MEM: Marc Gasol (rest) will not play Saturday
BOS: Jaylen Brown (concussion) likely out a week
NYK: Courtney Lee (personal) available for Sunday
DAL: Dennis Smith Jr. (knee) questionable Saturday
PHX: T.J. Warren & Josh Jackson ruled out Saturday
ORL: Aaron Gordon (concussion) listed out Saturday
MEM: Marc Gasol (rest) unlikely to play Saturday
ORL: Jonathon Simmons scores 25 points in loss
SAC: Frank Mason posts a 7/10/6 line, 3 steals
DEN: Jamal Murray scores 22 points in full line
SAC: Skal Labissiere (left hip) will not return
LAK: Brook Lopez scores 29 in loss to Nuggets
/nba/ general - HYPE NIGHTLIFE edition
Daniel Moore
Other urls found in this thread:
strawpoll.me
instagram.com
youtube.com
twitter.com
Parker Lee
Julian White
what's the dark horse contender at the moment?
Elijah Parker
>Not Jamal Murray edition
Isaiah Rodriguez
I like westbrick but I'm kinda hoping he doesn't make the playoffs.
The shitposting would be amazing
Cooper Kelly
i wanna clap them cheeks, no homo
Kayden Martinez
>Spuds and blunder miss playoffs
>Jazz and Nuggets instead
>Jazz beat the Rockets as and 8th seed
>Nuggets beat the Warriors as a 7th
FUND IT
Jackson Stewart
the hug that saved the spurs
Ian Johnson
Which SG would be ideal for the ultimate silent team?
>Prime DRose
>?
>Kawhi
>Prime Duncan
>Adams
Would this team capable of beating the Warriors?
Leo Peterson
The Toronto Raptos
Nicholas Young
>Cavs could conceivably get bounced from the playoffs
David Smith
Can someone answer me as to why just giving each lottery team one ping pong ball, so every pick from #1 to #14 having the exact same odds, would be a bad thing? It wouldn't matter if your team tanks or wins a lot but can't make the playoffs, same odds as top picks. You just pull a ball and that team has the #14 pick, next pull is #13, etc down to #1.
What am i missing? This seems like the easiest solution. Is it because giving teams equal odds would make it so Silver can't rig the lottery like he does every year?
Nolan Jackson
>Is it because giving teams equal odds would make it so Silver can't rig the lottery like he does every year?
of course
David Johnson
Magic Johnson mixtape
Jason Evans
>Nuggets are in LA next week
Is your anus prepared?
Jackson Evans
oh yeah and even charles barkely just said on inside the nba that this would be the best option but "the nba ignores me"
David Rogers
Raptors already have the title. Cheering for any other team is an act of terrible judgement
Jason Cooper
you'd expect a team that almost made the playoffs to not need as much help has a team that ranks dead last. evening the odds out flat would make it less likely for bad teams to dig their way out of their misery. it would make for a less competitive league with higher disparity and actively hurt and damage a number of franchises.
i know maths and numbers are hard and scary and conspiracy theories are the sexy way out when you don't get something, but in this case, they make sense. tanking is the lesser evil here.
Jordan Foster
Will the Lakers ever be good again?
Cooper Garcia
are the wizkids about that life? can they win tonight
Isaac Price
believe me hans i fully understand that tanking is the best option to do. but when you have that fucking retard adam silver literally fining teams for doing what they feel is best for their franchise, what can you do?
>make it less likely for bad teams to dig their way out of their misery. it would make for a less competitive league with higher disparity and actively hurt and damage a number of franchises.
yeah hans, because this definitely hasn't been the case in the nba for its entire existence, bad teams consistently remaining in "not the worst but can't win the title" purgatory and a noncompetitive league with no parity, like this year with a grand total of 5 our of 30 teams threatening for a title
Dominic Hughes
I hate lazy false flaggers like you so much
I like blank but completely write something that conflicts your previous statement
Samuel Barnes
Low-seeded teams (7-8 seeds) would tank to get out of the play-offs to get a lottery team.
It's a tough problem, as you want to help long-term bad teams without encouraging outright tanking. The tweaked lottery odds gets the right balance imo.
Ian King
You'd have to trade for him.
I doubt they want him on his contact either.
