2023-24 Around the NBA Thread

[Hoop Head]

It was widely reported that Dallas were shopping Williams. Not sure why. And curry never plays. In all the games I’ve watched I’ve yet to see curry on the court this season for Dallas. I’m giving the benefit of the doubt to Dallas for the trade. Hopefully they can add dinwiddie as well. He seemed to fit in well with Dallas before and he would find himself farther down the depth chart this time.

Dallas got a D from ESPN for their Williams trade. I was surprised by that. Washington and Williams are very similar players and while Washington is a RFA this summer, he's likely to make as much as Williams was and it's not like Dallas has money to spend elsewhere. Since they gave up a 1st for him they need to retain him.

 

[Cheesebeef]

OG Anunoby had surgery, deemed successful, to remove a loose bone fragment from his right elbow. He will be reevaluated in three weeks.

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Ouch.

 

[Phrazbit]

Dallas got a D from ESPN for their Williams trade. I was surprised by that. Washington and Williams are very similar players and while Washington is a RFA this summer, he's likely to make as much as Williams was and it's not like Dallas has money to spend elsewhere. Since they gave up a 1st for him they need to retain him.

There are a bunch of articles today saying that Williams rubbed people in the locker room the wrong way.

Luka seems… difficult.

 

[Chaplin]

There are a bunch of articles today saying that Williams rubbed people in the locker room the wrong way.

Luka seems… difficult.

This is almost certainly because Luka had problems with him.

 

[Mainstreet]

I’ve heard Dallas are pursuing him as well. Jason Kidd alluded to the Mavericks getting a third player which has some people thinking he was talking about Dinwiddie. I guess Dallas didn’t have 3 first round picks to give up to get Finney-Smith.

Dinwiddie should help Dallas if he goes there. Finney-Smith is not worth those type of assets.

 

[95pro]

There are a bunch of articles today saying that Williams rubbed people in the locker room the wrong way.

Luka seems… difficult.

Not surprising, on Williams, the guy is a d-bag on the court and it probably carried over to other areas.

I was surprised the Celtics moved him because he seemed like a good fit there, and they received two 2nd round picks for him.

 

[Mainstreet]

There are a bunch of articles today saying that Williams rubbed people in the locker room the wrong way.

Luka seems… difficult.

Grant Williams style of play rubbed me the wrong way, not that I wouldn't want him on the Suns.

 

[Mainstreet]

I found this tidbit about Grant Williams time in Dallas.

JMHO, if the shoes fit, let him wear them.

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[Brian in Mesa]

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[Mainstreet]

The Pacers acquiring Doug McDermott for a 2nd round pick was a good move IMO.

They have improved their team a lot.

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[Hoop Head]

It was widely reported that Dallas were shopping Williams. Not sure why. And curry never plays. In all the games I’ve watched I’ve yet to see curry on the court this season for Dallas. I’m giving the benefit of the doubt to Dallas for the trade. Hopefully they can add dinwiddie as well. He seemed to fit in well with Dallas before and he would find himself farther down the depth chart this time.

It will be interesting if Dinwiddie goes to Dallas. He was there before and played well. He's the sort of guard that works well with Luka, a secondary playmaker who can knock down shots and move without the ball. However we've all heard that Luka isn't fun to play with. If Spencer goes back there for the minimum maybe that "Luka is a bad teammate stuff is overblown" to some extent.

 

[Lorenzo]

Dinwiddie should help Dallas if he goes there. Finney-Smith is not worth those type of assets.

Yeah I can’t believe that the nets allegedly turned down two first round picks for Finney-Smith last year.

 

[Mainstreet]

Yeah I can’t believe that the nets allegedly turned down two first round picks for Finney-Smith last year.

I'm not sure if he is much better than Royce O'Neal.

 

[Lorenzo]

It will be interesting if Dinwiddie goes to Dallas. He was there before and played well. He's the sort of guard that works well with Luka, a secondary playmaker who can knock down shots and move without the ball. However we've all heard that Luka isn't fun to play with. If Spencer goes back there for the minimum maybe that "Luka is a bad teammate stuff is overblown" to some extent.

It seems difficult to believe that people would not want to play with doncic. Luka creates open shots all over the court. But you never know. I do know that Luka and kristaps did not get on well in those days. They haven’t really said anything specific, but you could tell there was tension and kristaps has alluded to that in recent interviews. It was weird how Carlisle rarely played kristaps and Brunson in the playoffs right before he got fired. Then we saw what Brunson did the next year when he was featured.

Between Luka and Williams it’s a no brainer to side with Luka if they aren’t getting along. the main issue still with Luka and Dallas is at the defensive end. Which is why the took a gamble on grant Williams in the first place.

 

[SirStefan32]

I'm not sure if he is much better than Royce O'Neal.

He is significantly better defensively. Royce is good, but DFS is outstanding. Not as good of a shooter, but more flexible offensively.

