LeBron's first LA season ends early:

 

https://thebiglead.com/2019/03/30/lebron-james-groin-injury-out-season-lakers/

On 4/3/2019 at 6:22 PM, Columbo said:

LeBron's first LA season ends early:

 

https://thebiglead.com/2019/03/30/lebron-james-groin-injury-out-season-lakers/

 

And now the Magic/LeBron partnership is over too:

 

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/magic-johnsons-sudden-rambling-resignation-from-the-lakers-a-fitting-ending-to-lebron-james-rough-first-season-in-l-a/

the kyrie-celts love fest is also over:

 

https://nypost.com/2019/05/08/kyrie-irving-and-the-knicks-are-officially-on-the-clock/

And the winner of the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery is ... not the New York Knicks!

https://www.nba.com/draft/2019/draft-order

 

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_NBA_draft - here are the lottery probabilities and the actual lottery results:

 

Those who advanced:  New Orleans from 7th to 1st;  Memphis from 8th to 2nd;  LA Lakers from 11th to 4th

Those who fell back:  NY Knicks from 1st to 3rd;  Cleveland from 2nd to 5th;  Phoenix from 3rd to 6th;  Chicago from 4th to 7th;  Atlanta from 5th to 8th;  Washington from 6th to 9th;  Dallas from 9th to 10th;  Minnesota from 10th to 11th

4 hours ago, Columbo said:

And the winner of the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery is ... not the New York Knicks!

 

Too funny!

 

LOL!

 

 

The Finals aren't going the way we expected:

 

-- The Warriors aren't warrioring

-- The Raptors aren't raptoring

 

Because of that, the Raptors are up 2-1 - with KD and Klay questionable to play in a critical nearly must-win Game 4 tomorrow.

 

But despite all that, this incident is getting nearly as much play as the huge upset in the making:  https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26908592/courtside-fan-ejected-shoving-raptors-lowry

7 minutes ago, Columbo said:

The Finals aren't going the way we expected:

 

-- The Warriors aren't warrioring

-- The Raptors aren't raptoring

 

Because of that, the Raptors are up 2-1 - with KD and Klay questionable to play in a critical nearly must-win Game 4 tomorrow.

 

But despite all that, this incident is getting nearly as much play as the huge upset in the making:  https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26908592/courtside-fan-ejected-shoving-raptors-lowry

Hard to believe somebody with court side NBA finals seats would be a douche!

6 hours ago, bumsquare said:

Hard to believe somebody with court side NBA finals seats would be a douche!

 

It turns out that "the shover" wasn't just an ordinary NBA court-side fan.  He was a minority owner of the Warriors!  Now he's been banned from the NBA for one year and fined $500,000 (don't cry too much for him though, his net worth is reportedly $2.3 billion!)

 

nba.com:  Warriors investor banned for one year, fined $500K for Lowry shove

UPDATE: KD is out for Game 4, Klay will play.

 

Also, this offseason is shaping up to be pretty crazy. Big moves for the Lakers, Knicks, Nets, and more.

2 hours ago, Columbo said:

 

It turns out that "the shover" wasn't just an ordinary NBA court-side fan.  He was a minority owner of the Warriors!  Now he's been banned from the NBA for one year and fined $500,000 (don't cry too much for him though, his net worth is reportedly $2.3 billion!)

 

nba.com:  Warriors investor banned for one year, fined $500K for Lowry shove

 

Perfect example of "privilege".

KD was out and Klay was in.  But Klay's stellar 28-point game and Curry's 27 points weren't enough against Kawhi's 36-point game and the rest of the Raptors.  The Raptors take Game 4 - in what might end up being the final NBA game at Oracle Arena - and take the Warriors to the brink.  Game 5 is back in Toronto on Monday.

