AROUND the NBA:

[KillerLeft]

Morey out in Philly.

That's great news, because it's one inch closer to Nick Nurse being out in Philly, and the trifecta of awesome Mavs front office moves could then be completed.

[DanSchwartzgan]

That's great news, because it's one inch closer to Nick Nurse being out in Philly, and the trifecta of awesome Mavs front office moves could then be completed.

Straight up swap...Kidd to the Philly FO and Nurse to the Dallas bench?

[Chicagojk]

Straight up swap...Kidd to the Philly FO and Nurse to the Dallas bench?

Didn't the Masai and Nurse relationship did not go well at the end?

[HoosierDaddyKid]

At 29, Ivica Zubac should be in his prime. The Pacers likely needed to pay a premium for his deal, which will pay him just $42.1 million over the next two seasons. Additionally, the rest of the lottery is likely to be dotted with point guards. With Haliburton, the Pacers are set there, so protecting a pick further into the lottery had diminishing value for Indiana. Despite the risk of losing this year’s pick, Pritchard said the trade framework allowed the Pacers to keep most of their future draft flexibility intact. He suggested they expect to be active and will look for moves this summer. “Everybody says, well, why didn’t you protect it a lot deeper?” Pritchard said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to. That was the vig for us to get Zu.”

[Smitty]

@TheSteinLine
In an anonymous survey of 411 players conducted by and released today by @TheNBPA, NBA referees have been placed in three rating tiers:

   

[cow]

@TheSteinLine
In an anonymous survey of 411 players conducted by and released today by @TheNBPA, NBA referees have been placed in three rating tiers:

It would have been really interesting if there were a 4th not so kind tier below "needs improvement".

[dirkfansince1998]

That was brutal to watch. Detroit with an epic choke job in the last three minutes of the 4th quarter and completly out of it in OT. Harden and Mitchell trying their best to throw it in OT but even their best effort wasn't enough. Detroit refused to accept the gift.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

That was brutal to watch. Detroit with an epic choke job in the last three minutes of the 4th quarter and completly out of it in OT. Harden and Mitchell trying their best to throw it in OT but even their best effort wasn't enough. Detroit refused to accept the gift.

Yeah, they blew their opportunity. They should have won game 3 and let it get away, also. Cade is a great player, but he has been on a turnover binge, and he has to do everything for them. Duren has disappeared, and Tobias Harris has played well but came up short last night. They're a young team that desperately needs shooters. Cleveland has them in abundance. I expect some changes this offseason, as I guess they wanted to see how far they could go with this current core. It's going to be tough winning on Friday in Cleveland.

[Chicagojk]

Yeah, they blew their opportunity. They should have won game 3 and let it get away, also. Cade is a great player, but he has been on a turnover binge, and he has to do everything for them. Duren has disappeared, and Tobias Harris has played well but came up short last night. They're a young team that desperately needs shooters. Cleveland has them in abundance. I expect some changes this offseason, as I guess they wanted to see how far they could go with this current core. It's going to be tough winning on Friday in Cleveland.

Yeah, they are in trouble.  I am rooting for Clev because I think that is a better series against the Knicks.

Cade is great but had a few big mistakes late.  Probably because they rely on him for everything.  With the troubles of Duren, that roster is really poor for a top seed.  Big credit for winning that many games during the regular season.  That franchise has a lot of work to improve the talent.  They really need another all star level guard to pair with Cade.   Really shocking to see who a number 1 seed has on the floor for a lot of the game.    

I can think they will be very aggressive this offseason.  They need it.  They overachieved in the regular season imo.

[Smitty]

@esidery
The expectation around the NBA is the new lottery reform will only last three years from 2027-2029.

With how aggressive the new flattened odds are, penalizing for being the worst, this is a short-term fix to a long-term issue before a more balanced one goes into effect in 2030.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Yeah, they are in trouble.  I am rooting for Clev because I think that is a better series against the Knicks.

Cade is great but had a few big mistakes late.  Probably because they rely on him for everything.  With the troubles of Duren, that roster is really poor for a top seed.  Big credit for winning that many games during the regular season.  That franchise has a lot of work to improve the talent.  They really need another all star level guard to pair with Cade.   Really shocking to see who a number 1 seed has on the floor for a lot of the game.    

I can think they will be very aggressive this offseason.  They need it.  They overachieved in the regular season imo.

