2023-24 NBA Thread

[MU82]

This Boston team is not one of the all-time great NBA teams. Heck, several Celtics teams were better than this one. So I'm glad they not only lost but got their clocks cleaned, so we can get that silliness out of the way.

[Uncle Rico]

This Boston team is not one of the all-time great NBA teams. Heck, several Celtics teams were better than this one. So I'm glad they not only lost but got their clocks cleaned, so we can get that silliness out of the way.

Anyone that thinks this is an all-time team is a fool.  Anything is possible in time but I don't see it.

[Tyler COLEk]

I'd say they'll be an average to slightly above average champion that was abnormally superior to the rest of the league. A lot of parity in the NBA this season.

[MuggsyB]

Anyone that thinks this is an all-time team is a fool.  Anything is possible in time but I don't see it.

This is why I'm not a big analytics guy.  Because on paper, if they win it, they absolutely are.an all-time-team.  Unless you have some Reeko definition of what that means. 

[Lennys Tap]

Will it come with an asterisk?

Why? He's in their rotation.

[Uncle Rico]

This is why I'm not a big analytics guy.  Because on paper, if they win it, they absolutely are.an all-time-team.  Unless you have some Reeko definition of what that means.

This team?  All-time?  Lol

[wadesworld]

Jayson Tatum (or Jaylen Brown) is their best player and Peyton Pritchard and Sam Hauser are in their rotation.

It's LOL funny thinking about them matching up with the KD era Warriors or the MJ era Bulls or the Magic era Lakers.

[MuggsyB]

This team?  All-time?  Lol

Don't we measure all-time teams by record during the regular season and playoffs?  Personally, I don't think they ate but what exactly is your criteria?

[Tyler COLEk]

Jayson Tatum (or Jaylen Brown) is their best player and Peyton Pritchard and Sam Hauser are in their rotation.

Sam Hauser was a 42.4% three point shooter this season. Payton Pritchard was a highly efficient scorer and distributer who flashed in limited opportunities as the team's primary ball handler. There isn't a team in the NBA who wouldn't be giving minutes to both of them.

[The Sultan]

Don't we measure all-time reams by record during the regular season and playoffs?  Personally, I don't think they ate but what exactly is your criteria?

They didn't eat? The whole season?

[Jockey]

Jayson Tatum (or Jaylen Brown) is their best player and Peyton Pritchard and Sam Hauser are in their rotation.

It's LOL funny thinking about them matching up with the KD era Warriors or the MJ era Bulls or the Magic era Lakers.

I think you meant Curry-era Warriors. KD was there for the ride.

[wadesworld]

I think you meant Curry-era Warriors. KD was there for the ride.

Sure. But Curry's first and last title teams weren't close to as good as the 2 with KD.

[MU82]

Don't we measure all-time reams by record during the regular season and playoffs?

Well, their .780 regular-season winning percentage is tied for 25th best in NBA history. So they weren't even one of the top 2 dozen teams by that measurement.

If they win Game 5 at home, their .842 playoff winning percentage will be the 10th best in NBA history. Even if one doesn't factor in them having benefited from an injury-depleted Eastern Conference, that doesn't scream "one of the greatest ever."

There's also the eye test and common-sense test. Would you say this Boston team is better than the Riley-coached 1984-85 Lakers of Kareem, Magic, Worthy and Scott - a team that capped its season by defeating an outstanding Celtics club in the NBA Finals? That team had worse winning percentages in both the regular season and playoffs than these Celtics. Is this Boston team better than the 1997-98 Jackson-coach Bulls of Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, etc?

If you think so, I worry about your judgment.

These Celtics are good. They did what they had to do, beating all the teams placed in front of them. They will have been worthy champions. But they are no more "all-time greats" than Jaylen Brown is an "all-time great." Not by any definition of "all-time great" that any serious person would use.

On paper, if they win it, they absolutely are an all-time-team.

Not unless you smoke a ton of pot rolled up in the paper first.

[lawdog77]

Well, their .780 regular-season winning percentage is tied for 25th best in NBA history. So they weren't even one of the top 2 dozen teams by that measurement.

If they win Game 5 at home, their .842 playoff winning percentage will be the 10th best in NBA history. Even if one doesn't factor in them having benefited from an injury-depleted Eastern Conference, that doesn't scream "one of the greatest ever."

