[NBA] Unofficial Discussion Thread

[dwyane36]

If they will be facing the Sixers, not having Giannis will be an easy lose for them that's for sure especially now that Embiid's back already. If they will be facing the Heat "AGAIN" in the first round, well we know what happened last year. I'm not saying that it will happen again this year, but who knows. That would be the most embarrassing moment for the Bucks, and knowing that they have Doc "CHOKE" Rivers as their head coach, we might see Giannis leaving the team in the off-season.

I doubt Giannis can leave the Bucks in the offseason, even if the Bucks screw up in the playoffs. It's worth noting that Giannis has a huge contract until the end of the 26-27th season and a player option for the 27-28th season. Not every team will be able to take a player with such a huge contract, and the Bucks won't just give him away. Besides, this is only the first season when Giannis and Dame perform together. I think if they don't win at least one title, both of them will leave the team after 2-3 seasons.

[yahoo62278]

If they will be facing the Sixers, not having Giannis will be an easy lose for them that's for sure especially now that Embiid's back already. If they will be facing the Heat "AGAIN" in the first round, well we know what happened last year. I'm not saying that it will happen again this year, but who knows. That would be the most embarrassing moment for the Bucks, and knowing that they have Doc "CHOKE" Rivers as their head coach, we might see Giannis leaving the team in the off-season.

I doubt Giannis can leave the Bucks in the offseason, even if the Bucks screw up in the playoffs. It's worth noting that Giannis has a huge contract until the end of the 26-27th season and a player option for the 27-28th season. Not every team will be able to take a player with such a huge contract, and the Bucks won't just give him away. Besides, this is only the first season when Giannis and Dame perform together. I think if they don't win at least one title, both of them will leave the team after 2-3 seasons.

Not every team can afford his contract but there are some that would damn sure make some moves to accommodate him and his contract. The knicks, Boston, and who knows who else might be interested. Giannis is a commodity that every team would explore if he becomes available.

[LogitechMouse]

If they will be facing the Sixers, not having Giannis will be an easy lose for them that's for sure especially now that Embiid's back already. If they will be facing the Heat "AGAIN" in the first round, well we know what happened last year. I'm not saying that it will happen again this year, but who knows. That would be the most embarrassing moment for the Bucks, and knowing that they have Doc "CHOKE" Rivers as their head coach, we might see Giannis leaving the team in the off-season.

I doubt Giannis can leave the Bucks in the offseason, even if the Bucks screw up in the playoffs. It's worth noting that Giannis has a huge contract until the end of the 26-27th season and a player option for the 27-28th season. Not every team will be able to take a player with such a huge contract, and the Bucks won't just give him away. Besides, this is only the first season when Giannis and Dame perform together. I think if they don't win at least one title, both of them will leave the team after 2-3 seasons.

Not every team can afford his contract but there are some that would damn sure make some moves to accommodate him and his contract. The knicks, Boston, and who knows who else might be interested. Giannis is a commodity that every team would explore if he becomes available.

That's what I'm also thinking.
For sure those teams with huge salary cap space will try everything just to get Giannis just in case he demands a trade if they will not be a competitive team this playoff.

Knicks can be one since they still have a huge cap space. As for the Celtics, with the re-signing of Porzingis and Holiday, I don't think that they will be interested in getting Giannis still and for me, that would cause a huge imbalance in the East that it might affect the competition. The Jazz can be a candidate as well, but I guess let's see how they will perform in this year's playoffs and after that, we will see how Giannis will react on it.

My prediction on them is that they will at most reach the Conference Finals but will be beaten by Boston. The bad thing though is that they might face either the Sixers or the Heat in the first round, and they can beat the Bucks if all of them are healthy (at least for me).

[yahoo62278]

If they will be facing the Sixers, not having Giannis will be an easy lose for them that's for sure especially now that Embiid's back already. If they will be facing the Heat "AGAIN" in the first round, well we know what happened last year. I'm not saying that it will happen again this year, but who knows. That would be the most embarrassing moment for the Bucks, and knowing that they have Doc "CHOKE" Rivers as their head coach, we might see Giannis leaving the team in the off-season.

