That's what I said too. I never said Thomas would be better than Irving this year. I did think that Irving wouldn't be as good this year as Thomas was last year. I forget what measure I said to use, but even if you're being generous to me, you'll only say that they're approximately even. Isaiah had 42 and 9 per 100 possessions vs. Kyrie's 38 and 8. Kyrie's TS% was about .025 higher. Irving has been better defensively.

But yeah, I underestimated the injury. I think I left the injury caveat there somewhere (if not here, elsewhere). I wonder if the Celtics fully disclosed the injury to the Cavs.

I still think it was an overpay based on what players comparable to Irving pulled in a trade. Though, Oladipo has been so much better in Indiana than he was early in his career, so maybe those trades got more than I thought.

Since this is a post where I admit offseason mistakes, Lauri Markkanen is better than I expected. I didn't think he could be a good enough rim protector or rebounder to play center full-time. I was also skeptical of his ability to defend on the perimeter. He showed some flashes late in the year where he used his length to make off for footspeed, but I assumed that would only work against college players. It's not that he's good defensively, but he's not the disaster I thought he'd be. I still think my instincts were in the right place--if there's a comparably good wing who can shoot, take him instead because of the versatility--but that wing didn't exist except for Donovan Mitchell.

current awards coming up on the all-star break.
*no Cousins, Love, Wall, etc for these. even though Cousins played like an All-NBA player before the injury

MVP Ballot
1. Kevin Durant
2. James Harden (top 2 are basically 1A and 1B for me)
3. Stephen Curry
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo
5. LeBron James (almost Anthony Davis here)

All-NBA 1st
G James Harden
G Stephen Curry
F Kevin Durant
F Giannis Antetokounmpo
C Anthony Davis

All-NBA 2nd
G Kyrie Irving
G Jimmy Butler
F LeBron James
F Al Horford
C Joel Embiid

All-NBA 3rd
G Russell Westbrook
G DeMar DeRozan
F Paul George (yeah, i'm for real)
F LaMarcus Aldridge
C Karl-Anthony Towns
honorable mentions: Bradley Beal, Andre Drummond, Damian Lillard, Kyle Lowry, Nikola Jokic, Victor Oladipo, Chris Paul, Ben Simmons, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Lou Williams (would have Cousins in the mix as well, probably 3rd team C)

Conf Finals & Finals Predicts
W: Golden State over San Antonio
E: Boston over Cleveland
F: Golden State over Boston

DPOY: Al Horford? (idfk)... by far the hardest year for this award in a long time. nobody really stands out. Embiid is probably the next best choice.

All-Defense 1st Team
G Chris Paul
G Jimmy Butler
F Paul George
F Al Horford
C Joel Embiid

All-Defense 2nd Team
G Victor Oladipo
G Danny Green
F Giannis Antetokounmpo
F Draymond Green
C Andre Drummond
should at least shout out Gobert and Roberson here. Durant is honorable mention.

ROY: Ben Simmons

All-Rookie 1st Team
G Dennis Smith Jr
G Donovan Mitchell
F Jayson Tatum
F Ben Simmons
F Kyle Kuzma (technically 2nd team but i'm putting him up here because he fucking deserves it)
C Lauri Markkanen

All-Rookie 2nd Team
G Lonzo Ball
G Bogdan Bogdanovic
F Dillon Brooks
C John Collins

Most Improved: Spencer Dinwiddie (runner-ups: Victor Oladipo & Andre Drummond)... i never really know how to judge this
6th Man: Lou Williams (runner-up: Eric Gordon)
Coach: Gregg Popovich (runner-ups: Brad Stevens & Mike D'Antoni)

Sophomore of the Year: Malcolm Brogdon (no jk its Embiid)

All-Sophomore 1st Team
G Jamal Murray
G Malcolm Brogdon
F Jaylen Brown
F Dario Saric
C Joel Embiid

All-Sophomore 2nd Team
G Kris Dunn
G Buddy Hield
F Taurean Waller-Prince
F Brandon Ingram
C Domantas Sabonis

MVP - Harden

I have Harden #1. It's partially a legacy award, but I think he's been most deserving so far.



