NBA Season 2024-25

[slightly biased bias fan]

And this is why it's important that Boston starts winning chips more frequently and not screw around and lose before the NBA Finals or lose in the Finals to guys like 2022 Golden State (very winnable series esp being up 2-1 before collapsing). The West is getting tougher with newcomers like Wemby, Holmgren/Williams/SGA, the young Grizzlies, Ime-Rockets, Jokic, and now with Luka magic in LA which makes winning chips more difficult.

Luka will guarantee the Lakers at least 4-5 titles within the next 10-12 years while he's there. The C's need to continue building on that banner count.

I am sorry to be negative, but that is a crazy take haha

Firstly, LeBron can barely play defence now, he is close to
being primarily an offensive role player (still insane for a 40 year old). As long as LeBron is on the Lakers, he will clog their cap space.

There is no guarantee that Doncic will even stay. He may prefer to sign with the Spurs or the Rockets.

The Buss family will be ecstatic, as they have another superstar to profit off, but the front office have almost no picks to trade or valuable players to offer (besides Reaves).

If you compare the Doncic trade to the Gasol trade, it paints a difficult picture for the current Lakers front office. In 2008 after trading for Gasol the Lakers still had:

2008

Bryant (29)
Bynum (20)
Fisher (33)
Ariza (22)
Odom (28)

Now the current team after trading for Doncic:

2025

James (40)
Reaves (26)
Hachimura (27)
Finney-Smith (31)
Knecht (23)

Finally, Doncic is still very young, but he does not have the size or athleticism that will age well. Doncic actually has so many characteristics that resemble James Harden it is scary. Offensive genius, extremely ball dominant, lazy on defence, poor off court habits. If you use Harden as a peek into his future, Doncic could be done as an MVP talent by 30.

[slightly biased bias fan]

In all honesty, the smart move for Doncic would be to go into free agency in 2026 and sign with San Antonio.

The Spurs would have the cap space to easily sign Doncic and he would fit seamlessly with their star talent.

Wembanyama stretches the floor and opens up the lane for Doncic, and their lob combination would be a cheat code. On defence Wemby covers the interior while Castle covers everything else.

Doncic seemed to be happy in Texas anyway, if he had left Dallas for San Antonio he would be the villain, now he gets to sign for a rival and still look like the good guy.

Wembanyama
Sochan
Doncic
Vassell
Castle

[celticsclay]

And this is why it's important that Boston starts winning chips more frequently and not screw around and lose before the NBA Finals or lose in the Finals to guys like 2022 Golden State (very winnable series esp being up 2-1 before collapsing). The West is getting tougher with newcomers like Wemby, Holmgren/Williams/SGA, the young Grizzlies, Ime-Rockets, Jokic, and now with Luka magic in LA which makes winning chips more difficult.

Luka will guarantee the Lakers at least 4-5 titles within the next 10-12 years while he's there. The C's need to continue building on that banner count.

whoa big fella....he didn't bring any to the Mavs.  Why is that going to change suddenly in LA?  Lebron isn't playing until he is 50.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=how+many+title+does+Luka+have%3F

I know the doom and gloom and panic but...

It might not matter this year, but I am visualizing long-term. Luka himself is already the greatest offensive player in NBA history. Luka will be a magnet long-term. He'll be a magnet for guys like Giannis, Jokic, Tatum, Brunson etc. And it's also LA Hollywood. Idk about LeBron but he's still putting up monster numbers at age 40, he'll probably even stay till 45. He is a healthy athletic freak. I have never seen him tear an ACL or Achilles in his career. He's beating father time so far.

Why are you so ridiculous about the lakers? Lebron himself has said he will only play one or two more years. There is no guarantee doncic even resigns with them. They have one title, in a bubble, in the last 15 years. You talk about them like they have won 8 in a row. It?s mind blowingly over the top.

[celticsclay]

In all honesty, the smart move for Doncic would be to go into free agency in 2026 and sign with San Antonio.

The Spurs would have the cap space to easily sign Doncic and he would fit seamlessly with their star talent.

Wembanyama stretches the floor and opens up the lane for Doncic, and their lob combination would be a cheat code. On defence Wemby covers the interior while Castle covers everything else.

Doncic seemed to be happy in Texas anyway, if he had left Dallas for San Antonio he would be the villain, now he gets to sign for a rival and still look like the good guy.

Wembanyama
Sochan
Doncic
Vassell
Castle

Doncic, like Jokic, does not seem like someone that likes a Hollywood celebrity lifestyle and was quite happy in Dallas. I would not be surprised to see him go to Houston or San Antonio either or even Denver for that matter.

[Birdman]

I see Luka going to Denver maybe

[Who]

I don't see any reason why Luka would leave the Lakers. Luka + the city of LA + Lakers mystique will make the Lakers the #1 free agent / trade destination in the league. Luka can easily get running mates to come in and join him in LA after LeBron leaves.