I doubt Giannis can leave the Bucks in the offseason, even if the Bucks screw up in the playoffs. It's worth noting that Giannis has a huge contract until the end of the 26-27th season and a player option for the 27-28th season. Not every team will be able to take a player with such a huge contract, and the Bucks won't just give him away. Besides, this is only the first season when Giannis and Dame perform together. I think if they don't win at least one title, both of them will leave the team after 2-3 seasons.

Not every team can afford his contract but there are some that would damn sure make some moves to accommodate him and his contract. The knicks, Boston, and who knows who else might be interested. Giannis is a commodity that every team would explore if he becomes available.

That's what I'm also thinking.
For sure those teams with huge salary cap space will try everything just to get Giannis just in case he demands a trade if they will not be a competitive team this playoff.

Knicks can be one since they still have a huge cap space. As for the Celtics, with the re-signing of Porzingis and Holiday, I don't think that they will be interested in getting Giannis still and for me, that would cause a huge imbalance in the East that it might affect the competition. The Jazz can be a candidate as well, but I guess let's see how they will perform in this year's playoffs and after that, we will see how Giannis will react on it.

My prediction on them is that they will at most reach the Conference Finals but will be beaten by Boston. The bad thing though is that they might face either the Sixers or the Heat in the first round, and they can beat the Bucks if all of them are healthy (at least for me).

If they lose in the 1st round I believe Giannis will indeed ask for a trade. He is looking for the ring, not just a good regular season record and bust in the playoffs. I think if they get Miami in the 1st round it's a series win for the Bucks, but Philly could be a problem.

[Zed0X]

One final game to decide which team will be at the 8th, 9th, and 10th spot in the Western division. How do you think this is going to play out?

Since Lakers have a losing record against Kings and Warriors, they have to win no matter what if they want to stay at 8th. However, they may find it harder to deal with the Pelicans. Kings beating Blazers and Warriors beating Jazz looks like an easier task.

[LogitechMouse]

One final game to decide which team will be at the 8th, 9th, and 10th spot in the Western division. How do you think this is going to play out?

Since Lakers have a losing record against Kings and Warriors, they have to win no matter what if they want to stay at 8th. However, they may find it harder to deal with the Pelicans. Kings beating Blazers and Warriors beating Jazz looks like an easier task.

I don't know if I'm right but this is the scenario.

1. If the Lakers will win against the Pelicans, the Lakers will secure the 8th seed while the Pelicans might drop to the 7th seed. That is if Phoenix will win against their final game of the regular season which is Minnesota. The Suns won against the Pelicans in their match-up this season 2 games to 1. The Pelicans will get the 6th seed if the Suns losses to the Timberwolves.

2. If the Lakers lose to the Pelicans, the Pelicans will secure the 6th spot no matter what happens with the game between Phoenix and Minnesota while the Lakers will drop all the way to the 10th spot because the Lakers have losing record to both Sacramento and Golden State.

Whatever the results might be on their final games, it would be exciting. Both the East and West standings isn't final yet because the gap is very close to each other. Let's see how it will be after their final games.

[Jating]

And this is what the current standings look like,

So it might be the Warriors vs the Kings. And for Warrior fans, I do think that the Warriors have a better chance against Sacramento. They have been beaten the Kings and they have history of having the numbers against the inexperience of Sacramento.
Nevertheless it will still be a good play-in tournament and I agree that we don't want any of this teams not to be in the playoff.
But we have new names like OKC, Timberwolves and Pelicans in the top 6.

[bisdak40]

And this is what the current standings look like,

So it might be the Warriors vs the Kings. And for Warrior fans, I do think that the Warriors have a better chance against Sacramento. They have been beaten the Kings and they have history of having the numbers against the inexperience of Sacramento.
Nevertheless it will still be a good play-in tournament and I agree that we don't want any of this teams not to be in the playoff.
But we have new names like OKC, Timberwolves and Pelicans in the top 6.

It's final now that the Warriors will be facing the Kings in the play-in tournament and they have a good chance against this young and no so experienced team. While on the other play-in match-up in the west, Lakers will be having a rematch with the Pelicans and i think the Lakers will grab the 7th spot if AD will play healthy.

[Zed0X]

~
i think the Lakers will grab the 7th spot if AD will play healthy.

They are the slight favorite.

