2022–23 NBA season

[Twist]

I assume if AD goes though that LeBron isn’t sticking around for a rebuild?

[Maxx]

Wonder where LeBron will run off to next.

[livid]

He just signed an extension through the 24-25 season so he's not going anywhere. Unless he asks to be traded but that'd be a first for him.

[gunnar hendershow]

Yeah the scuttlebutt is LeBron wants them to trade the picks for help now and that it was basically a condition of him re-upping.

Not sure how they get Bronny without the picks of course, but that's a future problem for LeBron.

[Pooker]

21 hours ago, Chris2K said:

The Jazz continue the worst tanking in NBA history by going 8-3. 

Speaking of tanking, there's rumours that the Lakers are looking to off-load Anthony Davis.

Best tank job ever, you mean. Loving this team. Screw the tank, championship or bust.

[Chris2K]

There are some good City jerseys, there are some bad City jerseys, but the Hornets have gone for a unique "double-entendre" option, especially when worn by LaMelo Ball.

[gunnar hendershow]

I saw that and thought it was from a fake verified account on Twitter.

[Pooker]

I don't normally root for guys having a career night against my team, but Joel Embiid was on another level last night, a joy to watch, and I'm pissed he didn't get 60.

[Chris2K]

It's so easy to hate the Nets, even without Kyrie, when KD is giving interviews like this:

Quote

“Look at our starting lineup. Edmond Sumner, Royce O’Neale, Joe Harris, [Nic] Claxton and me. It’s not disrespect, but what are you expecting from that group? Durant asked of B/R. “You expect us to win because I’m out there. So if you’re watching from that lens, you’re expecting us to play well because No. 7 is out there."

They sure played well giving up 153 to the Kings last night.

[LL!]

KD is the best teammate is what everyone says about him all the time I bet. 

[gunnar hendershow]

10 minutes ago, LL! said:

KD is the best teammate is what everyone says about him all the time I bet. 

KD's burner account told me so.

[Chris2K]

I bet the Clippers are really happy they gave up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to win a championship with Kahwi and Paul George, but hey, at least they didn't give up 7 first round draft picks as well.

 

Oh. Oh no.

 

Meanwhile the Hornets city jerseys don't appear to have been worn in a game yet, adding evidence that their abbreviation is just really hard to find.

[Pooker]

The NBA fined Jordan Clarkson $15,000 for tossing his headband into an empty chair behind the Jazz bench, because it could have caused a potential headband fan injury. This is after Clarkson was turned sideways in a collision with two Blazer players and nothing was called. There refs are a joke this year. 

[Pooker]

Jazz are playing against Donovan Mitchell for the first time today. I'm happy he's playing well and is happy in Cleveland. But, damn, I miss watching him play in a Jazz jersey.

[Chris2K]

I'm relatively new to the NBA from a history perspective, so to those with more knowledge;

Where would you rank Luka and the Mavs on the all-time "one man team" scale?

 

[JasonM]

24 minutes ago, Chris2K said:

I'm relatively new to the NBA from a history perspective, so to those with more knowledge;

Where would you rank Luka and the Mavs on the all-time "one man team" scale?

 

It's too early to tell, but after last night's ridiculous display he definitely is up there... But just in the past two decades alone you had Kobe, LeBron, and Dwight Howard all carrying some woeful clubs to the finals or thereabouts.

And there's of course Dirk Nowitzki, who for the longest part of his career had to make do with average talent himself, so it's the Mavericks tradition to give our stars nothing to work with.

I honestly feel frustrated for Luka, because of course the historical 60/20/10 performance is in the record books, he literally had to hard carry the team just to stay in the game last night, and did all the work to get them the win. That must be utterly exhausting and frustrating to do, because if you get him a Jason Terry-esque #2 who can carry a part of the load then it'll be much healthier for all.

Kristaps was not going to work out with his injury proneness and just mismatched style, and the choice to let Brunson walk is probably going to hurt for a long time. But surely there's got to be somebody that they can bring in that will give win games for the team and not require Luka to be 110% every single night of an 82+ game season?

[gunnar hendershow]

Luka would be a clear MVP frontrunner if that team wasn't so middling. Some crazy numbers being put up by players this season on much better teams. 

[Pooker]

1 hour ago, Chris2K said:

I'm relatively new to the NBA from a history perspective, so to those with more knowledge;

Where would you rank Luka and the Mavs on the all-time "one man team" scale?

 

Like @JasonMsaid, until he carries his team to the Finals like Dwight, Kobe, LeBron, and Dirk all did, Luka is just outside the top 5 of one man team players. I don't know if he's good enough yet to take a team to the Finals when his next best player is Christian Wood, but he might be in a couple years. Sky is the limit for him.

[gunnar hendershow]

I'm going to put a hold on the Kobe one-man team talk. The years where he was the only good player on the Lakers they were no better than the Mavs are with Luka. All his Finals appearances came with Shaq or Gasol, one an all-time great and the other one of the best big men of his era.

Dwight has Rashard Lewis during that brief era where he was amazing. Dirk had Jason Terry who was good but not someone who could be counted on to win a lot of games. LeBron in 2007 had absolutely no one, it is without a doubt the greatest one-man team in recent memory if not all time. Analytically you had LeBron and then a bunch of guys who might have been good enough to start on half the teams in the league. 

[Pooker]

I was debating on not including Kobe in my list, but didn't want to upset anybody. Outside of the years with Shaq and Gasol, comparing what he had is about what Luka has had to play with.