NBA 2016-2017 Season

[gunnar hendershow]

NBA contracts are absurd, they are so lucky they fleeced ESPN in that last TV deal right before the cable exodus really got into full swing.

I missed a lot on vacation. I like that teams are taking chances and trying to catch the Cavs and Warriors, as futile as it might be. Low-risk move by OKC to bring George into the fold. High-risk move from Boston locking down Hayward and getting rid of most of their cap flexibility. I don't know how Houston will manage to have two guys who need the ball in their hands co-exist, but maybe Harden wanted to relinquish the point guard duties? I think the gap on Cleveland closed slightly, but the Warriors are still that much further ahead of the rest of the West. Especially since Durant took a discount allowing them not just to keep Livingston and Iggy but to bring some other scorers into the fold.

Also, I saw some owners had brought up changing playoff seedings and I always agree. Western Conference teams are well-oiled machines, in large part because many of them are in smaller markets. The smaller market East teams are typically well-run as well. A team like Philadelphia can do The Process, but that would never fly in Utah or Sacramento. New York can suck for years and Dolan can still not bother looking in the mirror because he's still making money. Chicago can willfully blow up the most dominant team of the 90s without a plan B. Maybe a system where if 2 or 3 Western teams have better records than the 6-8 seeds in the East they get in the playoffs? It's not an outrageous idea, and will reward those teams with at least 2 games of home playoff game revenue.

[Pooker]

I would say just do top 16 teams, regardless of conference standings. I don't buy the argument that they don't want a team from the West playing a team from the east in the first round because of the flight time needed to get to the other city. They already have two days in between games usually.

[JasonM]

Wrong bloody thread.

Edited July 9, 2017 by Jasonmufc

[gunnar hendershow]

14 hours ago, Pooker said:

I would say just do top 16 teams, regardless of conference standings. I don't buy the argument that they don't want a team from the West playing a team from the east in the first round because of the flight time needed to get to the other city. They already have two days in between games usually.

Considering you have teams like Memphis and New Orleans in the west already they don't care that much about the time zone differences or travel distances. Still a bit better than the NHL which until a few years ago had Detroit in the west.

[The Buscher]

The Harden extension is the most batshit contract I've seen.  He's getting paid $241 per second!

[VerbalPuke]

On 7/7/2017 at 10:48, En Dub said:

@VerbalPuke The Celtics are trading Avery Bradley for Marcus Morris. Obviously I wanted to keep Bradley, but of the three he made the most sense for a trade. How's Morris?

Just got back from up North. I like Morris. He's a decent scorer, tries on defense, and felt to me like thr closest thing to an early 00s Piston. 

Problem with him is he takes a lot of dumb shots. Its a big flaw, but he's a nice player otherwise 

[The Big Bratwurst]

The only time travel would be an issue in a top 16 team playoff is if a team like Portland played a team like Miami. Literally going from one side of the country to the other.

[Pooker]

Not with two days off. Let's say they play on a Tuesday. Fly out right after the game or the next morning. Have all of Wednesday, all of Thursday and most of Friday to rest before playing again on Friday night. That isn't enough rest time got a pro athlete to recover in?

[gunnar hendershow]

Though if you get rid of the 8 teams per conference you might as well ditch conferences completely. One league, maybe break them up into 4 divisions, and just have division champions guaranteed a spot. The other 12 are up for grabs. Regular season has every team play each other twice and then divisional matchups 4 times. That comes to 72 games which is 40 more than the regular season needs but hey.

[Benjamin]

Why do divisional matchups have to be four times? Isn't twice a season enough as it is? Especially if they might be facing each other another minimum four times in the playoffs?

[Meacon Keaton]

I think damshow was just trying to bring the total games up, since there's no way in hell the NBA would approve a 58 game schedule. 

[gunnar hendershow]

Yeah the owners gotta have that regular season ticket money, plus the more regular season games there are the more they can charge in TV negotiations. It's always gonna be an 82 game schedule, and there's always gonna be games where star players are resting despite fans paying money to see them.

[Pooker]

I know it's only summer league...but Donovon Mitchell is looking pretty amazing. Steal of the draft? Haywho? Best Jazz shooting guard since Hornacek?

[thatshortguy]

Thabo Sefolosha leaves Hawks, heads to Utah on a two-year deal.

At this point, Atlanta will have the lowest payroll in the NBA when they take the court.

[En Dub]

Yeah Hawks have just fully embraced a rebuild. Which is a shame, they were always a fun team to watch. But better to be the Sixers for a few years than to do what the Grizzlies are doing, trying to remain relevant in the west with Conley and Gasol is just...not enough. 

[livid]

Assuming they concentrate on draft picks and not just loading up on a superstar team-up when next year's FA crop is deep. 

[Pooker]

Nobody is gonna score on the Jazz. Don't be surprised if they set all kinds of scoring lows. 

[gunnar hendershow]

Utah has basically replaced Memphis in the West as the team whose defense is good enough to make them a perennial playoff team.

[JasonM]

So Lonzo set a summer league by being the first ever player in the history of the SL to score 30-10 or higher. Whilst rocking Kobe's rather than his own Big Baller Brand.

Or to quote Lonzo himself 'if you’re with the BBB, you can wear whatever you want.'

[Pooker]

Ball has looked good so far. Interesting to see how he will do against better defenders.

I'm liking the Jazz's moves yesterday. Signing tough vets to cheap, short deals is probably the best option we had after Hayward took so long. Gotta hope that Exum or Hood blow up next year.

Also, been hearing rumors that the Jazz could be involved in a mega deal that will change the way the entire roster looks. I don't believe it since the Jazz front office never lets anything leak about what they're thinking or doing.