NBA Thread 2026
There is defense played but not every team plays it at a high level. The analytics, especially the 3 ball now being more a bigger part of the game, have somewhat swung the idea that defense isn't played.
That's true to a certain extent. Benches get shortened quite a bit in the playoffs too though. Some teams may only play their five starters and maybe the first 2 or 3 guys off the bench and that's it.
OKC has not been able to get a stop when they've needed it in the 4th quarter.
Stays undefeated ^^^
With the Spurs and Knicks in the finals, there will be 8 different champions in the last 8 seasons.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Wemby, Castle, Harper.
Pretty good young core, huh?
Pretty good young core, huh?
Wemby, Castle, Harper.
Pretty good young core, huh?
Their top 7 in minutes played during the playoffs are 25, 21, 22, 24, 28, 19 and 26 years old.
Funny (?) note. Both Barnes and Fox went from the Kings to the Spurs in trades where the Spurs were the 3rd team in a trade between the Kings and Bulls. Barnes in the DeRozen trade and Fox in the LaVine trade.
Chet finished with only 4 points and 4 rebounds in game 7. I don't think he took a shot the entire second half. He came across as scare whenever Wemby was in front of him. Lol. With Ajay Mitchell and J-Dub out, Chet had to step up and help SGA. I think OKC will continue to contend for a championship for years to come because of the resources the team has. I think if Spurs guard Brunson well and doesn't let him do all the things that he does then Spurs will win the chip.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr and Reed Sheppard getting taken ahead of Castle in the 2024 Draft is a real mystery. Teams were scared of his jumper (which remains a limit on his efficiency), but man, he's just a different caliber than those guys.Wemby, Castle, Harper.
Pretty good young core, huh?
At one point, the Sacramento Kings had Tyrese Haliburton and De'Aaron Fox. Now, both former Kings players have reached the NBA Finals back to back. Haliburton last season and Fox this season. Oh yeah, and the head coach the Kings fired last season Mike Brown is coaching the Knicks and led them to this year Finals. Never change Sacramento. Never change. Lol.
I agree, Castle is pretty easily the best of the bunch, with the benefit of hindsight. But the thinking at the time is not a mystery. It's pretty obvious what the thinking was with each of those guys. And it wasn't a slight on Castle, who went #4.
Risaccher/Sarr - Bigs who can stretch the floor remain a much sought after commodity in the NBA. Add in the recent reputation of French prospects in NBA circles, and you can easily see the thinking here.
Sheppard - Shot over 50% from 3 on decent volume (4.4 attempts per game). In the modern NBA, that's going to get GMs salivating. Nobody wants to be the guy that missed on the next Steph Curry (who was not as accurate as Shepperd in college, though his volume was significantly higher).
Castle just fits a prototype that's more readily available in the league. We can see now that he's a particularly good example of that profile, but that wasn't apparent at the time of the draft. I don't think that was a particularly great draft and I don't think there was anyone in it that was a slam dunk. And I remember that was the popular opinion at the time as well. So if you're going to take a flyer on someone, it make sense you'd take a flyer on someone in a more sought after, less readily available prototype.
And these guys haven't exactly been bad. I'd argue they've been pretty good, or at least shown promise. FWIW, Sarr posted a better PER than Castle this season and Shepperd edged Castle in win shares. I will say I think Risaccher looks less defensible than the other two so far and I have a feeling that, particularly as the #1 pick, history will likely look on him as a bust.
The thing that always stood out regarding Castle is the motor, and the fire. That kid went at SGA with a rare ferocity. He has played even better in the playoffs than he did in the regular season.
Sheppard has definitely held up better defensively than I thought he would, but I'd argue that's easier to do when you only play about half the game. He got a chance to step up in the Lakers series, and wasn't able to meet the moment. Their entire team seemed to forget how to shoot the ball in game 6. Obviously, missing KD.
Reed was likely a better roster fit with guys like Thompson, Sengun, and Green (at he time). Those guys all attack the rim and they were in desperate need of more floor spacing.