2024 NBA Season

[OgNasty]

I don’t know who at ESPN is doing their NBA rankings and predictions but I wish I could bet against them. After the horrible take on the Bucks upcoming season, they’re now saying that Zion Williamson is the 57th best player in the NBA. I could maybe see calling him the 20th, but 57th? If he plays in even 50 games this year he’ll likely be an MVP candidate…

[1715204427]

1715204427

[1715204427]

1715204427

[1715204427]

1715204427

[1715204427]

1715204427

[1715204427]

1715204427

[1715204427]

1715204427

[inthelongrun]

I don’t know who at ESPN is doing their NBA rankings and predictions but I wish I could bet against them. After the horrible take on the Bucks upcoming season, they’re now saying that Zion Williamson is the 57th best player in the NBA. I could maybe see calling him the 20th, but 57th? If he plays in even 50 games this year he’ll likely be an MVP candidate…

It is becoming really weird indeed. I don't even think it is that hard to analyze that the Bucks are getting more than 48 wins next season. If they were able to win 58 last season then it is expected that they will perform better this season. Jrue is a great player with a good defense but overall, Dame is much better than him, especially on the offensive side.

If my memory serves me right, Zion when he played many games in a previous season became an early candidate for MVP. I think it was the time when they moved up to #1 or #2 in the West. So it is laughable to call him 50sh among the best.

[LogitechMouse]

I don’t know who at ESPN is doing their NBA rankings and predictions but I wish I could bet against them. After the horrible take on the Bucks upcoming season, they’re now saying that Zion Williamson is the 57th best player in the NBA. I could maybe see calling him the 20th, but 57th? If he plays in even 50 games this year he’ll likely be an MVP candidate…

There's a big "IF" on your statement, and yes I agree on that.
I still remember the time when I said that the Pelicans are the "Dark Horse" of the whole league last season. The team where no one would expect them to be at the top, and sure enough, they're at the top at some point, and even got the top spot in the West... until Zion got injured, and they've became an average team. Slowly went out in the standings, and ended up losing in the play-in tournament.

This just shows how impactful Zion is with the team. He could be at the top 10 TBH "IF" he's healthy enough to help the team. His health has been the big concern since he came into the league, and him being ranked at the 57th seems just fine for me. Of course that'll change depending on his performance this season. If he stays healthy all throughout the season, he will be a top 10 player, and a potential MVP candidate.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

I don’t know who at ESPN is doing their NBA rankings and predictions but I wish I could bet against them. After the horrible take on the Bucks upcoming season, they’re now saying that Zion Williamson is the 57th best player in the NBA. I could maybe see calling him the 20th, but 57th? If he plays in even 50 games this year he’ll likely be an MVP candidate…

There's a big "IF" on your statement, and yes I agree on that.
I still remember the time when I said that the Pelicans are the "Dark Horse" of the whole league last season. The team where no one would expect them to be at the top, and sure enough, they're at the top at some point, and even got the top spot in the West... until Zion got injured, and they've became an average team. Slowly went out in the standings, and ended up losing in the play-in tournament.

This just shows how impactful Zion is with the team. He could be at the top 10 TBH "IF" he's healthy enough to help the team. His health has been the big concern since he came into the league, and him being ranked at the 57th seems just fine for me. Of course that'll change depending on his performance this season. If he stays healthy all throughout the season, he will be a top 10 player, and a potential MVP candidate.

Well, IF he is healthy is is an easy top 20 player, or even better.
But with the history of him being out with injuries year after year I can understand what ESPN's pessimism is coming from, I would see it similar, just not as high as 57.

By the way, Real Madrid putting a good game up so far against the Mavericks. We might see another win of a European teams vs the NBA today.
Very disappointing though that Madrid's fans to get to see Kyrie or Luka.   

