2021-2022 AROUND the NBA: GSW Champs [ARCHIVED]

[burekemde]

Tough to see Ingles injury. Its to me even more scary to see when its non-contact related to other players. You never know whats going to happen, nobody is safe.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/3319...hearing-it

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Atlanta cools off Phoenix behind Trae Young's 43 pts, 124-115.

[SleepingHero]

Atlanta cools off Phoenix behind Trae Young's 43 pts, 124-115.

Everyone on ATL couldn't miss. 5 of 9 players shot over 50% from the field (really 5 of 7 if you only count those who played over 20 mins). 

Trae Young is a super exciting player to watch. I know we will always have some sort of rivalry with Trae since we traded him for Luka, but I love watching the dude. 

I will still choose Luka 100 times out of 100 and it's not really close, but Trae is a fun enough watch that I'll turn my TV on if they're playing (and the Mavs aren't).

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Everyone on ATL couldn't miss. 5 of 9 players shot over 50% from the field (really 5 of 7 if you only count those who played over 20 mins). 

Trae Young is a super exciting player to watch. I know we will always have some sort of rivalry with Trae since we traded him for Luka, but I love watching the dude. 

I will still choose Luka 100 times out of 100 and it's not really close, but Trae is a fun enough watch that I'll turn my TV on if they're playing (and the Mavs aren't).

I disagree about it not being close. Trae has already had playoff success, while Luka has not. Luka has the edge overall due to his size and BBIQ,  but Trae is right there as well. Atlanta is playing much better now that they're getting key players back from injury, as well as having better roster construction. Luka is a great great young player, no disputing that. Luka has to mature though. Sometimes he acts like a diva complaining to the refs all time. If you think that trade was one-sided, you'd be wrong. It was a win-win for both teams.TMO though.

[dirkfansince1998]

I disagree about it not being close. Trae has already had playoff success, while Luka has not. Luka has the edge overall due to his size and BBIQ,  but Trae is right there as well. Atlanta is playing much better now that they're getting key players back from injury, as well as having better roster construction. Luka is a great great young player, no disputing that. Luka has to mature though. Sometimes he acts like a diva complaining to the refs all time. If you think that trade was one-sided, you'd be wrong. It was a win-win for both teams.TMO though.

It´s not about the Luka-Trae trade. It is about the other roster moves. Hawks tanked for a couple of years and collected picks, young assets. They have a better foundation. 
Huerter, Collins, Okongwu and Hunter all picked in the first round. With additional assets used in trades. 2020 1st (Poku) for Capela. And recently Cam Reddish for a protected 2022 1st from Charlotte.

Mavs refusal to tank for just one season is the main difference. I guess we could also blame the lottery gods but in the end the Mavs could have done more to increase their chances. Imagine a scenario where the Mavs get Luka without giving up another 1st. Or a scenario where Dallas keeps the pick in 2019 because they end up with a top 5 pick.
Hawks not being good in the first two seasons of Trae´s career allowed them to add more talent and build a better supporting cast. Mavs on the other hand managed to burn the remaining assets without any roster improvement.

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status...rosaspAAAA

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https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status...idsKspAAAA

[SleepingHero]

I disagree about it not being close. Trae has already had playoff success, while Luka has not. Luka has the edge overall due to his size and BBIQ,  but Trae is right there as well. Atlanta is playing much better now that they're getting key players back from injury, as well as having better roster construction. Luka is a great great young player, no disputing that. Luka has to mature though. Sometimes he acts like a diva complaining to the refs all time. If you think that trade was one-sided, you'd be wrong. It was a win-win for both teams.TMO though.

I wasn't calling the trade not being close. I was saying if I had to choose one player to start my franchise I'd still choose Luka and for me personally it isn't close. For all the grief we give Luka on defense, Trae is worse and he can't fix it due to his size. Both probably are the biggest complainers to the refs in the league. 

The difference is the Hawks franchise actually built a team around Trae with some incredible trades. I mean they got Capela as a 3rd team. They snagged Deandre Hunter unloading mid-tier first rounders. They signed a BUNCH of good role players each summer, despite overpaying them.

What have the Mavs done? Well so far they've only signed 1-2 free agents a year, and subsequently trade them for pennies on the dollar when they don't work out because they were plan F to begin with. They didn't draft well. This roster is the exact same as it was 3 years ago.  

If you put Luka on the Hawks they are finals contenders and I have no doubt in my mind.

[omahen]

I have no idea how the player that makes most sense is Randle, as long as Sacramento has Holmes and Barnes. 

(7) NBA Central on Twitter: "The New York Knicks have shown ‘some interest’ in De'Aaron Fox, per Brian Windhorst "The player that makes the most sense in that swap is Julius Randle." (h/t @RealGM ) https://t.co/5K7xsEm65r" / Twitter

[Tyler]

I get the feeling that Sacramento is looking for a complete overhaul. Combine that Fox/Randle deal with Barnes going elsewhere, and I can see it. Or maybe send Randle to a 3rd team.

[cow]

I know we will always have some sort of rivalry with Trae since we traded him for Luka, but I love watching the dude. 

I always thought the grudge towards Trae is silly even by "sports hate" standards.  Both sides got what they wanted and are seemingly happy.

[DanSchwartzgan]

I get the feeling that Sacramento is looking for a complete overhaul. Combine that Fox/Randle deal with Barnes going elsewhere, and I can see it. Or maybe send Randle to a 3rd team.

