NBA Season 2022-23

[celticsclay]

The Sixers have 2 players better than any player on the Cavs, you don't want to face that in the playoffs because those are the type of players that can almost single handedly win a couple of playoff games.  The Cavs have more depth, but depth doesn't tend to win playoff series, top end talent does.

Is Harden better than Donovan Mitchell at this point in their careers?

I am not so sure about that.

If he is healthy, he is.  No idea if he can be healthy though.  Mitchell is fine,but Harden really can still take over a game here or there both scoring and distributing.

The ringer a couple weeks back had Mitchell at 14 and Harden at 16, so fairly close.  I think Mitchell may be a bit more consistent, but I do think Harden has the higher top end.

I think we should just stick to saying Philly has the best player and everyone would agree with that. Acting like they clearly have the best two is a bit over the top, especially when harden is currently injured and it has been lingering. The real question then becomes how much does the depth matter and who has better depth. Most would have garland over maxey no? Then jarret Allen would be taken over harris I assume. Than Mobley over tucker? Who do people prefer to have off the bench?

[Who]

Starters

G: Garland > Maxey
G: Mitchell > Harden
F: Okoro < T Harris
F: Mobley > Tucker
C: J Allen < Embiid


I say Garland because of his superior playmaking and floor leadership. I went with Mitchell over Harden because in this individual matchup, I do not think Harden is quick enough to stay in front of Mitchell. Tobias Harris obviously much more skilled than Okoro. Mobley more impact on team D due to length and activity. Some pluses on offense due to size and length but lack of strength compared to the stout PJ Tucker minimizes how much they can attack. Better at opportunistic duck ins and quick turnarounds than isolations where Mobley will likely struggle. Tucker also gives more floor spacing. J Allen is a one way player; Embiid is not.

I have to say, I would really like to see J Allen play against Embiid in a playoff series. To see how much J Allen can slow him down or not. Allen has the physicality and size to cause Embiid some problems.

[Who]

Bench

G: Rubio vs S Milton
G: C Levert vs D Melton
F: Cedi Osman vs Jalen McDaniels
F: Dean Wade vs G Niang
C: R Lopez vs Dedmon or P Reed

Others: Cleveland have Danny Green vs Danuel House for Philly.


I am not sure the bench is swinging the series either way. Most of those matchups are even or unclear. Rubio still coming back from injury has struggled. Milton is probably more reliable at this point. LeVert and Milton is a tough one. I'd take LeVert head to head but I like Milton a lot against Mitchell or Garland in terms of being able to slow them down.

I am not clear on how good Jalen McDaniels is so tough to say on the SF matchup. The Danny Green vs Danuel House looks fairly neutral. The Dean Wade vs G Niang is even also.

Does R Lopez have a matchup advantage against Dedmon? They would probably go small against Dedmon or P Reed but they will need R Lopez against Embiid to spell J Allen. Yeah, I'd say Lopez gives CLE some more.

Overall, it doesn't look like the bench is swinging things that far for either team. Looks like the starters will decide this matchup.

[Kernewek]

The Sixers have 2 players better than any player on the Cavs, you don't want to face that in the playoffs because those are the type of players that can almost single handedly win a couple of playoff games.  The Cavs have more depth, but depth doesn't tend to win playoff series, top end talent does.

Is Harden better than Donovan Mitchell at this point in their careers?

I am not so sure about that.

If he is healthy, he is.  No idea if he can be healthy though.  Mitchell is fine,but Harden really can still take over a game here or there both scoring and distributing.

The ringer a couple weeks back had Mitchell at 14 and Harden at 16, so fairly close.  I think Mitchell may be a bit more consistent, but I do think Harden has the higher top end.

I think we should just stick to saying Philly has the best player and everyone would agree with that. Acting like they clearly have the best two is a bit over the top, especially when harden is currently injured and it has been lingering. The real question then becomes how much does the depth matter and who has better depth. Most would have garland over maxey no? Then jarret Allen would be taken over harris I assume. Than Mobley over tucker? Who do people prefer to have off the bench?

Possibly, but I have a question on the bolded: Isn't it true that, historically, depth matters less in the playoffs for all sorts of reasons ( rotations get shorter, guys play more minutes, the pace slows down, and so on)? 

In other words, I feel like roster depth is what teams rely on to get to the postseason with their main guys as healthy as they can be, not something that gets teams rely on to get past their opponents in the playoffs. So, to your question, would Harden be healthier if the Sixers were a deeper team?

[Who]

I like Philly's lineup better with Harden at SF next to two quicker guards to compete against CLE's speed in the backcourt. With Melton starting instead of either T Harris or PJ Tucker. Harden then has an easy matchup against Okoro. Or any of CLE's others SFs.

