Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 72. (Read 915053 times)

Maybe it's time for him to just retire, and it seems that this buyout is already a proof of it. Although as fans we don't what him to retire and wanted to see him play, but teams might not be interested because we all know that after the injury, it was a different Derrick Rose.

Although he tries to revived his career developing his outside shot, teams are not willing to take their chance against the former MVP as he could reinjured himself or he might not contribute at all just like in last playing days with the Grizzlies.

Hopefully, that hasn’t crossed his mind yet. We’ll never forget Derrick Rose as the youngest MVP in NBA history, making the Bulls such an exciting team to watch during his prime. It would be great if the Bulls, as a gesture of appreciation, allowed Rose to retire with them (if that’s something Rose would want too).

There are rumors that Rose himself has expressed a desire to leave the team. And it seems that Rose and the Grizzlies' management agreed on a buyout after he asked to be released from his contract. If that's true, it's a strange decision.
I don't know if he made this decision because of injuries or other reasons, but I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to retire.

Hahaha, that's how it goes for them now. They've got the oldies knees and maybe Kawhi will be staying for that long and who knows if his next move is retirement.

Just in: Derrick Rose has been waived by the Memphis Grizzlies. 

Derrick Rose: Parting ways with Memphis

It's honestly a shame dude would have been a top 5 player in the league if he was healthy.  Was deadly on both ends of the floor.  I always loved he had that mid range jumper that was unstoppable.  He played like the dudes back in the 1990s played, didn't just sit around the 3 point line chucking up random 3s.  I root for the guy but agree, when he is on the floor ypu just wonder when's the next trip to the bench. 

Weird part is Paul George's games played is about the same but people saying he is gonna save the 76ers at 34 years old with 50 year old knees lol.

They have no use of him when he's injured but just some claps and cheer to his teammates.

But once he's healthy again, it's not about how he can contribute but the worries will start of what if he gets injured again. 

Well, a business that became a business of a star player. Well done, Kawhi! 

Many of us expected the same thing, and I think it's pretty normal that we think that way knowing that they're the defending champions at that time.

TBH, that Finals Match-up would be much better than that of Dallas-Boston. No disrespect to the Mavericks because they're a strong team, but it would be a better series in my opinion if it's Denver-Boston. It is what is, and the Nuggets can contend again this season and get that 2nd title... or are they a title contender right now? Why and why not? As for the contenders for the West, I see the Timberwolves as well to compete, but let's not forget the Thunder that just got an upgrade with the acquisition of Hartenstein and Caruso. I will not be surprised if the Thunder will win a title in the next 3-5 years with their current roster or at least the core players intact.

As for the East, Knicks might be the "dark horse" of the East but I'm thinking of who will be their Center if Mitchell Robinson will get injured. They don't have a back-up big because they let Hartenstein walk away, and because of this, I see the Sixers as the top contender in the East aside from the Celtics. Bucks? Nah, just forget about them they're pretty shit in defense and you can't win a title if you're that bad on defense. Will the Celtics make a back-to-back? TBH, they can. I mean the roster's almost the same, and their role players stayed which is a good thing. If there's one hindrance to them, it's injuries, but I think they can do it.

I think Leonard performs better without too many superstars around him. As for Harden, his production has definitely dropped, but if Leonard gets injured again, Harden will have no choice but to step up. However, in that case, the Clippers might struggle to even make the playoffs.

A healthy Leonard is a real threat, and who knows, maybe next season the Clippers could finally win their first franchise championship. The downside is that Leonard isn't getting any younger, and the injuries he’s facing now are definitely a worrying sign for the future.

But now that PG 13 is out on Clippers then they really need the service of Kawhi since the gap to fill by PG's departure is so big and they need to fill up those contributions he bring to his team. So don't know what will be the adjustment done by Clippers in this situation since if they only trust Harden to lead their team then I think nothing will happen on them. So Kawhi need to be healthy and play more games since they might fall short this season if they still keep doing that load management thing in their team. Kawhi is important piece for their team but his prone to injuries is really a huge problem for Clippers.

Let see how Clippers will handle this situation or they still do the load management thing and see if they can able to reach far in this season.

Sad true, way back even they keep failing themselves losing both from Warriors and Spurs but they've got something that fans really wanting to support them, I was one of those who loves seeing CP3 throwing that high ball either with DeAndre or Blake and you'll be enjoying how they played in the air or how they manage to catch and dunks the ball.

It was pandemic season if I remember it right when Clippers was upset by the young Nuggets after they led 3-1 or something like that, it was anticipated that it might be a battle of LA's in the west but Nuggets bounce back and snatch that West finals slot from the Clippers, then the rest was all about Kawhi's injuries..

