2024 NBA Season

[rhomelmabini]

Here's the latest update on our KIA MVP Ladder.
1. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
2. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
3. Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets
4. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
https://www.nba.com/news/kia-mvp-ladder-jan-6-2023-edition
Jokic added another triple-double to his record last night. He won't get out of that top spot and so is JT.
KD on the hand might not be on the list anymore for next week's update because of the injury.
Who will rank up? Those who are present.
Donovan Mitchell or Jaylen Brown.

Not gonna predict who might step up since lot of stars are being ruled out in this ladder, I just hope that no one from the top will get injured again. Looks like it will be Luka that may step up and yeah those two will not likely be out from their spot and remain at the top.

[1715333711]

1715333711

[btc_angela]

Here's the latest update on our KIA MVP Ladder.
1. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
2. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
3. Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets
4. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
https://www.nba.com/news/kia-mvp-ladder-jan-6-2023-edition
Jokic added another triple-double to his record last night. He won't get out of that top spot and so is JT.
KD on the hand might not be on the list anymore for next week's update because of the injury.
Who will rank up? Those who are present.
Donovan Mitchell or Jaylen Brown.

Not gonna predict who might step up since lot of stars are being ruled out in this ladder, I just hope that no one from the top will get injured again. Looks like it will be Luka that may step up and yeah those two will not likely be out from their spot and remain at the top.

Good list of the top candidates for the MVP specially Jokic, this could be his 3rd time right? If only Joel Embiid is not getting injured and consistently playing, he could be in that list too.

And Tatum case is strong as well, he is leading the Celtics, but we want something big for him to really overtake Jokic in the number 1.

Maybe a good game that he can score 50-60 points and win in a close game. Kevin Durant is injured so Luka might overtake him in the next released. Giannis too slowly getting his Bucks and putting MVP numbers.

[freedomgo]

Durant misses at least two weeks, that would be a huge loss to BKN. They rather choose losing to Miami than losing Durant. Just when he broke another record and went up one more place in all time top scorers list, he could've gone one more place next game. I hope he'll return healthy soon.
Kyrie is playing great lately so I don't expect many losses from Brooklyn in this period. Sure Kyrie will use the ball more and Simmons should take more responsibility. T.J. Warren and Watanabe will get more playing time. Coach Vaughn will find a way to win games, Nets have a good squad. I don't think they'll go down just like Suns.

If only they could make that choice, they will indeed choose to get defeated rather than losing one of their efficient player that will make their situation much harder in the next few games without him. But, nobody anticipated that to happen and nobody wanted that to happen, it's just that Durant had to be in that wrong place at the wrong time.

But yes, they can still win some games even without him although it will be much harder now. Kyrie and Simmons will still do everything they can and will step up while Durant is still recovering from the suspected MCL injury. Just a couple of weeks won't hurt and they can still come back much stronger.

[mirakal]

Celtics vs Bulls might be the best entertaining game of all. Two offensive teams, expecting a high scoring game.

Let's see if Bulls' Zach Lavine will continue his good numbers against the Boston Celtics. It's been notable that Bulls fans are really happy with his recent performance where he joined the Steph Curry 3-point party after establishing 11 3s last game. Although LaVine is playing like that, others want to work him on making defense as purely focusing on offense won't take them always to win. But for me, if he's really not good at that, let them focus on his specialty and trust his teammates to do what's lacking for him. It's a team effort, by the way, to win.

But according to rumors, that doesn't change the fact that LaVine has the chance to still get traded before the trade deadline.

As far as the rumor list is concerned, his name is still hot there and not until the trade deadline ends, we can ruled out that possibility.

They got defeated by the Boston Celtics earlier, but LaVine still got a good stats in the game and managed to put 27 points with rebounds and assists. It's just that the Celtics now are quite dominant leaded by Tatum and Brown, they have been dominating since the season have started which is why they are at the top in the league leading both West and East conference.

Anyway, back to the Chicago Bulls. Is LaVine that hot in the trade talks? Care to share some information.

