2024 NBA Season

[AHOYBRAUSE]

I just saw that Doc Rivers is working for ESPN now. 

Guess teams have finally realized that he is not the coach you need if you want to win. His resume in the playoffs over the past years is so weak, no wonder nobody wanted to sign him, even when there were 4 or so vacant coaching positions available after last season.

Once you start working for a tv network, your career almost always is over.

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[OgNasty]

I just saw that Doc Rivers is working for ESPN now. 

Guess teams have finally realized that he is not the coach you need if you want to win. His resume in the playoffs over the past years is so weak, no wonder nobody wanted to sign him, even when there were 4 or so vacant coaching positions available after last season.

Once you start working for a tv network, your career almost always is over.

Doc Rivers is a cool dude, but he doesn’t exactly have a voice that you’d want to listen to. The guys they fired to make room for him were great too. I think ESPN has made some staffing mistakes over the last couple of years as they seemingly are trying to steer clear of anyone controversial. I agree though, Doc won’t be coaching again.

[btc_angela]

I just saw that Doc Rivers is working for ESPN now. 

Guess teams have finally realized that he is not the coach you need if you want to win. His resume in the playoffs over the past years is so weak, no wonder nobody wanted to sign him, even when there were 4 or so vacant coaching positions available after last season.

Once you start working for a tv network, your career almost always is over.

Lol, yeah perhaps his last great coaching stint is with the Boston Celtics. But after that, he might be a overrated coach. As he didn't replicate that success in any other teams. On the contrary, the teams that he lead choke during playoffs, 

But Doc Rivers doesn't have the voice to be a announcer? He has somewhat like a husky voice to me and it's not good to the hear. Not bashing this dude, but they should have not let go of Mark Jackson, in my opinion.  We gonna missed, "mama there goes that man".

[Viscore]

I just saw that Doc Rivers is working for ESPN now. 

Guess teams have finally realized that he is not the coach you need if you want to win. His resume in the playoffs over the past years is so weak, no wonder nobody wanted to sign him, even when there were 4 or so vacant coaching positions available after last season.

Once you start working for a tv network, your career almost always is over.

Lol, yeah perhaps his last great coaching stint is with the Boston Celtics. But after that, he might be a overrated coach. As he didn't replicate that success in any other teams. On the contrary, the teams that he lead choke during playoffs, 

But Doc Rivers doesn't have the voice to be a announcer? He has somewhat like a husky voice to me and it's not good to the hear. Not bashing this dude, but they should have not let go of Mark Jackson, in my opinion.  We gonna missed, "mama there goes that man".

Good for him, he's lucky to have found work after getting fired from his coaching job. I don't think he will be able to come back as a coach again, considering he has already coached many teams without much success. He may only be remembered for his time with the Boston Celtics, as the teams he coached after that never reached the NBA Finals.

Nevertheless, I'd like to congratulate him. As a worker at ESPN, I believe he may not be earning the same amount of money he made as a coach, but it's still a decent income, and he can continue to enjoy his passion.

[dwyane36]

The Lakers look better on paper, and I also expect them to make at least the playoffs next season. However, as you said, they will rely a lot on LeBron and Davis' health anyway, and that's a problem because both players have missed a lot of games due to injuries over the last few seasons. It will be good if LeBron can play at least 60 games and Davis at least 50 games next season.

You hit the nail on the head with the injuries, but are you really expecting Davis, a man in his prime, to play less games than a nearly 40 year old LeBron James?  That in itself shows the dire situation the Lakers are faced with.  They need to get rid of Anthony Davis for the good of the team.  I get that can't happen now because you have to cross your fingers and hope you'll get a healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis going into the playoffs, but what do you think the odds of that are?  It makes you think maybe Kawhi Leonard is on to something.  How long until other teams just don't play their stars until the playoffs?

My expectations regarding LeBron and Davis are based on stats from previous seasons. Davis has never played a full season (82 games) in his entire career. Besides, the trend over the last few seasons is that if he plays at least half a season, it's an accomplishment for him. For example, he played only 36 games in the 20/21 season, 40 games in the 21/22 season, and 56 games in the 22/23 season. So yes, I expect this trend to continue next season, and Davis will likely miss more games than the aging LeBron.

