The NBA Offseason is coming to a close and the state of the league has been turned upside down and shaken to it's very core. Over 200 players have swapped in their jerseys for new ones and changed teams (I found information that 230~ players had changed teams by July 20th) and many star players are among those in new cities. The NBA is more wide open than it has been in several years and many teams have realistic championship aspirations (especially with possible injury concerns to either LeBron/AD or PG13/Kawhi).

Tomorrow night is OPENING NIGHT on TNT!

Pelicans @ Raptors at 8PM EST

and then

Lakers @ Clippers at 10:30PM EST




Let's take a look at the new landscape of the NBA:

The Los Angeles Lakers



They traded most of their "talented" youth (retaining only Kyle KUUUZMA) and several draft picks to acquire Anthony Davis.

Trade Recap Summary:

Basketball will never be easier for LeBron and AD as they will be able to play off of each other and wreak havoc on the league. The team loaded up the roster around James and Davis, with holdovers such as Kyle Kuzma and Alex Caruso joined by Troy Daniels, Jared Dudley and Avery Bradley. Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope all return as well. Although I should note that there is some risk for the Lakers as AD *could* leave in 2020 Offseason by opting out and becoming a free agent if the Lakers don't perform to his liking.

Vegas Insider has the Lakers as 4/1 to win the title.

The Los Angeles Clippers



The Clippers signed Kawhi Leonard but had to acquire Paul George via trade to convince Kawhi to sign on the dotted line. Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer didn't want to trade that many draft picks for Paul George but acquiesced when Doc Rivers explained to him he wasn't trading all those draft picks for only PG13 but for *both* PG13 AND Kawhi.

Trade Recap Summary:

The Clippers are the Vegas title favorites at 7/2 and it's hard to argue with that. Great wing/s win your NBA championships and the Clippers have arguably the best wing in the league with Kawhi along with a top wing in PG13. They boast the current sixth man of the year "Sweet" Lou Williams who eviscerates defenses with his offensive skills and another sixth man beast in Montrezl Harrel who brings instant energy, great defensive ability, and elite big man offensive efficiency. Throw in the elite defensive ability of Patrick Beverley and likely growth of Landry Shamet (who will be starting PG and main distributor last I heard) and you have a team that is built to win it all.

The Milwaukee Bucks



They boast the reigning MVP with the Greek Freak and are poised to make a deep run and potentially win it all. Giannis has been training non-stop, plugging holes in his game, and getting stronger with assistant coach Ben Sullivan. Their collective goal is to turn Giannis into an unstoppable force.
Article on the Giannis training:
https://www.nba.com/article/2019/10/...annis-trainer*

The Bucks retained Brook Lopez to man the middle and be the elite outside sharpshooter he's turned himself into and picked up Kyle Korver to be a deep threat as well. Korver is giving Giannis tips on shooting so watch out NBA!

Vegas Insider has the Bucks at 6/1 to win it all.

The Philadelphia 76ers



The 76ers are going to play the biggest starting lineup in NBA history. They let JIMMY walk despite Embiid being a big fan of his and added Al Horford who will be used to likely provide load management for Embiid during the regular season. They also acquired Josh Richardson in the trade that sent Jimmy Butler to the Heat. He should provide defense and three point shooting (career 36.8% from 3) for the 76ers to round up this dangerous lineup. There's also the growing shooting ability of Ben Simmons to look forward to for 76ers fans!
Here's a video of the 3 point shot heard (practically) around the world!


These Sixers are 8/1 to win it all on Vegas Insider.

The Houston Rockets



The Rockets traded CP3 for Mr. Triple Double, Russell Westbrook. CP3 was likely having a feud with James Harden and probably malcontent in general so Morey shipped him off to the land of Former Sonics in Oklahoma. Funny enough Westbrook was the last player from the move to Seattle to Oklahoma City.

Trade Recap Summary:

Mike D'Antoni said he will look to stagger Harden/Westbrook in lineups to have a primary ball handler on the court as much as possible. That's probably a great idea as current NBA rules stipulate that you can only play with *one* basketball at a time. Most NBA pundits and talking heads think the Rockets ceiling is the WCF at best so it'll be interesting if the Rockets can make all those prognosticators look foolish! Personally I expect Westbrook and Harden to have a lot of fun and make it work in Houston, as long as they are winning, which I think they should.

