***OFFICIAL*** NBA 2021-22 thread

[Sloppy Joe]

Westbrook is crying because fans (home + away) are taunting him calling him "Westbrick"

I've always thought that media flings around 'death threats' too often. Like did someone with a Lakers avatar on Twitter just tell him to kill himself?

He's fed off of and sought out criticism from opposing fans his entire career. Now he can't handle it because it stings when it's 100% legitimate?

Just go the route of 'I make 44 million, lol' and shut up. Tell your kids that you can't make shots anymore but still get paid exorbitantly because you used to be awesome.

[Dan Druff]

While LA ponders the Westbrook/Westbrick debacle, they need to ponder why DeMar DeRozan never became a Laker.

DeRozan was literally straight outta Compton, and a big Lakers fan. He was one of those guys who wanted to play for his home team. He's dreamed his entire career about coming back to LA and making a difference for the Lakers.

In 2021, he thought a trade from San Antonio to the Lakers was a "done deal", and was thrilled. Then he got the rug pulled out from under him -- it fell through, and the trade was suddenly off.

Instead, he ended up on the Bulls, via a sign-and-trade during the summer 2021 offseason.

The Bulls are now 39-26 and he's been a huge part of it.

The 21-22 Lakers are one of the most disappointing teams of all time, and are only going to make the playoffs because there's 10 teams in each conference which make it, and the other 5 in the west are tanking.

[BCR]

While LA ponders the Westbrook/Westbrick debacle, they need to ponder why DeMar DeRozan never became a Laker.

DeRozan was literally straight outta Compton, and a big Lakers fan. He was one of those guys who wanted to play for his home team. He's dreamed his entire career about coming back to LA and making a difference for the Lakers.

In 2021, he thought a trade from San Antonio to the Lakers was a "done deal", and was thrilled. Then he got the rug pulled out from under him -- it fell through, and the trade was suddenly off.

Instead, he ended up on the Bulls, via a sign-and-trade during the summer 2021 offseason.

The Bulls are now 39-26 and he's been a huge part of it.

The 21-22 Lakers are one of the most disappointing teams of all time, and are only going to make the playoffs because there's 10 teams in each conference which make it, and the other 5 in the west are tanking.

If I had to guess, it was Lebron not trusting him. Those Cavs ran into the Raptors every playoffs and DD came up small and like a regular season player in every one. Post Duncan, Spurs are never on, and he didn’t fully realize the tweaks Pops and staff had made to DD’s game had taken him from good empty stats guy to efficient and useful. We still need to see it in the playoffs, but that would be my guess. Clearly Lebron is the loudest voice in the room when making decisions.

[Sloppy Joe]

While LA ponders the Westbrook/Westbrick debacle, they need to ponder why DeMar DeRozan never became a Laker.

DeRozan was literally straight outta Compton, and a big Lakers fan. He was one of those guys who wanted to play for his home team. He's dreamed his entire career about coming back to LA and making a difference for the Lakers.

In 2021, he thought a trade from San Antonio to the Lakers was a "done deal", and was thrilled. Then he got the rug pulled out from under him -- it fell through, and the trade was suddenly off.

Instead, he ended up on the Bulls, via a sign-and-trade during the summer 2021 offseason.

The Bulls are now 39-26 and he's been a huge part of it.

The 21-22 Lakers are one of the most disappointing teams of all time, and are only going to make the playoffs because there's 10 teams in each conference which make it, and the other 5 in the west are tanking.

If I had to guess, it was Lebron not trusting him. Those Cavs ran into the Raptors every playoffs and DD came up small and like a regular season player in every one. Post Duncan, Spurs are never on, and he didn’t fully realize the tweaks Pops and staff had made to DD’s game had taken him from good empty stats guy to efficient and useful. We still need to see it in the playoffs, but that would be my guess. Clearly Lebron is the loudest voice in the room when making decisions.

Probably this. I was caught off guard by Spurs DeRozan actually being good because nobody except degen sickos and Spurs fans was watching that team.

You would think that the Lakers and Klutch have analytics teams that could have dissuaded LeBron, but evidently not. Next to no intelligent basketball personality thought this would be anything but a disaster.

