NBA Season 2024-25

[dannyboy35]

  It?s early but if everybody in the league was magically healthy I only see the Celtics and OKC as true contenders. I?m glad to see the Bucks win because I don?t want Gianni?s in OKC.
  It?s not like other teams ca t win it but I think it takes the Celts somehow beating themselves and to a lesser degree OKC.
  Ha I g Hartenstein to throw it back in the middle for those runners is a bug deal. They?ll be trouble.

[Vermont Green]

I don't know what to make of things so far other than that the Celtics are clearly the favorite again.  After that, it is hard to know.  Will CLE hold up?  Probably not.  Will teams like MIL and NYK figure it out? Maybe, but hard to know. PHI doesn't seem to be going anywhere.  Is ORL ready for prime time?

In the West, just as many questions.  DAL and MIN don't seem like they will contend.  OKC has all the ingredients but I am still trying to figure out how good they can be.  Some of the older teams, LAL, DEN, PHX all seem to be not quite there.  So who knows.

One or two of these teams will emerge and compete with BOS.  Just hard to know which ones.

[Who]

Agreed with BOS and OKC as the frontrunners in either conference.

I think more of the other contenders in the East than in the West. The West has been disappointing. New York and Philly haven't hit stride yet but they have legit talent and should be a threat down the road. I don't see anyone in the West with the talent to join OKC at the top of the conference.

Denver doesn't have the supporting cast around their stars. Jamal Murray is a major question mark after his injuries. He needs to re-prove himself. Minnesota took a huge step back with their offseason moves. I don't see either as contenders. Dallas looks the most solid but they haven't been great either.

GSW are frauds. They do not have the talent to compete. Phoenix look a regular season team rather than a playoff team. Good but not great squad. Not enough defense. Not enough athleticism for PHX. LAL still lack the supporting cast / role players around LBJ and AD. They need trades to get into the title hunt. Sacramento have the offense but not the defense. Similar to PHX.

Houston have looked good. Steadily improving. With a weak race elsewhere in the West, they could be a surprise team come playoff time. They have the most talent & depth of any team outside of OKC. They are very young though and still figuring out how to play together. Still, talent wise, they have impressive quality.

Back to the East. Not convinced by CLE. I like their talent but not their balance. They look a 2nd tier side to me. Same as the rest of the Eastern trailing pack. Milwaukee, Orlando, Miami, Indiana, Cleveland. Five 2nd tier teams. 3 contenders with BOS, NYK, PHI with only BOS playing well at the moment.

I see OKC as the only top team in the West. The rest all look muddled together 2 through 10. None look capable of contending for a title. Any one of them could make a run to the WCF this year.

[Who]

It?s not even midway in the 2nd quarter and Spo has played 10 guys already. What do you make of this team? Seems like Spo has not settled on a regular rotation yet. Rozier seems like a bad fit as he needs the ball in his hands in order to create and score. It?s certainly looking like it was just a panic trade they had to make in order to soften the blow of not getting Dame. They?re not doing bad at 7-7 but they?re certainly not a contender. Is it time to trade Jimmy and Bam and go on a total rebuild?

I really like the Heat. I enjoy the way they play. Bam and Jimmy are great leaders. Set the tone for the rest of the team.

I do not see them as contenders but I do see them on the same tier as Cleveland, Milwaukee, Orlando, Indiana. They may be slightly behind them but the gap is not big.

C: Bam, K Love, K Ware
F: Highsmith, J Jaquez, Jovic
F: J Butler, P Larsson
G: D Robinson, A Burks, Josh Richardson
G: T Herro, T Rozier

Some of the Role Players

Duncan Robinson's stats haven't been big but I like what he has done this season. He looks good. Spry. Good quickness. Lots of movement. Still a major shooting threat. Adequate enough on defense.

Jovic has been a disappointment. Still showing little progress in developing his scoring and/or outside shooting. He is a defensive liability. I think he has played his way out of the rotation at this point. Miami has looked better with superior quickness if inferior size at forward with Highsmith, Jaquez, Larsson.

The Rozier & Herro partnership hasn't been great. Rozier has looked better this season. Looks stronger physically and competing more defensively. I hope they keep Rozier in that 6th man role for a while to see if it works better than as a starting pair. Give him 28-30mpg as a 6th man. Miami seems to have too many shot happy players in the starting lineup with Rozier, Herro, Jimmy and Bam. All those guys want to take 15+ shots. They look better when there are only 3 of the 4 on the court together. I'd like to see them spread out the minutes more that way. Give guys more room to operate.

The big issue continues to be the lack of quality size at forward next to Jimmy. It has been their main problem for several years now. Since Olynyk left. It would be great if they could find a trade. It move them up from the bottom of that 2nd tier to the top of the 2nd tier. Just a quality rotation player. Like Dallas got with PJ Washington last season. Just something like that.

