I agree - Miami scares me. I was wrong about Jimmy Butler. He is lethal.

And they have Trevor Ariza which is probably the greatest 2nd round pick in the history of the Knick franchise in terms of a player that has just had the greatest Robert Horryesque career.

BRIGGS wrote:Are the teams that scare me. I think Miami is gonna win it all tgis year. They play good team defense and can score well from any position. The differentiator is they have bam at c. Most teams don’t have that

Miami has our number so far this season. I'm grateful to be in the playoff conversation - anything we do here is a bonus for me. Would love to see how this team attacks the playoffs, but as far as I understand, this team has treated every game like a playoff game.

Both Brooklyn and Philly are tough matchups for us. I prefer the Nets cause I think we are just "deeper" than them. They likely have the 3 best players on the court at any given time, but I'd take my chances that they can't keep their players on the court. If I were them, I wouldn't want to play the Knicks for 5 games without a bona fide home court advantage. Still think Nets would be the favorites, just like our chances.

I like our odds against the Bucks also. Not the favorites either since they are a great team and getting better, but I think the Knicks match up well with them. Feels like we are deeper than them also.

Tough road to meet the Sixers, but hell, "iron sharpens iron". I don't really like our odds against the Sixers but could see them losing a series against the Heat - as Briggs said. Both teams are deeper than the Knicks. I think we would need real luck to get past either team.

In any event, it all has to play out. Just happy to be in the conversation.

So they’ve been forced to make due with generally less than before. (Last year’s rookies should have improved, but Dragic has been less reliable injurywise).

With that said Butler, Bam, and the gang of outside shooting combo guards create some problems.

They’ve had our number but we should be able to duke it out with them. Our losses to them were close.

We sort of underestimate Philly (with a healthy Embiid). We played them hard in the 2-games in a row with them, but they were not at full strength. They have 2 powerful centers (Embiid and Howard) that we don’t have legit size to match up with.

BRIGGS wrote:Are the teams that scare me. I think Miami is gonna win it all this year. They play good team defense and can score well from any position. The differentiator is they have bam at c. Most teams don’t have that

Can't rule out Bucks or Philly as well. Although if we eventually had to pick our poison for some reason I prefer Philly over any of those. Hopefully, we get the 4th seed and do not have to worry about any of those teams in the first round.

Welpee wrote:I'm going to go out on a limb and say Brooklyn will not have healthy squad for the entire playoffs. At some point one of the big three will go down. Now, that still means they will usually have one more superstar than their opponent but I don't think we can count on a fully loaded Nets team throughout the playoffs. And my guess is their best player KD will be the one not available.

Out on a limb? They three have played the equivalent of 5 full games together this season.
If they are healthy, they have enough talent to get by until some chemistry can be built. Far from a given of course.

Given the circumstances they won't be healthy. They might not have to be. They are that talented.
As for Miami the last 10 games they are putting it together and they had our number. But......

We played them back to back in February, the 2nd game 2/9 was Drose first game. We were 11-15 and Miami was 10-14. we lose both
3rd game 3/29, we 24-23, Miami 23-24. We been side by side with them.

Big bad Heat are scarey. If anything near identical records and throw ATL in there too. All three are riding high to the end of the season.
Miami experience should give them the edge in any scenario. THis was a team that mostly intact went to finals last year.

Nalod wrote:

Welpee wrote:I'm going to go out on a limb and say Brooklyn will not have healthy squad for the entire playoffs. At some point one of the big three will go down. Now, that still means they will usually have one more superstar than their opponent but I don't think we can count on a fully loaded Nets team throughout the playoffs. And my guess is their best player KD will be the one not available.

Out on a limb? They three have played the equivalent of 5 full games together this season.
If they are healthy, they have enough talent to get by until some chemistry can be built. Far from a given of course.

Given the circumstances they won't be healthy. They might not have to be. They are that talented.
<snip>

Regarding the Nets:
We talk about the big 3, but Durant played in 33, Kyrie 52, Harden 29, out of 70 possible games.

When you look at their team, they have an incredible cast of unrecognizable names. Sure you Harris plus the aging Jordan and Green, as well as the shell-of-his-former self Blake Griffin.
Who are these guys: Bruce Bowen Jr, Mike James, Landry Shamet, Nicolas Claxton, Tyler Johnson, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot?!? Like WTF!

I'll assume Bowen is Spurs defensive wizard Bowen's son, this is not the good old journeyman Mike James (he's in his mid-40s now!). The only other Claxton I know is Speedy... and that's no Tyler Herro.

The Nets are extremely top heavy, and 5 games together? They didn't earn the wins. It was their no-name guys. Not the right thread for this, but I think Steve Nash is an underrated coach of the year candidate.

But great points about the competition. The east teams are all pretty flawed and fragile. I don't think it would be a stretch to see the Knicks make a deep run and possibly reach the finals.

