2024 NBA Season

[wiss19]

I don't think anyone INCLUDING Ja would agree with that statement.  Ja is a good exciting young player but Mike was different.  Nobody beat Mike, no one.

I don't know, even Mike himself said that he "may" lose to Kobe in one on one. Not that because he believes Kobe is a more talented player than Mike, he himself knows that he is better, but he knows that Kobe studied Mike more than anyone ever did, and he knows what Mike does in what situation, he literally memorized everything Mike has ever done and knows his tendencies more than anyone. Sure nobody playing right now would beat Mike, but I believe there is a good case to be made about Kobe.

Also, I am not sure if big guys count, like for example it would be hard for Shaq to guard Mike, but it would be damn impossible for Mike to defend against a peak Shaq as well, but they are so much different in body size, so it could be a bit different calculation there.

[YuginKadoya]

Thanks for the link, I will watch it later though.

But if you see Curry's emotional outburst after game 6, you will feel that something has been lifted in his shoulder winning the NBA this season when there have been a lot of chatters and noise behind team. He is not that vocal though, it as Green but they have walk the talk and so they silence all their critics with this huge win. For sure they will have to find another one just to bash or harsh critic them at the start of the new season, specially if they started on a bad note because the supporting cast has all gone now.

After that 2019 loss, it was a devastating season for the Golden State Warriors, and I have watched that video, and that 2019 loss get back to me again, they have run a smooth winning after that 2019, and right now they are devastated from that lost,

It was really surprising now that they get back up again, and I wish next season will be very fruitful for them again, although I also like the Boston Celtics to have a champion just once, the Golden State Warriors have suffered much and endured much to keep that doubting eye one them and all the critics that question them and mostly Stephen Curry himself, but for me, Stephen Curry is one of those players that I really love watching, and the Golden State Warriors is one of those teams that I love watching aswell,

Curry is a great player, he will be a Hall of Famer as he continues to get better. I saw him complain when he loses in some games, instead, it only makes him stronger to make his team better. Warriors will never forget him, he will continue to make this team a championship team and I like to see Curry retire with the Warriors as he continues to make history.

I will also watch that documentary later, thanks.

In his performance, we can all agree that he is really a GOAT in shooting and one of the best, he already makes it to the Hall of fame, along with the greats, and complaints on a loss I think is normal to complaints on a loss when you know your giving your best and all, we get to see a mentality to never really give up, and that mentality is what he is passing to all of his teammates that is why in just a small amount period of time the likes of Jordan Poole, Kevon Looney, Andrew Wiggins, we can say right now are playing like all-stars and I can not wait for the season to start again,

[Dave1]

Richard Jefferson is going to officiate the second quarter of today’s Knicks vs Blazers summer league game. He’s doing it to expand his knowledge about how different parts of the game are prepared for. As a former player turned broadcaster, he is going to talk at halftime about the differences in preparation and what he learned. It should be both comedic and educational. It’ll air on espn 2 at 8pst.

This was a great story tonight. It was good for a nice moment as well. The first time Richard Jefferson blew the whistle as an official, he made the wrong call. He signaled out of bounds off the wrong team and one of the other referees had to correct him and reverse the call. The crowd and the other coaches let him have it too. It was a funny moment. I’m sure he immediately felt like he was in over his head as a referee.

Sure, Maybe Jefferson have some nerves and jitters on his first call and that why it's a total mistake. Lol. But it's good that he acknowledged his wrong call, at least when he analyze NBA games and when referee make a wrong call, he will now where they are coming from. As most NBA players criticized this wrong call but they didn't know the pressures this referee is going through.

[Reid]

Reports today that Ayton is close to finalizing a deal to go to the Indians Pacers. If they let Ayton go in a trade that doesn’t also involve Kevin Durant going to the Suns it is going to end up being one of the worst moves Phoenix has made in a long time. It’s crazy to see an NBA franchise acting so emotionally. I imagine that whatever happened between Ayton and management was enough that they were unwilling to even offer him a contract extension.

