2024 NBA Season

[Pamadar]

Yup exactly why they went out and got him. I remember the first (and last) time I ever played fantasy basketball I drafted Goran Dragic, this was like 2012ish , he was actually pretty solid. But that feels like an eternity ago and I just can’t can’t expect much out of the guy. It’s pretty depressing because the Bulls realistically don’t have a chance without a mega-star , and Ball likely won’t change that but we’ll never know until we get him in the lineup.

But they did well last season until the injuries plagued their roster. The first 20 games was awesome and we saw Bulls' games that's almost like an All-Star game with high flying players.
I think what they need is to keep themselves healthy. Just like now, they are missing another important piece to becoming an effective team.
Goran's veteran perspective might also help the young guards, he doesn't need to play much, and guiding them will be a lot of help.

Dragic might be an additional motivation but in terms of rotation Caruso and Ball are both good facilitating
the ball and create plays for the team.

Caruso - Ball combination is so effective too because of their strong defensive line. These two have good footwork and fast hands than can steal the ball anytime they were given the opportunity. I guess that is what we will be missing this season while Lonzo is out.

Yeah, I've heard that news as well. They will be missing the service of Ball due to injury.

It might be one of the reason why they will bring Dragic to give Caruso some lift rotating the ball, and by the way Drummond
signed a 2 year deal with the Bulls, additional inside force to support Vucevic, looks like they are really trying to improve more
giving additional role two-way players to help both Lavine and DeRozan.

[jakelyson]

On the contrary, I think the Jordan Clarkson will get traded the soonest and I was hoping that he will go the Lakers again and play with Bron.

I think the Lakers are pretty full at the PG position and seem to be sticking with Westbrook. I was under the impression that Clarkson would have been the piece in any deal to get the Lakers picks and take Russ’ contract.

I see rumors that he will be traded to the Bulls. It does not make sense if the Jazz will make a move to trade Clarkson for Westbrook since they are rebuilding. He will be a good help to the Bulls though coming from the bench. He was stellar last year in Jazz, and I think he is a good fit for the Bulls as well.

Mvp is crazy talk for Westbrook, with Luka, giannis, taytum, ja, jokic, etc etc but I do think he will have a bounce back year.  He is crafty he will figure it out.  Last year was pretty much the worst of it.  He is ultra competitive let's see what kind of summer he had training.  I'd like to see him bounce back.  NBA is always better when teams like the Lakers are competitive.

Aside from the competition, he is not the first option on his team as well. It is hard to stack stats if you are not the first option. He is the third option at best. He can have a bounce-back year but aiming for an MVP is just too much for him to achieve. He is not the prime Westbrook that we used to know.

[ultrloa]

Mvp is crazy talk for Westbrook, with Luka, giannis, taytum, ja, jokic, etc etc but I do think he will have a bounce back year.  He is crafty he will figure it out.  Last year was pretty much the worst of it.  He is ultra competitive let's see what kind of summer he had training.  I'd like to see him bounce back.  NBA is always better when teams like the Lakers are competitive.

Aside from the competition, he is not the first option on his team as well. It is hard to stack stats if you are not the first option. He is the third option at best. He can have a bounce-back year but aiming for an MVP is just too much for him to achieve. He is not the prime Westbrook that we used to know.

Lebron still be their number one option and second is Davis so its hard for him to snatch the MVP this season since the ball rotation of lakers is not focus on him. Maybe if he can provide solid numbers to purple and gold plus he will be consistent on number of games played the phase will change then their management will decide to make him a number two option for them. So Westbrook really need to work hard this upcoming season since he have need to prove his worth for second time.

[Questat]

Mvp is crazy talk for Westbrook, with Luka, giannis, taytum, ja, jokic, etc etc but I do think he will have a bounce back year.  He is crafty he will figure it out.  Last year was pretty much the worst of it.  He is ultra competitive let's see what kind of summer he had training.  I'd like to see him bounce back.  NBA is always better when teams like the Lakers are competitive.

Aside from the competition, he is not the first option on his team as well. It is hard to stack stats if you are not the first option. He is the third option at best. He can have a bounce-back year but aiming for an MVP is just too much for him to achieve. He is not the prime Westbrook that we used to know.