[Who]

Jay Williams had this stat on ESPN

Embiid games played = 449 games played
Embiid games missed = 404 DNPs

Yeesh! Almost half his career on the sidelines.

[Adelaide Celt]

And this is why it's important that Boston starts winning chips more frequently and not screw around and lose before the NBA Finals or lose in the Finals to guys like 2022 Golden State (very winnable series esp being up 2-1 before collapsing). The West is getting tougher with newcomers like Wemby, Holmgren/Williams/SGA, the young Grizzlies, Ime-Rockets, Jokic, and now with Luka magic in LA which makes winning chips more difficult.

Luka will guarantee the Lakers at least 4-5 titles within the next 10-12 years while he's there. The C's need to continue building on that banner count.

whoa big fella....he didn't bring any to the Mavs.  Why is that going to change suddenly in LA?  Lebron isn't playing until he is 50.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=how+many+title+does+Luka+have%3F

I know the doom and gloom and panic but...

It might not matter this year, but I am visualizing long-term. Luka himself is already the greatest offensive player in NBA history. Luka will be a magnet long-term. He'll be a magnet for guys like Giannis, Jokic, Tatum, Brunson etc. And it's also LA Hollywood. Idk about LeBron but he's still putting up monster numbers at age 40, he'll probably even stay till 45. He is a healthy athletic freak. I have never seen him tear an ACL or Achilles in his career. He's beating father time so far.

Why are you so ridiculous about the lakers? Lebron himself has said he will only play one or two more years. There is no guarantee doncic even resigns with them. They have one title, in a bubble, in the last 15 years. You talk about them like they have won 8 in a row. It?s mind blowingly over the top.

And the answer is autism

[keevsnick]

At what point do the 76ers just decided to start tanking? Shut Embiid down, shut George down?

They owe a top 6 protected pick to OKC (they traded this to dump Horford back in 2020). Currently they are 20-33 just one game back of Brooklyn (19-34) for the 6th worst record and within possible range of catching (17-37) for the 5th worst. Going from 7th to 6th or 5th would boost the odds of keeping their pick from 32%->45.8%->64%.

Embid has already said he thinks he needs another surgery, meanwhile although they could very well catch the Bulls for the 10th seed they are still 5 games behind the 9th seeded Magic so pulling above 10th seems unlikely. Then what? Two road games just to get waxed by the Cav's in the 1-8 if you make it?

It makes all the sense in the world for these guys to pack it in.

[Roy H.]

At what point do the 76ers just decided to start tanking? Shut Embiid down, shut George down?

They owe a top 6 protected pick to OKC (they traded this to dump Horford back in 2020). Currently they are 20-33 just one game back of Brooklyn (19-34) for the 6th worst record and within possible range of catching (17-37) for the 5th worst. Going from 7th to 6th or 5th would boost the odds of keeping their pick from 32%->45.8%->64%.

Embid has already said he thinks he needs another surgery, meanwhile although they could very well catch the Bulls for the 10th seed they are still 5 games behind the 9th seeded Magic so pulling above 10th seems unlikely. Then what? Two road games just to get waxed by the Cav's in the 1-8 if you make it?

It makes all the sense in the world for these guys to pack it in.

It does.  It also makes me vomit, thinking that they could end up with Flagg.

[keevsnick]

At what point do the 76ers just decided to start tanking? Shut Embiid down, shut George down?

They owe a top 6 protected pick to OKC (they traded this to dump Horford back in 2020). Currently they are 20-33 just one game back of Brooklyn (19-34) for the 6th worst record and within possible range of catching (17-37) for the 5th worst. Going from 7th to 6th or 5th would boost the odds of keeping their pick from 32%->45.8%->64%.

Embid has already said he thinks he needs another surgery, meanwhile although they could very well catch the Bulls for the 10th seed they are still 5 games behind the 9th seeded Magic so pulling above 10th seems unlikely. Then what? Two road games just to get waxed by the Cav's in the 1-8 if you make it?

It makes all the sense in the world for these guys to pack it in.

It does.  It also makes me vomit, thinking that they could end up with Flagg.

Ya hopefully Silver can fix it so he doesn't end up on that dumpster fire of a franchise.

This raises a question, out of lets say the top 9 teams in the NBA draft (WAS, NOP, UTA, CHA, TOR, BRK, PHI, CHI, POR) where would people WANT Flagg to end up? In terms of good fit, likely to win, most entertaining, ect.

[Phantom255x]

At what point do the 76ers just decided to start tanking? Shut Embiid down, shut George down?

They owe a top 6 protected pick to OKC (they traded this to dump Horford back in 2020). Currently they are 20-33 just one game back of Brooklyn (19-34) for the 6th worst record and within possible range of catching (17-37) for the 5th worst. Going from 7th to 6th or 5th would boost the odds of keeping their pick from 32%->45.8%->64%.

