Octopus Overlords

Since no one else started a thread, I take it there is little or no interest. The Lakers had a chance to trade Westbrook and didn't pull the trigger. Unless you are a Warriors fan it will be another long season.

I heard the Bulls best player was declared dead yesterday, interest in season immediately lost.

Well, the Lakers finally made a trade.

No, not that one!

The Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards have completed a trade that will send fourth-year forward Rui Hachimura to Los Angeles in exchange for Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks (in 2023, 2028 and 2029), the teams announced Monday.

IMHO, a good acquisition for the Lakers, he is a guy I thought would do better in the league than he has.

On the other hand, those 3 2nd rounders currently look like they could easily be near the top of the round, or essentially late 1st round picks...

Yeah, that will seriously hurt their chances in 2028 and 2029! The only thing of passing interest (literally!) this year is when LeBron James passes Kareem for the all time scoring record, probably by next month. Amazing that he is still going strong after 20 years. Doubtful that his record will be eclipsed, though Jordan did miss 2 full seasons with his baseball debacle.

Jaymann wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 8:50 pm Yeah, that will seriously hurt their chances in 2028 and 2029! The only thing of passing interest (literally!) this year is when LeBron James passes Kareem for the all time scoring record, probably by next month. Amazing that he is still going strong after 20 years. Doubtful that his record will be eclipsed, though Jordan did miss 2 full seasons with his baseball debacle.

If you haven't noticed, one of the reasons they are in this mess is trading their draft picks...

the Lakers don’t have the luxury of looking forward to future picks, having dealt the majority of their own upcoming draft choices in the trade for Anthony Davis by way of pick swaps and direct giveaways to the Pelicans. While the end result was the franchise’s 17th championship, the transaction left the team with very few selections in the short-term, and even fewer tradeable picks.

Meh, they got a championship with Davis, something other teams have never gotten. Ya feel me, Clippers?

LA Lakers' biggest achievement this year appears to be always staying in the conversation even whey they suck.

I'm just happy to see how fantastic the Nuggets are. That's all I care about anyway.

Ironically, while they had an (far, far) off night last night and lost to OKC, that means that OKC moves ahead of the Lakers in the standings...I can live with that.

The Lakers finally jettisoned one Russell (Westbrook) and picked up another one (D'Angelo). D'Angelo Russell, the once and future Laker, was their #2 draft pick way back when. He seems to have energized the team but they are still 5 games under .500 with about 20 games left. They will need a major push to make the playoffs.

Wow, has it been that long? I remember when the Kings with Vlade Divac had the Lakers up against the ropes (but historically lost).

Jaymann wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2023 10:59 am Wow, has it been that long? I remember when the Kings with Vlade Divac had the Lakers up against the ropes (but historically lost).

The one time you can legitimately blame the ref

Ya Sacramento has quite the buzz this year. LIGHT THE BEAM. If you haven't heard of that yet, you will soon.

naednek wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2023 12:07 pm

Jaymann wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2023 10:59 am Wow, has it been that long? I remember when the Kings with Vlade Divac had the Lakers up against the ropes (but historically lost).

The one time you can legitimately blame the ref

Ya Sacramento has quite the buzz this year. LIGHT THE BEAM. If you haven't heard of that yet, you will soon.

Well, they have an offense. Not sure they have a playoff caliber defense tho.

Light the beam.




Kings win their first playoff game in 16 years.

LOL, Russell Westbrook throws up bricks at a 3/19 clip, but his insane offensive rebounds and defense in the final minutes secured the win for the the Clippers (without Paul George) over the Suns.

So all the California teams except the Warriors win their first game of the playoffs.

In the obvious news section...

Draymond Green is a dick.

Green suspended for game 3.

Wow! Trey Young with a buzzer beater from near the logo to avoid elimination.

Nuggets with the gentleman's sweep of Minnesota Timberwolves.

Starting the next round on Sunday(?) against Phoenix Suns. LA Clippers really didn't stand a chance against the Suns without Kawhi Leonard.

Minnesota needs to stop having KAT jack bad 3s, and you can't play drop coverage in the playoffs Gobert.

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Jaymann wrote: ↑Tue Apr 25, 2023 9:56 pm Wow! Trey Young with a buzzer beater from near the logo to avoid elimination.

