2020-2021 NBA Regular Season thread

While I understand what he's saying... that contract can't be moved. I mean, not even the Knicks are that stupid. Remember awesome, athletic, Lob City Blake Griffin? This year in 626 minutes he has two blocks and zero dunks. He's barely even a shell of what he used to be.

The Pistons have two choices: keep him around eating up minutes from young guys the front office is invested in while simultaneously killing the offense, or buy him out and let him go. You already set the money on fire. You don't need to compound that previous regime's mistake by keeping him on the team.

He can go sign a minimum contract somewhere else and try to get back on track somehow. He's probably worth the minimal risk to a contender that could use forward depth. But that contract? Never. You will not move that.

 

I’m sure the Pistons tried to package Griffin and Derrick Rose to the Knicks
After the Knicks quit laughing they made the deal for Rose
One problem
The Pistons finally got rid of the Josh Smith contract this year after stretching him
Weaver takes over and one of the first things he does is acquire Dwayne Dedmon JUST to release and stretch him
No way they can stretch Griffin’s deal
Not only has he lost his athleticism he isn’t making 3s either

 

The NBAPA wouldn’t shit a brick if Griffin decided to give up money?

For fucking sure the MLBPA would if a baseball player was asked to give back salary.

Either way, if I’m Griffin, I wouldn’t give back one cent.

 

I don't even think that's an option, is it? Like, I was under the impression he could give it back by retiring, but that's it. And the unions smartly insist upon that, because otherwise, a bunch of management and ownership situations would morph into misery, trying to get the players out with miserable behavior.

Griffin's contract is moveable, but only if you want to take an equally shitty contract back and/or bundle it with other assets. He's got this year at $36M and next year at $39M (player option that I'm gonna guess he picks up). Russell Westbrook's deal runs the same length - he probably has as much awful baggage as Griffin, just different baggage. Kemba Walker is signed through 2023, as is Kevin Love - maybe those teams want to do a swap, just to get off a contract quicker, and then Detroit can try moving those contracts instead. (None of these are "good" trades, more of the "your shit for my shit" variety.)

 

There's a key difference in all of those other deals. Westbrook, Walker and Love can play. They are overpaid for what they produce at this stage but they can play.

At his current performance level Blake Griffin is not worth a veteran's minimum. If he's released someone will take that low-risk chance that he can produce to an acceptable level in a new setting, but his contract is a disaster far beyond any of those other guys.

I can't imagine how many first round picks they'd have to throw in to make that worthwhile for someone.

 

The sad thing about it is he was playing as well as he ever had and his reward was to carry the Pistons into a playoff series where they were swept by the Bucks
Griffin got hurt near the end of the regular season and he’s never been the same since

 

Lol C's and Trae with 40.

 

As someone said on Reddit, it's a good win for the 12-16 Hawks.

 

The 24 points for Clint Capela is more damning for the Cs, TBH

 

I get that the C's made the ECF last year (bizarre season that it was) but they don't seem like they are where they should be?

Wasn't it a few years ago when they were super young but really good and on the rise, and then they stockpiled a bunch of 1st-round picks thru deft trades?

And everyone was singing Danny Ainge's praises for being such a great GM etc etc.

And this confluence of them being young and good with high-end draft power for years to come would make them a superpower for a long time?

Doesn't seem like any of that is happening. Just a #hottake but whatever.

 

Well, as a Celtics fan... I think this whole era has kind of shown how friggin' hard it is to win in the NBA if you don't have a Top 5 player. Teams with Curry, LeBron or Leonard have won the last nine championships. With hindsight, it's easy to say "well the Celtics should have went all-in on Leonard" or "maybe Kyrie wasn't the right fit" (which overlooks that Thomas was completely cooked but whatever). And hell, maybe the Celtics *do* manage a championship if their most prominent free agent signing doesn't suffer a horrific ankle / foot explosion in his first regular season game with the team.

But the Celtics have managed to stay pretty competitive - six straight years in the playoffs, and 12 of the past 13 years - while transitioning from one core to another core, and they still have plenty of options going forward. There are probably a dozen fan bases that would gladly swap places with the Celtics, and probably not a dozen that wouldn't want that swap.

 

- They progressed ahead of schedule due to the Hayward injury (Brown and Tatum don't shoulder the load nearly as much otherwise) so they easily get a pass for the last two years. Those teams ended ugly but they exited at a reasonable time.

- Lots of bad luck. I think people knew Kyrie was mercurial but he was more of a head case than anyone anticipated. They gave up nothing for him, though. The Hayward injury killed them for two years. Last year he started to look more like himself but too little, too late. Kemba's knee makes one wonder how he passed a physical.

- Odd team chemistry. Tatum's Kobe act his 2nd and 3rd years didn't do them any favors. Smart is their best leader, defender, and passer. They cannot win without him. He is also a poor shooter who shoots too often and when you least want him to. Jaylen Brown has worked himself into becoming their most consistent player but is still second banana to Tatum (HE'S ONLY 19!!!1!!). Their high-priced FA is often injured and did not show well in the playoffs. A pylon on defense and didn't have the offense to atone for it. Their former big-ticket guy, Al Horford, had some tough stretches and even when he was playing at his best, was never *the* guy to take a team to the promised land.

- The bench is loaded with rotation players, but their 6th and 7th guys are really 8th guys on a contender. Imagine if Peyton Pritchard wasn't contributing. YIKES.

- Center is a problem. The Warriors model of [insert dude here] at center doesn't work anymore. Too many good bigs in the league now. To @Cosmo 's point, they gave up 24 to Clint Capela.