GDT: NBA Regular Season Tip-Off

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Lakers vs. Nets seems like the easy Finals prediction right now. I'm sure the Clippers, Nuggets, Bucks, and Raptors will have something to say about that, but LeBron James and Kevin Durant are arguably the two best basketball players in the world. A battle of those titans would be historic.

[Lipoli390]

Lakers vs. Nets seems like the easy Finals prediction right now. I'm sure the Clippers, Nuggets, Bucks, and Raptors will have something to say about that, but LeBron James and Kevin Durant are arguably the two best basketball players in the world. A battle of those titans would be historic.

It would be fun to watch. It's something to look forward to in a season when I'm afraid we're going to watch the Wolves crash and burn with no draft picks on the other side of the fire.

[thedoper]

How will the Clipper curse pan out this year?

[Volans19]

Batum as a starter made me gasp

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

So, Brooklyn started their best guards -- Kyrie Irving and Spencer Dinwiddie -- together in the backcourt and brought their gunner off the bench. Interesting...

Minnesota should be doing the same with D'Angelo Russell and Ricky Rubio with Malik Beasley coming off the bench.

Exactly! Beasley equals perfect 6th man.

[TheFuture]

Wiseman adding a lot of garbage pts right now

They all count the same in the scorebooks. It's essentially Wiseman's first taste of an NBA game. He didn't have preseason to get his feet wet like other rookies. The kid was fine tonight. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yeah, Wiseman essentially jumped from high school to the NBA, with no preseason, different training camps, and covid.

Definitely was a fine debut.

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

Wiseman adding a lot of garbage pts right now

They all count the same in the scorebooks. It's essentially Wiseman's first taste of an NBA game. He didn't have preseason to get his feet wet like other rookies. The kid was fine tonight. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yeah, Wiseman essentially jumped from high school to the NBA, with no preseason, different training camps, and covid.

Definitely was a fine debut.

I'm actually pretty excited about edwards and knowing/seeing what I know now, it would have been a really tough call between the two. Patrick Williams would be a close 3rd.

[TheFuture]

Wiseman adding a lot of garbage pts right now

They all count the same in the scorebooks. It's essentially Wiseman's first taste of an NBA game. He didn't have preseason to get his feet wet like other rookies. The kid was fine tonight. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yeah, Wiseman essentially jumped from high school to the NBA, with no preseason, different training camps, and covid.

Definitely was a fine debut.

I'm actually pretty excited about edwards and knowing/seeing what I know now, it would have been a really tough call between the two. Patrick Williams would be a close 3rd.

I like all three two, and obviously have to get excited for Edwards now. Add Deni to that mix for me.

[Lipoli390]

Durant is definitely back. Assuming Kyrie and Durant can stay healthy, the Nets are clearly the team to beat in the East. They're really loaded with Kyrie and Durant, but also with LeVert, Dinwiddie and Harris. Add to that two really good bigs in Jordan and Allen. This Nets team, if healthy, can give the Lakers a run for their money in the NBA finals.

As for Wiseman, I'd say he had a really nice debut with 17 points on 60% shooting from the field, including one 3-pointer on one attempt. He also pulled dow 6 boards and had 2 steals. He did all of that without having playing in a competitive basketball game for nearly a full year and with essentially no training camp. Essentially, he jumped right from high school to the NBA with a 12-month gap in between and limited prep time with his NBA team. But I'm glad he's not with the Wolves. Just think about the damage he'd do to our system.

Woah

The Nets are not the team to beat in the East. Their win total O/U is 44.5 and that is probably where they end up. KD and Kyrie are going to miss their share of games this year, and the East has gotten a lot better.

I said they're the team to beat assuming Kyrie and Durant stay healthy. That's an important caveat, right? :) Ultimately, I don't expect both of them to remain healthy. Kyrie, in particularly, has a hard time staying healthy. But if those two guys stay healthy all season, I think they're more talented than any other team in the East. They were 35-37 last season without Durant in the lineup and with Kyrie playing only 20 games. Durant is arguably the best player in the League if healthy.

I think the 44.5 O/U is a bit low. I'm sure the O/U factors in the injury propensity of Kyrie and the uncertainty over Durant's recovery and sharpness early on after such a long layoff. But remember that this is a 72-game season. If the Nets finish with 45 wins (just barely above the O/U), that means they will have finished the season 18 games over .500.

Does Kyries crass personality and Durants inability to take criticism concern you? I don't feel like it's a match made in heaven, but winning cures all ills. Altho it doesn't . LeBron and Kyrie couldn't figure it out either.

Actually, Kyrie and LeBron figured it out and won a championship together. Then they went their separate ways. So winning can create winning chemistry. But there is sometimes a limit on how many seasons to stars with big personalities can co-exist together. The difference with Kyrie and Durant is that they aren't both big personalities. Kyrie has a big personality and ego, but Durant doesn't. So I think it's a better personality fit than Kyrie and LeBron. In that case, Kyrie just couldn't accept being #2 to LeBron. LeBron wasn't about to be anything other than the alpha on that team - and rightly so.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Batum as a starter made me gasp

Yeah, that was surprising. But I think he could be "decent" considering what he'll be asked to do in a bit of resurgent year... I was also surprised to see Patrick Patterson getting 20 mpg. Yuck.