Ariza out a couple months and now Talen Horton-Tucker the same. The Lakers seemed destined to be injury-prone but they may set a record. One never should rejoice in injury but it seems like putting that much stock in aging players (granted THT is young) was always going to be a significant risk.
Speaking of lightyears, if this works, it will be the most lightyears move the Warriors have made in quite some time imo. Grabbing a guy arguably worth 20M+ a season for a minimum by exploiting the market inefficiency of health.
> Shortly after Otto Porter Jr. signed with the Warriors in August, he met with the team’s training staff to map out a plan for staying healthy.
>
> This was no easy objective, given that Porter had missed 112 of a possible 154 games over the previous two seasons. What he found was that his recent injuries — ailments to the back, left foot and hips — were interrelated. To resuscitate a once-promising NBA career, Porter would need to overhaul his day-to-day approach: how he stands, how he runs, even how he breathes.
>
> “It’s down to the very basics,” Porter said. “It’s super detailed. It’s a lot.”
>
> Over the past month-plus, Porter worked with Dr. Rick Celebrini — the Warriors’ director of sports medicine and performance — to economize his movements, fine-tune his balance and improve his agility. Their sessions together were so effective that Porter said he entered training camp feeling the best he has, both physically and mentally, since he went third overall in the 2013 draft.
However, gotta give a slight nod to Orlando too:
> Shortly after he was moved to Orlando in March, Porter dealt with lingering pain in his left foot. Team trainers noticed that he had caused a stress reaction by putting too much weight on that foot — a coping mechanism that could have dated back to the initial hip issues.
> Porter played just three games with the Magic, whose trainers helped him get comfortable running again this past summer.
Their previous run involved some good bets on players with past injury history as well: Bogut and Livingston. They were different in that they had freak injuries and perhaps weren't "20M-player-for-minimum" deals but if OPJ works out, that's three (am I missing anyone?) really good bets on players with past injury history.
Watching the Warriors vs Lakers: the Warriors announcers have found a new level of cringe. Can some one please let them know the sports term is to Go Off not to Get Off? Not happy with the mental image of Steph loving watching his teammates get off. Thanks Bob and Kalena.
As long as we're having an open thread, how about some predictions of how the Western Conference standings will end up?
1. Suns. Short of an absolute injury disaster, I don't see these guys *not* making the playoffs. They have the hunger of being underestimated, the frustration of just barely missing the championship, the advantage of youth (except for CP3), and a lot of continuity from last season.
2. Jazz. This whole team epitomizes "3 & D" to a ridiculous extent these days, and they're probably more skilled at it overall than the peak Harden Rockets were. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to see if Gobert's improvements were enough for last postseason because of injuries to Mitchell & Conley. But as things stand right now, they should definitely be in the thick of things in the regular season.
3. Lakers. As long as AD and Lebron are in good health, this team is scary, but LAL has the biggest question marks for me because half the geriatric roster could end up on injured reserve in the blink of an eye. It's hard to place a team with such extreme variance: they could be title contenders or they could easily miss the playoffs, and not much in between, but I'll assume everyone stays well and the Lake Show coasts to a comfortable playoff seed.
4. Warriors. I like the depth and fit of the rotation, and Poole's outbreak season is gonna be great, but I think we'll still drop some games due to variance, and the team won't even achieve its final form until at least January. Still, it feels more complete already than the next couple teams, with a proven championship core and then some.
5. Clippers. The roster is still solid enough that they could easily outperform this even without Kawhi, but I just get the feeling they'll kinda muddle around until he's back, and adding him back will come with growing pains of its own. Still, PG is real good and there are some underrated guys like Ibaka on this roster too.
6. Nuggets. Another team (like the W's and the Clips) that won't be rounding into its final form until the mid-season return of one of their stars, plus they have some other injury concerns to worry about. On the other hand, Jokic is a form of basketball nirvana all on his own, so they shouldn't fall too far behind at that rate.
