Around the NBA

[KG4Ever]

Miami is up over Houston by 32 points, in only the first quarter. Miami looks really good with Butler, Adebayo, Nunn and a really deep bench. We are the only team to beat them this year, sans Butler.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Westbrook with a robust -46. Ouch.

[Coolbreeze44]

Butler will mess that team up, give him time.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Miami is up over Houston by 32 points, in only the first quarter. Miami looks really good with Butler, Adebayo, Nunn and a really deep bench. We are the only team to beat them this year, sans Butler.

What was that Butler trade we were talking about last year....J-Rich and 'Bam? That would not look too bad, although I know Covington and Saric wasn't a bad get at the time either.

Bam has really looked good this year, and yeah, that Miami franchise is just a machine at getting the most out of players and finding diamonds in the rough.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

It's much easier to develop talent when you've had a coach and a system in place for years.

[KG4Ever]

Duncan Robinson, undrafted and went off for 7 3s and 23 points.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I know this idea will get killed, but I could see value for both teams in a Gorgui Dieng for Thaddeus Young swap after December 14th restriction.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I know this idea will get killed, but I could see value for both teams in a Gorgui Dieng for Thaddeus Young swap after December 14th restriction.

Upgrading the Graham spot using a guy who doesn't play in Dieng would be a steal regardless of who you get back. It would also put Covington back in his natural spot on the court. I'm not a Thad Young guy, but I'm also not dumb enough to think that'd be a bad idea if we could dump someone who doesn't play for someone who would. The only risk there is as Dieng showed against Washington he is the best offensive big on this team after Towns so you are really banking on Towns playing the rest of the year or else the whole front court offense goes down with him if he misses more time.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Miami is up over Houston by 32 points, in only the first quarter. Miami looks really good with Butler, Adebayo, Nunn and a really deep bench. We are the only team to beat them this year, sans Butler.

Will be interesting to see what Houston is like in a couple of weeks/months. Right now, it seems very much like a work in progress. They're playing much faster with Westbrook than previously when everything was funneled through Harden. And it seems like it's affecting Harden most.

35.7 ppg
But only 37% from the field.
And 22% on threes (2.8 - 13.2 per game!!)
... BUT... 95.8% from the line on a whopping 15.2 - 15.8 per game.

Oh, and let's not forget 5.7 TOs per game, too.

Harden's TS% of .583 is better than Larry Bird's and Michael Jordan's career TS%...

Houston/Harden has sort of destroyed how we used to look at NBA statistics.

[Monster]

I know this idea will get killed, but I could see value for both teams in a Gorgui Dieng for Thaddeus Young swap after December 14th restriction.

Upgrading the Graham spot using a guy who doesn't play in Dieng would be a steal regardless of who you get back. It would also put Covington back in his natural spot on the court. I'm not a Thad Young guy, but I'm also not dumb enough to think that'd be a bad idea if we could dump someone who doesn't play for someone who would. The only risk there is as Dieng showed against Washington he is the best offensive big on this team after Towns so you are really banking on Towns playing the rest of the year or else the whole front court offense goes down with him if he misses more time.

I don't see how it would work with Chicago taking back more salary for a worse player And I say that as a fan of both guys. If it wasn't for the fact that we really couldn't (and wouldn't want to) take back more salary in the deal I would be willing to take back Felicio in the deal to get Young for Dieng. The good news is that Dieng had a good performance in a game (he does have some usefulness) and at the end of this season he is an expiring that might have some utility in making a deal. Cam's idea here might make sense next offseason with a team like Chicago might take on some chunk of Dieng's salary to have a solid guy like Dieng for just one year...because they are young and bad enough vets don't want to sign there. The other thing that could raise Dieng's value is if he plays enough to look like he has legit 3 point range with decent volume. Maybe Chicago is bad enough and Thad low key respectfully asks for a trade to a team that sucks less.