True, they managed to build a solid team with PG, Westbrook, and other key role players. I think the real issue lies with the Clippers management. Even before Kawhi was signed/traded to the Raptors, he was already injury-prone. But coach Nick Nurse did an excellent job managing his minutes, using load management effectively. It paid off, as Kawhi was incredibly consistent during the playoffs. And if you think about it, the Raptors' roster back then wasn’t as stacked compared to the Clippers’ roster when Leonard was traded.

Well the injuries has cause him alot , especially his knee injury which made him to miss some season . During the year 2015-2016 he was among the all-time 75 best player, one thing about athletes injuries is one of their greatest enemy which can easily end their career or reduce the growth in their career.

I believe if wasn't for Kawhi Leonard injuries he would have been able to keep his streak .

The Clippers have no identity anymore, that's also a problem. If you build around a boring personality like Kawhi and then he doesn't even play it's hard to form anything.
In the past the Clips had some sort of identity, even when they were the "never win Clippers". After that is was "lob city", which was the definitely the high point of the franchise with player like CP3, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. But now, who actually cares about the Clippers anymore, nobody. They got a shiny new arena, live in a shiny city but there is nothing interesting about them now! 

That's right, Clippers shoulder him and gave him huge contracts but until know he's not bringing anything for the franchise as he keeps resting because of his injury.

They can't force him as there's doctors recommendations and if he needs to rest then he should be resting, like you mentioned he's level of being a star is fading and it's the name that gives clippers some revenue those who still buying his collectibles but NBA wise as a franchise player there's no conversions after he's being acquired.

Jayson Tatum said something about the Finals.

Celtics' Jayson Tatum says Nuggets matched up best with 2024 champions
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/celtics-jayson-tatum-says-nuggets-matched-up-best-with-2024-champions/


Just like Tatum, I thought it would be the Denver Nuggets too. I never expected that much from Kyrie and Luka of the Mavs that year because I thought they were still building their chemistry. That was really a surprising end on the Western Conference side.
Well, this year will be more surprising, I see the Timberwolves going back strong in the WCF, maybe against the Mavs again or the Nuggets. Eastern Conference could become unpredictable and I see the Knicks being on the top if healthy. 76ers should not be underestimated too after acquiring PG13, as long as he and Embiid stay healthy it will be a scary duo, plus Maxey of course.
I have doubts that the Celtics could make a back-to-back championship.

He was once a superstar but after all, that faded away.

He's got a nice stint with Spurs and Raptors but being with the Clippers seems like the team has caught a falling knife.

So his contract with the Clippers will be up to 2026-2027, that's a nice paycheck without having much to play at all. 

Exactly. I have the exact same opinion of him. If he had the "mamba mentality" he could have had such a great career with the talent he has but somehow he pisses his prime away.
He doesn't even sit on the bench to support his teammates when being hurt, that says a lot about a player. You are getting paid millions and can watch free games court side, that's heaven if you ask me.

I'm not a Kawhi fan at all. He won a title in Toronto with the Raptors , but he to comes off as a diva. I don't like the way he avoids the media, I don't like that he sits out whenever possible, and the fact that he is injured a ton it seems. Would rather see teams spend money on a star that embraces the media and fans and gives people their moneys worth.

Kawhi Leonard getting injured (or more like pg13 with him) then surely he would have been better player, but as of right now we know that ever since his Spurs last year, he has been injured way too frequently and been doing terrible. I think it's clear that he is too injury prone and that is why no team wants to take that risk, Clippers pays him so much just to recover most of the time.

I think Kawhi Leonard isn't a superstar like many think he is, sure when he played he won, but that was just two good seasons from him, aside from that he never played that great and I think it's clear that even with all that much talent, when you are missing most of the season, you are not a threat to anyone and teams write off Clippers before the season starts, even if Kawhi starts the season healthy, they bet that he will get injured again anyway.

They got Westbrook, and they got... they got... none. They don't have any additions to their team aside from him. I mean there's no big name that's been added to the team. What's even worse is they signed a player named Zeke Nnaji a 4-year $32M contract. For a player that only played 5 MPG last season, that's for me the worst contract that's ever given to a bench player. What did the Nuggets' GM came to his mind and gave this player a contract that huge?

They lose KCP, and Westbrook can't fill that hole, and not even Braun. KCP is an excellent 3-point shooter, thing that both Braun and Westbrook aren't good at, and if IIRC, KCP is shooting at around the 39% or even more at three-point line which is now very high. Westbrook for most of the season will be the back-up PG for Murray. There might be some times where WB will be their starting PG while Murray will move to Shooting Guard. Whatever the case is, the bench players of the Nuggets must step-up big time if they want to win a title again. Their starting 5 alone can't do most of the work.