NBA Season 2026-27

[Who]

Sexton and Kessler have been really good adds for LAL. Obviously Doncic has played like an MVP. They did have an impressive win without Luka against the Pistons recently. I still want to see though how they do against the cream of the West. Believe it or not, they still haven't faced any of OKC/SAS/DEN/HOU/MIN so far. The only two Top-8 teams in the West they've played are Portland (twice) and GSW, and they split vs POR and lost to GSW.

Well apparently I'll be sickened for the next 7 years or so as Doncic plays out his HOF career with the Lakers in a trade so stupid from the Mavericks perspective that it makes the JB trade look like a stroke of genius (which actually it may turn out to be).  So the Lakers are off to a great start - all I can do is hope that that don't have what it will take to get them past the power teams in the West.

Doncic is a great player, but I don?t think their roster is good enough to get past the Spurs or Thunder.

Hope you're right - just having them in the hunt bugs me.   I am not one of those who wants to see an LAL-Boston Finals.  I don't want LAL anywhere near a championship.   As far as the Thunder go - do you think they are a threat this year despite the injuries?

Doncic is probably the best NBA player in the world right now. If Luka continues pouring 40-50 points a night, and with OKC being plagued with injuries, Lakers have a good chance at taking down OKC. They got better with Kessler, Sexton, and other depth they've acquired. Don't forget they got Austin Reaves who can play more freely without LeBron here now.

They can also take down the Spurs too in probably 7 games. SAS might have that Finals runner-up hangover. Hate it but everything so far is lining up for them.

Luka might be the best one way player in the NBA but he can't defend anyone...

exactly.  if LA gets to the finals, bank on whoever's coaching the East team to follow Boston's strategy in the Finals of going at Luka constantly and making him play D or giving up lots of points while avoiding any fouls to stay in the game.

It would be funny if LAL made the Finals and Luka lost to BOS again. Luka can be the new Jerry West. Losing to BOS every season.

A lifetime of torment.

[SparzWizard]

Marcus Smart took a swing at Charles Bassey and just self-eject from the court.

Good 'ol Smart being heated, but that wasn't a smart decision during the game.

[Birdman]

Lakers are surprising me unfortunately. Luka MVP so far. Hopefully it doesn?t last too much longer. BEAT LA. BEAT LA

[Who]

Jon Krawczynski

?The Hornets now are clearly in a period of transition, and they decided that LaMelo Ball was not going to be a part of the team that they believe can eventually get to real contender status. They made a decision with that core group that they were not good enough as constructed and so they had to take a step back, amass some assets and go forward.

And what that also means is that, A, the fans are going to be upset because they finally had a fun season last year and now it is going sideways again, but B, the possibilities of Naz Reid getting traded again are very high. this is a roster that I think is going to change over quite a bit over the next couple of years as the Hornets look for the right combination of of people to really vault into what they hope is contention.?

Naz Reid could be a good target for BOS' bench.

[Goldstar88]

Jon Krawczynski

?The Hornets now are clearly in a period of transition, and they decided that LaMelo Ball was not going to be a part of the team that they believe can eventually get to real contender status. They made a decision with that core group that they were not good enough as constructed and so they had to take a step back, amass some assets and go forward.

And what that also means is that, A, the fans are going to be upset because they finally had a fun season last year and now it is going sideways again, but B, the possibilities of Naz Reid getting traded again are very high. this is a roster that I think is going to change over quite a bit over the next couple of years as the Hornets look for the right combination of of people to really vault into what they hope is contention.?

Naz Reid could be a good target for BOS' bench.

The GM of the Hornets should be fired. The team was looking promising last year and they just blow it all up. Feel bad for their fanbase.

[Roy H.]

Jon Krawczynski

?The Hornets now are clearly in a period of transition, and they decided that LaMelo Ball was not going to be a part of the team that they believe can eventually get to real contender status. They made a decision with that core group that they were not good enough as constructed and so they had to take a step back, amass some assets and go forward.

And what that also means is that, A, the fans are going to be upset because they finally had a fun season last year and now it is going sideways again, but B, the possibilities of Naz Reid getting traded again are very high. this is a roster that I think is going to change over quite a bit over the next couple of years as the Hornets look for the right combination of of people to really vault into what they hope is contention.?

Naz Reid could be a good target for BOS' bench.

The GM of the Hornets should be fired. The team was looking promising last year and they just blow it all up. Feel bad for their fanbase.

Jon Kneuppel has played six minutes all season, which is a big part of their issue. 

[Donoghus]

Looks like we'll miss Steph coming up here.

Shams Charania
@ShamsCharania
?
18m
Golden State's Stephen Curry has an oblique abdominal tear and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

[Who]

Jon Krawczynski

?The Hornets now are clearly in a period of transition, and they decided that LaMelo Ball was not going to be a part of the team that they believe can eventually get to real contender status. They made a decision with that core group that they were not good enough as constructed and so they had to take a step back, amass some assets and go forward.

