Aww
After tonight's game, arguably Ricky Rubio's best of the season, Rubio spoke postgame about how his "spirit" was really down at the beginning of the season.He credited one teammate for the shift in his spirit over the past few weeks... Anthony Edwards.— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) February 15, 2021
― a nice controlled drift (Spottie), Monday, 15 February 2021 05:50 (three years ago) link
Anthony Edwards being a superstar would rule so much. Just the most gregarious guy who doesn’t take anything seriously. Too many great athletes are Tom Cruise in Collateral
― Matt Armstrong, Monday, 15 February 2021 14:59 (three years ago) link
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30906202/blake-griffin-sit-detroit-pistons-weigh-trade-buyout-options-former-all-star
― a nice controlled drift (Spottie), Monday, 15 February 2021 20:13 (three years ago) link
I have a feeling that in the right situation Blake would get back into one last training jag with the guy who wears a mask and have a good season
― Matt Armstrong, Monday, 15 February 2021 20:45 (three years ago) link
Would be sad if he’s truly cooked at 31.
― a nice controlled drift (Spottie), Monday, 15 February 2021 20:50 (three years ago) link
all that juice marinated his bones too long
― class project pat (m bison), Monday, 15 February 2021 21:09 (three years ago) link
I think the celtics should be all over Andre Drummond.
― Matt Armstrong, Monday, 15 February 2021 21:46 (three years ago) link
looks like the AD injury is not was bad as it could have been. Considering the lack of a real homecourt advantage there is no need to rush him back.
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Monday, 15 February 2021 22:08 (three years ago) link
no! xp
― lag∞n, Monday, 15 February 2021 23:05 (three years ago) link
It will probably be Dallas because they need rebounding the most
― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 01:48 (three years ago) link
embiid out, simmons scores 21 in the first half
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 03:16 (three years ago) link
The chicago bulls are the least interesting team to me. I think Zach Lavine is having an amazing season? Don’t care
― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 04:13 (three years ago) link
Weird team for sure. They really haven’t been interesting in a long time. Lavines shooting numbers are insane but I still put him in that category with like Drummond or Beal where I don’t know if they’re actually any good / can help a good team win.
― a nice controlled drift (Spottie), Tuesday, 16 February 2021 04:35 (three years ago) link
― Matt Armstrong, Monday, February 15, 2021 11:13 PM (thirty-four minutes ago)
def... a bunch of top 10 picks and i don't want to watch any of them play
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 16 February 2021 04:48 (three years ago) link
Draymond Green always keeps it real. 💯💯💯pic.twitter.com/beY04KiEyC— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) February 16, 2021
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 16 February 2021 07:22 (three years ago) link
YES
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 16 February 2021 09:33 (three years ago) link
― lag∞n, Monday, February 15, 2021 10:16 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
career high 42, a lot of these are just typical bad simmons half court shots that went in or good simmons transition shots but a few have him as the roll man and looked pretty good, free simmons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtP9WcQMo4c
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 13:56 (three years ago) link
lol dray "i think we can all agree james was dogging it"
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 14:07 (three years ago) link
As loveable and sympathetic as Dray is there, you gotta think Bob Myers' heart beats a little faster hearing that. Not that it hints at any sour notes in Dray's relationship with GSW, but that when those notes eventually come, what is he going to say then?
To be clear - not saying that's a bad thing. In fact it's awesome if players hold teams accountable in that more outspoken way. Go Dray
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:03 (three years ago) link
He's going to expect to be traded in a professional way instead of being treated like shit?
― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:08 (three years ago) link
dray def has a real point and he went big with it which imo is good, but cant help but wonder what harden and drummond thought about it
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:11 (three years ago) link
also players are extremely well paid and entered into these agreements with teams willingly and they have a union which negotiates these terms and so forth, and tbf its completely not true that teams never get backlash for trades/how they treat players etc, im torn cause im reflexively sympathetic to his complaint but also it was a bit of a multimillionaire temper tantrum
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:18 (three years ago) link
fair. the criticism tends to fly both ways but the teams have a bigger, more organized PR machine on their side.
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:24 (three years ago) link
yeah i was a little confused because i don't think drummond or blake is being treated badly? if a guy is definitely not in a team's future plans it's best to just be upfront about it, not risk the guy getting hurt or something, and working towards a separation.