I really dislike the lack of team speed on that Philly team. They have below average quickness at the SG, SF and PF positions. Only average quickness at C. They only position with speed is Maxey at PG.

[Goldstar88]

The Sixers have 2 players better than any player on the Cavs, you don't want to face that in the playoffs because those are the type of players that can almost single handedly win a couple of playoff games.  The Cavs have more depth, but depth doesn't tend to win playoff series, top end talent does.

Is Harden better than Donovan Mitchell at this point in their careers?

I am not so sure about that.

If he is healthy, he is.  No idea if he can be healthy though.  Mitchell is fine,but Harden really can still take over a game here or there both scoring and distributing.

The ringer a couple weeks back had Mitchell at 14 and Harden at 16, so fairly close.  I think Mitchell may be a bit more consistent, but I do think Harden has the higher top end.

I think we should just stick to saying Philly has the best player and everyone would agree with that. Acting like they clearly have the best two is a bit over the top, especially when harden is currently injured and it has been lingering. The real question then becomes how much does the depth matter and who has better depth. Most would have garland over maxey no? Then jarret Allen would be taken over harris I assume. Than Mobley over tucker? Who do people prefer to have off the bench?

Possibly, but I have a question on the bolded: Isn't it true that, historically, depth matters less in the playoffs for all sorts of reasons ( rotations get shorter, guys play more minutes, the pace slows down, and so on)? 

In other words, I feel like roster depth is what teams rely on to get to the postseason with their main guys as healthy as they can be, not something that gets teams rely on to get past their opponents in the playoffs. So, to your question, would Harden be healthier if the Sixers were a deeper team?

That is true regarding depth being needed for regular season and not as much for the playoffs. In regards to Harden, he averaged 36.9mpg which is probably a bit high considering his age. 35mpg seems like a more ideal number. With that said, I’m not sure playing 1.9mpg less would result in a healthier Harden.

[celticsclay]

The Sixers have 2 players better than any player on the Cavs, you don't want to face that in the playoffs because those are the type of players that can almost single handedly win a couple of playoff games.  The Cavs have more depth, but depth doesn't tend to win playoff series, top end talent does.

Is Harden better than Donovan Mitchell at this point in their careers?

I am not so sure about that.

If he is healthy, he is.  No idea if he can be healthy though.  Mitchell is fine,but Harden really can still take over a game here or there both scoring and distributing.

The ringer a couple weeks back had Mitchell at 14 and Harden at 16, so fairly close.  I think Mitchell may be a bit more consistent, but I do think Harden has the higher top end.

I think we should just stick to saying Philly has the best player and everyone would agree with that. Acting like they clearly have the best two is a bit over the top, especially when harden is currently injured and it has been lingering. The real question then becomes how much does the depth matter and who has better depth. Most would have garland over maxey no? Then jarret Allen would be taken over harris I assume. Than Mobley over tucker? Who do people prefer to have off the bench?

Possibly, but I have a question on the bolded: Isn't it true that, historically, depth matters less in the playoffs for all sorts of reasons ( rotations get shorter, guys play more minutes, the pace slows down, and so on)? 

In other words, I feel like roster depth is what teams rely on to get to the postseason with their main guys as healthy as they can be, not something that gets teams rely on to get past their opponents in the playoffs. So, to your question, would Harden be healthier if the Sixers were a deeper team?

I would agree with all that you bolder here but with one caveat, there is a floor for the bench players. Even when Embid was able to play 43 minutes in some playoff games, in years past the simple 5 minutes he was off the floor would kill them sometimes to the point people blamed it as their reason for losing a series (the most famous example was Greg Monroe getting destroyed in his three minutes during the leonard bounce game). I’m not sure if the 76ers have actually addressed this with Harrell kind of being a disaster, dedmond off the scrap heap or Paul Reed.

[celticsclay]

The Sixers have 2 players better than any player on the Cavs, you don't want to face that in the playoffs because those are the type of players that can almost single handedly win a couple of playoff games.  The Cavs have more depth, but depth doesn't tend to win playoff series, top end talent does.

Is Harden better than Donovan Mitchell at this point in their careers?

I am not so sure about that.

If he is healthy, he is.  No idea if he can be healthy though.  Mitchell is fine,but Harden really can still take over a game here or there both scoring and distributing.

The ringer a couple weeks back had Mitchell at 14 and Harden at 16, so fairly close.  I think Mitchell may be a bit more consistent, but I do think Harden has the higher top end.

I think we should just stick to saying Philly has the best player and everyone would agree with that. Acting like they clearly have the best two is a bit over the top, especially when harden is currently injured and it has been lingering. The real question then becomes how much does the depth matter and who has better depth. Most would have garland over maxey no? Then jarret Allen would be taken over harris I assume. Than Mobley over tucker? Who do people prefer to have off the bench?

