2018 Official Offseason Thread

[TreyMachine 395]

1 minute ago, magicblue said:

Ayton was almost consensus #1. His floor is higher but Bamba's ceiling is higher IMO. Everyone has been on Doncic for two years and Atlanta is hoping for Curry 2.0. Memphis has Marc Gasol so Bamba is duplicate talent. It was pretty much an equal mix of lack of fit and luck that the Atl and Dal made a deal. Otherwise Bamba goes #5 to Dallas and they get the steal of the draft

So Ayton was the safe #1 pick and everything else was lack of fit. That's pretty incredible. Here's to hoping he's a #1 pick talent and our Defensive anchor for the next decade! 

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

3 minutes ago, TreyMachine said:

I've been out of it for a while, guys. Just coming back to the boards.

I think the thing I like most about this video:

1. He clearly shows touch Biyombo doesn't have.

2. He's more articulate than most players in the game, which means that he either thoughtful, well-read, or both. Should translate well to BB IQ if it hasn't already been shown. 

Watching that video, I have to wonder: why did he drop down to #6? Weight? Shot concerns? Work ethic? 

He struggles with strength size combos and took plays off during games in college. He didn't show a faceup game in college and his shot was flat. 

He's spent all summer with the best NBA trainer in the game so he's shown exponential growth in his weaknesses areas. He also spent a significant amount of time with embiid and Garnett so they've helped him grow as well

On top of that he showed up in a weird year with potential Patrick Ewing in Ayton, potential Amar'e in Bagley, the best European prospect of all time, an outlier productive point guard, and Jaren Jackson who moves like a 7'0 Terrence Ross. And because Houston played PJ Tucker at center for 50 minutes suddenly rim protection doesn't matter anymore so teams don't value a bad outcome Bamba as highly as a bad outcome doncic or young. 

But yeah he would have been in the conversation at 1 in 4 of the last 10 drafts. And hypothetically if today's Bamba was put in a time machine and got to do the last year over again with that improvement over the past 4 months I think he might have shown enough to go 1. 

[MagicFan1234 124]

I see Gordon wants to stay and I think Magic is going to give him max contract 

[Odin 137]

3 minutes ago, ?4thewin said:

He struggles with strength size combos and took plays off during games in college. He didn't show a faceup game in college and his shot was flat. 

He's spent all summer with the best NBA trainer in the game so he's shown exponential growth in his weaknesses areas. He also spent a significant amount of time with embiid and Garnett so they've helped him grow as well

On top of that he showed up in a weird year with potential Patrick Ewing in Ayton, potential Amar'e in Bagley, the best European prospect of all time, an outlier productive point guard, and Jaren Jackson who moves like a 7'0 Terrence Ross. And because Houston played PJ Tucker at center for 50 minutes suddenly rim protection doesn't matter anymore so teams don't value a bad outcome Bamba as highly as a bad outcome doncic or young. 

But yeah he would have been in the conversation at 1 in 4 of the last 10 drafts. And hypothetically if today's Bamba was put in a time machine and got to do the last year over again with that improvement over the past 4 months I think he might have shown enough to go 1. 

He's showing right now that he is willing to put in the work. He just needs to keep it up over the summer, and then next year, and the year after, etc.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

1 minute ago, Odin said:

He's showing right now that he is willing to put in the work. He just needs to keep it up over the summer, and then next year, and the year after, etc.

Yup

[Odin 137]

Just now, ?4thewin said:

Yup

I think the hardest thing is to keep the intensity level up, to keep grinding day after day after day, especially when you won't see the real results of the work for months.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

 

[Magicfan1987 266]

4 minutes ago, ?4thewin said:

 

I'd much rather see Lebron James and Kwahi Leonard in LA than KD

[fan for too long 2 531]

Can’t wait to see kd pg lj and kL all on same team. Watch them destroy the rest of the league. Like the dream team against Angola every game. Just awesome. 

[Magicfan1987 266]

14 minutes ago, fan for too long 2 said:

Can’t wait to see kd pg lj and kL all on same team. Watch them destroy the rest of the league. Like the dream team against Angola every game. Just awesome. 

id love this. we wont be competing for 4 years anyways

[Magician09 5]

I’m not a fan of Lonzo but his vision and passing ability is something that would unlock the potential of AG, Isaac and Mo tenfold. They will all need someone to get them the ball in the right spots and Lonzo could be that guy. 

[Justin Jaudon 221]

2 minutes ago, Magicfan1987 said:

id love this. we wont be competing for 4 years anyways

I cannot for the life of me think of why anyone would love this. I mean, I guess as a LeBron fan you would just like watching LeBron's team dominate; but, as a basketball fan, as a sports fan, what exactly is fun about watching a team you know basically can't lose? All of the fun of sports and basketball in particular is taken out of the game at that point. And don't tell me you just like watching great players make great plays. Go watch the Globetrotters if you just want to see some crazy shots and awesome dunks. Sports are fun because they are unpredictable. Sports leagues go out of their way to instill parody in their leagues for a reason. Competition requires some level of parody. Are you the type of person who likes getting your grown men friends together and challenging a bunch of middle-schoolers?

 

Don't get me wrong. Dominant teams can be great, under the right circumstances. But the Showtime Lakers were only fun because they had the Celtics right there with them. Jordan won six championships, but there was reason to believe he could have lost any one of them. LA had Magic, and a better supporting cast than people remember. Portland had Clyde and one of the most balanced lineups I've ever seen. Phoenix had Charles and Kevin Johnson and a good supporting cast behind them. the 72-win team was a pretty good bet, sure. But the Jazz were better teams throughout the season and took them to six hard-fought games. The NBA will not survive one team hammering everyone else like a nail year after year. This trend of everyone just getting together to form the most dominant team... it has to end sometime, or the NBA will fade.