Everything 2021-2022 Season

[golden]

Wizards after their great start are 1-4 in the last 5 games
from Athletic

Wizards record was out performing their net rating, which is identical to Raptors. Net rating would suggest that both teams should be neck and neck…fighting for the last play-in spot.

That said… Hachimura and Bryant will come back at some point to add depth.

[MixxAOR]

[Mapko]

Can’t compare eras, but one thing that clearly sticks out is that MJ competed against a much weaker global talent pool…. mostly Americans. Other than Hakeem, the best international players of his day were Detlef Schrempf, washed Sabonis and Toni Kukoc …. who was on his own team, lol.

Lebron had/has to compete against legit MVP caliber internationals like Nash, Duncan, Dirk, Giannis, Jokic, Embiid, Luka, etc…. Then you have second tier guys like Siakam, Gasol brothers, Manu, Parker, Simmons, Gobert, and a bunch of Canadians in the next tier etc…

I agree 100% that quality of players is much higher, due to earlier training, training aids, diets, personal trainers, personal shooting coaches etc, BUT Lebron has also had access to those.
One massive difference (IMO) is physicality & physical nature of play. While lebron is a physical freak of nature (incredible agility for his size) he has not had to endure nearly physical level of defense. Heck, he cries & rolls on the ground when you touch him.
Even though he initiates a lot of contact going to basket hoping for a "touch foul" and maybe and one or even flagrant 1 or 2 for slightest contact, MJ was sure to face "Jordan rules" in one form or another. Those mean Pistons (amongst the others) earned their nicknames.
Lebron, with all his size does not strike me as one that would drive to hoop 5 times fully knowing there will likely be no layups nor dunks, but 10FTs.
Furthermore, Lebron was always "more comfortable" with at least 2 other all stars while MJ played with whoever was there (generally Pip & not much more).

[Mapko]

Come now, the spurs were awesome but not a super team at all. All drafted talent.

Duncan was a great player, the rest? Very good role players & great team first players. And yes, most were drafted by Spurs.
Going back to MJ for a moment. Im not even convinced Pippen was a top 5 player (as lauded) at the time. The year MJ retired, Pippen went to Portland, then I believe Houston & looked awful. Old? Please. A year removed from 3 "alleged" great seasons that lead to titles.
How much was he a solid player & how much was it playing with MJ?
Heck even Steve Kerr, Harper, Grant, Longley....looked great playing for those Bulls. None did much when they left Bulls & MJ.
That is what great players (MJ, Duncan, Bird) do -make solid player all stars & average very good.

[DanH]

Wizards record was out performing their net rating, which is identical to Raptors. Net rating would suggest that both teams should be neck and neck…fighting for the last play-in spot.

That said… Hachimura and Bryant will come back at some point to add depth.

Taking into account strength of schedule, the Raptors even slot in a couple spots above the Wiz to date, with an SRS of +1.3 versus Washington's +0.8.

[TrueTorontoFan]

I agree 100% that quality of players is much higher, due to earlier training, training aids, diets, personal trainers, personal shooting coaches etc, BUT Lebron has also had access to those.
One massive difference (IMO) is physicality & physical nature of play. While lebron is a physical freak of nature (incredible agility for his size) he has not had to endure nearly physical level of defense. Heck, he cries & rolls on the ground when you touch him.
Even though he initiates a lot of contact going to basket hoping for a "touch foul" and maybe and one or even flagrant 1 or 2 for slightest contact, MJ was sure to face "Jordan rules" in one form or another. Those mean Pistons (amongst the others) earned their nicknames.
Lebron, with all his size does not strike me as one that would drive to hoop 5 times fully knowing there will likely be no layups nor dunks, but 10FTs.
Furthermore, Lebron was always "more comfortable" with at least 2 other all stars while MJ played with whoever was there (generally Pip & not much more).

to be fair. Pippen was insanely good

[Puffer]

It's clear you're looking at these past eras with rose coloured glasses. The guys were slow, incredibly unskilled, and frankly, nowhere near as good at basketball as the 400 best players in the world are now. Do you think anyone would be able to play back then? Anyone who played positions 2-5 couldn't dribble more than three times before bouncing it off their foot. Point guards were under 6 feet and shot the ball like Ben Simmons. Sure there were great players, they would be great players today too. But there is no world where LeBron isn't a flat out superstar, championship contender, floor raiser etc. And the romanticized idea that the game was so damn physical back then is just not true. Go back and watch the games, MJ got star calls as much as anyone does today. Soft calls all the time, bad defence, so many things.

Also that last bit is just Stephen A Smith material. No point in addressing it.

It has already been raised in this discussion that it is very difficult to compare players between this era and that because of knowledge and technology improvements. Simply the ability to use video analysis to examine a player's shot mechanics to identify correctable flaws is huge. The strength and conditioning coaches and specialists are churning out bodies that are stronger, faster, better conditioned and healthier. The field of athlete recovery keeps players playing longer and recovering from injury and daily wear and tear faster. Even the understanding of nutrition and the impact of food timing allows steroid like results by ensuring the body has what it needs to rebuild itself after intensive workouts and performances.