Jack Watson
>The tweaked lottery odds gets the right balance imo.
but it doesnt, because the top 3 picks while having the same odds still gives an advantage to teams who are tanking you dope
Aaron Thompson
>East has 0 teams outside the top 8 over .500
>West has 2 teams outside the top 8 over .500
Why is the East so shit?
Gavin Edwards
Give the top 5 or 7 picks the same odds instead of top 3
Carson Sullivan
all of their talent keeps moving out west to make 'superteams' to take on gsw
Henry Cruz
Is LeBron James the only player in NBA history to continuously openly talk about trading his teammates and demanding moves be made?
He literally just said trading for DJ would've given the previous old Cavs team a boost, which implies maybe he didn't like the mass player trade approach the Cavs made, which he also implied he wanted to blow it all up bef the trades, actively involved with TT and JRs contract negotiations, actively pushing for the signings of Deron Williams, etc.
Any time you ever heard a rumour of a player asking for a trade it was just that, a rumour, non confirmable and under unobservable circumstances.
Jayden Jackson
AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHSHAHHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHSHAHHAHAHHZAHHSHSHSHHS
David Peterson
It reduces the advantage to outright bottoming-out, which has been the big issue in recent years with teams like the Cavs, Sixers, and Lakers.
The lottery tweaks should benefit long-term bad teams and discourage teams from short-term outright tanking, and encourage teams to put resources on building teams rather than acquiring stars through the draft.
Justin Flores
The west has better-run franchises.
Luis Taylor
Oh shit get of truth.
Nathaniel Cook
The non-playoff contending teams in both conferences are equally shit
It's basically just Charlotte and Detroit playing a whole lot worse than they should be otherwise the standings could look pretty similar between conferences
Ryder Peterson
That's kind of a tough question. Toronto, GSW, and Houston are the *actual* contenders, but some might consider Toronto and Houston dark horses because Playoff Choker Unclutch Shook. Which might actually have some validity in the case of Toronto, but still, I don't think it would actually be correct to call either team a dark horse.
And then outside of those 3 teams (and the Cavs because Lebron is never a dark horse), it's hard to see any other team having even a remote chance of winning. I guess Boston could theoretically make the finals if the Cavs and Raptors implode, but they would get swept by the Warriors or Rockets. Washington and Philly just aren't good enough, and neither are San Antonio and Portland. Utah is going to be completely ugly on offense in postseason play, and it's hard to see OKC having enough strength across the board with Roberson out.
So I guess my answer is the Wolves. If Jimmy Butler comes back at 100% full strength, and KAT gets super locked in, and Thibs figures out some of the rotation questions, they could maybe make some noise. But it's a big if.
Owen Foster
there are no dark horses. the nba contenders are the warriors, rockets, cavs, celtics, and raptors.
Brody Butler
truth
Oliver Powell
Actually there's only the Warriors and that's it.
The sooner you realize this the less disappointment you'll have at the end of the year.
Juan Phillips
oh i know, the warriors are going to go 16-2 or 16-3 again and easily win the title. but let's at least meme a little and try to act like there is some level of parity, no matter how infinitesimally small, in the NBA
by "contenders" i only meant "teams with literally a 1% chance of winning"
Noah Morales
If Curry's ankle takes him out of the WCF/Finals then that 1% chance goes up to at LEAST 5%
Nathaniel Flores
It would make it much easier for teams to get locked into complete no-hope awfulness for long periods of time, which is a bad thing.
Realistically, the best solution is to just accept that tanking happens.
Charles Barkley doesn't know shit
This
Silver isn't fining teams for tanking, he's fining teams for being completely obvious about it
And I don't understand what people mean when they talk about "parity". If when you talk about "parity" you mean "how many teams have a chance to win a title in a given year", the only way to accomplish that goal is to make teams less good, or to make the playoffs more random so it's easier for bad teams to beat good teams. Both of these are IMO really bad, stupid things to do that would make the league worse. I think it is good that better teams are more likely to win.
