New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season

[Steve Williams]

Here is some positive news....

Reports: Joel Embiid, 76ers agree to 4-year extension​

The Sixers' superstar center has reportedly agreed to a supermax deal worth $196 million​

Reports: Joel Embiid, 76ers agree to 4-year extension

The Sixers' superstar center has reportedly agreed to a supermax deal worth $196 million.

www.nba.com

 

[Steve Williams]

and this one is for Phil...

Reports: Marcus Smart, Celtics reach 4-year deal worth $77 million​

The defensive-minded guard is coming off his best statistical season and is a former two-time All-Defensive First Team selection​

Reports: Marcus Smart, Celtics reach 4-year deal worth $77 million

The defensive-minded guard is coming off his best statistical season and is a former two-time All-Defensive First Team selection.

www.nba.com

 

[jadis]

and this one is for Phil...

Reports: Marcus Smart, Celtics reach 4-year deal worth $77 million​

The defensive-minded guard is coming off his best statistical season and is a former two-time All-Defensive First Team selection​

Reports: Marcus Smart, Celtics reach 4-year deal worth $77 million

The defensive-minded guard is coming off his best statistical season and is a former two-time All-Defensive First Team selection.

www.nba.com

Yes Steve, Smart is the longest tenured Celtic in this group. He is also a spiritual force.

 

[WLVCA]

Pat Beverly traded again....going to Timberwolves.

Sources: Beverley traded again, now to Wolves

The Timberwolves are acquiring veteran guard Patrick Beverley from the Grizzlies for Jarrett Culver and Juancho Hernangomez, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

www.espn.com

 

[jadis]

Opening night is October 19. It's near.

Great matches on Day 1.

 

[Steve Williams]

Lakers reload, lose some size....... (and add a whole lot of age)​

The first thing you notice about the group of players that the Los Angeles Lakers are adding in free agency is their age. Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza, Kent Bazemore, Wayne Ellington and Dwight Howard are 37, 36, 32, 33 and 35 years old, respectively. They join a roster that already includes a pair of 36-year-olds: Marc Gasol and LeBron James. Russell Westbrook is also more than four years older than all three of the guys he is being traded for.

The Lakers are adding some youth to their backcourt with Malik Monk (23) and Kendrick Nunn (25), two players that showed big improvement last season. Nunn saw the 10th biggest jump in effective field goal percentage (from 51.4% to 57.8%) among 110 players with at least 500 field goal attempts in each of the last two seasons. Monk, meanwhile, saw the fourth biggest jump in 3-point percentage (from 28.4% to 40.1%) among 202 players with at least 100 3-point attempts in each of the last two seasons. Both shot 42% on catch-and-shoot 3s last season.

But those are two small-ish guards. And that leads us to the other thing about the changes that the Lakers have made. They’ve gotten smaller, which could affect how much Anthony Davis plays center.

Over his nine seasons in the league, Davis has played more minutes at power forward than he has at center. Last season, Davis played a career-high 91% of his minutes at the four, with 1,052 of his 1,162 total minutes coming alongside Gasol, Montrezl Harrell or Andre Drummond. That rate dropped to 73% in the postseason (play-in + playoffs), but that mark was still almost double the rate of 40% in the 2020 playoffs.

 

[Steve Williams]

A sad ending to Patrick Beverly's career as he is wayward bound just 2 days after the trade....

NBA trade grades: Who wins the Wolves-Grizzlies deal for Patrick Beverley?

NBA trade grades: Who wins the Wolves-Grizzlies deal for Patrick Beverley?

Patrick Beverley, traded for the second time in three days, is now a Timberwolf. Kevin Pelton breaks down both sides of the deal.

www.espn.com

 

[Steve Williams]

I just can't fault KD for bragging because frankly his assumptions about himself are correct.....

'I pretty much do everything great': Why Kevin Durant thinks his NBA 2K22 rating should be higher

Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant has high expectations for his NBA 2K22 rating.

In a video posted by NBA 2K, Durant, one of the cover athletes for the game's 75th anniversary edition, explained why he believes his rating should be a 99 overall.

'Y'all ever gonna get it right?!': Trae Young, LeBron James are not pleased with NBA 2K22 ratings

Durant, one of the cover athletes for the game's 75th anniversary edition, believes his rating should be a 99 overall -- and LeBron James agrees.

www.espn.com

 

[WLVCA]

Way back when the Clippers hardly ever had a nationally televised game....admittedly for good reason - they weren't very good. That changed in the last decade as the team improved.

