GDT: NBA Regular Season Tip-Off

[AbeVigodaLive]

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.

I've been in the Beasley off the bench camp, too.

But, sometimes in the NBA, contracts can dictate who starts and who sits. And we've seen it before. Does Beasley want to start? Was that one of his camp's requests during negotiations?

[FNG]

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.

I've been in the Beasley off the bench camp, too.

But, sometimes in the NBA, contracts can dictate who starts and who sits. And we've seen it before. Does Beasley want to start? Was that one of his camp's requests during negotiations?

Totally with you guys on Beasley off the bench- if he can duplicate last year's shooting, what a blessing it would be to have a productive sharpshooter as a reserve.

I don't disagree that NBA contracts have a role in who starts, and that's why I'm quite interested in who Saunders rolls out there tonight. I think it will tell us a lot about who's really calling the shots here- Saunders or Rosas (and by the way, I don't know whom I choose yet, if either). If Saunders is merely a puppet for Rosas, we will see him leaning toward a lineup that Rosas is most invested in based on what he paid them...Rubio, Russell, Edwards, Juancho and KAT (Beasley is also in the top 5 salaries, but Rubio and D-Lo make more, and I would argue, were targeted by Rosas more than Malik). But if Saunders instead goes with the $4 million dollar man Layman and Beasley, it will tell me that he has free rein to do what he wants. Of course, I strongly favor the Rosas lineup more than the Saunders one, although I'm not comfortable backing our POBO quite yet.

I also would be surprised, Abe, if Beasley's agent thought he was in a strong enough position to demand a starting role- a career reserve with only 33 starts and a criminal record likely didn't attract a flood of offers in free agency. I suspect Beasley is delighted and maybe even a little surprised getting the money he got.

[AbeVigodaLive]

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.

I've been in the Beasley off the bench camp, too.

But, sometimes in the NBA, contracts can dictate who starts and who sits. And we've seen it before. Does Beasley want to start? Was that one of his camp's requests during negotiations?

I also would be surprised, Abe, if Beasley's agent thought he was in a strong enough position to demand a starting role- a career reserve with only 33 starts and a criminal record likely didn't attract a flood of offers in free agency. I suspect Beasley is delighted and maybe even a little surprised getting the money he got.

Maybe.

But nothing with young athletes... and especially nothing with Malik Beasley... would surprise me. Irrational confidence is rewarded at times. And it's not like the Wolves were negotiating from a position of strength either.

There were already rumblings that Rosas' former club, Houston, got more for Covington than the Wolves did a few months earlier. And if the Wolves didn't resign Beasley + Hernangomez... that Covington deal was gonna look very bad if it was a 14-game rental for them.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

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.

Durant has a huge ego himself. The dude is out there on Twitter with multiple burners going after critics. GS is a very flawed team without Klay. I'm not reading into that game very much. GS was gonna be fighting for an 8 seed this year once Klay went down. Let's see how the Nets look against the Bucks, the Celtics, the Heat. Last I checked Giannis, Tatum and Butler were just a little bit better than Wiggins and Oubre on the wings. And then if they hit any rough patches during the year does Kyrie's dumbass disrupt the team chemistry saying something stupid. We already have a sound bit of Kyrie wanting a bunch of post up touches because he sees it as a mismatch and Durant shutting it down immediately. Durant is the alpha there and Kyrie's ego has a good chance of blowing it up again.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Maybe this will be the year people wise up about Steph Curry?

???

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Maybe this will be the year people wise up about Steph Curry?

???

Steph Curry is the caliber of star player that makes a good team great, but not the type of star that can put a team of starter-level players on his back and carry them deep into the playoffs. He's never been that guy, and luckily he hasn't really had to be because Golden State has done an exceptional job of surrounding him with players that alleviate his weaknesses. There are many stars like this so it's not crippling to his resume, but the talk of him being in the mix for best player in the world or calling him a top-20 player ever was always silly. Maybe this will be the year that people realize there are severe limitations to his greatness.

He's closer to Damian Lillard than he ever was LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard, which is where pundits have tried to group him with. That's not a knock, but it's definitely reality.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Maybe this will be the year people wise up about Steph Curry?

???

Steph Curry is the caliber of star player that makes a good team great, but not the type of star that can put a team of starter-level players on his back and carry them deep into the playoffs. He's never been that guy, and luckily he hasn't really had to be because Golden State has done an exceptional job of surrounding him with players that alleviate his weaknesses. There are many stars like this so it's not crippling to his resume, but the talk of him being in the mix for best player in the world or calling him a top-20 player ever was always silly. Maybe this will be the year that people realize there are severe limitations to his greatness.

He's closer to Damian Lillard than he ever was LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard, which is where pundits have tried to group him with. That's not a knock, but it's definitely reality.

I think that's a size thing as much as anything else. James doesn't need his jumper to stay effective. It's really hard for Lillard or Curry without being good to great shooters. Every game. It's pretty damn impressive that he's even been in the conversation.

For what it's worth... I think Lillard has caught up and is right there with Curry and will outplay him this season. I'm pretty sure you'll agree.

I dig both players.

[60WinTim]

Second day of the season and we have our first COVID postponement -- Thunder at Rockets.

[Coolbreeze44]

Maybe this will be the year people wise up about Steph Curry?

???

Steph Curry is the caliber of star player that makes a good team great, but not the type of star that can put a team of starter-level players on his back and carry them deep into the playoffs. He's never been that guy, and luckily he hasn't really had to be because Golden State has done an exceptional job of surrounding him with players that alleviate his weaknesses. There are many stars like this so it's not crippling to his resume, but the talk of him being in the mix for best player in the world or calling him a top-20 player ever was always silly. Maybe this will be the year that people realize there are severe limitations to his greatness.

He's closer to Damian Lillard than he ever was LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard, which is where pundits have tried to group him with. That's not a knock, but it's definitely reality.

Cam, I'd have Steph in the top 15 of all time, but not the top 10. I think you have to make room for the greatest shooter of all time on the third team. He also won multiple MVP's and championships. And don't forget he was easily the best player and leader of their first championship team. There is no right or wrong answer, but it's not silly to talk about him as a top 20 player.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Maybe this will be the year people wise up about Steph Curry?

???

Steph Curry is the caliber of star player that makes a good team great, but not the type of star that can put a team of starter-level players on his back and carry them deep into the playoffs. He's never been that guy, and luckily he hasn't really had to be because Golden State has done an exceptional job of surrounding him with players that alleviate his weaknesses. There are many stars like this so it's not crippling to his resume, but the talk of him being in the mix for best player in the world or calling him a top-20 player ever was always silly. Maybe this will be the year that people realize there are severe limitations to his greatness.

He's closer to Damian Lillard than he ever was LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard, which is where pundits have tried to group him with. That's not a knock, but it's definitely reality.

Cam, I'd have Steph in the top 15 of all time, but not the top 10. I think you have to make room for the greatest shooter of all time on the third team. He also won multiple MVP's and championships. And don't forget he was easily the best player and leader of their first championship team. There is no right or wrong answer, but it's not silly to talk about him as a top 20 player.

I'd also just add that I've never seen another player warp the entire defense around him 30+ feet away from the basket like he did in the 2015 finals which is why I was disappointed that Iggy got the MVP. The Cavs were throwing half their team at him every possession leading to easy odd man situations for the rest of the team to clean up in the half court.