I think this is correct. Cousins was my first team before he got hurt, but he was neck and neck with Davis.



LeBron on the second team just sunk in. If I'm predicting, he beats out Giannis.



I haven't thought about third team. Towns is my center.



I think the DPOY will be one of four players--Embiid, Horford, George, Green. The unfortunate thing is one has to fall off the first team. I think Horford wins DPOY if the Celtics have the #1 defense at the end of the year. It's sort of like when Marc Gasol won DPOY, but I think Horford is actually the best defensive player on that team. If the Warriors tighten up, it could easily be Green. My wings are the same as yours for the first team (Paul and Butler).



Durant, Covington, and Ben Simmons are honorable mentions for me. I don't have Drummond on the second team. His defense has improved greatly from previous years when he wasn't very good, but he's still not a great rim protector. I would have Porzingis there if he was healthy and playing center. I have Hassan Whiteside here. He's first in defensive RPM, 7th in rim protection, 2nd in defensive rebounding percentage,

There's some evidence that Durant isn't really boosting the Warriors defense much--that he's simply getting blocks.



You could make the case for Kuzma over Markkanen or Smith since All Rookie is not dependent on position. There are only three truly positive-impact rookies this year (which is more than normal). That's not to say it's not a great rookie class--it obviously is--but there are three rookies who transcend rookies (Tatum, Simmons, Mitchell). And even Mitchell was allowed to just chuck earlier in the year.



Giant shrug emoji.



I view it as Breakout Player and it should be Oladipo without any question in my mind. He was lost in OKC and overrated in Orlando. He's a genuine All Star this year.



Lou.



I'm going with Stevens because of how young they are. Spo deserves a mention.

it's: who was picked up off waivers by everyone at least once in your fantasy league last year, and is now on one fantasy team throughout a whole season

gonna miss jc and nance just because they're homegrown guys but i think today's trade was pretty damn awesome for the lakers. idk what the protection on cleveland's pick is? right now it would be the 25th pick, and with how successful the lakers late round scouting/drafting has been recently- not to mention the supposed quality of the upcoming draft- shiiiiiiiiiit that has me excited.

hell it's hard to say the cavs didn't do an okay job today as well. hill, clarkson, hood and nance for rose, shump, it, wade, crowder and a late first? improved shooting, improved defense, improved energy.

am i way higher on Nance than most people? i think he's got potential to be a legit starter on a really good team. Paulie, how high is his ceiling from your perspective? I'm going solely on the handful of games over the past few seasons, so perhaps my viewpoint is still really skewed by all the highlights and stats.

i like each of the Cavs trades for all involved though, with the exception of Utah.

I think it's a win-win trade.

Clarkson is undeniably talented, definitely one of the best Lakers talent-wise overall, but never has been fully cured of Byron Scott disease (and just in general didn't buy in to the offense), and he's not playing defense on a Lakers team that actually seems to play defense once in a while this season, so his role with the team had slipped, and in fact he almost disappeared completely until Lonzo got hurt. The Cavs actually need someone who can hop into some ISOs when Lebron is off the floor, and while he's not a great three point shooter, he's good enough and will get much better looks on passes from Lebron than passes from Tyler Ennis. He also can be a good point guard, although he seems to hate t o play point guard now, but maybe being with Lebron will reinvigorate that.

Nance was the odd man out most nights between Kuzma and Randle and small ball lineups. I'm excited to see what he can do on a playoff team.

If IT sucks, he sucks, he's a free agent. If he's good, he could actually make the Laker offense work more regularly (it's been working lately but the Lakers have also been shooting way better than usual which is probably a fluke). The pick is nice. Lakers definitely need it.

