Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 356. (Read 920810 times)

I guess I can say Kevin Durant practically understands that to build a championship team now is not about trying to buy one outrightly and more about building around perhaps a few, but core franchise players and looking back at last few trades and how much is left of his career, he’ll never be able to find the needed chemistry if he keeps getting traded at every deadline and only plays about 30-40% with supposedly co-championships worthy players that are being trade for as well.

They are too thin when it comes to "disrespect" as they call it but when it comes to calls they are not respecting the player's cry for getting an and one or just a foul to take him to the line. 8/13 against 28/36. Almost triple the amount the Lakers had been on the line against the Raptors. The NBA must look deeper into this game. Some magic had been happening and referees seems like they are not getting the right punishments for this kind of mistake. If they think it's just a mistake.
I would not be surprised if one day there will be a report that one relative of these officials is making large bets and they have a high percentage of winning.

Anyway, here's an addition to what Darko Rajakovic said.
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/raptors-coach-darko-rajakovic-lays-into-shame-of-nba-refs-after-loss-to-lakers-watch-entire-heated-rant/
Now, I would not be surprised if Darko will be the one who will get suspended more than those officials. He can be emotional but if I remember it right, you cannot make a statement like that in front of the media. The NBA doesn't like to be questioned and they punish those who tell bad things against them.

Yeah I'm not sure if they have the assets to swing that trade.  Outside of Bron and AD no current players really scratch the itch.  And if they keep Bron and AD and add someone like Mitchell their first round picks won't seem all that valuable since they will more than likely be in the 20s

It makes sense because Mitchell has already made it clear he won't resign with the Cavs, so it's a trade him or lose him scenario.

An interesting statement from Kevin Durant saying he doesn't want to be traded.  I guess he's been doing a lot of complaining lately and wanted to make it clear that he wants to be on the Suns now that trade rumors are starting to heat up and even mock trades happening online.  There's an article about it I've pasted below.  I don't think the Suns will trade KD unless it's for AD from the Lakers which won't happen.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/kevin-durant-i-don-t-want-to-get-traded/ar-AA1mLjnu

The referee situation is not unique to the NBA.
Unfortunately, the same situation applies to Euroleague referees, who sometimes officiate disgraceful matches.
When the first half of the Fenerbahçe Partizan Euroleague match played yesterday ended, the Fenerbahçe spectators almost came to the field. There was a huge reaction to the referees. (Sometimes referees can make decisions that drive people crazy.
I think Toronto Coach is right, sometimes it is necessary to beat the referees, but Toronto failed to do this.
Lakers are a team I like, but they don't need wins like this (referee support).

I am not sure what Lakers could offer to get Mitchell, or Lavine to be fair but at least Lavine is not doing anything so he could be traded for not much in order for Bulls to potentially tank, whereas it doesn't make sense at all for Mitchell to leave, Cavs are doing fine.

This is why I am guessing that it is not going to be all that easy to handle for Lakers to convince them for a trade. In the end, Lakers already lost the title, it is not even a discussion anymore, they are not going to win it, no matter what kind of trade they do, no realistic trade in the world could make them better. They need to realize that they didn't build the squad around Lebron like they should, and now they are facing the troubles of that.

The Grizzlies really screwed me yesterday. Who’s have thought they’d beat the Mavericks without Ja Morant. I read they signed Isiah Thomas, that was an unexpected move.

The Lakers game last night with that extreme fouls discrepancy in the 4th is pretty suspect. I call shenanigans.

Speaking of the Pistons, they just blew up an 18-point first-quarter lead against the Kings and lost to them by 21 points. How ridiculous is that?
You lead by 18 points coming into the second quarter, got outscored in the 2nd quarter 39-18, and then got outscored again in the 4th quarter 33-15? This 2023-2024 Pistons team is one of the worst teams if not the worst team in NBA history.

Cunningham doesn't need help from his teammates. He needs to get traded to another team. His talent is being wasted on this shitty team. I just don't know why in the hell isn't he requesting a trade. I mean his talent can be more helpful when he's on another team or at best a championship-caliber team. A PG who's good at defending, and he's tall in his position as well. Like what you said, the Pistons will just pile up losses, with or without Cunningham.

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I'll just speak out my frustration about the Bucks this season. They're the 8th worst team right now defensively, and Lillard who they got last off-season is playing way worse than when he's in Portland. If you look at his stats, there are times when he's shooting very awful. Having a bad night right? Probably, but when it happens multiple times, you need to be better in offense especially if you know yourself that you're a liability in defense. Lillard can't defend pretty well that's why they're now at the bottom of the list defensively.

Speaking of struggles, we heard Giannis comment on their struggles, and I saw this meme online. Just harsh I would say.

The coach is right with what he was complaining about.
Many calls in the game, especially in the 4th, have been very questionable.

23 : 2 free throws is just crazy. They also called so many strange fouls on Toronto, like offensive fouls and so on, but almost nothing versus the Lakers.
That Toronto still managed to stay in the game was almost a miracle. 

