people asked why nico harrison didn't want to tell anyone about what was happening... like...how do you dig out of this one now? how much lower is the durant price going to be this summer? and no, i don't have a ton of sympathy for durant of all people, but stuff like this is what future durants will use as their reasoning for doing things that people don't like (e.g., forcing trades, superteams, etc.).
Draymond being Draymond, hold onto your nuts. That locker room with Jimmy Butler there will be must see TV.
All this to try to bring in Jimmy Butler. Prime Jimmy, ok... sure. That's not what they were chasing though. One of the strangest obsessions that's going to torpedoe a team that I've ever seen. Even if they were able to swap Jimmy for Beal, they're not beating anyone they would lose to as currently constructed. Maybe he teaches Booker not to be such a you know what on the court and maybe that has long term value. Otherwise... Who fails trying to trade their 3rd best player and their counter is trying to trade their best player. This would be like when Rob couldn't find a taker for Westbrick, so then he decides to start shopping Bron. And yes, they're going to get royally screwed by KD and opposing teams this summer. They'll let him pick his spot, proof is he said no to going to teams at the deadline and they obliged. Randle, McDaniels and stuff for KD this summer?
Just watched some highlights from that mavs rockets game and wish we could have a chance at Gafford before the athleticism goes. That guy is ferocious! And not in a a**hole kind of way. Also happy for Max, dude is still on an upward trajectory!
he's probably going to get roasted for this, but i think it's actually a sign of maturity: lots of discussion about things you can't control, etc., in the same piece. it's weird coming from a guy who's forced two trades and left two good situations in FA, but i think he maybe learned from that. that said, i wonder if the lesson would have been different had he made different choices. like--i wonder if dirk values his one ring more than durant values his two, precisely because dirk's journey was tougher.
OKC came into MIN and MIN won and OKC never led, but it was some exquisite, very physical basketball. A really good game to watch. Naz Reid: 27/14/7. Their best player this game. His flat-footed, odd-rhythm 3-ball is distinctive, to say the least. Both teams played really good defense. Rookie Terrence Shannon Jr gave MIN some really good mins. #27 pick in the last draft, big-time hustle plays, a 6'6" guard who plays a bit like a fullback. No fear. Rudy, DiVncenzo, Julius, and Conley were all out. OKC decided to double Ant most of the game, and it worked: 5 for 18 shooting with 7 dimes. He had one thunderous poster-dunk over Chet that had the local crowd buzzing for about 3 minutes. Jaden McDaniels looked really good on both ends. SGA was 2 for 13 in the first half as MIN did a nice job on him, but he still ended up 24/8/9. Gotta say: Lu Dort might be the most underrated player in the NBA. He's not spectacular at all, but man is he solid, both literally and figuratively. He's smart, plays great D, and for a guard, shoots 43% for his career. His offense has gotten much better this season. First name Luguentz: a strange Haitian-derived name. Neither you nor I will likely come into contact with a dude who goes by "Luguentz." No one calls their kid that, and his parents seem to have chose it for some family reason. "Lu Dort" is really fast: you can say it in about 1/10 of a second; your mouth doesn't even move. OKC, who "fell" to 44-10 with this loss, might be in a bit of a bind. Chet went out very early in the season on a nasty fall, which I saw in real time: fractured pelvis. He misses 39 games. They play great without him. He's still getting his game back but do they think he's expendable now? He has tremendous upside and he's a good kid. Spreads the court, can shoot the 3, had 2 pretty killer blocks this game, but I wonder how he fits with the exquisite chemistry they showed for most of this season. He's the Poor Man's Wemby, which is still pretty rich. For that matter, after watching MIN here, I wonder if they feel something similar about Julius.