For me, when talking about parity, what I want to see is that teams have a reasonable chance to improve their teams and build contenders over the medium term, and that there's a generally high, entertaining level of play throughout the league. I don't want to see structural advantages or disadvantages, where some franchises have a fundamentally easier time improving their team than others. I want everyone to have access to putting a good squad together. And I think the NBA does a pretty reasonable job of that, and I don't think the kind of tanking reform we're talking about would help at all
Isaiah Torres
in 10years you gonna miss lebron and the warriors
Juan Thomas
>in 10 years the most bandwagoned player and team will be missed
Don't think you understand how those fanbases operate my dude
Jonathan Ward
the Celtics aren't contenders - they might be if Hayward was healthy, but as is, they're a clear step below the other teams
and the Cavs aren't really a contender except that they have Lebron and who knows, maybe some crazy shit will happen with Lebron, but it's probably not going to. they're not good enough
Justin Reyes
Landon Rivera
>Realistically, the best solution is to just accept that tanking happens.
I agree with that, but retard Silver doesn't.
>Silver isn't fining teams for tanking, he's fining teams for being completely obvious about it
Why should the commissioner of the NBA be allowed to fine teams who are merely coaching their teams how they want to coach them? The Bulls want to play their younger players instead of their older ones.. Yeah maybe it leads them to lose more, but how the fuck should he be allowed to force a team to coach how he wants them to?
Could you imagine if Roger Goodell, the most hated commissioner in America, did the things Silver is doing? Could you imagine the backlash if Goodell fined franchises for resting players after the got a playoff seed locked in with 1-2 games left, like how teams may play starters for a few drives week 17, because it would be bad for TV ratings like Silver has done with teams resting players? What if you had a very young team like the Browns out of the playoff race so they play young players and give veterans rest and he fines them for it?
The thing I want to know if why owners aren't rising up against Silver like NFL owners have with Goodell for forcing them to coach how he wants them to when they are trying to do what is best for their franchise.
>what do you mean when you talk about parity
I just want to see a good number of teams able to compete, realistically, for a championship. That's all I want. And the NBA has never had this, because there are only 4-5 legitimate title contenders every year.
Chase Parker
I won't miss LeBron in 10 years because little James will be in the NBA and big James will be an NBA owner
Levi Martin
I'm not a pedophile but...
Dylan Collins
Derozan
Samuel Collins
West has 4 teams eliminated from the playoffs. East has none.
Nathan Garcia
Miami
Mason Morgan
>I just want to see a good number of teams able to compete, realistically, for a championship.
The warriors ruined that. Blame them. They recruited their only competition.
Julian Carter
>Why should the commissioner of the NBA be allowed to fine teams who are merely coaching their teams how they want to coach them? The Bulls want to play their younger players instead of their older ones..
The Bulls didn't even bother to pretend that the old players were injured or anything. The boundary isn't tanking, the boundary is tanking obviously, and blatantly, and in a way that affects the televised product. The same reason Hinkie got pushed out, fundamentally.
And I think the reason that ownership doesn't get angry about it is because there seems to be a much more reasonable give and take. The problem with Goodell is that he pushes his power around in totally arbitrary, ridiculous ways, and wants to be seen to be the most powerful guy in the league. Silver seems much more willing to compromise and doesn't care as much about power trips. Like, resting teams for televised games is kind of a good example - yeah, teams have gotten in trouble for resting teams for televised games at times. But the other side of that is that Silver has been willing to change the way that the schedule plays out so that it happens less often so that it's not as much of an issue. Silver isn't just "my way or the highway". Silver is a go-along, get-along kind of guy. It's a totally different dynamic. He's much more pragmatic and it's much easier to go along with him because he makes it easy and because it's pretty obvious that it's in the interests of the league.
>I just want to see a good number of teams able to compete, realistically, for a championship. That's all I want. And the NBA has never had this, because there are only 4-5 legitimate title contenders every year.
How many teams is "a good number"? Clearly, 4 or 5 isn't a good number, so what is a good number? And how do you achieve that?
James Turner
You people pretending that the draft is the only way to build a decent team or get better are retarded. Young players and teams don't win shit in the NBA. Shitty teams need to worry more about their shitty front offices and coaching more than they do about getting high draft picks. Philly is pretty much the only team that outright tanked and has any positive results to show for it.
Carson Ramirez
>but when you have that fucking retard adam silver literally fining teams for doing what they feel is best for their franchise
that's just posturing on the league office's side for bella figura. no one gives a fuck about fines.
