2024 NBA Season and Playoffs

[Goldstar88]

Man, Memphis is really struggling. 0-4 now. I thought their defense would be solid with Jackson Jr and Smart..

No Morant is one reason

They haven't had any problem winning without Morant in previous years.

Correct

[Goldstar88]

Interesting to see how these two are doing through the first 3-4 games. One of them will likely be ROY.

Webanyama- in 27mpg: 15.7pts, 7.3rebs, 1.7ast, 1.7blk, 2stls, 4.7TO. Shooting- FG:44.7%, 3PT: 23.1%, FT:66.7, Shot attempts: 12.7 per game.

Holmgren- in 26.5mpg: 15pts, 6.3rebs, 2ast, 2.8blks, 1stl, 1.5TO. Shooting- FG: 60.6%, 3PT: 62.5%, FT: 76.9%, shot attempts: 8.3 per game.

[Who]

Man, Memphis is really struggling. 0-4 now. I thought their defense would be solid with Jackson Jr and Smart..

No Morant is one reason

They haven't had any problem winning without Morant in previous years.

The loss of their two centers is huge. Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke. I remember believing they looked more like a .500 team in the playoffs than the the 50-55 win team they were when those guys were healthy. They were a huge loss.

Then you lose Morant on top of that. You are going to be a sub-500 team. Probably a 30-35 win team.

Plus, Dillon Brooks left. Now Dillon Brooks isn't the best player in the world but he was their best SF. Their replacements are all young guys none of whom have proven themselves to be a capable rotation player. Meaning all are 3rd string level performers (at this juncture in their career). Ziaire Williams is starting at the moment in D Brooks' stead. They have Roddy, LaRavia. None of them has shown themselves to be a capable backup SF nevermind a quality starting SF. It is one thing to let Dillon Brooks leave; it is another thing not to replace him.

I would say they are a sub 30 win caliber team right now (25-29 win team) with Steven Adams, Brandon Clarke, Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks. I believe that is a realistic expectation for the talent that is currently there.

The return of Ja Morant should push them back near .500. Hopefully .500 but maybe a bit below.

They do not look like they are going to make the playoffs at this point.

They are going to need to make some changes. I saw somewhere on this site that they signed Biyombo. That is good. Gives them another body at center to stop (or slow down) the bleeding.

Still haven't replaced Kyle Anderson either (backup combo forward PF/SF) who left 2 years ago. His loss was a big reason why they lost to the LAL in the first round to the playoffs. Nobody to matchup with Hachimura. Nobody to enable those small ball lineups with Jaren Jackson Jr at center. No combo forward with enough quality to make those work well.

[MattyIce]

Man, Memphis is really struggling. 0-4 now. I thought their defense would be solid with Jackson Jr and Smart..

No Morant is one reason

They haven't had any problem winning without Morant in previous years.

losing Adams is huge, before he went down last year they were right there with the nuggets at the top of the west, ranked second in the league in net rating and best defense in the league i believe.  he was a monster on the glass, especially offensive rebounds.

also they are missing their next best backup in Brandon Clarke

[Who]

Minnesota and New Orleans should be talking about winning the West. Their teams have a lot of talent. I feel like they are using their youth as an excuse. They need to be more ambitious. Show more self-belief.

[Who]

The West is incredible. The depth of talent at the top. The parity.

Top Four

* Denver = great starting 5, one of the worst benches in the league
* Phoenix = Big three, dodgy center. Injury risk.
* LA Clippers = Big four. Fit. Injury risk. Best individual talent in the West from top to bottom.
* Golden State = Underachieved last year. Will they right the ship this year? Or repeat last year?

Next Three

* Minnesota = great top four. Solid bench bigs. Need to improve bench perimeter players.
* New Orleans = title caliber talent. Arguably the 2nd best individual talent in the West behind LA Clippers. Brilliant talent lacking in maturity and ambition.
* LA Lakers = top two. Good supporting cast. Age & injury risk.

So that is the top 7 in the West

Next Two

* Sacramento = 2nd seed in the West last season. Almost all are back. Young team. Good team and still improving. Lack the high end talent to compete with the best of the best in the playoffs.
* Oklahoma City = terrific young talent but lack beef on the inside. Bench is questionable. Young talented role players on bench but are unproven / unreliable.

That takes us to 9 teams.

Final Play In Spot

* Dallas = great top two. Dodgy supporting cast.
* Memphis = injury hit with S Adams, B Clarke. Lost D Brooks. Morant will miss 25 games with suspension. Otherwise, they would be in that second tier. Even with all these problems, a threat to make the final play-in spot.
* Utah = strange roster. Lots of PFs. Lots of guards. Decent talent.
* San Antonio = maybe too young. Maybe more advanced than we expect. Possible play-in spot threat.

Basement

* Houston = vets & youth. Decent squad. It could make a run if the youth bring it. That does not look like it will happen. Look like they will underachieve. Should be competing for that play-in spot.
* Portland = youth and solid top 7. Struggling to make the pieces fit. Look like they will underachieve. Should be a 30 win team. Too much individualism combined with lousy coaching. Probably be a 20 win team instead.

