2024 NBA Season

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

Russell Westbrook is averaging 11.7 assists per game for 65 games last season. Another one, he is also averaging 22.2 points per game and take note, as a backup and not the main scorer. It's impressive that he is producing that kind of stats with Beal as the ball handler most of the time.

With that stats, LeBron doesn't need to perform most of the PG position and just allows Westbrook to do plays. Fewer loads mean a more comfortable LeBron James which is better as he's not in his prime already. Westbrook will surely follow with the Lakers system just like he did on his previous team.

I don't see any reason for LeBron to still play in PG.
With this team, Russell Westbrook (or even Rondo) can be PG, therefore LeBron will be with less responsibility in the team and will be able to play better, making great assists to his teammates or passing the ball quickly to Wesbrook to make a counterattack, because he is the ideal player to make these types of plays, Russ is explosive and fast, perfect combination!

He can still the playmaker, but not as much as last year, and maybe that is one reason why he also injured himself. And with Westbrook in Lakers now, he might switch to his usual forward position, more options to score but not constraining on his body. I also saw some clips of Rondo honing his skills as a Lakers again. In Clippers he didn't get enough time, but with the Lakers I'm sure he will be another factor to bring another ring for James and Lakers.

[Baofeng]

Embiid already talked about it.

"The situation is disappointing, borderline kind of disrespectful to all the guys that are out here fighting for their lives," Embiid told reporters at training camp in Camden, New Jersey.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32314598/philadelphia-76ers-star-joel-embiid-calls-ben-simmons-situation-borderline-disrespectful-team
About the shooting problem. He's still young, it can be improved. I won't worry about that so much because he has a lot of skills to contribute.

Embiid should be vocal about it because he is the main man of the team, anything he said might affect the team and Simmons, so hopefully, there will be an agreement and both parties have to stay professional. Simmons has to be respectful and the 76ers management has to respect what Simmons wants.

But Simmons felt disrespectful as well that's why he demanded a trade already, and if no trade happens, he is willing to sit up the rest of the season. I think we have seen and heard enough about the Simmons saga, might be better to really wait for the final outcome. Simmons and 76ers relationships have been damage beyond repair.

[dwyane36]

How in the world do they decide such things? they only tell the fans about it just a few days before the game. I think those who are bought tickets just to see him play will be super disappointed with this news. is this their way of taking care of their best players? I think those fans are not satisfied to watch the live game with this kind of strategy by the NBA team nowadays.

Many all-star players don't play during preseason games, and it happens almost every year. However, I agree that it will be unpleasant for fans if such things happen during the regular season. For example, a fan wants to watch his favorite players live and decides to buy a ticket to the game for $500+, but players just sit on the bench by the coach's decision.

[danherbias07]

That's why it's unlikely for Simmons to be traded with the Spurs since the two players you've mentioned is a distributor on the offensive side, and Simmons is known for his defense, so where would the Spurs take their offense if that will happen?

If Spurs badly want Ben Simmons they should look for a 3 or 4-team deal just like how Houston Rockets did with James Harden.
Sacrifice some of their draft picks and look for a team that would best fit whatever the 76ers need to let go of Simmons. That's the only way because I don't see anything good for them to offer.
They key is to look for a team that is rebuilding and would agree with future draft picks or a part of their young roster excluding their future stars.
It will be a deep digging before they can make it happen.

[Pamadar]

How in the world do they decide such things? they only tell the fans about it just a few days before the game. I think those who are bought tickets just to see him play will be super disappointed with this news. is this their way of taking care of their best players? I think those fans are not satisfied to watch the live game with this kind of strategy by the NBA team nowadays.

Many all-star players don't play during preseason games, and it happens almost every year. However, I agree that it will be unpleasant for fans if such things happen during the regular season. For example, a fan wants to watch his favorite players live and decides to buy a ticket to the game for $500+, but players just sit on the bench by the coach's decision.

Very disappointing and the next thing in mind from that fan is not to buy tickets again,

It will keep linger inside their mind that they've wasted money. They are there to watch their idol/favorite star playing.
but the sad thing is when coach / management decide not to allow stars during preseason.

Fans is one of the important parts of this organization. Without them or removing, their trust and interest will end up
losing potential profits.