[Yamifoud]

The Lakers look better on paper, and I also expect them to make at least the playoffs next season. However, as you said, they will rely a lot on LeBron and Davis' health anyway, and that's a problem because both players have missed a lot of games due to injuries over the last few seasons. It will be good if LeBron can play at least 60 games and Davis at least 50 games next season.

You hit the nail on the head with the injuries, but are you really expecting Davis, a man in his prime, to play less games than a nearly 40 year old LeBron James?  That in itself shows the dire situation the Lakers are faced with.  They need to get rid of Anthony Davis for the good of the team.  I get that can't happen now because you have to cross your fingers and hope you'll get a healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis going into the playoffs, but what do you think the odds of that are?  It makes you think maybe Kawhi Leonard is on to something.  How long until other teams just don't play their stars until the playoffs?

My expectations regarding LeBron and Davis are based on stats from previous seasons. Davis has never played a full season (82 games) in his entire career. Besides, the trend over the last few seasons is that if he plays at least half a season, it's an accomplishment for him. For example, he played only 36 games in the 20/21 season, 40 games in the 21/22 season, and 56 games in the 22/23 season. So yes, I expect this trend to continue next season, and Davis will likely miss more games than the aging LeBron.

But the good thing is, even if Davis misses half of the regular season, the Lakers will still make it to the playoffs. I think it's better that way, with Davis missing some games in the regular season but being 100% available in the playoffs, as playoffs matter the most.

The Lakers already have a strong defense and are a good rebounding team. The only problem is their consistency on offense; they seem to lack confidence in their outside shooting, resulting in a low percentage beyond the arc. This mistake has haunted them throughout the playoffs, especially against the Nuggets, who are a good outside shooting team.

[mirakal]

Lakers is considered to be a dark horse as well, if I'm not mistaken, of course some of the core is back but still, a ageing Lebron and then injury prone AD? Still not sure how far the Lakers can go in this season.

No matter what happens to them in the Lakers this season, they have already done their job and won the championship because that's just all that it matters when you are with the Superteam trying to be a contender in the NBA league. It will be more amazing when they can get back to the NBA playoffs this season because they easily made a great run last season and also beat the defending champion easily. The worse thing they did was signed Westbrook despite having multiple stars that can help them with the championship again last season.

But some fans are saying that what they did was not enough because the last time they won the championship was in the middle of Covid pandemic where they had in-house games with a lot of rules to prevent Covid-19 from entering the league, moreover, at that time, NBA was still at an experimenting phase and not all players did play just like the usual season. Anyway, people have been divided when it comes to the topic, but yes, a win is a win and nobody can take that from them.

[Yaunfitda]

Lakers is considered to be a dark horse as well, if I'm not mistaken, of course some of the core is back but still, a ageing Lebron and then injury prone AD? Still not sure how far the Lakers can go in this season.

No matter what happens to them in the Lakers this season, they have already done their job and won the championship because that's just all that it matters when you are with the Superteam trying to be a contender in the NBA league. It will be more amazing when they can get back to the NBA playoffs this season because they easily made a great run last season and also beat the defending champion easily. The worse thing they did was signed Westbrook despite having multiple stars that can help them with the championship again last season.

But some fans are saying that what they did was not enough because the last time they won the championship was in the middle of Covid pandemic where they had in-house games with a lot of rules to prevent Covid-19 from entering the league, moreover, at that time, NBA was still at an experimenting phase and not all players did play just like the usual season. Anyway, people have been divided when it comes to the topic, but yes, a win is a win and nobody can take that from them.

Different times though, but during that time the Lakers is a different team, both Lebron and Davis really wanted to proved something and so they go and win one for the Lakers. But after that it seems that they have experienced the curse of defending it as they are not the same team after their champions. And then some of there players left or being traded. And then we can saw that getting WB really put a dent on the team. So for me it's good that they are considered as a dark horse so that they can proved something against their critics and detractors (barring injuries from Davis and Lebron).