Can't disagree with any of that. It says a lot when your 3rd string center gets most of the minutes in the 4th qtr and OT. Not knocking Paul Reed. He's played great for them with high energy and hustle.

[Chicagojk]

Winner.  Brunson.  Can’t believe this franchise had a draft like they had but we can never look back and enjoy it.

Should have been franchise altering for the next 15 years.  Just that night.  

https://x.com/SbondyNBA/status/205511416...deo/1?s=46

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Winner.  Brunson.  Can’t believe this franchise had a draft like they had but we can never look back and enjoy it.

Should have been franchise altering for the next 15 years.  Just that night.  

https://x.com/SbondyNBA/status/205511416...deo/1?s=46

So, do you think Brunson and Luka could have co-existed?   I mean, it was stated that Brunson wanted the opportunity to run his own team, not play second fiddle to Luka. I actually thought he wasn't lead guard material, more like a backup bench piece.  But he proved me and everyone else wrong.

[michaeltex]

So, do you think Brunson and Luka could have co-existed?   I mean, it was stated that Brunson wanted the opportunity to run his own team, not play second fiddle to Luka. I actually thought he wasn't lead guard material, more like a backup bench piece.  But he proved me and everyone else wrong.

I agree with your point and will add that, at the TDL that season there was a lot of talk about whether Brunson, an SRP, was worth extending or should DAL just go ahead and trade him for whatever they could get. Once he got some recognition of being a pretty good PG in the post season, coupled with tampering and other shenanigans by NYKs and Daddy Brunson, he was a lost cause.

I still don't understand why DAL didn't give him a rookie contract with enough years to claim RFA status. If that was Donnie's negotiating, then bad on him. But if Brunson agreed, then I've suspected he had a sneaky plan to migrate to NY at the first opportunity anyway.

[mvossman]

I agree with your point and will add that, at the TDL that season there was a lot of talk about whether Brunson, an SRP, was worth extending or should DAL just go ahead and trade him for whatever they could get. Once he got some recognition of being a pretty good PG in the post season, coupled with tampering and other shenanigans by NYKs and Daddy Brunson, he was a lost cause.

I still don't understand why DAL didn't give him a rookie contract with enough years to claim RFA status. If that was Donnie's negotiating, then bad on him. But if Brunson agreed, then I've suspected he had a sneaky plan to migrate to NY at the first opportunity anyway.

Actually if he had gotten the normal RFA contract he would have been eligible for it a year earlier (the WCF season).  Considering they were not willing to offer him an extension, I'm not sure what they would have done if he signs an 18 mil offer sheet with NY.  They probably let him go and get a couple seconds back (similar to the Delon Wright trade only reversed).  The reality is all they had to do was offer him the max extension after his third year.

As for fit with Luka, they obviously worked well together, but Brunson was never going to reach his current peak on this team.  A competent FO probably extends him and eventually trades him for a massive asset haul.

[dirkfansince1998]

Pistons inability to close quarters/halfs is really hurting them. As far as clock mangement goes it doesn't get any worse. I get that they are struggling in the half court but at some point you have to look at the clock instead of running the floor in transition.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Pistons inability to close quarters/halfs is really hurting them. As far as clock mangement goes it doesn't get any worse. I get that they are struggling in the half court but at some point you have to look at the clock instead of running the floor in transition.

 
They turned it up in the second half, mostly by the bench to force a 7th game, 115-94. Paul Reed, Daniss Jenkins, Marcus Sasser, and Duncan Robinson were all instrumental in the win..Duren had his best game in these playoffs with 15 pts -11 boards. They forced 20 Cleveland turnovers.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

San Antonio is boatracing the Wolves, 110-84 at the end of 3. Wemby, Castle, Harper, and Fox are major problems. Can't wait for Spurs/ Thunder next week.

[dirkfansince1998]

 
They turned it up in the second half, mostly by the bench to force a 7th game, 115-94. Paul Reed, Daniss Jenkins, Marcus Sasser, and Duncan Robinson were all instrumental in the win..Duren had his best game in these playoffs with 15 pts -11 boards. They forced 20 Cleveland turnovers.

Whoever wins this is going to be the heavy underdog against the Knicks. Series is entertaining but not in the "high quality" basketball sense. Both teams are turnover prone, have real spacing issues (Robinson is super important for the Pistons) and tend to lose their head in clutch moments.

[CooPerFan]

Castle might be the real alpha/ batman for the spurs