Nalod wrote:Out on a limb? They three have played the equivalent of 5 full games together this season.
If they are healthy, they have enough talent to get by until some chemistry can be built. Far from a given of course.

TripleThreat wrote:

technomaster wrote:

Nalod wrote:

Welpee wrote:I'm going to go out on a limb and say Brooklyn will not have healthy squad for the entire playoffs. At some point one of the big three will go down. Now, that still means they will usually have one more superstar than their opponent but I don't think we can count on a fully loaded Nets team throughout the playoffs. And my guess is their best player KD will be the one not available.

Out on a limb? They three have played the equivalent of 5 full games together this season.
If they are healthy, they have enough talent to get by until some chemistry can be built. Far from a given of course.

Given the circumstances they won't be healthy. They might not have to be. They are that talented.
<snip>

Regarding the Nets:
We talk about the big 3, but Durant played in 33, Kyrie 52, Harden 29, out of 70 possible games.

When you look at their team, they have an incredible cast of unrecognizable names. Sure you Harris plus the aging Jordan and Green, as well as the shell-of-his-former self Blake Griffin.
Who are these guys: Bruce Bowen Jr, Mike James, Landry Shamet, Nicolas Claxton, Tyler Johnson, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot?!? Like WTF!

I'll assume Bowen is Spurs defensive wizard Bowen's son, this is not the good old journeyman Mike James (he's in his mid-40s now!). The only other Claxton I know is Speedy... and that's no Tyler Herro.

The Nets are extremely top heavy, and 5 games together? They didn't earn the wins. It was their no-name guys. Not the right thread for this, but I think Steve Nash is an underrated coach of the year candidate.

But great points about the competition. The east teams are all pretty flawed and fragile. I don't think it would be a stretch to see the Knicks make a deep run and possibly reach the finals.

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/brooklyn-nets/cap/

If you guys want to know why I keep harping on the issue of full Bird Rights, look at the Nets roster.

1) They signed Irving, Dinwiddie and DeAndre Jordan using raw cap space. Look at how much it's killing their flexibility.

2) Joe Harris, Jordan and Dinwiddie are on MCC's ( Middle Class Contracts) Now you all see what I'm talking about when some talked about giving Cameron Payne 9-10 million a year for a long term deal. You can only fit a few MCCs on your roster and they usually choke out your options.

3) Jordan is a horrible contract. He's there because he's friends with Irving and Durant and they demanded he be there. Look at the fallout. Jarrett Allen had to go to make room for Jordan's gigantic ego and to save the locker room. That 4/40 is cap poison. The Nets could have found serviceable pivots deep in free agency and maybe even in later spots in the draft or even some help in UDFA. While it's easy to say sign MRob and Noel to big money long term deals, do you see how paying pivots big money cuts off your ability at depth and at the critical wing position?

A larger complexity is Durant needed to commit to playing center on this team when he signed there. When Irving could only come aboard as a street free agent, that forced Durant to understand ( clearly he doesn't) that in order to build some roster depth, he has to essentially negate the need to sign a "name brand" center, which the Nets did and are suffering for it. Durant at center means they don't sign Jordan (maybe they get some stopgaps to back up Durant at the pivot) and can spend on wings. That's how you win in the league, with good solid wings and wing depth. Now you understand they I keep pushing for the Knicks to focus on drafting 3 And D wings.

4) Signing and trading for Durant and trading for Harden cost assets. While those were the correct moves to make, it kills their back of the roster flexibility. Draft picks equate cost controlled young labor and depth and they enter via the Rookie Scale Exception, meaning it's more flexible to bring them in and use them compared to ring chasers on buyouts and veterans minimum types. If you have more draftees, you might have a better chance to have depth to cover for the loss of a Dinwiddie.

5) If you look at what Sean Marks is doing, he's building a defensive bench, because that's what he can afford. Cabarrot, Shamet and Brown can give him some defense. This is what I said in the deep preseason - defensive players will be undervalued, the Knicks are hiring a defensive coach, so ride that inefficiency as long as you can.

While having Harden, Irving and Durant is a great current roster, the means in which they got them deserves deeper observation.

You need to draft well and keep drafting well and esp draft your "stars" in the NBA. The system is designed to reward that.

This is why superstar players should not be defacto GMs. Sean Marks is a pretty damn good GM. But he can't fix the kind of mess that is left behind when Uncle Drew and Super Sensitive On Twitter Kevin start demanding dumb decisions. The DeAndre Jordan move could cost them any hope at a ring. Now Sean Marks is a glorified secretary to a pair of dumb asses. Great players on the court. But still dumbasses.