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:24 (three years ago) link
i do think he raises a good point about the effect it has on a player's psyche to be publicly singled out and benched so the team can trade you. we don't know if that's true in drummond's case but in this current era of asset protection it's considered an acceptable course of action w/o any consideration given to how it makes the asset feel. it's pretty crazy that they're shutting him down w/ over a month to go before the trade deadline, it has to feel kinda shitty even tho he is getting paid millions of dollars.
and i do think there is still an imbalance in the way the public & basketball commentariat view situations such as the pistons basically benching blake griffin until they can buy him out because he sucks. it's again just accepted as an inevitable course of action for a franchise in their position, which wouldn't be the case if blake was playing like an all star and announced that he was sitting games out bcuz he wanted to be traded to a better team. how much that imbalance matters in reality is up for debate but it does exist
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:32 (three years ago) link
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EuVMYg4UUAEA7s5?format=png&name=small
― a nice controlled drift (Spottie), Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:34 (three years ago) link
you know what was the really bizarre thing as far as how blakes team treated him was the clippers doing whole mock retirement ceremony for him raising his jersey to the rafters and so forth as part of pitching him to resign then trading him less than a year later lol real psycho shit
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:36 (three years ago) link
if a guy is definitely not in a team's future plans it's best to just be upfront about it
i think this is the crux of the argument tho... harden decided the rockets weren't in his future plans, he was upfront about it and it was a huge controversy for weeks on end until the team decided they had found a suitable trade package for him. and in the interim period between him deciding that he didn't want to be on the rockets and the team trading him, he was expected to show up and work and play hard as if he hadn't already made the decision. part of this comes w/ the territory of being a player of his stature, but blake is that player to the pistons but because he sucks now it's considered logical and inevitable for the team to take him off the court until they can get him out of town. there is a burden there that the players carry that the franchises do not and tho it is the natural course of business i don't think draymond's wrong for verbalizing the player's perspective from w/in that dynamic
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:37 (three years ago) link
xphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLRMArfgFbs
― a nice controlled drift (Spottie), Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:37 (three years ago) link
the franchises will always have the power to say to a player "you suck now and we don't want to play you" but when harden said to the rockets "you suck now and i don't want to play for you" you have ppl like zach lowe or whoever saying they won't vote james harden as an all star bcuz he sabotaged his old team
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:39 (three years ago) link
one thing is that teams being able to trade players is part of the overall agreement, where players demanding trades is not (tho there are rarely no trade clauses)
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:40 (three years ago) link
yah and nba players dogging it or wearing 'thats all folks' shirt or tweeting 'i dont want to be here' creates villains which is good for the league.
― a nice controlled drift (Spottie), Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:42 (three years ago) link
gotta be hard for players like drummond who are just constantly in trade rumors. or for players like rubio who do it all right but are just kinda thrown around the league despite feeling at home in a place.
― a nice controlled drift (Spottie), Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:44 (three years ago) link
it would be better for the league if there was some mechanism formal or informal for players and teams to work out trade demands behind closed doors
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:44 (three years ago) link
what the cavs are doing should be considered insane and beyond the pale tho. the trade deadline is march 25!
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:46 (three years ago) link
yeah that is weird
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:49 (three years ago) link
yah when brow said he wanted out the team had to play him even if just like 20 minutes per game
― a nice controlled drift (Spottie), Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:50 (three years ago) link
if anything they should be showcasing drummond if they want to trade him, wonder if theres something going on interpersonally that we dont know about
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:50 (three years ago) link
the mechanism is surely agents and management just.... talking!?
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:51 (three years ago) link
it doesnt work that good tho
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:52 (three years ago) link
maybe they should build an app
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:57 (three years ago) link
it's insane the players allowed fines for public trade requests to be in the CBA
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 16 February 2021 18:05 (three years ago) link
tho if you're anthony davis $50k is like 2 quarters worth of pay so maybe it's not a huge deal
i don't think dray was specifically criticizing teams for the asset protection actions, rather pointing out the double standard.
The Blake in LA situation is a great example of the psychological toll he's talking about. Not saying that getting traded, even under shady circumstances, always has that kind of effect, but it is a pretty unique thing about sports that your employer can just decide you are gonna go work for a different employer in a different city. They know what they signed up for, etc., but just because you know something can happen doesn't mean it doesn't mess with you when it does. Demar in Toronto another example - he seems like a pretty sensitive guy, became a local hero over many years of work... I don't know, I think it would impact me.
The flipside of the Draymond argument though is that memories are hella short. Whatever ill will is harbored towards players in the midst of trade demands is usually forgotten once they begin to carve a narrative with their new team. Kawhi, AD, whoever. (With the exception of the fans of the jilted team.) Even Vince Carter, who was the first big trade demand I remember and got seriously roasted, wrote a new narrative pretty quickly.
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 18:07 (three years ago) link
― lag∞n, Tuesday, February 16, 2021 12:50 PM (fifty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
the "attitude and play" leaks have been coming out of cleveland for the past week or so
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 18:51 (three years ago) link
ah
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 18:53 (three years ago) link
the silliest part of this whole charade is that neither drummond nor blake are getting traded, they're getting bought out.
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 18:54 (three years ago) link
cld see someone taking drummond and sending back another bad but not as bad contract but yeah theres no hope for blake unless the pistons want to send out assets with him
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 18:57 (three years ago) link
dont see why toronto wouldnt pack up their expirings and throw in a second to get a year of him. worth a shot.
― a nice controlled drift (Spottie), Tuesday, 16 February 2021 19:00 (three years ago) link
how do you buy out blake if he has a team option for next year?
― a nice controlled drift (Spottie), Tuesday, 16 February 2021 19:01 (three years ago) link