2016-2017 NBA Season Thread [ARCHIVED] Basketball • Page 263

It's not that teams don't want IT. It's that teams don't want to pay IT a max contract that takes him past 30 when he is a defensive liability and under 6'0. Right or wrong that's the situation.

 

Imagine if they traded for jimmy butler and then made cap space for George this offseason and then didn't have to trade IT because they were in win now mode. Too bad none of that is true.

 

Damn, i didn't realize IT is 28. He was same draft as Kyrie and Kyrie just turned 25 last week.

 

Isn't George basically telling people no one but the Lakers? Butler and Hayward though...

 

I've said for 3 straight years that as a Cavs fan, I fear the Spurs more than the Warriors. Warriors are lucky they haven't played them in a playoff series these past few years.

 

Yeah but that hasn't held on as strong as it did during the deadline. I'm not convinced. Boston is the 2nd best team in the east with a great coach and actual players. They could flip him even if it were true.

 

It really all depends on the pick this year. If they keep it, IT is probably gone. I agree with you guys on that. They can't keep Smart, Bradley and IT AND build a title contender.

 

Westbrook just stole that win from Dallas. Impressive man.

 

Dallas is stoked

 

Honestly the Celtics should trade IT even if they don't get Fultz or Ball

 

Brian Windhorst on ESPN Cleveland right now just blasting the Cavs and rightfully so. Basically saying Lue has no idea how to handle these problems and Cavs - right now - are worst defensive team in the league.

Not really saying anything that I already didn't know, but damn, this team is really concerning me right now. 19-18 in their last 37 games. Essentially playing .500 ball for half the season. That's not going to cut it for a defending championship team with aspirations to repeat. I do think Lue is having major problems managing his rotations and the fact that he does not have practices is really bothersome. Can't fix defense if you aren't going to practice.

 

Why is everyone sold on IT becoming a liability and Celts should trade him? I was on that train in the beginning of the season but he's definitely won me over. He's a good player in a great system right now and I don't see why he can't keep doing what he's doing.

I'm super excited to see him perform in the playoffs and how he responds.

 

Cause they have a billion assets they don't use to acquire stars

 

Basic idea being he is very bad on defense. Not his fault he's 5ft9, but it is a statistical reality. And in the playoffs teams can collapse on him and rough him up and negate him.

That second part causes trouble for the C's as long as Bradley, Crowder Kelly, Horford, Brown and Rozier aren't hitting their shots. If teams collapse he can kick it out. And his 3 has improved drastically since last season. It'll be interesting to see if he can be a playoff player or just a regular season star.

 

He's 28, liability on defense, and after next year someone is going to have to pay him a max contract most likely (which he will be 30 when that contract starts)

Also have a ton of guards who do play defense, he is obviously a spectacular player, but his weaknesses can get heavily exploited especially in a playoff series.

 

Honestly I love Brad Stevens, but I don't think he's fully got this team figured out yet either. With all the quality defenders on the team, covering for one weak link should not be that hard to strategize. It just doesn't seem like the rotations have any consistency.

 

Nurkic with the revenge game right now.

 

Ugh, I'm still so mad that the two picks the Bulls traded for McBuckets ended up being Nurkic and Harris. The two dudes I wanted the Bulls to pick.

 

Nurkic!!!!!

 

have yourself a night CJ

 

Don't look now but the Wizards are only 2 back of the Cavs in the loss column...albeit Cavs own the tie-breaker so they'd have to finish a game above the Cavs...but with Cavs recent struggles and Lue saying he's still going to rest guys...anything is possible.

 

Their next 3 games are all tough road west coast games though. They could very easily go 0 for the next 3. Most likely 1-2. They'll need Cavs to just about lose out.

 

True...I actually think Wash only has 2 more homes games. They have a very tough schedule the rest of the way.

 

Exactly. Under normal circumstances I'd say they'd definitely pass the Cavs, but that schedule is pretty rough the next 3 games