Dukies in the NBA 2019-20

[Furniture]

12 points for Cam tonight with 3 from 3 3 pointers.

[TheOldBattleship]

12 points for Cam tonight with 3 from 3 3 pointers.

Nice to see Reddish contribute and hit some shots; not been a good start to the year so far. Jabari Parker put up good numbers in what one has to guess was the first of many starts filling in for the suspended John Collins, as well: 19/8/2 on 9/14 from the field. He's not as explosive as Collins is anymore (will always miss SUPER explosive young Jabari...), but he's still a load rolling to the hoop and he's clever enough to play well off Trae Young. Good win for the Hawks over the Spurs tonight.

Actually, good showing tonight from Duke guys around the league: Tatum looking solid(though, wow: check out Gordon Hayward's numbers tonight! 17-20 from the field?!), Quinn Cook is having possibly his best game as a Laker, and a double-double already for Wendell Carter in a tough matchup with Howard/McGee/Davis.

[Steven43]

12 points for Cam tonight with 3 from 3 3 pointers.

Yep, by far the best shooting game of Cam’s young career. Let’s hope it continues. Wishing you well, Cam.

[bundabergdevil]

Nice to see Reddish contribute and hit some shots; not been a good start to the year so far. Jabari Parker put up good numbers in what one has to guess was the first of many starts filling in for the suspended John Collins, as well: 19/8/2 on 9/14 from the field. He's not as explosive as Collins is anymore (will always miss SUPER explosive young Jabari...), but he's still a load rolling to the hoop and he's clever enough to play well off Trae Young. Good win for the Hawks over the Spurs tonight.

Actually, good showing tonight from Duke guys around the league: Tatum looking solid(though, wow: check out Gordon Hayward's numbers tonight! 17-20 from the field?!), Quinn Cook is having possibly his best game as a Laker, and a double-double already for Wendell Carter in a tough matchup with Howard/McGee/Davis.

This is great to see. Cook has really found himself a nice little niche in the NBA and, from all appearances, really loves playing at this level with this teammates. Couldn't be happier for the guy.

[howardlander]

Hi all

I hope this is OK for this thread. Sorry if it really belongs somewhere else ...

I have to be in Chicago for business next week and noticed that the Bulls are playing at home against the Knicks on Tuesday (I think). I was thinking of grabbing a ticket and seeing some ex-Duke players! Any advice for the best way to get to/from the stadium. I'll be staying in Oak Brook, wherever that is...

Howard

[brlftz]

Yep, by far the best shooting game of Cam’s young career. Let’s hope it continues. Wishing you well, Cam.

I hope everyone got to read that Ben Swain article linked on the front page. Some interesting thoughts there about this season, but I loved when he referenced Cam Reddish getting choked up in the locker room thinking about how Tre and his mother were dealing with her cancer all season long. I don't know that we got to know Cam as well as we should have, with all the hype about Zion and RJ, but I was really impressed with the way he quietly played through pain all season and never let shooting woes get in the way of effort. He never sulked about being less hyped than the other guys, and I really hope he breaks out.

ETA: if you're not following Ben Swain on Twitter, you're missing out. He's good for at least one snort/laugh a day sitting at my desk.

[DukieInBrasil]

I hope everyone got to read that Ben Swain article linked on the front page. Some interesting thoughts there about this season, but I loved when he referenced Cam Reddish getting choked up in the locker room thinking about how Tre and his mother were dealing with her cancer all season long. I don't know that we got to know Cam as well as we should have, with all the hype about Zion and RJ, but I was really impressed with the way he quietly played through pain all season and never let shooting woes get in the way of effort. He never sulked about being less hyped than the other guys, and I really hope he breaks out.

ETA: if you're not following Ben Swain on Twitter, you're missing out. He's good for at least one snort/laugh a day sitting at my desk.

I knew Ben in college, we were friends for a while, and hung out occasionally later on. He's an affable fellow, perhaps he said some unfortunate things from time to time, but overall a good dude.