[Finestream]

They are good but they can still be matched. The Suns last season was fresh and do not have chemistry. They should be better this year with all the talent they have. Giannis was injured in the playoffs. It could have been a different story if he stayed healthy in the post season. The Nuggets are strong but other teams are getting stronger as well. The competition is still very strong.

The Suns were the only team that were able to give good competition to the Nuggets, so I think you have a point that they are going to be even better next season. Although they lost CP3, he wasn't significant enough to the success of the Suns due to injury issues. However, having Bradley Beal on the team takes them to the next level. Let's just hope that the big 3 will be able to stay healthy throughout the season.

And the chemistry should be created now off-season. They do not have much time if they want the championship now and I think the Suns' management has that goal that's why they spend a lot of money to get players that would best suit Booker. A fully offensive weapon that will be difficult to stop. Expect 120-130 total points for this team and they will match the Nuggets who had a long win record with 120+ on their scoreboard. I mean let's face it, the Nuggets are not actually a defensive team but they rely on accurate offense whenever they try to attack back and that is why they can win games.
When these two teams face each other, we might see mostly an offensive performance.

I think it's quite obvious that they have built a team that will benefit them a lot and they were already doing decent enough as well. With Booker and Durant scoring, they will be unstoppable without a doubt. Ayton is there, Beal is there, that's actually quite good team. I still do not understand why they had to get rid of CP3 that way, he was still a good floor general and he was still a good defender.

I get that he wasn't as good as when he was younger, but he was still good and that matters a lot. I feel like people should realize that Suns coming in hot this season and they are going to be pretty good. I know that many people will doubt them for a long time but that doesn't change the fact that even if a new team, that's a good team.

I get what you're saying but you didn't count the factor where NBA is a business, so does its franchises where being good will not be enough. We know that Chris Paul can still do his job in the Suns and yes, he's good at it but as you're getting older, the teams in the league tend to make a hard decision where it's time for them to replace their older players with a younger ones. In this instance, Beal is still a 30 year old player whereas CP3 is already 38 years of age and for obvious reasons, the Suns wanted a player that can be with them often times, a lot less injury prone kind of player.

[Vaculin]

Lakers is considered to be a dark horse as well, if I'm not mistaken, of course some of the core is back but still, a ageing Lebron and then injury prone AD? Still not sure how far the Lakers can go in this season.

No matter what happens to them in the Lakers this season, they have already done their job and won the championship because that's just all that it matters when you are with the Superteam trying to be a contender in the NBA league. It will be more amazing when they can get back to the NBA playoffs this season because they easily made a great run last season and also beat the defending champion easily. The worse thing they did was signed Westbrook despite having multiple stars that can help them with the championship again last season.

But some fans are saying that what they did was not enough because the last time they won the championship was in the middle of Covid pandemic where they had in-house games with a lot of rules to prevent Covid-19 from entering the league, moreover, at that time, NBA was still at an experimenting phase and not all players did play just like the usual season. Anyway, people have been divided when it comes to the topic, but yes, a win is a win and nobody can take that from them.

Different times though, but during that time the Lakers is a different team, both Lebron and Davis really wanted to proved something and so they go and win one for the Lakers. But after that it seems that they have experienced the curse of defending it as they are not the same team after their champions. And then some of there players left or being traded. And then we can saw that getting WB really put a dent on the team. So for me it's good that they are considered as a dark horse so that they can proved something against their critics and detractors (barring injuries from Davis and Lebron).

Indeed, that line-up they had way back when they won a championship title was very different. They've got a height and experience advantage which gave the whole league some difficulty, and AD and Lebron was a bit younger in those days plus they've had Dwight Howard, Rondo and Alex Caruso who was truly helpful to the team's defensive line.
And talking about the Lakers being a dark horse in the upcoming season is just a bit sad for me though because they just got that name in the time where WB is not on the equation.

[Russlenat]

The Lakers look better on paper, and I also expect them to make at least the playoffs next season. However, as you said, they will rely a lot on LeBron and Davis' health anyway, and that's a problem because both players have missed a lot of games due to injuries over the last few seasons. It will be good if LeBron can play at least 60 games and Davis at least 50 games next season.

