Everything 2018 Off Season

[Hotshot]

No way. Tag team Russ with Kyle/Delon and sic Kawhi on Paul George and who's going to score for that team? I trust our bench to take care of Schroder.

Actually Russ destroyed Kyle/Delon in previous encounters. You may want to use Green-Leonard-OG combo on Russ and George to slow them down. But then you get Steven Adams who tends to be good in abusing JV in the post with nobody else that can stop him.

OKC is still a bad matchup for the Raps. Those 3 guys playing heavy minutes together will be difficult but not impossible to stop. Getting back Roberson who can play defence and getting rid of Melo is a plus for that team.

[Hotshot]

Wow.....Thank you Lord for blessing me with an opportunity to have my dream come true and become an NBA player. Thank you to my family for all the support over the years as well. I want to thank the @Raptors as well for believing in me and providing this opportunity! #AllDai pic.twitter.com/xzg8QAX1Hb

— Jordan Loyd (@jloyd_3) August 3, 2018

[Mitchell Duong]

OKC is a matchup problem for Toronto, and always has been. I think our team is the best we've ever had, but OKC has stars, Russ always seems to go off on us. They have a great big in Adams, and some great defenders.

I could see Rap/Thunder games playing like ugly playoff games.

Also, I learned from Adams book that JV is a trash-talker. lol

[Hotshot]

Also, I learned from Adams book that JV is a trash-talker. lol

Thanks , had to look that up.

steven adams’ book is good pic.twitter.com/5WrLkXxaZg

— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) August 3, 2018

[planetmars]

Thanks , had to look that up.

steven adams’ book is good pic.twitter.com/5WrLkXxaZg

— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) August 3, 2018

JV should come back with this:

[A.I]

You want to stop OKC? Put Kawhi on Westbrook and OG on PG. Done.

[planetmars]

We only face them twice in a season.. and most likely won't see them in the finals. But yeah OKC is just a tough match up. International bigs always seem to give JV fits.. and Adams is one of the best centers in the league.

[Hotshot]

JV should come back with this:

JV is actually smart, its harder to agitate Adams that's why he moved to Westbrook.

[white men can't jump]

We only face them twice in a season.. and most likely won't see them in the finals. But yeah OKC is just a tough match up. International bigs always seem to give JV fits.. and Adams is one of the best centers in the league.

I don't know if it's an "international" thing or just random.

Adams gets away with murder on the court, and that's tough for JV. JV is physical but rarely "dirty" the way a guy like Adams is, who just grabs guys with two hands and throws them out of the way to get rebounds. That's also something Gortat used to get away with a lot (in a more mild way) but not so much the last couple of seasons.

I like Adams as a player, but he's a classic example of a guy who benefits from playing with a superstar like Westbrook. If Adams was on a mediocre team without a superstar, he'd probably struggle to stay on the court because of foul trouble or would have to adjust his game quite a bit. Whiteside is another good example, as he was a fouling machine until he caught on with Miami and could suddenly stay on the court.

And it's kind of the reverse when we play Utah. JV usually punishes Gobert, who's way too skinny, but Gobert flops around and complains to the refs, so like half the time JV is nailed to the bench with foul trouble.

[planetmars]

This season's projected playoff teams don't include the new-look Lakers. pic.twitter.com/TeqYtD3or6

— ESPN (@espn) August 3, 2018

ESPN has us first in the East. Kevin Pelton usually hates us.. Kawhi must pay huge dividends analytically.

Lakers and Spurs are heading to the lottery in his projections.

[ReubenJRD]

This season's projected playoff teams don't include the new-look Lakers. pic.twitter.com/TeqYtD3or6

— ESPN (@espn) August 3, 2018

ESPN has us first in the East. Kevin Pelton usually hates us.. Kawhi must pay huge dividends analytically.

Lakers and Spurs are heading to the lottery in his projections.

A lot of people hating on Pelton, but he created this list based on very specific analytics.

Kawhi must pay huge dividends analytically.

Isn't he one of the best players from an analytics standpoint in the league?

[planetmars]

A lot of people hating on Pelton, but he created this list based on very specific analytics.



Isn't he one of the best players from an analytics standpoint in the league?

Yeah he is, but Pelton had us at 43 wins and 6th in the East last year. So is he saying that +Kawhi and -DD accounts for something like 17 wins?

Pretty crazy if he is.. and he may not be wrong. Just thought it was interesting.

Here is a link to last year's article:
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...2017-18-season

[DanH]

Yeah he is, but Pelton had us at 43 wins and 6th in the East last year. So is he saying that +Kawhi and -DD accounts for something like 17 wins?

Pretty crazy if he is.. and he may not be wrong. Just thought it was interesting.

Here is a link to last year's article:
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...2017-18-season

Nah, a lot of it is our bench players were basically complete unknowns, except Siakam who was brutal his first year, so they didn't project to be a dominating bench. And yeah, DD to Kawhi is a big leap by impact stats.

This year, we have last year's data on the bench players (and OG) and so the baseline even without DeMar traded would have been much higher. Kawhi makes a big difference too, of course, but not 17 wins worth.

[Hotshot]

This season's projected playoff teams don't include the new-look Lakers. pic.twitter.com/TeqYtD3or6

— ESPN (@espn) August 3, 2018

ESPN has us first in the East. Kevin Pelton usually hates us.. Kawhi must pay huge dividends analytically.

Lakers and Spurs are heading to the lottery in his projections.

Last season in the West the 9th place team Denver had 46 wins and the 3rd place Portland had 49 games. I can totally see Blazers, Pelicans and Wolves having bad stretches because they are fragile while Spurs and Lakers simply winning at the right times and passing them.

Edit: At the east I can see Brooklyn grind out wins throughout the season and get into the playoffs.

[ReubenJRD]

Yeah he is, but Pelton had us at 43 wins and 6th in the East last year. So is he saying that +Kawhi and -DD accounts for something like 17 wins?

Pretty crazy if he is.. and he may not be wrong. Just thought it was interesting.

Here is a link to last year's article:
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...2017-18-season

Thanks.

Well, if we go off raw stats, Kawhi is a much more efficient basketball player and greatly affects one side of the ball significantly more than DeRozan ever has. So, I think that account comes purely from: adding efficiency, better percentages, adding defence.

To be honest, it's not that crazy to think Kawhi is that much better of a player than DeRozan.

DeRozan is maybe a top 15 player. Maybe.
(Personally, I think Lowry is a better player).

Kawhi Leonard, when healthy, is arguably the second best player in the world.