NBA Preseason 2020-21

[King Kamala]

Full schedule drops today and many teams are already in training camp so I figured I'd start a new thread.

Can the league avoid COVID-19 outbreaks outside of the bubble? Will anyone be able to stop the Lakers from repeating? How weird are the Brooklyn Nets going to be? Make your predictions and discuss training camps and preseason ITT.

 

[909]

There will be covid outbreaks, the Lakers will repeat, and the Nets will make the Finals and the NBA league office will blow their load because of the matchup.

I have some interesting predictions but I'm going to save them just in case anyone gets hurt in training camp. I hope as soon as the vaccine rolls out, that they let anyone with vaccination cards into these games. I will probably have one really quickly. I don't care if I have to travel but I'm gonna see the Lakers play this season.

 

[Baby Shoes]

I agree with most of what @909 said but I just cannot see the Nets making the Finals. They have talent for sure but I just feel too many combustible elements where some less talented but grittier team like Miami will pass them.

Or the wild card of something like James Harden to the Bucks happening because if that got agreed, Giannis is unselfish enough he is one of the few superstars that I feel could blend with Harden’s game.

 

[Cartman]

Harden would be great for Giannis, i'm just not sure how it would be possible to make that trade for Milwaukee. Would have to be Middleton and whatever picks the Bucks have left to trade?

 

[Baby Shoes]

I had seen there were several players testing positive for Coronavirus ahead of preseason. Only name that came out so far I’ve seen is Malik Monk, who had been suspended last year on a drug suspension

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1335251724538408961

 

[Brocklock]

The Nets seem like a team everyone is gonna get hyped for, then everything falls apart and they either barely get in the playoffs or miss it all together.

I said it last year, but it seems like Bucks/Lakers will be the finals. If Giannis can't get past Round 2 with this team, there needs to start being questions asked about him similar to Melo or CP3 when they were having their playoff woes.

 

[King Kamala]

I don’t see a scenario where they miss the playoffs entirely but I could see them getting embarrassingly upset by the Orlando Magic or a similarly mediocre team in 6 games in the first round.

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1335076631791116288

Wonder if they are going to run into @Baby Shoes

 

[Baby Shoes]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1335717319910232065

 

[Brocklock]

Garrett Temple also tested positive

 

[Brocklock]

In news more important than Covid, The Bulls signed a guy to a training camp deal named Simi Shittu

 

[Baby Shoes]

What happens when Simi Shittu guards Tres Tinkle?

 

[Baby Shoes]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1335993733846683648

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1335994619364954115

 

[King Kamala]

I don't disagree with idea but this seems like a bad time to roll it out. Could they have waited until after the pandemic? Not to mention guys will be a lot more banged up to the extremely weird offseason (extremely long for a third of the league, extremely short for the other 2/3rds), lack of preseason games, and increased back to backs.


Edit- Oh I guess each team is playing two preseason games but still.

 

[Baby Shoes]

I don’t think they will be unreasonable but it is to avoid a guy who clearly has nothing wrong sitting out of a national TV game when they are striving to keep that business strong.

I honestly just expect hearing an influx of medical reasons for guys to sit as an excuse, like saying someone has a “toe contusion” or something. Team doc said Kawhi has a migraine, can’t play.

 

[Gert]

The Harden holdout is officially being called by that by Stephen Silas. It sucks for him that he has to deal with that in his first NBA gig.

I'm pretty torn on this, because Tillman Fertitta is a pretty shitty owner, but I feel like this is almost a tipping point for the player empowerment, with Harden saying he only wants to go to one team and having so much time on his contract, I feel like the Rockets may actually want to dig in their heels on this.

Harden for Joe Harris (after 12/15), and two of Dinwiddie, Jarrett Allen, LeVert plus 4-5 future firsts just makes them a non-playoff team in the West for probably the next two years without making some trades with those guys afterwards.

 

[King Kamala]

James Harden reportedly wants to go to the Sixers. Is the Sixers front office dumb enough to trade Ben Simmons for Harden? I say maybe...

 

[Baby Shoes]

James Harden reportedly wants to go to the Sixers. Is the Sixers front office dumb enough to trade Ben Simmons for Harden? I say maybe...

Simmons and Harden on the same team won’t work because they want the ball. I think Morey and Harden want to be together and Philly probably feels this could solve any of the Simmons/ Embiid issues. Probably makes more sense than the Nets trade in terms of fit and what the Rockets could get in return.

Honestly, if Houston trades him, I would assume Philly is someplace where they would not send him because they wouldn’t want to look bad if him and Morey do better elsewhere.

 

[King Kamala]

I'm surprised Clippers haven't come up as an option for Harden destination, especially considering Harden is an L.A. dude.

 

[909]

They don't have any picks to trade.

 

[Gert]

I feel like the moves Morey has made so far is that he is trying to put the best team around Simmons & Embiid than they have had before (much better shooters).

I think that Harden to Philly could happen because even with the bad blood between Morey & Fertitta, Houston has to know that is the best possible deal that they have if it's on the table.

 

[Baby Shoes]

Ben Stiller joins team producing biopic on Knicks legend Bernard King

Bernard King is getting an assist from Knicks superfan Ben Stiller. The Post has learned the 55-year-old Stiller has joined the production team that’s making the Bernard King biopic. The Post…

nypost.com

 

[Brocklock]

Please do a John Stockton biopic, Stiller!

 

[Mickey Massuco]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1335076631791116288

Wonder if they are going to run into @Baby Shoes

Not @Baby Shoes but I bet they ran into Steven.

 

[Baby Shoes]

Not @Baby Shoes but I bet they ran into Steven.

Big odds that Steven goes to all the breastaurants in this face mask

 

[Baby Shoes]

Reports this morning that James Harden has expanded his trade destination list from Brooklyn and Philly to also include Milwaukee and Miami. Some people were drawing attention Jimmy Butler’s official account liking one of those stories. I think it comes down to what the deal is. It sounds like Houston has no interest in anything the Nets are trying to offer and thus far Miami has not included Herro, which sounds like a piece Houston wants,

I think of those four destinations, Milwaukee would be the best for Harden and Giannis but again, I have no idea what they could give up since they don’t really have worthwhile draft prospects and some of the Nets young talent that would be included like LaVert and Allen, to me, have more potential than anyone Milwaukee would bundle. He may fit okay in Miami as Jimmy Buckets proved himself to be rather selfless but take over when the situation called this postseason but I also think Harden’s game could just disrupt everything they could build upon from last season.

 

[King Kamala]

Could they do something like Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez for Harden?

 

[Gert]

Harden for Middleton/Lopez works as does adding in DiVincenzo, which is their best young asset, which I'm assuming Houston would want.

I think the length of Middleton & Lopez's deals and lack of Milwaukee future picks steers Houston away from that deal, unless they look at it as start of a process to then deal Middleton & Lopez. I don't think either of those guys will be a part of a Houston team that is ever top 4-6 in the West.

 

[King Kamala]

I have a tangentially related question I'm curious about. Is it better IRT endorsements and sneaker contracts to be the top guy with a fair to middling (or worse) franchise or 2nd/3rd option on a championship?

Looking at the top NBA players salaries list and seeing John Wall, Russell Westbrook, and Chris Paul in there kind of answers my own question. And probably makes Rockets fans want to drown their hat in a vat of yellow mustard.

 

[Baby Shoes]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1337184567887884290