 

[Russ Smith]

no idea if true but interesting. Draymond says he thinks part of why Steph exploded against the Pacers was based on how the Pacers reacted after beating the Warriors last year. Nembhard had a career high 31 in a game and after the game the young Pacers were talking "mad trash" about how the Warriors were too old and we're the future etc. They beat us again and did the same thing. He said Steph took that personally.

Steph went through a pretty clear slump, still put up numbers but shooting %'s were down, that slump appears to be over. He's had some low scoring games in blowouts where they took him out early but in his last 10 games he's had a 60, 2 40's and 2 30's and in 7 of those 10 games he's over 40% from 3.

Phoenix has traditionally defended him well will be interesting to see how it goes tonight.

 

[Mainstreet]

Spencer Dinwiddie plans to sign with the Lakers.

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[Mainstreet]

The Grizzlies waive Chimezie Metu formerly of the Suns.

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[GatorAZ]

It seems difficult to believe that people would not want to play with doncic. Luka creates open shots all over the court. But you never know. I do know that Luka and kristaps did not get on well in those days. They haven’t really said anything specific, but you could tell there was tension and kristaps has alluded to that in recent interviews. It was weird how Carlisle rarely played kristaps and Brunson in the playoffs right before he got fired. Then we saw what Brunson did the next year when he was featured.

Between Luka and Williams it’s a no brainer to side with Luka if they aren’t getting along. the main issue still with Luka and Dallas is at the defensive end. Which is why the took a gamble on grant Williams in the first place.

Luka is a top-5 player in the league if you’re asking anyone that’s not a Suns fans. I think his constant whining and body language is all time bad though. Book doesn’t it too but to a lesser degree and doesn’t get Luka’s whistle.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Luka is a top-5 player in the league if you’re asking anyone that’s not a Suns fans. I think his constant whining and body language is all time bad though. Book doesn’t it too but to a lesser degree and doesn’t get Luka’s whistle.

Really? I think he's clearly a top 5 player and probably the best offensive weapon in the game. And I know he's well despised by Suns fans but I didn't think we viewed him (as a player) differently than fans in general do.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Really? I think he's clearly a top 5 player and probably the best offensive weapon in the game. And I know he's well despised by Suns fans but I didn't think we viewed him (as a player) differently than fans in general do.

You’d think after he essentially whipped the best Suns team ever singlehandedly that would be the case, but we still see plenty of people saying he’s overrated here.

 

[Raindog]

You’d think after he essentially whipped the best Suns team ever singlehandedly that would be the case, but we still see plenty of people saying he’s overrated here.

Both things can be true - he is a great player AND he is overrated. There is a lot of evidence that he is NOT a great team guy, and he seems more focused on stat stuffing than winning. Personally, I wouldn't at all be surprised if his career mostly ends up paralleling that of James Harden.

 

[GatorAZ]

You’d think after he essentially whipped the best Suns team ever singlehandedly that would be the case, but we still see plenty of people saying he’s overrated here.

We’ve had some great playoff villains in the west over the years; Duncan, Kobe, Dirk, Ginobili, Luka.,, Shame that WCF vs Curry never happened.

 

[Cheesebeef]

We’ve had some great playoff villains in the west over the years; Duncan, Kobe, Dirk, Ginobili, Luka.,, Shame that WCF vs Curry never happened.

Man… if we were actually playing up to or close to our 2022 peak against that Warriors team in the WCF, it would have been one for the ages. Something like that Kings/Lakers seven game epic back in 2002.

 

[Phrazbit]

It seems difficult to believe that people would not want to play with doncic. Luka creates open shots all over the court. But you never know. I do know that Luka and kristaps did not get on well in those days. They haven’t really said anything specific, but you could tell there was tension and kristaps has alluded to that in recent interviews. It was weird how Carlisle rarely played kristaps and Brunson in the playoffs right before he got fired. Then we saw what Brunson did the next year when he was featured.

Between Luka and Williams it’s a no brainer to side with Luka if they aren’t getting along. the main issue still with Luka and Dallas is at the defensive end. Which is why the took a gamble on grant Williams in the first place.

He is a phenomenal player, I don't doubt his talent but he doesn't look like a fun dude to play alongside. He dominates the ball like no other player in the league, whines constantly, will show up his teammates when they make mistakes and has a really bad habit of glaring at his teammates for defensive lapses that are often clearly Luka's fault.

He ran Carlisle out of town, Kristaps out of town, Grant Williams (although, Williams sucks to be fair), Brunson didn't give the Mavs a chance to compete to keep him in free agency.

You also never hear rumblings about players trying to force their way to play along side him. Dudes are forcing their way to both LA teams, Miami, Phoenix, Brookyln, Philly. I get the impression he is not well liked around the league.

Easily one of the best players in the league, but I think between his play style and his attitude, it puts somewhat of a ceiling on how good his actual teams can be. If he were to hand over the reigns a bit on offense, allow for more ball movement and either be better on defense or at least act somewhat accountable, it would help.