This ain't a good move from them Suns. So much was produced by Ayton that made them reach the Finals and then the West semis last year.
I don't know what they are planning but I have an idea they are going for small ball copying strategies from the likes of the Warriors and Celtics.
CP3 is getting older, chemistry will be a better ally for them than looking for the star players and force a championship roster. What the Nets did was enough proof that it fails.

[Taskford]

Reports today that Ayton is close to finalizing a deal to go to the Indians Pacers. If they let Ayton go in a trade that doesn’t also involve Kevin Durant going to the Suns it is going to end up being one of the worst moves Phoenix has made in a long time. It’s crazy to see an NBA franchise acting so emotionally. I imagine that whatever happened between Ayton and management was enough that they were unwilling to even offer him a contract extension.

This ain't a good move from them Suns. So much was produced by Ayton that made them reach the Finals and then the West semis last year.
I don't know what they are planning but I have an idea they are going for small ball copying strategies from the likes of the Warriors and Celtics.
CP3 is getting older, chemistry will be a better ally for them than looking for the star players and force a championship roster. What the Nets did was enough proof that it fails.

Ayton has a lot of potential and he's so young with huge potential, if Suns just maximize and develop him very well for sure we can see more dominant Ayton in hard wood. But guess they are in rush of things and want to see fast result and this will totally put them in questionable state this season. For sure they can't copy the small ball line up of Warriors because GSW roosters are built and not been traded from other teams so for sure they cannot copy the team chemistry and might struggle on this area.

[Kelvinid]

Reports today that Ayton is close to finalizing a deal to go to the Indians Pacers. If they let Ayton go in a trade that doesn’t also involve Kevin Durant going to the Suns it is going to end up being one of the worst moves Phoenix has made in a long time. It’s crazy to see an NBA franchise acting so emotionally. I imagine that whatever happened between Ayton and management was enough that they were unwilling to even offer him a contract extension.

This ain't a good move from them Suns. So much was produced by Ayton that made them reach the Finals and then the West semis last year.
I don't know what they are planning but I have an idea they are going for small ball copying strategies from the likes of the Warriors and Celtics.
CP3 is getting older, chemistry will be a better ally for them than looking for the star players and force a championship roster. What the Nets did was enough proof that it fails.

Ayton has a lot of potential and he's so young with huge potential, if Suns just maximize and develop him very well for sure we can see more dominant Ayton in hard wood. But guess they are in rush of things and want to see fast result and this will totally put them in questionable state this season. For sure they can't copy the small ball line up of Warriors because GSW roosters are built and not been traded from other teams so for sure they cannot copy the team chemistry and might struggle on this area.

Suns are destroying their defensive side if they will let Ayton, actually, he is not the problem for the Suns, it's the 2 scorers, Paul and Booker who are not clutch enough during the playoffs. Maybe it's a desperate move but this move is bad IMO.

[livingfree]

Yes.

I guess that they're on it and aware of that possibility and they know how to pull it off. They won't be liking the trade if there's no benefit on them but as once part of it before.

He knows the rotation and he's got the idea how they play so it's not that much to adjust but we'll still see if the team will really take him.

Actually, they will not take Kevin Durant, there might be a chance but it needed Another half of the Golden State teams to be traded for him, and I think the Golden State Warriors will not consider losing 5 more players just to get KD because they already lost Gary Payton II, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Otto Porter Jr., and Damion Lee they can't afford to lose a lot more, but the Warriors have added Donte DiVincenzo from the Sacramento Kings, more likely they don't really need Kevin Durant at all,

It's up to them.

And I think they're weighing all potentials and possibilities in whether getting KD or not. They still got the key players and I also believe that they won't just release those keys to the just for KD.

Who knows what's on their mind.

There could be some surprise though.

[yazher]

Suns are destroying their defensive side if they will let Ayton, actually, he is not the problem for the Suns, it's the 2 scorers, Paul and Booker who are not clutch enough during the playoffs. Maybe it's a desperate move but this move is bad IMO.

They have some valid reasons may be the start of the problem is when Ayton didn't get a maximum contract offer from the Suns and that's when he played not the same as the year before because he thinks the team doesn't value him the way he thinks. This trade makes sense for both parties because they really need to part ways and give some room to each other and maybe Ayton will gonna have some superstar performance again when he is traded to a different team.