Lebron still be their number one option and second is Davis so its hard for him to snatch the MVP this season since the ball rotation of lakers is not focus on him. Maybe if he can provide solid numbers to purple and gold plus he will be consistent on number of games played the phase will change then their management will decide to make him a number two option for them. So Westbrook really need to work hard this upcoming season since he have need to prove his worth for second time.

Westbrook will not win as the season MVP as no teammates of Lebron have won a season MVP yet, if Westbrook would be effective, for sure he will not generate the outcome he did during his MVP time with OKC. A big improvement is okay because it will make the team better, who knows, he might win a Finals MVP.

[Yaunfitda]

Mvp is crazy talk for Westbrook, with Luka, giannis, taytum, ja, jokic, etc etc but I do think he will have a bounce back year.  He is crafty he will figure it out.  Last year was pretty much the worst of it.  He is ultra competitive let's see what kind of summer he had training.  I'd like to see him bounce back.  NBA is always better when teams like the Lakers are competitive.

Aside from the competition, he is not the first option on his team as well. It is hard to stack stats if you are not the first option. He is the third option at best. He can have a bounce-back year but aiming for an MVP is just too much for him to achieve. He is not the prime Westbrook that we used to know.

Lebron still be their number one option and second is Davis so its hard for him to snatch the MVP this season since the ball rotation of lakers is not focus on him. Maybe if he can provide solid numbers to purple and gold plus he will be consistent on number of games played the phase will change then their management will decide to make him a number two option for them. So Westbrook really need to work hard this upcoming season since he have need to prove his worth for second time.

Or at times, it will be Davis, doing low post if they wanted to slow down the tempo a bit as a first option. And then when  they are running, Lebron could anchor or even pass to Davis as well or Westbrook.

But I do agree that it will be hard for Westbrook to be running for MVP, he should have crazy numbers, triple double and carrying the team in his shoulders. But it won't happen since Lebron and Davis are the top two options. Might be good for Westbrook to have good numbers though, as we all know that he is a statistics whore.

[rhomelmabini]

I see rumors that he will be traded to the Bulls. It does not make sense if the Jazz will make a move to trade Clarkson for Westbrook since they are rebuilding. He will be a good help to the Bulls though coming from the bench. He was stellar last year in Jazz, and I think he is a good fit for the Bulls as well.

That has been in the news lately but should be a win for Chicago if that's the case, the former SMOTY should contribute on the Bulls roster and it's from JC himself that he's always fine on wherever he goes to. I think Lakers will not get him considering they're having lot of guards now, I think the Bulls is a good landing spot for JC.

[btc_angela]

Mvp is crazy talk for Westbrook, with Luka, giannis, taytum, ja, jokic, etc etc but I do think he will have a bounce back year.  He is crafty he will figure it out.  Last year was pretty much the worst of it.  He is ultra competitive let's see what kind of summer he had training.  I'd like to see him bounce back.  NBA is always better when teams like the Lakers are competitive.

Aside from the competition, he is not the first option on his team as well. It is hard to stack stats if you are not the first option. He is the third option at best. He can have a bounce-back year but aiming for an MVP is just too much for him to achieve. He is not the prime Westbrook that we used to know.

Lebron still be their number one option and second is Davis so its hard for him to snatch the MVP this season since the ball rotation of lakers is not focus on him. Maybe if he can provide solid numbers to purple and gold plus he will be consistent on number of games played the phase will change then their management will decide to make him a number two option for them. So Westbrook really need to work hard this upcoming season since he have need to prove his worth for second time.

Westbrook will not win as the season MVP as no teammates of Lebron have won a season MVP yet, if Westbrook would be effective, for sure he will not generate the outcome he did during his MVP time with OKC. A big improvement is okay because it will make the team better, who knows, he might win a Finals MVP.

Maybe it's just an exaggeration on WB's part to hear him saying or at least speculating that he will be running for MVP this season. He is no longer in his prime and prone to injuries already and besides as others have said, either Lebron James and Anthony Davis is the first and second option offensively not him. There are even talks that he will be coming off the bench, as it might be Pat or Dennis as their starting five and not him. And so he will have limited minutes and so it will cut his contribution and performance so I doubt he will be even considered for the MVP race.

[Oasisman]

I see rumors that he will be traded to the Bulls. It does not make sense if the Jazz will make a move to trade Clarkson for Westbrook since they are rebuilding. He will be a good help to the Bulls though coming from the bench. He was stellar last year in Jazz, and I think he is a good fit for the Bulls as well.

