ML6

Well I was way wrong about Trae. The one thing I got right is that his transcendent skill (if you had to pick just one) is his passing/playmaking. He is several steps ahead of everyone else from a playmaking perspective. I did not see him being this tough or unflappable. Did not think he would run a team like Nash. I do think teams could be doing a better job at targeting him defensively -- neither New York or Philly had the personnel to do so. The Bucks are better equipped but I don't have much faith that Bud will incorporate that strategy. Regardless, I'm not sure how much it would matter b/c it seems nothing gets the Hawks out of rhythm offensively, and a lot of that has to do with Trae.

Given where we ended up, I would be ecstatic with this outcome. I think Suggs is a significant upgrade over Kuminga, so him falling to us would be a major win. Question for you since you follow this more closely than me: what exactly makes Kuminga a better prospect than Barnes to begin with? Maybe he's not since lots of mocks have then 5 & 6. I see two big wings with severe offensive limitations but great defensive tools. At the moment, Barnes is the better defender. Kumingas offensive ceiling seems quite a bit higher, so perhaps that's the main future differentiator?

Toronto getting lucky really sets me off man. Between the explosion of entitlement from their fanbase after 2019, Nick Nurse acting like a child on the sidelines, Lowry intentionally injuring people left and right, and a "lol y are the magic so pathetic over the last decade" reddit post from a Toronto fan I just saw, I would be quite happy to see that team implode. And instead they jump into the Top 4 with a ~32% chance while we don't with ~52%. Good times.

I am going to pretend like I didn't read something about Dosunmu being an option at #8 a few pages back. What he did against Loyola Chicago was an affront to basketball. James Naismith was looking down regretting ever inventing the game.

Oladipo Gordon Hezonja Isaac Bamba Tonight’s result What do they all have in common? We did not improve our pre-lottery position once for any of them. These are all the lottery picks we kept for the past decade. We fell for each of them, and in one case stayed the same. Kinda gross man.

Bump Don't shoot the messenger

Yeah they reached serious diminishing returns a while ago. Always a good idea for a small market to accumulate as many assets as possible, but savvy GMs in other front offices will call OKC's bluff here and raise the asking price like you said.

Hammon, Atkinson, Udoka, Cassell. I'll take any of em. Or really anyone but Kidd.

I'll be watching live so I'll just save you the time and break the news ahead of time -- we pick 6th and Chicago jumped to 3rd. Sleep well.

Yes, Shams & Robbins.

Scott Brooks out too now. Coaching vacancies up to 6. Hope the Magic got a head start over these last few days because competition just went up significantly.

He was a bad coach with Milwaukee and a bad coach with Brooklyn.

Are you referencing Hammon & Kidd (before the Unseld news broke)? If so, I have seen near universal rejection of Kidd and what feels like ~70%+ approval for Hammon.

It really doesn't make sense on any level. 1) Kidd has been underwhelming (generous) to bad (more accurate) as a head coach. 2) The dichotomy between news of interviewing the first legitimate female NBA coaching candidate, followed immediately by news of interviewing Kidd, a domestic abuser. 3) The Magic's predilection for "high character guys" over recent years -- Kidd has a publicized DUI, a career littered with rumors successful and unsuccessful coups against coaches and front office members, and the aforementioned domestic violence plea. 4) Specific rumors of Kidd being on the precipice of taking over Hammond's job in MIL and Hammond being fired or reassigned to another position. Admittedly, I think the credibility of this report must be lacking if the Magic truly do interview Kidd -- I cannot imagine Hammond doing that if Kidd truly tried to overthrow him. I truly don't think I have seen one positive reaction from a Magic fan about the Kidd news. It is universally disliked. It would be the ultimate tone deaf hire, and while I am grossed out about him even getting an interview, I don't believe they are actually dumb enough to hire him.

On the bright side, it may allow me to mercifully swear off this cursed franchise once and for all.

By my count, WeltHam have made some sort of decision on 11 2nd-round picks during their tenure. Well, technically 10 2nd rounders + 1 late first (25th pick in 2017). Of those 11, 9 were traded (5 in draft night deals, 4 in non-draft night deals). 2 were used to select players that the Magic kept: Frazier (awful) & Iwundu (fine for his draft slot) -- yes, both selected in the 30s. I find it highly unlikely that a front office who trades 82% of 2nd round picks at baseline will keep 3 draft picks in a year where they already have 7 players needing significant development on the roster. Crazier things have happened but I would be very surprised.

There is a ~0% chance this FO keeps the 2nd round pick -- hate to say it, but that's how they operate with 2nd rounders. Add the number of young guys already being developed on this roster and it's a wrap. Hell, I'm not even convinced they keep the Bulls pick if it does convey this year.

Pretty sure D'antoni's agent just tossed Orlando in that rumor to signal to POR/BOS that he "has other options". Doubt he comes here and I agree that he seems like a poor fit.

I still can't believe Lowry blatantly took Gordon out and caught very little **** for it.

Makes sense now as to why he's out of the rotation. Missed time staying in shape during his illness, missed early bubble team workouts due to isolation, carrying extra weight from bulking up. Not sure if he's also dealing with lingering COVID effects, but hopefully he doesn't have any. I got COVID from a patient and was out of work from 7/13-7/26. Been back at work for 10 days and still randomly get short of breath / fatigued at times.

Not basing this on only this single scrimmage but if anyone finds a reason why Frazier is still being developed, let me know

It would be a blessing for that guy to stop posting here now after saying "never again", but we know he'll keep coming back to say stupid stuff.

It's just money, as always. Resuming even in a strange capacity seems like it is going to recoup some of the league's lost revenue. I definitely don't think it is going to be the best product considering the long layoff, short regular season, etc... but the ratings are going to be insane. The delay of next season could end up being an interesting test. Apparently there is a substantial portion of league personnel who think starting the season in December is better than October anyway, mainly to avoid fighting NFL for viewers during the heart of the NFL season. Who knows what would happen in the future if that's what they do for next season and it goes well? I am interested to see what type of small crowd is ultimately allowed, particularly for later rounds. I believe the limited family members in the bubble will be able to attend games. Will players from eliminated teams have the option to stay to watch the conference finals and the finals? We've seen NBA players in recent summers (mainly the lockout year) play in high school gyms for the Drew League and others -- the atmosphere in there can be pretty good/intense! Problem is that the crowd won't be as dense in this case, which may negate any additional intensity.

New Shams article on The Athletic says the NBA will be proposing the 22-team format, including the play-in games for the 8th seed in each conference. Details: if the 9th seed is more than 4 games back of 8th seed, the 8th seed earns the final playoff spot. If the 9th seed is 4 or fewer games behind, the two teams will play for the final spot; in that case, the 9th seed would have to beat the 8th seed twice to get in, while the 8th seed only has to beat the 9th seed once to get in. I believe Washington would be the only current East non-playoff team to get invited; they are 5.5 games back of us right now. We are only 0.5 games back of BKN, so we could easily move up without even needing to care about the play-in thing.

Oh I agree with that completely. They intentionally worded it to limit panic, no question.