NBA Season/Playoffs 2025-26

[Who]

If Lebron isn?t going there, I think the Cavs would be wise to trade Mobley, a few role players and picks for Giannis and try with a Big 3 of Mitchell, Harden and Giannis

Me too. Mobley is so soft. So peripheral. Invisible.

His offensive game is so limited. Little to no shot creation ability. How is he ever going to be a true star?

Mobley should be the #2 on this team. Not an old James Harden. But Mobley can't deliver. So they keep turning to Harden to bail them out. Harden is trying. But it is not his job. It is Mobley's job. Mobley isn't doing his job.

Mobley is not a kid anymore. This is Year 5. He still struggles with shot creation. He still struggles with his jump-shot and provides negative spacing for his teammates.

[kraidstar]

Lol Harden with the phantom help defense. And after a truly terrible 3pt foul.

Vintage Playoff Jimmy!

[Who]

Cleveland look like their window has closed.

I can't get over how slow they have looked in this series. Harden isn't the answer. He is doing some good things for them but also doing a bunch of bad things.

I'd be open to trading Harden for a role player wing who can defend & shoot. Just get away from him. Get some more athleticism into the team.

This team's near term future is all about whether Mobley can take the next step and become a legitimate go-to guy or not. If he can't. If he continues to stagnate, I think this team is done.

I think this series is as good as it gets for CLE. A ECF appearance. I think it only gets worse from here. East will be a lot tougher next year with BOS and IND back in business. Harden is only going to get worse.

[Who]

If Lebron isn?t going there, I think the Cavs would be wise to trade Mobley, a few role players and picks for Giannis and try with a Big 3 of Mitchell, Harden and Giannis

While I like the value of the deal and would do it ... I do wonder if those 3 guys can play together. They all want to be the ball-handler. None of them like spending much time off the ball.

[Who]

Mobley with some irrelevant baskets to pad his stats late in the game. Do that earlier. Show that aggression on your drives throughout the game. Not just the final few minutes when the game is out of hand. Or nearly out of hand.

[Larry for 3]

Cleveland look like their window has closed.

I can't get over how slow they have looked in this series. Harden isn't the answer. He is doing some good things for them but also doing a bunch of bad things.

I'd be open to trading Harden for a role player wing who can defend & shoot. Just get away from him. Get some more athleticism into the team.

This team's near term future is all about whether Mobley can take the next step and become a legitimate go-to guy or not. If he can't. If he continues to stagnate, I think this team is done.

I think this series is as good as it gets for CLE. A ECF appearance. I think it only gets worse from here. East will be a lot tougher next year with BOS and IND back in business. Harden is only going to get worse.

How is Boston back in business ? If they bring back the same roster as is, they are losing to the Knicks in the exactly same way Cleveland is. So I?m assuming you?re assuming the Celtics are make some pretty significant changes. Correct ?

[Who]

Cleveland look like their window has closed.

I can't get over how slow they have looked in this series. Harden isn't the answer. He is doing some good things for them but also doing a bunch of bad things.

I'd be open to trading Harden for a role player wing who can defend & shoot. Just get away from him. Get some more athleticism into the team.

This team's near term future is all about whether Mobley can take the next step and become a legitimate go-to guy or not. If he can't. If he continues to stagnate, I think this team is done.

I think this series is as good as it gets for CLE. A ECF appearance. I think it only gets worse from here. East will be a lot tougher next year with BOS and IND back in business. Harden is only going to get worse.

How is Boston back in business ? If they bring back the same roster as is, they are losing to the Knicks in the exactly same way Cleveland is. So I?m assuming you?re assuming the Celtics are make some pretty significant changes. Correct ?

Nope. They are going to be much better next season without any changes. A full season with Tatum back to full health. Gained experience for Queta. Gained experience for the young wings. And the backup center spot should be better as well. Either by (a) keeping Vucevic and getting him more comfortable in his role, or, (b) replacing Vooch with a superior defender/rebounder worse offensive player.

[Who]

Is D Mitchell & Giannis any better than Lillard & Giannis?

Is a 37yo (next season) J Harden the secret sauce as the 3rd option that would have made the Lillard & Giannis tandem title winners?

Do CLE have the speed, athleticism and defense around D Mitch & Giannis that MIL lacked with Lillard & Giannis?

[SparzWizard]

Cleveland look like their window has closed.

I can't get over how slow they have looked in this series. Harden isn't the answer. He is doing some good things for them but also doing a bunch of bad things.

I'd be open to trading Harden for a role player wing who can defend & shoot. Just get away from him. Get some more athleticism into the team.

This team's near term future is all about whether Mobley can take the next step and become a legitimate go-to guy or not. If he can't. If he continues to stagnate, I think this team is done.

I think this series is as good as it gets for CLE. A ECF appearance. I think it only gets worse from here. East will be a lot tougher next year with BOS and IND back in business. Harden is only going to get worse.

How is Boston back in business ? If they bring back the same roster as is, they are losing to the Knicks in the exactly same way Cleveland is. So I?m assuming you?re assuming the Celtics are make some pretty significant changes. Correct ?

Nope. They are going to be much better next season without any changes. A full season with Tatum back to full health. Gained experience for Queta. Gained experience for the young wings. And the backup center spot should be better as well. Either by (a) keeping Vucevic and getting him more comfortable in his role, or, (b) replacing Vooch with a superior defender/rebounder worse offensive player.

I doubt it. They couldn't even put the 76ers away with a 3-1 series lead to save their lives.

Their usual blow big leads or choke at home will remain. Derrick White is getting worse each year which doesn't help. Hauser is a ghost. The Celtics can compete in the East again if they do big time pickups or moves similar to getting Jrue and Porzingis.

