Board 8 > The NBA Finals Topic: In Which We Deal with Two More Games of Boring

(+) Yeah! (+)

and then wait out Kawhi
then wait out Giannis

then wait out Lebron James Jr
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Danny Ainge is the guy who's got the most chips in a poker game but just calls or folds every time regardless of how good his hand is
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hey NBA what the fuck are you doing

LeonhartFour posted...

Danny Ainge is the guy who's got the most chips in a poker game but just calls or folds every time regardless of how good his hand is

I made this joke last week!
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I've been trying to figure out the Celtics/Nets trade in terms of that metaphor but I just can't think of something crazy enough to fit.
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i don't think danny ainge was impressed by avery bradley performing equally to jimmy butler head-to-head
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https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/877331372553232384

Sources: Charlotte is sending Miles Plumlee, Marco Belenelli and 41st pick to Atlanta for Dwight Howard and 31st pick.

lmao what the fuck Atlanta
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I guess they wanted to drop Howard's contract that badly even though it only has two years remaining.
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I think Atlanta won that trade by virtue of not having Dwight anymore

they didn't even play him in the fourth quarter against washington. it's not like they're good
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man dwight howard is only 31. he's a full year younger than lebron

I hope history judges him harshly
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"Imma sign with my hometown team"
*gets traded*

Good career, Dwight.
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KCF0107 posted...

I guess they wanted to drop Howard's contract that badly even though it only has two years remaining.

they took on Plumlee's awful contract and Belinelli though, and they were both of Charlotte's worst players along with going down 10 spots in the draft

seems like a lot even for getting rid of Dwight's contract
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Lol Dwight

Five fucking teams in a 10 year career
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Paul George should take a look at Dwight and reconsider going to the Lakers
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transience posted...

I think Atlanta won that trade by virtue of not having Dwight anymore

Yep.

transience posted...

I hope history judges him harshly

He might be one of those guys who gets thought of fondly in the future by people who've never seen him play and have only seen his numbers.
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exactly - the nba changed around him and he got left way behind
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I mean, his back broke.

As someone who knows someone with a broken back, it changes you a lot.
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Yeah, once you've had back problems, those never go away.

I don't know that his career would've been drastically different regardless. He's a relic in today's NBA.
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He still had one of the great dunk contest performances imo, at least that can't be taken away from him
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deandre jordan just made first team all nba

if not for the back problems dwight would still be right up there
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LeonhartFour posted...

Yeah, once you've had back problems, those never go away.

I don't know that his career would've been drastically different regardless. He's a relic in today's NBA.

DeAndre Jordan is still a pretty damn good player and he's Dwight-Lite.
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DeAndre Jordan made first-team All-NBA because they still insist on forcing you to vote for centers and there aren't many to choose from.
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Anthony Davis was the first-team Center.
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Rudy Gobert was Second and DeAndre Jordan was Third.

And I'd kill to have any of those three guys on my team.
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Sure, you'd like to have them.

I don't know that you can win with them in this current version of the NBA though. They've combined for a handful of round 1 series wins between the three of them.
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I think you could definitely win with Anthony Davis, but he's not like Gobert and Jordan
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Well, Davis's problem has been staying healthy, and I don't know that he'll ever be that guy. Big guys who have injury problems tend not to get over it.
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dwight and harden went to the WCF (and they faced all-NBA center deandre jordan in round 2 that year)
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LeonhartFour posted...

Sure, you'd like to have them.

I don't know that you can win with them in this current version of the NBA though. They've combined for a handful of round 1 series wins between the three of them.

The Clippers are cursed by weirdness, whether it be massive-Josh Smith led comebacks or injuries.

Utah is largely only relevant because of the Stifle Tower. Dude was second in total win-shares and 4th in WS/48, behind Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and Kawhi Leonard.

Replace Love with Gobert and that series goes 7.
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SeabassDebeste posted...

dwight and harden went to the WCF (and they faced all-NBA center deandre jordan in round 2 that year)

and promptly imploded the next year

that was such a mystifying experience too

TheRock1525 posted...

Replace Love with Gobert and that series goes 7.

What, against the Warriors? Don't know that I'd go that far.
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LeonhartFour posted...

SeabassDebeste posted...

dwight and harden went to the WCF (and they faced all-NBA center deandre jordan in round 2 that year)

and promptly imploded the next year

that was such a mystifying experience too

TheRock1525 posted...

Replace Love with Gobert and that series goes 7.

What, against the Warriors? Don't know that I'd go that far.

A monster inside defensive presence against a team that likes either shooting threes or attacking the rim, to help a Cleveland team that ranked 21st in defensive efficiency?

Yes, that would help a lot.
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It would help.

Would it get them close to this Warriors team? I'm not so sure about that.
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They had them on the ropes in game 3 and beat them in game 4.

Think about how many easy baskets are suddenly gone because Gobert is defending the paint instead of an undersized Thompson or a defensively deficient Love?

At the very least, it gets them to 6.
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TheRock1525 posted...

They had them on the ropes in game 3 and beat them in game 4.

Think about how many easy baskets are suddenly gone because Gobert is defending the paint instead of an undersized Thompson or a defensively deficient Love?

At the very least, it gets them to 6.

yeah well I don't think Gobert would have went 6/8 from 3 in Game 4
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we also know that gobert's nothing special defending on the perimeter
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SeabassDebeste posted...

we also know that gobert's nothing special defending on the perimeter

And how many great defensive plays did Love make on the perimeter?
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love was guarding curry on the biggest miss of the 2016 finals

but my point isn't that love is better than gobert, it's that gobert wouldn't be that much more effective than love if they pulled him out to the perimeter

which golden state would *absolutely* do
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They just switch match-ups and let Tristan Thompson get pulled out on the perimeter. Not ideal, either, but there's nothing that good defensive schemes couldn't do to keep Gobert towards the basket more.
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less than a week away from Russell Westbrook day, ladies and gents
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BTW.

MZero11 posted...

Odds this purges before the draft are better than the Warriors odds to win the title next year

Suck it.
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to be fair who could have predicted the offseason imploding before the draft even happened
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I was gonna keep bumped anyway even if it was boring as shit.

But I think we should have a draft topic.
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TheRock1525 posted...

BTW.

MZero11 posted...

Odds this purges before the draft are better than the Warriors odds to win the title next year

Suck it.

consider me served

we might fill this up before the draft if the craziness continues tomorrow. Rumors are Butler and George will both move before the draft
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MZero11 posted...

TheRock1525 posted...

BTW.

MZero11 posted...

Odds this purges before the draft are better than the Warriors odds to win the title next year

Suck it.

consider me served

we might fill this up before the draft if the craziness continues tomorrow. Rumors are Butler and George will both move before the draft

Rumor is butler is going nowhere
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eh Ainge has this team as one of the better non-superteams in the league, a great coach, and they can sign 1-2 max guys while also having 2-3 lottery picks in the next 2 years.

I think they are looking to do more with the #3 pick if they turned Butler down straight up.
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But is being one of the better non superteams enough?
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Thomas and Butler together seems like a weird fit
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On Mike and Mike this morning they threw out this interesting fact. Ainge has been GM since 2003 and has had 38 Celtics draft picks. He has yet to draft a single all star.

that seems like a weird fluke. he traded for Rondo on draft day and were a good team for most of his tenure.
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yup that sounds like a Mike and Mike hot take
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'fluke'
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