[Minecache]

If he goes to the Spurs, I think coach Pop would help him improve his talent, he is a good coach and a mentor as well, but the question is, who would the Spurs trade in exchange for Ben Simmons?
Probably the 76ers will demand multiple players in exchange for Simmons since the highest salary of the Spurs roster now earns only $15,178,571.
https://www.espn.com/nba/team/roster/_/name/sa/san-antonio-spurs

They surely will. They perspective with Ben Simmons is their main star and not Embiid. They built the team for him and surrounded him with shooters.
76ers management even kicked Jimmy Butler out for Al Horford because he is taking the position of Ben.
I don't think the Spurs have enough in their roster to satisfy the 76ers for a pleasing trade. Best options are Derrick White and Dejounte Murray.
But I doubt they will let them go after all, they are the rising stars of the league.

Yes, teams hardly want to let go of the younger blood in the team. Can the Spurs afford Ben if they don't have good enough players to trade in for? I'm not sure about that. But it is true that they don't have enough quality players to trade in for Simmons. Also, I don't think that the Sixers will agree to trade Ben for 2 or 3 players, rather they'd do that for a better player in his position. Let's see how the trade off goes for both teams.

[Maidak]

If he goes to the Spurs, I think coach Pop would help him improve his talent, he is a good coach and a mentor as well, but the question is, who would the Spurs trade in exchange for Ben Simmons?
Probably the 76ers will demand multiple players in exchange for Simmons since the highest salary of the Spurs roster now earns only $15,178,571.
https://www.espn.com/nba/team/roster/_/name/sa/san-antonio-spurs

They surely will. They perspective with Ben Simmons is their main star and not Embiid. They built the team for him and surrounded him with shooters.
76ers management even kicked Jimmy Butler out for Al Horford because he is taking the position of Ben.
I don't think the Spurs have enough in their roster to satisfy the 76ers for a pleasing trade. Best options are Derrick White and Dejounte Murray.
But I doubt they will let them go after all, they are the rising stars of the league.

That's why it's unlikely for Simmons to be traded with the Spurs since the two players you've mentioned is a distributor on the offensive side, and Simmons is known for his defense, so where would the Spurs take their offense if that will happen?

In addition to that, both of them are young and good players for them. So they would not want to trade them for Simmons, because if that happens, they will lose a lot of the attacking power in the squad. From what the situation looks like, I don't think that trade is going to go off as the Sixers won't benefit much from the trade-off.

[btc_angela]

How in the world do they decide such things? they only tell the fans about it just a few days before the game. I think those who are bought tickets just to see him play will be super disappointed with this news. is this their way of taking care of their best players? I think those fans are not satisfied to watch the live game with this kind of strategy by the NBA team nowadays.

Many all-star players don't play during preseason games, and it happens almost every year. However, I agree that it will be unpleasant for fans if such things happen during the regular season. For example, a fan wants to watch his favorite players live and decides to buy a ticket to the game for $500+, but players just sit on the bench by the coach's decision.

Yeah, and the NBA created a lot of hype, Lakers vs Nets, maybe a preview of finals. Fans of both teams are exciting, buy expensive tickets to see the game live and then be disappointed that the stars are going to sit it out.

So maybe both coaches are going to let their players in the court for at least 10 minutes so that the fans are going to get what they wanted.

[Natalim]

How in the world do they decide such things? they only tell the fans about it just a few days before the game. I think those who are bought tickets just to see him play will be super disappointed with this news. is this their way of taking care of their best players? I think those fans are not satisfied to watch the live game with this kind of strategy by the NBA team nowadays.

Many all-star players don't play during preseason games, and it happens almost every year. However, I agree that it will be unpleasant for fans if such things happen during the regular season. For example, a fan wants to watch his favorite players live and decides to buy a ticket to the game for $500+, but players just sit on the bench by the coach's decision.

Yeah, and the NBA created a lot of hype, Lakers vs Nets, maybe a preview of finals. Fans of both teams are exciting, buy expensive tickets to see the game live and then be disappointed that the stars are going to sit it out.

So maybe both coaches are going to let their players in the court for at least 10 minutes so that the fans are going to get what they wanted.

I guess they already know that they will not see the full lineup of both teams to play, it's normal in the playoffs that the stars will sit or they will play but with only limited minutes, so they should not expect something special, preseason is just here to tell us that the regular season will start soon.

[Russlenat]

Halftime score.

LA Lakers (49) vs Brooklyn Nets (57)

Top scorers.
Nets : Thomas 12 points, Brown 10 points, Millsap 8 points, and Carter 8 points.

