2024 NBA Season

[Natalim]

A lot of talk about Christian Wood and I agree it is a good signing, but I still don’t think he starts or even replaces Rui when it comes to minutes. Rui had a great season last year and I think Christian Wood will likely get garbage minutes in comparison. I still say he’s an insurance policy in case Anthony Davis goes down.

I agree with you. The small contract may have been due to the fact that from the start Wood was not competing with Davis as a power forward, but as a backup. The presence of Wood will allow Davis to save playing minutes, in order to maintain his physical fitness throughout the season.

It would be worse if his purpose is to replace Davis if he goes down. I think it's better if he would get some minutes alongside Davis so that Davis's risk of getting injured will be reduced. Less minutes mean less risk. The Lakers can't afford to lose Davis. What would happen if Davis suffers a season-ending injury? Would Christian Wood be enough for the Lakers to still be considered a championship team? I believe prevention is always better, and they can start that by limiting Davis's playing time.

[1715131273]

1715131273

[1715131273]

1715131273

[1715131273]

1715131273

[1715131273]

1715131273

[carlisle1]

A lot of talk about Christian Wood and I agree it is a good signing, but I still don’t think he starts or even replaces Rui when it comes to minutes. Rui had a great season last year and I think Christian Wood will likely get garbage minutes in comparison. I still say he’s an insurance policy in case Anthony Davis goes down.

I agree with you. The small contract may have been due to the fact that from the start Wood was not competing with Davis as a power forward, but as a backup. The presence of Wood will allow Davis to save playing minutes, in order to maintain his physical fitness throughout the season.

It would be worse if his purpose is to replace Davis if he goes down. I think it's better if he would get some minutes alongside Davis so that Davis's risk of getting injured will be reduced. Less minutes mean less risk. The Lakers can't afford to lose Davis. What would happen if Davis suffers a season-ending injury? Would Christian Wood be enough for the Lakers to still be considered a championship team? I believe prevention is always better, and they can start that by limiting Davis's playing time.

Better to be that way, giving Davis quality minutes either alongside with him or giving him enough rest to lessen the chance of getting
serious injury.

It can only be judge once the league already start all are speculation and based on own opinions whether Wood will be fit for the Lakers and this
move from the Lakers management will give them a good run this season.

[Finestream]

A lot of talk about Christian Wood and I agree it is a good signing, but I still don’t think he starts or even replaces Rui when it comes to minutes. Rui had a great season last year and I think Christian Wood will likely get garbage minutes in comparison. I still say he’s an insurance policy in case Anthony Davis goes down.

I agree with you. The small contract may have been due to the fact that from the start Wood was not competing with Davis as a power forward, but as a backup. The presence of Wood will allow Davis to save playing minutes, in order to maintain his physical fitness throughout the season.

It would be worse if his purpose is to replace Davis if he goes down. I think it's better if he would get some minutes alongside Davis so that Davis's risk of getting injured will be reduced. Less minutes mean less risk. The Lakers can't afford to lose Davis. What would happen if Davis suffers a season-ending injury? Would Christian Wood be enough for the Lakers to still be considered a championship team? I believe prevention is always better, and they can start that by limiting Davis's playing time.

Better to be that way, giving Davis quality minutes either alongside with him or giving him enough rest to lessen the chance of getting
serious injury.

It can only be judge once the league already start all are speculation and based on own opinions whether Wood will be fit for the Lakers and this
move from the Lakers management will give them a good run this season.

That might do but having Christian Wood playing alongside Davis might also mean that Rui Hachimura's minutes will be adjusted as neither of them fits the guard position to replace Reaves and D'Angelo and so, I think that instead of him getting what you guys mentioned, he might start off the bench because there no extra position for him to fill in while for the meantime, he will be a back up for Davis.

[Viscore]

< he might start off the bench because there no extra position for him to fill in while for the meantime, he will be a back up for Davis.

For me, having a player with length like Davis makes him a good backup, even though he may not be as strong as Davis in terms of rebounding and defense. However, giving Davis some rest would already be helpful, as every game feels different when Davis is on the court. He has the ability to bring a positive energy that elevates the team's performance. There shouldn't be any issues with the Lakers on the defensive end, given their height advantage. I'm confident that their coach knows how to manage the roster, so let's wait and see.