You hit the nail on the head with the injuries, but are you really expecting Davis, a man in his prime, to play less games than a nearly 40 year old LeBron James?  That in itself shows the dire situation the Lakers are faced with.  They need to get rid of Anthony Davis for the good of the team.  I get that can't happen now because you have to cross your fingers and hope you'll get a healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis going into the playoffs, but what do you think the odds of that are?  It makes you think maybe Kawhi Leonard is on to something.  How long until other teams just don't play their stars until the playoffs?

My expectations regarding LeBron and Davis are based on stats from previous seasons. Davis has never played a full season (82 games) in his entire career. Besides, the trend over the last few seasons is that if he plays at least half a season, it's an accomplishment for him. For example, he played only 36 games in the 20/21 season, 40 games in the 21/22 season, and 56 games in the 22/23 season. So yes, I expect this trend to continue next season, and Davis will likely miss more games than the aging LeBron.

But the good thing is, even if Davis misses half of the regular season, the Lakers will still make it to the playoffs. I think it's better that way, with Davis missing some games in the regular season but being 100% available in the playoffs, as playoffs matter the most.

The Lakers already have a strong defense and are a good rebounding team. The only problem is their consistency on offense; they seem to lack confidence in their outside shooting, resulting in a low percentage beyond the arc. This mistake has haunted them throughout the playoffs, especially against the Nuggets, who are a good outside shooting team.

Actually, the Denver Nuggets is a very versatile team whom their strengths are not just based on their outside shooting percentage and it's been a mystery to find out what is their weakness because in the recent season, there is no team in the NBA who was able to solve that mystery and effectively stopped or at least slowed down the Nuggets to prevent them to dominate the game.

And with that, I'm quite sure that almost all of the teams now are experimenting and will be basing their practice towards the Nuggets once their respective training camps will commence.

[FanEagle]

ESPN must be losing a lot of money if they really decide to go this route. I mean Doc Rivers is not exactly one you listen to is a great thing to think, plus he is a coach, so his insights might be good but he is also not an announcer or anyone like that, him talking doesn't really sound that great to me.

They made a mistake, all this lay offs and new names will not make it interesting for them, it is not going to be that great, maybe the first year people will want to tune it to see how the changes are, but the long term will not be good neither. Doc should also take a job as a coach, he is Doc Rivers for Christ sake, I can't think of a season where he is not coaching, he should be doing that, he is good enough for any team.

[OgNasty]

What do you guys think about this Bradley Beal story? Has he lost a step and this should be a concern for the Phoenix Suns? Is this a wake up call that he needs to get back in the lab and do some work if he wants to be successful next year? Maybe Bradley Beal had an off day or this kid is just the next big thing? Interesting story no matter what.

[wheelz1200]

One on one is way different than team ball.  This kid would look absolutely lost on an nba court right now.  Beal will be fine, he is going to get a lot of spacing with book and Durant on the court as well.  I wouldn't worry if I was the suns.

[carlisle1]

Lakers is considered to be a dark horse as well, if I'm not mistaken, of course some of the core is back but still, a ageing Lebron and then injury prone AD? Still not sure how far the Lakers can go in this season.

No matter what happens to them in the Lakers this season, they have already done their job and won the championship because that's just all that it matters when you are with the Superteam trying to be a contender in the NBA league. It will be more amazing when they can get back to the NBA playoffs this season because they easily made a great run last season and also beat the defending champion easily. The worse thing they did was signed Westbrook despite having multiple stars that can help them with the championship again last season.

But some fans are saying that what they did was not enough because the last time they won the championship was in the middle of Covid pandemic where they had in-house games with a lot of rules to prevent Covid-19 from entering the league, moreover, at that time, NBA was still at an experimenting phase and not all players did play just like the usual season. Anyway, people have been divided when it comes to the topic, but yes, a win is a win and nobody can take that from them.

There is still in doubts about what the Lakers achieved, but a title is still a title and even it's a pandemic setup, the players are still
playing at the best that they can.

Though it's still better to see Lakers with LeBron to win another title, and with how they are forming the team right now.

There's always chances for anything and who knows AD will play healthy this coming season, still early to conclude if what
will be the fate if they will perform and have that chance to win a title.

