Optimist Prime

I’d be surprised if anybody took Young first.

Just read this on ESPN. I can’t believe it. So crazy how quickly things can change.

Always thought he was going to make the jump eventually, but it never happened. Hopefully getting traded will give him the fire he needs to improve and find success in the league. At least he’ll get plenty of PT in Phoenix. It was fun while it lasted.

So while they’re both hyper athletic bigs, their specialties seem to be on opposite sides of the court. Ayton’s size seems like it could be a bit of an advantage. I was just wondering how likely it would be for him to end up having a similar trajectory.

I’d trade for McCollum but no earlier than the deadline. Could be a missing piece depending on the draft and other moves. Help make the team better in the short term and bide time for the other guys to develop with a player of that caliber setting the example.

How does Ayton compare to young Dwight?

Say what you will about Henny, but he would have picked up Mario’s option.

I think it depends on how soon he can prove he is healthy.

Depressingly accurate.

Yeah, he’s kind of a plug and play sort of guy. Great off the bench or starting. Shoots, plays defense, good for an occasion big game.

Highest eFG% and TS% on that list. Those threes will change those numbers once he evens out. It’ll be interesting to see if he can keep the scoring output up once that happens.

Bballbreakdown just posted this Aaron Gordon video.

I voted for Tatum simply because I don’t *want* Simmons to be that good (but I know he is).

Think about how much you don’t want Biyombo on this team, money not even a factor. I mean, we are talking about not even wanting him in the rotation. Now think about Jeff Green and how bad his contract felt, and that we couldn’t even trade him at the deadline. Now comsider Jeff Green’s contract +2m and three years instead of one. That’s Biyombo. If you are another team, what does it take for you to bring in that contract?

See, I think of Portland overachieving after they lost Aldridge and Matthews to free agency. AG, Fournier, Simmons, and Vuc stepped up to be about as good altogether as Lillard and McCollum.

You’ve said this so many times already, haha. Yeah, Biyombo needs to be offset by young, cheap talent. Mario isn’t enough to offset both him and Augustine. Either needs picks added (that helps offset his 17m cap hit), Isaac included, or taking back an equally bad contract.

It’s such a ridiculous thing. And I had it in mind while watching highlights from the Clips-Blazers game, and seeing how much time Griffin held onto the ball in comparison. Gordon took over when no one else was getting buckets, but recognized when others were hitting again in the fourth. If anything, I’d say he wasn’t aggressive enough at the end of the game, but I can’t fault him for conserving energy when he’s also our best defensive player.

It’s the Magic version of GSW lineup of death, but more like lineup of mortal wounding.

Bump, in case this was missed and it's possible to change.

I don't have a problem with it. Rest is important and especially as guys get older, finding that space to heal up is important over a long season. Redick said something similar awhile ago, how early on he didn't rest much in the offseason and it had an effect on him when he didn't have the energy midway through the season because he didn't give his body time to adjust.

Quick question. Before, the mobile version of the forum would quick jump to the first unread post in a given thread. Now it only goes to whatever page you select. Is there a way to get back to how it was? Makes keeping up on convos a lot easier if I miss some things, especially once the season is under way.

Well, that's good. And it's good that they're expanding the coaching staff. Hopefully, this will help Vogel figure out how to adjust to the new NBA.

Well, that was weird.

On/Off TS% of teammates for Elfrid.

Made me think of this article from awhile ago, https://bballbreakdown.com/2015/11/02/nik-vucevic-modern-post/