[Yogee]

.....
Suns are destroying their defensive side if they will let Ayton, actually, he is not the problem for the Suns, it's the 2 scorers, Paul and Booker who are not clutch enough during the playoffs. Maybe it's a desperate move but this move is bad IMO.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves and take a look at who could be replacing him in the roster first,
- Bismack Biyombo
- Dario Saric
- Jock Landale

The deal looks like a sign and trade with Myles Turner. Pacers will get Ayton while Suns to receive Turner. That doesn't look so bad. Ayton may be better than everyone else on the list but he's not that big of a loss to the Suns if they part ways.

[danherbias07]

.....
Suns are destroying their defensive side if they will let Ayton, actually, he is not the problem for the Suns, it's the 2 scorers, Paul and Booker who are not clutch enough during the playoffs. Maybe it's a desperate move but this move is bad IMO.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves and take a look at who could be replacing him in the roster first,
- Bismack Biyombo
- Dario Saric
- Jock Landale

The deal looks like a sign and trade with Myles Turner. Pacers will get Ayton while Suns to receive Turner. That doesn't look so bad. Ayton may be better than everyone else on the list but he's not that big of a loss to the Suns if they part ways.

It looks bad on the Pacers' side or maybe just fair. I am not sure. Myles had his moments and is starting to shoot outside while Ayton is learning the perimeter shots. Yeah, maybe that's why I had the thought it could just be a fair trade if ever it will materialize.

As for the list that you mentioned, Biyombo is mostly for defensive purposes but not much on offense. I'd take Saric because of his shooting threat but if I remember correctly he was injured, I am not updated yet about the status of his injury.
Never saw Jock Landale play a lot of minutes during his Spurs run.

[rhomelmabini]

Suns are destroying their defensive side if they will let Ayton, actually, he is not the problem for the Suns, it's the 2 scorers, Paul and Booker who are not clutch enough during the playoffs. Maybe it's a desperate move but this move is bad IMO.

We may never know the real reason behind this release of Ayton but I don't think it's not that defensive that will be shattered but the offensive side as well. It's not that of a desperate move but likely a chance to see what could be the benefit of both parties, trades are always like that.

[Botnake]

In my opinion, I respect every rising star and those who follow his steps, but with Ja's statement, it's easier to say than to prove it with converted achievements,.

We don't have to overreact to this kid's opinion and view. Everyone knows that if they compare themselves to Michael Jordan, that's high praise for the Legend since it means everyone wants to surpass his achievement. It's not challenging the Legend.

With that mindset of Ja Morant, I'm expecting to him show better and best plays next season. He also should work out on staying healthy all seasons. Players with great leaping ability and athleticism are sometimes more prone to injury. He should play wise while keeping safe although injuries can't be avoided.

I have been praising Ja Morant about his ability even if he's not that gifted with height because the kid can lift up his team and can even move like he's unstoppable to the point where we can say that this kid might be good and all but his skills will make him prone to injury just like Derrick Rose on his prime.

The kid has still lot to improve on the ring and he has all the time because he's still young, but he need to choose his battles wisely because that hype his making won't be around when he is stuck with an injury and saying that line that he'd beat MJ is an overstatement. There's noting to argue about MJ's skill.

[Yogee]

....
It looks bad on the Pacers' side or maybe just fair. I am not sure. Myles had his moments and is starting to shoot outside while Ayton is learning the perimeter shots. Yeah, maybe that's why I had the thought it could just be a fair trade if ever it will materialize.

What I know is that it's not as bad as it looks for either teams.

As for the list that you mentioned, Biyombo is mostly for defensive purposes but not much on offense. I'd take Saric because of his shooting threat but if I remember correctly he was injured, I am not updated yet about the status of his injury.
Never saw Jock Landale play a lot of minutes during his Spurs run.

Biyombo will definitely get a lot of the defensive responsibilities if Ayton is out. I can already see rotations between him and Turner.
Saric is still listed as questionable at the start of the season but it's been a year since he torn his ACL so he should be back during the regular season.
Landale will most likely play the backup role if anything happens to the starting center.

