Around the league thread 2021-2022

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

The Wolves come in at 19th, which is respectable at this point, I think. I expect them to rise as the regular season gets underway. Power rankings mean nothing without wins, but it's another outsider who sees promise in this Minnesota roster.

Link: https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2021-22-week-1

[AbeVigodaLive]

After reading the power rankings article on The Athletic today from Zach Harper... something struck me... there are about 20 legitimately talented teams in the NBA.

I look at teams like Toronto (17) and Indiana (19) and it's so clear why both underperformed last season. Obviously, it's a war of attrition. Key injuries will hit some of those 20 or so teams... and some will be to key guys.

For example, there's a very real scenario that the Wolves lose 55+ games (again!). And it's not hard to imagine. Basically, Towns gets injured. There's no way the way this team is constructed they'll be able to overcome 20 or more lost games from him. And that's what scares me the most about the Wolves.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

After reading the power rankings article on The Athletic today from Zach Harper... something struck me... there are about 20 legitimately talented teams in the NBA.

I look at teams like Toronto (17) and Indiana (19) and it's so clear why both underperformed last season. Obviously, it's a war of attrition. Key injuries will hit some of those 20 or so teams... and some will be to key guys.

For example, there's a very real scenario that the Wolves lose 55+ games (again!). And it's not hard to imagine. Basically, Towns gets injured. There's no way the way this team is constructed they'll be able to overcome 20 or more lost games from him. And that's what scares me the most about the Wolves.

Yeah, but if any of those 20 talented teams lose their number one player, how much worse do they get? It probably derails their season too. There are few teams in the league that can win 41 or more games relying on their second-best player to lead the way. That's just the nature of the NBA right now. It's an absolute gauntlet.

[AbeVigodaLive]

After reading the power rankings article on The Athletic today from Zach Harper... something struck me... there are about 20 legitimately talented teams in the NBA.

I look at teams like Toronto (17) and Indiana (19) and it's so clear why both underperformed last season. Obviously, it's a war of attrition. Key injuries will hit some of those 20 or so teams... and some will be to key guys.

For example, there's a very real scenario that the Wolves lose 55+ games (again!). And it's not hard to imagine. Basically, Towns gets injured. There's no way the way this team is constructed they'll be able to overcome 20 or more lost games from him. And that's what scares me the most about the Wolves.

Yeah, but if any of those 20 talented teams lose their number one player, how much worse do they get? It probably derails their season too. There are few teams in the league that can win 41 or more games relying on their second-best player to lead the way. That's just the nature of the NBA right now. It's an absolute gauntlet.

I think most of them would remain somewhat competitive and at least significantly better than a 55-loss team...

Except for...
Dallas
GSW
MN
Denver
Por

Those are the five that jump out to me as being terrible without the best player (Doncic, Curry, Towns, Jokic, Lillard). Many teams actually have been hit with injuries and still managed to not suck super duper bad.

[Note: Obviously, the Clippers are toast without George, but I didn't count him because the team is already without its best player, Leonard, and still predicted to compete for the playoffs.)

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

After reading the power rankings article on The Athletic today from Zach Harper... something struck me... there are about 20 legitimately talented teams in the NBA.

I look at teams like Toronto (17) and Indiana (19) and it's so clear why both underperformed last season. Obviously, it's a war of attrition. Key injuries will hit some of those 20 or so teams... and some will be to key guys.

For example, there's a very real scenario that the Wolves lose 55+ games (again!). And it's not hard to imagine. Basically, Towns gets injured. There's no way the way this team is constructed they'll be able to overcome 20 or more lost games from him. And that's what scares me the most about the Wolves.

Yeah, but if any of those 20 talented teams lose their number one player, how much worse do they get? It probably derails their season too. There are few teams in the league that can win 41 or more games relying on their second-best player to lead the way. That's just the nature of the NBA right now. It's an absolute gauntlet.

I think most of them would remain somewhat competitive and at least significantly better than a 55-loss team...

