NBA 2024-25

Sports media has lost its mind over the Luka trade. Not just that it happened, but that NONE of them had even the slightest whisper it was in play.

Also.....if Luka Doncic can be traded, anything is possible. (Wemby might be the only exception)

I think something is afoot with my Warriors, possibly the return of Kevin Durant. 48 hours till the trade deadline. Crazy things could still happen. 

For the record, I've been following the NBA for 50 years and I still like it. It's no more or less about entertainment and personalities than it ever was. Some great players at the top of their game out there. 

 
Real talk.  :(

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Guy Chamberlin said:
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Also.....if Luka Doncic can be traded, anything is possible. (Wemby might be the only exception)
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Ask Durant, Steph, ANT, Giannis, Embiid, Jokic....  there is NO exception now, all because of this.  

The players are now the property of Owners and aggressive GM's.  The trade spoke volumes about control.  Which was once a players league.  The stars in the league, and all players - hate that this possibility happened.  And they feel bad enough that they won't sleep well at night anymore. The phone might ring. 

 
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admo said:
Ask Durant, Steph, ANT, Giannis, Embiid, Jokic....  there is NO exception now, all because of this.  

The players are now the property of Owners and aggressive GM's.  The trade spoke volumes about control.  Which was once a players league.  The stars in the league, and all players - hate that this possibility happened.  And they feel bad enough that they won't sleep well at night anymore. The phone might ring. 
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Well it was an owners league years ago, too, along with every other professional sport. The players realized just how wealthy the owners were and how much leverage they really had and between aggressive agents and collective bargaining the players gained a lot more control and money across the board.

You didn't mention Jaylynn Brown and Jayson Tatum, but the Celtics are on the hook to them for a half billion dollars. Nobody talks much about Bradley Beal, but the Suns committed so much time and money to him that they're having trouble pulling off any deals. The Mavs move may not seem to make sense, but maybe the max contract Doncic was going to demand after next season didn't make sense, either. The stars (and their agents) still have tons of control, and while nobody weeps for billionaire owners, the salary caps and luxury taxes make it hard to assemble teams with any depth or sustain them for any period of time. And the fans are screaming at these incredibly expensive yet mediocre teams to do something now. 

OKC is a great story, but enjoy it now because that roster of selfless young players will be negotiating max contracts at the same time. 

The Mavs/Lakers trade was an outlier. I don't think it's going to be repeated very often, but ask me again in 24 hours. As wake-up calls go, some think this was actually good for the game. 

 
The Cavs are having a great year.  I was worried LeFlop was going to want to be traded back.  Now, he will stay with the Lakers.  

I will never feel sorry for professional players or owners.  The fans are the losers now.  Especially the Browns fans.  You can't fire the owners.

 
admo said:
Ask Durant, Steph, ANT, Giannis, Embiid, Jokic....  there is NO exception now, all because of this.  

The players are now the property of Owners and aggressive GM's.  The trade spoke volumes about control.  Which was once a players league.  The stars in the league, and all players - hate that this possibility happened.  And they feel bad enough that they won't sleep well at night anymore. The phone might ring. 
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Jimmy Butler just held an entire franchise hostile for 6 weeks so he could play for someone else and get extended.  
 

The reaction doesn’t seem to be ‘this ushers in a new era where superstar players will be moved at will’. Most of the reaction seems to be that Nico Harrison is a moron or the Dallas ownership is scuttling the franchise in order to move to Vegas. 
 

Condolences on this though. Sorry @admo  Mavs fans deserved better 

 
@Guy Chamberlin how you feeling about the Butler move?  I guess the Warriors had to do something.  Not sure what a realistic expectation is for the warriors at this point.  Maybe a six seed is now their ceiling?

 
Jason Sitoke said:
@Guy Chamberlin how you feeling about the Butler move?  I guess the Warriors had to do something.  Not sure what a realistic expectation is for the warriors at this point.  Maybe a six seed is now their ceiling?
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I was worried it was going to be worse. Sorry to loose Wiggins, who for some reason never got treated as the star player he is. Probably because he never complained. Just went out and played at a high and consistent level on both sides of the floor. 

Looks like Butler's leverage had gone down and the demands weren't as high. In addition to Wiggins, the Warriors only gave up the thee one year rental players they just brought in, and nobody from the young core and fan favorites. A bit weird with the other teams involved that the Warriors only got one player while giving up four. Not sure where those extra bodies will come from. They brought a guy up from the G-League last night I'd never heard of. Wonder if they can grab a cheap guard in the next four hours. 