AD says he'll definitely play but my guess is that Pelicans will win the play-in match because of Ingram's return. They lost last time but Ingram has already shaken off the cobwebs in the previous game. Anyway, this is one of my favorite matchups.

[bisdak40]

~
i think the Lakers will grab the 7th spot if AD will play healthy.

They are the slight favorite.

AD says he'll definitely play but my guess is that Pelicans will win the play-in match because of Ingram's return. They lost last time but Ingram has already shaken off the cobwebs in the previous game. Anyway, this is one of my favorite matchups.

Per my local bookies, the Pelicans is the slight favorite to win the match, to be honest i am having a hard time on whose to bet but i will stick to my instinct that the Lakers will win tomorrow because of their Lebron and AD's experience when it comes to this situation.

Lakers ML @.195 vs Pelicans, exciting game tomorrow at 7:30 AM PH time.

[Baofeng]

~
i think the Lakers will grab the 7th spot if AD will play healthy.

They are the slight favorite.

AD says he'll definitely play but my guess is that Pelicans will win the play-in match because of Ingram's return. They lost last time but Ingram has already shaken off the cobwebs in the previous game. Anyway, this is one of my favorite matchups.

Per my local bookies, the Pelicans is the slight favorite to win the match, to be honest i am having a hard time on whose to bet but i will stick to my instinct that the Lakers will win tomorrow because of their Lebron and AD's experience when it comes to this situation.

Lakers ML @.195 vs Pelicans, exciting game tomorrow at 7:30 AM PH time.

It went 50:50 earlier mate at 1.95 if I'm not mistaken, so that game is unpredictable.

That's why I go with the Kings against the Warriors, -2.5 @1.84. It's a big risk but I think with the Warriors championship mentality, they can overcome the aggressiveness of the Kings and could win this one in a very close game but covering that handicap.

[dwyane36]

Per my local bookies, the Pelicans is the slight favorite to win the match, to be honest i am having a hard time on whose to bet but i will stick to my instinct that the Lakers will win tomorrow because of their Lebron and AD's experience when it comes to this situation.

Lakers ML @.195 vs Pelicans, exciting game tomorrow at 7:30 AM PH time.

Well, the Lakers won this game, but it's worth noting that it was a close game, especially at the end of the 4th quarter. LeBron was close to a triple-double, Davis had a great double-double, and Russell scored 21 points, while the Pelicans had only Zion, who scored 40 points, and the other Pelicans' players performed mediocre.

[bisdak40]

Per my local bookies, the Pelicans is the slight favorite to win the match, to be honest i am having a hard time on whose to bet but i will stick to my instinct that the Lakers will win tomorrow because of their Lebron and AD's experience when it comes to this situation.

Lakers ML @.195 vs Pelicans, exciting game tomorrow at 7:30 AM PH time.

Well, the Lakers won this game, but it's worth noting that it was a close game, especially at the end of the 4th quarter. LeBron was close to a triple-double, Davis had a great double-double, and Russell scored 21 points, while the Pelicans had only Zion, who scored 40 points, and the other Pelicans' players performed mediocre.

It's a good thing for the Lakers that CJ McCollum was shut down by their defense, tallied only 9 points and also i don't know why Zion went to the locker room with 2 minutes to go in the game, is he injured? The championship experience of Lebron and Davis really carried the Lakers on this game but i don't think that they could beat the Nuggets on their first round match-up in the playoffs.

[Zed0X]

~
while the Pelicans had only Zion, who scored 40 points, and the other Pelicans' players performed mediocre.

Yeah, I was following the game in the first half and I noticed that he was carrying the whole team on his back. That's too heavy even if it's Zion because the other team has at least three players that could make the difference. It's the wrong time for McCollum and Ingram to have a bad game.

Speaking of bad game, how about a playing for 31 minutes with zero points? Yeah, Klay, that's you.

[bisdak40]

Speaking of bad game, how about a playing for 31 minutes with zero points? Yeah, Klay, that's you.

He is only good for game 6 but can't be relied upon when it's a do-or die game hehe. Kidding aside, i thought that the Warriors would win that one because on the absence of the King's two vital  players but they falter this time and i think with their showing, the championship caliber Warriors are no more, time to rebuild as they can't cope up now with the other teams.