 

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26924394/when-lights-go-town-warriors-seen-oracle-last

7 hours ago, Columbo said:

KD was out and Klay was in.  But Klay's stellar 28-point game and Curry's 27 points weren't enough against Kawhi's 36-point game and the rest of the Raptors.  The Raptors take Game 4 - in what might end up being the final NBA game at Oracle Arena - and take the Warriors to the brink.  Game 5 is back in Toronto on Monday.

 

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26924394/when-lights-go-town-warriors-seen-oracle-last

I'm not a Raptors fan, but I'm happy to see the Warriors with their backs to the wall. 

The Raptors have out-Warriored the Warriors. This is shaping up to be the end of a dynasty. Kawhi ended the LeBron/Wade/Bosh Heat dynasty (denying them a three-peat) and is on the verge of doing the same thing to GSW five years later.

Edited June 8, 20196 yr by Boxtruffles
m

KD plays in Game 5 (and then leaves early in the 2nd quarter with probable torn achilles tendon!).  Despite KD's injury, the Warriors eke out a one-point victory to force Game 6 back in Oakland on Thursday.

7 minutes ago, Columbo said:

KD plays in Game 5 (and then leaves early in the 2nd quarter with probable torn achilles tendon!).  Despite KD's injury, the Warriors eke out a one-point victory to force Game 6 back in Oakland on Thursday.

I can’t get over that timeout. Inexplicable.

7 hours ago, bumsquare said:

I can’t get over that timeout. Inexplicable.

And lack of timeout with 15 seconds left, down one, with the ball in their hands.

Yeah, there were some pretty terrible coaching decisions made in the final minutes by Toronto. Also, Kyle Lowry completely choked in the final 3 minutes of the game. He bricked a wide open 3, committed a terrible turnover, and had that awful shot at the buzzer. After he committed the turnover, Golden State moved the ball with laser like precision to get Klay the 3 that he nailed, I could tell the game was over then. I actually think Toronto might have blown the series in that moment. I don't see Golden State losing their last ever game at Oracle, and game 7 is always a crap shoot...but I'd be inclined to take the back-to-back champs over the Raps in a game 7.

The Raptors picked the worst time to Raptor. 

15 hours ago, edale said:

had that awful shot at the buzzer

 It was blocked...

2 hours ago, DarkandStormy said:

 It was blocked...

 

Yes, I know. It was a bad play that took the ball out of their best player's hands, and it was also a bad shot. They needed one to tie, two to win and they end up taking a 3 literally at the buzzer? It was a disaster all around. They should have shot it earlier in the clock so they would have had a chance at a rebound/put-back in the case of a miss, and Lowry should have shot differently so as to avoid the block or draw a foul. 

35 minutes ago, edale said:

Yes, I know. It was a bad play that took the ball out of their best player's hands, and it was also a bad shot. They needed one to tie, two to win and they end up taking a 3 literally at the buzzer? It was a disaster all around. They should have shot it earlier in the clock so they would have had a chance at a rebound/put-back in the case of a miss, and Lowry should have shot differently so as to avoid the block or draw a foul. 

 

Sounds like you want it both ways - blame the coaches/Leonard/etc. for forcing Lowry into the situation and also blame Lowry for taking a shot that got blocked at the buzzer.  It was a great defensive play by Green to deny the entry to Gasol and then immediately close out on Lowry.

 

Hindsight is 20/20.

2 hours ago, DarkandStormy said:

 

Sounds like you want it both ways - blame the coaches/Leonard/etc. for forcing Lowry into the situation and also blame Lowry for taking a shot that got blocked at the buzzer.  It was a great defensive play by Green to deny the entry to Gasol and then immediately close out on Lowry.

 

Hindsight is 20/20.

 

Lowry has a long history of choking, including in the second to last possession where he committed a terrible turn over. If you rewatch the final 15 seconds of the game, he had a chance to shoot it as soon as he got the ball. He waited, albeit just a second, and his shot ended up getting blocked. I will definitely acknowledge it was a great defensive play by Green.