LA Lakers : Horton-Tucker 10 points, Monk 10 points, Nunn 9 points

I'm not familiar with some of the names, probably they are rookies who is showing their skills in the preseason.
Will the Lakers be able to come back in the 2nd half and win the game?

[justdimin]

However, it's weird because Simmons has enough experience playing in the playoffs. He probably was mentally unprepared for the fact that everyone would criticize him after a terrible performance, and it's worth noting that he only aggravated his mental condition during the preseason.

For me, he is still young. There's just so much he needs to learn and that includes professionalism.
From what we are witnessing he forgot the fact that he signed a contract and I think the 76ers management should make a lesson out of him from breaching it so that other players won't do the same in the future. Emotions should be set aside when you are in this position demanding a trade, again it shows bad habits.

That is basically what they are doing right now. Simmons already lost 25% of his salary just not being there so far and for each game he doesn't show up will be another 300k loss as well. I would say that he would not get any money at all this year or maybe a very tiny amount if he ever does.

There are two possibilities if Sixers really do not care about getting something in return; either teams need to offer them a good amount of picks or good players, or they could simply just pay him like few million dollars, 1-2 at most if he ever suits up and just says he is injured, in that case dude would have to lose so much money that Sixers would not be paying him too much to care, hence they could just bench him forever and dude would lose all of his trade value. He still has like 4 year deal or something, which means Sixers are in a position where they can literally make him sit out for 4 years if nobody offers something decent and would not even have to pay him too much.

[OgNasty]

Having NBA basketball back makes me genuinely happy. Now that I’ve aged to the point where I’ll likely never be able to dunk a basketball again, I have a newfound appreciation for these athletes in the heart of their prime doing what they love. Sure, it’ll still be a while before we see the superstars putting on a show in the heat of competition, but it’s just great to be able to enjoy a sport I love again. Can’t wait to see this matchup again in the Finals when it matters. Any other matchup besides Lakers/Nets would be a disappointment.

[Reid]

I am looking forward to Aldridge having that same kind of performance when the season starts.
Damn, Nets is really packed with star players that it even looked good using their second team. The same goes for the Lakers team, THT, Dwight, Rondo, Nunn, wow. It's really a super team.

Having NBA basketball back makes me genuinely happy. Now that I’ve aged to the point where I’ll likely never be able to dunk a basketball again, I have a newfound appreciation for these athletes in the heart of their prime doing what they love.

I agree. I appreciate the Nets and the Lakers doing this feat. Placing most known players in teams at different conferences and may have a chance to battle in the Finals. Pre-season start. Nets win.

[yazher]

This is absolutely hilarious! 

Dwight is super excited to play again with the Lakers and the result was satisfying for the Nets  .

Thankfully it's just a preseason game where you can actually do something like this to adjust in the upcoming season games.

[Jating]

Having NBA basketball back makes me genuinely happy. Now that I’ve aged to the point where I’ll likely never be able to dunk a basketball again, I have a newfound appreciation for these athletes in the heart of their prime doing what they love. Sure, it’ll still be a while before we see the superstars putting on a show in the heat of competition, but it’s just great to be able to enjoy a sport I love again. Can’t wait to see this matchup again in the Finals when it matters. Any other matchup besides Lakers/Nets would be a disappointment.

Who wouldn't love basketball? 

So everyone is really happy to see a NBA game again, unfortunately though, I wasn't able to watch it live, like I was late for about an hour and just see some highlights of the Lakers vs Nets and listen to those NBA analyst.

Just pre-season game though, but when we go to the regular games, that's where the fun starts. Long season, lots of bets to put and make some money (or lost) again. 

I think Dwight Howard intentionally did it, but yes, it was really funny.

[gagux123]

He can still the playmaker, but not as much as last year, and maybe that is one reason why he also injured himself. And with Westbrook in Lakers now, he might switch to his usual forward position, more options to score but not constraining on his body. I also saw some clips of Rondo honing his skills as a Lakers again. In Clippers he didn't get enough time, but with the Lakers I'm sure he will be another factor to bring another ring for James and Lakers.

Yes, that's true, the time will come for everyone, including LeBron James, but I believe he is suffering less with time compared to other players of his age.

So, I believe the only opportunity for LeBron James to act like a PG, is when Rondo and Wesbrook are extremely bad during the game. If this not happen, I don't see reasons for LJ to play in PG.

(...)

Well, in fact, this was something we would have been waiting for. (minus the difference of almost 30 points lol)

Few allstars played, and those who played, remained on the court for a short time.

