The Official 2024/25 NBA Week One Thread

[Scythe]

Chicago and Orlando went a combined 0-24 in the first 7.5 minutes of the final quarter. Probably the worst stretch of basketball I've ever seen lol

 

[Chadwiko]

I tried to tell y'all that the Pacers were legit.

 

[stewie griffen]

As always

**** Boston

 

[stewie griffen]

Giddey 4/4 from today....

 

[Scythe]

Giddey 4/4 from today....

Don't I know it

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

Heres a harsh take

Has Wemby been a bit underwhelming ?

I think so. He has clear offensive struggles in particular with his shot selection. He has a bit of Andrea Bargnani about his offensive setup. With this in mind teams seem to find it easy enough to get the ball out of his hands. While he is a great defensive presence, he needs to improve his offensive output to get to the superstar level

 

[Nicho50]

God damn such a poor performance from the Pelicans again. They have been the most underwhelming so far to start the season.

 

[Scythe]

God damn such a poor performance from the Pelicans again. They have been the most underwhelming so far to start the season.

Just a badly balanced roster tbh. Tons of talent, but no decent centre, and Zion, Ingram, McCollum and Murray are all predominantly ISO scorers. They fit terribly with each other

 

[burge13]

Just a badly balanced roster tbh. Tons of talent, but no decent centre, and Zion, Ingram, McCollum and Murray are all predominantly ISO scorers. They fit terribly with each other

I'm sure when they traded Murray in they thought they'd have BI or CJ out for a big man...

 

[Nicho50]

Good to see Detroit, Washington and Portland all get some early season W's.

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

Just a badly balanced roster tbh. Tons of talent, but no decent centre, and Zion, Ingram, McCollum and Murray are all predominantly ISO scorers. They fit terribly with each other

They are just wasting a season because they dont want to overpay for a C I feel. You kind of have no choice

Ingram + picks for Ayton is the only move to make

One issue also is Zion is just a middling player at present. He sure as hell isnt a star

 

[Scythe]

They are just wasting a season because they dont want to overpay for a C I feel. You kind of have no choice

Ingram + picks for Ayton is the only move to make

One issue also is Zion is just a middling player at present. He sure as hell isnt a star

Honestly, I doubt a team with Zion as it's centrepiece is not winning a championship. I want to like the Pels, but Zion's inconsistency, injury issues, lack of shooting and inability to get his conditioning right don't give me any confidence that they'll step up and achieve their potential.

Honestly, you just need to surround Zion with catch and shoot guys who can defend, similar to what Orlando used to do with Dwight. Having four guys on the court who want to pound the rock in face-up iso situations is never gonna work.

 

[burge13]

They are just wasting a season because they dont want to overpay for a C I feel. You kind of have no choice

Ingram + picks for Ayton is the only move to make

One issue also is Zion is just a middling player at present. He sure as hell isnt a star

Wild overs for Ayton if you're talking firsts

Allen for BI if Cavs go all in on Mobley works

Vucevic surely doesn't see the season out in Chicago

There are options

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

Honestly, I doubt a team with Zion as it's centrepiece is not winning a championship. I want to like the Pels, but Zion's inconsistency, injury issues, lack of shooting and inability to get his conditioning right don't give me any confidence that they'll step up and achieve their potential.

Honestly, you just need to surround Zion with catch and shoot guys who can defend, similar to what Orlando used to do with Dwight. Having four guys on the court who want to pound the rock in face-up iso situations is never gonna work.

You think Zion can move to C? Im thinking that isnt possible.

 

[Scythe]

You think Zion can move to C? Im thinking that isnt possible.

Nah, in that scenario, more thinking that they'd have a floor-spacing big to go with him to give him room to operate. But it's risky building your whole roster around a guy who seemingly misses every second game

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

Nah, in that scenario, more thinking that they'd have a floor-spacing big to go with him to give him room to operate. But it's risky building your whole roster around a guy who seemingly misses every second game

Cant think of any floor spacing big that they could realistically get . Think Ayton is a realistic option but not the best.

Id put Vucevic in the unrealistic basket too. Chicago cant make that move

 

[Sonny Hayes]

Heres a harsh take

Has Wemby been a bit underwhelming ?

I think so. He has clear offensive struggles in particular with his shot selection. He has a bit of Andrea Bargnani about his offensive setup. With this in mind teams seem to find it easy enough to get the ball out of his hands. While he is a great defensive presence, he needs to improve his offensive output to get to the superstar level

It’s still early and I am not at all questioning his potential but I was staggered at the takes around Wemby this pre season. People talking about him like a fringe top 10 guy, clear best defensive players in the league etc etc.

I get all the hype but people are going so early, he is still going to take time!

