***Official NBA Thread***

[andruid]

OKC need to blow it up.

That Nuggets-Spurs series is so much fun and I am looking forward to the next round on that side of the Western Conference draw

 

[Anil]

Wow, that was amazing from Dame!

Higher than Westbrook? Of course.

oh i agree...the triple-double machine is one of the most inefficient elite players i have ever seen, if he doesn't change his habits radically and there has been no indication that he will, the ceiling for his teams will always be limited no matter who else he plays with...i know george had a chance to leave this season and he stayed but i still feel bad for him...

 

[Anil]

For me fully fit Embiid>Davis.

yeah both spectacular players of course but embiid is the more impactful one for me of those two...

 

[Anil]

Center is the least valuable position in the league at the moment

is this really true especially this season with embiid, davis (when he was playing), nurkic, jokic et al playing such vital roles for their teams?

 

[OverratedSanity]

Tier 1:

Giannis
Durant
Lebron

Tier 2:
Harden
Steph
Kawhi

Tier 3:
Embiid
Davis

Tier 4:
Kyrie
Dame
George

Kawhi is very very close to Tier 1 imo and would be if he actually bothered to play more games. Embiid and Davis are the most difficult pair to split, but even disregarding the fact that Simmons forces him to the perimeter sometimes, Embiid still takes a few too many 3s for my liking, and he's also pretty turnover prone at times.Davis just doesn't seem to have any obvious weaknesses, just hasn't had the chance to show it in the post season this year. It's his own fault that he hasn't, but still.

Kyrie imo has gone from overrated a few years ago to highly underrated today imo. For a smaller guy, his ability to play through contact and handle physical defense is something even a few superior players dont have. Probably the best of the Tier 4 bunch.

 

[Anil]

harden has spectacular stats (if you overlook his usage and shooting % numbers) and will likely be a repeat mvp this season but for me he is still significantly overrated...i would rank giannis, lebron, durant, steph, kawhi all ahead of him at this point...and giannis is the true mvp this season as far as i care...

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

is this really true especially this season with embiid, davis (when he was playing), nurkic, jokic et al playing such vital roles for their teams?

Yes. A centre cannot single-handedly change a team's fortunes close to as much as a guard or a wing. They don't touch the ball enough in the open court and cannot break down defences in a way that changes the game. Defensively they are by far the most important position, but even with the renewed interest in defence, offence is still much more important.

Also, value over replacement level for centre in much lower than at other positions, which is another large factor in their depressed value.

 

[NUFAN]

Speaking of tiers OS, want to see my top 50 NBA list?

 

[NUFAN]

I'll do it anyway..

1. Kevin Durant
2. Giannis Antetokoumpo
3. LeBron James
4. Steph Curry
5. James Harden
6. Kawhi Leonard
7. Damian Lillard
8. Anthony Davis
9. Joel Embiid
10. Kyrie Irving
11. Paul George
12. Nikola Jokic
13. Chris Paul
14. Karl Anthony Towns
15. Russell Westbrook
16. Draymond Green
17. Ben Simmons
18. Jimmy Butler
19. Klay Thompson
20. Rudy Gobert
21. Bradley Beal
22. Victor Oladipo
23. Blake Griffin
24. Demar DeRozan
25. Jrue Holiday
26. LaMarcus Aldridge
27. CJ McCollom
28. Luke Doncic
29. Khris Middleton
30. John Wall
31. Al Horford
32. Mike Conley
33. Kemba Walker
34. Kristaps Porzingis
35. Donovan Mitchell
36. Pascal Siakam
37. Devin Booker
38. Clint Capela
39. Kyle Lowry
40. Tobias Harris
41. Jayson Tatum
42. Kevin Love
43. Jamal Murray
44. Danilo Gallinari
45. Andre Drummond
46. Eric Bledsoe
47. Gordon Hayward
48. Lou Williams
49. D'Angelo Russell
50. Jusuf Nurkic

 

[NUFAN]

Looking forward to the critic of the list. Gary Harris was my next pick. Boogie, Millsap, LaVert, Gasol, Vucevic, Richardson, Porter etc were in the mix. At one point I thought I was favouring the East too much, but it ended up (I think) 28 Western Conference and 22 East.

Anyone completely wrong? I know DCYE will think Klay is too low. John Wall was kind of hard to rate..

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Nah I think Klay is pretty good there, Klay is a great player but he doesn't really create offence in a way I'd call elite. But he's also never really had the chance to either, I guess.

I might take a look later but just on cursory glance I'd say Westbrook is far too high (sub-50TS% on 33%+ usage for two seasons, yuckkk) and I'd have Gobert much higher. I don't think you can put Kristaps on the list at all at this point, by the time you see him on a court again he won't have played for nearly 2 years and he's on a completely different team. Other than that I don't have any quibbles.

 

[OverratedSanity]

My list wouldn't beuch different except I'd have griffin and Bledsoe higher and bump draymond down a few spots. I don't think he's been anywhere near as good as before even on defense this season.

Bledsoe imo is milwaukee's second most important player.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Tough to really evaluate guys like Hayward too. He's clearly better than what he's shown this season but it's difficult to give him a high ranking until he actually plays like it again.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

My list wouldn't beuch different except I'd have griffin and Bledsoe higher and bump draymond down a few spots. I don't think he's been anywhere near as good as before even on defense this season.

Draymond has been awesome in the second half, he started terribly though so that skews it a little.

 

[NUFAN]

You are probably right. It doesn't really make that much sense leaving out Boogie whPorzingis is on there.

It definitely isn't easy, hard to please all. I'm pretty happy with where I have placed Blake. I can't see any legitimate reason to place him ahead of anyone in the top 20 and I watch a lot of Blake who had an excellent season.

Bledsoe is definitely playing excellent but I want/need to see him perform in a meaningful playoff series first. Does anyone else think Siakam is the Raptors second guy, or is it Lowry?

 

[Anil]

i think the clippers have a decent chance now to take down the warriors in 7...

 

[andruid]

The Warriors going out now would be hilarious

 

[Anil]

they have been shaky all season...and definitely look beatable...if they go through to the semis, and chris paul stays healthy for the entire series, i think houston has a very good chance of beating them...

 

[OverratedSanity]

That was an odd ending. No idea why the spurs didnt foul Series went pretty much how I expected though.


2nd round predictions:

Sixers vs Raptors- Raptors in 6
Bucks vs Celtics- Celtics in 7

Nuggets vs Blazers- Nuggets in 6
warriors v Rockets- Rockets in 7

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

GSW (7) v Rockets - Wanted to take the Rockets in 6 and might have if I was clearer on just how bad the ankles of Steph and Klay are.
Nuggets (6) v Blazers - They will actually miss Nurk here, though I wouldn't be stunned if the Blazers did it.

Bucks (5) v Celtics - I believe.
Raptors (5) v Sixers - I don't believe.