Fox and Randle are back to back in The Athletic's TDL Big Board piece.  They are 4th and 5th:

De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings: Once again, the Kings are at a crossroads. While intriguing, the current core of the team just doesn’t appear to be good enough. De’Aaron Fox is emblematic of these “should be better” shortcomings. After his third season, he looked to be on an All-Star trajectory, to the point where Kings’ management rewarded him with the full five-year max rookie extension prior to last season, where while Fox did not progress as hoped, he at least held steady. Partially due to injuries, the straight-line speed and explosiveness that made him so intriguing have only been seen intermittently this year, resulting in a career-low rim attempt rate, the lowest free-throw attempts rate since his rookie year and career highs in midrange attempts. At the same time, his shooting has cratered to the tune of sub 25 percent from 3. And he’s owed around $135 million over the next four seasons, a big meal for any team to eat. But Fox just turned 24 and wouldn’t be the first player to just need a change of scenery from a perennially losing situation to turn his career around, so another team could accommodate Sacramento’s desire to reset (again) and take a chance on that sort of rebirth occurring.

Julius Randle, New York Knicks: The New York Post has been reporting for a couple of weeks now that the Knicks are open to moving everyone, including Julius Randle. And if we’re just being completely honest with ourselves, the Randle situation with the Knicks just seems … off, doesn’t it? Since Jan. 10, he’s averaging 15 points and shooting under 40 percent from the field. He had bizarre interaction with the fans in early January and hasn’t spoken to the media in New York in nearly a month. He just signed a four-year, $117 million extension in the offseason, so this would be a pretty stunning reversal. In that vein, it would be surprising to see him on the move. But is there enough that has gone wrong here already to push things in that direction, given that the Knicks have disappointed?


And, Jalen is 10th:


Jalen Brunson, Dallas Mavericks: A discussion of Jalen Brunson's trade value could well be academic given the reportedly sky-high ask from Dallas. That said, he does represent an often repeated decision point facing teams when they have success drafting late into the first or in the second round. Brunson is a hugely valuable contributor for the Mavs in part because he is playing out the final season of what is essentially a four-year league-minimum deal. This means the acquiring team can’t send out much matching salary and has to be ready to pay Brunson market rate, at which point the value attaching to a non-lottery success story largely vanishes. This situation makes both sides of any prospective trade more complicated than many scenarios. For his part, Brunson is having a career season in Dallas, averaging 16 points and six assists on outstanding efficiency next to Luka Doncic. 

[HoosierDaddyKid]

I wasn't calling the trade not being close. I was saying if I had to choose one player to start my franchise I'd still choose Luka and for me personally it isn't close. For all the grief we give Luka on defense, Trae is worse and he can't fix it due to his size. Both probably are the biggest complainers to the refs in the league. 

The difference is the Hawks franchise actually built a team around Trae with some incredible trades. I mean they got Capela as a 3rd team. They snagged Deandre Hunter unloading mid-tier first rounders. They signed a BUNCH of good role players each summer, despite overpaying them.

What have the Mavs done? Well so far they've only signed 1-2 free agents a year, and subsequently trade them for pennies on the dollar when they don't work out because they were plan F to begin with. They didn't draft well. This roster is the exact same as it was 3 years ago.  

If you put Luka on the Hawks they are finals contenders and I have no doubt in my mind.

Oh I agree. They asked GM's name one young player you would build your franchise around and 90% said Luka. I was just commenting on when the trade was first made, most on here said Dallas won it hands down. That wasn't the case at all, plus Atlanta got a 1st round pick that turned out to be Cam Reddish who they just traded to the Knicks. Both players benefited both teams.

[SatnamSingh]

Every time I get frustrated with the Mavs, I need to remind myself at least we're not Kings fans.

Their subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/kings/

[SatnamSingh]

Forgot to mention Julius Randle unfollowed the Knicks on Instagram last night.  Dearon Fox unfollowed the Kings about an hour ago.

[SatnamSingh]

Oh damn Clippers/Blazers trade.

Clips get Powell and Covington.

whoops wrong thread

[omahen]

(7) Shams Charania on Twitter: "Sources: The NBA has informed teams of projected salary cap and tax level in 2022-23 — $121M and $147M, both are $2M higher than previous estimates." / Twitter

[omahen]

For reference. Mavs have 140 mil guaranteed (assuming they will guarantee last year of Maxi contract) for next season before 2022 FRP, Brunson and DFS and potentially rMLE. That is almost 170 mil for a team that is 4th - 6th in the injury crippled West. 170 mil is at a level where BKN, LAC and similar teams are

[SleepingHero]

For reference. Mavs have 140 mil guaranteed (assuming they will guarantee last year of Maxi contract) for next season before 2022 FRP, Brunson and DFS and potentially rMLE. That is almost 170 mil for a team that is 4th - 6th in the injury crippled West. 170 mil is at a level where BKN, LAC and similar teams are

Powell paid too much. Wasted money with Burke. Thats 15M right there. Add in the NYK bros and we're nearly in 70mm salary territory across 4 players that don't contribute enough.

[omahen]

(7) Shams Charania on Twitter: "Sources: The Philadelphia 76ers are expected to pursue Brooklyn's James Harden ahead of NBA trade deadline Thursday – and the Nets are now open to discussing a deal. Details on @TheAthletic: https://t.co/asdsGS0Sht" / Twitter