7. Trail Blazers. Their defense may still be suspect, but if they finally have some luck and Lillard, CJ, and Nurkic together play like 75% of the games, I think they'll mop up a lot of weaker teams and pick some games off the other guys just be being red-hot. Adding Nance and having more continuity for Covington feels like it should finally start to pay off too.
8. Mavericks. Doncic is super good, but last season really made me question the rest of the Mavericks roster. Porzingis and the rest of the rotation just don't feel like stars to me. I'm expecting last year's pattern of streaky feast-or-famine games to continue for Dallas.
9. Grizzlies. They have enough of a mix of up-and-coming players and established vets that it wouldn't surprise me if they overperformed here, but I just couldn't put them past any of the above teams. But if any of the top 8 get derailed by injuries or otherwise, the Grizz should be the first team in the door.
10. Timberwolves. I think the talent on the team, with KAT, DLo, and Edwards, should be enough to put them higher up in the rankings than they'll actually climb, and that's because I still have so many questions about the basketball culture in Minnesota. (Defense? Player development? Yeah, I dunno.) But on the other hand, we saw last season even with the stars missing, they had a lot of young guys who played hard like Jordan McLaughlin and Naz Reid, so I'll split the difference and leave them here.
11. Kings. It feels a bit bad to leave Sac-town this low when they have talented up-and-coming guys like Fox and Haliburton plus established guys like Barnes and Hield, but I just can't see how it comes together into a complete package.
12. Spurs. With DeRozan finally gone, the closest thing San Antonio has to a star player is... Dejounte Murray? Jakob Poeltl? The dependable Spurs organization somehow dragged last year's roster to a 10th-place finish, but I think even Pop's legendary hand will have quite a challenge steering this roster into a playoff appearance.
13. Pelicans. Zion has been derailed by injuries enough times that it's hard to get a feel for his real value, but I'm starting to lean into the idea that he was over-hyped as a draft pick. Ingram seems like he's nearing his peak, which should make them dangerous, but the rest of their rotation leaves me with some serious question marks.
14. Rockets. I love their draft picks, and they've got some other guys to keep an eye on like Christian Wood, but their best options are still too green to do much more than scare or surprise some teams on occasion. The post-Harden/D'Antoni rebuild is already off to a quick start, though.
15. Thunder. They have some promising young guys like Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort, but not a whole lot else. Feels like the team is still biding its time and waiting for its investments to pay off, but as of right now they don't look well-positioned to do a whole lot.
1. Jazz: They're just a regular season buzzsaw with Gobert. Guaranteed top 5 defense + Conley, Mitchell and boatloads of shooting. Short of a Gobert injury, don't see them dropping out of the top 3.
2. Suns: They're really good. Top-level talent in CP3 + Booker and good ancillary players in Bridges, Crowder, Ayton, Johnson, Payne etc. Again, hard to see them dropping out of the top 3-4 barring a substantial drop-off from CP3.
3. Warriors: We've got a ridiculous amount of shooting (might lead the league in 3PA which leads to wins), and we've got the best player in the league. We do have a lot of flaws (lack of secondary shot-creation, POA defense on guards, rebounding, lack of a rim-running C option) but most of those hurt more in the playoffs against top-level teams rather than in the regular season. One caveat - if Steph or Draymond miss 10+ games, we're going to lose the vast majority of those, so we're a very fragile team unlike the Jazz or the Suns.
4. Nuggets: They're gonna have a great offense (they have Jokic) and I think MPJ can take a jump. Have my doubts about how their defense holds up in the playoffs, but they should be a good regular season team.
5. Blazers: Again, great offense (2nd best in history last year in absolute terms though what Billups has been saying is not greatly encouraging) and vastly improved defensive personnel. They should be a sneaky good team this year. If they manage to get Simmons for CJ somehow, they might well be one of the best teams in the West.