Vegas Insider has the Rockets at 8/1 to win it all.

The Golden State Warriors



Kevin Durant left, Klay Thompson is likely out until at least March, and D'Angelo Russell has landed in Golden State in the trade with the Nets for them to acquire Durant. Steph Curry in a larger offensive role should be flame throwing NBA Jam style (HE'S ON FIRE!) and Draymond Green should be happier with a larger role in the offense. The main question for the Warriors is how do they integrate D'Angelo to fit him in long term, or look to trade him instead. IF Klay is back competing by March and near 100% by April then I guarantee you that no Western team would want to be facing these Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.

Vegas Insider has the Warriors at 12/1 to win it all.

The Denver Nuggets



The Nuggets are retaining the most players that gave them minutes last season compared to the rest of the NBA teams. Continuity has a major impact on internal growth, which Seadood (our resident NBA SUPERFAN) and the rest of the Nuggets fans are hoping for. They earned some definite playoff experience and experienced the bitter taste of a close defeat when the Blazers eliminated them in 7 grueling games. Something to look forward to despite Jokic and Murray reaching new heights in ability is last year's draft pick, Michael Porter Jr., and how much of an impact he will have. Let's not forget he was the #1 prospect heading into college before suffering a back injury in the opening two minutes of his college basketball season which caused him to slide down to the Nuggets at #14! At the time of the draft multiple Knicks fans were interviewed when the Knicks passed on MP Jr. at #9 and one fan was so depressed/irate that he said he couldn't root for the Knicks anymore because they passed on MP Jr. There's also the 2nd round pick (steal of the draft imo) of Bol Bol that can look to possibly contribute meaningfully right away. Jokic along with a rock solid foundation as a team overall will make the transition for these rookies into the NBA a smooth one.

Vegas Insider has the Nuggets at 16/1 to win it all.

The Utah Jazz



Last but certainly not least (The Utah Jazz are a significant dark horse to win it all, as they have their best team since the Stockton and Malone days) I present to you the Utah Jazz:
They traded for Mike Conley to maximize their current window as Donovan Mitchell is still on a rookie contract and signed sneaky good Bojan Bogdanovic to be a stretch 4. Rounding out the line up with Joe "Elite Old Man Game" Ingles and Rudy "I'm useful versus everyone except the Houston Rockets" Gobert and they certainly have a fearsome starting lineup. They could pwn the regular season and possibly even finish with the top record in the West (their o/u is at 53.5), securing home court which could prove vitally important in the playoffs. I'm most eager to see this team in action as Donovan Mitchell's basketball life will be made much easier with Mike Conley as the main point guard and Bogdanovic (who shot 42.5% from 3 in 18-19) will provide the necessary spacing for his driving lanes.

Vegas Insider has the Jazz at 16/1 to win it all

The Brooklyn Nets



Everybody knows Durant shouldn't have played in the Finals. But that's what players do, they compete, they play. The Knicks may have never been in contention for Durant but James Dolan refused to even offer a max contract to Durant. I mean if that isn't proof enough he should be forced to sell the team, then I don't know what is. I digress though, the Nets landed both Kyrie and Durant, with both of them saying they're best friends. Kyrie has said he wants Durant, no questions asked, to sit the entire 19-20 season. So the Nets expectations for this upcoming season have been tempered. They have Spencer Dinwiddie (who besides having an interesting name is actually a pretty good sixth man) and Caris LeVert locked into deals. They were able to sign LeVert to a team friendly 3 year $52.5 million deal. Throw in the sharp shooting Joe Harris (47.4% from 3 in 18-19) and they have a team that can possibly compete for 4th in the East. The main question here is what will happen in 20-21? Will Durant be able to be 100% of his previous self? 90%? 80%? Even if he's never the same he will still be able to adjust his game and play more Dirk-like as he's obviously tall and long enough to shoot over most anyone who guards him.

