that Alexander kid and whoever else they lost for Paul George. To me they have more than enough depth to win a championship. You only really need 7-8 healthy guys when the playoffs come around and they definitely have that.

I think though there is a narrative out there that they added Kawhi and Paul George to last year’s team. But they lost Shai and Gallinari, AND Tobias played 50 games for them last year and was a big part of their success. No one seems to be talking about that.
Don’t get me wrong they are much better than last year and I’d make those move every time. But they also didn’t just add kawhi and PG to last year’s team.

[golden]

They are weak inside in my view. Will have a hard time guarding Anthony Davis, Gobert, Jokic, Nurcic, whiteside, Aldridge, KAT, etc.

A veteran defensive center is one of the easier things to add to the roster during the season. Even a guy like Joakim Noah is still out there and he had great defensive stats last year. Noah is kind of like a non-shooting version of Gasol at this point - smart defender and excellent passer. And he's a competitor. Wouldn't be surprised to see him wind up on the Clippers. Heck, I could even see the Raps sending Gasol to the Clips at the trade deadline, if the package made sense.

Yeah, it hurts to have done everything and still get rejected by Kawhi. And it's natural to hope/wish he fails and regrets his decision to leave us, but he's managed to put himself in a better situation than the Raps, in almost every way.... at least on paper. That's the whole point of free agency, from the player standpoint.

[inthepaint]

I think though there is a narrative out there that they added Kawhi and Paul George to last year’s team. But they lost Shai and Gallinari, AND Tobias played 50 games for them last year and was a big part of their success. No one seems to be talking about that.
Don’t get me wrong they are much better than last year and I’d make those move every time. But they also didn’t just add kawhi and PG to last year’s team.

Yeah this kind of perception happens with some given team pretty much every year - meaning people just take new players as a net, linear addition to the roster, when in reality you can only play 5 guys at the same time, chemistry/integration matters, and you usually lose something too from one year to the next. The season prior to the last one Boston made the ECF without Kyrie and Hayward, so the summer after, when they were poised to be back, many people were already counting them in as a 63-win team and a lock to the finals, just because they were gonna be arithmetically "added" to the team. They ended up doing worse than the year prior.

That said, clips situation is quite different. They have 2 MVP caliber players and good role players, so if everyone stays healthy, they're a contender for sure. 3 things I see with this clippers team though:

1. The media made a much bigger deal out of these 2 games they got in round 1 last year then it really was. Like, you stole 2 first round games of a complacent Warriros team that knew they were astronomically better, and all of a sudden the clips is this "dangerous" up-and-coming team. They literally caught the Warriors napping, one of those games the Warriors had such a large lead (30+ points think), they had mentally checked out. If this was any other team other than LA the media would brush them off as 1st round fodder.

2. They were basically a middle-of-the-road team, lost 2 very good players (Shai & Gallinari), but then added two stars. Those are no doubt the right moves for them, and it usually leads to contention, but they have a bigger "distance" to cover then teams that were already at/near the top of their conference and added a star to get the championship (for example the Warriors when they added Durant, and the Raptors when they added Kawhi).

3. George and Kawhi are both great at creating their own offence, Doc is a great coach, and that will most likely be enough to carry them far. However, a lot of NBA sets traditionally rely on your point guard and center. Kawhi throughout his career had very smart, all-star point guards and centers to work with (young Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Kyle Lowry and Marc Gasol). He'll now have Pat Beverly and Zubac (unless somehting changes at the trade deadline)

All in all I think they'll be in contention because when you have Kawhi and Paul George on the wing, you pretty much are by default, but I don't think it's a foregone conclusion. They'll have to balance a good regular season so they get good seeding on a western meat-grinder conference, but also keeping both of their stars fresh for the post season. Will be an interesting team to see for sure.

[Demographic Shift]

The Clippers were a deep team that gave the healthy Warriors a scare. Since then, they basically swapped SGA, Bradley and Galinari for Leonard, George and Harkless. I don't know how anybody could think they're anything other than terrifying. Clippers had the best bench in the NBA last year, it was them and Brooklyn and then everybody else.

