NBA 2020 Offseason Thread

On a side note, am I the only one praying that Harden actually manages to get himself traded to the Nets?

I need to see that team with Durant, Kyrie and Harden. And I say that as someone who has watched "The Room" a half-dozen times and can recite most of the dialogue from "Plan 9 From Outer Space."

The unintentional comedy of those three playing for a guy who has never coached on any level would be worth NBA Season Pass all by itself.

 

Simmons brings this up all the time for his horrible proposed trades, but the "matching salaries" thing in the NBA is a catch 22 for most of these deals, in that one team always seems to be getting like 75 cents or less on the dollar. Your choice is usually acquiring a worse player or players with a better contract, with draft picks to sweeten the deal, depending on how bad the players or the contracts involved are. You can't just do a straight "star for prospects" trade like in baseball usually.

As far as OKC, I think they'll be fine. They lost Durant in 2016... and have since won 47, 48, 49 and 44 games, while still acquiring a bunch of future assets. I'm a Boston fan, so yeah, people shit on Ainge for not turning all of the assets in that True One Superstar. And likewise, Philly has gotten shit for doing The Process. But they've had plans and stuck to them, and been rewarded by at least making the playoffs a bunch of years and been marginal contenders. In contrast, look at how lost teams like Charlotte and Orlando and New York have been in the same time span. There's value in being "pretty good," as long as you're not getting into Atlanta Hawks territory, and just happy to make the playoffs every year with 40 to 45 wins. (And, when it comes to Boston, OKC and Philly, you can argue that they've each made good faith efforts to go for it in various ways, instead of just standing pat.)

 

Paul was fantastic for the Rockets and overachieved for the Thunder. At this point his salary is going to prevent him from being one of the final two pieces but he’s a hell of a player still.

 

Absolutely! Plus they play on the coolest court in the NBA so the more they're on TV, the better.

 

What are the Suns going to do with Chris Paul that they haven't done already? Isn't Paul pretty much going from one losing situation to another one?

 

I love that grey court.

What are the Suns going to do with Chris Paul that they haven't done already?

Make the playoffs, for starters.

He's a massive upgrade at the point for a team that needed veteran leadership.

 

Rubio provided veteran leadership and professionalism, unfortunately he doesn't shoot very well (which I saw in person pre-COVID).

 

“Attention please. Now playing the role of the SLC Jazz as a mid-teir playoff opponent is the PHX Suns.”

 

Maybe, but Booker and Ayton are both young enough to get better. And obviously, Paul can sometimes wear on teammates, but it's not hard to see a scenario where he significantly helps them. That can mean simply because he's more of a threat than Rubio, and opens up the offense more for Booker and Ayton, or because he's getting a bit more buy-in from them when it comes to defense.

The other thing - Right now the West has the Lakers on top, but LeBron has to slowdown at some point. (I think. I mean, maybe he is superhuman.) After them, though, you could order most of the other teams that were in the playoffs from 2 to 8, and I wouldn't be surprised. The Rockets seem headed for chaos. The Clippers shat all over themselves in the playoffs. Denver seems promising but also a player away, whether they need to add someone or Porter develops into a third cog. The Jazz were better on paper in 2020 than in reality. The Pelicans seem on the rise, but also highly dependent on Zion staying healthy and developing properly.

 

Plus they have the 10th pick in the draft -- hit well on that and its a solid nucleus that can at least chase a playoff spot. I don't think they are good enough to get there because the West is so brutal but they went 34-39 in a 73-game schedule by ending 8-0. Adding Paul and the pick plus whatever else they do, I think flipping that to say 38-34 is more than doable

 

They only missed the playoffs by a half-game last season. Out of the teams ahead of them the Grizzlies and Thunder are iffy propositions and the Rockets are imploding. It's a tough conference but I think they'll be in.

(I wouldn't count on much from the 10 pick. It's a brutally weak draft and the Suns botch the pick horribly every year.)

 

The problem is a healthy Golden State gets one of those spots and I think the Pelicans will get one as well. I also think Memphis is good enough to sneak over the line.

And while they missed by a half-game, it took a crazy bubble push where I'm sure not a whole lot of people took it seriously, but they do get credit for making that push.