in these, the waning days of stern: 2013-2014 NBA regular season thread (part 1)

guys, joe johnson's current contract is less impressive than his career earnings. im p sure he is going down as one of he best paid ballers of all time between the two long term deals hes netted. who is his agent and what brand of goat's blood does he drink?

He signed his contract back when all the powerful 2's like T-mac, d-wade, and kobe were all getting signed to megadeals right?

yeah he did a very good impression of a max contract guy while only being 75% as good

why did the lakers feel the need to get this done now, that's my question

They liked what they saw in practice

they're a terribly run organization?

Bill Simmons ‏@BillSimmons 1m

Stunned by Kobe's extension. Duncan + KG took less than 50% as much $ at same point in careers so their teams had more cap space to contend.

stunned? really?

this is like the clippers signing chauncey billups to an almost max deal after he hurt his achilles a couple years ago

except that didnt happen

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/405008965404073984/photo/1

I'm way late here but I can't look at this pic w/o feeling like a frowning and shrugging larry david needs to be in the background here

haha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yUj0Ta44DI

The Knicks' Chris Smith: "I mean I feel like I’m one of the most underrated players right now."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/25/sports/basketball/knicks-affiliate-is-proving-ground-for-younger-smith.html

This new Lowe article contains zero attempts at image humor:

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/83785/the-true-hollywood-story-of-kobes-crippling-contract

chris smith!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that's amazing

got to belive in yrself

The idea that he's not working as hard as JEREMY TYLER is astounding.

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine 26m

Timberwolves, I'm told, are in advanced discussions with Sacramento on a deal that would swap Derrick Williams for Luc Mbah A Moute

^^^^^ league-altering trade

the number 2 pick, for Luc Mbah a Moute

I still think Williams has potential idk?

We should figure out what Anthony Bennett's trade value will be in a few years

Yeah, still holding out that someone will figure out how to use Derrick Williams right. His minutes are trending pretty downward this season, which makes it really tough to develop. Totally wouldn't be shocked if he started putting up much better numbers after getting shipped out and getting 24-28 minutes/game. His numbers improved last season at least.

Rubio really hitting the bedhead look hard this season.

Heh, pretty fun florid sportswriting to open that Smith piece:

ERIE, Pa. — On the first shot of his professional basketball career, Chris Smith, the younger brother of J. R. Smith, took a handoff, squared up, dribbled left with a defender on his hip, elevated and fired. The ball clanged off the side of the rim. Beyond the hoop, two inflatable playhouses shook with children bouncing inside.

Smith jogged back downcourt, fouled a 3-point shooter and was benched. He did not play the rest of the quarter. Although he finished the game strong, he was not the best player on the court.

But he was the only one with a guaranteed N.B.A. contract.

seems like wolves couldve gotten more for williams at the very least, they got like a tenth man and no picks?

I still think Williams has potential idk?

― 46. BEETLEJUICE, "乒乓" (1988) (Spottie), Tuesday, November 26, 2013 12:47 AM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

he's no Wes Johnson I'll give him that

I'm kind of shocked at how awful the Bucks are right now. That's good news for fans like me who are just in it for A) high draft picks and B) cheap tickets

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

how i'll feel next year, after the heat lose all of the big-three. well, except for wade, maybe.

Some Minny hoops blogger compared Williams to a good boxer who was caught between two weight classes. Comparison is even more apt since he's tried to slim down to play 3, when really he should be beefing up to be a really athletic 4.

yeah theres no way he has the skills to play the 3, his only hope is as a stretch 4

Tim Reynolds ‏@ByTimReynolds 3m
Michael Beasley wanted to play while wearing black leather Polo boots tonight. "LeBron said no," Beas said.

Lebron: poo pooer of shenigans

Eh, his shot isn't good enough to be stretch-4. He should just beef the fuck up and start learning a Karl Malone game. Either way he needs to not be playing for Minny.

Hahaha George Hill very close to picking up a second technical by egging on the Indy crowd to cheer for the foul called against Minny.

I'm kind of shocked at how awful the Bucks are right now. That's good news for fans like me who are just in it for A) high draft picks and B) cheap tickets

― frogbs, Tuesday, November 26, 2013 1:22 AM (42 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

they're really bad, worse than they should be, but they've had a ton of injuries.

Derrick is the classic tweener but he shot so well his last year in college that everyone thought it would be fine. The shooting just hasn't been good enough.

it doesn't help matters that he was drafted into a terrible situation because his GM didn't understand how positions in basketball work.

It's impossible to look at Williams' frame and not think PF-- he's built like a David West who can run the floor very effectively. Hope he goes somewhere that puts a lot of time and effort erasing everything he's been told for the past two years and starts rebuilding him as a floor-running PF.

Mchale closing out the Grizzlies with line up of Beverley-Asik-Garcia-Parsons-Casspi

same shit, different terrible team: spurs up 36 on pellies after 3.

wes matthews missed an open spot-up three, the dream is dead.

xp, sorry, 26

god the knicks are so fucking awful

blazers play-by-play guy just claimed that "you have to watch out for stoudamire on defense"

he's right--amar'e may be standing there doing his best statue impression and you could run right into him

just dangerous and reckless, suspend amare

K.C. Johnson ‏@KCJHoop 2m

That's top-five despondent Bulls' postgame locker room I've worked in 15 years on beat.

oh did they lose to the jazz, dang this is gonna be rough as hell. sorry, chicago.

Marquis Teague looks really bad. Thibodeau seems physically ill when he's in there.

hope Thibs does deep breathing exercises every once in a while. Maybe look at a zen garden.