Hts121

Minkah Fitzpatrick No Matter What

Checking in. I've been lurking here and there, but been a bit too busy to get sucked into the discussion. Made a major career change and had to close down what I was doing to start something new. The transition period was/is exhausting, with no break of course in the normal efforts needed to fully participate in the More Kids Than Hands Club. I'm nearly over the hump and hope to be back soon. I have had the urge to post a few times but each time I was on my ipad and every time I try to log on through that device it says my session has expired. Weird. Never had that issue before.

So...Cousins + Tristan + Love? I don't see it. That's 3 starters. You want to tell TT he's going to come off the bench? TT is actually an ideal energy guy off the bench. He comes in when the other team is getting tired and makes a mess of things for about 5-10.

Sure they can. I wouldn't put them as the favorites, but it's hardly a foregone conclusion that they would lose.

^If the rumor is true and we had acquired Thompson (I doubt the trade would have been straight up), then we'd have both Rose and Calderon to run the point. The roster is built around LeBron. It was specifically constructed to fill his window. That's why the Nets pick in the Boston deal was such a huge get. Remember, Boston turned down a trade proposal for Paul George because it wouldn't include that pick. So, even if LeBron leaves (absent something drastic changing, he won't), we will have a very high pick to start the rebuild. But I put the chances of us trading that pick for an All-Star midseason just as high as keeping it. I don't expect Felder to be on the team for very long. He did nothing to light the world on fire last year and I just don't see us keeping two sub-5'9 PGs on a 15 man roster.

^It may be in the Bulls best interest to hold on to him up until the trade deadline.

My concern is not with Kizer's preparedness, but with the WR corps he has to work with. The old mantra of sitting QB for a year is not being practiced by most every other NFL team. The league's best young QBs - Prescott, Winston, Marriota, Carr, Luck, Wilson - all started as rookies. Going back some time, the Aaron Rogers examples are more the exception than the rule. The QBs in our own division - Big Ben, Flacco, and Dalton - all started very early in their rookie years. ^Kizer ran a hybrid pro-style and spread offense at ND. Most NFL teams use something similar. "Pro-style" is becoming a bit of a misnomer with the evolution of the game.

^And Jason Tatum and Aaron Baynes.

These are skewed. Thomas was the man in Boston. His numbers will go down playing next to LeBron, as will his ball handling. Kyrie's ppg will likely rise playing next to Hayward in Boston; the latter being much less ball dominant. I agree that IT's PPG will go down a bit, but disagree with the rest. Kyrie will not thrive with the ball in his hands so much. He won't have those wide open looks which were given to him either through great LeBron assists or because the opposing defense is focused on LeBron. He will face more double-teams, more traps, and will get matched up against the opposing team's elite wing defender more than he did here in Cleveland. IT, on the other hand, will get less attention from opposing defenses and will benefit from LeBron's court-vision.

I think you are missing about 60 QBs in between those two.

LBJ IT KLove DRose JR TT Crowder Korver Green That is a very good top 9. And it sounds like there is a decent chance that Wade joins at some point in the season. IT gives us almost exactly what Ky gave us on offense. He can score in bunches, hit the outside shot, and finish on drives to the rim. Ky was bad on defense, really bad at times, but IT may be the worst defender in the entire NBA. That's not his fault. It has everything to do with his height and short arms. He's a liability and teams gameplan around him. That is why, as stunning as it may sound, I would lean towards starting Rose and turning IT into a super sub spark plug off the bench. Still play him 35mpg and let him finish most games. Crowder is the type of scrapper we've been missing since Delly left. He's a hard hat guy. Happy to have him. The Zizic kid has size and skill but the film I've seen of him makes me question if he has the athleticism to ever be all that good in the NBA. His vertical is particularly unimpressive. The real gem of this trade, however, is the 2018 unprotected Nets pick. The Nets SUCK. Unless something drastic happens, it will be a high lottery pick in a draft which is absolutely loaded with young big men who are both skilled and athletic. In the end, I think this is indeed a very good package. It certainly is a lot more than Indy got for PG13 and Chicago got for Jimmy B, both of whom are comparable talents to Irving, if not better.

^I suspect that the question has preserved quite a few NBA reporters' jobs. Need clicks? Write a story about LeBron relocating. Instant gold mine.

^I don't know what I'm looking at in any of those pictures.

I'm afraid the WR unit is going to stop this team from making any significant improvement. That's a shame. So many good WRs. Shouldn't be so hard to fix. On the bright side of things, this DT Trevon Cooley might be a diamond in the rough. I've really liked what I've seen of him.

I'm pretty sure you can bump into a friend or acquaintance anywhere in bigger cities. Regardless, I don't feel that happens often enough in Cleveland to put it as a primary characteristic of the city. I just ran into a HS classmate of mine I haven't seen in 20 years. He lives about 5 blocks away from me. I actually rarely run into people I know.... at least not in places I would not expect to find them.