[dwyane36]

It looks like Ja Morant went overboard with his statement, hehehe

Ja Morant says he'd beat Michael Jordan in his era

Well I guess who have been following basketball for years and see Michael Jordan plays will not agree with Morant here.

He needs to get a ring, not just 1 or 2 or 3, he need to get 7, be a two way player, MVP's and beat everyone in his generation. So far he has none of that.

I don't know but it seems that there is nothing negative to me with what he said.
All NBA players and fans already know that MJ is the GOAT and no one will argue with that. Maybe Ja is saying it with respect and he has this "I'll be a better player" mindset where he uses MJ as his basis meaning he will develop even more skills.

Well, Morant is still young and he is doing some spectacular things already in the league and some sees him as the future face of the NBA aside from Luka and Trae. I like his mindset TBH but his first step to be closer to MJ is to get a title and an MVP as well.

There is no doubt that Morant will dominate the next few seasons as he's progressing well even though he's only played 3 seasons in the league. At the same time, that statement by Morant sounds a bit arrogant. Firstly, the style of play in the 80-90s was more aggressive, while now the style of play has become too soft. Secondly, as Baofeng said, Jordan has tons of team and individual awards, and his stats look better than Morant's in many ways. Just compare Jordan and Morant's stats in their third season. MJ averaged 37.1 points per game, while Morant only scored 27.4 points. So if they had played one-on-one, Morant simply wouldn't have had a chance to beat Jordan.

[LogitechMouse]

Reports today that Ayton is close to finalizing a deal to go to the Indians Pacers. If they let Ayton go in a trade that doesn’t also involve Kevin Durant going to the Suns it is going to end up being one of the worst moves Phoenix has made in a long time. It’s crazy to see an NBA franchise acting so emotionally. I imagine that whatever happened between Ayton and management was enough that they were unwilling to even offer him a contract extension.

This ain't a good move from them Suns. So much was produced by Ayton that made them reach the Finals and then the West semis last year.
I don't know what they are planning but I have an idea they are going for small ball copying strategies from the likes of the Warriors and Celtics.
CP3 is getting older, chemistry will be a better ally for them than looking for the star players and force a championship roster. What the Nets did was enough proof that it fails.

Ayton has a lot of potential and he's so young with huge potential, if Suns just maximize and develop him very well for sure we can see more dominant Ayton in hard wood. But guess they are in rush of things and want to see fast result and this will totally put them in questionable state this season. For sure they can't copy the small ball line up of Warriors because GSW roosters are built and not been traded from other teams so for sure they cannot copy the team chemistry and might struggle on this area.

Suns are destroying their defensive side if they will let Ayton, actually, he is not the problem for the Suns, it's the 2 scorers, Paul and Booker who are not clutch enough during the playoffs. Maybe it's a desperate move but this move is bad IMO.

They also traded McGee so they really are moving away from being a defensive team, and probably we might see them more as an offensive one like what the warriors are doing or what Coach D'Antoni did with the Rockets where they are focusing more on threes than twos.

Ayton's performance might've affected this season because they didn't give him a max contract at the start of the season. Now he wants to get traded, so the question is which players will the Suns get in return. They might get Turner plus first round picks, maybe. Overall, Ayton is still young, and he might develop more if he will be in the Pacers.

[darewaller]

We know the real reason behind why they released Ayton, dude wanted the max he could get, and Suns didn't want to offer him that much. Their owner is a famously cheap person and the city literally wanted to force him to sell, failed but that's how terrible he is, dude is even getting money from the state to keep running it.

This means that dude costs people money to just run his own business. I know that it's his business and he can run it anyway he wants, but a team doing well enough shouldn't be disturbed otherwise it gets worse.

Look at OKC, they had Westbrook-Harden-Durant on their peak, with Ibaka for example, and they didn't want to pay Harden and everything after that was a failure and look at them now. This is how you ruin a team, and Suns owner is doing that.

[TravelMug]

Reports today that Ayton is close to finalizing a deal to go to the Indians Pacers. If they let Ayton go in a trade that doesn’t also involve Kevin Durant going to the Suns it is going to end up being one of the worst moves Phoenix has made in a long time. It’s crazy to see an NBA franchise acting so emotionally. I imagine that whatever happened between Ayton and management was enough that they were unwilling to even offer him a contract extension.

