Everything NBA 2020-21

[S.R.]

Paul George and Kyrie Irving both looked good last night. KD was pretty good too, but you can see he lost some of his explosiveness.. especially on defense as guys can get around him easily now.

GSW really sucks.. I know Draymond wasn't there, but they looked awful. Curry should try to force his way to Toronto.

It's jarring to see Golden State be the bad.

[slaw]

It's jarring to see Golden State be the bad.

Who is the second best player on the Warriors? They will be better when Green gets back but this was a team of 4 men. One is gone, one is almost gone and the other two are shadows of their former selves.

GSW had its run. Now it's time for them to go back to Golden State's more usual pattern of making the playoffs 2-3 times every decade.

[planetmars]

It's jarring to see Golden State be the bad.

Wiggins for DLo trade was a bad one.. we'll see where that Minny pick ends up, but yeah Wiggins is not a good NBA player.

He's essentially Andrea Bargnani. Teams have to play him because he's worth so much, but doesn't really do enough for you to stay relevant. Even an all time great like Steph Curry can't make him a better player.

Warriors are right now in the tax by about $42M. Oubre will definitely be moved as he's an expiring contract. Not sure who takes Wiggins or Draymond's contracts.

They are in trouble.

[Jclaw]

Game Day!!! Who has the game thread today?

Done and done

[The Great One]

Slaw has a good point here. Kawhi is incredible, but durability and longevity matters and that is a huge weak point for him. He was hobbling through the playoffs the year we won it all and it's not gotten or getting better. Whatever injury issues he has seems to be chronic and not allow him to get through a full season at 100%.

He'll never win a reg season MVP award because of the things that you mentioned. But Kawhi is all about the playoffs. He has a different gear he can go to when it's winning time. Raptors fans should know this.

I mean, other than Slaw, would anyone else here really take Durant or Davis(lmao) or Luka or GIANNIS(lmao) over Kawhi in a must win game? c'mon. Faith of the universe on the line i'm taking Kawhi to lead my team over any of those guys in a heartbeat. Not even really close. C'mon man.

[The Great One]

Anthony Davis has become like one of the most overrated players in NBA history. 7 years as the man in Nola and his team were a perennial 8th/9th seed. He had Jrue Holiday for most of his years there too. One year he had Cousins and Rondo on his team and they still barely made the playoffs.

He won a championship as second banana to LeBron now he's all of a sudden better than Kawhi, better than Tim Duncan lol. If LeBron James slows down a bit and Davis becomes the #1 guy in LA, they're gonna be in serious trouble.

I also find it funny now that the expectation for the Bucks is championship or bust because Giannis finally have a legit backourt teammate in Holiday. Wait a minute, Holiday was in New Orleans for years and he had Anthony Davis on his team. How come that wasn't the expectation in Nola? Davis is so great right?

[slaw]

He'll never win a reg season MVP award because of the things that you mentioned. But Kawhi is all about the playoffs. He has a different gear he can go to when it's winning time. Raptors fans should know this.

I mean, other than Slaw, would anyone else here really take Durant or Davis(lmao) or Luka or GIANNIS(lmao) over Kawhi in a must win game? c'mon. Faith of the universe on the line i'm taking Kawhi to lead my team over any of those guys in a heartbeat. Not even really close. C'mon man.

T-Rex, you can have him for your fantasy game of pick-up against he Monstars but that's not how you decide who the best player in the NBA is... and it certainly isn't Kawhi. He's not even close to Lebron which was definitively determined last season and his decline will be further established this season as other, better players emerge. Doncic and Murray have already outplayed him in head-to-head series. That will continue.

[planetmars]

He'll never win a reg season MVP award because of the things that you mentioned. But Kawhi is all about the playoffs. He has a different gear he can go to when it's winning time. Raptors fans should know this.

I mean, other than Slaw, would anyone else here really take Durant or Davis(lmao) or Luka or GIANNIS(lmao) over Kawhi in a must win game? c'mon. Faith of the universe on the line i'm taking Kawhi to lead my team over any of those guys in a heartbeat. Not even really close. C'mon man.

I think if you swapped Kawhi with a healthy Durant or Lebron in 2019 we still win it. I'm not sure I can say that about any other player.

Kawhi played like prime MJ in 2019.

[bertarapsfan]

After the video of Harden at the "strip club". Things are going to get ugly in Houston quick

[LJ2]

He'll never win a reg season MVP award because of the things that you mentioned. But Kawhi is all about the playoffs. He has a different gear he can go to when it's winning time. Raptors fans should know this.