[Japinat]

Durant misses at least two weeks, that would be a huge loss to BKN. They rather choose losing to Miami than losing Durant. Just when he broke another record and went up one more place in all time top scorers list, he could've gone one more place next game. I hope he'll return healthy soon.
Kyrie is playing great lately so I don't expect many losses from Brooklyn in this period. Sure Kyrie will use the ball more and Simmons should take more responsibility. T.J. Warren and Watanabe will get more playing time. Coach Vaughn will find a way to win games, Nets have a good squad. I don't think they'll go down just like Suns.

Injuries really spoil the good rally of a team. That was unfortunate to happen now that the team is getting a good winning streak and this is the first time, that their drama stars are working together as a team with no issues or drama or what.

Good thing though that it happened this elimination and not in playoffs.

In the meantime, expect that Irving will do his job in covering what Durant will miss.

The good thing is Durant will be back in less time compared to the expected one month of being sidelined according to the report. The only thing that is left is for them to make up for the 30pts that Durant makes every game. When Durant was out last season, they had an 11-losing streak. Hope they find their rhythm without Durant this time since they are doing very fine this season. It means they have put down the drama.

That's not yet sure if he will indeed comeback much earlier this time and not the whole month expectation, Durant's timeline is not yet discussed because he will be needing some re-evaluation first in the next two weeks. If it will turn out great then it will be safe to assume that a 1 month rest will be too long for him but if that suspected injury is really serious, I guess he will be needing few more weeks. I just hope that it's not that serious though, a game is much interesting to see if the role players are complete.

[rhomelmabini]

Here's the latest update on our KIA MVP Ladder.
1. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
2. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
3. Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets
4. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
https://www.nba.com/news/kia-mvp-ladder-jan-6-2023-edition
Jokic added another triple-double to his record last night. He won't get out of that top spot and so is JT.
KD on the hand might not be on the list anymore for next week's update because of the injury.
Who will rank up? Those who are present.
Donovan Mitchell or Jaylen Brown.

Not gonna predict who might step up since lot of stars are being ruled out in this ladder, I just hope that no one from the top will get injured again. Looks like it will be Luka that may step up and yeah those two will not likely be out from their spot and remain at the top.

Good list of the top candidates for the MVP specially Jokic, this could be his 3rd time right? If only Joel Embiid is not getting injured and consistently playing, he could be in that list too.

And Tatum case is strong as well, he is leading the Celtics, but we want something big for him to really overtake Jokic in the number 1.

Maybe a good game that he can score 50-60 points and win in a close game. Kevin Durant is injured so Luka might overtake him in the next released. Giannis too slowly getting his Bucks and putting MVP numbers.

The thing is, he is really on the list but with the injury he probably be replaced on his position. I think Tatum right now is explosive but not more than explosive on what's Luka is doing on the Mavs, he's an absolutely a great player. Still halfway on the regular season so there might be changes on the ranking but I think these 3 will be the top contenders along the way, of course, without any injuries to be taken, I may not be surprised if Giannis may increase his ranking from here on out.

[Yogee]

....
Anyway, back to the Chicago Bulls. Is LaVine that hot in the trade talks? Care to share some information.

I've been reading such rumor since last month. Talks about fallout between LaVine and management or Lavine and teammates due to the disappointing results has been floating around. There's probably some truth to that since it's easy to play the blame game when the team keeps losing.

I still haven't read about a particular team seriously chasing him so he'll probably remain in Chicago.

[OgNasty]

We've got a couple nationally televised games on tonight.    Doesn't get much better than the TNT crew and basketball on a Tuesday night. 

Up first, there's the Thunder vs the Heat.  I'm thinking that Miami will take the win here, but it should be a close game.  After that you have the Warriors and the Suns.  This one should be interesting with both Stephen Curry and Devon Booker out with injuries.  I think without their stars though, the Warriors are even further ahead of the Suns, so I'm expecting Klay and the guys to beat the Suns tonight fairly easily.  Enjoy!