Let's not forget that the compensation is miles higher. Wilt Chamberlain signed a $250,000 a year contract in his first year with the Lakers. That would be like 2.5 million in todays dollars. The stakes are so high that prospective players with high likelihood of getting drafted can arrange for personal coaches and are willing to put in the hours a day of practice time to grab a piece of the pie.

Apples and oranges.

[LJ2]

I agree 100% that quality of players is much higher, due to earlier training, training aids, diets, personal trainers, personal shooting coaches etc, BUT Lebron has also had access to those.
One massive difference (IMO) is physicality & physical nature of play. While lebron is a physical freak of nature (incredible agility for his size) he has not had to endure nearly physical level of defense. Heck, he cries & rolls on the ground when you touch him.
Even though he initiates a lot of contact going to basket hoping for a "touch foul" and maybe and one or even flagrant 1 or 2 for slightest contact, MJ was sure to face "Jordan rules" in one form or another. Those mean Pistons (amongst the others) earned their nicknames.
Lebron, with all his size does not strike me as one that would drive to hoop 5 times fully knowing there will likely be no layups nor dunks, but 10FTs.
Furthermore, Lebron was always "more comfortable" with at least 2 other all stars while MJ played with whoever was there (generally Pip & not much more).

That's an interesting argument about how physical the league was back in Jordan's era compared to now. Would the way the game was played back then not have shaped LeBron's personality, physicality and toughness if he was raised and learned to play the game during that era? A player with the size, strength, athleticism and basketball IQ of LeBron, with the toughness and mean streak of a Morris brother. Thank goodness he wasn't raised in that era, LOL.

[Shredder]

Let's also talk about the media of todays game. Do you think Jordan would preform at the same level if TMZ was catching him gambling during the playoffs? Twitter? 24hr ESPN? Youtube? Everything has changed. The comparison can't happen. Could Lebron play in the 90's? Probably the dude is an athletic freak, who studies the game. Could Jordan excel in todays game? Probably, his competitive nature was unmatched, he was also an athletic freak.

But to say that because Lebron's game is a certain way in today's game, doesn't mean that it couldn't be something else in another era. Same for Jordan.

The one thing with Lebron, is that despite the challenges of playing in today's media, you have not heard peep about him. Same girl that he was drafted with. Great father. Helps out his community. Builds schools. Savvy business man. Considering the amount of time he's played, and the scrutiny that he is under, it's amazing that he hasn't had a scandal. So if the the biggest tarnish to his career is that when he was a young man, he decided to team up with some friends and make millions working and living in South Beach, or that he lost a bunch of finals; I think he's made out alright.

Some of the teams that Lebron got far in the playoffs, sucked! When he left Cleveland, they sucked so bad they got the Number 1 pick a bunch of times. When Jordan went and played baseball, the bulls still made the playoffs.

[TrueTorontoFan]

Let's also talk about the media of todays game. Do you think Jordan would preform at the same level if TMZ was catching him gambling during the playoffs? Twitter? 24hr ESPN? Youtube? Everything has changed. The comparison can't happen. Could Lebron play in the 90's? Probably the dude is an athletic freak, who studies the game. Could Jordan excel in todays game? Probably, his competitive nature was unmatched, he was also an athletic freak.

But to say that because Lebron's game is a certain way in today's game, doesn't mean that it couldn't be something else in another era. Same for Jordan.

The one thing with Lebron, is that despite the challenges of playing in today's media, you have not heard peep about him. Same girl that he was drafted with. Great father. Helps out his community. Builds schools. Savvy business man. Considering the amount of time he's played, and the scrutiny that he is under, it's amazing that he hasn't had a scandal. So if the the biggest tarnish to his career is that when he was a young man, he decided to team up with some friends and make millions working and living in South Beach, or that he lost a bunch of finals; I think he's made out alright.

Some of the teams that Lebron got far in the playoffs, sucked! When he left Cleveland, they sucked so bad they got the Number 1 pick a bunch of times. When Jordan went and played baseball, the bulls still made the playoffs.

To be fair they got Kyrie by making a trade with the clippers. It ended up being Baron Davis and the number 1 pick for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon. Actually I think one of the best times to acquire first round picks is mid season rather than at the draft.

[MixxAOR]

Goran Dragic for Eric Gordon. What are yall thoughts? Maybe add second-round pick.

[KeonClark]

Goran Dragic for Eric Gordon. What are yall thoughts? Maybe add second-round pick.

Ummm yes please

[MixxAOR]

Ummm yes please

on second thought yeah they might need more than second round pick.Gives a chance for Rockets to get out of Gordon's contract. I don't know maybe they can get more from other teams but who knows

[The Claw Reborn]

LOL

This team is needing another big but yet we need another CHUCKER guard who would take more possessions off Scottie Plus give up a draft pick to boot

stick to what limited knowledge you know about this game

[bertarapsfan]

Goran Dragic for Eric Gordon. What are yall thoughts? Maybe add second-round pick.

I hope if we can move dragic its for someone young. Even if it is a long shot or guy buried on the bench somewhere else.. Someone like Gordon will only take reps and development away from young dudes. No need to make win now moves IMO