Annnnnd Magic Johnson just decided to quit today, I guess.

He said in the impromptu press conference that he hadn't even told the owner about it beforehand. Bro... I guess you just were that clueless the whole time huh?

The whole press conference has to be a goldmine for memes: here is 1 clip:

https://streamable.com/ev5wr

is it next season already.... ?https://i.imgur.com/cAHknpt.png

I think he’s fine having done time off.

https://boxden.com/smilies/d7vwXpR.png better be practicing with the team if they want to win next season lol

I’m not seeing a path to another ring for LBJ

Lakers need to land 1 or 2 more stars in Free Agency. It could take until Anthony Davis this Summer. But I have no faith in Pelinka to make smart roster decisions. IE: Trading 19yo 7ft Ivica Zubac for the corpse of Mike Muscala at the trade deadline.

Lebron's current contract aligns with his son's high school career, so he could theoretically sign with whomever gets the #1 pick and drafts his son when he comes out of high school.

With Warriors looking how they are, it's hard to see many with rings in their near future.

bucks raps has been such a good series so far

i didn't think we'd take two games if i'm being honest but now there's a serious chance maybe we could pull something big off.

i don't think we'll be able to keep leonard so it's kinda do or die from here

****ing best movie!!! You know it’s a brilliant book as well.

I can’t wait until the game tonight.

Kawhi has been blowing my mind. I love that he gets so much **** for letting his injury heal and now look what he’s doing.

I think the Raps get it done tonight. GSW's depth has looked awful lately.

If they win it's Curry / Klay going off and Dray doing Dray things (over under 0.5 nut punches).

i havent been able to hoop outside because my thumb of cut but im pumped for the rest of summer :tramp:
https://media.giphy.com/media/3o85xJ...4lSU/giphy.gif

Who won?

That was a great game.

Is Drake alive?

Who cares?

Drake’s mum prolly

:rofl: ... and next we knew, Anthony Davis was coming.

I'm pretty sure that ESPN overlay is from like 2008 haha.

Even if it was this year's, Magic was already out of the presidency when they got Davis, wasn't him? I just think it's funny to imagine that was the exact moment he decided to give half of the young guys plus picks for Davis. :tramp:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWa7ISGJO-Y

So the 76ers spent a ton of assets to bring in Tobias Harris and Jimmy Butler, with both slated to become Free Agents this summer.

They go to game 7 in the East Semis vs the Champion Raptors, and it goes down to the final shot.

It's looking like they aren't willing to give either player close to what they deserve.

I'd be livid if I were a 76ers fan...

Correction: I guess they are paying Harris and not Butler.

They are paying Harris 36mil / year for slightly above role player numbers.

They also picked up Al Horford for 4years /109m. Another overpay, but their defense should be ok if Embiid stays upright.

I think they'll miss Jimmy's PG skills when Ben Simmons gets stuffed in the playoffs next time.

I thought 25M was the max


?

30% of the cap. It gets higher each year. Some guys are approaching 50m now.

im a Nets fan now :)

i was already but now that they have KD, hopefully playoffs then

LET's GO CLIPPERS!

They should make the playoffs, but I'd be surprised if Durant plays at all next year. I hope he doesn't. Wish he hadn't come back this year...

----

Who are your picks for Most Improved Player?

Sabonis - A great player who is underutilized in my opinion.

Jaren Jackson - I just love his game, 2nd year players usually make a jump.

Jerami Grant - Spoonfed by Jokic, in an actual offensive system now.

Donovan Mitchell - More balanced approach could keep him fresher and more efficient.

Caris Levert - Durant out, plenty of opportunity.

Jaylen Brown OR Jayson Tatum OR Gordon Hayward - Ewing theory, all have potential.

Who do you guys have for MVP next year?

Here are the current Vegas Odds

i dont follow the league that well to predict. isnt it a little far out to decide too>?

Curry at +500 seems like a pretty damn good bet.

Westbrook at +1400 is a good bet.

I’m not going to place a bet or anything but I think with that payout Westbrook is the best bet. It helps to be on a team that’s getting a lot of attention and the Rockets are set up for that - do or die season

It’s so hard to pick and that’s why those bets pay out so well but yeah I’d put my money on Westbrook.