I think I suggested it may just be a good way to have RWB mop up a lot of regular season minutes and have his empty stats land some wins while giving AD and LeBron a break, couldn't have been more wrong. Lakers gave up a ton of depth and he's awful.

Some guys just completely fall apart when they lose a step and that's that. Chris Paul is a good example of the opposite; early CP3 was explosive and an above the rim player.

[Dan Druff]

While LA ponders the Westbrook/Westbrick debacle, they need to ponder why DeMar DeRozan never became a Laker.

DeRozan was literally straight outta Compton, and a big Lakers fan. He was one of those guys who wanted to play for his home team. He's dreamed his entire career about coming back to LA and making a difference for the Lakers.

In 2021, he thought a trade from San Antonio to the Lakers was a "done deal", and was thrilled. Then he got the rug pulled out from under him -- it fell through, and the trade was suddenly off.

Instead, he ended up on the Bulls, via a sign-and-trade during the summer 2021 offseason.

The Bulls are now 39-26 and he's been a huge part of it.

The 21-22 Lakers are one of the most disappointing teams of all time, and are only going to make the playoffs because there's 10 teams in each conference which make it, and the other 5 in the west are tanking.

If I had to guess, it was Lebron not trusting him. Those Cavs ran into the Raptors every playoffs and DD came up small and like a regular season player in every one. Post Duncan, Spurs are never on, and he didn’t fully realize the tweaks Pops and staff had made to DD’s game had taken him from good empty stats guy to efficient and useful. We still need to see it in the playoffs, but that would be my guess. Clearly Lebron is the loudest voice in the room when making decisions.

That's a good point. I forgot about the whole Cavs/Raptors dynamic, where Lebron just owned Toronto's face every single time in the playoffs -- even when Toronto was dominant in the regular season.

It's kinda like a poker player who loses every time you're at the table with him. Even if you hear he's good and is a big winner overall, it's hard to get out of your head that the guy just seems to get beat every time you see him.

Whenever the Lakers engage in star worship rather than focusing on what pieces they really need, they fail. It happened with Glenn Rice in 1999. It happened in 2004 with Gary Payton and Karl Malone. It happened from 2012-2015 with Steve Nash. It happened in 2012 with Dwight Howard.

This debacle with Westbrook is the worst of them, though, because he's making a ton of money and he was supposed to elevate them to a championship. Then, of course, they brought in has-beens Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony -- both guys who could never quite "get there" even in their prime.

Lebron is 37, AD can't stay healthy, Westbrook is awful, and the team has no depth. Big trouble ahead.

[BCR]

If I had to guess, it was Lebron not trusting him. Those Cavs ran into the Raptors every playoffs and DD came up small and like a regular season player in every one. Post Duncan, Spurs are never on, and he didn’t fully realize the tweaks Pops and staff had made to DD’s game had taken him from good empty stats guy to efficient and useful. We still need to see it in the playoffs, but that would be my guess. Clearly Lebron is the loudest voice in the room when making decisions.

That's a good point. I forgot about the whole Cavs/Raptors dynamic, where Lebron just owned Toronto's face every single time in the playoffs -- even when Toronto was dominant in the regular season.

It's kinda like a poker player who loses every time you're at the table with him. Even if you hear he's good and is a big winner overall, it's hard to get out of your head that the guy just seems to get beat every time you see him.

Whenever the Lakers engage in star worship rather than focusing on what pieces they really need, they fail. It happened with Glenn Rice in 1999. It happened in 2004 with Gary Payton and Karl Malone. It happened from 2012-2015 with Steve Nash. It happened in 2012 with Dwight Howard.

This debacle with Westbrook is the worst of them, though, because he's making a ton of money and he was supposed to elevate them to a championship. Then, of course, they brought in has-beens Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony -- both guys who could never quite "get there" even in their prime.

Lebron is 37, AD can't stay healthy, Westbrook is awful, and the team has no depth. Big trouble ahead.

Taking a pass on DD is forgivable. I kind of found the new DeMar narrative suspicious and figured he was a product of Pops putting him in good spots.

That contact wasn’t loved by most for DD. Vegas wasn’t buying it either. Their win total was 42 iirc.