6. Lakers: Cut Westbrook and I think they're clearly at the top (for the playoffs at least). But you obviously can't do that. The fit is terrible, they lack shooting (or at least I don't know how much they'll actually play their shooters). And Westbrook hasn't really been a good PI without a secondary star in the last 3-4 years so I doubt they've fixed their non-LeBron minutes issue. Seems like they're really hoping for a breakthrough from THT/Monk. Additionally, LeBron is old and Davis is injury prone. So they're also a pretty fragile team.
7. Mavs: This team is a really really really good team in disguise. They just hired the dumbest coach in the league after having one of the smartest coaches in the league. Maybe he's improved (Monty Williams last year did for his Suns stint, but he was a much better coach to begin with and I have a feeling he's more growth-oriented that Jason Kidd). But until I see it, I can't say they're going to be really good. And they rely on Luka almost as much as we rely on Steph, so him missing 15-20 games could be the end of their playoff aspirations.
8. Clippers: I really don't know why people are mocking them so highly. Kawhi wouldn't be there for most of the year (if not all?). And yes, they've got a really good supporting cast and a top 11 player in PG, but is that really enough to be a top 5-6 seed in the West? I think people are reading too much into their playoff over-performance without Kawhi, but that happened due to PG carrying a ridiculous load, Reggie Jackson playing like an all-star, playing small with Batum/Morris for most of the games etc. I don't know how much of that is sustainable.
9. Grizzlies: I think they might have gotten worse by giving away Valanciunas and Allen and by adding Ziaire, but Ja/JJJ might take a jump. So I think they're pretty close to the team they were last year, which should be good enough for the play-in seeds. However, if they're playing Ziaire too much, that might cost them.
10. Pelicans: Zion should have a fringe-MVP level season if he's healthy. Their coaching couldn't have gotten too much worse. I love Trey Murphy and think he can be a starting-level player from this year. And while I don't think Valanciunas is too great of a playoff player, he's really good in the regular season. I expect them to be significantly better this year.
11. TWolves: Hard to know what to think of this team. They've got significantly more upside that most teams in this range (if things break right, i could see them finishing in the top 6), but I don't know how much of their team I can actually trust. With KAT they're pretty good, without KAT they completely fall apart. D'Lo is an enigma, while I don't know if Anthony Edward's late season form was a mirage or actual growth. I think Finch is a really good coach, and they should have a really really good defense. Still, keeping them down here until they prove they're good.
12. Kings: They're okay, they're fun and they have Fox/Hali/HB/Hield/Holmes. If they dumped the 2nd dumbest coach in the league, they could be actual playoff contenders. Still, hard to see how they become better than some of the teams above them unless Fox/Hali/Mitchell really pop.
13. Spurs: They're going to be incredible defensively. They dumped Derozan (which might actually make them a better team) and acquired Thad (which will definitely make them a better team). But they have very little offensive creation and they might play rookies or young guys a lot. I believe in Pop, but not this much.
14. Rockets: Wanting to win is actually a pre-requisite for winning. They'll be super fun though with Green/Sengun/Christopher/Martin. I think they'll probably trade Wood and/or Theis midseason which will hurt them.
15. Thunder: Again, wanting to win is a pre-requisite for winning. They will definitely not be super fun and I don't know how fans even watch their games anymore. Still, Giddey should be cool and SGA is a top 25-30 player hiding in plain sight. Memo to NBA, please eliminate tanking.
I’m going to go full homer here and say that the Warriors top 7-8 might be the best in the league by playoff time. This group looks to be skilled and have high basketball IQ. If all teams stay healthy I’d bet the Warriors get the top seed if they truly are “chasing wins” this year.
The Lakers will win enough to get the three seed if the 1 seed looks truly dangerous. The Suns will depend on the health of Paul and the mindset of Aton, Utah will be slightly under last year’s win % as they focus more on the playoffs than the regular season. Don’t be surprised if the Spurs win at a higher rate than last year when they had to account for DeRozan’s ole D; and the Kings have the roster to compete, and might have a Hawks like surge if they make the right changes should they start slow.