Josh Richardson has struggled offensively but Alec Burks has been good. Burks looks a good fit in Miami as the 4th guard. Someone who can shoot and handle the ball some. Looks comfortable in Miami. A very "hit or miss" type of player wherever he goes. Sometimes (on some teams) he looks great, other times (on other teams) awful. Looks like Miami got the good A Burks.

Larsson has been a hit. He looks good. Like Jaquez was as a rookie. Another solid depth guy.

Ware hasn't gotten going yet after impressive showings in summer league and in pre-season. Hopefully he will get going as the season moves along. I'd love to see Bam get some help in the paint. I always feel sorry for him. Left there all alone with no help.

Tyler Herro

Herro has been balling in the first 15 games. 24ppg 5apg 5rpg. 46% FG% 42% 3PT% on 10 3PTA per game. Huge volume. 86% FTs but on small volume. He doesn't get to the FT line much. Yet, his three point shooting and volume has lifted his TS% up to 61.7%. Big improvement over his career numbers of 56%. His 5apg is against 2.4 turnovers per game. So a 2:1 AST:TOV ratio. The combined scoring volume, scoring efficiency, playmaking, minimizing mistakes with the ball has made him very effective offensively. I hope he keeps it up. This is the level of performance many thought he was capable of reaching. Great early season signs.

[SparzWizard]

Minnesota trading Towns ruin their chance at a title

Yeah, it is shocking. They finally found something that works and their first decision is to tear it down.

They do not look like a title contender anymore.

The one they should've moved was Gobert, not Towns.

[celticinorlando]

Not sure the Heat make it out of the first round.

[Phantom255x]

Right now, if I had to rank the biggest threats to Banner 19 in the NBA, I'd say it's:

1. OKC
2. New York
3. Cleveland
4. Orlando

The Mavs, Nuggets and Wolves have taken a step back and just look off. Not really a believer in the Bucks despite their recent surge. Philly's a mess. IND is a wild card but very inconsistent so far. Same with Miami.

I will say, the fact that the Rockets are the 3 seed in the West now at 13-6 is WILD to me, even more surprising than GSW being the 1-2 seed in the West for a bit.

[Who]

I think Rob Dillingham is the key to Minnesota's title hopes. They need better guard production. Ant needs some help. They cannot keep asking Ant to be their PG and their main scorer. They have no other quality ball-handlers other than Conley who is slowing down. Dillingham is the key. To get that 2nd ball-handler on the weakside. So you can attack from the opposite side when the defense overloads on the ball side.

Dillingham hasn't played much so far which has been a surprise for me. I think their coach needs to make sure they get him more playing time and try to get him ready for a playoff run. They need him. They need his quickness, his ball-handling, his driving, his outside shooting, his passing on drives. They need all of that.

[Redz]

Atlanta might be about to put a major monkey wrench in the Celtics Cup plans.

[Phantom255x]

Atlanta might be about to put a major monkey wrench in the Celtics Cup plans.

Not true. This is a regular season game. Their cup game with Cleveland is Friday

[Phantom255x]

Trae Young with 20 points.... and 21 assists! WOW

[SparzWizard]

ATL QQ CAVS!!!

[SparzWizard]

Right now, if I had to rank the biggest threats to Banner 19 in the NBA, I'd say it's:

1. OKC
2. New York
3. Cleveland
4. Orlando

The Mavs, Nuggets and Wolves have taken a step back and just look off. Not really a believer in the Bucks despite their recent surge. Philly's a mess. IND is a wild card but very inconsistent so far. Same with Miami.

I will say, the fact that the Rockets are the 3 seed in the West now at 13-6 is WILD to me, even more surprising than GSW being the 1-2 seed in the West for a bit.

Ime Udoka does wonders for an up and coming team.

[Redz]

Atlanta might be about to put a major monkey wrench in the Celtics Cup plans.

Not true. This is a regular season game. Their cup game with Cleveland is Friday

Ah.  OK.  Thanks

Saw the score and just assumed it was a Cup game.  Kind of arbitrary scheduling to play the team twice so soon apart and have one game count for the Cup and the other not.

[Phantom255x]

Atlanta might be about to put a major monkey wrench in the Celtics Cup plans.

Not true. This is a regular season game. Their cup game with Cleveland is Friday

Ah.  OK.  Thanks

Saw the score and just assumed it was a Cup game.  Kind of arbitrary scheduling to play the team twice so soon apart and have one game count for the Cup and the other not.

Yeah it's very weird.

Anyways, despite CLE's 15-0 start, there's a possibility Boston passes them for the 1 seed if BOS wins out this weekend, including another H2H win over CLE Sunday