Just read this piece yesterday on the Jazz and their improvements (I was thinking they'd have a shot at surprising a lot of ppl and making the playoffs): http://basketball.realgm.com/analysis/238927/Utahs-Internal-Improvement

This the news came out this morning that Exum tore his ACL.

http://www.si.com/nba/2015/08/04/dante-exum-utah-jazz-knee-injury-australia-update

Exum was injured in an exhibition game Tuesday between Australia and Slovenia. What a shame.

Cavs Champs.

sleeper;1744438 wrote:Cavs Champs.

End thread.

Sixers = Trash.
Embiid = Darko level bust.
Kings + Karl + Cousins = Dumpster fire.
Harden finishes higher in the MVP race than Kanter.
Spurs/Thunder/Warriors/Clippers finish 4 of the top 5 teams in the NBA (Cavs the other, obviously).

No on Clippers.

tyus jones will win ROTY. /s

Azubuike24;1744449 wrote: Embiid = Oden level bust.

FIFY. Darko at least got on the court, he was just absolutely terrible.

Yeah hard to call embiid darko when all we know is embiid could have been Hakeem Olajuwon.

Darko also didn't act like a douchebag on Twitter.

lhslep134;1744468 wrote:FIFY. Darko at least got on the court, he was just absolutely terrible.

Yeah, that's a better comparison. Two guys with talent who have been destroyed by injuries; the other is a guy who never really exhibited anything resembling an NBA talent level.

I actually think the Clippers will be really good what do t you like about them COA. I like them adding Pierce

sportchampps;1744739 wrote:I actually think the Clippers will be really good what do t you like about them COA. I like them adding Pierce

I'm not a blake griffin fan. Doesn't play defense, whines about every call, just think he's overrated. CP3 is great, but seems to get injured for a month every season, also whines.

DeAndre is limited, but a force on the defensive end. Outside of that, you're relying on PP at his age to continue to be a a stud. Can he? He was tremendous in the playoffs, but its hard to bring that every night in the reg season. Outside of that, you're relying on a bunch of inconsistent players, and a lotto ticket in Lance Stephenson. Will he play defense? Will he not be the worst shooting guard in the NBA this season? He had a great season with the pacers and nothing else. Was that season the exception? I'm not sure, but I doubt he ever plays to that level again.

Essentially they have a great great player in CP3, who has yet to carry a team far into the postseason in his career. After that you an overrated 1 way player in Griffin (can he improve his defense? Yes, but hasn't done it yet. Maybe he'll be this yr's James Harden (without being an incredibly inefficient offensive player)? Then DeAndre who can't play in crunch time, an aging vet in PP, and a bunch of question marks.

They'll make the playoffs, but I bet they're bounced first round. I like the Thunder, GSW, Rockets, Grizz, Spurs more than them.

I think they will be fine come playoff time with Pierce. His minutes will be around what he played last year in Washington(26 MPG) so he should be rested over the course over the season. To get to the point where PP can play the number of minutes the team would like, they need an upgrade at the 3 ahead of him. Wesley Johnson won't do it like Barnes did for them last year. The wildcards are definitely Smith and Stephenson. CP3 may punch each of them at some point this year.

And Paul has missed 38 out of 312 games since joining the Clippers. I think he will be ok too.

For the hell of it...early prediction for the West...

1.Golden St.
2.OKC
3.San Antonio
4.Houston
5.Memphis
6.LA Clippers
7.New Orleans
8.Phoenix

If the Clippers were in the east, would you pencil them into the ECF with the Cavs?

friendfromlowry;1744868 wrote:If the Clippers were in the east, would you pencil them into the ECF with the Cavs?

I wouldn't. I like the Bulls more than the clippers. After that, I think you could make an argument they're 3rd in the East.

Agree with COA on the Clippers but last year I thought they made some strides towards being a playoff type team. I may be talking out of my ass but without thevoice there is more to go around. I like what I saw from Griffin last year and really took over some big parts of games. His defense, while lacking looked better. Paul is the one I need more from but I saw that last year as well. Jordan and Redick each improved their stature.

I was very impressed with them beating San Antonio in a series deciding game and then jumped out on Houston before turning back into what we expect in the playoffs.

I don't think they'll win it but they are a good bit more of a playoff type team now than they have been the last 5 years.

When the heck does the schedule come out? This seems like a really late release this year!

Dr. KnOiTaLL;1745363 wrote:When the heck does the schedule come out? This seems like a really late release this year!

http://www.nbaschedule2015.org/releasedate.html

Basically whenever the fuck they want to release it.

NBA schedule finally released!

Nike chooses not to match ADIDAS' $200M contract with James Harden. Harden will join the stellar group of John Wall, Derrick Rose, Damien Lilliard, and other players who will never win anything. Meanwhile, Nike still has James, Durant, Kobe, Irving, and Chris Paul.

Well done Harden.

Hard to lump Johnn Wall and Damian Lillard into that group.

At least if you're going to lump Chris Paul into the other group. He's never won anything and has had more time than the others to do so.

Durant, besides 1 Finals trip, what has he won?

Azubuike24;1745723 wrote:Hard to lump Johnn Wall and Damian Lillard into that group.

At least if you're going to lump Chris Paul into the other group. He's never won anything and has had more time than the others to do so.

Durant, besides 1 Finals trip, what has he won?

MVP, Western Conference Finals, scoring championships.

Basically Harden signed with the company that only signs overrated trash.

...and Derrick Rose won an MVP.

And I agree with you for the most part on Rose. He's got a lot to prove before I'd rank him near elite.

Chris Paul?

Azubuike24;1745727 wrote:...and Derrick Rose won an MVP.

And I agree with you for the most part on Rose. He's got a lot to prove before I'd rank him near elite.

Chris Paul?

D. Rose is arguably the worst MVP in history right ahead of AI.