[Taskford]

< he might start off the bench because there no extra position for him to fill in while for the meantime, he will be a back up for Davis.

For me, having a player with length like Davis makes him a good backup, even though he may not be as strong as Davis in terms of rebounding and defense. However, giving Davis some rest would already be helpful, as every game feels different when Davis is on the court. He has the ability to bring a positive energy that elevates the team's performance. There shouldn't be any issues with the Lakers on the defensive end, given their height advantage. I'm confident that their coach knows how to manage the roster, so let's wait and see.

Davis is extraordinary talent Wood cannot easily replace his performance but adding him on the roster is really a great addition to them knowing that he can also provide some good performance to the minutes given to him. To many changes happen to them so for sure this is also need some huge adjustment to them so let see if they can work together since the issue now is their chemistry since Lakers always change their roster every season opener so might they will get a problem on rosters chemistry.

[Distinctin]

< he might start off the bench because there no extra position for him to fill in while for the meantime, he will be a back up for Davis.

For me, having a player with length like Davis makes him a good backup, even though he may not be as strong as Davis in terms of rebounding and defense. However, giving Davis some rest would already be helpful, as every game feels different when Davis is on the court. He has the ability to bring a positive energy that elevates the team's performance. There shouldn't be any issues with the Lakers on the defensive end, given their height advantage. I'm confident that their coach knows how to manage the roster, so let's wait and see.

Davis is extraordinary talent Wood cannot easily replace his performance but adding him on the roster is really a great addition to them knowing that he can also provide some good performance to the minutes given to him. To many changes happen to them so for sure this is also need some huge adjustment to them so let see if they can work together since the issue now is their chemistry since Lakers always change their roster every season opener so might they will get a problem on rosters chemistry.

They have enough time to build that chemistry; they were even impressive last season despite forming a good roster later in the season. They only fell to the Nuggets, who had already built good chemistry. But they will be back with a new season, just adding some players, and I'm almost certain that the chemistry will be well-established. LeBron and Davis remain the leaders of the team, and seeing them healthy gives the Lakers a strong chance of winning another championship.

[freedomgo]

< he might start off the bench because there no extra position for him to fill in while for the meantime, he will be a back up for Davis.

For me, having a player with length like Davis makes him a good backup, even though he may not be as strong as Davis in terms of rebounding and defense. However, giving Davis some rest would already be helpful, as every game feels different when Davis is on the court. He has the ability to bring a positive energy that elevates the team's performance. There shouldn't be any issues with the Lakers on the defensive end, given their height advantage. I'm confident that their coach knows how to manage the roster, so let's wait and see.

You know, it's kind of confusing to me now because lately before the Lakers acquired Christian Woods from the free agency, they also acquired and got somebody from the same agency, a guy named Jaxson Hayes.

A much younger player who I thought will be trained to replace Davis from being the center so that Davis will have some freedom in chasing down somebody whilst playing alongside LeBron and convert some points towards the team being a PF. Now, the roster seems to be in a middle of mess because of the new additional that they've acquired recently.

[OgNasty]

Sad to see the United States get eliminated before even reaching the Final in the FIBA World Championships. While I don’t think these were the best players we could have sent, it seems like USA’s domination of basketball is losing its grip. They’d better send our best to win the gold at the next summer Olympic Games.

[Sanitough]

< he might start off the bench because there no extra position for him to fill in while for the meantime, he will be a back up for Davis.

For me, having a player with length like Davis makes him a good backup, even though he may not be as strong as Davis in terms of rebounding and defense. However, giving Davis some rest would already be helpful, as every game feels different when Davis is on the court. He has the ability to bring a positive energy that elevates the team's performance. There shouldn't be any issues with the Lakers on the defensive end, given their height advantage. I'm confident that their coach knows how to manage the roster, so let's wait and see.

You know, it's kind of confusing to me now because lately before the Lakers acquired Christian Woods from the free agency, they also acquired and got somebody from the same agency, a guy named Jaxson Hayes.

A much younger player who I thought will be trained to replace Davis from being the center so that Davis will have some freedom in chasing down somebody whilst playing alongside LeBron and convert some points towards the team being a PF. Now, the roster seems to be in a middle of mess because of the new additional that they've acquired recently.