Except for...
Dallas
GSW
MN
Denver
Por

Those are the five that jump out to me as being terrible without the best player (Doncic, Curry, Towns, Jokic, Lillard). Many teams actually have been hit with injuries and still managed to not suck super duper bad.

[Note: Obviously, the Clippers are toast without George, but I didn't count him because the team is already without its best player, Leonard, and still predicted to compete for the playoffs.)

Where does Atlanta go without Trae Young? Memphis without Ja Morant? New Orleans without Zion Williamson? Sacramento without De'Aaron Fox? New York without Julius Randle? Washington without Bradley Beal? Portland without Damian Lillard? I mean, the list can go on. Losing your top guy is an absolute season killer. There's maybe a handful of teams that could remain relevant relying on their number 2-10 and most of them are all championship contenders with multiple star players.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I agree that THE key to the season for us is KAT's health. We're dead in the water without him because of such a massive lack of depth with bigs. It's him and Naz and Naz is even more of a disaster defensively than KAT. After Naz, there is nothing. I think we could reasonably withstand a few other lengthy-ish injuries to key guys, so long as it isn't a big rash of them.

[AbeVigodaLive]

After reading the power rankings article on The Athletic today from Zach Harper... something struck me... there are about 20 legitimately talented teams in the NBA.

I look at teams like Toronto (17) and Indiana (19) and it's so clear why both underperformed last season. Obviously, it's a war of attrition. Key injuries will hit some of those 20 or so teams... and some will be to key guys.

For example, there's a very real scenario that the Wolves lose 55+ games (again!). And it's not hard to imagine. Basically, Towns gets injured. There's no way the way this team is constructed they'll be able to overcome 20 or more lost games from him. And that's what scares me the most about the Wolves.

Yeah, but if any of those 20 talented teams lose their number one player, how much worse do they get? It probably derails their season too. There are few teams in the league that can win 41 or more games relying on their second-best player to lead the way. That's just the nature of the NBA right now. It's an absolute gauntlet.

I think most of them would remain somewhat competitive and at least significantly better than a 55-loss team...

Except for...
Dallas
GSW
MN
Denver
Por

Those are the five that jump out to me as being terrible without the best player (Doncic, Curry, Towns, Jokic, Lillard). Many teams actually have been hit with injuries and still managed to not suck super duper bad.

[Note: Obviously, the Clippers are toast without George, but I didn't count him because the team is already without its best player, Leonard, and still predicted to compete for the playoffs.)

Where does Atlanta go without Trae Young? Memphis without Ja Morant? New Orleans without Zion Williamson? Sacramento without De'Aaron Fox? New York without Julius Randle? Washington without Bradley Beal? Portland without Damian Lillard? I mean, the list can go on. Losing your top guy is an absolute season killer. There's maybe a handful of teams that could remain relevant relying on their number 2-10 and most of them are all championship contenders with multiple star players.

- Atlanta won a PLAYOFF game vs. the world champs without Trae Young by 22 points. The team was 5 - 4 without him last season. They'd miss him, but they're not plummeting to crappy status without him. We've seen that.
- Memphis was 5 - 4 without Ja Morant AND Jaren Jackson last season. They were 34 - 27 without Jaren Jackson over the entire season.
- I mentioned Lillard and Portland.
- I think New York survives a Julius Randle absence this season with an improved Barrett and with Kemba and Fournier on the team.
- I don't even have Sacramento, New Orleans or Washington in the top 20 teams, so I didn't consider them. As for the Kings, I think they can be roughly mediocre still with Haliburton and Mitchell and Hield backcourt... certainly far more equipped to handle Fox's loss than the Wolves without Towns.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Does anyone else here strongly dislike Adam Silver? I honestly can't stand listening to the guy.

[Leado01]

He's not David Stern...but I don't mind Adam Silver. He's benign.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Yeah, Silver is kind of boring, but he doesn't really bother me. Stern had that awesome smirk and just absolutely relished being the commish. Loved it when he'd get booed at the draft and he'd be such a good sport about it. It's just not the same with Silver.