Jimmy Butler has been one of my favorite players for years, but you lose a lot of my respect when you refuse to play, hold a team hostage, and dare to control the team you want traded to. Are we getting Playoff Jimmy Buckets? That would be worth watching, especially if teamed with a healthy Kuminga. But it's also on record that Golden State was a distant second to Jimmy's desire to go to the Suns. Just a weird vibe all around. 

I don't know what's wrong with the Warriors right now. You can say it's a talent issue, but I'm watching the same team that started 12-3 simply missing baskets. Not like they're suddenly facing stellar defenses, you see multiple talented players just clanging shot after shot, including Steph Curry. I totally believe in mojo, and right now they don't have it. Butler himself doesn't seem like the mojo-maker, but maybe the trade itself gets everyone's attention. 

Say, did you know that the Warriors have beaten Oklahoma City two out of three times this season? I'll hang onto that for the moment and hope they can make at least a little noise in the playoffs. Missing the playoffs completely wouldn't be a total surprise. 

 
admo said:
Real talk.  :(



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I may be in the minority, but I think the Mavs might come out better in the short term on this trade. They will have a helluva front line defense and plenty of scorers to split up the shots Luka no longer takes. You also won't be able to judge this trade until you see how the Mavs spend the $350 million they won't be giving Doncic. 

The Lakers love them some superstars, but it's a chemistry thing. They were good when Anthony Davis was healthy, mediocre when LeBron was on his own. Not everyone blends with Luka's one man game, so the Lakers may still be a work-in-progress. And how will LeBron James react to sharing a court with the only player who whines to the refs more than he does? 

 
Jason Sitoke said:
Jimmy Butler just held an entire franchise hostile for 6 weeks so he could play for someone else and get extended.  
 

The reaction doesn’t seem to be ‘this ushers in a new era where superstar players will be moved at will’. Most of the reaction seems to be that Nico Harrison is a moron or the Dallas ownership is scuttling the franchise in order to move to Vegas. 
 

Condolences on this though. Sorry @admo  Mavs fans deserved better 
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Thanks.  Dallas fans are feeling it.  As Kyrie said "I miss my hermano" 

Guy Chamberlin said:
I may be in the minority, but I think the Mavs might come out better in the short term on this trade. They will have a helluva front line defense and plenty of scorers to split up the shots Luka no longer takes. You also won't be able to judge this trade until you see how the Mavs spend the $350 million they won't be giving Doncic. 

The Lakers love them some superstars, but it's a chemistry thing. They were good when Anthony Davis was healthy, mediocre when LeBron was on his own. Not everyone blends with Luka's one man game, so the Lakers may still be a work-in-progress. And how will LeBron James react to sharing a court with the only player who whines to the refs more than he does? 
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I will root for them both - Lakers & DAL

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
I may be in the minority, but I think the Mavs might come out better in the short term on this trade. They will have a helluva front line defense and plenty of scorers to split up the shots Luka no longer takes. You also won't be able to judge this trade until you see how the Mavs spend the $350 million they won't be giving Doncic. 

The Lakers love them some superstars, but it's a chemistry thing. They were good when Anthony Davis was healthy, mediocre when LeBron was on his own. Not everyone blends with Luka's one man game, so the Lakers may still be a work-in-progress. And how will LeBron James react to sharing a court with the only player who whines to the refs more than he does? 
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For my team (Nuggets) specifcally...I'm definitely more afraid of the Dallas matchup than I am the Lakers at this point.  That front line is big and physical, and AD can now play the 4 regularly.  They definitely need to build some chemistry, but if they find something offensively...could be scary.

 
Jason Sitoke said:
For my team (Nuggets) specifcally...I'm definitely more afraid of the Dallas matchup than I am the Lakers at this point.  That front line is big and physical, and AD can now play the 4 regularly.  They definitely need to build some chemistry, but if they find something offensively...could be scary.
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Now that you mention it, the Nuggets seem like a team that could have used one more cog for a playoff push. Didn't hear of any Denver transactions. Did they stand pat?

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
Now that you mention it, the Nuggets seem like a team that could have used one more cog for a playoff push. Didn't hear of any Denver transactions. Did they stand pat?
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They did nothing.  GM is a moron that has wasted all his 2nd round picks to dump bad contracts that he negotiated....while being unable to dump REALLY bad contracts that he also negotiated.  Nuggets were recently ranked 30 out of 30 teams in terms of tradable assets.  He's been a disaster since the title year, failing to improve anything around the margins.  In a way I'm happy he didn't do anything since he likely would've gotten fleeced into giving up valuable players.  Hopefully the franchise moves on from him after this year.

 
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