[ChiBitCTy]

One on one is way different than team ball.  This kid would look absolutely lost on an nba court right now.  Beal will be fine, he is going to get a lot of spacing with book and Durant on the court as well.  I wouldn't worry if I was the suns.

Yeah that's what I was going to say, one on one is an entirely different animal and crazy shit happens.  I've seen some great players lose to players who aren't nearly as good or talented simply because of a few bad shots and odd things that happen that normally wouldn't.  But also this Flagg kid is one of the top prospects and the #2 prospect for the 2025 class.  He'll be going to any school he want's and may not stay long in college, so it's not like Beal was playing just some dude.

https://fadeawayworld.net/16-year-old-nba-prospect-cooper-flagg-reportedly-destroyed-bradley-beal-in-1-on-1-game-who-got-mad-at-him-and-started-cussing-him-out

[danherbias07]

I just saw that Doc Rivers is working for ESPN now.  

Guess teams have finally realized that he is not the coach you need if you want to win. His resume in the playoffs over the past years is so weak, no wonder nobody wanted to sign him, even when there were 4 or so vacant coaching positions available after last season.

Once you start working for a tv network, your career almost always is over.

Yeah, it's over for the coaching career or for players their careers too. I have not seen one player who became a television analyst or commentator that went back to playing or coaching.
It looks like we are going to hear that hoarse voice of Doc Rivers a lot of times from now on. It's cool for me, he has a good basketball IQ about the game but I guess the last few years of coaching for him was not good. Too much drama from his players.

What do you guys think about this Bradley Beal story? Has he lost a step and this should be a concern for the Phoenix Suns? Is this a wake up call that he needs to get back in the lab and do some work if he wants to be successful next year? Maybe Bradley Beal had an off day or this kid is just the next big thing? Interesting story no matter what.
~

I was never impressed with Bradley Beal's game ever since he came to the NBA. Never a fan of this guy. I cannot even remember when we talked about this guy here in our lovely thread.   Actually, I thought this will be the time that I will become a fan of him when I see him do his work in Phoenix. I mean, this will show how effective a point guard will be when you combine them with star players like Booker and Durant. Both are assassins in shooting skills. So what will Beal do? Will he be a playmaker or the same as what he did in Washington? A ball hog.

[OgNasty]

Brian Windhorst came out and said that no other teams outside of Miami have come forward to seriously make a trade offer for Damian Lillard. I’m not sure if it’s his contract, his age, or other teams are just trying to respect his wishes to end up in Miami, but it’s starting to look like Lillard might be a Trailblazer next season. I’m not sure how good that will be for his reputation if he’s disgruntled after being labeled as the most loyal player in the NBA.

[Yogee]

Brian Windhorst came out and said that no other teams outside of Miami have come forward to seriously make a trade offer for Damian Lillard. I’m not sure if it’s his contract, his age, or other teams are just trying to respect his wishes to end up in Miami, but it’s starting to look like Lillard might be a Trailblazer next season. I’m not sure how good that will be for his reputation if he’s disgruntled after being labeled as the most loyal player in the NBA.

I mean if he has already stated his desire to join a particular team then what's the point of getting him? No team would ever want an unmotivated player in their roster so it's a good move to stay out and let them sort it out. I think Blazers is taking more risk for holding on to Dame here. I can already see another season with no playoffs since I don't expect him to perform above his average.

[Questat]

Brian Windhorst came out and said that no other teams outside of Miami have come forward to seriously make a trade offer for Damian Lillard. I’m not sure if it’s his contract, his age, or other teams are just trying to respect his wishes to end up in Miami, but it’s starting to look like Lillard might be a Trailblazer next season. I’m not sure how good that will be for his reputation if he’s disgruntled after being labeled as the most loyal player in the NBA.

It would be unwise to keep Lillard despite how vocal he is about wanting to leave the team. The fact that he wants a trade means that if he is required to play while the team has not found a good offer yet, they should not expect Lillard to give his best as he did before.

I believe the Heat and the Blazers need to talk again and find a way to make that trade happen. It's always nice to cheer on a team knowing that all the players are committed to winning.