gotta disagree about Clips, even healthy. granted Kawhi/PG is a colossal pairing but what do they have outside of that? very little - they defend well, I grant. that wing duo alone makes them contenders but higher than the Ws and Bucks, no way. otoh I'm up on the Grizz - JJJ is like a Gobert who can shoot, Ja is the most terrifying slasher in the league, and their defense is in the elite Cs/Ws/Miami tier - they're young and now they have another year of playoff experience. next tier down, yes, but best of the next tier - like I said, they need to make a leap.right now I think the warriors, clippers, and bucks are the head of the pack. no clear favorite for me but I think the bucks and the clippers have a higher ceiling.
sixers or nets could enter that tier but Id need to see them in the regular season for a bit.
Suns, grizzlies, and mavs are behind them as good to great teams but realistically no betting chance at the title. Mavs got the highest ceiling because of Luka.
Dont really know what to make of the celtics. think they could easily be back in the finals but they need something.
damn you dont like the clippers supporting cast?gotta disagree about Clips, even healthy. granted Kawhi/PG is a colossal pairing but what do they have outside of that? very little - they defend well, I grant. that wing duo alone makes them contenders but higher than the Ws and Bucks, no way. otoh I'm up on the Grizz - JJJ is like a Gobert who can shoot, Ja is the most terrifying slasher in the league, and their defense is in the elite Cs/Ws/Miami tier - they're young and now they have another year of playoff experience. next tier down, yes, but best of the next tier - like I said, they need to make a leap.
I saw enough of the Harden 6ers this year to make me skeptical. healthy Embiid is obv a perennial MVP candidate but Harden looks old and slow. I just don't see them beating multiple really good teams in the playoffs. maybe they'll be better after an off-season together. I'm an even bigger Nets skeptic - getting ignominiously swept, even by an eventual Finals team, is a terrible sign, and Simmons is the answer to exactly no one's problems.
Suns are probably a regular season team, like a more well-constructed Jazz, who capitalized on an injury-wracked year to get into the Finals - which is no discredit, take advantage of opportunities, just means it's probably not repeatable. Mavs do have highest potential ceiling but they've gotta get Luka more help.
I don't see the Cs getting past a healthy Bucks, unless they magically get better offensively which seems difficult when multiple key players are offensively limited.
lot of depth, no needle movers. depth, beyond the minimum necessary, doesn't help in the playoffs.damn you dont like the clippers supporting cast?
Reggie jackson, robert covington, norman powell, marcus morris, terrance mann, zubac, and batum I think is ridiculous depth. Theres a reason this team made the play in with no kawhi and essentially no paul george
most of those teams 1) can't defend 2) don't have a 1st-team All-Defense rim protector who can also shoot pretty wellfeel like every year theres a young athletic team who rebounds and gets out in transition who over acheives
Im not sure any other team in the league can have their two best players miss the entire season and still get the 8 seed. Think your underestimating that supporting cast is all.lot of depth, no needle movers. depth, beyond the minimum necessary, doesn't help in the playoffs.
I agree that with healthy Kawhi/PG they're legit contenders, what more do you want?
sidenote: how is Kawhi still only 30? feels like he's been in the league for 100 years.
I would actually disagree that those teams usually dont defend. feel its the opposite- the d rose bulls. the early okc teams. the jazz of a few years ago. now these grizzlies. athletic teams that can essentially out work most teams in the regular season. I like JJJ but he's still got quite a ways to go. He wasnt even their 2nd best player in the playoffs this year despite the grizzlies needing him to be.most of those teams 1) can't defend 2) don't have a 1st-team All-Defense rim protector who can also shoot pretty well
I agree, half-court offense is a concern. what they need is a really good two-way wing. unfortunately those players are very hard to come by.
I do like Bane, but he's not on that level
yeah, with KawhiI also think the clippers would have won the chip last year if not for the kawhi injury
the D Rose Bulls were very good defensively - it's Thibs, how could they not have been, and I guess you can see pre-injury Rose as a bigger JaI would actually disagree that those teams usually dont defend. feel its the opposite- the d rose bulls. the early okc teams. the jazz of a few years ago. now these grizzlies. athletic teams that can essentially out work most teams in the regular season. I like JJJ but he's still got quite a ways to go. He wasnt even their 2nd best player in the playoffs this year despite the grizzlies needing him to be.
We can discount the jazz then but I thought they fit the spirit in thats essentially what they did with the two headed duo of gobert and mitchell- both have simplistic games that involve around over powering you with superior physicality. a really good defensive team surrounding an emerging downhill player on offense with questionable half court offense.the D Rose Bulls were very good defensively - it's Thibs, how could they not have been, and I guess you can see pre-injury Rose as a bigger Ja
the Jazz always defend but they've never been a young athletic run and gun team, not sure what you're talking about there
I don't remember those OKC teams being particular good or bad defensively, which makes sense if I think about their key players
I agree JJJ needs to be better but a 22 year-old First Team All-Defense rim protector who shoots even league-avg from 3 is already pretty goddamn good
Our takes are exactly practically identical—only minor details differ. Everything I claimed you readily ceded, except for (1) you think they let Poole go; I don't think Lacob has any problem paying a billion in luxury taxes and there have been multiple front office statements to that effect (2) this comment below:yr take on the Ws is, unsurprisingly best-case scenario optimistic
It really isn't a wild homer exaggeration—"optimistic" at most. I haven't watched enough e.g. Thybulle or Adebayo to judge, but Wiggins had as good a defensive playoffs as Smart or Timelord, who were 2nd team. Yeah it's a regular season award, but we're talking about winning championships here, not collecting accoldaes. Sure, GP2 isn't the type of player you can keep in all game, but his per 36 defensive stats are incredible—the guy can strip like no other player in the league right now. And Klay, well, Klay just was All-Defense at his peak, so I don't need to argue."four All-Defense-level players" is an absolutely wild homer exaggeration, but a healthy Ws do have a very solid defensive perimeter group, and Loony is a solid presence inside. they're a very good defensive team. they didn't win the series defensively, but you could call it a draw which for them is a win bc they outgun the Cs.