The NBA clearly has a ref problem. So many games where the refs decide who is winning. All those ejections as well where the refs have their feelings hurt and therefor kick out the player, it's not funny anymore.

Yes, this is one of the possibilities...

Well I believe... a player that the Lakers need to have to be more consistent and improve the team's performance is a high quality PG/SG.
LAL has 2 allstar players in different positions, for example, LeBron James (SG/SF/PF) and AD (PF/C), a type of player that could fit into LAL would be a high quality PG/SG, This way, LJ could play as SF or PF and help with the team's rotation by playing in other positions.
D'Angelo Russell is a good player, but in my opinion I believe he didn't fit in very well with the Lakers as expected (of course that's my opinion).

Russell, I guess is the guy accompanied by other players to get the trade that they are aiming, I'm pretty sure if they'll going to offer
it's not going to be D'Lo alone.

I was in the impression that D'Lo was fit with how LeBron and Davis played the game, a good outside shooter who can really take advantage
of that kick outside.

But we are seeing the result of each game they are playing seems that they are not organize and they mostly rely with how LeBron and
Davis will play each game.

Los Angeles Lakers won the match, but Darko Rajokovic's statements after the game left their mark on the night: "This is nonsense. How does Scottie Barnes only foul twice? If they won't let us win, let them tell us not to go on the field. "What happened today was a disgrace," he said.
 While the Lakers went to the foul line 36 times, Toronto went to the foul line 13 times. It was an interesting and competitive match. Although Toronto was leading 51-53 at the half, they lost the match 132-131.
Thus, the Lakers got their second win in a row.
We have to give credit to Anthony Davis, who scored 41 points and had a double-double with 11 rebounds in the match.

Is not Russell the one to trade? I think it will be better if they trade him instead of the other players.
But of course, do let me know if I am wrong. The age difference is not a lot between them, right? They are basically almost the same age as each other.

So that should not be something to take into consideration in my opinion. The quality is the only thing everyone is probably going to look for. And of course, every team is going to try to get/keep the best players for themselves. And this is definitely an interesting situation.

I believe that both are interesting options that could be traded to the Lakers, but I imagine that Donovan Mitchell would be an excellent piece that would fit within the Los Angeles Lakers, he could easily play as PG or SG in LAL, although Zach LaVine is a another interesting player.
But regarding the possibilities, I believe it is easier for Lavine to be traded than Mitchell, I have no doubt that the Cavs will want a high price for their star player.

Regarding this possible negotiation... Which player(Lakers) could be traded? D'Angelo Russell? Reaves? Hachimura? others?

Yep, this is pretty bad news for both Morant and the Grizzlies. As far as I know, it can take 6 months or even a year to fully recover from this type of injury. So, now the Grizzlies have no chance to make the playoffs not only this regular season but most likely next season.
As for the suspension, I don't think that's the reason why Morant got such an injury. He was in good shape in the first games after his return, which means that he was not resting but most likely practicing during the suspension.

Mitchell could be a good fit for the Lakers if they are looking for a dynamic guard. However, I don't see that Cavaliers are gonna let their star player that gave the team some toughness, so most likely it will be Zach Lavine that will be traded with the Lakers as the latter have showed interest on not playing with the Bulls.

With the trade deadline less than a month away now the talk is starting to heat up. I’m seeing a lot of reports that the Lakers have started discussions with the Cavaliers about trading for Donovan Mitchell. It seems like we’re likely to see Mitchell or Zach LaVine in a Lakers uniform in a few weeks.

This is a possibility, I have been researching this type of injury and depending on the situation it could be more serious than you imagine... the subluxation could affect the player's movement, ball handling and his shot as well (mentioned by @xLays just above), and not to mention that, unfortunately, the shoulder won't be like it used to be (depending on the severity of the injury), as it won't be 100% like it was before.

Yes, that's what the reports said.
https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/1744554272199791089?s=20

That's goodbye for the Memphis Grizzlies playoff chance.
I won't blame the NBA for sitting him that long which could be the culprit for this injury. It's Ja's fault too because he can still play on his own if he wants to but if he did just rest for that long suspension then I guess this will happen. I think this will be the worst injury Ja Morant will have in his career. Also, this will be the worst season for the Grizzlies after they received Ja from the draft pick.

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Some Pistons fans are saying they are burning Cade Cunningham while they keep on losing at every game. That's after he went out with what looks like a knee injury against their opponent the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. He will be re-evaluated in 10 days but according to reports it's not that serious or it's not like a season-end injury. Well, he must be exhausted at shouldering everything for the Pistons. Obviously, that dude needs some help and he is not getting it from his teammates.
I bet the Pistons will pile up more losses again, especially without him.

Memphis is hosed, they stunk this year without ja.  Desmond bane is a good Robin he isn't a batman.  And jarren Jackson is a nice 3rd piece.  They gonna miss the playoffs without ja and Steven adams.  Unless they make some sort of trade their season is over.  Ja unfortunately did this to himself being young and dumb.