That has been in the news lately but should be a win for Chicago if that's the case, the former SMOTY should contribute on the Bulls roster and it's from JC himself that he's always fine on wherever he goes to. I think Lakers will not get him considering they're having lot of guards now, I think the Bulls is a good landing spot for JC.

I don't know what the Jazz has been thinking for trading away their superstars and key players. I know they have been unsuccessful for the last 3 years, but I think the management made a hasty decision for disposing them too early. They could've built a different set of players to support Gobert, Mitchell, and JC.
The current UTAH Jazz looks like a 20-win team next season.
If the Bulls successful traded for JC, that indeed is a win for the Bulls.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

I see rumors that he will be traded to the Bulls. It does not make sense if the Jazz will make a move to trade Clarkson for Westbrook since they are rebuilding. He will be a good help to the Bulls though coming from the bench. He was stellar last year in Jazz, and I think he is a good fit for the Bulls as well.

That has been in the news lately but should be a win for Chicago if that's the case, the former SMOTY should contribute on the Bulls roster and it's from JC himself that he's always fine on wherever he goes to. I think Lakers will not get him considering they're having lot of guards now, I think the Bulls is a good landing spot for JC.

I don't know what the Jazz has been thinking for trading away their superstars and key players. I know they have been unsuccessful for the last 3 years, but I think the management made a hasty decision for disposing them too early. They could've built a different set of players to support Gobert, Mitchell, and JC.
The current UTAH Jazz looks like a 20-win team next season.
If the Bulls successful traded for JC, that indeed is a win for the Bulls.

Sometimes management really has to put a dotted line to the current line up because it's not very successful. The thing with the Jazz is that in the regular season they are really that great team and could be in the finals. Unfortunately, even with a strong showing, they can't even go and advance in the 2nd round in the last 2 years even with a prime Mitchell and defensive player of the year. And now they have decided to disband that roster and start a new one. So we might as well expect Clarkson to be traded, if it is with the Bulls then good for them.

[rhomelmabini]

I see rumors that he will be traded to the Bulls. It does not make sense if the Jazz will make a move to trade Clarkson for Westbrook since they are rebuilding. He will be a good help to the Bulls though coming from the bench. He was stellar last year in Jazz, and I think he is a good fit for the Bulls as well.

That has been in the news lately but should be a win for Chicago if that's the case, the former SMOTY should contribute on the Bulls roster and it's from JC himself that he's always fine on wherever he goes to. I think Lakers will not get him considering they're having lot of guards now, I think the Bulls is a good landing spot for JC.

I don't know what the Jazz has been thinking for trading away their superstars and key players. I know they have been unsuccessful for the last 3 years, but I think the management made a hasty decision for disposing them too early. They could've built a different set of players to support Gobert, Mitchell, and JC.
The current UTAH Jazz looks like a 20-win team next season.
If the Bulls successful traded for JC, that indeed is a win for the Bulls.

They're just good during the regular season and look how they change ways now, Donovan to Cleveland, Gobert to Wolves. Only Conley and JC still remains as key player with the Utah current roster. I don't think it's only with the management fault at all, personal interests are likely huge factor here. I don't think a 20-win team for Jazz, they can still play as much I see it.

[Sanitough]

I see rumors that he will be traded to the Bulls. It does not make sense if the Jazz will make a move to trade Clarkson for Westbrook since they are rebuilding. He will be a good help to the Bulls though coming from the bench. He was stellar last year in Jazz, and I think he is a good fit for the Bulls as well.

That has been in the news lately but should be a win for Chicago if that's the case, the former SMOTY should contribute on the Bulls roster and it's from JC himself that he's always fine on wherever he goes to. I think Lakers will not get him considering they're having lot of guards now, I think the Bulls is a good landing spot for JC.

I don't know what the Jazz has been thinking for trading away their superstars and key players. I know they have been unsuccessful for the last 3 years, but I think the management made a hasty decision for disposing them too early. They could've built a different set of players to support Gobert, Mitchell, and JC.
The current UTAH Jazz looks like a 20-win team next season.
If the Bulls successful traded for JC, that indeed is a win for the Bulls.