The West could be an absolute dogfight; and then there’s the Wolves, Pels, Rockets, and Thunder. Will the Thunder try to win and appease the basketball gods this year? Will the Pels and Wolves break their franchise trajectories? Will the Rockets start 4 rookies at sometime this year?
I’m thinking about league pass this year but it’s so hard to choose!
Well-constructed and well-argued list. One frustration for preseason picking is that injuries always happen and frequently just destroy any preseason logic.
I think Memphis may still be rising -- maybe 4th? Last year I think I wasn't the only Dubs fan to ignore them, thinking "Once we get past Memphis ..." and then, yeah. They are all a year older, which they needed, Morant is insane and Dillon is sneaky good, Jaren Jackson Jr. is healthy and scary, and they acquired Steven Adams, an interior presence they needed.
If Jamal Murray returns at full strength, Nuggets could easily be contenders. MPJ is that good and of course Jokic is Jokic. They have both JaMychal and Jeff Green and that seems like too much of a green thing.
Yes, the Lakers are absolutely an enigma. They won't be fully healthy nor well integrated, and they are kind of old school interior threat rather than three point killers, but that's a lot of talent. Really CP3 and Conley should be on this team because they are well past their prime, but have been great, and will probably get injured.
Lastly -- hey, it's a Warriors site. I think there's a solid chance that their new killer shooting lineups might vault them into the second slot or so. Homer, I know.
OPJ could be this team’s Rodman in the sense that he makes an unexpectedly massive contribution towards wins, and makes a potential contender into one of the best teams ever.
I thought he was expected back like halfway through the season? Though I'm not sure I'd be ready to move them up or down the list based on my predictions.
Good list and hard to argue. My gut tells me Phoenix is due some injury unluck. And taking off my homer glasses a 4th place finish in a tough West would be a pretty great result. And can the Jazz replicate their insane performance from three? Will be interesting to see.
Moody on taking charges: “ When I was a kid on my team, I was in 6th grade, my coach he would give you $1 every time you’d get a charge. I was a businessman, so I’m out there trying to make my money. Honestly, that’s really how it started but ever since then, that has just been part of my game.” https://twitter.com/957thegame/status/1446715939454545920?s=21
NBA . com’s Warriors preview by Shaun Powell, who’s predicting 47 wins. My only quibble is that he listed Kuminga as a key reserve but completely left of my man Bjelly.
That reads like my preview/analysis of a team like Utah that I'm aware of but not really paying attention to. 47 wins feels like a fair prediction given the uncertainties. I'll still take the over, but still with some reservations.
Found this picture of Westbrook and Curry and found it interesting how, other than RW’s bigger pecs, their difference in size really isn’t that dramatic.
Monk Ellington and Bazemore are shooters but will kill them defensively, kcp was a key component being a 3nD. I dont believe in bazemores defense outside of the warriors system
Ariza out a couple months and now Talen Horton-Tucker the same. The Lakers seemed destined to be injury-prone but they may set a record. One never should rejoice in injury but it seems like putting that much stock in aging players (granted THT is young) was always going to be a significant risk.
Speaking of lightyears, if this works, it will be the most lightyears move the Warriors have made in quite some time imo. Grabbing a guy arguably worth 20M+ a season for a minimum by exploiting the market inefficiency of health.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/warriors/article/Finally-healthy-Warriors-Otto-Porter-Jr-is-16523361.php
> Shortly after Otto Porter Jr. signed with the Warriors in August, he met with the team’s training staff to map out a plan for staying healthy.
>
> This was no easy objective, given that Porter had missed 112 of a possible 154 games over the previous two seasons. What he found was that his recent injuries — ailments to the back, left foot and hips — were interrelated. To resuscitate a once-promising NBA career, Porter would need to overhaul his day-to-day approach: how he stands, how he runs, even how he breathes.
>
> “It’s down to the very basics,” Porter said. “It’s super detailed. It’s a lot.”