As long as they manage the lineup well, there should be no problem. Wood was acquired because the Lakers saw it as an opportunity. He was valued at $14 million last season with the Dallas Mavericks, while the Lakers signed him for only $5.7 million for 2 years. That's a big steal and having more players provides good depth in case Davis suffers from a serious injury. The Lakers are aware of Davis's injury history, so they have prepared for that possibility. Personally, I trust what they are doing, and the Lakers have already proven themselves last season despite falling to the Denver Nuggets.

Sad to see the United States get eliminated before even reaching the Final in the FIBA World Championships. While I don’t think these were the best players we could have sent, it seems like USA’s domination of basketball is losing its grip. They’d better send our best to win the gold at the next summer Olympic Games.

They will certainly send better players for the Olympic Games. Right from the start, there were discussions about the current lineup lacking experience. They were young and inexperienced, and it turned out we were correct; they didn't even reach the Finals. Better luck next time, though.

[dwyane36]

Between Lebron, AD, Rui, Russel, Reaves, Vanderbilt and Wood, they actually have a pretty decent roster if you ask me. Their season depends on injuries of course, Lebron is 38 years old and he will be 39 somewhere in there, so he may lose some games, and also AD is prone to injury as we all know it.

But, if they minimize their injury and play during the playoff as well, then this team could make some big damage. I know that it is not really the best team in the league, I am not saying that they are going to be good enough to win the title, but at the very least they will make some dent, and maybe like conference finals or something. West has a few good teams that is for sure, but Lakers will be one of them this season without a doubt.

Of course, the Lakers can only hope for any success in the upcoming season if LeBron is in his former playing shape and Davis can avoid serious injuries.
At the same time, it's worth noting that the Lakers surprised a lot of fans last season because they managed to make it pretty far in the playoffs. Now their roster looks stronger, and I think the Lakers will be able to surprise us once again.

[arwin100]

Sad to see the United States get eliminated before even reaching the Final in the FIBA World Championships. While I don’t think these were the best players we could have sent, it seems like USA’s domination of basketball is losing its grip. They’d better send our best to win the gold at the next summer Olympic Games.

Not the strongest but I think the decent roster to fight for gold medal but they come up short and left behind by 2 points. This is huge upset to them since fans really believe that they are the one will reach up to the finals easily but the germans cut those expectation and show up some great dedication to beat up the giants then take home the win for their country. Guess this is better luck next time for team USA and for sure next world cup they might think about sending more stronger roster and also veterans that can help their world cup run.

[Jating]

Sad to see the United States get eliminated before even reaching the Final in the FIBA World Championships. While I don’t think these were the best players we could have sent, it seems like USA’s domination of basketball is losing its grip. They’d better send our best to win the gold at the next summer Olympic Games.

Not the strongest but I think the decent roster to fight for gold medal but they come up short and left behind by 2 points. This is huge upset to them since fans really believe that they are the one will reach up to the finals easily but the germans cut those expectation and show up some great dedication to beat up the giants then take home the win for their country. Guess this is better luck next time for team USA and for sure next world cup they might think about sending more stronger roster and also veterans that can help their world cup run.

They've been losing grip though not just in this FIBA but years ago, just look at who is the last MVP in the last couple of years, it's all European or at least not-American, Giannis, Jokic and then Joel Embid.

And then they sent just a decent player, there are no superstars in the line up except just players of pure hype. And so I'm not surprised if team that have been playing for so many years beat the US and Canadians for that matter.

[danherbias07]

Sad to see the United States get eliminated before even reaching the Final in the FIBA World Championships. While I don’t think these were the best players we could have sent, it seems like USA’s domination of basketball is losing its grip. They’d better send our best to win the gold at the next summer Olympic Games.

But I do love what Steve Kerr said during the post-game press interview. "These games are difficult, this is not 1992 anymore."
He is right. Two years without a Gold for Coach Steve Kerr but this doesn't mean he is a bad coach, players are just getting better. Serbia is also proof of that, no Nikola Jokic, no problem.
Other countries are advancing, and Europe is at a high level of competition when it comes to basketball. After I watched EuroBasket, I became a fan of many countries in that area.