That was a brutal Celtics loss.

Yes! The Lakers close out the Grizzlies 4-2 with a 40 point blowout. D-Lo Russell dropped 31 on them and they were raining 3's. Gives me some false hopes for this team.

Yes! Lakers eliminate the champion Warriors. Western Conference Championship up next.

Nuggets will be looking to have a different result than last time they met the Lakers in the conference finals...

gilraen wrote:Nuggets will be looking to have a different result than last time they met the Lakers in the conference finals...

I think they'll get it. They match up with the Lakers really well and Joker can pull AD away from the basket ( something the warriors could rarely do).

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I hope that NBA fans really love Celtics - Heat conference finals matchups.

Miami has been quite the underdog story this season. If they win, they'll win on their defense, which is very good right now but the question remains whether it's enough to contain the Celtics (with their even higher-grade offense). On paper, it doesn't look particularly favorable for Miami, especially since their defense apparently only woke up in the playoffs (and can potentially slide back into its regular season disaster at any point). On the other hand, stranger things have happened.

So...who had Boston Celtics complete meltdown on their bingo card?

I'm absolutely thrilled with Nuggets being up 3-0 on the Lakers right now but the ECF is a real shocker.

gilraen wrote: ↑Sun May 21, 2023 10:50 pm So...who had Boston Celtics complete meltdown on their bingo card?

I'm absolutely thrilled with Nuggets being up 3-0 on the Lakers right now but the ECF is a real shocker.

I did not. As a Celtics fan, it's a huge blown opportunity, and wonder what will happen to the team in the off season.

Lassr wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 11:09 am

gilraen wrote: ↑Sun May 21, 2023 10:50 pm So...who had Boston Celtics complete meltdown on their bingo card?

I'm absolutely thrilled with Nuggets being up 3-0 on the Lakers right now but the ECF is a real shocker.

I did not. As a Celtics fan, it's a huge blown opportunity, and wonder what will happen to the team in the off season.

Joe Mazzulla is almost certainly getting fired, right? I can't imagine that the Celtics ownership is going to tolerate getting just completely embarrassed by a rival like this, so I feel like the Celtics have to at least make it to game 6 in order for him not to lose his job.

Kind of crazy that (probably) both coaches in the semi-finals game 7 are going to lose their jobs.

El Guapo wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 1:29 pm Joe Mazzulla is almost certainly getting fired, right? I can't imagine that the Celtics ownership is going to tolerate getting just completely embarrassed by a rival like this, so I feel like the Celtics have to at least make it to game 6 in order for him not to lose his job.

He got a contract extension in February (when they dropped the "interim" title) - although no terms were disclosed (that I could find).

stessier wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 2:35 pm

El Guapo wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 1:29 pm Joe Mazzulla is almost certainly getting fired, right? I can't imagine that the Celtics ownership is going to tolerate getting just completely embarrassed by a rival like this, so I feel like the Celtics have to at least make it to game 6 in order for him not to lose his job.

He got a contract extension in February (when they dropped the "interim" title) - although no terms were disclosed (that I could find).

Yeah I know. I still think he's going to be fired. The collapses and the complete no show in the Miami series...I don't see how the team can come back with the same coach after that.

So....now 3-2 Miami.

If nothing else they may have saved Mazzulla's job for next season.

What a finish! Game 7 coming up, I would have never thunk it...

Agreed. Crazy finish to game 6. I can't recall seeing a team 1 game away from the finals that have looked as good AND bad as the Celtics have during these last few games. No idea who wins Monday.

Baroquen wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2023 11:55 pm Agreed. Crazy finish to game 6. I can't recall seeing a team 1 game away from the finals that have looked as good AND bad as the Celtics have during these last few games. No idea who wins Monday.

Yeah that's their whole deal. Very Jekyl and Hyde.

The Celtics should win on Monday but...I can totally see them up by 10 with a few minutes left and then they completely blow it.

Hyde showed up last night...sigh.

Random stat I read last night.

Boston became the first city to lose two game 7's to 8 seeds in major sports in the same year (NHL and NBA).

Womp womp

There's a FB thing going around where Michael Jordan is asked if the 1990's Bulls could beat LeBron's Lakers. Jordan replies, sure, by 2-3 points. When asked why so close, Jordan adds, "Well, most of us are in our 60's now."