Toronto Raptors have one their franchise's first NBA Championship, beating the Warriors in six games. Glad to see someone new win it all! Crazy that both Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant suffered ACL injuries.

15 minutes ago, Mov2Ohio said:

Toronto Raptors have one their franchise's first NBA Championship, beating the Warriors in six games. Glad to see someone new win it all! Crazy that both Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant suffered ACL injuries.

 

Durant suffered a torn Achilles - and the decision to play him in Game 5 will be talked about for the next two decades, if not more, I'm sure.

15 minutes ago, Mov2Ohio said:

Toronto Raptors have one their franchise's first NBA Championship, beating the Warriors in six games. Glad to see someone new win it all! Crazy that both Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant suffered ACL injuries.

Durant was an Achilles’ tendon. Much worse

What's weird is that prior to 2015/2016 time, I liked a lot of the guys on Golden State -> Steph Curry is objectively fun to watch when he's not playing against your team.  Klay Thompson is a world class shooter who can play lock down defense.  I've always like Iguodala and it's hard not to root for Shaun Livingston after his injury.  Still, collectively (and probably in part because of Draymond Green), I can't stand them.  They are cocky and whiny - and whiny in a way that is reminiscent of the Tim Duncan-era Spurs where they seem legitimately shocked by every foul called against them.  There's the tech-bro aura around their fans and ownership.  There's a mythical legend around Steve Kerr's coaching genius...a guy who just happened to luck into two of the best shooters of all-time.  There is the "recruiting" of Kevin Durant after they blew a 3-1 lead (and to me, Durant's legacy is forever tarnished for feeling the need to join the best regular season NBA team in history after his Thunder choked away a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals).  On top of that, they then felt the need to go recruit a top 5 center in Demarcus Cousins.

 

So I'm happy to see what is likely the end of their dynasty (though with Curry they'll stay competitive and maybe even win another 'ship).

6 minutes ago, bumsquare said:

Durant was an Achilles’ tendon. Much worse

 

There are already reports out that he is expected to miss the entire '19-'20 season - that won't stop the free agency offers from coming in, though.  I wonder if he signs his player option and takes the guaranteed money from Golden State while he rehabs.

53 minutes ago, DarkandStormy said:

Still, collectively (and probably in part because of Draymond Green)

Don’t forget Cousins was whiny and constantly flopping every game (off a return from injury). In some ways this is like karma for 2015. But either way, their dynasty is inevitably coming to end.

Glad, and still very shocked to see GSW lose last night. I was sure the Raptors would crash and burn, but KL played just good enough, role guys like VanFleet stepped up big time, Gasol was....there, and Lowery was great and didn’t even get a chance to ruin it at the end.

 

it will be interesting to see how the Warriors bounce back. I had to laugh at one point, after Klay went down I think it was  Van Gundy who said “Golden State has no business still being in this game!!!” 

Um, they still had Steph and Draymond and Cousins, you know, THREE perennial all-star players lol. 

 

 

Edited June 14, 20196 yr by surfohio

8 minutes ago, surfohio said:

Glad, and still very shocked to see GSW lose last night. I was sure the Raptors would crash and burn, but KL played just good enough, role guys like VanFleet stepped up big time, Gasol was....there, and Lowery was great and didn’t even get a chance to ruin it at the end.

 

it will be interesting to see how the Warriors bounce back. I had to laugh at one point, after Klay went down I think it was  Van Gundy who said “Golden State has no business still being in this game!!!” 

Um, they still had Steph and Draymond and Cousins, you know, THREE perennial all-star players lol. 

 

 

It’s hard to think they’ll compete again any time soon. No Klay, no Durant, Dray turning 30 next season, and Curry turning 32 (seems crazy). And obviously they’re capped out, unless they do something crazy like not extend Klay or Durant.

25 minutes ago, surfohio said:

Glad, and still very shocked to see GSW lose last night. I was sure the Raptors would crash and burn, but KL played just good enough, role guys like VanFleet stepped up big time, Gasol was....there, and Lowery was great and didn’t even get a chance to ruin it at the end.