And what that also means is that, A, the fans are going to be upset because they finally had a fun season last year and now it is going sideways again, but B, the possibilities of Naz Reid getting traded again are very high. this is a roster that I think is going to change over quite a bit over the next couple of years as the Hornets look for the right combination of of people to really vault into what they hope is contention.?

Naz Reid could be a good target for BOS' bench.

The GM of the Hornets should be fired. The team was looking promising last year and they just blow it all up. Feel bad for their fanbase.

You can understand why they blew it up. They had no confidence in LaMelo staying healthy. They saw this as the opportunity to get him away from after his mostly healthy season.

It is unfortunate but they did play nice basketball but you can understand why they chose this path.

[Who]

Jon Krawczynski

?The Hornets now are clearly in a period of transition, and they decided that LaMelo Ball was not going to be a part of the team that they believe can eventually get to real contender status. They made a decision with that core group that they were not good enough as constructed and so they had to take a step back, amass some assets and go forward.

And what that also means is that, A, the fans are going to be upset because they finally had a fun season last year and now it is going sideways again, but B, the possibilities of Naz Reid getting traded again are very high. this is a roster that I think is going to change over quite a bit over the next couple of years as the Hornets look for the right combination of of people to really vault into what they hope is contention.?

Naz Reid could be a good target for BOS' bench.

The GM of the Hornets should be fired. The team was looking promising last year and they just blow it all up. Feel bad for their fanbase.

Jon Kneuppel has played six minutes all season, which is a big part of their issue.

Yeah, it will be interesting to see how they do once he returns. They have 4 wins and 7 losses. So they haven't lost too much ground. Surprisingly, they are 9th in the East. So still in position for a play-in spot despite their bad start.

A healthy Knueppel = fair chance at making the play-in.

[Who]

Jason Timpf of Hoops Tonight having a go at LeBron & Embiid after their loss to BOS the other day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R10CJzElZ-w

Says LeBron's inability to make open catch and shoot 3s is killing Philly just like it killed the Lakers last year. LeBron is surrounded by guys who can draw doubles (Maxey, Embiid, Jaylen). He has to be able to make those shots. He is not doing it.

Gave out about Embiid letting Queta beat him to rebounds.

Timpf concerned about their defense despite their strong defensive metrics to start the year. Agreed 100%. I have no confidence in their defense. Embiid is too vulnerable on D. Maxey doesn't play D. LeBron is more dodgy year on year on D. Jaylen is a good man defender but a so-so team defender. This is not a talented defensive team.

[Who]

Speaking of two topics (1) Jason Timpf and (2) the Hornets.

There was an interesting video near the start of the season on the Tim Legler podcast where Timpf was being asked which players he was buying into and which players he wasn't buying into. Morant, Jalen Green, a few others.

The Hornets player he was asked about was Brandon Miller. He said he was buying Miller but only lightly so. He talked about some of his offensive metrics and he had some interesting numbers. Miller had bad isolation and post up stats which is something I would expect. However, Miller had strong PnR stats. Around 500 PnRs last year and scored at a high rate on them. Ranked around 70-75th percentile in points per possession on PnRs. That is more volume (500 reps) and more effective than I expected. That surprised me. Anyway, that was why Timpf thought B Miller had room to expand his offensive role and up his game this year.

Obviously, B Miller has had a bad start but it is just a start. Still early. Still time to come good. Those PnR stats give me a bit more faith in him.

[Vermont Green]

Jon Krawczynski

?The Hornets now are clearly in a period of transition, and they decided that LaMelo Ball was not going to be a part of the team that they believe can eventually get to real contender status. They made a decision with that core group that they were not good enough as constructed and so they had to take a step back, amass some assets and go forward.

And what that also means is that, A, the fans are going to be upset because they finally had a fun season last year and now it is going sideways again, but B, the possibilities of Naz Reid getting traded again are very high. this is a roster that I think is going to change over quite a bit over the next couple of years as the Hornets look for the right combination of of people to really vault into what they hope is contention.?

Naz Reid could be a good target for BOS' bench.

He is a good player on a fair contract.  A lot of teams could be interested in getting him.    If I was CHA, I would keep Naz Reid.  Where are you going to get more PF production than he gives you for $21M or so.  He is a basketball version of a moneyball player.  Knueppel - Miller - Reid is a pretty solid "middle of the line up", complementary and affordable, the affordable part is important these days.  The CHA fans are overreacting to a slow start, understandably, but I don't think they are in such a bad place to build from.

As someone else said, they have only had Knueppel for 1 game (6 minutes) and Coby White has barely played (I think 4 games).  Give this team a chance before running the GM out of town would be my suggestion.