[Neurotic Guy]

Cleveland look like their window has closed.

I can't get over how slow they have looked in this series. Harden isn't the answer. He is doing some good things for them but also doing a bunch of bad things.

I'd be open to trading Harden for a role player wing who can defend & shoot. Just get away from him. Get some more athleticism into the team.

This team's near term future is all about whether Mobley can take the next step and become a legitimate go-to guy or not. If he can't. If he continues to stagnate, I think this team is done.

I think this series is as good as it gets for CLE. A ECF appearance. I think it only gets worse from here. East will be a lot tougher next year with BOS and IND back in business. Harden is only going to get worse.

How is Boston back in business ? If they bring back the same roster as is, they are losing to the Knicks in the exactly same way Cleveland is. So I?m assuming you?re assuming the Celtics are make some pretty significant changes. Correct ?

Nope. They are going to be much better next season without any changes. A full season with Tatum back to full health. Gained experience for Queta. Gained experience for the young wings. And the backup center spot should be better as well. Either by (a) keeping Vucevic and getting him more comfortable in his role, or, (b) replacing Vooch with a superior defender/rebounder worse offensive player.

I doubt it. They couldn't even put the 76ers away with a 3-1 series lead to save their lives.

Their usual blow big leads or choke at home will remain. Derrick White is getting worse each year which doesn't help. Hauser is a ghost. The Celtics can compete in the East again if they do big time pickups or moves similar to getting Jrue and Porzingis.

Of these takes I think the more logical one is from Who. I?d give a better than likely chance that Q, Baylor, Walsh, Hugo and Tatum are better next year, and better than likely that DWhite is the same. Green glasses tell me DW will shoot better but I won?t count on that. The East though will be better so idk if the Cs win as much, but talent-wise, they should be a notch higher.

[Birdman]

Whoever comes out of the West, I?m hoping they win it all. I don?t want New York to win it

[Moranis]

Cleveland look like their window has closed.

I can't get over how slow they have looked in this series. Harden isn't the answer. He is doing some good things for them but also doing a bunch of bad things.

I'd be open to trading Harden for a role player wing who can defend & shoot. Just get away from him. Get some more athleticism into the team.

This team's near term future is all about whether Mobley can take the next step and become a legitimate go-to guy or not. If he can't. If he continues to stagnate, I think this team is done.

I think this series is as good as it gets for CLE. A ECF appearance. I think it only gets worse from here. East will be a lot tougher next year with BOS and IND back in business. Harden is only going to get worse.

How is Boston back in business ? If they bring back the same roster as is, they are losing to the Knicks in the exactly same way Cleveland is. So I?m assuming you?re assuming the Celtics are make some pretty significant changes. Correct ?

Nope. They are going to be much better next season without any changes. A full season with Tatum back to full health. Gained experience for Queta. Gained experience for the young wings. And the backup center spot should be better as well. Either by (a) keeping Vucevic and getting him more comfortable in his role, or, (b) replacing Vooch with a superior defender/rebounder worse offensive player.

I doubt it. They couldn't even put the 76ers away with a 3-1 series lead to save their lives.

Their usual blow big leads or choke at home will remain. Derrick White is getting worse each year which doesn't help. Hauser is a ghost. The Celtics can compete in the East again if they do big time pickups or moves similar to getting Jrue and Porzingis.

Of these takes I think the more logical one is from Who. I?d give a better than likely chance that Q, Baylor, Walsh, Hugo and Tatum are better next year, and better than likely that DWhite is the same. Green glasses tell me DW will shoot better but I won?t count on that. The East though will be better so idk if the Cs win as much, but talent-wise, they should be a notch higher.

All may be true, but the Celtics will not be as good as they were in 2025 when they lost in the 2nd round.  The team is not good enough without making major moves. 

[Vermont Green]

           Total      Starters    Bench
NYK     18.0        13.7         4.3
OKC     13.6         7.4          6.3
SAS     10.1         8.5          1.7
CLE      -1.1        -0.2         -0.9
         
BOS     2.9         -2.0           4.9

Above is the +/- for each indicated team, in the playoffs, broken down between starters and bench.  By this measure, OKC has the best bench.  I am surprised actually that NYK is as close as they are.

BOS has the 4th best +/- in the playoffs in their 7 games.  I would say that BOS should have beat PHI, probably could beat CLE in a series (assuming they play to their potential), but are probably not there with OKC, SAS, and NYK.  These +/- stats seem to agree.

[Vermont Green]

They are going to be much better next season without any changes. A full season with Tatum back to full health. Gained experience for Queta. Gained experience for the young wings. And the backup center spot should be better as well. Either by (a) keeping Vucevic and getting him more comfortable in his role, or, (b) replacing Vooch with a superior defender/rebounder worse offensive player.

This is of course the big question.  There are two sides to this.  In a broad view sense, this is a 56 win team that is adding Tatum.  Based on the analysis I provided above, in spite of blowing it vs. PHI, there is an argument that BOS was the 4th best team in the playoffs.  I think White will be better when is is a #3.  I think Vucevic will be better with a whole season.

On the down side of this, many of the young players that had a big role in the 56 wins got exposed in the playoffs and were not as good.  And none of them were consistent for the entire season.  These surprise players may have a trajectory similar to Hauser where they plateau at inconsistent.

I said this in another thread, I don't think BOS is as bad as they looked in blowing the series vs. PHI.  I believe that BOS will be in the title hunt for the next few seasons.  But it is a big difference between being in the hunt and winning it.  A lot would have to go right for BOS to win it.  Maybe Walsh and Hugo really make a leap and play like they did at their best but consistently (Walsh played like an all star for a stretch), as an example.  Maybe they get lucky with a FA or a draft pick.  None of this is for sure but none of it is a huge leap either.