[yahoo62278]

I don’t know who at ESPN is doing their NBA rankings and predictions but I wish I could bet against them. After the horrible take on the Bucks upcoming season, they’re now saying that Zion Williamson is the 57th best player in the NBA. I could maybe see calling him the 20th, but 57th? If he plays in even 50 games this year he’ll likely be an MVP candidate…

If he would stay healthy I could see him being top 20, but the fact that he can't play a full season without being injured would have him ranked 200th IMO. If he won't condition himself to play the whole season, he's worthless. He's only good for letting his team down.

[wheelz1200]

I don’t know who at ESPN is doing their NBA rankings and predictions but I wish I could bet against them. After the horrible take on the Bucks upcoming season, they’re now saying that Zion Williamson is the 57th best player in the NBA. I could maybe see calling him the 20th, but 57th? If he plays in even 50 games this year he’ll likely be an MVP candidate…

That's one of those things where I guess they are taking playing time into consideration.  It's tough to say how to peg him.  When in yeah he is almost top 10 in the league but how do you rank him over another all star player or all nba player who actually helps their team win.  I'd be interested in seeing who in the 50s is right ahead of him.

[Oasisman]

I don’t know who at ESPN is doing their NBA rankings and predictions but I wish I could bet against them. After the horrible take on the Bucks upcoming season, they’re now saying that Zion Williamson is the 57th best player in the NBA. I could maybe see calling him the 20th, but 57th? If he plays in even 50 games this year he’ll likely be an MVP candidate…

If he would stay healthy I could see him being top 20, but the fact that he can't play a full season without being injured would have him ranked 200th IMO. If he won't condition himself to play the whole season, he's worthless. He's only good for letting his team down.

Exactly 100%!
Durability is everything and one of the most important ability a player must possess. We've seen a lot of young and talented players who ended up their career in just 2-5 years because they are devastated with a frequent injury. Talents and skills are useless if you can't even play.
I remembered Greg Oden and Brandon Roy in this case, they could've won a ring in Portland if they stayed healthy.
Now, for Zion's case I'm not sure how severe his injury is but it's most likely one major injury will end his career due to the frequency of his injuries.

[Volgastallion]

Durability in every sport is very important, but in NBA its more because the NBA schedule is devastating, you play so often , so if you dont have good resist to injury you are out of this game.

About Zion.... i see in him a lot of good things but come on, he cant be 57º player. WHO is above him? surely is playing less than him.

[danherbias07]

That Chet and Victor showdown. Honestly, it's like that I've just watched two thin tall guys which is the actuality of it. Well, they're still young and there will be more muscle build up in the coming months for sure. I don't care about the result of their match as that was just a preseason game.
While Victor was able to play just after being draft, Chet took a year for him to start playing because he got injured last season even before the start of it.

True. Remember how thin Steph Curry was when he started in the NBA? Now look at him all buffed up and he started bumping players to get a foul unlike before where he was trying to avoid them all. 
These two guys might have the same physical attributes in 5 to 10 years just like Steph but if they like it to stay that way then I think it's okay. Kevin Durant didn't try to buff and yet he is one of the known assassins in the league. Getting buffed could change the shooting style or percentage so that's why not everyone does like to have that big body.
Let's hope that the injury that happened to Chet will not come back in the future. I love their duo of giants, Giddey and Chet. Giddey is an unselfish player so he will always try to find Chet if he will be open just like what he did yesterday. He might also complete his triple-doubles now that he has somewhere else to pass the ball.

[batang_bitcoin]

That Chet and Victor showdown. Honestly, it's like that I've just watched two thin tall guys which is the actuality of it. Well, they're still young and there will be more muscle build up in the coming months for sure. I don't care about the result of their match as that was just a preseason game.
While Victor was able to play just after being draft, Chet took a year for him to start playing because he got injured last season even before the start of it.

That highlight of Victor flexing on Chet went viral on the internet last night. It even got a Twitter response from Chet who called Victor’s unstoppable move the head butt. His post had something like 50,000+ likes last time I saw it and I think he was right on. The league looks ready to give Victor the superstar treatment and let him get away with fouls.