i thought he was the key to the game. they kept gambling on him not being able to floor the ball and score, and he did it enough to blow that scheme up. dort's good but pretty dirty, so i'm not a fan. i don't think chet's expendable, but i do wonder whether they play better with one big and 4 smalls (most of whom are "big" smalls like dort and SGA and williams). they have some time to experiment with it, but in the short term i wonder if chet off the bench makes more sense. could just be that they've gotten so used to playing small over the past two or three years that the adjustment is jarring. minny wouldn't be the first team to have trouble fitting randle into what they want to do. that one year when he hit threes at 40% was just a mirage, i guess. without that, he's still a plus on offense but not a HUGE plus, which he needs to be as he's consistently a minus on defense no matter what position he plays. ultimately, randle just isn't a 5 on 5 basketball player, imo. he's good on the ball on both ends, but not good off the ball on either end. the way the game's played now, you'd rather have the opposite (DFS is kind of like this). luka garza did some nice things offensively for minny (great hands, that guy) in that game when i was watching. he's super slow and not a shot blocker, but this is the kind of scrapheap big that could have helped us for large chunks of the past couple years, imo. sort of a poor man's vuc.
Yes I miss some of the kids we traded away but Randle is certainly not on that list. He’s just a dumb player overall IMO.
i think ingram actually fits a similar mold, tbh. just not a guy that functions well in a team concept. really talented, tough--mentally and physically, but just not hoopsmart. this is the only way you can have the physical gifts those two have (ingram's length and mobility, randle's strength and mobility) and be consistently minus defenders. i really don't think it's effort; it's pattern recognition and attention. ironically, our other two high picks from that period had high hoop iq and either low effort/focus (dlo) or skill and health issues (lonzo).
Seems like Josh and AC with high floors and lower ceilings were the best both sides of the ball and contributing to winning basketball?
Both my fav players (liked them almost as much as Austin). Never cared for DLO, T-rex or Lonzo much. Guys willing to do the work, playing hard even without the ball, doing all the small things are my kind of guys.
nance, zu, kuz (before he was miscast as a third star). we're good at turning up useful players later in the draft or in UDFAs. we got mostly unlucky with our high picks--none of them were bad. even lonzo would have been a pretty good pick had his body not broken down so badly. it's just that none of them turned into superstars. i suppose lonzo over tatum was a pretty huge miss, but most of the others were totally forgivable and/or still good in retrospect. like is jaylen brown actually way better than ingram? maybe a bit. but was that obvious at the time? not at all. top of the draft is trickier because the temptation is to take big swings, but those can miss (just go look at those past drafts and all the guys taken top 10 that just did nothing. then have the random donovan mitchells and devin bookers that everyone misses on whilst trying to hit the lotto. i'm glad we're out of that game for a while! let's keep picking up late first and mid second rounders that can become good bench players.
Mavericks 'I'm going to shoot you' | Dallas Mavericks Assistant Coach Darrell Armstrong arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, police say Prior to becoming a coach, Armstrong played 14 seasons in the NBA, which included a stint with the Mavericks. Author: WFAA Staff, Zachary Yanes, Ben Sawyers Published: 12:38 PM CST February 16, 2025 Updated: 10:13 PM CST February 16, 2025 DALLAS — An assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks, Darrell Armstrong, was arrested Saturday for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, multiple law enforcement sources confirmed to WFAA. Armstrong, 56, and the victim were in an argument when he hit the woman with a gun and threatened to shoot her, Dallas PD and sources told WFAA. According to an arrest affidavit, officers responded to a call at 1001 Ross Ave., an apartment complex in downtown Dallas, at about 2:15 a.m. on Saturday. Upon arrival, the officers found the victim at a nearby parking lot waiting with her father, the affidavit stated. The victim, who has been in a months-long relationship with Armstrong per the document, told police she saw a text message from another woman on his phone, leading to a verbal argument. The victim told police that Armstrong, 56, had been drinking, and became irate during the argument, demanding the apartment keys, which she gave him, the affidavit read.
yeah, i saw that and was like, "aw man, not DA!!" but then i zo'ed. some motors don't get turned off, for better and worse.
saw bojan bogdanovic is getting another foot surgery. remember when everyone thought he was maybe worth 2 1sts?! he had a decent stretch after detroit picked him up to try and pump and dump, then they ended up having to move him for 2nds. he then barely played for the knicks and was awful when he did. then he was ballast in the bridges trade. anyway, sometimes the best moves are the ones you don't make.