I was a total Bulls skeptic and I still kind of am. I’ll need to see DD, Lavine and Vuc do it in the playoffs to believe it.

Taking a pass on him and choosing Westbrook is what’s hard to forgive. The worst elements of DD’s game in Toronto are far better than anything RWB brings to the table.

[Sloppy Joe]

That's a good point. I forgot about the whole Cavs/Raptors dynamic, where Lebron just owned Toronto's face every single time in the playoffs -- even when Toronto was dominant in the regular season.

It's kinda like a poker player who loses every time you're at the table with him. Even if you hear he's good and is a big winner overall, it's hard to get out of your head that the guy just seems to get beat every time you see him.

Whenever the Lakers engage in star worship rather than focusing on what pieces they really need, they fail. It happened with Glenn Rice in 1999. It happened in 2004 with Gary Payton and Karl Malone. It happened from 2012-2015 with Steve Nash. It happened in 2012 with Dwight Howard.

This debacle with Westbrook is the worst of them, though, because he's making a ton of money and he was supposed to elevate them to a championship. Then, of course, they brought in has-beens Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony -- both guys who could never quite "get there" even in their prime.

Lebron is 37, AD can't stay healthy, Westbrook is awful, and the team has no depth. Big trouble ahead.

Taking a pass on DD is forgivable. I kind of found the new DeMar narrative suspicious and figured he was a product of Pops putting him in good spots.

That contact wasn’t loved by most for DD. Vegas wasn’t buying it either. Their win total was 42 iirc.


I was a total Bulls skeptic and I still kind of am. I’ll need to see DD, Lavine and Vuc do it in the playoffs to believe it.

Taking a pass on him and choosing Westbrook is what’s hard to forgive. The worst elements of DD’s game in Toronto are far better than anything RWB brings to the table.

Yeah, that trio isn't going anywhere but the Bulls are getting unfairly criticized imo.

They came out hot largely because Caruso and Lonzo were smothering teams defensively; yes DDR and LaVine were good then too but the defense was the variable that made them awesome from the jump. Probably wasn't sustainable, but if Caruso and Lonzo were healthy and nearing their initial output that team would still be top 3-4 imo and wouldn't be 0 for X against the upper echelon.

DeRozan has been stunning but him + LaVine are probably the 6th best tandem in the East, maybe 7th if you throw the Miami guys in there.

Bill Simmons had a great spiel about the Lakers being a disaster for like 10 years running; save for the bubble title, have they had a fun team and made any smart moves in that range?

Lowlights: Howard/Nash was a disaster, end of Kobe era was terrible, mostly bricked with high picks from being terrible or traded them for scraps (Russell, Randle, Ingram, Lonzo), gave the universe for Anthony Davis, cheaped out on paying Caruso, passed on DeRozan/Hield and blew up depth of team for RWB, have no future assets whatsoever and are effectively beholden to Klutch Sports until/when LeBron and Davis bounce and they're left with nothing.

Did get the one chip, but that would be a tough fucking decade of turmoil for me to swallow as a fan.

[ftpjesus]

While LA ponders the Westbrook/Westbrick debacle, they need to ponder why DeMar DeRozan never became a Laker.

DeRozan was literally straight outta Compton, and a big Lakers fan. He was one of those guys who wanted to play for his home team. He's dreamed his entire career about coming back to LA and making a difference for the Lakers.

In 2021, he thought a trade from San Antonio to the Lakers was a "done deal", and was thrilled. Then he got the rug pulled out from under him -- it fell through, and the trade was suddenly off.

Instead, he ended up on the Bulls, via a sign-and-trade during the summer 2021 offseason.

The Bulls are now 39-26 and he's been a huge part of it.

The 21-22 Lakers are one of the most disappointing teams of all time, and are only going to make the playoffs because there's 10 teams in each conference which make it, and the other 5 in the west are tanking.