 

it will be interesting to see how the Warriors bounce back. I had to laugh at one point, after Klay went down I think it was  Van Gundy who said “Golden State has no business still being in this game!!!” 

Um, they still had Steph and Draymond and Cousins, you know, THREE perennial all-star players lol. 

 

It was Danny Green who nearly screwed it up this time.

 

Hilarious to watch all the GSW fans complain "but injuries!!" without realizing/acknowledging their first title came against a Love and Kyrie-less Cavaliers.

2 minutes ago, DarkandStormy said:

 

It was Danny Green who nearly screwed it up this time.

 

Hilarious to watch all the GSW fans complain "but injuries!!" without realizing/acknowledging their first title came against a Love and Kyrie-less Cavaliers.

 

Exactly. The Warriors have been incredibly lucky to go into the finals almost completely healthy for the past 4 years. It seems like the Cavs were battling injuries every finals against them while GS was at full health. Their injury luck finally ran out.

 

I also cannot stand the Warriors as an organization. They did a great job drafting and grooming their stars- Draymond, Curry, and Klay. But the way they stacked the deck by adding KD AND Cousins was just ridiculous. It just wasn't fun to watch this all star dominate everyone...it just didn't seem fair or competitive at all. I know Lebron basically started the 'form your own all star team' thing when he went to Miami, but the Warriors took it to a whole new level. KD is a sucker and deserves to be clowned for taking the easy route and going to the Warriors. Same thing with Boogie Cousins. I also find their fans and ownership obnoxious. Very glad to see them lose, and hopefully their dynasty be over. Now it's time for AD to come to join Lebron in LA and get the Lakers back in the mix for a championship. ?

Love it. Can't stand GS. Mostly because of Curry, his mouth piece and Draymond Green.

Edited June 14, 20196 yr by Mildtraumatic

1 hour ago, DarkandStormy said:

 

It was Danny Green who nearly screwed it up this time.

 

Hilarious to watch all the GSW fans complain "but injuries!!" without realizing/acknowledging their first title came against a Love and Kyrie-less Cavaliers.

 

1 hour ago, edale said:

 

Exactly. The Warriors have been incredibly lucky to go into the finals almost completely healthy for the past 4 years. It seems like the Cavs were battling injuries every finals against them while GS was at full health. Their injury luck finally ran out.

 

I also cannot stand the Warriors as an organization. They did a great job drafting and grooming their stars- Draymond, Curry, and Klay. But the way they stacked the deck by adding KD AND Cousins was just ridiculous. It just wasn't fun to watch this all star dominate everyone...it just didn't seem fair or competitive at all. I know Lebron basically started the 'form your own all star team' thing when he went to Miami, but the Warriors took it to a whole new level. KD is a sucker and deserves to be clowned for taking the easy route and going to the Warriors. Same thing with Boogie Cousins. I also find their fans and ownership obnoxious. Very glad to see them lose, and hopefully their dynasty be over. Now it's time for AD to come to join Lebron in LA and get the Lakers back in the mix for a championship. ?

PC Babies.. Spoiled.

ESPN, West coast East Coast elitist crying for Kyrie to join Bron in LA. Didn't cry when he left Cleveland, either of them a matter of fact. I think Kyrie would be a good cast member in Space Jams 2 with Bron as a friendly rivalry though. I think it would be funny more so than casting Klay Thompson.

 

 https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2019/06/this-espn-host-is-begging-kyrie-irving-to-join-lebron-on-the-lakers.html

Edited June 14, 20196 yr by Mildtraumatic

2 hours ago, edale said:

 

Exactly. The Warriors have been incredibly lucky to go into the finals almost completely healthy for the past 4 years. It seems like the Cavs were battling injuries every finals against them while GS was at full health. Their injury luck finally ran out.

