2023-24 Running NBA thread

Hmmm. Wonder what player he has in mind for such an honor.

 

Pocketed the proceeds of the real estate sale.

 

The Warriors minus Draymond are an entirely different team that plays with the joy and creativity that was the hallmark of their championship years.

 

Presumably if they move, the Pistons would spend a couple seasons as a tenant of either the Golden Knights or UNLV, in Vegas, or the Kraken in Seattle. (Or theoretically the Ducks in Anaheim.)
The Vegas market could probably sustain the construction of a separate 20,000 seat arena for the Pistons -- Las Vegas draws enough concert and convention business to keep two and maybe three arenas busy all year. Seattle might be a different deal.

 

There is absolutely zero chance the NBA allows anyone to relocate to Vegas or Seattle. Not happening.

And there is no reason for the Pistons to move regardless. That shit team is still drawing nearly 18k a night.

 

A few Nikola Jokic observations having seen him in person for the first time:

1. He seems like a delightful teammate. He engages with every Nuggets player, coach and even officials in the warmups. Little fist-bumps, joking with them. Jovial.

2. Just him playing tonight was something. The end of a road trip, the second of a back-to-back and against a bad team. Yet he was there and the last to leave the early pregame warmup. He's played 29 of 30 games this year.

3. He wasn't great tonight...but he was still great. Writers report how Steph Curry has a gravity to him that morphs defenses. Jokic has a similar gravity. When he gets the ball at the top of the key, defenses panic because they don't know what he's going to do and because he's a step ahead of them. And if he gets the ball anywhere within 10 feet of the rim, it's over. It's a bucket.

4. He didn't have a great game and he still had 18 points, 10 boards and nine assists. And he made two critical buckets and two foul shots and blocked a shot when Charlotte was making a BIG run in the 4th quarter with a decent crowd into it.

5. He's utterly calm on the floor, especially the offensive end. No rush. No panic. Smooth. You can see his brain working to solve the puzzle. Simply...calm.

6. Jamal Murray made a nice move in the paint, spun and scored off a Jokic high post pass late. Murray actually could've found an open Jokic for a 3, but scored instead. Jokic raised his hand to Murray with a thumbs up gesture before returning to the defensive end. So, so cool.

He's a basketball genius. Seeing that for 30 bucks off Stubhub was a serious treat and my best Christmas present to myself in a long time. I won't miss him again.

 

The announced attendance is bullshit. They're averaging maybe 8,000 butts in seats.

 

They aren’t moving them.

 

I was in Detroit a few years ago, downtown was barely alive. I’d celebrate him moving back than criticizing him for that.

As for calling fans ridiculous, it’s true. You’re the owner of a billion dollar franchise, would you sell because some fans said so? Not me. Next question would be my response. Yet he gave a decent answer.

He could be Donald Fisher just running it on the cheap. He’s not.

 

But only went for 18/10/9.

 

Update: The Suns actually fucking suck, and they'll be lucky to make the play-in. The revisionist history on the KD trade will not be kind.