[dwyane36]

The thing is, he is really on the list but with the injury he probably be replaced on his position. I think Tatum right now is explosive but not more than explosive on what's Luka is doing on the Mavs, he's an absolutely a great player. Still halfway on the regular season so there might be changes on the ranking but I think these 3 will be the top contenders along the way, of course, without any injuries to be taken, I may not be surprised if Giannis may increase his ranking from here on out.

Tatum performs great this season, although I also think Jokic and Doncic are the main candidates for the MVP award. By the way, if you compare the stats of these players, you can see that Jokic and Doncic average nearly a triple-double per game, while Tatum is only close to a double-double per game because he doesn't pass enough, only 4.2 assists per game on average. However, you're right that the end of the regular season is a long way off, which means the list of MVP candidates could change significantly. It seems to me the team's place in the standings will also matter, not only the individual stats.

[sana54210]

It's time for Kyrie to step up again as the leader of the Nets, for me he is inconsistent, but let's how or what he is going to do since he will be task to lead the team again in the absence of Kevin Durant.

Let's give credit to Coach Vaughn, he has make a turn around with this team when he takes over from Nash. And now they are one of the top teams in the East. For sure there will be some loses without Durant, but for sure they won't let this to happen to them with Kyrie and Simmons and then their surprised player like Watanabe, T.J. Warren and Nic.

They still got the rest of the squad who are capable of competing. Like what you said, Kyrie needs to step up and lead the team. He's not new to this kind of task. Let see if how he will deliver.

It will be on the side of the coach if how he will balance those players that will play with Kyrie,
I see him adjust and rotate the ball aside from taking more shots but also to bring everyone
and play together.

I do not think that he is that type of player at all, I think that he is actually a player that brings everyone around him down more than he helps them get better. Kyrie played in Cavs and won and still left, and then he was sent to Boston and still left and we see how Celtics is after him, and we have seen him in Nets now, with 2 other superstars first, now with just one of them, and even alone he is just not that person.

His horrible off the court sayings and problems are also another headache. This dude talked about how blacks are the real jews, basically saying the Jewish people that we know right now? They are "fake jews" according to him. How could you tolerate with players like that?

[carlisle1]

Durant misses at least two weeks, that would be a huge loss to BKN. They rather choose losing to Miami than losing Durant. Just when he broke another record and went up one more place in all time top scorers list, he could've gone one more place next game. I hope he'll return healthy soon.
Kyrie is playing great lately so I don't expect many losses from Brooklyn in this period. Sure Kyrie will use the ball more and Simmons should take more responsibility. T.J. Warren and Watanabe will get more playing time. Coach Vaughn will find a way to win games, Nets have a good squad. I don't think they'll go down just like Suns.

Injuries really spoil the good rally of a team. That was unfortunate to happen now that the team is getting a good winning streak and this is the first time, that their drama stars are working together as a team with no issues or drama or what.

Good thing though that it happened this elimination and not in playoffs.

In the meantime, expect that Irving will do his job in covering what Durant will miss.

The good thing is Durant will be back in less time compared to the expected one month of being sidelined according to the report. The only thing that is left is for them to make up for the 30pts that Durant makes every game. When Durant was out last season, they had an 11-losing streak. Hope they find their rhythm without Durant this time since they are doing very fine this season. It means they have put down the drama.

That's not yet sure if he will indeed comeback much earlier this time and not the whole month expectation, Durant's timeline is not yet discussed because he will be needing some re-evaluation first in the next two weeks. If it will turn out great then it will be safe to assume that a 1 month rest will be too long for him but if that suspected injury is really serious, I guess he will be needing few more weeks. I just hope that it's not that serious though, a game is much interesting to see if the role players are complete.

The entire squad of the Nets need to work together to cover that, KD is not just a scorer but an all-around player, covering his spot should
be done by all 5 players inside the court.

They've got a good chemistry and they just need to continue to play together, even without KD surely, they can still win games.

Hoping for KD's early recovery and not to suffer to any major injury.

[chaser15]

Celtics vs Bulls might be the best entertaining game of all. Two offensive teams, expecting a high scoring game.