I mean, other than Slaw, would anyone else here really take Durant or Davis(lmao) or Luka or GIANNIS(lmao) over Kawhi in a must win game? c'mon. Faith of the universe on the line i'm taking Kawhi to lead my team over any of those guys in a heartbeat. Not even really close. C'mon man.

I completely agree that Kawhi is still a top level player, but he isn't durable enough to play at his highest level through the entirety of a long playoff drive.

[planetmars]

After the video of Harden at the "strip club". Things are going to get ugly in Houston quick

It's some other Rocket player that tested positive (not Harden) apparently. The theory is that Harden has some immunity since he had COVID before the bubble started earlier in the year.

[bertarapsfan]

It's some other Rocket player that tested positive (not Harden) apparently. The theory is that Harden has some immunity since he had COVID before the bubble started earlier in the year.

Woj said that Maclemore was already in Covid protocall and wasnt around the guy sent home. This is another player who failed a test. It might not be Harden who is sick but i think even if you have immunity you can still be a carrier and pass it onto another team mate.
If this is somehow linked to Harden at the strip club they are going have to come down hard on him both the team and the league, Either way not a good look for multiple stars to have to miss opening night the same time a video drop of him at strip club. This is going to be the story of Opening night now.

[inthepaint]

He'll never win a reg season MVP award because of the things that you mentioned. But Kawhi is all about the playoffs. He has a different gear he can go to when it's winning time. Raptors fans should know this.

I mean, other than Slaw, would anyone else here really take Durant or Davis(lmao) or Luka or GIANNIS(lmao) over Kawhi in a must win game? c'mon. Faith of the universe on the line i'm taking Kawhi to lead my team over any of those guys in a heartbeat. Not even really close. C'mon man.

When I look at player comps like this, I always think of 3 things rather than just look at the players in a vaccum:
1. Durability
2. The teammates they played with
3. Age (so you can compare apples to apples)

Durant & Kawhi are at the top among the ones you mentioned. During their first finals MVP years they were both outstanding. Yes, Durant copped out to an already established superteam, but Kawhi's teams have also always been elite (Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Ginobli, Poppovich, Kyle Lowry, pre-wash Gasol, Nick Nurse). They're now both banged up, which still keeps it as a toss up for me. Despite being awesome individually, they were never able to drag a bad team to the finals. No current player has. Even LeBron couldn't take his first year Laker team to the playoffs. It's a team sport.

That's why it's hard to knock AD and Giannis too much for that. They haven't had the chance to play with the kind of elite teammates Kawhi & Durant have. Last year was the first for AD with that chance, playing with Lebron.

I'd probably put:

Kawhi/Durant (ability to stay healthy this season being the tie-breaker here)
Giannis (managed to take a meh team further than AD has)
AD
Luka

All those are in the top 7 players in the league right now. Luka is the last one there right now in 2020, but he's also the one with the most runway ahead of him. The kid is only 21, but because he's been playing since 15 with grown men, has a unique combination of youthfulness, experience and elite talent. That combination can make it so that he may very well surpass Durant & Kawhi when it's all said and done. Can't compare 21 yr old Luka with 32 yr old Durant (and even 29yr o ld Kawhi) and be apples to apples. They're overlapping now but their peaks will have been in different eras of the NBA.

[The Great One]

If you care about your team and you're serious about winning/winning a chanpionship, you'll do everything you can to avoid getting this virus. I guarantee LeBron will never come close to getting this virus.

I'm not surprised about this Harden news though. One of the most selfish player in the history of the league. If i'm the Nets, Sixers, Celtics and Raptors, i'd stay away from this dude as far as possible.

[planetmars]

Woj said that Maclemore was already in Covid protocall and wasnt around the guy sent home. This is another player who failed a test. It might not be Harden who is sick but i think even if you have immunity you can still be a carrier and pass it onto another team mate.
If this is somehow linked to Harden at the strip club they are going have to come down hard on him both the team and the league, Either way not a good look for multiple stars to have to miss opening night the same time a video drop of him at strip club. This is going to be the story of Opening night now.

It's Kenyon Martin (rookie).

But yeah Harden is doing it purposely I think. He's burning the Rockets to the ground like Vince did Toronto back in the day. The only difference is Babcock panicked and got pennies on the dollar. The Rockets guy will get something good back.

Davis and Kawhi were really disgruntled. Remember Kawhi deciding to stay home instead of helping the Spurs in the playoffs. Davis arrived one day with a "That's All Folks!" t-shirt.

Going to a strip club/birthday party without a mask.. that just means Houston will have to keep him sidelined as until he passes protocol. Which probably works fine for him as that could mean the Rockets lose games which creates more pressure for them to trade him.

Some players have way too much power in this league.