I think we have enough information to make educated decisions at this point.



+280 GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO - Coming off an MVP season, it's no surprise he is favored here. Having said that, it's pretty dang hard to go back to back. And he still has no jump shot. And his roster arguably got worse with the removal of Brogdon. And the Sixers could be better in the East.

+500 STEPHEN CURRY - With Durant gone and Klay injured for the majority of the regular season, Curry will have the ultimate green light. Could someone average 40ppg in the modern game? Curry is pretty energy efficient in comparison to someone like James Harden who kills himself by consistently driving to the basket. Then again, maybe not, he's constantly running hard to get open and setup his team, and now the other two big threats are missing. We might start seeing some new defenses being played against this team.

+600 JAMES HARDEN - Cancelled out by Westbrook, I'm really excited to see the Rockets play though.

+650 LEBRON JAMES - Cancelled out by Davis, also Load Management.

+750 KAWHI LEONARD - Canceled out by George, also Load Management.

+800 ANTHONY DAVIS - Canceled out by Lebron

+1400 JOEL EMBIID - He's got a chance, but ultimately cancelled out by Simmons (people gotta realize how good Simmons is at some point, right?). In the offseason, the Sixers lost Jimmy Butler but picked up Al Horford and Josh Richardson, a good young defender that can shoot 3s.

+1400 RUSSELL WESTBROOK - Cancelled out by Harden

+1600 PAUL GEORGE - Cancelled out by Kawhi

+1700 NIKOLA JOKIC - My pick for MVP. The most impactful player on a nightly basis. People slept on his MVP bid last year. This team just added Jerami Grant and otherwise have continuity from being a 2 seed last year, which contrasts strongly with all of the newly consummated teammate pairings this summer. I expect them at the top of the league in terms of record.

+2500 KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS - Great player, but not in the playoffs; not in contention.

+2600 DAMIAN LILLARD - Not impactful enough.

+3300 KYRIE IRVING - Ditto

+5000 LUKA DONCIC - 2nd year player probably not making the playoffs, unless Porzingis goes beast mode. He's already great though.



One other possibility is one of these powerhouse 2 man teams lose one player to injury and the team still overachieves: Lebron / Davis / Russ / Harden / Kawhi / PG13 / Embiid / Simmons

PS: I checked another betting site about Jokic and he's not even listed lol. You can take 1 player from the "Field" for +2300 though...

https://i.imgur.com/bNGVtqH.png

I think there’s a better chance of a player with another superstar teammate to win it (Curry w/ Klay in the recent past) than a player with a team that gets as little exposure as the Nugs. Last pick from an under-exposed team was Garnett with the Timberwolves. Plus the 5 spot doesn’t get due respect these days. You have to go back to Shaq. I think you’re right about Lillard but goddamn does he have his moments. Kawhi might be a good pick. I don’t really think Paul George is good enough to cancel out Kawhi.

Having the best record is all the exposure you need.

Kawhi and Zion are the two bets the house is definitely going to win.

Leonard has an injury history and was just seen this week with his knee on ice, also he only played 60 last season. You don't win MVP like that. It's a regular season award. Additionally, Paul George had surgery on both of his shoulders.

Zion is a rookie...

Also, let's take a look at last season a bit more.

Put some respect on Paul George. He was incredible last year.

Well if I had to pick the right one to save my life I’d bank on Curry having the moves to sink enough threes even with opposing defenses having more freedom to contest and double team. But with the +1400 payout I’d go with Westbrook and see what happens. So I guess I’m where I started.

Why did you remove that video?

I rewatched it and liked it less than I remembered. Usually the channel does film analysis but that was just looking at stats for 20 minutes... not exactly compelling content.

I really like that channel though:

Thinking Basketball https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3H...58X_7SMIp6OPYw

Also BBALLBREAKDOWN https://www.youtube.com/user/bballbreakdown

Gonna hit this bowl in Demarcus Cousins honor. Dude just tore his ACL after an Achilles and then Quad injury last year. That's gotta be close to a wrap, he can't stay healthy anymore.

Never seen a player get more **** for being on a bad team and occasionally showing emotion courtside. His game was incredibly polished from the moment I first saw him on Kentucky.

He had no business playing in those finals after he tweaked the quad, same with Durant...