**** BREAKING NBA NEWS ****
The Pelicans have announced today that Zion Williamson is out indefinitely after surgery to repair a torn lateral meniscus. Zion will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks. The Pelicans should look long term here and rest Zion as long as possible and hopefully be able to get him from what I surmise his weight to be at 290+ down to at most 275. They should not be looking to win the 8th seed just so they can get bounced in the first round of the playoffs and make their owner a few more million. Zion is their everything, their future, and should be protected at all costs.*

Random AiMc thoughts on the NBA Season:

The returning champions (It feels really weird to type that as Kawhi is now a Clipper) Toronto Raptors are an interesting case. First off let me say congratulations to old school TZer kbfc for the Toronto Raptors championship! They could go for a fire sale of Lowry, Ibaka, and Gasol if they start out something like 15W-20L. However I don't think that will be the case. I believe Pascal Siakam will be out to prove that he is an all-star level player and the team will rally around him. Earning the 4th seed is definitely not out of question.

The Knicks are going to suck. Like really really suck. Their o/u is 26.5 or 27.5. I can see them easily being under 20 wins. They cornered the market on MEDIOCRE POWER FORWARDS FFS. They're not even trying to compete and the one player who should be getting serious playing time, Frank Ntilikina, will be likely the 3rd PG on the depth chart going into the season behind Dennis Smith Jr. and Elfrid "My hair blocks my own shot" Payton. The French Prince really showed something this Summer in international play and deserves minutes. My guess is the Knicks **** it up and trade him for next to nothing. /rant

The Dallas Mavericks are my super dark horse to do something concrete this year. Porzingis at his best is in the MVP discussion and he will be fed properly the first time in his career by Luka Doncic, who has "real life playoff experience" from leading his Euro team to a title. Carlisle is a great coach who will maximize what he can get from the roster. Seth Curry is an elite sharpshooter and is very underrated as a defender (he did a pretty damn good job on his brother in the playoffs). Plus Delon Wright will be checking the other team's point guard every night so Luka can save his energy for offense. I have them making the playoffs in the tough as nails West. Vegas Insider lists them as 100/1 to Title, and in a world where one of LeBron/AD and Kawhi/PG13 could be hurt by playoff time, maybe the Mavs at those odds are a bit +EV. #HotTake

For the love of all things basketball holy PLEASE FREE KEVIN LOVE. I know I know, he said he wants to be there in Cleveland, that's because he's a great guy and he's supposed to say that. Seriously let's get him to Portland who need to make a move anyway to get to the next level.

I'm a bit bearish on The Celtics prospects this season. Both their PG Kemba Walker and their Center Enes Kanter don't play any defense. They have 3 guys who's best position is SF (Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, and Jayson Tatum) so there's a bit of a log jam at the wing and maybe not enough perimeter minutes when you throw Marcus Smart into the equation. It would make some definite sense to trade Hayward (how about +assets for KLove who can share time at the 4 and the 5) but Brad Stevens recruited him and it would be a bad look for the franchise to part ways with Hayward after he broke his leg. Also, WTF was up with the 4 year $115 million extension that Jaylen Brown got today? Talk about bidding against yourself when you have all the leverage. Anyway, I don't see the Celtics competing for the 4th or even the 5th seed in the East. Tacko Fall is awesome though, at least they have him developing and hopefully he will be a main stay of their roster going forward.

Here is a link to Zach Lowe's Wild NBA Predictions for 19-20 Season:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...es-watch-for**

Finally my prediction for the title: Dwight Howard looks to be fitting in and the Lakers (barring health naturally) will be able to 1. Play bully ball with AD at PF and Dwight at Center or 2. Play small with AD at Center with great results on most nights. The Lakers will make the Finals as AD will beast vs. the Clippers in the Playoffs. In the East, I have the Sixers with their huge lineup doing amazingly well making the Finals. Embiid will be improved and rested after load management in the regular season (Thank you Al Horford!) and it will be a bit of an old school battle of bigs in the Finals.

Lakers in 7.

and now I say to all of you excellent TZers:

LETTUCE NBA!

first

That CANZ game should get FLEX’d out.

and great job. and im feeling the lakers too. hate em, but for one year, lebron looks strong af, dwight looks strong af too. AD rested a year. it's all about health. i see them peaking in a month. wearing down. resting. and making a run. LAC only team with something to say about that. Both beat anything out of the East.

As for my C's. I am also down on them. but I like Jaylen is locked up. Tatum next. Build around them.

