Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 116. (Read 914823 times)

Westbrook is finished already. Clippers did the right thing by trading him honestly. Maybe he will say he has got old quite much (35). However there are players who are still showing impressive performances despite being old. He isn't one of them I'm afraid.

His old times at Oklahoma comes to my mind. He was really dominating.    Since the end of the 19/20 season he isn't competitive that much anymore. Maybe he might even retire in the near future I don't know.


Klay Thompson had a really serious injury in 2019 which lasted nearly 2.5 years. Staying away from basketball for that amount of time affected him badly naturally.    Yeah we don't have the same old Thompson but hopefully he can still do good things at Mavericks when he gets the chance. I would really love to see his nice catch-and-shoot times back.

A playoff spot will surely be guaranteed with this lineup. We will also see if Thompson can still be a good player without Curry or Curry without Thompson, as this is the first season where they will not be playing together anymore. That playoff exposure for Jones was really huge; his value rose because of his contribution, and now he is very much deserving of what he gets with the Clippers.

Of course, I believe that Dallas and the Clippers are still playoff teams, so we should keep that hype. Next season, Leonard will come back, and hopefully, he will not get injured again. We will see him carry this team with fewer superstars around him.

Indeed it was not good news.

He was offered $27 million by the Mavs, a 3 million dollar difference to his Clippers contract. Derrick Jones Jr. parted ways with the Mavs and is now a Clippers because I believe he thinks he will not get the minutes that he wants with them with Naji Marshall coming into the picture.
Still, the Mavs ain't that weak, they are not just too strong without Kyrie. With Klay Thompson, Luka, PJ, Gafford, and Lively, I don't think they can lose against weaker teams. They will just have to win games that they can while waiting for Kyrie to heal. There's no report that he won't be back for the whole season so I guess we just need to be patient.

Yes, I didn't read the article though and if this injury has been with Kyrie since playoff and maybe this could explain why there are games that we see him as none factor and then he is practicing that left hand. Remember his winning shot against the Nuggets over Joker with that left floater?

And I do agree, lots of time for Kyrie to recover and be back in November 100% and with a new team mates in Klay Thompson, for sure it might reignite his fire again and motivate to repeat what they have done last season and even more.

It's unpleasant news for the Mavs, but not critical. There is still a lot of time before preseason camp, games, and the start of the regular season. In other words, Irving has plenty of time to recover from this injury. I think he will be fully healthy by early/mid-fall.

The very first Westbrook will bring to the Denver Nuggets is his high level of competitiveness and physicality, I believe there is more to Westbrook than just a triple double-stats padder he was in the latter stages of his prime. I definitely agree that he's  probably way past his prime and he wouldn't not be able to fill in the role left by KCP, at least defensively, but Westbrook is a better facilitator and playmaker than KCP was, he doesn't need to be their main guy or a star on the team, Denver Nuggets already have their man in Nikola Jokic already, but Westbrook can definitely be both a secondary defender and offensive playmaker,

One awful season isn't enough for us to say that Klay is washed out already. What I will say though is that don't expect too much about him anymore because we know that he isn't the Klay we used to see many years ago where he can just catch and shoot anywhere he wants. The Mavericks are 3rd in three-points made last season, and they want to improve it by adding him. The question now is, can he fulfill his role there and will he be a starter? If yes, what position fits for him?

As for the SF role, they have Naji Marshall whom they just signed. Klay can be but he's too small for that role. He can either be a starting SF for the team or will be on the 2nd unit, and if that's the case, they might need to get another back-up SF.

They will need to be creative though, or they could follow the blue print of the Warriors when Klay was playing with them, set picks for him to be free and then drain that outside shot. It's just a question on whether Klay still has it because last season, he has his worst shooting percentage as a Warrior and this could be the reason why they didn't offer him money. Also it is reported that Kyrie has undergoes a surgery on his broken hand.


https://www.nba.com/news/kyrie-irving-injury-update-broken-left-hand

It will be a different Dallas then, as they don't have Derrick Jones and Tim Hardaway Jr anymore.

He is an amazing shooter and will make team better. It will be awesome to see him play with Doncic they could be an unbeatable team. But coach has a tough job now. He has to figure out how to use all the talented players, including Irving. Also Derrick Jones Jr. left the team, so they need someone new to play small forward. I am curious to see who they will pick to fill that spot. I hope they will get a better option which will be good for the team.

However, what impact he could bring to the Nuggets? I mean we have seen how he played with the Lakers and then the Clippers. So it's just right for him to come off the bench, but he is not what he used to be. He can only be triple double player in the team that he is the Alpha.

