Not if the goal is to get the one seed and home court throughout the playoffs over Miami. Both teams look like a good bet to win sixty plus games, and Indy will have to play at a very high level to maintain their lead over the Heat.
***Offical NBA Regular Season Thread***
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Not if the goal is to get the one seed and home court throughout the playoffs over Miami. Both teams look like a good bet to win sixty plus games, and Indy will have to play at a very high level to maintain their lead over the Heat.
With the East so terrible, they don't have to be incredibly high performing. They could get by a lot of those teams just on talent. When they face the Heat, Bulls, and any Western Conference team, then they need to be on their toes.
Bulls are horrible Miami should be embarrassed by that loss to Chicago. I know they had no wade but Lebron is good enough to beat Bulls by himself.
OKC smacking Indy around tonight.
Kobe returns tonight.
The Heat can sleep walk to a top 3 seed in the east. The are more concerned with limiting minutes going into the playoffs than wins and losses.
I don't either. I mean Gay has one more year for 20 mill on it and it is a player option, so he will take it.
You now have a lot of shooters on that Kings team, but not a lot of facilitators
Isaiah Thomas - shoot first PG
Rudy Gay - Shoots every 5 seconds
Ben Mclemore - Rookie, still learning the game
Derrick Williams - BUST
Cousins - Need to feed him in the post to keep him sane.
This team can score points, but it could get dysfunctional really quickly.
Massai Ujiri, GM of the Raptors should be given a standing ovation for this.
I don't know that you could necessarily call Williams a bust quite yet. He was an awkward fit at best on a T-Wolves team that already had Kevin Love at PF. I think that says more about the Kahn regime than Williams true potential.
I do agree that the trade seems puzzling from a Sacramento perspective. I think it's a combination of the Kings being in "win-now" mode to maintain the momentum of keeping the franchise in that city and Toronto having a warlock GM. We're talking about the same guy who, when he was in Denver, absolutely fleeced the Knicks on that Melo deal and stole Iguodala from Philly as part of that ill-fated Dwight Howard deal.
For his next trick, he'll use all that newly acquired cap space to lure a superstar free agent to Toronto to pair with the stud rookie he drafts next summer. Things are looking up for Raptor fans; all seventeen of them.
I wonder if the NBA will try to rig the lottery for Toronto this year (a la Cleveland after LeBron) so they can draft Wiggins back to his homeland and try to finally build something lasting in Canada.
It doesn't necessarily have to be Wiggins, although the national connection is something I'd totally forgot about and would probably sell some season tix. But they're ok as long as they land in the top four or five. Randle, Wiggins, Smart and Parker are all impact guys and potential franchise cornerstones.
I don't even think Wiggins will go number 1. He will be in the top 5, so the Raptors just need to be a bottom 5 team.
Also, saw this excellent article on the putrid east by Bill Simmons. Pretty funny and very true for a lot of teams.
Bill Simmons on the NBA's Eastern Conference - Grantland
Bill Simmons on the NBA's Eastern Conference - Grantland
A lot of scouts are really high on Embiid and Exum too, a lot of top end talent in this draft.
Wiggins, with the national connection, would by far be the least likely to bolt after his rookie contract though.
Here are soem interesting NBA Draft tidbits:
The Atlanta Hawks have the right to SWAP draft picks with the Nets (NO PROTECTIONS) - Hawks would currently get the #5 pick
Bulls receive Bobcats Top 10 protected pick - Would be #12 pick in this draft
The Denver Nuggets receive the Knick's 1st round pick this year (NO PROTECTIONS) - Would be #3
76ers receive The Pelican's Top 5 protected pick - Would be #15 this year
Boston Celtics also get the Nets other second round pick. - Would be #19 this year
The Atlanta Hawks have the right to SWAP draft picks with the Nets (NO PROTECTIONS) - Hawks would currently get the #5 pick
Bulls receive Bobcats Top 10 protected pick - Would be #12 pick in this draft
The Denver Nuggets receive the Knick's 1st round pick this year (NO PROTECTIONS) - Would be #3
76ers receive The Pelican's Top 5 protected pick - Would be #15 this year
Boston Celtics also get the Nets other second round pick. - Would be #19 this year
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