Yeah, it has blown away the fans with their matches because it's like the most awaited comparison for these two skinny tall boys. It's getting more exciting because with their current body, it seems that they're good to move and they're like free on it.
But it's gonna be more when they have a better body mass and their trainer and whoever is their dietician should give some boost to their physical attribute to make them more appealing. Although these two got good shooting too.

[xLays]

I don’t know who at ESPN is doing their NBA rankings and predictions but I wish I could bet against them. After the horrible take on the Bucks upcoming season, they’re now saying that Zion Williamson is the 57th best player in the NBA. I could maybe see calling him the 20th, but 57th? If he plays in even 50 games this year he’ll likely be an MVP candidate…

I don't agree with the idea that Zion Williamson should be ranked higher like 20th. That 57th place is reasonable. The ESPN rankings might be considering on different factors such as player limited experience and injury history might explain his current ranking. Let's see how his career develops over time. We haven't seen him play like Anthony Davis, who was recognized in the top 20 last year.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38549013/nbarank-2023-best-players-2023-24-100-51

[Reid]

I don’t know who at ESPN is doing their NBA rankings and predictions but I wish I could bet against them. After the horrible take on the Bucks upcoming season, they’re now saying that Zion Williamson is the 57th best player in the NBA. I could maybe see calling him the 20th, but 57th? If he plays in even 50 games this year he’ll likely be an MVP candidate…

If he would stay healthy I could see him being top 20, but the fact that he can't play a full season without being injured would have him ranked 200th IMO. If he won't condition himself to play the whole season, he's worthless. He's only good for letting his team down.

Let's wish he will be better this season. I saw how the New Orleans Pelicans are playing with full of energy whenever he is around "playing" not sitting and I think they are strong enough to compete in the playoffs with BI and CJ. I am one of the guys that is hyped when they tried their best to be part of the play in tournament unlike the Dallas Mavericks who gave it up early just to have a better pick at the draft.
This season should be their time to shine. It doesn't need to be in the Finals but if they get as near as it then it makes the NBA more entertaining and then Zion will get his reputation back to trend again.

[stadus]

I don’t know who at ESPN is doing their NBA rankings and predictions but I wish I could bet against them. After the horrible take on the Bucks upcoming season, they’re now saying that Zion Williamson is the 57th best player in the NBA. I could maybe see calling him the 20th, but 57th? If he plays in even 50 games this year he’ll likely be an MVP candidate…

If he would stay healthy I could see him being top 20, but the fact that he can't play a full season without being injured would have him ranked 200th IMO. If he won't condition himself to play the whole season, he's worthless. He's only good for letting his team down.

I wouldn't even place him among the best, especially considering that he's not even competing in the playoffs. This fact alone essentially invalidates any such ranking. It's not his fault, of course, as he certainly wouldn't wish for an injury, but let's face reality - in the world of professional sports, your ranking tends to improve significantly if you make substantial contributions on the field.

I'm a bit puzzled as to why this conversation even came about. Personally, I believe our best course of action is to simply wish him good luck and hope that he can make a valuable contribution to the team. This way, we can assess his effectiveness in the playoffs.

[Dave1]

I don’t know who at ESPN is doing their NBA rankings and predictions but I wish I could bet against them. After the horrible take on the Bucks upcoming season, they’re now saying that Zion Williamson is the 57th best player in the NBA. I could maybe see calling him the 20th, but 57th? If he plays in even 50 games this year he’ll likely be an MVP candidate…

I don't agree with the idea that Zion Williamson should be ranked higher like 20th. That 57th place is reasonable. The ESPN rankings might be considering on different factors such as player limited experience and injury history might explain his current ranking. Let's see how his career develops over time. We haven't seen him play like Anthony Davis, who was recognized in the top 20 last year.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38549013/nbarank-2023-best-players-2023-24-100-51

I usually don't trust ESPN rankings though, in the years before they seems to be biased with other players. Zion is overrated as we have seen already. And then with his history of injuries, I doubt that he can even be in the same breath as other great players in the past.