And then those late decisions and turnovers might hurt the Nuggets specially in the late game if they keep Russ on the game, just saying. Not hating on WB, he is a MVP, but he is past his prime already and might not contributed any to Denver. He won't be that KCP role had when he was in Nuggets uniform.

It is for sure that hate will remain for them and they'll always be thrown with bashing as that's part of their career and being a public figure.

Lebron knows how to handle it and he will surely take care and guide his son for that on how he should take it.

Nepotism is what they'd keep in the records but it seems that impression will be broken by Bronny himself.

Crazy news I didn’t expect to hear today… NBA Central is reporting that the State of New Jersey is in talks to acquire the Philadelphia 76ers. They think they’ll be able to pull it off by building them a new arena where its current ownership has failed to come up with a plan to do so. This is fascinating to me at the business level.

Wiggins amd podz doesn't come anywhere near securing Lauri Marianne.  Dude would be a monster on Amy contending team it will take a haul of picks (like the mikal trade) 5 picks or 2 great young players and a couple picks like 3 firsts.  Why would Utah trade away a great young piece like Lauri for second hand players?

Klay Thompson has signed for Dallas Mavericks as you know. He is a big transfer for them to be honest.    He is a really great SG and he can make an important contribution with his shots. I think especially Doncic - Thompson could do a really good job. I'm wondering how the coach's choices will be while he has Irving also in the roster.

By the way Derrick Jones Jr. has left for LA Clippers. Now I'm wondering of whom they are thinking to fill his space for SF role.

If there is something I've learnt about Westbrook in the past few season, it's the fact that he's become rather very humble, he'll do whatever is require of him to help the team whether he's coming of the bench of sitting on the sidelines, he just wants to win, he had no problem coming off the bench when he was traded to Lakers and the chemistry wasn't he adjusted to being just a role player despite coming into the team as a big trade, the same thing happened while he was at the Clippers he wasn't bothered about being used as the head of the second unit when PG or James Harden were getting rest in games.

I'm sure he'd have no problem whatsoever being a role or bench guy in Denver either.

It is official that Westbrook is in the Denver Nuggets. I agree that this might be his chance to get a ring. Although we've got a lot of prospects that are contenders for this year's season. While the Nuggets has got Murray for the outside and long shots, there's Jokic inside the paint and Westbrook will be a great help for him if he's guarded and focused a lot by the opponents. I remember that Westbrook last season suggested that he shouldn't go with the first five but now I think that he'd be back with that even though he's not on his prime anymore.

I think that’s a good take. It shows that Denver has started focusing on their bench too, which was their weakness in the playoffs this year. It also shows that veterans are willing to join them in search of a ring, which could be a good thing if others try to join him. Not sure who else is out there, maybe DeMarcus Cousins.

Russell Westbrook, who was traded to the Utah Jazz, is expected to be released and join the Denver Nuggets. If he goes to Denver, I have no idea what he can do there, Westbrook is no longer at his old performance level.

This is Westbrook's chance to get a championship ring before he retires. I think Denver Nuggets is still a contender, especially with the addition of Russell Westbrook, I think he might fit with Nuggets. However, if Westbrook does sign with the Denver Nuggets, he might also be bench player for Nuggets. Or it could be similar to his time with the Clippers, where he started as a starter but was later moved to the bench mid-season due to Doc Rivers adjustments. Hoping that this season Westbrook win championship ring.

Jaylen Brown saying that Bronny isn't a pro yet, is sort of right because Bronny hasn't played a single NBA game yet, he is just at pre-season games so far, which means that Jaylen was sort of right. There is still some time that Bronny could be sent to South Bay Lakers and not play in any NBA game, and he could be seen as not good enough, and then not play at NBA ever again.

This scenario will not happen as we all know, he is going to play, hell he may even start the first game of the season to make sure that he plays with Lebron on the very first minutes, doesn't mean that he will be a starter, he will be a bench rider all season long, but he could start just that one game. Him being a starter because of Lebrons influence is more likely than him not playing.

However, that doesn't make Jaylen Brown wrong, at this exact moment, Bronny isn't a pro yet, he is about to be a pro, but he is not yet. This is why we should not be too much on Jaylen, plus he made it clear that it is a flex for Lebron to play with his son and be that good for that long. Hell, at his 39-40 years of age, Lebron is better than his son right now, and that alone shows how truly great he is, how many people in the world is better basketball player than another pro let alone their son at 40 years old?