 

I also cannot stand the Warriors as an organization. They did a great job drafting and grooming their stars- Draymond, Curry, and Klay. But the way they stacked the deck by adding KD AND Cousins was just ridiculous. It just wasn't fun to watch this all star dominate everyone...it just didn't seem fair or competitive at all. I know Lebron basically started the 'form your own all star team' thing when he went to Miami, but the Warriors took it to a whole new level. KD is a sucker and deserves to be clowned for taking the easy route and going to the Warriors. Same thing with Boogie Cousins. I also find their fans and ownership obnoxious. Very glad to see them lose, and hopefully their dynasty be over. Now it's time for AD to come to join Lebron in LA and get the Lakers back in the mix for a championship. ?

They managed to come back 3-1 against the Durant/Westbrook Thunder in the 2016 WCF (Thunder may have helped them out), Zaza injured Kawhi in Game 1 of the 2017 WCF when the Spurs were UP 20 in the second half (GSW easily came back and swept), and 2018 WCF they were lucky, CP3 injured for all of games 6 & 7. And how lucky is it to have the Rockets miss 27 3's in a row. Even during the semifinals this postseason against the Rockets, when KD went down, Houston expected to easily force Golden State to lay down and get trampled. FWIW, this 2019 run was actually pretty impressive. Their perfect luck finally ran out, and its come full circle since 2015.

https://www.nba.com/article/2019/06/15/report-anthony-davis-lakers

 

The 2019 NBA off-season deals have begun.  The Pelicans will send Anthony Davis to the Lakers in exchange for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round draft picks.  The three first-round picks includes: this year's No. 4 overall selection; a top-eight protected pick in 2021 (which becomes unprotected in 2022 if it does not convey); the right to swap first-round picks with the Lakers in 2023; and an unprotected 2024 first-round pick that New Orleans can defer to 2025.

^ I have a feeling this will be a great trade for both teams. 

^ too bad for the lakers the nba isn't two on two - ha.

 

meanwhile, they say kyrie to the nets.

24 minutes ago, mrnyc said:

^ too bad for the lakers the nba isn't two on two - ha.

 

meanwhile, they say kyrie to the nets.

Ha! Too true. Kyrie to NY’s version of the Clippers is interesting. 

 

Actually the Nets would dream of being as relevant as the Clippers.  

The Pelicans are where the Cavs were a couple years ago with the #1 and #4 in the same draft (then giving us Kyrie and Tristan).  That's the beginning of a strong rebuild for them- and they definitely made out very well with this trade deal.

 

Sports Illustrated's mock draft has us taking De'Andre Hunter- 15.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 52% FG.  Could be a solid pick-up, if we don't trade down.

 

 

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27091050/where-brooklyn-nba-twitter-reacts-nets-landing-kd-kyrie

 

NBA FREE AGENCY:  Hey Knicks Fans, I've got some good news and bad news about KD and Kyrie.

KNICKS FANS:  What's the good news

NBA FREE AGENCY:  They're both coming to NYC.

KNICKS FANS:  Yippee!  Wait, what's the bad news?

NBA FREE AGENCY:  They're going to Brooklyn.

 

^ hmm, well one is out for a year and may never come back, at least as he was. the other is highly injury prone and pouty. it may turn out the knicks were the winner here.

16 hours ago, mrnyc said:

^ hmm, well one is out for a year and may never come back, at least as he was. the other is highly injury prone and pouty. it may turn out the knicks were the winner here.

 

I don't disagree with that assessment.  But its gotten comedic the way the Knicks always seem to make big plans to get better "next year" - only to see those big plans continually fall apart(!)

LA pro basketball just got a whole lot more interesting:

 

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27129474/sources-clippers-land-leonard-george -- First, the L.A. Clippers landed the biggest off-season free-agent Kawhi Leonard, who signed a four-year deal.  Then they acquired Paul George from OKC in a trade that gave four future unprotected first-round picks, one protected first-round pick and two pick swaps to the Thunder for George, who has three years remaining on his current contract.