Bad sign for next season though - Clippers won't be playing on TV on Christmas Day. That's when the NBA features the best teams.

Hope that isn't an indicator of a bad season upcoming for the Clips although it is definitely possible.

 

[rblnr]

Ho


How about Latrell Sprewell choking and punching Warriors coach PJ Carlesimo in 1997. That has to rank right up there with the worst.

Sprewell should have gone to jail.

 

[Steve Williams]

And same could be said for Artest who interestingly enough found peace and religion while playing for the Lakers but everything we would read is that no one would mess with him as he’s so tough and strong

 

[jadis]

Way back when the Clippers hardly ever had a nationally televised game....admittedly for good reason - they weren't very good. That changed in the last decade as the team improved.

Bad sign for next season though - Clippers won't be playing on TV on Christmas Day. That's when the NBA features the best teams.

Hope that isn't an indicator of a bad season upcoming for the Clips although it is definitely possible.

Well, not a good news but knowing that Kawhi won't be playing for the whole season, does not help in TV ratings in Clippers' big games.

 

[christoph]

knowing that Kawhi won't be playing for the whole season

Is that a known fact already?

 

[jadis]

Is that a known fact already?

Not officially as the Clippers have not announced such news. I read it somewhere here from Steve that he will be missing the next season from his new 4 yr contract, so I imagine the 'experts' in the NBA would assume this too. Their forecast is that Kawhi will miss a 'significant' amount of time next season.

"Leonard, of course, is expected to miss a significant amount of next season, possibly all of it. But if he can return healthy, he would represent a missing piece capable of returning the Clippers back to bona-fide contender status."

Kawhi Leonard return: Can he recover from surgery in time to help Clippers next season?

Could Clippers star Kawhi Leonard make it back before the end of next season? Spencer Dinwiddie returned from a partially torn ACL in seven months.

www.latimes.com

 

[jadis]

Draymond Green interviews KD, at the 10:00 mark, they talked about the Warrior's management that f*** up the situation and led to KD leaving the Warriors.

 

[Steve Williams]

The read of the day.....do you agree with it all. I think they got most of it correct...

NBA offseason survey: Execs, scouts on the biggest deals, best players and 2022 title favorites​

On the biggest deals, best player and title favorites: The 2021-22 NBA offseason survey

What were the offseason's best and worst moves? Who is the best player in the league right now? Where did all the tanking go? We surveyed NBA scouts and execs for the answers.

www.espn.com

 

[Steve Williams]

The worst move(s) of the offseason?

T1. DeMar DeRozan to the Chicago Bulls: 3 votes

T1. The New Orleans Pelicans' offseason: 3

3. Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers: 2

T4: Doug McDermott to the San Antonio Spurs: 1

T4. The Brooklyn Nets not re-signing Jeff Green: 1

The Lakers are going to live and die by the decision to get Westbrook IMO

 

[Steve Williams]

The last stat clearly had me interested as who will win the East, the West and the title

I just don't get how the Lakers are the favorites out of the West but it looks like everyone feels this is the Nets year

No one is even talking about the Suns but theirs was a Cinderella year where every team they beat had major injuries. They looked like the had it in the bag being up 2-0 over the Bucks but Giannis emerged from his injury and the rest is history

 

[jadis]

The worst move(s) of the offseason?

T1. DeMar DeRozan to the Chicago Bulls: 3 votes

T1. The New Orleans Pelicans' offseason: 3

3. Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers: 2

T4: Doug McDermott to the San Antonio Spurs: 1

T4. The Brooklyn Nets not re-signing Jeff Green: 1

The Lakers are going to live and die by the decision to get Westbrook IMO

Prior to this last trade, I've always looked at Westbrook as a hard worker who gives his all, but sometimes maybe too much. He was KD's sidekick for a while in OKC, both being drafted there, but when they lost a 3-1 lead to the Warriors, he was left all alone to carry the brunt and he couldn't do it. And now this is his chance, he's got nothing to prove really as he was not a player whom by himself could be the franchise player to take his team to the top of the world, so far.

 

[WLVCA]

Is that a known fact already?

Some are saying he could play late in the regular season and playoffs but I don't expect him to play at all next year.

Hope I'm wrong but based on past experience my confidence is quite low.

Looks like Kawhi has taken "injury management" to a new level. Instead of taking every other game off he is taking every other year off.