>
> Over the past month-plus, Porter worked with Dr. Rick Celebrini — the Warriors’ director of sports medicine and performance — to economize his movements, fine-tune his balance and improve his agility. Their sessions together were so effective that Porter said he entered training camp feeling the best he has, both physically and mentally, since he went third overall in the 2013 draft.
However, gotta give a slight nod to Orlando too:
> Shortly after he was moved to Orlando in March, Porter dealt with lingering pain in his left foot. Team trainers noticed that he had caused a stress reaction by putting too much weight on that foot — a coping mechanism that could have dated back to the initial hip issues.
> Porter played just three games with the Magic, whose trainers helped him get comfortable running again this past summer.
> Porter played just three games with the Magic, whose trainers helped him get comfortable running again this past summer.
Well, that sure does put a whole different spin on his status playing so few games last year
Their previous run involved some good bets on players with past injury history as well: Bogut and Livingston. They were different in that they had freak injuries and perhaps weren't "20M-player-for-minimum" deals but if OPJ works out, that's three (am I missing anyone?) really good bets on players with past injury history.
…and Steph. That one was kinda important. I’d say you’re definitely missing someone!
I was thinking from other teams, but yes lol... that one counts for sure.
I don't know if anyone shared this yet, but it was enlightening to me. It's from September.
JaVale talks about all the differences in the Warriors org, and how far #lightyears the org is over other teams he's played at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Eol3bUTes0
Very cool. Thank you.
Watching the Warriors vs Lakers: the Warriors announcers have found a new level of cringe. Can some one please let them know the sports term is to Go Off not to Get Off? Not happy with the mental image of Steph loving watching his teammates get off. Thanks Bob and Kalena.
They both need to be replaced and make it hard to watch some games.
I had no idea how hard JB worked to keep Fitz tolerable
championship level cringe
This is... classic.
As long as we're having an open thread, how about some predictions of how the Western Conference standings will end up?
1. Suns. Short of an absolute injury disaster, I don't see these guys *not* making the playoffs. They have the hunger of being underestimated, the frustration of just barely missing the championship, the advantage of youth (except for CP3), and a lot of continuity from last season.
2. Jazz. This whole team epitomizes "3 & D" to a ridiculous extent these days, and they're probably more skilled at it overall than the peak Harden Rockets were. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to see if Gobert's improvements were enough for last postseason because of injuries to Mitchell & Conley. But as things stand right now, they should definitely be in the thick of things in the regular season.
3. Lakers. As long as AD and Lebron are in good health, this team is scary, but LAL has the biggest question marks for me because half the geriatric roster could end up on injured reserve in the blink of an eye. It's hard to place a team with such extreme variance: they could be title contenders or they could easily miss the playoffs, and not much in between, but I'll assume everyone stays well and the Lake Show coasts to a comfortable playoff seed.
4. Warriors. I like the depth and fit of the rotation, and Poole's outbreak season is gonna be great, but I think we'll still drop some games due to variance, and the team won't even achieve its final form until at least January. Still, it feels more complete already than the next couple teams, with a proven championship core and then some.
5. Clippers. The roster is still solid enough that they could easily outperform this even without Kawhi, but I just get the feeling they'll kinda muddle around until he's back, and adding him back will come with growing pains of its own. Still, PG is real good and there are some underrated guys like Ibaka on this roster too.
6. Nuggets. Another team (like the W's and the Clips) that won't be rounding into its final form until the mid-season return of one of their stars, plus they have some other injury concerns to worry about. On the other hand, Jokic is a form of basketball nirvana all on his own, so they shouldn't fall too far behind at that rate.
7. Trail Blazers. Their defense may still be suspect, but if they finally have some luck and Lillard, CJ, and Nurkic together play like 75% of the games, I think they'll mop up a lot of weaker teams and pick some games off the other guys just be being red-hot. Adding Nance and having more continuity for Covington feels like it should finally start to pay off too.
