Lets start out by reviewing some of the more disrespectful dunks of last season...one from each team. Starring: Clint Capela 2x Tristan Thompson Alex Len 2x KP savagely disrespecting D12 and then getting a facial from Rudy Goebert Brook Lopez destroying his brother...but I don't know how he's going to feel about having Larry Nance Jr as a teammate now Enes Kanter (Lol, this should sure up the Knicks "interior defense")
My predictions for this season: My team: NYK - 21-61 top 3 pick. I'll be pleasantly surprised if: 35 wins and meaningful games in March and April happen. Also if they allow under 105ppg...they were at 108 and actually got worse defensively with the Melo trade. I'll be disappointed if: Not much you can be disappointed in when you think the team is going to be bad that year...or decade. KP wilts under the pressure of being "the guy". We know the team is short on talent but if KP, Willy, or Ntilikina don't live up to expectations. Best possible trade: Lee, Kanter and McDermott all get traded for picks and cap space; NYK hang on to KP, Willy, Ntilikina, 2nd round pick Damyean Dotson (keep an eye on him) and future 1sts...Knicks actually become intriguing for future years. Hornacek's Hot Seat: Lit but not yet warm. League MVP: Leonard (Russ adding Melo and PG will decrease usage...same for Harden adding CP3) COTY: Pop Most improved player: D'Angelo Russell who will flourish being used as a 2 guard as I said he should be when he came out. ROTY: Josh Jackson. Runner up: Jayson Tatum East Champs: Boston. No love for either Boston or Cleveland but Bostons lineup they went and got to match up with Cleveland will be deadly when they run with Kyrie, Brown, Hayward, Tatum and Horford. That's death. Most surprising development in season: 24 players who were eligible for contract extensions will be RFA's...many, including Jabari Parker, Doug McDermott etc will get moved. Expect a lot of trades. West Champs GSW over OKC NBA Champ: GSW
MVP - LeBron COY - Quin Snyder 6th Man - Eric Gordon Most Improved - Clint Capela DPOY - Rudy Gobert ROY - Ben Simmons Biggest shock - OKC will be 5th seed behind Warriors, Rockets, Spurs, and Jazz. West - Warriors vs Rockets East - LeBron walks thru playoffs again because the east is trash. Champ - Rockets (yeah...I said it)
Good call on Russell. I agree with that. When they were shopping him, I said I'd like to see the Heat make a run at him. I loved him coming out of Ohio State, and think this could be a nice fit for him. I actually think that team will surprise some people and won't deliver the Cavs the top pick they think they're getting.
And just like that, it’s over for Boston. How tragic, prayers for Gordon and his family. Hope his kids didnt witness that.
I loved Bobby Portis coming out of college. If he really cheap shotted his teammate, fracturing the guy's face, wow, what a **** head.
Too bad for Hayward, but I think he could come back after a couple months. The NBA season is very long.
Survived the season opening road back-to-back. I'd like to change my most improved prediction to Eric Gordon (yup...6th man of the year & most improved). Somebody really worked on their handles this off season. He's crossing people up and dunking on anybody in the way. Didn't see that coming. Averaging 25 ppg so far and hardly any coming from three pointers. 2-0
Depends on potential ligament damage. They're not winning anything with him, might as well make sure he's fully healthy.
League MVP: LeBron James COTY: Terry Stotts Most improved player: Jusuf Nurkic ROTY: Dennis Smith Jr. East Champs: Cleveland - I thought Boston was overrated from the get go so this isn't hindsight. Cleveland has an all-star PG coming back fresh in Jan/Feb and a high first round pick to add another piece later on along with the GOAT. West Champs: GSW NBA Champ: GSW
https://deadspin.com/gordon-hayward-will-likely-miss-the-entire-season-1819674443 Both Hayward and Boston dodged a huge bullet long-term. They'll have a chance to evaluate the talent on the roster, get Hayward back for next season, and get to see that team together on the last year of Kyrie's contract. If they do well, he's very likely to sign that super-max deal and stay in Boston.
Clippers looked very good last night. They have a great corps of bigs including Gallo. Blake Griffin looked especially good, especially with the ball in his hand (!) and from deep (!!). They could be a matchup nightmare against certain teams.
I don't know. They beat the Lakers. I thought the Lakers would be an improved, fun team to watch this year, and they still could be, but they looked awful last night. It was a sloppy game.
The LAL are going to be bad. Very bad. Their best player is still Brook Lopez. And I've said from the get go, Lonzo is not only overrated but his big mouth blabbering dad didn't make things easier for him. They are going to be every bit as bad as the Knicks, Nets, Bulls etc.
Pretty sure the Knicks are showcasing Kanter....what other logic is there for playing that slow footed sloth 7x as many minutes as Willy Hernangomez who is a better player with more upside? #FireHornacek
Lonzo really doesn't seem like a bad kid, but because of said "big mouth blabbering dad", I am rooting pretty hard against his success. The hope for LA has to be Ingram. He could take a big step.
My thinking is we know Blake, DJ, and Gallo are damn good. Beverley didn't do anything that wasn't expected out of him. I just think they'll be a problem for certain teams. I think there's a chance they are worse than a team like, say OKC, but can beat them due to match-ups; similar to when GSW beat Dallas in 06-07.
Kyrie..... Bahahahaha... Careful what you wish for youngster. Really like OKC, feel like they will give teams problems out West. Knicks? Well....Porzingis looked good but THJR the 80M man is just nothing more than a guy who can occasionally get hot. Long year, whats new. #CavsOKC
because Hayward got injured? They still almost won. They'll probably end up top 5 in playoffs in east as it is.
Not sure aspiring to be top 5 in the East is the way to go for a player who's team is about to goto their 4th straight finals.
Rockets up by 34 pts after 3 quarters. Time to rest Harden and Gordon. 3-0 (Gordon's ridiculous improvement makes everyone forget CP3 is out and has only tallied 4 points this season...lol) By the way OKC & GSW are currently getting blown out.
Curry and Durant both thrown out by the refs. STANDING OVATION!!! 1-2. They should be 0-3 if the Pelicans would have held their damn lead. I love it. Get physical with them and they start bi###ing.
You mean Curry? The NBA's "good guy"? Dude is a phony and as arrogant as they come. He's very lucky KD decided to do the unthinkable, or else his legacy would be quite meh these days.
I don't know....Jazz up by 16 after 3 quarters. I predicted Utah to be better than OKC. Billy Donovan just isn't on Quin Snyder's level.
Utah's defense during the reg season will be on a different level from everyone else in the League. They're so effing tough to score on. And I say this as a fan of of the Heat, who have had many of the best defensive teams in the past 8 years. Rubio-Mitchell-Gobert yes please. HEAT scoop up their first win. Without Whiteside too. I think Spo kinda loves the kinds of lineups he can roll out without Hassan. Closed with Goran-Dion-JRich-Justise-JJ.
Curry has got to humble himself already. The fame gets in his head, every year his attitude is worse.
Udonis Haslem took the entire Heat team to the Dolphins game today. Looks like Whiteside had a good time.