>yeah hans, because this definitely hasn't been the case in the nba for its entire existence, bad teams consistently remaining in "not the worst but can't win the title" purgatory and a noncompetitive league with no parity, like this year with a grand total of 5 our of 30 teams threatening for a title
teams go through different stages in their development. it's only natural for there to be groups of teams that are firing on all cylinders, pushing their young cores, or tearing everything down. no team remains in contention or the purgatory consistently. where were the dubs, raptors, celtics, rockets five years ago? ten years ago? the warriors were a fringe playoffs team at best for almost the whole last decade and had their last top 3 pick in 2002.
parity doesn't mean and shouldn't mean that every franchise has the same shot at the championship every year. it means they should be given the same chance to make it.
Landon Smith
The things Adam Silver is doing aren't pushing his power around ridiculously? Why the fuck should he be allowed to take a privately owned franchise and FORCE THEM to coach their teams how HE WANTS THEM TO COACH THEM. The NBA is such a broken league that, yeah, sorry, it makes more sense for a mediocre or poor team to intentionally try to lose to get a star player to not only make their team better, but also make it better financially for them because you can easily market star players. By intentionally losing, these franchises are hurting only themselves because fans would theoretically stop attending games. Silver should have absolutely no power to literally fine franchises for doing what they choose to do.
>The Bulls didn't even bother to pretend that the old players were injured or anything.
And so what? The team privately pays these players, they can choose to do what the fuck they want with them. If they want to rest them, they can rest them. The fact that a commissioner can sit there and force them to play their privately owned players is bullshit.
>Silver has been willing to change the way that the schedule plays out so that it happens less often so that it's not as much of an issue
If Silver actually cared about player safety, he would reduce the number of regular season games to make there be more rest time. But he doesn't so he won't. The fact you think he actually is 'pragmatic" and has the best interests of the league in mind is hilarious.
>How many teams is "a good number"? Clearly, 4 or 5 isn't a good number, so what is a good number? And how do you achieve that?
When you idiotically have over half your league making the playoffs and yet only 25% of those teams have a shot, there is something wrong. Achieve it by contracting 6+ useless franchises (kings, suns, pelicans, hornets, hawks, magic is an easy start) and spread their good players among fewer teams, then the league instantly improves 10x
Nathan Jenkins
But what that equates to is that the Warriors shouldn't be allowed to be as good as they are
And it's not like they cheated in any way to be as good as they are. They made some smart moves and they got really lucky and so they're really good.
Kevin Wood
yeah i agre, drafting is just one way to improve your roster. free agency, trading, and internal development are at least as important. i'd argue they're more important since the draft is essentially just a sophisticated crapshoot.
i'd argue 4-5 contenders is pretty damn healthy. i can't think of many leagues, regardless of the sport, that even have that many. the warriors are dominating currently because they've made a record number of exceptional management decisions, but that's obviously just temporary. success comes and goes.
Julian Cooper
The absolute majority of NBA teams need to build through the draft.
You're the real retard here.
Justin Turner
>Why the fuck should he be allowed to take a privately owned franchise and FORCE THEM to coach their teams how HE WANTS THEM TO COACH THEM.
he's merely acting on majority decision by the franchise owners. don't forget the NBA is a self-regulating body of all 30 franchises.
Chase Richardson
Sebastian Brooks
>Why the fuck should he be allowed to take a privately owned franchise and FORCE THEM to coach their teams how HE WANTS THEM TO COACH THEM.
Is your objection that it's illegal, or that it's immoral, or that it's bad for the league?
I don't think it's actually illegal, and I think it's good for the league (as long as it's just Silver gently nudging teams that go too far, which it seems to be so far, and not doing any dramatic, random stuff). And if your argument is that it's a moral violation of private property rights, I don't give one single shit about that. I just don't care.
>If Silver actually cared about player safety, he would reduce the number of regular season games to make there be more rest time. But he doesn't so he won't. The fact you think he actually is 'pragmatic" and has the best interests of the league in mind is hilarious.
But he did increase the amount of rest time during the season by stretching it out. There are, factually, more rest days. That is a fact.