Team USA lacks defense, that's given. They are leaning more on their offense because that is what the roster is made of. But Obst of Germany is playing both ends and that's what hurt them a lot. They are focused on just defending Schroder but a wild card suddenly appears. Wagner brothers are also more competitive and have a high goal of winning against the top favorite in the tournament. Actually, all of them want to defeat them.  

[Yaunfitda]

Sad to see the United States get eliminated before even reaching the Final in the FIBA World Championships. While I don’t think these were the best players we could have sent, it seems like USA’s domination of basketball is losing its grip. They’d better send our best to win the gold at the next summer Olympic Games.

But I do love what Steve Kerr said during the post-game press interview. "These games are difficult, this is not 1992 anymore."

Yes, I do agree with that statement, but after 1992 they have build a solid roster as well winning some tournament but also losing. But as you have said, everyone is really at par with the NBA players, specially European team.

He is right. Two years without a Gold for Coach Steve Kerr but this doesn't mean he is a bad coach, players are just getting better. Serbia is also proof of that, no Nikola Jokic, no problem.
Other countries are advancing, and Europe is at a high level of competition when it comes to basketball. After I watched EuroBasket, I became a fan of many countries in that area.

Team USA lacks defense, that's given. They are leaning more on their offense because that is what the roster is made of. But Obst of Germany is playing both ends and that's what hurt them a lot. They are focused on just defending Schroder but a wild card suddenly appears. Wagner brothers are also more competitive and have a high goal of winning against the top favorite in the tournament. Actually, all of them want to defeat them.  

It's just very unfortunate that it will go down again in history as the year that the US didn't win the Gold medal. So they really again need to send their best players not just in the Olympics, but tournaments like FIBA because there is pride in here and you don't want to lose their hold on basketball.

[mirakal]

Sad to see the United States get eliminated before even reaching the Final in the FIBA World Championships. While I don’t think these were the best players we could have sent, it seems like USA’s domination of basketball is losing its grip. They’d better send our best to win the gold at the next summer Olympic Games.

Not the strongest but I think the decent roster to fight for gold medal but they come up short and left behind by 2 points. This is huge upset to them since fans really believe that they are the one will reach up to the finals easily but the germans cut those expectation and show up some great dedication to beat up the giants then take home the win for their country. Guess this is better luck next time for team USA and for sure next world cup they might think about sending more stronger roster and also veterans that can help their world cup run.

They've been losing grip though not just in this FIBA but years ago, just look at who is the last MVP in the last couple of years, it's all European or at least not-American, Giannis, Jokic and then Joel Embid.

And then they sent just a decent player, there are no superstars in the line up except just players of pure hype. And so I'm not surprised if team that have been playing for so many years beat the US and Canadians for that matter.

I just had a thought though; I'm thinking that the team USA might've done it in purpose though. I mean it's clear enough that their roster was just a pure hype and it's too much to ask really to think that they can reach the finals round because there are teams like Germany and Canada who are more deserving and talented than them.

Now, I'm thinking that they just sent these young star aspiring players to have some experience before they go back in reality where they are NBA players who are playing for their respective franchises and their goal is just to qualify for the Olympics where in that time, that's where they will send their best players.

[püsür]

Sad to see the United States get eliminated before even reaching the Final in the FIBA World Championships. While I don’t think these were the best players we could have sent, it seems like USA’s domination of basketball is losing its grip. They’d better send our best to win the gold at the next summer Olympic Games.

Famously, we have seen this two times already. As everyone knows, results were 92 Dream Team and 08 Redeem Team. Of course USA is capable of doing it again but I think it will be unlikely that we see something like those in 92 or 08 again. Serbia don't also have their biggest stars in this tournament, one might argue. They played excellent without Jokic. I think they can be considered one of the biggest powerhouses in europe but we don't see too many successful players in nba. Bogdan Bogdanovic plays crazy good in europe and this tournament, but in Nba I think he can be considered mediocre. Let's see his performance next season. Last year Spain dominated the Eurobasket tournament but in Nba, their players didn't even get proper minutes. So, stars doesn't matter.