If he can bring his team to the finals then maybe I will change my stance. But his name even floats on the trading block this year. So I wouldn't be surprised if he will be traded if he can't play 100% healthy this season.

[yahoo62278]

I don’t know who at ESPN is doing their NBA rankings and predictions but I wish I could bet against them. After the horrible take on the Bucks upcoming season, they’re now saying that Zion Williamson is the 57th best player in the NBA. I could maybe see calling him the 20th, but 57th? If he plays in even 50 games this year he’ll likely be an MVP candidate…

If he would stay healthy I could see him being top 20, but the fact that he can't play a full season without being injured would have him ranked 200th IMO. If he won't condition himself to play the whole season, he's worthless. He's only good for letting his team down.

I wouldn't even place him among the best, especially considering that he's not even competing in the playoffs. This fact alone essentially invalidates any such ranking. It's not his fault, of course, as he certainly wouldn't wish for an injury, but let's face reality - in the world of professional sports, your ranking tends to improve significantly if you make substantial contributions on the field.

I'm a bit puzzled as to why this conversation even came about. Personally, I believe our best course of action is to simply wish him good luck and hope that he can make a valuable contribution to the team. This way, we can assess his effectiveness in the playoffs.

I disagree that it isn't his fault. If he was constantly working to keep his body conditioned and in shape, he wouldn't always start the season overweight. All the added weight wears and tears on his joints and muscles leading to injury.

The guy is only worried about getting paid and getting laid.

[stadus]

I don’t know who at ESPN is doing their NBA rankings and predictions but I wish I could bet against them. After the horrible take on the Bucks upcoming season, they’re now saying that Zion Williamson is the 57th best player in the NBA. I could maybe see calling him the 20th, but 57th? If he plays in even 50 games this year he’ll likely be an MVP candidate…

If he would stay healthy I could see him being top 20, but the fact that he can't play a full season without being injured would have him ranked 200th IMO. If he won't condition himself to play the whole season, he's worthless. He's only good for letting his team down.

I wouldn't even place him among the best, especially considering that he's not even competing in the playoffs. This fact alone essentially invalidates any such ranking. It's not his fault, of course, as he certainly wouldn't wish for an injury, but let's face reality - in the world of professional sports, your ranking tends to improve significantly if you make substantial contributions on the field.

I'm a bit puzzled as to why this conversation even came about. Personally, I believe our best course of action is to simply wish him good luck and hope that he can make a valuable contribution to the team. This way, we can assess his effectiveness in the playoffs.

I disagree that it isn't his fault. If he was constantly working to keep his body conditioned and in shape, he wouldn't always start the season overweight. All the added weight wears and tears on his joints and muscles leading to injury.

The guy is only worried about getting paid and getting laid.

His usual physique, which set him apart, was a major reason he became the top draft pick. I think players of his caliber, who used to dominate, must be really frustrated with injuries. It seems like he's actively working on fixing that 'injury-prone' label, especially given a recent photo that shows significant changes in his body – maybe that's the solution they've come up with.

But overall, I can't help but think he had a run of bad luck during the season when he got injured. As far as I remember, he didn't face such issues back in his NCAA days. There's definitely a big difference between NCAA and the NBA, and adjusting to that transition isn't an overnight thing.

https://www.marca.com/en/basketball/nba/new-orleans-pelicans/2023/08/19/64e0289c46163f6a058b4598.html

[carlisle1]

I don’t know who at ESPN is doing their NBA rankings and predictions but I wish I could bet against them. After the horrible take on the Bucks upcoming season, they’re now saying that Zion Williamson is the 57th best player in the NBA. I could maybe see calling him the 20th, but 57th? If he plays in even 50 games this year he’ll likely be an MVP candidate…

If he would stay healthy I could see him being top 20, but the fact that he can't play a full season without being injured would have him ranked 200th IMO. If he won't condition himself to play the whole season, he's worthless. He's only good for letting his team down.