Possibly, but I have a question on the bolded: Isn't it true that, historically, depth matters less in the playoffs for all sorts of reasons ( rotations get shorter, guys play more minutes, the pace slows down, and so on)? 

In other words, I feel like roster depth is what teams rely on to get to the postseason with their main guys as healthy as they can be, not something that gets teams rely on to get past their opponents in the playoffs. So, to your question, would Harden be healthier if the Sixers were a deeper team?

That is true regarding depth being needed for regular season and not as much for the playoffs. In regards to Harden, he averaged 36.9mpg which is probably a bit high considering his age. 35mpg seems like a more ideal number. With that said, I’m not sure playing 1.9mpg less would result in a healthier Harden.

I think if they got him down to 32 there is a chance he would be, but that seems more on doc than their actual roster construction. They also have maxey, Melton and shake who are all great to passable at the guard spot.

[Kernewek]

The Sixers have 2 players better than any player on the Cavs, you don't want to face that in the playoffs because those are the type of players that can almost single handedly win a couple of playoff games.  The Cavs have more depth, but depth doesn't tend to win playoff series, top end talent does.

Is Harden better than Donovan Mitchell at this point in their careers?

I am not so sure about that.

If he is healthy, he is.  No idea if he can be healthy though.  Mitchell is fine,but Harden really can still take over a game here or there both scoring and distributing.

The ringer a couple weeks back had Mitchell at 14 and Harden at 16, so fairly close.  I think Mitchell may be a bit more consistent, but I do think Harden has the higher top end.

I think we should just stick to saying Philly has the best player and everyone would agree with that. Acting like they clearly have the best two is a bit over the top, especially when harden is currently injured and it has been lingering. The real question then becomes how much does the depth matter and who has better depth. Most would have garland over maxey no? Then jarret Allen would be taken over harris I assume. Than Mobley over tucker? Who do people prefer to have off the bench?

Possibly, but I have a question on the bolded: Isn't it true that, historically, depth matters less in the playoffs for all sorts of reasons ( rotations get shorter, guys play more minutes, the pace slows down, and so on)? 

In other words, I feel like roster depth is what teams rely on to get to the postseason with their main guys as healthy as they can be, not something that gets teams rely on to get past their opponents in the playoffs. So, to your question, would Harden be healthier if the Sixers were a deeper team?

I would agree with all that you bolder here but with one caveat, there is a floor for the bench players. Even when Embid was able to play 43 minutes in some playoff games, in years past the simple 5 minutes he was off the floor would kill them sometimes to the point people blamed it as their reason for losing a series (the most famous example was Greg Monroe getting destroyed in his three minutes during the leonard bounce game). I’m not sure if the 76ers have actually addressed this with Harrell kind of being a disaster, dedmond off the scrap heap or Paul Reed.

Yeah that's a valid point as well - the bench has to at least hold things steady when the starters are off the floor. Maybe Cleveland has the edge there over Philly, but I can't say one way or the other.

[SparzWizard]

Ben Simmons shut down for the year.

Goodness this guy is an anomaly to everyone lol. How did Brooklyn put up with three divas in KD, Kyrie, Simmons and that joke of a coach Steve Nash back then

[Phantom255x]

Ben Simmons shut down for the year.

Goodness this guy is an anomaly to everyone lol. How did Brooklyn put up with three divas in KD, Kyrie, Simmons and that joke of a coach Steve Nash back then

The Sixers organization has to be doing cartwheels that they somehow dumped that diva and got back Harden. Like seriously... they managed to get rid of a bad asset and got back a superstar-caliber player in it.

[boscel33]

Good ole Danny!

"Luka Samanic of Maine Celtics to sign 10-day deal with Jazz; Boston reportedly still looking to fill 15th roster spot"

https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2023/03/28/nba-boston-celtics-so-long-thanks-for-the-samanic/

[Goldstar88]

Draymond just got another tech and will be suspended for a game. 

Edit- And now he’s kicking guys in the head. Completely out of control.

[Who]

Khris Middleton rounding back into shape. Averaging 19.3ppg 4.8rpg 6.6apg on 58.7% TS% for the month of March.

He was at 11ppg in Dec to 12ppg in Jan to 16.5ppg in Feb to 19.3ppg in March.

Getting right in time for the playoffs.

[GetLucky]

Khris Middleton rounding back into shape. Averaging 19.3ppg 4.8rpg 6.6apg on 58.7% TS% for the month of March.

He was at 11ppg in Dec to 12ppg in Jan to 16.5ppg in Feb to 19.3ppg in March.

Getting right in time for the playoffs.

That's honestly nothing special. League average last year was over 57%. For reference,  Tatum is currently at 60.1 TS% and we all know he's been laying bricks for months.