I'm really high on Nance and have been for a few years (I thought he should start last year). I think he's the best player the Cavs picked up. I get that the Lakers want to give Kuzma and Ingram more space to grow (I think both will play more 4), but Nance has been the Lakers best defender (imo) and their defense has been pretty decent this year. He's a good pickup for the Cavs. I wouldn't be surprised if he takes TT's minutes by playoff time.

George Hill has not been good in Sacramento. He's not been Isaiah Thomas bad, but still not good.



I really like the draft up top. I'm not excited about the depth--at least not as much as last year. But there are always players who slip, hidden gems, and players who are just NBA coaching away from being good. Kyle Kuzma wasn't even on my radar in the draft because he was older and couldn't shoot. He grew starting in the tournament and through the offseason. I'm sure we'll see another one of those. Someone like Bruce Brown might slip since he's been so disappointing. He's just a jump shot away from being good.

first thing that comes to mind about larry is energy, hustle, and anticipation on the defensive end, tho he is prone to lapses sometimes, mostly miscommunication related, and kinda dumb fouls from over aggression and reaching. wouldn't say he's the most refined on-ball guy by any means, not a real stay in front of you type guy, but he is an ass buster for sure. solid on the roll man.

second thing that comes to mind is 0.0 spacing. he has never shown willingness or ability to shoot the three. he's always been pretty reluctant to even shoot wide open midrange shots, obvs two point jumpers aren't what an offense should be geared toward but sometimes it's the right shot to take. V frustrating.

solid pick setter, solid boxer outer, solid rim runner in transition, very much an opportunist on offense. everyone knows he can and will posterize whoever the fuck he wants, if he gets the chance. great offensive rebounder and tip out guy.

i'll be interested to see where he fits in on the cavs. i've always thought he's the type of guy that'd really benefit from playing with a better team. but he doesn't shoot, and he doesn't protect the rim, and doesn't handle switching on to guards the best. idk a lot about tristan thompson but my perception of he and nance isn't that far apart, only a lil less big ass walkin you under the rim and a lil more playin above the rim, not the roll man thompson is i don't think.

Nance isn't a rim protector, but he's better than Thompson (66.6% inside vs. 68.8% and contesting more). LeBron still protects the rim the best on the team, which is sad.

Thompson is better as a role man. I think he really struggles with catching and going up (seems to need to catch, reposition the ball to his right, pump fake, go up), but he turns it over less than Nance as a role man and scores more per play. I wonder if he would be better with LeBron feeding him. Nance is a bit better at converting putbacks--he doesn't get as many, but the conversion is good enough that he actually gives more points per 100 off offensive rebounds. And that's without LeBron taking defensive attention.

peej assuming the lakers pick stays around 9-10, who are you looking at/hoping the sixers pick?

headline on yahoo sports NBA page right now is "Just like that, the Cavs are East favorites again: In its first game with its four new additions, Cleveland dominated the Celtics in Boston and re-established itself as the team to beat in the conference."

I'm not reading the article on principle- although i'm sure its more nuanced than the title (and may even mock its own premise by reminding us that its just one game). but even if it is, that isn't reflected in the headline and so fuck this shit. i hate sports journalism sometimes.

Whichever of the Bridges is still on the board.

This is kind of an amazing little detail about the Rockets offense, and how its actually designed to have way less movement than pretty much every other offense in the league, and instead focused on maximizing spacing:

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/2/13 ... -explained

Nothing more than I hate when playing pickup ball when I'm playing with a guy who I know likes to drive and who knows that I can shoot and where I'm at on the floor, and then some other goober comes along and tells me to start running all over the place for no reason and cutting across driving lanes for the guy with the ball. Seriously, stop trying to set a screen for me when I'm clearly trying to do an entry pass to the post. Stop cutting into an area that has 2 other guys on your team in it. Stop running out of an open jump shot to cut across the floor to no where. Moving isn't always good!