2014-2015 NBA Regular Season Thread Part II

[Pitt Gorilla]

Now with more Rustshack!

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by lcarus

Well I guess I can only root for a few things this season, since Orlando ****ing sucks again. I guess I could root for them to get things together enough to nab that awful 7 or 8 seed in the weak weak EC, but screw that. I'd rather them get another high lottery pick and continue to build that way. In the meantime, I guess I'll root for the Warriors and Thunder. If they face eachother, I'll just hope for a good series and be happy when either is victorious.

Well, the bottom half of the EC is weak. The top half will be pretty damn good this year.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I mean, we can blame the offense, but the fact is he is missing open shots at an alarming rate. It's not like teams are blanketing him.

Another thing that really bothers me about LeBron. I've never seen a player with this much sway to do a front office job. And honestly, he ****ing sucks at it. As much as people want to point fingers at the cavs' previous front office for not surrounding him with players, keep in mind that lbj was influencing the same damn way the first time around.

The love trade should have never, never been made.

What makes you think that an organization who spent #1 on Anthony Bennett and #4 on Dion Waiters is competent? How can you toss this all at the feet of LeBron?

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

What makes you think that an organization who spent #1 on Anthony Bennett and #4 on Dion Waiters is competent? How can you toss this all at the feet of LeBron?

It's not the same organization. Griffin has done a good job when you consider what Lebron has forced him to do. I don't think he had any choice but to follow Lebron's wishes to trade for Love, and he pulled it off. The Love trade left the Cavs with some critical roster gaps that I called out before the season even began, which was a quality wing defender and a rim protector. And the Cavs had ridiculously terrible trade chips to get them. Even worse, the Love trade left the Cavs in a desperate win now situation. With that in mind, a trade for Shumpert and Mozgov is pretty damn good considering the circumstances.

I don't toss all of it on Lebron. The Cavs with Lebron are obviously miles better than without him. It's hard to complain when you have a much better team than what you could build otherwise. But there are a lot of things Lebron is doing right now that bother the shit out of me. Playing GM is one of them. The second is his horrendous body language and half-ass public endorsements of his coach. Shit has to stop.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

It's not the same organization. Griffin has done a good job when you consider what Lebron has forced him to do. I don't think he had any choice but to follow Lebron's wishes to trade for Love, and he pulled it off. The Love trade left the Cavs with some critical roster gaps that I called out before the season even began, which was a quality wing defender and a rim protector. And the Cavs had ridiculously terrible trade chips to get them. Even worse, the Love trade left the Cavs in a desperate win now situation. With that in mind, a trade for Shumpert and Mozgov is pretty damn good considering the circumstances.

I don't toss all of it on Lebron. The Cavs with Lebron are obviously miles better than without him. It's hard to complain when you have a much better team than what you could build otherwise. But there are a lot of things Lebron is doing right now that bother the shit out of me. Playing GM is one of them. The second is his horrendous body language and half-ass public endorsements of his coach. Shit has to stop.

LeBron forced him? LOL. He's the GM and can do whatever he needs to do.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

LeBron forced him? LOL. He's the GM and can do whatever he needs to do.

Do you really, actually believe that?

Lebron has leverage. Because if the GM does whatever he needs to do and Lebron doesn't agree, Lebron can just leave. He made sure of that by negotiating a contract that has an out clause.

Unless you're suggesting that losing Lebron is an option... and that would be just crazy.

[KevB]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Here's an interesting trade scenario. The cavs basically traded Wiggins, Bennett, waiters, three first round picks, and two scrubs for love, shumpert, JR Smith, and mozgov.

If you don't trade for love, you don't need shumpert. You now have 10 mil in cap space, 3 first round picks, and waiters to trade for a rim protector. And you don't have to take on JR smith's lousy 6m contract. The cavs would then have draft picks to build bench depth and a really nice cap situation going into 2016. And you know what? They would be a better team even counting the fact that Wiggins would need time to develop.

What team recently won a ring relying on a bunch of young guys? They tried to put more vets around LeBron because that's what wins championships.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by KevB

What team recently won a ring relying on a bunch of young guys? They tried to put more vets around LeBron because that's what wins championships.

And the Cavs could have done that without trading for Love. Why do you need another max contract veteran? What they needed were veterans who can play defense and true rim protectors down low. And they needed depth to at least give Kyrie and Lebron a chance to rest. I said before that Wiggins was an unbelievably good fit -- good wing defender, doesn't need to shoot the ball all the time which is great for a team getting used to sharing the ball.

[mcaj22]

that money will free up anyway when Love departs in FA this summer lol

[Rudy tossed tigger's salad]

Rondo with 2 points on 11 shots. Efficiency

[KevB]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

And the Cavs could have done that without trading for Love. Why do you need another max contract veteran? What they needed were veterans who can play defense and true rim protectors down low. And they needed depth to at least give Kyrie and Lebron a chance to rest. I said before that Wiggins was an unbelievably good fit -- good wing defender, doesn't need to shoot the ball all the time which is great for a team getting used to sharing the ball.

But that's not what you said, you were touting having young guys and picks to build the roster. And Wiggins development this year could be directly attributed to playing on a team that needed him to be assertive --- I think that's been really good for him. Who knows what he does on the Cavs.

I get the frustration with Love --- this team was going to win offensively this year if it was going to win. Kyrie and Love are both awful defensively.

[Mother****erJones]

Pau! 46 & 18

[Rudy tossed tigger's salad]

Originally Posted by Mother****erJones

Pau! 46 & 18

Kobe tried hard to kill his career.

[GoChargers]

Originally Posted by Mother****erJones

Pau! 46 & 18

The same Pau who got run out of LA by Kobrick and his stans for being "too soft." SMH, no gratitude for the guy who carried Kobrick to two more rings.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by KevB

But that's not what you said, you were touting having young guys and picks to build the roster. And Wiggins development this year could be directly attributed to playing on a team that needed him to be assertive --- I think that's been really good for him. Who knows what he does on the Cavs.

I get the frustration with Love --- this team was going to win offensively this year if it was going to win. Kyrie and Love are both awful defensively.

No it isn't what I said. In fact, even before the Love trade was made I bitched that Love doesn't do anything to solve the Cavs' biggest issues: a wing defender, a rim protector, and quality depth.

Kevin Love solved none of that. And ta-daaaaaaa guess what? The Cavs desperately spend the past few weeks looking for... you guessed it. A rim protector and a wing defender.

The Cavs could have kept Wiggins, traded for a veteran rim protector, and still had leftover cap money and trade chips to bring in more veterans. Then next year, they'd have several first round picks to add bench depth.

And guess who was the one who called it before the Love trade was made that Love was going to make this team a defensive disaster? I called it early on that the Love trade was a shitty idea and it looks like I've been right about it.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Do you really, actually believe that?

Lebron has leverage. Because if the GM does whatever he needs to do and Lebron doesn't agree, Lebron can just leave. He made sure of that by negotiating a contract that has an out clause.

Unless you're suggesting that losing Lebron is an option... and that would be just crazy.

It is clearly an option. You can't absolve the GM of blame when he's the one making the choices.