I’m not sure they’ll even make the playin games Druff tonight was pathetic against the eventual 2022 NBA Champion Phoenix Suns. Lebron tossed up one fugly air all at the halftime buzzer. They gave up 78 for the half and 140 overall. The game was over halftime. They’re not that far ahead to Assume a 10th seed they’re only 2.5 ahead of Portland and could easily slide out in the remaining games. If Portland holds playing 4-6 per 10 games and Lakers remain 3-7 avg they easily slide down to 10th and just a hiccup and they’re out as Portland should gain 1.5 based on remaining games. In fact looking at the remaining schedule for Portland and Lakers. Portland has a much easier schedule compared to LA.

[Sanlmar]

@ftp

I was switching around during hockey intermission and tuned in to see LeBron fail to transition from offense and the opponents gets an easy 2. LeBron just chillin alone in his offensive end.

It was about 6 min.s before the half. Commentators called him out. LeBron just pisses me off. I can do without that.

“The future is crook”.

[Sanlmar]

I had repeatedly heard that Charles Barkley described the Lakers were the 2010 All Star team - in 2022. I thought that was a funny line.

I looked it up and this is what he actually said:

“Is that Rob Pelinka? I haven’t seen him since he put that Laker team together, been missing in action,” Barkley said. “He put a bunch of old-a– geezers together that would have been great in 2010.”

I think the truth is that old geezer LeBron was running the show and assembled his old geezer bro’s in a traveling pick up game called the Lakers. LeBron knows nothing of future or developing talent aside from his son.

I do miss Charles Barkley. There is no reason for me to watch him any more.

[Sloppy Joe]

Lakers thing does suck though; I don't want LeBron wasting away on some shitty team. Along with being no lower than #3 on any reasonable person's GOAT list he's totally taken over the league.

What he, Rich Paul and Klutch have done to completely disrupt the status quo of the league has been amazing.

Underreported in media because much of ESPN are CAA clients (top competitor) and agency work largely thrives in shadowy conditions. Klutch clients get paid all over the place, and GM's now know to stay in their favor. Precisely why the Celtics mostly strike out in free agency.

[Sanlmar]

Lakers thing does suck though; I don't want LeBron wasting away on some shitty team. Along with being no lower than #3 on any reasonable person's GOAT list he's totally taken over the league.

What he, Rich Paul and Klutch have done to completely disrupt the status quo of the league has been amazing.

Underreported in media because much of ESPN are CAA clients (top competitor) and agency work largely thrives in shadowy conditions. Klutch clients get paid all over the place, and GM's now know to stay in their favor. Precisely why the Celtics mostly strike out in free agency.

I’ve been so removed from the NBA that your post is the first time I have seen a mention of the “Klutch Agency”. I’m a big fan of disruptive influences and it sounds like I’m missing out on some goodness.

Is this disruptive like raping and plundering the product or just redefining it?

Gimme something to read.

Celtics seem to be doing fine but I get your point and it’s interesting.

[Sanlmar]

Rich Paul Still Won’t Speak To Bill Simmons Because Of His ESPN Column On ‘The Decision’

I’ll be damned. I may have stumble upon a new understanding of the NBA. This may prove very interesting.

I’m about to check out Bostonian Bill Simmons on the Klutch story and instantly there was payoff.

Garnett just had his number retired in Boston. Last title the kids 30’ish and under remember. Garnett was on the cusp of this new nonsense if I recall. Garnett built that championship season. Hmmm.

Kids just don’t know what the NBA used to be like.

I just made some March Madness wagers. I’m looking forward to that.

[Kalam]

While LA ponders the Westbrook/Westbrick debacle, they need to ponder why DeMar DeRozan never became a Laker.

DeRozan was literally straight outta Compton, and a big Lakers fan. He was one of those guys who wanted to play for his home team. He's dreamed his entire career about coming back to LA and making a difference for the Lakers.

In 2021, he thought a trade from San Antonio to the Lakers was a "done deal", and was thrilled. Then he got the rug pulled out from under him -- it fell through, and the trade was suddenly off.

Instead, he ended up on the Bulls, via a sign-and-trade during the summer 2021 offseason.

The Bulls are now 39-26 and he's been a huge part of it.

The 21-22 Lakers are one of the most disappointing teams of all time, and are only going to make the playoffs because there's 10 teams in each conference which make it, and the other 5 in the west are tanking.