I've been around professional athletes all my life. All kinds. Elite. Journeymen. Roster churn. Nepotism pick ups. I've seen just about all of it. And, without a doubt, NBA players collectively, I find, are generally the dumbest. I never thought I'd say this, but I have to feel a little bit for Danny Ferry. He gets a young LeBron James, aka LeGM aka LeMao aka LeMeFirstMeAlways, who demands stupid **** and then blames everyone else for tanking that roster. Ferry is reduced to a bitch boy desk driver making moves he know will get him fired because His Wokeness demands it. Though I have to say WNBA players collectively have dramatic levels of dumb too. How dumb do you have to be to lose money for 20 years, fail to secure a female audience, then stop playing games and wear the name of a guy wanted for sexually assaulting a woman? This is a league where Chris Mullin was made a GM because he was considered "pretty smart for a former player" Good God, what a **** show.

The point remains the same, look at the Nets, even with a Big Three, you need to win through the draft, you need to hold onto some of your draft picks and you need to limit middle class contracts and those deviating against league trends. And you can't let your best players become defacto GMs.

I'm waiting for Kyrie Irving to sit on the TV and watch the couch.

What a gaggle of ****ing morons.

This is all an interesting narrative, but just for fun let's focus on this:

You need to draft well and keep drafting well and esp draft your "stars" in the NBA. The system is designed to reward that.

Again, just for the exercise of it, can you look up the top 10 players in terms of mins played for the last 2 NBA champions?

How many of those 20 players were drafted by the team that won the chip?

HofstraBBall wrote:

martin wrote:

For Bucks it amounts to playing Heat in first or second round of playoffs

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://twitter.com/JCMacriNBA/status/1393231914706800640

Anything can be true. However, would think the Bucks still want the 2 seed. Giving them home court through the first 2 rounds. Which is important when having to play BK. All be it watered down home-court advantage due to covid protocol. Believe 9000 for Bucks home playoff games.

BK got Cavs and Bulls to play so.....

Knickoftime wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:
<snip>
The point remains the same, look at the Nets, even with a Big Three, you need to win through the draft, you need to hold onto some of your draft picks and you need to limit middle class contracts and those deviating against league trends. And you can't let your best players become defacto GMs.

I'm waiting for Kyrie Irving to sit on the TV and watch the couch.

What a gaggle of ****ing morons.

This is all an interesting narrative, but just for fun let's focus on this:

You need to draft well and keep drafting well and esp draft your "stars" in the NBA. The system is designed to reward that.

Again, just for the exercise of it, can you look up the top 10 players in terms of mins played for the last 2 NBA champions?

How many of those 20 players were drafted by the team that won the chip?

Hmm... it's become the league of Lebron the GM. He breaks TripleThreat theory that active players suck as GMs. He's a shining example of a great player GM. He's been in the finals in 9 out of the last 10 seasons. Where he goes, success has followed.

Not limiting ourselves to just the champs, but let's look at both sets of finalists.

2020:
Lakers - Drafted players: Kuzma. That's it? But draft picks Ingram (#2 overall), Ball (#2 overall), plus a #4 in 2019 (that became DeAndre Hunter) were traded for AD. Worth it? You bet!

Heat - Not all were "drafted" by the Heat (some signed as undrafted FA's): Bam, Herro, Nunn, Duncan Robinson... Udonis Haslem!?! (well, 17 years ago he was picked up as an undrafted FA) - This is a great example of how scouting and developing your young players can get you places fast. And they still have assets to make a few moves while they're still under cheap contracts.

2019:
Raptors: Siakim, Powell (technically traded on draft day from the Bucks). VanVleet was an undrafted free agent. They traded a lot of assets to get Kawhi (DeRozan, Poetl), Green, Ibaka, and Gasol. HUGE gamble but it paid off. Totally worth it.

GSW: Well... come on, the Steph and Klay, Green, and Looney. The Warriors are still squeezing value from those awesome picks years ago.

So... in short: there are a few formulas to building a winning team in the NBA:
1) ELITE SCOUTING. That helps you get the most out of the draft. If you have lottery picks, don't miss! And getting a star LATE is arguably more valuable than hitting early. And even better, find undrafted gems. If you can get a top 10-15 player in the draft after the 15th pick, you've done a great job.
2) GET GM LEBRON.
3) Develop your assets - this goes hand in hand with #1. If you can get your players looking like stars, you can use them to acquire elite players via trade. (but choose your trades carefully!)

Back to the Nets: They developed LeVert (#22 by the Pacers, but traded to Nets before his rookie season for Thaddeus Young) and the Fro Allen (also a #22 pick) in order to get Harden. Two #22's for a former MVP in his prime? Wow. That's killer value - especially considering that Harden has been more of an iron man relative to Durant and Kyrie in recent seasons.

They're in a bit of a bind. But built into their plans was to grab some waiver help. They picked up Blake Griffin and Aldridge - but as it turns out, Griffin really is on his last miles and Aldridge developed his unfortunate irregular heartbeat that ended his career. (Derrick Coleman haters - that man played with an irregular heartbeat condition for like a decade. Where's the respect?)