NBA 2019-2020 Season

[Chris2K]

45 minutes ago, Pooker said:

Same here, @The Chiksrara Special, same here.

So, has does everybody think the West stacks up now? Clippers, Lakers, Jazz, Mavs, Nuggets, Rockets. Warriors, Spurs, Blazers, Pelicans.  Pretty much every team has a shot at the playoffs, outside of the Wolves, Thunder, and Suns. The Kings will probably get squeezed out. I have a feeling that somebody is going to miss the playoffs in the West, despite having a much bette record than the eighth seed in the East.

We got Jake Layman, you can't rule anything out . 

Out of those 10 I have to say the Spurs, Mavs and a potential sophomore slump Nuggets as play-off missing risks. And I guess you have to throw the Warriors in there with only one superstar and a Draymond compared to the multiple stars of other teams.

Meanwhile in the East other than the Bucks, 76ers, Celtics and Pacers the whole thing is wide open. Even the Nets aren't a certainty until Durant is available.

[Meacon Keaton]

Yeah, I expect the Celtics to take a step back up with Kyrie gone and Kemba stepping in. The 76ers are going to be interesting. They lost Butler but gained Horford, who teamed with Embiid, should be pretty impressive. Raptors are obviously done, IMO. The Bucks are going to be super tough again.

I also think the Nuggets may take a step back in the West. I just could not buy them as legit contenders this year. And now the West appears to be stronger, I don't see them keeping up. They may be a 7 or 8th seed but I'm not a believer. Clippers, Blazers, Rockets, and Warriors are the teams to beat in the West I think. 

[KJE]

28 minutes ago, Meacon said:

Yeah, I expect the Celtics to take a step back up with Kyrie gone and Kemba stepping in. The 76ers are going to be interesting. They lost Butler but gained Horford, who teamed with Embiid, should be pretty impressive. Raptors are obviously done, IMO. The Bucks are going to be super tough again.

I also think the Nuggets may take a step back in the West. I just could not buy them as legit contenders this year. And now the West appears to be stronger, I don't see them keeping up. They may be a 7 or 8th seed but I'm not a believer. Clippers, Blazers, Rockets, and Warriors are the teams to beat in the West I think. 

How done do you consider the Raptors?

I'm not saying they'll be a top seed, but unless they blow it up they will make the playoffs with their roster now.

Unless you meant as a legitimate title contender, then yes, they are done.

[Meacon Keaton]

I mean as legit contenders. There's not a chance in hell they win the NBA championship next year. And at the end of the day, that's all that matters. 

[Chris2K]

The Raptors are a team now led by Kyle Lowry, Based on that I'd be amazed if they finish with any other record than 41-41.

[Meacon Keaton]

They'll still likely make the playoffs though, because there's literally four or five good teams in the East. The 7th and 8th seed teams may be like 35-47 territory.  

[Your Mom]

11 minutes ago, Meacon said:

They'll still likely make the playoffs though, because there's literally four or five good teams in the East. The 7th and 8th seed teams may be like 35-47 territory.  

So you're saying theres a chance?

[Meacon Keaton]

9 minutes ago, The Chiksrara Special said:

So you're saying theres a chance?

Maybe for your Bulls, but not likely for my Knicks.  

[Benjamin]

I'm so happy about this, because fuck the Lakers and am glad they don't get to monopolise the West. 

There's legitimately 9 or 10 teams that can win the league this season and that's so cool. 

[The Buscher]

All that money spent on signing a billion role players and the Knicks still won't sniff the playoffs in a terrible conference.

[DMN in the House]

Y'all are playing yourselves if you think the Lakers won't be there at the end. The second round of the Western Conference playoffs is going to be LAL, LAC, GSW, and probably the Jazz. Blazers are done, Rockets are done.

[Your Mom]

Russ is apparently asking to be traded too. Full on rebuild on the way if we have any OKC fans here

[Benjamin]

1 hour ago, DMN said:

Y'all are playing yourselves if you think the Lakers won't be there at the end. The second round of the Western Conference playoffs is going to be LAL, LAC, GSW, and probably the Jazz. Blazers are done, Rockets are done.

Lakers are definitely one of those teams that could win the chip, I don't think anyone has said otherwise. Especially with Boogie just recently joining them on a one year deal. Hopefully they implode and shit the bed, that'd be fantastic to see. 

[Pooker]

Lakers still have no depth. Lebron won't play a full season, Davis probably won't either and they don't have much help anywhere else. Boogie isnt the same player and Kuzma can't carry the whole load.

[DMN in the House]

5 minutes ago, Pooker said:

Lakers still have no depth. Lebron won't play a full season, Davis probably won't either and they don't have much help anywhere else. Boogie isnt the same player and Kuzma can't carry the whole load.

K.

We'll see in June.

[Meacon Keaton]

You're gonna be a sad panda. 

[DMN in the House]

LOL.

The Lakers just spent a half a decade in the wilderness, I don't think I'm going to be sad about making the playoffs and being the most important team in the NBA again.

You know what I see in all these comments about how the Lakers are going to be bad?

Fear.

Fear that the Lakers are righting the ship. Fear that they'll be back to dominating the way they have for your entire lives. Fear that you'll turn on ESPN and, instead of mockery of the Lakers, it'll be another parade at LA Live, another title.

C'mon, @Meacon, you should know better than this as a Yankees fan. Y'all hoping for the Clippers to save you is like asking for the Mets to take over NYC. Ain't gonna happen.

[Meacon Keaton]

I think we're being realistic. There's no fear. You think LeBron and AD are going to save you, but there's way more depth than you appear to realize. It's the West. I don't really care what goes on out there. You seem to think everything is going to fall into place just because you're the Lakers and it has in the past, but I don't see it. I'm not asking the Clippers to take over LA, because, and this may sound harsh, but as a Northeast guy, I could not even begin to explain how little that matters to me. But I do think the Clippers are the better team going forward. I'm not sure how you can realistically look at the Lakers right now and argue otherwise.

I'd be fine with the Lakers being great again. They're one of those franchises that makes the sport better when they're great. Do I think they're going to be better than the dribble they've been over the last few years? Of course. I'm not sure how they could not be.  But if you think we "fear" the Lakers instead of just not seeing a championship team, I'm going to assume it's more of a matter of that making you randy than looking at it from a non-partisan side. 

[Pooker]

I'm fine with the Lakers being great again. They are one of those teams that are just fun to root against for me. The Jazz may have never been the Lakers number one rival but we've had some entertaining match ups over the years. And if the Jazz are to make a deep playoff run this year, I want the Lakers to  be one of the teams we're going up against.

But, I just don't see it this year for the Lakers. Nothing about them strikes fear into me. 

[DMN in the House]

You know I'm playing it up, yeah?

I do think the Lakers will be better than the Clippers when it matters, in the playoffs. They have no one inside to deal with the Lakers size, and they don't have better shooters, either. They are better defensively on the perimeter, but not inside. I think they'll be a great regular season team and then struggle against teams that can exploit them inside like the Lakers, Nuggets, and maybe Portland.

James and Davis are a better duo right now than Leonard and George. No one else on the Clippers scares you at all, except Pat Bev off the bench, while the Lakers have more upside in Cousins in his second season back from injury, and Green.

I do think the Lakers will be the best team by the end of the season, especially if they can add buy-out candidates like Iguodala or Korver to add more shooting.

Honestly, the Nuggets, because of Jokic, and the Jazz with Gobert worry more than Ivica Zubac and his inability to defend the pick and roll. He was unplayable in the playoffs last year.