Let's see if Bulls' Zach Lavine will continue his good numbers against the Boston Celtics. It's been notable that Bulls fans are really happy with his recent performance where he joined the Steph Curry 3-point party after establishing 11 3s last game. Although LaVine is playing like that, others want to work him on making defense as purely focusing on offense won't take them always to win. But for me, if he's really not good at that, let them focus on his specialty and trust his teammates to do what's lacking for him. It's a team effort, by the way, to win.

But according to rumors, that doesn't change the fact that LaVine has the chance to still get traded before the trade deadline.

As far as the rumor list is concerned, his name is still hot there and not until the trade deadline ends, we can ruled out that possibility.

They got defeated by the Boston Celtics earlier, but LaVine still got a good stats in the game and managed to put 27 points with rebounds and assists. It's just that the Celtics now are quite dominant leaded by Tatum and Brown, they have been dominating since the season have started which is why they are at the top in the league leading both West and East conference.

Anyway, back to the Chicago Bulls. Is LaVine that hot in the trade talks? Care to share some information.

I remember when others are doubting the performance of the Boston Celtics because they established losing steaks before and the notable one is against Orlando Magic which others thought should be an easy win for the Celtics. Those people didn't realize that even a dominant team does have a bad night that might last for several games. Look at Celtics now, maintaining their rhythm again and going strong at .707 above the winning percentage.

Back to your question, yes Zach LaVine is being part of the trade rumor but maybe things have changed now when he is putting up good numbers recently on their previous games. Not just LaVine but other core players of the Chicago Bulls too are being put on trading rumors.

Some teams that are rumored to seem interested in acquiring him are; New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, and Miami Heat.

[danherbias07]

And Tatum case is strong as well, he is leading the Celtics, but we want something big for him to really overtake Jokic in the number 1.

Maybe a good game that he can score 50-60 points and win in a close game. Kevin Durant is injured so Luka might overtake him in the next released. Giannis too slowly getting his Bucks and putting MVP numbers.

He is playing at 30+ points per game and he's also racking stats in both assists and rebounds. But Jokic is on the same level although not on the points section. He usually becomes a playmaker if his teammates are having a good night in their shooting capability.
Just like yesterday, Jokic only scored 14 but he had 11 rebounds and 16 assists. There's no lacking with Tatum, he just need to do this consistently and soon he will reach the top.

Anyway, back to the Chicago Bulls. Is LaVine that hot in the trade talks? Care to share some information.

Expect more of this rumor as the trade deadline is coming near. Most team lack shooters and he would fit anywhere.

We've got a couple nationally televised games on tonight.    Doesn't get much better than the TNT crew and basketball on a Tuesday night. 

Up first, there's the Thunder vs the Heat.  I'm thinking that Miami will take the win here, but it should be a close game.  After that you have the Warriors and the Suns.  This one should be interesting with both Stephen Curry and Devon Booker out with injuries.  I think without their stars though, the Warriors are even further ahead of the Suns, so I'm expecting Klay and the guys to beat the Suns tonight fairly easily.  Enjoy!

I think Steph Curry is playing today. It was said this may be the first time they will play as a complete team. That may be the reason for the exaggerated odds. -12.5 for a profitable bet. Steph's return is hyped. 

[harizen]

I think Steph Curry is playing today. It was said this may be the first time they will play as a complete team. That may be the reason for the exaggerated odds. -12.5 for a profitable bet. Steph's return is hyped. 

Yes, it's officially confirmed by several reliable sources that Steph Curry will return against the handicapped Phoenix Suns.

Aside from the Warriors now playing with their main guy [/i]today, the reason for too much underdog odds for the Phoenix Suns is because of the absence of their key players, Devin Booker, DeAndre Ayton (questionable), Chris Paul, etc. And I was surprised here that there is a total of 8 Suns players that might not be available for their tonight's game.

Damn, who else was left there? lol. No wonder they are currently facing a worst 1-10 record on their 10 last games.

[LogitechMouse]

I think Steph Curry is playing today. It was said this may be the first time they will play as a complete team. That may be the reason for the exaggerated odds. -12.5 for a profitable bet. Steph's return is hyped.  

