2022-23 Team Developments: News / Trades / Free Agents / Rumors

Nets will trade him now

 

how they interpret the last one could end some guys' stardom, for real. irony is that the rulebook has had this under wraps forever, imo. legal guarding position doesn't mean "not moving", nor does it mean you can't run alongside someone. i think the idea of "getting a step on someone" evolved into: once you get a guy moving, you can literally do whatever you want. it was never supposed to be that. when people wrote the rules, they weren't considering that individuals would make moves intended solely to produce foul calls.

i'm a bit skeptical, anyway, as they claimed they were going to fix lean-ins after up-fakes, and they do...if you're not a star. same with leg kicks. they're supposed to be offensive fouls. how many did harden attempt in the bucks series and then have the audacity to complain he was being fouled?

 

no, but if they officiate him honestly, he'll have more 12pt games. he'll still have 40-50pt games, but they'll have to be the result of the stepback three falling that night.

anyway, again, not holding my breath for the league to suddenly reverse field on harden after making him a superstar.

weird that trae young was the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

Doesn't hurt to have two. Bron can't be on the court 24/7 which is why Rondo was an important piece last year. Look at how players talked about Rondo being vocal in film room and on the court/bench giving advice. Russ plays out of control and is too tunnel vision. There's a reason why teams that he goes to don't usually win. I mean, the last time Russ got out of the first round was in.... oh yeah, when KD was still on the team. You overrate Russ's game. It's nice for fantasy league but I would rather have Ben Simmons than Russ. Ben's game can only improve. Russ's game is heading downwards and you know what you're going to get. A high turnover and inefficient scorer. Great at selling tickets, not good at building a title team. Now if Lakers can get him for Kuz, KCP, and Trezz, that's a good deal. But I am referring to you saying he is better than CP3. No way.

 

I think they should crack down on ball handlers using their off arm to hook guys too. Kawhi makes a living off of that tactic, he is the best I've ever seen at getting away with it.

 

yeah, it's weird that they removed handchecking but continued to look the other way on hooking.

watch paul george, too--he leads almost every drive with his off hand up around his opponent's face. i think he did it on several drives in a row against utah and they finally called one (after like, five of them with the sideline screaming about it). if you get away with it 80% of the time, you should definitely do it!

 

Harden is definitely the best at it. He drives to the rim and hooks your arm onto his every time. It looks innocent but he's so sneaky with it. I don't think Kawhi does it that often. Harden to me is the biggest manipulator of almost every foul call.



Watch the first one he got on Josh Hart... and these refs fall for it

 

he got one at the end of a game in the playoffs where he used the arm hook while setting a screen then took a dive. got two free throws with little time left in a tight game (maybe tied). if you're the refs, how do you not see footage of that and just never call anything for the guy? why keep falling for it? you look like fools.

 

Naw, you underestimate Lebron James for some reason. KD, PG13 they aint Lebron. Rondo gets a lot of hype, he didn't move the needle much when we had the young core, talent makes a difference. I give Rajon his due, he played well in the bubble, he also had 6 months off before he played in the bubble too. The thing is this, you can't always judge people by how they played in certain situations, it's like Harden for instance. In Houston he played a certain way, most "experts" pegged him as a certain type of player, then he goes to Brooklyn and all of a sudden folks realize that this guy could be an outstanding point guard. Different situation, different results, he was always talented even in OKC. His roles were different in the three places he's played. His motivations were different to. I say the same about Russ, phenomenal talent, he was asked to do different things than he would be asked to do in LA. I don't hold his past against him, he is a first ballot Hall of Famer. That man would be sick paired up with James and Davis, it's not just stats, it's impact, he creates pace, he rebounds, he is a good passer, he brings supreme effort on a nightly basis. Put him on a team where he can be the third option? Please..we'll just have to disagree on this CP3 thing. Paul is still injury prone, that hasn't changed, it wont get any better as he ages.

 

How am I underestimating LeBron? Having an extra leader is a bad thing now? Look at how many Lakers players spoke highly of Rondo's presence on the team on/off the court in terms of basketball. Even LeBron spoke highly of Rondo's BBIQ and how the team learned from it. We've seen Russ in PLENTY of different rosters playing with stacked talent and losing. Look at OKC with KD+Ibaka... then look at OKC with PG... then look at Rockets with Harden... You act like the guy is some young player. Russ will be 33 next season playing a style of basketball that is very reliant on his athleticism. CP3's game doesn't require him to be athletic as much as having basketball smarts. Russ's game ain't going to age gracefully. I mean, you talk about impact but look at everywhere CP3 goes... they improve their record and start winning games. CP3 has way more impact than Westbrook, is an infinitely better floor spacer, plays better defense, and in NBA history, of all elite PG's, has the highest AST/TO ratio.. higher than Magic, Stockton, Big O... You don't get to just say we'll have to disagree on X topic. You're flat-out incorrect, lol.

 

Harden uses all the tricks, the swing through, kick out on the jumper, the step back. All Harden in bag of tricks he developed since being in OKC. I have to give him some credit though, he stated that he studies the rule book in the offseason and develops his tactics accordingly. That it is working on your craft as a scorer IMO. I think it cheapens the game some but technically it's playing within the rules.

 

I know it's a shootaround but Ben doesn't have a bad release..



It's got to be something mental with him.

 

Cp3 has never been to the Finals either. Everybody spoke highly of Rondo last year ok..everybody was happy to see him go in Dallas and Atlanta too, different situations, different results dude. AD is a leader, all I'm saying is I don't think leadership is lacking on this team in the first place, we definitely didn't lose to Phoenix because we missed Rondo or Chris Paul was such a great leader. Westbrook is no more at fault for what happened in OKC and Houston than KD, Paul George or James Harden. They were on the team to weren't they? Id' take Westbrook over Paul every day on this team, Paul would work better on Phoenix but I don't think he would have made Washington any better instead of Westbrook. I'll sum it up this way...Put a healthy Lebron or AD in Washington with Beal and Russ...that's a championship team this season. Put Russ on the Lakers, that's a championship team. Put Paul on the Lakers...I don't know...Paul injury history suggest that he probably wont make it to the Finals.

 

Talk is cheap. I'll believe it when i see it

 

it is mental.

 

I've followed Ben since college. It's not just one game.

I don't dislike Ben. But for the price tag I'd rather have other guys. It's really that simple for me.

 

Maybe but If Kyrie didn't blow out a kneecap, he would have two rings with Lebron. They went to 3 straight Finals together. So the basketball fit wasn't the issue, Kyrie's ego is what forced the split there. The kid thinks the world is flat! He has his problems. Now Wade declined as a player too in Miami, he wasn't the same guy when James left, athletically as he was when James got there. Those guys still went to the Finals 4 straight years , that is not an example of some kind of bad fit IMO. Dallas shocked everybody that year, including our Lakers, The Spurs were a legit dynasty team, there is no shame in losing to them. Getting to the Finals don't guarantee that you win, but having that shot at a ring is a big deal. Westbrook and Harden weren't going to beat Lebron and AD period, our guys were the superior duo, it's not a knock on them, they might have made to the Conference Finals, but they were still going to lose to us. If that made them a failure, so be it. Lebron went to 8 straight Finals, 9 times in 10 years, I think it's him, not the fit, he is just special like Magic. There is no real formula for Lebron, give him elite talent to play with and he will make it work. As long as he is healthy that is, how long can it last? I don't know, but I don't think he is done, we probably still win a chip this season, if he and AD were healthy, so I can't say we had a fit issue this season either. We had a health issue.