8. Mavericks. Doncic is super good, but last season really made me question the rest of the Mavericks roster. Porzingis and the rest of the rotation just don't feel like stars to me. I'm expecting last year's pattern of streaky feast-or-famine games to continue for Dallas.
9. Grizzlies. They have enough of a mix of up-and-coming players and established vets that it wouldn't surprise me if they overperformed here, but I just couldn't put them past any of the above teams. But if any of the top 8 get derailed by injuries or otherwise, the Grizz should be the first team in the door.
10. Timberwolves. I think the talent on the team, with KAT, DLo, and Edwards, should be enough to put them higher up in the rankings than they'll actually climb, and that's because I still have so many questions about the basketball culture in Minnesota. (Defense? Player development? Yeah, I dunno.) But on the other hand, we saw last season even with the stars missing, they had a lot of young guys who played hard like Jordan McLaughlin and Naz Reid, so I'll split the difference and leave them here.
11. Kings. It feels a bit bad to leave Sac-town this low when they have talented up-and-coming guys like Fox and Haliburton plus established guys like Barnes and Hield, but I just can't see how it comes together into a complete package.
12. Spurs. With DeRozan finally gone, the closest thing San Antonio has to a star player is... Dejounte Murray? Jakob Poeltl? The dependable Spurs organization somehow dragged last year's roster to a 10th-place finish, but I think even Pop's legendary hand will have quite a challenge steering this roster into a playoff appearance.
13. Pelicans. Zion has been derailed by injuries enough times that it's hard to get a feel for his real value, but I'm starting to lean into the idea that he was over-hyped as a draft pick. Ingram seems like he's nearing his peak, which should make them dangerous, but the rest of their rotation leaves me with some serious question marks.
14. Rockets. I love their draft picks, and they've got some other guys to keep an eye on like Christian Wood, but their best options are still too green to do much more than scare or surprise some teams on occasion. The post-Harden/D'Antoni rebuild is already off to a quick start, though.
15. Thunder. They have some promising young guys like Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort, but not a whole lot else. Feels like the team is still biding its time and waiting for its investments to pay off, but as of right now they don't look well-positioned to do a whole lot.
Ooh this is fun. My predictions:
1. Jazz: They're just a regular season buzzsaw with Gobert. Guaranteed top 5 defense + Conley, Mitchell and boatloads of shooting. Short of a Gobert injury, don't see them dropping out of the top 3.
2. Suns: They're really good. Top-level talent in CP3 + Booker and good ancillary players in Bridges, Crowder, Ayton, Johnson, Payne etc. Again, hard to see them dropping out of the top 3-4 barring a substantial drop-off from CP3.
3. Warriors: We've got a ridiculous amount of shooting (might lead the league in 3PA which leads to wins), and we've got the best player in the league. We do have a lot of flaws (lack of secondary shot-creation, POA defense on guards, rebounding, lack of a rim-running C option) but most of those hurt more in the playoffs against top-level teams rather than in the regular season. One caveat - if Steph or Draymond miss 10+ games, we're going to lose the vast majority of those, so we're a very fragile team unlike the Jazz or the Suns.
4. Nuggets: They're gonna have a great offense (they have Jokic) and I think MPJ can take a jump. Have my doubts about how their defense holds up in the playoffs, but they should be a good regular season team.
5. Blazers: Again, great offense (2nd best in history last year in absolute terms though what Billups has been saying is not greatly encouraging) and vastly improved defensive personnel. They should be a sneaky good team this year. If they manage to get Simmons for CJ somehow, they might well be one of the best teams in the West.
6. Lakers: Cut Westbrook and I think they're clearly at the top (for the playoffs at least). But you obviously can't do that. The fit is terrible, they lack shooting (or at least I don't know how much they'll actually play their shooters). And Westbrook hasn't really been a good PI without a secondary star in the last 3-4 years so I doubt they've fixed their non-LeBron minutes issue. Seems like they're really hoping for a breakthrough from THT/Monk. Additionally, LeBron is old and Davis is injury prone. So they're also a pretty fragile team.