Yes, it's officially confirmed by several reliable sources that Steph Curry will return against the handicapped Phoenix Suns.

Aside from the Warriors now playing with their main guy [/i]today, the reason for too much underdog odds for the Phoenix Suns is because of the absence of their key players, Devin Booker, DeAndre Ayton (questionable), Chris Paul, etc. And I was surprised here that there is a total of 8 Suns players that might not be available for their tonight's game.

Damn, who else was left there? lol. No wonder they are currently facing a worst 1-10 record on their 10 last games.

The team who got the top seeded twice but failed miserably in those 2 seasons are now on the 8th seeded and ties with the Twolves. 7.5 games behind the top spot and just one game above the 12th spot Lakers.

A lose against the Warriors will put them out of the top 8. They are playing very awful in their past few games. Add also the fact that 8 players will not play tonight, and their key players are out as well. Who was left there? Their role players who most of us doesn't know at all .

I wonder why they are playing like this aside from their injuries. Ayton's issue with Coach Monty? The hate that they are receiving from people or just because of injuries. Inconsistency of their key players? Hmmmmmmm

[ChiBitCTy]

Celtics vs Bulls might be the best entertaining game of all. Two offensive teams, expecting a high scoring game.

Let's see if Bulls' Zach Lavine will continue his good numbers against the Boston Celtics. It's been notable that Bulls fans are really happy with his recent performance where he joined the Steph Curry 3-point party after establishing 11 3s last game. Although LaVine is playing like that, others want to work him on making defense as purely focusing on offense won't take them always to win. But for me, if he's really not good at that, let them focus on his specialty and trust his teammates to do what's lacking for him. It's a team effort, by the way, to win.

But according to rumors, that doesn't change the fact that LaVine has the chance to still get traded before the trade deadline.

As far as the rumor list is concerned, his name is still hot there and not until the trade deadline ends, we can ruled out that possibility.

They got defeated by the Boston Celtics earlier, but LaVine still got a good stats in the game and managed to put 27 points with rebounds and assists. It's just that the Celtics now are quite dominant leaded by Tatum and Brown, they have been dominating since the season have started which is why they are at the top in the league leading both West and East conference.

Anyway, back to the Chicago Bulls. Is LaVine that hot in the trade talks? Care to share some information.

I remember when others are doubting the performance of the Boston Celtics because they established losing steaks before and the notable one is against Orlando Magic which others thought should be an easy win for the Celtics. Those people didn't realize that even a dominant team does have a bad night that might last for several games. Look at Celtics now, maintaining their rhythm again and going strong at .707 above the winning percentage.

Back to your question, yes Zach LaVine is being part of the trade rumor but maybe things have changed now when he is putting up good numbers recently on their previous games. Not just LaVine but other core players of the Chicago Bulls too are being put on trading rumors.

Some teams that are rumored to seem interested in acquiring him are; New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, and Miami Heat.

Trade talks for Zach Lavine are not that hot.  I'm a Chicagoan/Bulls fan and listen to Chicago sports radio daily and it's not something that has brought up very much at all.  If there was serious talks going on, I would be hearing about it all the time, especially during Bulls specific segments which Bulls beat writers, and it's just not something that's really being discussed.  Regardless of the fact that he's playing better, this was/is a long shot after just signing a max deal in the offseason.

[TravelMug]

^^, Thanks for the info, I also heard rumors that him and DeRozan are not happy with the Bulls and how the team is playing right now. We don't know where that news come from, probably its from disgruntled fans as the Bulls is not winning games.

But after the rumor come out in social media, Lavine and DeRozan make a run, unfortunately, they were stop by the top team in the East.

So there is no ashamed in losing to Tatum's Boston Celtics, they can get back to winning ways again in their next game.

[kro55]

Durant misses at least two weeks, that would be a huge loss to BKN. They rather choose losing to Miami than losing Durant. Just when he broke another record and went up one more place in all time top scorers list, he could've gone one more place next game. I hope he'll return healthy soon.
Kyrie is playing great lately so I don't expect many losses from Brooklyn in this period. Sure Kyrie will use the ball more and Simmons should take more responsibility. T.J. Warren and Watanabe will get more playing time. Coach Vaughn will find a way to win games, Nets have a good squad. I don't think they'll go down just like Suns.