>When you idiotically have over half your league making the playoffs and yet only 25% of those teams have a shot, there is something wrong. Achieve it by contracting 6+ useless franchises (kings, suns, pelicans, hornets, hawks, magic is an easy start) and spread their good players among fewer teams, then the league instantly improves 10x
So is the problem that there are too many bad teams, or that there aren't enough teams that are good enough to contend? I don't see why contracting the league would increase the number of contenders, it would just make everybody better across the board.
And I would argue that the better solution for those franchises is having better ownership that doesn't constantly make stupid fuckign moves that sabotages their team. There's nothing actually preventing those teams from being good, except that they're run by fucking idiots.
Michael Harris
i'm starting to think you're one of those people reducing complex subject matters to personal decisions of popular faces, the way you're talking about adam silver and what you believe to be his agency. silver can't introduce anti-tanking measures or reduce the number of games or reform the playoff seeding. he can moderate and process and maybe nudge it into certain directions, but the 30 owners decide everything as per majority or qualified two thirds vote.
Nathan Wilson
The majority of good teams don't get better strictly through the draft, never mind outright tanking. Even the teams that built through the draft didn't rely on having a slew of top picks.Teams like Portland, Utah, Miami all manage to build playoff caliber teams within 1-2 pieces of title contention without being dogshit bad. Even Golden State's core was made of middling lottery picks and a 2nd rounder and they didn't really get over the hump until they traded for Iggy. Meanwhile you have shitty organizations like Phoenix or Orlando who constantly tank yet still don't have shit to show for it because it takes more than some young prospect to turn around a franchise.
Anthony Nguyen
But seriously, what the FUCK is there to do in Oklahoma City?
Jonathan Robinson
Those raccoons look like they're about to drop the hottest rap album of 2018.
Cameron Ward
Why does it matter to you? You just stay home and jackoff all day you fucking loser.
Logan Wright
murder natives and enjoy the prairie
Parker Murphy
>we are the north
>Timberwolves are more northern
Benjamin Moore
You would know since you keep invading Poland.
Wyatt Jones
Ayy we Sup Forums now
Brandon Kelly
meth and trailer tourism
Chase Sullivan
i've become a german citizen three weeks ago so yeah i guess i'm complicit now
Lucas Scott
Meth and get obese.
Nicholas Richardson
I wish we were kind of like old Sup Forums with our banter but we just get caught up in mindless spam and retarded shit like this
Camden Carter
Is there still a chance we can get that 6th seed bros?
Nolan Cox
That's because /nba/ is filled with brainlets with no wit
Hunter Jenkins
Add LeBron to your team, he'll instantly make it shit tanking your defense and hogging the ball so he can make all the plays to make himself look good.
Zachary Fisher
>Paradoxically obese meth head detected
Wyatt Allen
Chase Reyes
rapties bench mob is built out of low draft picks
Asher Martin
Pretty much the entire rapties roster is made up of scraps and draft picks except Lowry who they traded for when no one thought he was good and CJ Miles who is literally the only dank FA we got. Am I forgetting anyone?
Christian Smith
Ibaka
Matthew Cook
Oh ya him too. 3 out of 15 weren't draft picks. Built not bought!
Jaxson Nguyen
Raptors are the new Spurs. Old Spurs are dead.
Ethan Richardson
Spurs were only good because they got David Robison and Tim Duncan first overall.
Grayson Hernandez
Dylan Stewart
Fuck yes I love this commercial.
Carson Perez
LeBron's sister blocked me on instagram lol
Adam Watson
>when the beach versions drop
Carter Jenkins
If I lived in OKC i would.
accurate
HI KEK
John Watson
>"Puts it in"
>"He wants 3.... GOTEM ALL"
>"Deeeep in the Q"
>"Get that weak stuff outta here"
>"BANG!!!!"
>"Hand down, Man Down"
>"MAMA, THERE GOES THAT MAN"
Grayson Reyes
Facts.
Further facts.
Nathaniel Flores
What'd you do?
Brandon Wood
IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT
YOU DON'T LIKE KINGS BASKETBALL
Henry Ward
You gonna post what you said to her or what?
Lincoln Robinson
LeBron has a sister?
Angel Martinez
Other than going on rants what's JVG's catchphrase?
Jeremiah Lopez
Wolves will miss the playoffs. Cap this post.
Tyler Nelson
>he mad