 

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27134148/lakers-agree-cousins-bring-back-rondo -- The Lakers added DeMarcus Cousins on a one-year deal and Rajon Rondo on a two-year deal to begin fleshing out the LeBron/Unibrow led roster.

Clippers completely punting on drafting for the next half decade is hilarious.  Is Paul George worth that?  I guess most draft picks miss, so...maybe?

 

With all the hype around Westbrook, I didn't even realize Paul George was All-NBA First Team this last season.

 

It seems the era of "Big 3" and "super teams" may be over, intentionally or not, for now.  The Lakers have LeBron and Anthony Davis.  The Clippers will counter that with Kawhi and Paul George.  The Warriors still have Curry & Thompson (when he gets back), to say nothing of Draymond Green.  The Nets will have Kyrie and Durant (at some point).  To the extent that it's another top duo, Houston has Harden and Chris Paul.

 

It looks like a lot of guys are opting for a "Big 2" era, and using the rest of the cap space on better talent around them vs. "Big 3's" and league-minimum talent to fill out the roster.  I'm not really sure who the favorite is of the California teams (the Clippers, maybe?).  Should hopefully make for a more competitive season after the Warriors' dominance the last 4-5 years.

Okay, so as far as Big 2s go...

 

Cavs: Sexton, Garland, Love ?

Nets: Irving, KD (+Jordan)

Celtics: Kemba, Hayward

Nuggets: Murray, Jokic

GSW: Curry, Klay (+Green)

Rockets: Harden, CP3

Clippers: Kawhi, PG13

Lakers: LeBron, AD (+Cousins)

Bucks: Giannis, Middleton

76ers: Embiid, Simmons (+Harris)

Portland: Dame, CJ (+Whiteside)

Spurs: DeRozan, Aldridge

Raptors: Siakam, Lowry

Jazz: Mitchell, Gobert (+Conley)

Mavericks: Doncic, Porzingis

Pistons: Griffin, Drummond (+DRose)

 

perfectly balanced...as all things should be

 

And just a year ago the Warriors has formed a team with FIVE stars (4-5 future HOFers) and there was (seemingly) no hope for any sort of parity throughout the league. 

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27173938/are-rockets-better-pressure-russ-harden-now

 

Quote

The Rockets will send guard Chris Paul, two protected first-round picks (2024 and 2026, both protected Nos. 1-4) and two pick swaps (2021 and 2025) to the Thunder, league sources told ESPN.

 

Rockets send CP3 (and a couple 1st rounders and some swap picks) to the Thunder for Westbrook.  Thunder in full rebuild mode with *a bunch* of picks after jettisoning Paul George and Russell Westbrook.

Lesson here seems to be: you can not criticize thin-skinned China. 

 

Nets owner Joe Tsai weighs in on Rockets GM Daryl Morey’s tweet backing Hong Kong protesters

By Yaron Steinbuch

October 7, 2019

 

Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai says the damage from Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey’s tweet showing support for pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong “will take a long time to repair.”

 

Tsai, co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, said in an open letter posted on his Facebook page that he felt the need to address the matter as someone who had spent his professional life in China.

 

“When I bought controlling interest in the Brooklyn Nets in September, I didn’t expect my first public communication with our fans would be to comment on something as politically charged and grossly misunderstood as the way hundreds of millions of Chinese NBA fans feel about what just happened,” Tsai wrote.

On Friday, Morey tweeted a shout-out to protesters in Hong Kong.

 

“Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong,” Morey wrote in the now-deleted tweet. The Chinese Basketball Association fired back its “strong opposition” to Morey’s “improper remarks regarding Hong Kong.”

 

https://nypost.com/2019/10/07/nets-owner-joe-tsai-rips-rockets-gm-daryl-morey-for-supporting-hong-kong-demonstrators/