They're just good during the regular season and look how they change ways now, Donovan to Cleveland, Gobert to Wolves. Only Conley and JC still remains as key player with the Utah current roster. I don't think it's only with the management fault at all, personal interests are likely huge factor here. I don't think a 20-win team for Jazz, they can still play as much I see it.

That has been their problem, they are good in the regular season but they struggled in the playoffs. Letting go of Mitchell and Gobert is probably the best thing to do, I guess they are into rebuilding and most likely players like Clarkson and Conley will also not gonna last in this team.

[inthelongrun]

On the contrary, I think the Jordan Clarkson will get traded the soonest and I was hoping that he will go the Lakers again and play with Bron.

I don't care which team but I would love to see Jordan Clarkson traded to any teams that are capable of reaching the playoffs. I don't want him to stay in a rebuilding team and waste his prime years.

Clarkson with the Lakers will be good for the team and his career too. He can be a perfect alternative when Bron and AD take their rest. He can even play in the first five to confuse the opposing team's defense. Schroder, Clarkson, Bron, and AD together in the court would be offensively deadly.

[chaser15]

Clarkson with the Lakers will be good for the team and his career too. He can be a perfect alternative when Bron and AD take their rest. He can even play in the first five to confuse the opposing team's defense. Schroder, Clarkson, Bron, and AD together in the court would be offensively deadly.

Schroder + Clarkson might be a bad idea to share the same court. One of them should serve as a backup role and not play together.

Clarkson + Westbrook is more effective since they don't share the role.

But this is just a speculation as their chemistry will just be seen once the season started.

[Natalim]

Clarkson with the Lakers will be good for the team and his career too. He can be a perfect alternative when Bron and AD take their rest. He can even play in the first five to confuse the opposing team's defense. Schroder, Clarkson, Bron, and AD together in the court would be offensively deadly.

Schroder + Clarkson might be a bad idea to share the same court. One of them should serve as a backup role and not play together.

Clarkson + Westbrook is more effective since they don't share the role.

But this is just a speculation as their chemistry will just be seen once the season started.

That would work if there's a chemistry, before Clarkson get the 6th man of the year award, he was underperforming with the Cleveland Cavaliers, not because he is not good but because of the lack of chemistry, and I'm sure fans are surprised for his impressive performance with the Jazz.

Clarkson was a Lakers player before, he was good but not good enough, because of the chemistry issue and probably the design of plays does not fit him.

[danherbias07]

Did anyone watch the game in Japan? Warriors vs Wizards.

James Wiseman looking pretty good. 20 points in 24 minutes.
The Warriors are looking pretty solid this season with the return of their big man. Then, there's Divicenzo showing some chemistry with the team.
Warriors at #1? What do you guys think?
If they can keep themselves healthy then it might happen.
On why Klay didn't play... here is a statement from Coach Kerr.

"Just feel more comfortable giving him a little more of a ramp up," Kerr said ahead of the Warriors' 96-87 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday. "He's just not quite ready to play at this point just based on where, you know, we're so early in camp. We just want to be safe and make sure he gets a good ramp up before he plays in games."

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34695400/klay-thompson-sit-golden-state-warriors-preseason-games-japan

[goinmerry]

Mvp is crazy talk for Westbrook, with Luka, giannis, taytum, ja, jokic, etc etc but I do think he will have a bounce back year.  He is crafty he will figure it out.  Last year was pretty much the worst of it.  He is ultra competitive let's see what kind of summer he had training.  I'd like to see him bounce back.  NBA is always better when teams like the Lakers are competitive.

Not just with his competitors in the league but on the team itself, there are a lot of main gunners there that he might even become a competitor on the award. And to become an MVP, he should be the main guy on the team doing plays and whatever.

Aside from that and the most important thing to become an MVP frontrunner of the season, "consistency" in every game on which Russ is having a hard time last season. Once you fell short on stats in just one game, that can bring down the average already as every game stats counts.

But in fairness, I like him being that optimistic after that failed run last season. I hope his plan of targeting the MVP next season will bring a boost to the Lakers.

[freedomgo]

Yes, Joe Mazzulla was there but Udoka was the mastermind and the one who is calling the shots why the Celtics reached that far, they almost got a chance but it's just that the Warriors are more capable and much more experienced. I'm thinking that Mazzulla and the management will always keep in touch with Udoka so that he can still call the shots behind the scenes because they cannot deny that they still need him.

