The Indy Talks To Himself (NBA) Thread.

They'll be good, but I don't think they can get out of the west anytime soon. LeBron will be 35 and they'll need a Kemba Walker or another great guard to go with Davis to challenge the Rockets and Warriors, maybe even the Clippers, if they get Kawhi. The East will be interesting, too, and could open up nicely for my Bucks if Leonard heads to LA. Philly is good, but will probably lose Harris and/or Butler. Boston will be without Irving. The Nets might be an under the radar team to watch, though, if they pick up a nice free agent.

 

I don’t understand that stance at all. They were 4th in the West pre LeBron injury last year without Davis. And LeBron being a year older won’t matter much outside of injury risk. 28-8-8 at 34 suggests 35 won’t be too bad.

Houston has made everyone on their roster not named Harden available for trade, though who knows if they’ll change their tune with recent Golden State injuries. Either way, I’m not sure what you, or anyone else saw from them this season to suggest they will be a force in the West next year. And Chris Paul isn’t getting any younger either.

The Clippers will be a good challenge if they get Kawhi, but I don’t think they’re better, especially seeing how much cap space the Lakers have available to fill out their roster. I think people are overstating how good the Clippers are, based on a small sample size of how they finished the season.

And then we have GS, who could be missing both Durant and Klay for the majority of next season. You truly believe the Lakers lose to that team?

As for the East, Toronto (if the keep Kawhi) is obviously a threat, and that Philly team could challenge as well, depending on what Jimmy Butler does. Lots of unknowns there.

Your Bucks got their asses locked when it mattered most. Who knows if they’re for real or if they’re able to take that next step?

 

They probably will get Kemba, and unless LeBron collapses, they have two of the top 6 or 7 players on the planet. Who else does?

 

Lakers fans are annoying and I want to temper expectations as much as anyone, but I can’t see how they’re anything but the championship favorites at this point.

 

I saw some books have Bucks as the favorite right after the game, but it’s pretty unanimous across the board for Lakers in top now.

 

So, Chris Paul at 34 "isn't getting any younger", but LeBron will be fine at 35? Ok. The Lakers won't win without picking up another guard. Davis still hasn't proven he can be a winner and James has a small window left to win something. I don't see why they are the favorite for anything yet.

 

Isn’t getting any younger either. I said Chris Paul isn’t getting any younger either because it made no sense for you to point out LeBron’s age and then turn around and list the Rockets, knowing that Chris Paul is showing signs of aging much worse that LeBron has.

Of course they have to pick up a guard. They have 5 total players on the their roster right now. But this is a championship caliber combination, whether they add another top tier free agent like Kemba or fill in the roster with 2-3 solid roll players.

And I’d say LeBron likely has 2 more elite, Top 3 player in the league years, along with 2-3 additional very good, Top 25 player in the league years after that.

 

Davis has been much more of a winner than Kyrie or Love were pre-LeBron, and he’s the best teammate LeBron has ever had. LeBron is also a superhuman athlete in a way that Chris Paul (and just about everyone else) isn’t, and was still amazing at 34. I’m not predicting some steep decline for him until we start seeing it.

 

People are suggesting that the trade will be finalized on July 6th, which would lower their cap space to $23m and limit their ability to bring in another max free agent.

I don’t know enough about how this stuff works to know why the date the trade is finalized affects their cap space, but it seems odd to me that they’d do it that way.

 

Chris Paul averaged 3 less ppg in the regular season and 4 less in the playoffs this year than the previous year. He hasn’t played a full 82 games since the 2014-2015 season. I’m prettt sure the Rockets see his contract as a burden at this point, and they were definitely considering moving him prior to the GS injuries.

LeBron, on the other hand, was above his career averages in rebounds and assists, on par for points, and just played a full 82 games his last season in Cleveland. And let’s not forget his 51 in game one of the finals a little over a year ago.

 

Davis has never played a full 82 game schedule. In fact, he's only played more than 70 twice. All I'm saying is making a championship favorite of a team based on an oft-injured Davis and an aging LeBron with a lot of mileage on a mess of a franchise isn't an obvious deal to me, at all.

 

I'm interested to see golden state and Lakers fans in the same place at the same time. I'm pretty sure they're the same people, but we are gonna find out

 

So is your position that one of them is going to get injured? I don’t think they create odds with those sorts of assumptions.

Would you agree that they're the favorites if both stay healthy?

 

No, but it also depends on who else they get, too.

 

Approximately 83% of Lakers/Cavs/Warriors/Heat paraphernalia exists in the same closets

 

LeBron James may have lost a step but he is still as good as anyone else in the NBA. Barring injuries to him or Davis, they will be right there.

 

Paul has aged in dog years since signing with Houston. LeBron takes care of his body as well as any athlete probably ever. These two are not the same.

 

Bucks need a real PG and a good one at that.

 

Chris Paul now demanding a trade away from Harden.

 

Good luck finding someone who is willing to take that shit contract.