Kyrie is a cancer. The jig is up. Gimp KD isnt prime Lebron. Cant carry him.

In for the lettuce!

I think this is the rockets year. Now that CP3 is gone I wouldn't mind seeing them win.

+1

The whole world wanted to see Zion and now WTF are we supposed to get excited about?

Pascal Siakam vs. Brandon "Sucker Punch" Ingram???

Thank you anatta.

I know if my OP got the approval of your diamond sharp wisdom then I know I truly did a great job.

I could totally sign off on Westbrook getting a ring, and D'Antoni too.

Plus proving all those ESPN/etc. talking heads wrong would be a lot of fun.

Although their owner sucks, but I can relate to that, so :shrug:

Zion may turn out to be the biggest waste of talent we've ever seen if he doesn't take care of his eating issues.

jaylen is very unlikely to ever be worth that much.

but i wonder if some of this has to do with them expecting to be over the cap anyway once they sign tatum, and wanting another young player locked up next to him.

also wonder if there were concerns tatum would be unhappy if they played hardball with brown.

Here for the FRANK.

And RIP Zion, props to Doogie Howser

brown is a thoughtful young man. Played great in playoffs 2 years ago. Enter Kyrie, Brad jerking with him over this psycho, Jaylen's mind got in his way. Then he stepped it up when he got used to it, said f it. Now Kyrie is gone. He has been working hard on his game. He is today worth 100 million dollars. he is a C. Flame on. it'll be Jaylen's world out there quite often.

Tatum too. His mind, this is a zen master. Keep these 2 together. Give them a big. Hayward for Adams.

Great OP. I hope this season lives up to the hype. Go Mavs, Utah, Philly, and Denver.

The Jaylen contract will only bring the team closer. Kemba is already Kiwanis man of the year and he is paid. Marcus Smart is paid. Jaylen now paid. Gordon already been paid and has something to prove. Tatum knows he is better than these guys, they will fit him in the cap too if he puts up numbers. the guys locked down know this, Tatum will get his, so the gang can stay together. everybody is rowing in the same direction for big green.

anyone got a solid list of best nba podcasts?

basically just been listening to ringer stuff, lowe post, duncd, woj

havent checked out knuckleheads yet and didnt like gilbers arenas'

I feel like Locked On NBA works for me. I usually don't have time for it, but it's what I listen to after exhausting the stuff you listed plus some team-specific podcasts.

I am ready for hoops to be back.

Have: Knicks under 27.5 cause LOL, Pistons over 38 cause Blake is great and East, Bulls under 33.5 cause Boylen, Suns under 30 Ayton at PF and booker no d, Wizards under 27.5, Warriors under 48, Grizzlies under 27 tank to keep pick and west, and 76ers -240 to win their division.

Rooting for Wiggins and Teague for CP3 trade.

I feel better about Brown on his contract than I do about Hield's extension.

Their experience with Kyrie has seemingly made them go all-out the other direction in prioritizing team chemistry. This contract feels like a statement that Terry Rozier really affected the team and they want to avoid going through that again. They are treating last season as a fluke and going from there. If you completely throw out the first half of last season, which had a combination of injuries for him and general team weirdness, you have some basis for believing he showed some improvement once he was healthier and got play more minutes without Kyrie.

I have a feeling like Brown will be at least Otto Porter-level good, which I don't think is enough to justify that contract, but he has the potential to be much better.

me too

NBA wooooo!

Like: IND, GSW, DEN, DAL, SAC

Dislike: HOU, LAL, PHI, UTA, BOS

LAC over MIL

Giannis MVP

Yuck. Hield > ignoring contracts. For 20m less it's not even close

...not really much difference over 4 years. 94 mil for Buddy. he is nails from 3. give him that. always, even from college. first time i saw him...that is the smoothest shot i have ever seen. that is butter.

There's so many different and interesting story lines... this season is EVERYTHING!

upside for brown though. he beasts out and become kawhi light. buddy has good size, legit 6'4'' in offical nba measurments. and all universe three. but look at jaylen 6′ 7″ 220...to the rack and see him at 26.

buddy contract: Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN noted the bonuses are "exceedingly reachable" to get the deal to $94 million, but that it's a "tougher climb" to $106 million.