the lakers will struggle to make the playoffs, change my view
/nba/ thread?
Dominic Ward
Isaiah Jenkins
Should get 6-8 seed no prob, and imo are 3-5 seed.
Minny isn't half as good as you might think - Thibs is going to run his players ragged, and Butler clearly wants out (prob goes to NY w/Irving, I think, in the offseason next year). Clippers will stumble. Dallas isn't ready for prime time just yet.
The keys are New Orleans and Portland. I think the Blazers are tough regular season outs - imo, they make the playoffs and then get filleted. On the other hand, I think the Pels overachieved and won't make it back, setting up discontent for AD. He does deserve better, though; that team is eugh. Wings are a problem for Nawlins.
Lakers aren't as good as either HOU or GSW obv, and I think Utah is also better. Depends whether you like OKC over Bron.
SAS and DEN should make it regardless; too much talent on both teams to miss.
Mason Wilson
Yo yo I'm black
Eli Perez
Yeah I guess but that team is just a general head scratcher. This is the west, not the east. Can they get away with this team in the west?
Blazers have essentially become the Raptors of the West at this point, now that I think about it. Pre-Demar trade Raptors that is. I think I like OKC, HOU, GSW, and UTAH over the Lakers personally.
I feel bad for Pelicans fans, there's a damn good chance they miss the playoffs if it turns out they overachieved and he could leave very easily when he becomes a free agent. they're in a very tough spot with little flexibility.
Jack Morales
LeBron is good enough to power a team with some half-decent teams to a playoff spot, and that's the Lakers - they have decent D, a dude with good potential (Ingram) and two guys who can shoot (Hart and Kuz). They'll win enough to get into the playoffs, but that won't win anything against GSW or the Rockets, and I doubt they'd beat Utah in a series. Toss up with the Thunder, but I'd wager on Russ and PG over Bron and randos. A good outing by either the Spurs or Denver might honestly be enough to knock out the Lakers in a series, but both SA and DEN will probably struggle more in the regular season compared to the star-heavy teams or Utah.
The Blazers are basically all those East teams that end up a high seed and flame out. Wiz, Raps, the Hawks before their recent implosion. Their offense is transcendent in the regular season. They have studs. None of it, however, is enough to compete with the best of the best; Lillard isn't a #1 option on a championship squad, and he's Portland's best player. Guys like CJ McCollum just don't mesh with him, either, given CJ's lack of D and playing roughly the same slashing style.
As for the Pels...I don't know what they realistically could've done, but their wings have been a problem for a while. Mirotic is a nice asset and works well with AD, but if they can't field 3-pt shooters at the 2 and 3 - guys like Danny Green, or Ariza, or whatnot - they're gonna have a bad time. Rondo worked well with Jrue, but now Rondo's gone, DMC is gone...idk what they can manage. I don't see the playoffs. AD alone is gonna run of out juice trying to carry that team to 48+ wins.
Adrian Stewart
>half-decent teams
half-decent players, that is
Asher Howard
nigger worshippers need to leave this board.
Asher Gomez
They'll make the playoffs for sure. They'll be a shit seed, but at the end of the day, if Bron can get the Cavs to the finals, he can get the Lakers to the playoffs. Had he gone to Boston (would've loved to have him here), Houston, or Phili they'd be genuine championship contenders despite Boogie going to GSW, but with him in the LA, we can skip this season
Isaac Brooks
gsw will rampage again. Even knowing the final outcome is not enough to tamper my enjoyment. G-go nets
Brayden Martin
>watching a sport is now worshiping a race
Jordan Russell
That was obvious the moment KD signed with them after the players' union went full retard with the CBA.
Lockout is coming when this CBA expires unless action is taken, mark my words. The owners won't settle for this forever. Either they need to eliminate the salary cap entirely to implement a free market, European soccer style, or they need to institute an NFL-style hard cap. Half-assing it won't work forever and will only polarize things to the rich, well-located teams like GSW, Miami, and LAL.
Ayden Nelson
> if Bron can get the Cavs to the finals, he can get the Lakers to the playoffs
I get what you're saying but this is still the West lol. If a Lebron designed team with shooters was only on pace for 55 wins in the east after the trade deadline, then what is that in the west? They have to play Houston 3 times and then Golden State 4 times in the regular season. And San Antonio 3 times? I mean come on. It's just not the same.
Does eliminating max contracts still solve the problem of guys taking paycuts to stay on stupidly OP teams?
Though I guess if you think about it those teams are a lot less likely to form if free market money lures them away before that happens. This is the only question I have about eliminating max contracts
Oliver Miller
It's definitely not the same, but theres room in the playoffs for the Lakers for sure, even in the West
Elijah Rivera
It's definitely not the same, but theres room in the playoffs for the Lakers for sure, even in the West
To stop the making of broken super teams, there needs to either be a limit to the number of all-stars allowed on a team, or a minimum contract for all-stars
Connor Myers
It definitely wouldn't help with guys like DMC taking a paycut, but his situation is motivated by injury. Others likely would take the money if people threw shittons of dollars at them. Not like the Kings, but IMO if the 6ers had tossed an $80m a year deal at Bron whereas the Lakers had offered $40m a year, Bron woulda taken the Phila offer. That's the kind of shit Ronaldo does, and for good reason - the absurd, record-setting contracts are their own kind of publicity. You build your brand on pure spectacle.
The MLB also works on this idea, to a lesser extent given that they have more players of impact than the NBA. Owners are rich. When you eliminate things like the salary cap, when you put dollars to wins in motion and not in service to bureaucracy, it becomes a more competitive landscape.
You could even mix and match the ideas. A higher hard cap with unlimited contracts, for instance - a team heavily capped out with a top-5 player vs a team with a more balanced roster, but without a top-end superstar. Max contracts and the luxury tax are what hinder teams nowadays, particularly with Bird Rights and the soft cap in play. It rewards dynasties, rather than rewarding small market squads like it was supposed to.
Cooper Price
There's only one NBA I watch
Niggers Being Assassinated
That's my kinda NBA gnow what I'm sayin
hehehehe tell yew what
Benjamin Edwards
I honestly feel DeRozan is gonna do great in SA.
Jason Rivera
Yeah as a Spurs fan myself I have high hopes. I think he can be even better and have a system in which to improve lacking aspects of his game. In a system defense his flaws on that end may be covered up more.
I still don't trust him in the playoffs, especially not in the West, but at least that Washington series he had was pretty good last year. So maybe it's just Lebron that gives him the fucking night terrors, idk. I think the biggest thing I was a fan of in his game last season was his improved playmaking. That was the one thing Kawhi never really got down and DeMar is only improving in that aspect, so that's cool. Maybe we can make him into a passable defender this season.
Colton Cooper
I don't understand people that willingly watch and support dudes more physically attractive and wildly more successful and talented than them succeed in life while you ldar
Jackson Lee
Spurs get 3rd seed. 47 wins last year Kawhi-less, and now they've added DeRozan.
Ayden Cox
I wouldn't be surprised if they got 2nd seed tbhwy. Murray got better + Demar + Fresh Gay. Also, Rockets got worse. But there's the Jazz and the Thunders... Dunno.
Josiah Wood
Any other knick fans excited for the next few years!?