7. Mavs: This team is a really really really good team in disguise. They just hired the dumbest coach in the league after having one of the smartest coaches in the league. Maybe he's improved (Monty Williams last year did for his Suns stint, but he was a much better coach to begin with and I have a feeling he's more growth-oriented that Jason Kidd). But until I see it, I can't say they're going to be really good. And they rely on Luka almost as much as we rely on Steph, so him missing 15-20 games could be the end of their playoff aspirations.
8. Clippers: I really don't know why people are mocking them so highly. Kawhi wouldn't be there for most of the year (if not all?). And yes, they've got a really good supporting cast and a top 11 player in PG, but is that really enough to be a top 5-6 seed in the West? I think people are reading too much into their playoff over-performance without Kawhi, but that happened due to PG carrying a ridiculous load, Reggie Jackson playing like an all-star, playing small with Batum/Morris for most of the games etc. I don't know how much of that is sustainable.
9. Grizzlies: I think they might have gotten worse by giving away Valanciunas and Allen and by adding Ziaire, but Ja/JJJ might take a jump. So I think they're pretty close to the team they were last year, which should be good enough for the play-in seeds. However, if they're playing Ziaire too much, that might cost them.
10. Pelicans: Zion should have a fringe-MVP level season if he's healthy. Their coaching couldn't have gotten too much worse. I love Trey Murphy and think he can be a starting-level player from this year. And while I don't think Valanciunas is too great of a playoff player, he's really good in the regular season. I expect them to be significantly better this year.
11. TWolves: Hard to know what to think of this team. They've got significantly more upside that most teams in this range (if things break right, i could see them finishing in the top 6), but I don't know how much of their team I can actually trust. With KAT they're pretty good, without KAT they completely fall apart. D'Lo is an enigma, while I don't know if Anthony Edward's late season form was a mirage or actual growth. I think Finch is a really good coach, and they should have a really really good defense. Still, keeping them down here until they prove they're good.
12. Kings: They're okay, they're fun and they have Fox/Hali/HB/Hield/Holmes. If they dumped the 2nd dumbest coach in the league, they could be actual playoff contenders. Still, hard to see how they become better than some of the teams above them unless Fox/Hali/Mitchell really pop.
13. Spurs: They're going to be incredible defensively. They dumped Derozan (which might actually make them a better team) and acquired Thad (which will definitely make them a better team). But they have very little offensive creation and they might play rookies or young guys a lot. I believe in Pop, but not this much.
14. Rockets: Wanting to win is actually a pre-requisite for winning. They'll be super fun though with Green/Sengun/Christopher/Martin. I think they'll probably trade Wood and/or Theis midseason which will hurt them.
15. Thunder: Again, wanting to win is a pre-requisite for winning. They will definitely not be super fun and I don't know how fans even watch their games anymore. Still, Giddey should be cool and SGA is a top 25-30 player hiding in plain sight. Memo to NBA, please eliminate tanking.
Offense not defense for the Wolves lol.
Totally biased thoughts on the West:
I’m going to go full homer here and say that the Warriors top 7-8 might be the best in the league by playoff time. This group looks to be skilled and have high basketball IQ. If all teams stay healthy I’d bet the Warriors get the top seed if they truly are “chasing wins” this year.
The Lakers will win enough to get the three seed if the 1 seed looks truly dangerous. The Suns will depend on the health of Paul and the mindset of Aton, Utah will be slightly under last year’s win % as they focus more on the playoffs than the regular season. Don’t be surprised if the Spurs win at a higher rate than last year when they had to account for DeRozan’s ole D; and the Kings have the roster to compete, and might have a Hawks like surge if they make the right changes should they start slow.
The West could be an absolute dogfight; and then there’s the Wolves, Pels, Rockets, and Thunder. Will the Thunder try to win and appease the basketball gods this year? Will the Pels and Wolves break their franchise trajectories? Will the Rockets start 4 rookies at sometime this year?
I’m thinking about league pass this year but it’s so hard to choose!
