2021 nba offseason draft free agency etc

haha. damn.

i do agree w/ matt that zion doesn't have young player defensive problems as much as he has specific issues related to his skillset/body/current level of athleticism/stamina

i know weve had this discussion before but i dont see any reason why zion couldnt be a least a decent defender, hes the strongest and most athletic person in the world and has very quick feet, which is not to say hes the ideal defender but if he just figured out nba D as many young players do as they get experience and played soundly making the correct rotations and whatnot hed prob be a least fine, i could even see him being disruptive getting a bunch of steals and blocks and then turning them into dunks like he did in college, but anyway zions got bigger problems than being bad at d at the moment

i could even see him being disruptive getting a bunch of steals and blocks and then turning them into dunks like he did in college, but anyway zions got bigger problems than being bad at d at the moment

― lag∞n, Thursday, October 14, 2021 4:33 PM (eighteen seconds ago)

same but he needs to get in much better shape which is the central problem as we all know. if you could play zion at center on defense knowing that you hemorrhage points at the rim but cause some turnovers and block some shots, with his offense, you could probably have something. but right now there is all the bad stuff and none of the activity

obviously zion being fat is threatening his career altogether which is very sad, i think he should try to not be fat anymore, i would like to see that

per 100 possessions last year

nikola vucevic

steals: 1.3
blocks: 1.0

zion

steals: 1.3
blocks: 0.9

it sorta feels like a trae young thing to me right now where it's clear he's an amazing offensive player (tho zion is better) but it's not clear that you can actually win games w/ him until you get a lot of good players around him who also fit correctly

its bad dont get me wrong, idk if its just being overweight or if hes afraid of getting injured or what but he went from record levels of steals and blocks in college to vucevic levels in the pros, tho tbf i would not have expect vooch to average 1.3 steals a game, good job vooch xp

It’s really distressing that when he gets injured he gets fatter

well it kinda makes sense...

tbf i would not have expect vooch to average 1.3 steals a game, good job vooch xp

― lag∞n, Thursday, October 14, 2021 4:42 PM (eight minutes ago)

well that's 1.3 steals per 100 possessions. his steals per game was 0.9

ah

have we ever heard anything about what zions eating what his plan is for not eating his way out of the league

xps -zion certainly has trainers who've put together a regimen of diet and exercise designed to avoid him getting fatter when he gets injured. one suspects he cheats on it regularly and gets away with it because he's "the franchise".

I’m sure he knows that when he gains weight that means he will just knock people around on his way to the basket even more easily

i wonder how much of it is zion self sabotaging over whatever beef he has w/ the organization & wanting to get out of there, which i don't really understand but it seems like maybe if him and the organization had any sort of positive relationship he would be in better shape and/or they could demand he be in better shape

def some weird shit around it like last year they were talking about not caring how heavy he was just making sure that he was flexible balanced and whatnot, which maybe they were just being nice in public but maybe theyre actually saying that to him idk to not piss him off

they're stuck in this feedback loop where they're a bad organization so they have to bend over backwards to please their no 1 pick but exerting little to no discipline over him continues to make him a bad organization. they did put him on a minutes limit when he first started playing that apparently his team hated, there is clearly some personality/communication issue that goes beyond just the black and white facts of the disputes but i feel like there's better organizations who would not let a player of his caliber just be consistently out of shape

really wanted the hawks to win the lotto that year

His defensive rotations are atrocious and he’s not good enough at protecting the rim to be a center. He’s slow and ponderous on defense which isn’t a “young player D thing.” And now he’s fat and has a broken foot

― Matt Armstrong, Thursday, October 14, 2021 1:27 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

dropping the hammer lol. add to this that he doesnt want to be in New Orleans and he keeps getting hurt while playing at like 80% most of the time.

i started a warriors thread so we dont spam up the main thread with too much dubs talk. same idea as the celtics 2010 thread.
golden state warriors thread

Here in Brooklyn, Nets will play big lineup with Kyrie Irving (researching) still out. Harden at point, Harris and Durant as wings, Millsap and Claxton up front. T'wolves playing most of their real players except Russell, so this should be a relatively realistic NBA game.

— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) October 14, 2021

"(researching)" lol

lol

they're stuck in this feedback loop where they're a bad organization so they have to bend over backwards to please their no 1 pick but exerting little to no discipline over him continues to make him a bad organization. they did put him on a minutes limit when he first started playing that apparently his team hated, there is clearly some personality/communication issue that goes beyond just the black and white facts of the disputes but i feel like there's better organizations who would not let a player of his caliber just be consistently out of shape

― J0rdan S., Thursday, October 14, 2021 5:03 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

it's been pointed out that the whatever the pels were doing worked and he stayed healthy, but the "burst minutes" thing seemed awful from a player's perspective, like this isn't ice hockey. but the issues clearly go deeper than any one thing and the combination of his family's long and documented history of meddling plus an organization that is forever on the skids just isn't going to end well.

idk about y’all but I’m ready for some semi-meaningful hoops

The thing I’m most excited about following is Cam Reddish’s development. I’d like to see him starting over Bogdanovic at some point

got invited a week ago to that nets/bucks preseason game and dude with the tickets cancelled on me this afternoon, sadface

aww what the heck

he has season tickets though so i can hardly complain, maybe later

lol this season's gonna start with Kyrie & Simmons both starting for the same teams isnt it

I’ve done a 180 on Josh giddey, I think the Thunder got that pick right. Most upside at that spot.

hes legit

I’ve done a 180 on Josh giddey, I think the Thunder got that pick right. Most upside at that spot.

― Matt Armstrong, Thursday, October 14, 2021 9:40 PM (nineteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

u see the vision

Here’s Anthony Edwards with a steal and a tough, strong finish for the bucket https://t.co/meXAn81FGQ pic.twitter.com/c20ylTJMGp

— Cooper (@CoopCarlson) October 14, 2021

pic.twitter.com/jXidXsSiLW

— 𝓳𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓱 (@Huncho_Jman) October 15, 2021

Asked Ant what thurski means

His response: "thurski"

— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) October 15, 2021

#LadUpdates

Remember ums, wolves games, like lottery tickets, are not an investment and should be used for entertainment purposes only.

Trying to process this

Aleksej Pokuševski is SHOWTIME! pic.twitter.com/H8m7HQkrE2

— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) October 15, 2021

poku+giddey is gonna be a fun time, dont know if they can play any defense but who fuckin cares

i think they are both pretty competent on d

i still question whether someone w/ poku’s body can be a night to night force or whether he tops out as a version of boban where against the right match up or in spurts he can freak show his way into some positive impact but physically he can’t assert himself as an 82 game rotation player. he’s at least fun on a team that needs it tho

that poku thing took me a sec to find a reference in my head but like… peak steve nash sorta move

Poku is only 19, has a bit of time to bulk up.

Remember ums, wolves games, like lottery tickets, are not an investment and should be used for entertainment purposes only.

― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Thursday, October 14, 2021 10:45 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

it's a different mentality. will the team fail? ultimately, sure, but how will they fail? what weird/amusing things will happen along the way? also you have to be able to enjoy little moments like that ant highlight, things that make it fun to watch.

I think pokusevski was the youngest player in the nba last year and now he’s like the 6th youngest

poku+giddey is gonna be a fun time, dont know if they can play any defense but who fuckin cares

we need one more for ILH fantasy season. any takers in here?

that poku pass was so good his defender just stopped playing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO_B3n79kHA

extension year tyler herro has been going nuts in the preseason

Another Wolves top 5 pick excelling in the league

The Memphis Grizzlies are waving guard Kris Dunn, sources tell ESPN. That gets the Grizz roster to 15 for opening night.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 16, 2021