RedDawg#8

Makes the Chicago game more of a toss up. I hope they can still pull it off. They should be pushing hard to finish #1 in the East and the Nets are clipping at their heels, hopefully Doc has them ready even without their big 2

well there you go. They will still play hard, but this is sort of a softball to open up the 2nd half of the season. We need to capitalize. There was no reason we should have been down 19 to Orlando the other night. Come out ready to play!

I can see something like that, I'm hoping for 2 more wins (24-12) and finish with 40 wins overall. I can also see us finishing around .500 at 36-36. I think that's our range, 36 to 40 wins. I'd love to get Boston in the playoffs, as I think they can really be had this year. I don't want the 76ers or Nets. Milwaukee could be on upset alert too this postseason, their best is behind them.

Don't sleep on Toronto out of the gate. They are much better lately and rounding in to form. A win against them would launch us 3 spots likely. Bulls are playing 76ers and Pacers are playing Lakers. A win combined with losses by Pacers/Bulls and we would be locked in a 3 way tie with Raps and Bulls, with Pacers now on the outside at 11th Knicks have the Bucks, Hornets have the Pistons. We wont catch either this week.

All we got to do is win. Just win baby!

I wouldn't take too much stock in to some random youtuber's opinion.

I agree. I don't want to lose him because he is still getting better and better each year, with no real weakness anymore other than cant defend centers. I am anxious to see what Nate can pull out of him if he decided to make JC a more prominent focus of the offense or not. Dre and Clint both cut in to the things John does well, so his counting numbers take a hit. (His production bounced right back after Dre went down). But you look at him and see a versatile and efficient, inside and out PF with great character and marketability.

I would agree, however, my fear is someone will get desperate as this FA class is pretty weak. It sets up JC for an overpay for sure, but likely by some scrub team. He will likely choose between taking less than 117 for a playoff team (which hopefully includes us) or taking as much as he can get to play for Detroit or Minny or someone in that range. A happy medium would be like 26 per year, 4yr 104, something like that.

My feeling is it was much more to do with performance than anything. The players attitude towards the coach was just one symptom for the poor on court results, as well injuries, chemistry issues, decision making, etc... I think Schlenk looked hard at how we were performing, how we were losing, and who we were losing to, and realized that injuries or not, we were a team with much higher expectations than our results. The timing to me was strictly about salvaging a season that had been steadily slipping out of reach. Everything we wanted was still in front of us, but even as guys were coming back and getting comfortable, we were not competing the way could. Schlenk was patient when we lost 6 of 7 early. He forgave when we lost 7 of 8 in February. I think getting blown out by OKC basically, and getting our teeth kicked in against Miami game 1, Schlenk realized he could not sit back and allow another extended losing streak to occur. He wanted to set Nate up for success by giving him time before the break and during to prepare for the 2nd half of the season. I think if LP had won against OKC and Miami, he would still be here. If we were .500 at the break, that would have been ok. But we were 6 games under, and looking like we could drop the last 2 games and go 14-22. TS had to something. Whether the players loved LP or not, we were not performing the way we needed to, to reach the goals we ALL agreed to before the season. Conversely; if the players hated LP but we were winning, he would still be here. It's always about results.

Facts. You see how fast the Warriors dynasty ended after Chelsea lane came to Atlanta and Klay and KD suffered long term injuries because no one had the balls to tell them to sit down. I hate how slow we bring injured guys along, but you are very right about us not having any major injuries as a result of poor oversight.

That's not even an option right now I assure you. The most John can be offered by another team is 4yrs 117. We would match that number all day before choosing to offer the full 5 yr max. His last chance would have been before the season if we wanted to go full max. Now it makes sense to wait for the market to speak. JC's next contract from us will land somewhere between the 4yr/90 mil we offered and the 4/117 max that another team can offer. Schlenk has to know right now that he is willing to match up to 4/117 otherwise JC should be getting traded before the deadline. The full max is virtually off the table right now.

7 assists per game would put Zion in Lebron territory. If he can do that then I had him pegged all wrong.

Heard. You know I'm just talking smack right?

Point is if they are going to force Zion down our throat, they should put him to actual use. His massive social media following was built on his dunks. That's what people want to see. Not the Pelicans every week.

I watched every Duke game I could that year just to witness the rock show that was their Big 4 freshmen. Zion was awesome to watch, so was RJ. But in the NBA, I dont have the same excitement for this kid. The league is really trying to recapture the hype he brought to college basketball, but against guys who are just as athletic, he doesn't flash the same way he did at Duke. The rest of his game is pretty average. Zion should be forced to do the dunk contest. If Curry is still participating in the 3 point contest, not afraid to lose and hurt his brand, these dunkers need to be in the contest too.

Asst. Coach Mike D'Antoni his having wet dreams about their lineup

And as I typed that, he just missed 3 straight dunks. Man, the NBA loves pushing these guys, but let me tell you now, he aint the next Lebron. He will not carry this league. They are force feeding us a 6-6 Larry Johnson as the next face of the league, instead of getting behind guys like Trae.

They just said Zion leads the league with 19 points in the paint per game. The kid averages 4.8 FT makes a game. For a guy who averages 25 points, 24 of them basically come in the paint or at the line. Virtually no outside game whatsoever

Apparently, neither player will be replaced according to Woj. Zion to start in place of Embiid https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-all-star-game-joel-embiid-ben-simmons-ruled-out-after-contact-with-person-testing-positive-for-covid-19/

Not being sarcastic but that does suck for them. All because of a hair cut. They won't even be allowed in the building for introductions. Normally All stars who cant play still get the honor of standing next to their team and being involved in everything. Ben and Joel are gonna be locked in a hotel room somewhere on Peachtree staring out of the window lol

Kyrie and Harden can coexist as poor defenders. Portland is always a tough out in the West with despite the limitations of Dame and CJ next to each other. Sometimes overwhelming offense forces teams to take bad shots to keep up pace. If Lavine were just an above average player on offense, I would not even consider it. But he is becoming an elite offensive player with devastating efficiency. We have to figure out, with Trae on the court, will we ever defend at a high level just by surrounding him with defenders. Will teams always find ways to seek him out. If so, maybe you just accept it and force them to have to defend us at a high level so that they don't have the same legs on the other end. There's more than one way to skin a cat. If Trae is the centerpiece, we can't let that stop us from adding All Star level talent just because he doesn't defend.

I just DM'd Trae: "Yo!!!! Get back to ATLANTA they need you tonight!!! And bring JC or Clint with you!!!" Doubt he reads it

Id trade multiple core assets for Zach. His elite shooting, ball handling and dribble penetration is just what the doctor ordered for our SG spot.

If its Simmons AND Embiid out, what if they ask Collins or Capela to replace Embiid too? That'd be too dope.

Points not dimes. But he is tailor made for All Star weekend. 2x dunk king and Chicago is a much more crucial market for the NBA. One would have thought he got a nod for that city alone. To be clear, Im much more butthurt about Trae missing it this year because all of the high and mighty excuses about playing for losing teams, rewarding winners etc....was completely tossed out of the window this year and at the time of selection they gave guys with similar records and worst numbers a spot over Trae. Simmons is not an All Star this year, even if his team is the best in the East. He is a DPOY candidate, all NBA Defense team, but he is not a better G than Trae Young this year.