Rumors says that the Celtics are now finding a new head coach but I seriously think that it's not true. The franchise will just sit and wait until the suspension ends because Ime Udoka is already proven.

I agree with you. Udoka showed that his coaching skills were enough to bring the team to the final series. So the Celtics don't need a new head coach, and I hope these rumors aren't true. Honestly, I don’t even know how Udoka's suspension will affect the mental state of the Celtics players, but it's clear that the chances of the Celtics reaching the final series in the upcoming season will be much less than previously expected, at least I have some doubts that Mazzulla will be able to fully replace Udoka.

That said, I believe that the franchise will just let Udoka finish his suspension because their chances will get pretty low if they will find another head coach that will replace Udoka indefinitely, they cannot afford to have that much error especially now that they already got a strong roster that is already proven to work-out. I know the franchise doesn't want to give Udoka a whole season suspension but they don't have much choice because they have to set an example for the rest of the staff, including the players.

[Vaculin]

.....

Any news on Jordan Clarkson though? I thought he is on the trading block after the Jazzz let go of Mitchell and they are rebuilding from ground up.

I only read about the interest from the Bucks and the potential return to the Lakers but I really have no idea to be honest. Maybe the Jazz will just offer him an extension so they could still have someone that will help them to compete and not plunge to the bottom of the table.

I think the Lakers are pretty full at the PG position and seem to be sticking with Westbrook. I was under the impression that Clarkson would have been the piece in any deal to get the Lakers picks and take Russ’ contract. Russell said today that he wants to go for the MVP this year, so maybe he’s feeling better this year… I’m not so sure MVP is in the cards for him ever again.

Yes, Lakers are quite packed already and it's safe to say that they are now on the table drawing some plans for the coming season and thinking what to do to their roster that is full of PG. At first I know they considering to get Clarkson but the Jazz is taking their time to choose the right package because the future of the franchise depends on it. Also, it seems that Clarkson trade have cooled down recently, maybe there's a sudden change of heart.

For Westbrook, he need to do the talk instead of making some statements that will put him in the spotlight if in case he'll mess up again. He needed to forget first that he's not the main alpha because his main role is to support the duo and make an opening for them.

[OgNasty]

Blake Griffin just signed a one year deal with the Celtics. Seems like the Celtics are the team for veterans to try and win a chip with now. I’m not so sure they’re the team to beat in the east. I think the 76ers, Bucks, & Nets all have better teams, but with Nash being strict on the old guys maybe the Celtics are the only place willing to take the old ring chasers. Hope Blake has a good season. Last year was a bit embarrassing.

[carlisle1]

.....

Any news on Jordan Clarkson though? I thought he is on the trading block after the Jazzz let go of Mitchell and they are rebuilding from ground up.

I only read about the interest from the Bucks and the potential return to the Lakers but I really have no idea to be honest. Maybe the Jazz will just offer him an extension so they could still have someone that will help them to compete and not plunge to the bottom of the table.

I think the Lakers are pretty full at the PG position and seem to be sticking with Westbrook. I was under the impression that Clarkson would have been the piece in any deal to get the Lakers picks and take Russ’ contract. Russell said today that he wants to go for the MVP this year, so maybe he’s feeling better this year… I’m not so sure MVP is in the cards for him ever again.

Yes, Lakers are quite packed already and it's safe to say that they are now on the table drawing some plans for the coming season and thinking what to do to their roster that is full of PG. At first I know they considering to get Clarkson but the Jazz is taking their time to choose the right package because the future of the franchise depends on it. Also, it seems that Clarkson trade have cooled down recently, maybe there's a sudden change of heart.

For Westbrook, he need to do the talk instead of making some statements that will put him in the spotlight if in case he'll mess up again. He needed to forget first that he's not the main alpha because his main role is to support the duo and make an opening for them.

He created the noise, and he should work on it. We never know why he makes such a statement,, but it's a good motivation to find
his old self, don't quote me on this, but all players need motivation to start firing up.

With a kind of challenges and criticism, he might find a way to improve his performance and shut up the bad publicities against him,
it's a top challenge but still doable if he will play smart.

Or, it's just simply saying that he wanted to be the main guy again, and it's a sign of moving out from the lakers organization.