I’m not sure they’ll even make the playin games Druff tonight was pathetic against the eventual 2022 NBA Champion Phoenix Suns. Lebron tossed up one fugly air all at the halftime buzzer. They gave up 78 for the half and 140 overall. The game was over halftime. They’re not that far ahead to Assume a 10th seed they’re only 2.5 ahead of Portland and could easily slide out in the remaining games. If Portland holds playing 4-6 per 10 games and Lakers remain 3-7 avg they easily slide down to 10th and just a hiccup and they’re out as Portland should gain 1.5 based on remaining games. In fact looking at the remaining schedule for Portland and Lakers. Portland has a much easier schedule compared to LA.

The "race" for the 10th spot will be very interesting. Portland at the management level is clearly tanking, by giving all their best players fake injuries. But on the court the G League team they are putting out is playing hard and winning games. So it will be interesting to see how Portland plays this. Will they decide to go for the 10 seed, or will they keep taking players out of the rotation?

But yeah, unless management keeps pulling out the effective players, I think Portland should overtake the Lakers, and be the playoff teams with New Orleans. If Portland decides to go scorched earth and pull out Hart, Watford, Eubanks, Ellebey, etc. with fake injuries, dont sleep on San Antonio either. You know Popovich would love to get that 10 seed and knock the Lakers out if the opportunity arose, but they would need to go on a run to do it.

[Sloppy Joe]

Lakers thing does suck though; I don't want LeBron wasting away on some shitty team. Along with being no lower than #3 on any reasonable person's GOAT list he's totally taken over the league.

What he, Rich Paul and Klutch have done to completely disrupt the status quo of the league has been amazing.

Underreported in media because much of ESPN are CAA clients (top competitor) and agency work largely thrives in shadowy conditions. Klutch clients get paid all over the place, and GM's now know to stay in their favor. Precisely why the Celtics mostly strike out in free agency.

I’ve been so removed from the NBA that your post is the first time I have seen a mention of the “Klutch Agency”. I’m a big fan of disruptive influences and it sounds like I’m missing out on some goodness.

Is this disruptive like raping and plundering the product or just redefining it?

Gimme something to read.

Celtics seem to be doing fine but I get your point and it’s interesting.

Rich Paul was LeBron's childhood friend and didn't go to college, now is probably most powerful agent in league.

https://medium.com/elite-media-group...r-eefb7dc80a83

https://hoopshype.com/reps/rich-paul/

[Sloppy Joe]

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/twt/status/1504282928460668928

Russ getting cucked nightly at this point after a career of talking shit.

[BCR]

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/twt/status/1504282928460668928

Russ getting cucked nightly at this point after a career of talking shit.

Even funnier is Russ leaving hand in the air striking a pose like he thought it was in. How the fuck do you not know you’re 5 feet off? Even I know when I’m five feet off on a shot.

[Dan Druff]

Well, it happened. The Lakers missed the playoffs.

20 out of 30 teams make it, and the Lakers just needed to best San Antonio's .430 record to get there. Couldn't do it. They're officially eliminated.

Pretty amazing, given that many were claiming they were one of the favorites for the title once they signed Westbrick.

Honestly one of the most disappointing teams in NBA history, and there's a lot of competition for that title, thanks to the New York Knicks.

Good article about this year's failure, and what it means for the future: https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/w...y-in-solution/

[Sanlmar]

20 of 30 made the playoffs. Why not 29 of 30, I wonder.

Only 5 NBA players played in all 82 games this year.

I learned this as the TNT announcers were ripping NBA load management and the current sad state of affairs during the Suns game last night. All the Suns starters were in street clothes and sunglasses.

It was such a wretched display of a farcical athletic contest and the announcers were so embarrassed for the spectacle that I couldn’t stop watching.

The woman announcer was pretty good I have to say. She didn’t try to cover up for the NBA.

[Sloppy Joe]

Just sprinkled a bit on Embiid +200 for MVP.

He is clearly, desperately trying to win it at the end and I like his chances to have huge games in their remaining ones.

Think a final push from Joel may move writers on the fence to go with the charismatic guy and look past the tiresome analytics arguments that favor Jokic.

Jokic being a 2x MVP would be hilarious though, he's completely indifferent to it and watching the NBA try to delicately market him is fun.