FW_Hoosier

Thanks for the rational reply.. Much better than the #hottakes that followed it, lol.

Interesting to consider whether it might make sense for the Pacers to trade for Chris Paul... I get that the contract is kind of an albatross, but he probably has two years of high-level play left, and a trade is pretty much the only way the Pacers can get a star-level player to pair with Vic.

To your point, even if the Warriors do roll in the Finals like I think they will against either team, Kawhi is playing on another level right now.

Warriors in 5.

Why would they? Anthony Davis for Darius Garland? Yeah right. They should trade him to the Knicks and become the New Orleans Blue Devils.

I don’t see any difference makers outside the top three... Hell, Garland is being projected at 4. Of course there are always guys that work hard to improve and can surprise people, but that’s the way it looks right now. My Bulls fan friends are suicidal right now.

I am the conductor of the “Warriors are better without KD” hot take train. Climb aboard.

I think it would be a huge mistake for the Nets to sign Kyrie... You can’t compete for a championship with Kyrie as your best player. Bad locker room guy, bad defender, volume shooter. He needs to be a secondary scorer alongside a truly elite player like he was in Cleveland with LeBron. The Nets don’t have that type of player, not to mention that there’s no way Kyrie would be able to coexist with D’Angelo Russell.

It’s a tough issue. Defenders landing in a shooter’s area is a safety issue that needs to be addressed, but the new rule also leads to players like Harden trying to game the system by needlessly jumping forward/kicking their legs just to try and draw a BS foul. Like Green said after the game, “When you land 3 feet ahead of where you shoot the ball from, that really ain't my issue. I've been fouled by James on a James 3-pointer before." This wouldn’t be an issue if players like Harden just didn’t try to game the system. No sympathy from me.

Looks like they missed some calls on Klay earlier in the game, but the whining about the no-call on Harden’s last shot is ridiculous. That wasn’t a foul by Draymond. Harden clearly went out of his way to kick his legs forward trying to draw the foul, but the refs aren’t going to, and shouldn’t, make that call in a playoff game. This has always been the problem with Harden’s game... Once the playoffs start, refs stop letting him game the system to draw BS foul calls like he does during the regular season. Maybe if he was more concerned with actually making the shot than trying to kick his legs out and draw a cheap foul, he could’ve tied the game.

Did I say they’re not going to be a title contender without KD? Of course they will be, but they won’t be the unstoppable juggernaut that no one has a chance to beat.

All signs are pointing to KD leaving this summer, so I think their reign of terror is just about over. Sounds like there’s a small chance they lose Klay as well if they try to lowball him.

Without Vic, the Pacers had the worst roster in the playoffs this season. I don’t know what you expected.

Nets and Magic looking great in the playoffs today... Wouldn’t have believed that two years ago.

The Lakers organization is an absolute embarrassment. Buss/Magic/Pelinka ran that team into the ground, and then Lebron just blew everything up. I can’t believe how big of a mistake he made going to LA... Honestly might ruin his legacy to a certain extent.

Seriously impressive, I always thought Bryant had a future in the league. As a side note, I had no idea that Vic shot 60% from the field his junior year. That is insane.

Heady play by Zeller, lol

But did you see how much they gave up? Sounds like the final deal was Harris, Boban Marjanovic, and Mike Scott for Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala, Landry Shamet, and the Sixers’ first round picks in 2020 and 2021 and second round picks in 2021 and 2023. The 2020 first is lottery protected, and the 2021 first is totally unprotected. That is a ridiculous amount of players/picks to give up for a borderline all-star who is about to hit free agency this summer... And for what? To lose in the second round? A “Big 4” of Butler, Simmons, Harris, and Embiid isn’t winning anything meaningful.

Wizards might as well blow it up and flip Beal for picks. Wall is done.

Yep, the problem with the super-max contract that was designed to help keep stars in small markets is that players have realized they can sign the contract, lock in the guaranteed money, and then just force their way out later.

I see what you’re saying, but Boston ain’t a small market team, lol. I feel like it will be nearly impossible to stop the players from arranging these things themselves, but it does present a difficult issue. Bottom line is, in the current system, small market teams need to provide superstar players with what they need to compete for championships. Davis was in New Orleans for 7 years of his prime, and they never once put a championship level team around him. So now he wants out. One way to prevent this would maybe be to allow teams to void guaranteed money on a player’s contract if they force their way out. But I doubt the players would agree to that in the next CBA.

Yeah, I have no hard feelings for Vonleh anymore really... He’s obviously my least favorite of the former IU players currently in the league, but I’m still glad to see him do well. For all his flaws, Crean really did do a great job of developing players for the NBA at IU. Was weird how he lost so much recruiting momentum with so many players doing well in the pros.

No discussion of Thomas Bryant’s game winning layup that got called for goaltending today?? And Vonleh hit the go ahead shot for the Knicks just before that. They’ve both been starting this season, good to see them have some success. http://www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameId=401071341

Dude thinks he’s Lebron when he’s really a rich man’s Robert Covington.

Just checked this thread for the first time in a couple weeks to comment on Vic’s OT buzzer beater tonight, and this was the first post I saw, hahaha