If only they could make that choice, they will indeed choose to get defeated rather than losing one of their efficient player that will make their situation much harder in the next few games without him. But, nobody anticipated that to happen and nobody wanted that to happen, it's just that Durant had to be in that wrong place at the wrong time.
But yes, they can still win some games even without him although it will be much harder now. Kyrie and Simmons will still do everything they can and will step up while Durant is still recovering from the suspected MCL injury. Just a couple of weeks won't hurt and they can still come back much stronger.

I think not having KD it’s obviously going to be a problem for the team. But they will have to work with what they have. No one expected this to happen. And we can also say that this was a very unlucky situation for both the team and the player.

But I think we can say that, even though this is a very unexpected situation, they have to find a solution. I absolutely agree that this is going to be very hard for them to win matches from now on. But the rest of the team will have to perform better and try to bring as better results as they can.

[Yaunfitda]

Durant misses at least two weeks, that would be a huge loss to BKN. They rather choose losing to Miami than losing Durant. Just when he broke another record and went up one more place in all time top scorers list, he could've gone one more place next game. I hope he'll return healthy soon.
Kyrie is playing great lately so I don't expect many losses from Brooklyn in this period. Sure Kyrie will use the ball more and Simmons should take more responsibility. T.J. Warren and Watanabe will get more playing time. Coach Vaughn will find a way to win games, Nets have a good squad. I don't think they'll go down just like Suns.

If only they could make that choice, they will indeed choose to get defeated rather than losing one of their efficient player that will make their situation much harder in the next few games without him. But, nobody anticipated that to happen and nobody wanted that to happen, it's just that Durant had to be in that wrong place at the wrong time.
But yes, they can still win some games even without him although it will be much harder now. Kyrie and Simmons will still do everything they can and will step up while Durant is still recovering from the suspected MCL injury. Just a couple of weeks won't hurt and they can still come back much stronger.

I think not having KD it’s obviously going to be a problem for the team. But they will have to work with what they have. No one expected this to happen. And we can also say that this was a very unlucky situation for both the team and the player.

But I think we can say that, even though this is a very unexpected situation, they have to find a solution. I absolutely agree that this is going to be very hard for them to win matches from now on. But the rest of the team will have to perform better and try to bring as better results as they can.

They really don't have a choice right now, they have to adapt otherwise they will lost their momentum. They will have to find a way to win games, and Kyrie now will be the center of their offense. He is used to this kind of situation though with Cavs and the Boston Celtics.

Their starting five will also have to elevated their games without KD. They can't simply rely to Kyrie for the offensive.

Ben Simmons need to score points not just contribute in assist and rebounds.

[inthelongrun]

If it will take only a month for a quad strain then they might be lucky. All that's left of the Chicago Bulls is to survive these next games then the All-Star break will come, who knows if DeRozan is okay by that time? They still have halfway to winning most of their game.
The only question is "if" it will be that fast to heal. From the looks of his sudden drop on the floor, it's bad, I wish not.

Well, what I heard before is that 1 month is the minimum amount of time to completely heal it. We do not know yet the full report on how serious it was but the way I see it, it seems bad. DeRozan might be out for the whole season, who knows but hopefully it'll heal fast.

Here's the latest update on our KIA MVP Ladder.
1. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
2. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
3. Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets
4. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
https://www.nba.com/news/kia-mvp-ladder-jan-6-2023-edition
Jokic added another triple-double to his record last night. He won't get out of that top spot and so is JT.
KD on the hand might not be on the list anymore for next week's update because of the injury.
Who will rank up? Those who are present.
Donovan Mitchell or Jaylen Brown.

Too bad KD is injured but at least he is expected to return after weeks of rest. I am cheering for the Joker to get his 3 straight MVP award and hopefully, his team will go deep or even win the championship this year. Luka Doncic if Dallas continues to win games has a big chance of winning the MVP, especially he is doing it all alone and the stats his stats are getting crazy.