Sounds like you guys are trying to make yourselves feel like they lost something somewhere in gaining George and Kawhi. But they really didn't.

I do... I am all in on Denver.

The Clips got themselves two all NBA players and the west for sure is on notice. But they also lost some studs in Harris and Gallinari and some promise in Alexander. The hole they have is at the 5 ... are the Kwactus and George enough to preclude rim protection and rebounding against the likes of Jokic and Gobert. We shall see.

[golden]

I do... I am all in on Denver.

The Clips got themselves two all NBA players and the west for sure is on notice. But they also lost some studs in Harris and Gallinari and some promise in Alexander. The hole they have is at the 5 ... are the Kwactus and George enough to preclude rim protection and rebounding against the likes of Jokic and Gobert. We shall see.

More like a divot at the pivot, tbh.

[KeonClark]

I do... I am all in on Denver.

The Clips got themselves two all NBA players and the west for sure is on notice. But they also lost some studs in Harris and Gallinari and some promise in Alexander. The hole they have is at the 5 ... are the Kwactus and George enough to preclude rim protection and rebounding against the likes of Jokic and Gobert. We shall see.

Individual player rebounding is overrated. Last years raptors, the warriors before that, heatles, Cavs you name it, nobody recently that won the title even had that one big lug, 30 plus min 12 rebounds nightly.. not one.

rim protection however is definitely not overrated and it could become an issue for the clips in certain matchups, thinking Davis and jokic especially

[Demographic Shift]

More like a divot at the pivot, tbh.

It’s like goaltending..you don’t think it’s going to be a problem till you don’t have it....and then its an effing big problem.

[Puffer]

Didn't take Demarcus long:

https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news...ex-girlfriend/

His name came up as a potential offseason target for the Raptors I believe. Not too seriously though.

[planetmars]

Didn't take Demarcus long:

https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news...ex-girlfriend/

His name came up as a potential offseason target for the Raptors I believe. Not too seriously though.

Not sure if he was ever seriously a guy the Raptors coveted. Masai runs a tight ship, so we'll never know.

Threatening to shoot your ex-wife? Man I hope he's innocent.

[KeonClark]

Not sure if he was ever seriously a guy the Raptors coveted. Masai runs a tight ship, so we'll never know.

Threatening to shoot your ex-wife? Man I hope he's innocent.

I mean, holding your 7 year old son from attending his father's wedding is really low...I'm not defending boogie but he was never really gonna shoot her (I hope) just probably infuriated and hurt in the moment

[G__Deane]

Not sure if he was ever seriously a guy the Raptors coveted. Masai runs a tight ship, so we'll never know.

Threatening to shoot your ex-wife? Man I hope he's innocent.

TMZ evidently has the audio so he's not innocent. Not condoning the words/actions at all but "I'll kill you if you keep me from my son" doesn't necessarily mean "I'm actually going to kill you"

That said, particularly because he allegedly ramped it up to "I’m gonna make sure I put a bullet in your f—ing head" in the modern NBA, he's in huge trouble especially since he's out for the year already

[planetmars]

TMZ evidently has the audio so he's not innocent. Not condoning the words/actions at all but "I'll kill you if you keep me from my son" doesn't necessarily mean "I'm actually going to kill you"

That said, particularly because he allegedly ramped it up to "I’m gonna make sure I put a bullet in your f—ing head" in the modern NBA, he's in huge trouble especially since he's out for the year already

Yeah it's not so much the "I'm going to kill you".. it's the "I'm going to put a bullet in your f**ing head" remark.. I know he's mad.. but yikes.

[KeonClark]

Yeah it's not so much the "I'm going to kill you".. it's the "I'm going to put a bullet in your f**ing head" remark.. I know he's mad.. but yikes.

I've since he learned he has a history of physical abuse, and obviously she recorded this conversation for some type of reason. I would say his anger issues extend far past the basketball court, where he already has always had an aura like he absolutely hates his job

[golden]

Good things happen to good people.

[MixxAOR]

damn that's a bad look. big yikes