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Any one of those top 7 teams should be thinking they have a chance to win the West. The gap is small enough. Especially with the injury factor looming over half of those teams (LAC, GSW, LAL, PHO).

You could say something similar about that final play-in spot. That race is wide open. Any of those teams in the bottom half should be thinking they have a legit shot at winning that. Except maybe Portland.

I do not see Denver as a juggenaught. Their bench is too bad. They have a brilliant starting 5 but their lack of quality depth makes that race in the West wide open.

[radiohead]

Danny Green was waived by Philly after the Harden trade. Should Brad be interested?

[Atzar]

Danny Green was waived by Philly after the Harden trade. Should Brad be interested?

I'm not sure there's anything left of the guy.  If he could still defend and hit threes at 40% for ~15 minutes per game, hell yeah I'd be interested.  I think that Danny Green is gone though. 

I don't know how he has looked with Philly but I assume he's being waived for a reason. 

[Moranis]

The West is incredible. The depth of talent at the top. The parity.

Top Four

* Denver = great starting 5, one of the worst benches in the league
* Phoenix = Big three, dodgy center. Injury risk.
* LA Clippers = Big four. Fit. Injury risk. Best individual talent in the West from top to bottom.
* Golden State = Underachieved last year. Will they right the ship this year? Or repeat last year?

Next Three

* Minnesota = great top four. Solid bench bigs. Need to improve bench perimeter players.
* New Orleans = title caliber talent. Arguably the 2nd best individual talent in the West behind LA Clippers. Brilliant talent lacking in maturity and ambition.
* LA Lakers = top two. Good supporting cast. Age & injury risk.

So that is the top 7 in the West

Next Two

* Sacramento = 2nd seed in the West last season. Almost all are back. Young team. Good team and still improving. Lack the high end talent to compete with the best of the best in the playoffs.
* Oklahoma City = terrific young talent but lack beef on the inside. Bench is questionable. Young talented role players on bench but are unproven / unreliable.

That takes us to 9 teams.

Final Play In Spot

* Dallas = great top two. Dodgy supporting cast.
* Memphis = injury hit with S Adams, B Clarke. Lost D Brooks. Morant will miss 25 games with suspension. Otherwise, they would be in that second tier. Even with all these problems, a threat to make the final play-in spot.
* Utah = strange roster. Lots of PFs. Lots of guards. Decent talent.
* San Antonio = maybe too young. Maybe more advanced than we expect. Possible play-in spot threat.

Basement

* Houston = vets & youth. Decent squad. It could make a run if the youth bring it. That does not look like it will happen. Look like they will underachieve. Should be competing for that play-in spot.
* Portland = youth and solid top 7. Struggling to make the pieces fit. Look like they will underachieve. Should be a 30 win team. Too much individualism combined with lousy coaching. Probably be a 20 win team instead.

----------------------------------------

Any one of those top 7 teams should be thinking they have a chance to win the West. The gap is small enough. Especially with the injury factor looming over half of those teams (LAC, GSW, LAL, PHO).

You could say something similar about that final play-in spot. That race is wide open. Any of those teams in the bottom half should be thinking they have a legit shot at winning that. Except maybe Portland.

I do not see Denver as a juggenaught. Their bench is too bad. They have a brilliant starting 5 but their lack of quality depth makes that race in the West wide open.

I disagree on the overall quality. Denver is excellent, but after them there is a whole bunch of old injury prone teams or younger teams that lack top end talent (and Dallas whatever the heck they are).   To your overall point, the west is wide open though.  Any injury to Denver and about 10 teams could win the west, they just aren't great teams.

[SHAQATTACK]

Bucks are playing the Heat at 8pm. Dame gets to go to Miami after all. 

TP …good one

You should post that on a HEAT blog somewhere …..should get a rise

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Kawhi will get injured again, George probably will too, Westbrick is mostly empty calories, and Harden will be disgruntled soon. Not worried about the Clippers.

[SHAQATTACK]

Kawhi will get injured again, George probably will too, Westbrick is mostly empty calories, and Harden will be disgruntled soon. Not worried about the Clippers.

Gotta wonder , Will anyone ever pass the ball to anyone else ?  Should be text book BAD basketball at it’s finest

[Goldstar88]

Shams Charania: 76ers star Joel Embiid has been fined $35,000 for his D-Generation X/Triple H celebration vs. Blazers on Sunday. – via Twitter ShamsCharania

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Kawhi will get injured again, George probably will too, Westbrick is mostly empty calories, and Harden will be disgruntled soon. Not worried about the Clippers.

Gotta wonder , Will anyone ever pass the ball to anyone else ?  Should be text book BAD basketball at it’s finest

Very well could be!

[Moranis]

Kawhi will get injured again, George probably will too, Westbrick is mostly empty calories, and Harden will be disgruntled soon. Not worried about the Clippers.

Gotta wonder , Will anyone ever pass the ball to anyone else ?  Should be text book BAD basketball at it’s finest

Harden and Westbrook have led the league in assists and Kawhi and PG are both solid passers.  Passing shouldn't be an issue for them.