 I didn't see the game, but I saw the statistics, 41% (Nets) and 31.4% (Lakers) - 3 points shoots.
Blocks 7 (Nets) and 6 (Lakers)... look, not bad for the reservers players who played this way

[OgNasty]

This is absolutely hilarious! 

Dwight is super excited to play again with the Lakers and the result was satisfying for the Nets  .

Thankfully it's just a preseason game where you can actually do something like this to adjust in the upcoming season games.

I think Dwight showed exactly what the Lakers were missing last season.  I don't think enough people give him credit for his role with the championship team.  He makes the Lakers such a better team by giving them a dominant presence down low.  AD is more of a finesse player as much as they want him to be dominant.  Dwight makes guys regret being near the hoop when he's dunking.  Like Shawn Kemp or a lesser Shaq.  I think with this squad, if healthy, the finals won't be more than 5 games.  AD being healthy is a big question mark though.  Luckily with Dwight now, they might not even need him.

[danherbias07]

This is absolutely hilarious! 

Dwight is super excited to play again with the Lakers and the result was satisfying for the Nets  .

Thankfully it's just a preseason game where you can actually do something like this to adjust in the upcoming season games.

Same old last time with the Lakers.  But it's preseason that's why it's hilarious. They should just be playing in a calm pace, but he went overboard even with his dunks. I am guessing he is too pumped up coming back to the Lakers which could bring him another championship.
Well, it's not bad. That's one of the purposes of the pre-season, showcase their skills and be pumped before the season starts.

Some good news here.
Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins has received his COVID-19 vaccine and will be eligible to play in all games.
Thank God he did it. GSW will have a lot of problems if they won't let him play with Klay still on rehab.

[Viscore]

This is absolutely hilarious! 

Dwight is super excited to play again with the Lakers and the result was satisfying for the Nets  .

Thankfully it's just a preseason game where you can actually do something like this to adjust in the upcoming season games.

I think Dwight showed exactly what the Lakers were missing last season.  I don't think enough people give him credit for his role with the championship team.  He makes the Lakers such a better team by giving them a dominant presence down low.  AD is more of a finesse player as much as they want him to be dominant.  Dwight makes guys regret being near the hoop when he's dunking.  Like Shawn Kemp or a lesser Shaq.  I think with this squad, if healthy, the finals won't be more than 5 games.  AD being healthy is a big question mark though.  Luckily with Dwight now, they might not even need him.

It's still different if AD is healthy, the Lakers would be so predictable without AD as no one would focus on the scoring inside. Dwight is more of a defensive focus player, while AD produce points, and if no one produces points inside, well, Lakers might struggle and it might not be easy for them to win the NBA Finals.

Last playoffs, they missed AD due to injury, while the other players are healthy, Lebron is healthy and Drummond was healthy as well, but the Lakers still have a problem, and they are not even competitive.

[LogitechMouse]

This is absolutely hilarious! 

Dwight is super excited to play again with the Lakers and the result was satisfying for the Nets  .

Thankfully it's just a preseason game where you can actually do something like this to adjust in the upcoming season games.

I think Dwight showed exactly what the Lakers were missing last season.  I don't think enough people give him credit for his role with the championship team.  He makes the Lakers such a better team by giving them a dominant presence down low.  AD is more of a finesse player as much as they want him to be dominant.  Dwight makes guys regret being near the hoop when he's dunking.  Like Shawn Kemp or a lesser Shaq.  I think with this squad, if healthy, the finals won't be more than 5 games.  AD being healthy is a big question mark though.  Luckily with Dwight now, they might not even need him.

Many sees Dwight right now as a veteran player and can't help that much because of his age but he is an underrated big and lets not forget how dominant he is when he is still in the Magic. He is an all-star when he is Orlando and he brought Magic to NBA Finals too against Lebron and the Cavs and they won a championship I think (correct me if I'm wrong).

AD and Dwight have different playstyle if you will watch how they are playing. AD is more of a PF position that can shot outside while Dwight is a big that can dominate inside the paint - more like a Shaq with a bit of a skill in three point shots . Releasing Dwight last season and giving him to 76ers is Lakers biggest regret because they don't have any reliable big to fulfill AD's job when defending and Drummond can't do it obviously. Now that he is back alongside other veteran all star players, I think that they have a shot to win a championship this season. That is only if they are healthy at least all throughout the playoffs.