[btc_angela]

Sad to see the United States get eliminated before even reaching the Final in the FIBA World Championships. While I don’t think these were the best players we could have sent, it seems like USA’s domination of basketball is losing its grip. They’d better send our best to win the gold at the next summer Olympic Games.

Famously, we have seen this two times already. As everyone knows, results were 92 Dream Team and 08 Redeem Team. Of course USA is capable of doing it again but I think it will be unlikely that we see something like those in 92 or 08 again. Serbia don't also have their biggest stars in this tournament, one might argue. They played excellent without Jokic. I think they can be considered one of the biggest powerhouses in europe but we don't see too many successful players in nba. Bogdan Bogdanovic plays crazy good in europe and this tournament, but in Nba I think he can be considered mediocre. Let's see his performance next season. Last year Spain dominated the Eurobasket tournament but in Nba, their players didn't even get proper minutes. So, stars doesn't matter.

And without their biggest star in Jokic, it's really a big accomplished for them, but they have a lot of good talents already. And then the US started very slow and need to do a catch up and unfortunately they fell short and have some crucial errors.

For FIBA, yeah maybe stars doesn't matter, but still though it's going to be a big boost. For international competition since this is very short, NBA teams should really have like a lot of months to prepare not just weeks and just used their 1:1 talent because it will not win games for them in international competitions. It is still defense, then the whole jelling on the team.

[beerlover]

A lot of talk about Christian Wood and I agree it is a good signing, but I still don’t think he starts or even replaces Rui when it comes to minutes. Rui had a great season last year and I think Christian Wood will likely get garbage minutes in comparison. I still say he’s an insurance policy in case Anthony Davis goes down.

More of a back-up Center for AD. That's his role. When Davis is on the bench, he will be the one who will sub depending on the situations.

I agree that Wood has been a great piece when he's in the Rockets many years ago, and played well there, but ever since he got traded, he became a role player, and sometimes he doesn't even play. Like what you're feeling, Rui already had a terrific season since he got traded to the Lakers. Just imagine if the Lakers' roster after the all-star is what their roster is when the season started. I doubted that they will just be at the 7th spot at the end of the season. From 13th at the start, to ended the season at 7th. I will not be surprised if this current roster of the Lakers now will be a championship contender, and as for Wood, he will be the one replacing Davis if just in case he got injured, so this might be a good thing for him to showcase his skills.

I highly doubt that he would be a backup at all. AD is a natural PF, and he has talked about how much he hates playing at the Center position not because of offense, but because at Defense he has to guard really big guys and he doesn't do that well, he is a blocker, not a post-up stopper.

This means that we could see Wood and AD playing together a lot of minutes. Obviously there will be moments when one of them is playing and the other is not, I do not think that they will be benched together and put to game together at the same times, but I do believe that the minutes they spend together will be more than they spend sitting down. Lakers do not have a proper C right now and Wood could fill that role very well.

[wheelz1200]

Sad to see the United States get eliminated before even reaching the Final in the FIBA World Championships. While I don’t think these were the best players we could have sent, it seems like USA’s domination of basketball is losing its grip. They’d better send our best to win the gold at the next summer Olympic Games.

They aren't although I wish they did too.  This was definately not the best of the best by any means for the US but it was a decent group.  I don't think you will ever get a team like the 1992 dream team ever again.  Imagine going up against the likes of Jordan, burden, magic, malone, ewing, stockton, Clyde, nique etc etc.  Just insane.  Think the funniest part about that team was Christian laettner was on thar team.  Should've picked Shaq instead.

[harizen]

It's just very unfortunate that it will go down again in history as the year that the US didn't win the Gold medal.

At least, we can't compare the current one to the previous World Cup when Team USA also got eliminated where the roster is mostly NBA superstars and best-of-the-best. Since Team USA announced their projective lineup before the official FIBA World Cup this year and following their lineup on their window games, I really have thought that Team USA might not make it to the Finals and I even mentioned that before.

Let's give credit to other countries that have shown improvement in this year's Cup. It doesn't mean that "it's Team USA" they are always the team to beat. Going back to the recent game between Team USA and Team Germany, the game is intense and overall, close. That's always the type of game we want to see at the most crucial stage of this tournament.

Congrats Team Germany for finally making their first appearance in the FIBA World Cup. Dirk Nowitzki is no doubt, surely happy.