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

It’s still early and I am not at all questioning his potential but I was staggered at the takes around Wemby this pre season. People talking about him like a fringe top 10 guy, clear best defensive players in the league etc etc.

I get all the hype but people are going so early, he is still going to take time!

The problem is the hype more then the player I suppose

He has to work on his offensive output though. I think in 2 years time though he hits that offensive rhythm. He has to put the work in though and not I guess buy into the hype and believe he has made it already

 

[hotchilli]

It’s still early and I am not at all questioning his potential but I was staggered at the takes around Wemby this pre season. People talking about him like a fringe top 10 guy, clear best defensive players in the league etc etc.

I get all the hype but people are going so early, he is still going to take time!

Feel like this is a good take.

Absolutely shows flashes of being a HOF guy but he’s certainly not in the same level as the top guys yet who are at the top of their games consistently.

 

[peternorth]

God damn such a poor performance from the Pelicans again. They have been the most underwhelming every season.

FIFY

 

[Son of Skeletor]

Just a badly balanced roster tbh. Tons of talent, but no decent centre, and Zion, Ingram, McCollum and Murray are all predominantly ISO scorers. They fit terribly with each other

This has been years in the making. Everything about our 'process' has been reactive, not planned. It's just been masked by the huge number of assets we had to start out the rebuilding process 5-6 years back. We had a 50 win team last season, but we're still poorly run.

We brought in Dejounte because we (correctly) identified we need an actual point guard, because we blew so many fourth quarter leads last season. We didn't have a true point guard because we tried to convert CJ McCollum into one. We didn't originally trade for McCollum to be a point guard though, we traded for him because we realised we needed spacing. We realised we needed spacing because we didn't have a floor spacing big next to Zion. We didn't have a floor spacing big because we swapped from Derrick Favors to Steven Adams to Valanciunas, despite none of them being floor spacers. I've said repeatedly on this forum for five years I wanted Myles Turner. Not because he's the best player in the league, but because he was the right prototype, the right complementary skill set, and the right age, on the right contract, to pair with Zion. We could have easily got that done years ago, easily.

I could make the exact same timeline for the point guard fiasco, from initially choosing to keep Jrue to then trading him, for some reason trying to make Bledsoe work, to needlessly paying a first round pick for a RFA in Devonte Graham who wasn't even good anyway. Developing Lonzo's jump shot, then letting him walk, etc, etc. No continuity, no plan.

Last year we decided that, apparently, we didn't need a 'traditional' point guard. This season, we've decided we don't need a 'traditional' big. None of it speaks to good long term planning. We fly by the seat of our proverbial pants.

 

[Son of Skeletor]

It’s still early and I am not at all questioning his potential but I was staggered at the takes around Wemby this pre season. People talking about him like a fringe top 10 guy, clear best defensive players in the league etc etc.

I get all the hype but people are going so early, he is still going to take time!

People forget that unless you're a savant like Jokic, it's hard to generate your own offence as a big in 2024. Even if you're 8 foot tall and have a nice jumper.

Coaches are still trying to work out how to best utiilise Anthony Davis and KAT, and they've been in the league a decade.

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

People forget that unless you're a savant like Jokic, it's hard to generate your own offence as a big in 2024. Even if you're 8 foot tall and have a nice jumper.

Coaches are still trying to work out how to best utiilise Anthony Davis and KAT, and they've been in the league a decade.

Which is why the 3 point shooting C came into fashion. Al Horford a good example of a guy who moved to that role and changed his game to match

I honestly think New Orleans are trying to work out how to best utlise Zion too mind you. I dont put him any different to AD or KAT that way. This somewhat has been the reason the team has changed tact so often. People can talk about wants but I think New Orleans are past the point of setting out a want when it comes to C. Its what is available.

Ayton and Zach Collins are only 2 Cs i can think of that would be available really. A move for Collins + Johnson for Ingram + picks is another option for the team

 

[burge13]

Which is why the 3 point shooting C came into fashion. Al Horford a good example of a guy who moved to that role and changed his game to match

I honestly think New Orleans are trying to work out how to best utlise Zion too mind you. I dont put him any different to AD or KAT that way. This somewhat has been the reason the team has changed tact so often. People can talk about wants but I think New Orleans are past the point of setting out a want when it comes to C. Its what is available.

Ayton and Zach Collins are only 2 Cs i can think of that would be available really. A move for Collins + Johnson for Ingram + picks is another option for the team

Why do you keep wanting NOP to give up picks to get the lesser players in trades lol? Obviously this isn't going to happen

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

Why do you keep wanting NOP to give up picks to get the lesser players in trades lol? Obviously this isn't going to happen

I think Ingram has absolutely zero value besides salary matching is all. I think you are attributing value to Ingram I just dont think exists