Well-constructed and well-argued list. One frustration for preseason picking is that injuries always happen and frequently just destroy any preseason logic.
I think Memphis may still be rising -- maybe 4th? Last year I think I wasn't the only Dubs fan to ignore them, thinking "Once we get past Memphis ..." and then, yeah. They are all a year older, which they needed, Morant is insane and Dillon is sneaky good, Jaren Jackson Jr. is healthy and scary, and they acquired Steven Adams, an interior presence they needed.
If Jamal Murray returns at full strength, Nuggets could easily be contenders. MPJ is that good and of course Jokic is Jokic. They have both JaMychal and Jeff Green and that seems like too much of a green thing.
Yes, the Lakers are absolutely an enigma. They won't be fully healthy nor well integrated, and they are kind of old school interior threat rather than three point killers, but that's a lot of talent. Really CP3 and Conley should be on this team because they are well past their prime, but have been great, and will probably get injured.
Lastly -- hey, it's a Warriors site. I think there's a solid chance that their new killer shooting lineups might vault them into the second slot or so. Homer, I know.
Try this on for a homer stance:
OPJ could be this team’s Rodman in the sense that he makes an unexpectedly massive contribution towards wins, and makes a potential contender into one of the best teams ever.
Isn’t Murray out all year?
I think about that. Unless he makes a fantastic recovery, I think it would be kind of foolish for him to come back with the season nearly over.
I thought he was expected back like halfway through the season? Though I'm not sure I'd be ready to move them up or down the list based on my predictions.
Good list and hard to argue. My gut tells me Phoenix is due some injury unluck. And taking off my homer glasses a 4th place finish in a tough West would be a pretty great result. And can the Jazz replicate their insane performance from three? Will be interesting to see.
When Avery Bradley says "No offense," should I read the accent on the first or second syllable?
How would you feel about Bradley getting the last roster spot? I wouldn’t love it, but I won’t hate it unless they view him as part of the rotation.
To misquote Miss Crow: “If it makes Steph happy, it can’t be that bad. But if it makes Steph happy, why the hell are you so sad.”
Moody on taking charges: “ When I was a kid on my team, I was in 6th grade, my coach he would give you $1 every time you’d get a charge. I was a businessman, so I’m out there trying to make my money. Honestly, that’s really how it started but ever since then, that has just been part of my game.” https://twitter.com/957thegame/status/1446715939454545920?s=21
I loved this kid when I found out that he was a big boxing fan. I like him even more now.
NBA . com’s Warriors preview by Shaun Powell, who’s predicting 47 wins. My only quibble is that he listed Kuminga as a key reserve but completely left of my man Bjelly.
https://www.nba.com/news/2021-22-season-preview-gsw
That reads like my preview/analysis of a team like Utah that I'm aware of but not really paying attention to. 47 wins feels like a fair prediction given the uncertainties. I'll still take the over, but still with some reservations.
Yeah… it Kuminga is a key reserve, WGBC
what does wgbc mean?
https://vine.co/v/OYwT9hBr6J1
Found this picture of Westbrook and Curry and found it interesting how, other than RW’s bigger pecs, their difference in size really isn’t that dramatic.
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/russell-westbrook-of-the-washington-wizards-and-stephen-news-photo/1232730954
Steph has gotten bigger over time. If you look back 10 years the difference is much more obvious.
They're working on their dance routine.
Well AD has always said he LOVES playing the 5 not
Monk Ellington and Bazemore are shooters but will kill them defensively, kcp was a key component being a 3nD. I dont believe in bazemores defense outside of the warriors system
Bazemore's a good defender, he just fouls too much
At this rate they're gonna make me look pretty dumb for ranking them at #3 (assuming health)...
Sorry, what is this in reference to? I feel like I’m missing something.
(I missed most of finals game one watching that absolutely bizarre Packers OT win)
Candice Parker is a Ted Lasso-style Boss Ass Bitch. So good.
That is hardcore
Wow