The NBA Thread.

I thought Ja would be a star but he's damn near a top 3 player in the league right now

 

Bit of a stretch. Damn near top 10 is probably more accurate. Still pretty incredible considering his age and where he was coming into the season,

 

He's playing better than LeBron right now

 

I don’t agree, though I also don’t know what constitutes “right now” in your mind. Last game? Last 3? Last 10?

But you also didn’t say “he’s playing like a top 3 player.” You said he’s “damn near a top 3 player.” The top 3 players in the NBA don’t change based on anything anyone not in the top 3 does in January,

 

you should know by now that Indy will never allow anyone to play better than Lebron


And Lebron still won’t have sex with him

 

LeBron has actually been struggling a bit, as of late. He’s still scoring and stacking the box score, but he’s been less efficient.

 

Westbrook has played well since getting benched. If he can keep that up, and they get old AD back, they may be able to make a run. A trade for another piece (Turner, Grant, etc.) would help too, but idk how likely that is.

Still think they need to trade Westbrook if they can.

 

BuT LeBrOn DoEsNt PlAy DeFeNsE

 

Indy using intercepting a horrible pass as an example of someone being a great defender isn't surprising.

 

He intercepted 2 passes. I mean, Christ, I can understand you not having time or desire to watch any games, but at least watch the full 20 second video if you’re going to bother to comment.

The Nets has cut the lead to 9 and were looking to make a late push. Russ pushed it back to 11, and then Bron shut it down with back to back steals and breakaway dunks in like, a 20 second span. It was nuts. But I guess I, along with everyone else watching in awe, just don’t understand how basketball works.

I never said this makes him a great defender. He’s like 60 years old. Of course he isn’t a top tier defender anymore. But this fantasy land you’ve created where Bron isn’t and hasn’t been a good defender is laughable.

Also, pretty solid “hustle” plays as well.

 

They weren't horrible passes either. He just read the shit out of both plays.

 

Yeah they were great passes

 

Maybe I’m mistaken, but I believe James Harden (first stolen pass) is regarded as one of the better passers in the NBA. He did have 11 assists last night.

The sequence was very impressive.

 

But any pass that ends up in a turnover is a horrible pass. Maybe that only applies to LBJ steals though.

 

The equally important point, which gets lost to anyone who didn't watch the game, was that LeBron nearly snagged another very similar steal on the possession right before this sequence. He missed that one though, and it led to an open Nets 3.

He was visibly angry/frustrated, and he pointed to Maverick Carter and Michael Strahan on the floor, as if to say "watch this." He followed it up with those 2 steals and those 2 dunks.

The dude still has the ability to take over a game when he wants to. Maybe not as frequently, and maybe not for as long of a period of time. But there aren't many people in the NBA who can just take over a game and bend it to their will, and LeBron proved last night that he still can.

I don't think they'll win the title, and I'm not even confident they'll win the WCF... but I sure wouldn't want to play them in the playoffs if the whole team is healthy.

 

Good read by Lebron on #1. Lazy soft pass to a teammate not meeting the ball still happened.
#2 was a strong front and good steal, but the pickup of the dribble and pass were awful. Not sure what the player saw.

 

If Lebron had turned it over twice in a row, people would like the video more.

 

The Harden for Simmons trade idea is really interesting to me. I think it makes both teams better, assuming the Nets get Kyrie back full time at some point. The Nets don't need more scoring, but they do need help defensively. Ben Simmons fits what they need really well. The 76ers are a playoff team as they are now, and adding Harden likely bumps them up to Championship contender status. And it gets Simmons out of their hair.

The idea of making a conference foe better via trade seems weird, but if you think it makes your team even better, do you do it?

 

I don’t think it makes the Nets better. I’m sure Philly wants to trade Simmons for Harden, and that + Morey set off all the mock trades but unless Brooklyn thinks Harden will leave, they have no reason to do that IMO

 

Harden is better than Kyrie anyway and Kyrie is barely playing, so unless they think he’s leaving, why would Brooklyn trade Harden instead of Kyrie? Feels like a lot of wishful thinking/dot-connecting based on the fact that Harden and Morey used to work together and Philly has a need.