'25-26 NBA Thread

[MU82]

Remember the good old days, when the Bulls were the last unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference?

They're now 6-5 after five straight losses, the last being to a Detroit team playing without Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jaden Ivey and Isaiah Stewart.

[Shaka Shart]

Remember the good old days, when the Bulls were the last unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference?

They're now 6-5 after five straight losses, the last being to a Detroit team playing without Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jaden Ivey and Isaiah Stewart.

It's 4 straight losses. They were 5-0 and then lost to the knicks. Then beat the 76ers Mr sports Journalist!

[MU82]

It's 4 straight losses. They were 5-0 and then lost to the knicks. Then beat the 76ers Mr sports Journalist!

I sit corrected after my first error since 1983.

[MU82]

The Athletic ranks not Cooper Flagg but his Duke teammate, Kon Knueppel, as the best rookie so far.

Here's the gist:

The injury bug has again hit LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, forcing the Charlotte Hornets to rely on rookies to salvage what had been an extremely competitive start to their season. In the five games Ball has missed, the Hornets are 2-3 with a couple of brutal losses. However, the play of the rookies has been a true bright spot, and Kon Knueppel is the main reason why.

Over this five-game stretch, Knueppel is averaging 21.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and four assists while posting a 61.1 true shooting percentage. When Knueppel leaves the court, the Hornets are blown out by about 30 points per 100 possessions. He's taken over as the primary offensive option and is playing remarkably well while doing so. Stepping into a larger role while maintaining the same level of high-end play is a situation Knueppel knows quite well from his time at Duke — he did the same thing in the ACC tournament when Cooper Flagg went down with a sprained ankle. He won the ACC tournament MVP award and led the Blue Devils to the title.

What's been most fun about Knueppel in Charlotte is how coach Charles Lee is using him within the offensive scheme. He's being weaponized as a movement shooter, with the ability to fly off different screening actions like curls or flares. He sets killer on-ball screens with contact thanks to his strength, but he also has the IQ to know when to slip them into open space. Knueppel's intelligence off the ball is also elite, as he relocates sharply into dangerous areas off teammates' drives and offensive rebounds and also finds buckets off cuts. Already, NBA teams have been forced to treat him like the elite shooter he is, opening up space for teammates like Collin Sexton to drive. He's also a sharp passer who makes quick reversals and finds open teammates with ease.

FWIW, Knueppel leads all rookies at 16.6 ppg, is third in rebounding at 6.4 rpg, and is seventh in assists at 2.8 apg.

[wadesworld]

The Athletic ranks not Cooper Flagg but his Duke teammate, Kon Knueppel, as the best rookie so far.

Here's the gist:

The injury bug has again hit LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, forcing the Charlotte Hornets to rely on rookies to salvage what had been an extremely competitive start to their season. In the five games Ball has missed, the Hornets are 2-3 with a couple of brutal losses. However, the play of the rookies has been a true bright spot, and Kon Knueppel is the main reason why.

Over this five-game stretch, Knueppel is averaging 21.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and four assists while posting a 61.1 true shooting percentage. When Knueppel leaves the court, the Hornets are blown out by about 30 points per 100 possessions. He's taken over as the primary offensive option and is playing remarkably well while doing so. Stepping into a larger role while maintaining the same level of high-end play is a situation Knueppel knows quite well from his time at Duke — he did the same thing in the ACC tournament when Cooper Flagg went down with a sprained ankle. He won the ACC tournament MVP award and led the Blue Devils to the title.

What's been most fun about Knueppel in Charlotte is how coach Charles Lee is using him within the offensive scheme. He's being weaponized as a movement shooter, with the ability to fly off different screening actions like curls or flares. He sets killer on-ball screens with contact thanks to his strength, but he also has the IQ to know when to slip them into open space. Knueppel's intelligence off the ball is also elite, as he relocates sharply into dangerous areas off teammates' drives and offensive rebounds and also finds buckets off cuts. Already, NBA teams have been forced to treat him like the elite shooter he is, opening up space for teammates like Collin Sexton to drive. He's also a sharp passer who makes quick reversals and finds open teammates with ease.

FWIW, Knueppel leads all rookies at 16.6 ppg, is third in rebounding at 6.4 rpg, and is seventh in assists at 2.8 apg.

He's a stud.

And Horst has put together a roster that without Giannis got blitzed by a Lamelo-less, Miller-less Hornets team.  Crazy.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Mob boss Adam Silver completes his scheme.  Gets his patsy Nico to move Luka to the Lakers to secure a superstar on a marquee franchise now that Lebron is about done.  Gifts the #1 pick to Dallas to halfheartedly smooth it over and make the peasants less restless and angry.  Then the patsy gets whacked months later to close the loop.  Game of Thrones couldn't have done it better.

I'm sad Game of Zones is done.  They would've had a field day with this

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I sit corrected after my first error since 1983.

What happened in 83?

[MU82]

What happened in 83?

I erroneously thought I had made an error.

[BM1090]

He's a stud.

And Horst has put together a roster that without Giannis got blitzed by a Lamelo-less, Miller-less Hornets team.  Crazy.

Predictably, a roster built to maximize Giannis is bad without Giannis

[wadesworld]

Predictably, a roster built to maximize Giannis is bad without Giannis

The roster built to maximize Lamelo didn't seem nearly as bad without Lamelo as the Bucks did.

The reality is the Bucks' second best player is Ryan Rollins. Think about that for a second.

[MU82]

The roster built to maximize Lamelo didn't seem nearly as bad without Lamelo as the Bucks did.

The reality is the Bucks' second best player is Ryan Rollins. Think about that for a second.

The Hornets have a few good pieces, including Knueppel and Miles Bridges. And they finally got smart and picked up a decent backup PG (Sexton) for all the games they knew LaMelo would miss. But they'll never win anything that matters anytime soon because they lack so much, especially people who know how to build a team.

[MuggsyB]

Curry is still a fairly good basketball player. 

[MuggsyB]

No one is ever going to slot Curry over Lebron historically.  Mainly because of Lebron's size and overall versatility defensively when he was in his prime. That said I believe Curry has always been a better offensive player, and it goes beyond the obvious stats.

[BM1090]

The roster built to maximize Lamelo didn't seem nearly as bad without Lamelo as the Bucks did.

The reality is the Bucks' second best player is Ryan Rollins. Think about that for a second.

I mean yeah, it's not great. But Rollins has been legitimately very good. And the roster fits around Giannis and should improve a lot defensively if KPJ gets and stays healthy.