Let's wish he will be better this season. I saw how the New Orleans Pelicans are playing with full of energy whenever he is around "playing" not sitting and I think they are strong enough to compete in the playoffs with BI and CJ. I am one of the guys that is hyped when they tried their best to be part of the play in tournament unlike the Dallas Mavericks who gave it up early just to have a better pick at the draft.
This season should be their time to shine. It doesn't need to be in the Finals but if they get as near as it then it makes the NBA more entertaining and then Zion will get his reputation back to trend again.

Playing healthy, I can agree to that, with Zion and CJ plus everyone on the rotation, they can really compete and bring hard time to anyone.

I think if Zion will be playing more games this season with less or no injury they can push to the playoff and make the team to be more competitive,
Both Zion and CJ can produce decent numbers and, with a good chemistry, they might carry the entire squad to move to the next round.

Too early though, as we needed to see first whether Zion will be on his full potential in this season or just like the other season he will
be bench because of his injury.

[Kelvinid]

Playing healthy, I can agree to that, with Zion and CJ plus everyone on the rotation, they can really compete and bring hard time to anyone.

I think if Zion will be playing more games this season with less or no injury they can push to the playoff and make the team to be more competitive,
Both Zion and CJ can produce decent numbers and, with a good chemistry, they might carry the entire squad to move to the next round.

Too early though, as we needed to see first whether Zion will be on his full potential in this season or just like the other season he will
be bench because of his injury.

There's no question that they'll secure a spot in the playoffs if Zion remains healthy. They've proven their ability to do so in the past, and I'm confident they can repeat that success. It's not just CJ; Brandon Ingram has been the most reliable go-to player on the team when Zion is sidelined, and he certainly deserves credit. However, the team faces challenges without Zion, as they miss a player who can dominate in the paint. It's evident how unpredictable they become when Zion is on the court. The roster is solid, but when one key player is sidelined due to an unexpected injury, it affects the team's confidence as a whole.

[danherbias07]

It's rare to see close games in the preseason and yet today was filled with it.

Clippers vs. Jazz - 103 - 98 - played in Seattle - the SuperSonics home. We might see that team brought back to life someday in the future.
Suns vs. Nuggets - 107 - 115
Grizzlies vs. Bucks - 108 - 102
Heat vs. Hornet - 113 - 109

I was entertained to watch the second team playing well. Utah Jazz Talen Horton-Tucker is really getting his rhythm who just made a highlight today doing a 180 lay-up and scoring the basket plus and 1.
He is continuing what he left at the end of the 2023 Season scoring phenomenal stats and now showing it again. Utah Jazz should start thinking about partnering him with Jordan Clarkson.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

It's rare to see close games in the preseason and yet today was filled with it.

Clippers vs. Jazz - 103 - 98 - played in Seattle - the SuperSonics home. We might see that team brought back to life someday in the future.
Suns vs. Nuggets - 107 - 115
Grizzlies vs. Bucks - 108 - 102
Heat vs. Hornet - 113 - 109

I was entertained to watch the second team playing well. Utah Jazz Talen Horton-Tucker is really getting his rhythm who just made a highlight today doing a 180 lay-up and scoring the basket plus and 1.
He is continuing what he left at the end of the 2023 Season scoring phenomenal stats and now showing it again. Utah Jazz should start thinking about partnering him with Jordan Clarkson.

Don't forget Madrid vs Dallas, really close game and Madrid with the nice win.
Without Luka and Kyrie of course it's not an easy take for the Mavs, but glad the people in Madrid were able to see a close game with their home team ending up winning.

I just checked and now the total score is 161 wins for NBA teams in international competition, in 180 games. Actually I am surprised because I thought there would have been less wins for the non NBA teams.
By the way, there was only 1 win of a non European team, the Adelaide 36ers beat the Phoenix Suns 134–124 last year.