Embid has already said he thinks he needs another surgery, meanwhile although they could very well catch the Bulls for the 10th seed they are still 5 games behind the 9th seeded Magic so pulling above 10th seems unlikely. Then what? Two road games just to get waxed by the Cav's in the 1-8 if you make it?

It makes all the sense in the world for these guys to pack it in.

They need to Capture the Flagg and tell Embiid to get his surgery now. But ultimately I think PHI is better off trying to trade him this offseason. They still can salvage things with a core of George/McCain/Maxey + Top-6 pick and some cap space. But they need to just move on from Embiid. Might be good for all parties. Embiid not being able to play any B2Bs the rest of his career and his injury history is not something I want to keep banking on. Some team out there may be desperate and while I don't expect a massive trade return, I think PHI would be ecstatic to get back 1-2 future FRPs and maybe 1 really solid young player (even if it's a role player)

[Donoghus]

At what point do the 76ers just decided to start tanking? Shut Embiid down, shut George down?

They owe a top 6 protected pick to OKC (they traded this to dump Horford back in 2020). Currently they are 20-33 just one game back of Brooklyn (19-34) for the 6th worst record and within possible range of catching (17-37) for the 5th worst. Going from 7th to 6th or 5th would boost the odds of keeping their pick from 32%->45.8%->64%.

Embid has already said he thinks he needs another surgery, meanwhile although they could very well catch the Bulls for the 10th seed they are still 5 games behind the 9th seeded Magic so pulling above 10th seems unlikely. Then what? Two road games just to get waxed by the Cav's in the 1-8 if you make it?

It makes all the sense in the world for these guys to pack it in.

It does.  It also makes me vomit, thinking that they could end up with Flagg.

Ya hopefully Silver can fix it so he doesn't end up on that dumpster fire of a franchise.

This raises a question, out of lets say the top 9 teams in the NBA draft (WAS, NOP, UTA, CHA, TOR, BRK, PHI, CHI, POR) where would people WANT Flagg to end up? In terms of good fit, likely to win, most entertaining, ect.

Somewhere out West.  Probably Utah.

[Phantom255x]

At what point do the 76ers just decided to start tanking? Shut Embiid down, shut George down?

They owe a top 6 protected pick to OKC (they traded this to dump Horford back in 2020). Currently they are 20-33 just one game back of Brooklyn (19-34) for the 6th worst record and within possible range of catching (17-37) for the 5th worst. Going from 7th to 6th or 5th would boost the odds of keeping their pick from 32%->45.8%->64%.

Embid has already said he thinks he needs another surgery, meanwhile although they could very well catch the Bulls for the 10th seed they are still 5 games behind the 9th seeded Magic so pulling above 10th seems unlikely. Then what? Two road games just to get waxed by the Cav's in the 1-8 if you make it?

It makes all the sense in the world for these guys to pack it in.

It does.  It also makes me vomit, thinking that they could end up with Flagg.

Ya hopefully Silver can fix it so he doesn't end up on that dumpster fire of a franchise.

This raises a question, out of lets say the top 9 teams in the NBA draft (WAS, NOP, UTA, CHA, TOR, BRK, PHI, CHI, POR) where would people WANT Flagg to end up? In terms of good fit, likely to win, most entertaining, ect.

Somewhere out West.  Probably Utah.

Utah or Charlotte for me. Charlotte is a sneaky good basketball city but they've unfortunately just been so bad. Those days with Kemba were fun though including playoffs.

[Who]

This raises a question, out of lets say the top 9 teams in the NBA draft (WAS, NOP, UTA, CHA, TOR, BRK, PHI, CHI, POR) where would people WANT Flagg to end up? In terms of good fit, likely to win, most entertaining, ect.

Charlotte would be good. They need a big forward. They got small forwards like Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller (tall but skinny). They have a center in Mark Williams. A star guard in LaMelo. That would be a fun team.

Utah okay. I'd rather him somewhere other than Utah but Markkanen is versatile enough to make that forward combination work. I'd rather see Flagg at PF.

I want him to avoid WAS, NOP, TOR, BRK. Toronto and New Orleans because they already have Scottie Barnes & Zion Williamson at PF. Brooklyn because I do not like them. Washington because it is a dumpster fire. Portland I don't like either.

Philly have loads of talent already in Embiid, Maxey and P George. They do not need Flagg. I do not want him to go there. They already have everything they need.

Chicago could be fun. They have lots of guards. A fun ball-handling forward in Giddey. They do have Buzelis though. A bit duplicative. It would be nice to see a strong team in Chicago again. They have a long stretch of mediocrity since Derrick Rose got injured in 2012.

(1) Charlotte (2) Chicago (3) Utah