This ain't a good move from them Suns. So much was produced by Ayton that made them reach the Finals and then the West semis last year.
I don't know what they are planning but I have an idea they are going for small ball copying strategies from the likes of the Warriors and Celtics.
CP3 is getting older, chemistry will be a better ally for them than looking for the star players and force a championship roster. What the Nets did was enough proof that it fails.

Ayton has a lot of potential and he's so young with huge potential, if Suns just maximize and develop him very well for sure we can see more dominant Ayton in hard wood. But guess they are in rush of things and want to see fast result and this will totally put them in questionable state this season. For sure they can't copy the small ball line up of Warriors because GSW roosters are built and not been traded from other teams so for sure they cannot copy the team chemistry and might struggle on this area.

First we should understand what really happen and why they are willing to let go of Ayton. Yes, he is a vital part of the offense and defense of the Suns, but it seems that Ayton doesn't have the mindset though, in the finals against the Bucks he was out hustle by Giannis and there was a critical play that he was block. And after that, the Suns didn't offer Ayton a max contract, first sign that he will not stay as Suns for long. And last season, we've seen how he got bench in Game 7 because they way Monty see it, Ayton quit on them. So it's just a matter of time before Ayton will be traded and this is the right time.

[OgNasty]

We know the real reason behind why they released Ayton, dude wanted the max he could get, and Suns didn't want to offer him that much. Their owner is a famously cheap person and the city literally wanted to force him to sell, failed but that's how terrible he is, dude is even getting money from the state to keep running it.

This means that dude costs people money to just run his own business. I know that it's his business and he can run it anyway he wants, but a team doing well enough shouldn't be disturbed otherwise it gets worse.

Look at OKC, they had Westbrook-Harden-Durant on their peak, with Ibaka for example, and they didn't want to pay Harden and everything after that was a failure and look at them now. This is how you ruin a team, and Suns owner is doing that.

I agree with all of that. I think the main reason they didn’t want to pay him though was because his personality clashed with ownership and Booker was jealous of his rising status. The situation seems less like OKC and more like the Sacramento Kings with DeMarcus Cousins. The end result is the same though. If you let your talented draft picks walk because of personality issues, you’re gonna have a tough future. Imagine if the Warriors dumped Green because he’s a jerk… Sometimes you gotta let talent do their thing.

[carlisle1]

I have been praising Ja Morant about his ability even if he's not that gifted with height because the kid can lift up his team and can even move like he's unstoppable to the point where we can say that this kid might be good and all but his skills will make him prone to injury just like Derrick Rose on his prime.

The kid has still lot to improve on the ring and he has all the time because he's still young, but he need to choose his battles wisely because that hype his making won't be around when he is stuck with an injury and saying that line that he'd beat MJ is an overstatement. There's noting to argue about MJ's skill.

I'm imagining th face of MJ after reading that statement. Same with how he always handle those players who feel that same

sentiment about playing against him and beating him. A short smile is an statement that MJ will do and the rest will be the

interpretations of each people who will see that kind of response.

[Oasisman]

~snip~

~snip~

I have been praising Ja Morant about his ability even if he's not that gifted with height because the kid can lift up his team and can even move like he's unstoppable to the point where we can say that this kid might be good and all but his skills will make him prone to injury just like Derrick Rose on his prime.

The kid has still lot to improve on the ring and he has all the time because he's still young, but he need to choose his battles wisely because that hype his making won't be around when he is stuck with an injury and saying that line that he'd beat MJ is an overstatement. There's noting to argue about MJ's skill.

There's nothing to argue about MJ's skill, yes. However, he played in a completely different era where defense can win games. Today's NBA have evolve so much that a good defense is underappreciated not because today's player does not play defense, but because majority of the players today has unlimited range.
Many fans thought LeBron and other superstars today won't survive the 80's and 90's.

About Ja's statement about MJ, I don't find it arrogance. The kid's building his confidence as he continue to improve. He's actually a very impressive player being unstoppable regardless of his size.