NBA Season 2025-26

[Goldstar88]

The Magic were full strength tonight and they lost to Atlanta by nearly 30pts. Orlando really needs to fire their coach. Team needs a new voice.

[radiohead]

The Magic were full strength tonight and they lost to Atlanta by nearly 30pts. Orlando really needs to fire their coach. Team needs a new voice.

Banchero had an excellent rookie year and was drawing comparisons to JT. He hasn?t had a jump this year, and might have even regressed. Makes me think if he still is a top tier NBA star?

[Goldstar88]

Report: Warriors were close to a deal for Kawhi Leonard at trade deadline before Clippers pulled out

Tim Kawakami: Information nugget to illustrate the Warriors' mindset: Multiple NBA sources indicate that they were close a deal for Kawhi Leonard at the deadline before the Clippers pulled out -- and that GSWs plan to be just as aggressive this offseason trying to line up one more run.
x.com

[slamtheking]

The Magic were full strength tonight and they lost to Atlanta by nearly 30pts. Orlando really needs to fire their coach. Team needs a new voice.

Banchero had an excellent rookie year and was drawing comparisons to JT. He hasn?t had a jump this year, and might have even regressed. Makes me think if he still is a top tier NBA star?

the talent is there.  probably needs a different coach to unlock the full potential

[Moranis]

Feels like Luka should be MVP this year.  I'm not saying he is better than SGA or Jokic (though his stats are right there), but this sort of just feels like the type of season that should be rewarded with a MVP.  Lakers are 7-6 without Luka, while the Thunder are 8-4 and the Nuggets are 10-6 without their stars so that also weighs some towards Luka.  Plus, SGA and Jokic don't have to deal with all the Lebron drama, which is still a lot and Lebron is no longer the player he once was.  That can't be easy to come into a Lebron team and make it yours.

Wemby currently has the second highest odds to win MVP. He led the Spurs to a 3-1 record against OKC this season. Victor is the most dominant player in the NBA, so it seems like he should he should get the award, IMO.

Spurs are also 10-5 without Wemby and he didn't even start 9 games he has played in.  DPOY, sure, I just dont get the mvp love for him this year. 

[Vermont Green]

I would vote for Doncic at this point.  There are reasonable arguments for several players though.  Is Cade out of it now?  He has 61 games and the news today is that he will be out at least another week.  Even if Cade gets 4 more games somehow, I would still vote for Luka.  He is carrying the Lakers.

Brown deserves some votes, but I don't see him quite up there with the other big dogs.

[Who]

I would vote for Doncic at this point.  There are reasonable arguments for several players though.  Is Cade out of it now?  He has 61 games and the news today is that he will be out at least another week.  Even if Cade gets 4 more games somehow, I would still vote for Luka.  He is carrying the Lakers.

Brown deserves some votes, but I don't see him quite up there with the other big dogs.

Detroit said Cade is out for at least another week. Will be reevaluated then. So maybe back in a week, maybe longer than week.

Detroit only have 6 games left. They play 4 games in next 6 days. So he won't make back in time to reach 65 games. They might as well hold him out the final 2 games and give some extra rest time.

[Who]

Jeez ... SGA is shooting 55% FG? Wow.

He is also getting to the FT line 9.4 times per game on 19.6 shot attempts and is hitting 88% of them. 1 FTA for every 2 FGA. That is an incredible rate. His TS% is 66.6%.

Jokic is 67.3% TS. SGA 66.6%. Giannis 65.8%. Zion and half a season of Jimmy at 64.6%. Steph and KD at 63.6%. Those are the top TS% marks for scorers. Only guys near Jokic and SGA are dunkers / rim runners.

Jokic is leading the league in rebounds per game at 13.0rpg and in assists per game at 10.8apg. Next closest for rebounds is Towns at 11.9 and next closest in assists is Cade at 9.9. So clear in 1st place by 1 rebound and 1 assist per game. Big margin. In addition to his 27.7ppg on 67.3% TS and 1.4spg / 0.8bpg for 2.2 stocks per game.

Oddly enough, SGA also averages 1.4spg / 0.8bpg for 2.2 stocks per game. So almost identical TS% and stock numbers. 31.6ppg for 2nd in the league behind Luka at 33.8ppg. 6.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds for SGA.

To me, it is still just about SGA & Jokic. Wemby is close. Luka a little back. Plus Cade. That would have been my top 5. And should have been the 1st Team All-NBA. Without Cade in the mix, maybe Jaylen maybe Ant as my 5th place choice.

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Should mention Luka's numbers.

Luka with 1.7spg and 0.5bpg for 2.2 stocks per game to tie SGA and Jokic. I think SGA is the best defender of the three. Then Jokic. Luka last.

Luka with his 33.6ppg on 61.7% TS. A strong TS%. Well above average (average is 58%). 8.3rpg ad 7.8apg.

Jokic has Luka beat in assists, rebounds, and TS%. Even in stocks. Luka has him on scoring volume.

Luka has SGA beat on assists, rebounds and points. Even in stocks. SGA has him in TS% and defense.

The most amazing stat about Luka is that he is averaging 10+ FTAs per game (10.1) and 10+ three pointers per game (10.9). That is a crazy combination.

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Wemby is the outlier in the group. All the other guys are heliocentric offensive stars / offensive hubs for their team.

Wemby more of a defensive hub who is a very good offensive player. Clearly the best defensive player in the league. Not as impactful offensively as the other guys but his offensive contribuations are better than any of their defensive contributions are.

24.7ppg 51% FG 6.9 FTA on 16.9 FGA at 82% FT. 62.2% TS. 3.0 assists per game. 2.5 turnovers per game. Wemby's FTAs make Luka's FTAs & SGA's FTAs stand out even more. The rate they get to the line is incredible.

11.5rpg 3.1bpg and 1.0spg in only 29.2mpg. 4.1 stocks a game. Almost doubled up on the 3 other MVP candidates.

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I find Wemby's low minutes off-putting. I find it hard to vote a guy for MVP who plays under 30mpg. I'd like to see him play more before getting an MVP. He was at 30.4mpg in his 52 starts. Came off the bench 9 times for 22.6mpg. Only 52 starts.

Wemby = 1784 minutes
SGA = 2147 minutes
Luka = 2263 minutes
Jokic = 2128 minutes

The other 3 guys have lowish minutes as well because they are all barely clearing that 65 games mark. Makes Wemby's low games and low minutes less of an issue.

Luka at 63 games. SGA 64 games. Jokic and Wemby at 61 games.

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By the way, Cade has 61 games and 2096 minutes played. It will be ridiculous to see Wemby get awards and Cade get ruled out if they are around the same number of minutes played.

Spurs have 6 games left. If Wemby plays 30mpg, that is 180 more minutes for Wemby. He will be at 1960 minutes. Cade will still have played a 100 more minutes than Wemby at that point.

Cade should be on these award lists.