There's also the eye test and common-sense test. Would you say this Boston team is better than the Riley-coached 1984-85 Lakers of Kareem, Magic, Worthy and Scott - a team that capped its season by defeating an outstanding Celtics club in the NBA Finals? That team had worse winning percentages in both the regular season and playoffs than these Celtics. Is this Boston team better than the 1997-98 Jackson-coach Bulls of Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, etc?

If you think so, I worry about your judgment.

These Celtics are good. They did what they had to do, beating all the teams placed in front of them. They will have been worthy champions. But they are no more "all-time greats" than Jaylen Brown is an "all-time great." Not by any definition of "all-time great" that any serious person would use.

Not unless you smoke a ton of pot rolled up in the paper first.

They do have Joe Mazula as coach, so they have that going for them

[MU82]

The Athletic's John Hollinger mused about the upcoming draft:

I have seen all of the top players play in person and can assure you this year's class isn't good, especially at the top. That doesn't mean there won't be some significant players who eventually merge from it, but this reminds me a lot of the 2013 draft class where Anthony Bennett, Cody Zeller, Alex Len, Nerlens Noel and Ben McLemore were five of the top seven picks.

Facts are facts. However ...

The 2013 draft did produce Giannis, Rudy Gobert, CJ McCollum, Steven Adams and Kentavious Caldwell Pope, among others.

So there will be good players available again in 2024, and we'll know a couple/few years from now which were uncovered by which GM/scouting teams.

[MuggsyB]

Does Dallas have any chance?  I was thinking about watching the Beekeeper.

[MuggsyB]

This looks over.  Hopefully I'm wrong. 

[MuggsyB]

Doncic:  No Show

Kyrie:  No Show

End Result:  Death

Very disappointing. 

[MuggsyB]

Hammer dropped.  Wow. 

[pbiflyer]

The last time the Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and the global economy collapsed within 3 months.

Adjust your risk models accordingly.

[4everwarriors]

Pretty sure da Bucks would reverse the Holiday/Lillard fiasco if they had the chance, hey?

[The Sultan]

Pretty sure da Bucks would reverse the Holiday/Lillard fiasco if they had the chance, hey?

I doubt it. They had a ton of trouble scoring in the two prior playoff defeats with Middleton falling off. They needed the scoring that Dame provided, but you have to give up something to get something.

The issues are they made a bad coaching decision and their best player got hurt heading into the playoffs. Let's see what happens next season.

[wadesworld]

I doubt it. They had a ton of trouble scoring in the two prior playoff defeats with Middleton falling off. They needed the scoring that Dame provided, but you have to give up something to get something.

The issues are they made a bad coaching decision and their best player got hurt heading into the playoffs. Let's see what happens next season.

Exactly.  And they gave themselves no time to build a roster that had Dame on it instead of Jrue.  They made moves to add Malik and Cam Payne for scoring punch off of the bench with the assumption that everything else would stay the same, and then suddenly you trade your defensive stopper for all offense and your roster just doesn't make sense.

It's a big offseason for Horst.  His drafting has sucked and it's not the best draft, plus he has no cap space for anything other than vet minimums.  So he'll have to be creative.  But he has a chance to build a roster that actually fits having Dame on it now.

[MuggsyB]

The Bucks are nowhere near the level they were playing at in '21.  On both ends of the floor.  Boston's defense (without Porzingas) is light years ahead of Milwaukee.  Now, clearly losing Holiday hurt, but the Bucks do not really have wing defenders at all other than Giannis.  And even Giannis is really most comfortable as an interior and help defender. 

Right now I think they're clearly behind Boston, NY, Philly, and Indy in the East.  They need to make drastic changes to put it mildly.

[The Sultan]

The Bucks are nowhere near the level they were playing at in '21.  On both ends of the floor.  Boston's defense (without Porzingas) is light years ahead of Milwaukee.  Now, clearly losing Holiday hurt, but the Bucks do not really have wing defenders at all other than Giannis.  And even Giannis is really most comfortable as an interior and help defender. 

Right now I think they're clearly behind Boston, NY, Philly, and Indy in the East.  They need to make drastic changes to put it mildly.

They only team they are clearly behind is Boston.