[awhom111]

Well, he needs to play a couple months for that to be true. His contract is not guaranteed and he can be cut at any time without any further compensation. The key date to watch for him is January 10th. If he stays on the roster through Jan 10 then, by CBA rules, his contract will become fully guaranteed for the 2019-20 season.

By the way, it is worth noting that the paltry 12 games that Amile played with Orlando at the end of last season was pretty darn significant. It means that he is treated as a player with 1 year of experience, not a rookie. As a result, rather than making the rookie minimum of $898,310, he will instead make the 1-year vet minimum of $1,445,697. That $550k jump from rook to 1-year-vet is a huge salary increase. By comparison, the jump in minimum salary for a 2-year-vet versus a 1-year-vet is just $180k ($1,620,564).

-Jason "anyway, if he makes it to Jan 10 then Amile will indeed be a millionaire. Not too shabby!" Evans

Keith Smith had a source confirm that the contract has no guarantees attached.

Amile actually qualifies as having two years of service already. The first season counts even though he never appeared in a game.

[Furniture]

Well, he needs to play a couple months for that to be true. His contract is not guaranteed and he can be cut at any time without any further compensation. The key date to watch for him is January 10th. If he stays on the roster through Jan 10 then, by CBA rules, his contract will become fully guaranteed for the 2019-20 season.

By the way, it is worth noting that the paltry 12 games that Amile played with Orlando at the end of last season was pretty darn significant. It means that he is treated as a player with 1 year of experience, not a rookie. As a result, rather than making the rookie minimum of $898,310, he will instead make the 1-year vet minimum of $1,445,697. That $550k jump from rook to 1-year-vet is a huge salary increase. By comparison, the jump in minimum salary for a 2-year-vet versus a 1-year-vet is just $180k ($1,620,564).

-Jason "anyway, if he makes it to Jan 10 then Amile will indeed be a millionaire. Not too shabby!" Evans

https://hoopshype.com/salaries/orlando_magic/

HoopsHype says.

$1,339,515. Not too shabby indeed.

[Billy Dat]

Watching Knicks vs Pistons last night, I was not aware that Luke Kennard is the starting point guard for the Pistons. He looks good in the role. Frank Ntilikina's ball pressure bothered him some, but he was in command, wasn't allowing himself to get sped up, was dropping some nice dimes and looked comfortable out there. I was impressed.

[JasonEvans]

https://hoopshype.com/salaries/orlando_magic/

HoopsHype says.

$1,339,515. Not too shabby indeed.

It is not the full $1.4 mil of a vet because he missed some games at the start of the season before he signed the contract.

-Jason "keep your fingers crossed until January... as that is the key date for Amile to get his whole season guaranteed" Evans

[JetpackJesus]

Watching Knicks vs Pistons last night, I was not aware that Luke Kennard is the starting point guard for the Pistons. He looks good in the role. Frank Ntilikina's ball pressure bothered him some, but he was in command, wasn't allowing himself to get sped up, was dropping some nice dimes and looked comfortable out there. I was impressed.

He may have been starting PG because Reggie Jackson and Derrick Rose are both injured right now. I think he's the starting 2 on a healthy Pistons roster. That I said, I seem to recall reading that the Pistons were talking about experimenting with Luke at PG during Summer League. I don't know what, if anything, came of that, though.

[Billy Dat]

He may have been starting PG because Reggie Jackson and Derrick Rose are both injured right now. I think he's the starting 2 on a healthy Pistons roster. That I said, I seem to recall reading that the Pistons were talking about experimenting with Luke at PG during Summer League. I don't know what, if anything, came of that, though.

I am sure you are correct, and I suspected that it was injury-driven. I am very surprised how good he looked in that role.

12 points for Cam tonight with 3 from 3 3 pointers.

Maybe it will drag up some very negative league-wide poor true shooting %
https://twitter.com/kirkgoldsberry/s...401728/photo/1

[TheOldBattleship]

He may have been starting PG because Reggie Jackson and Derrick Rose are both injured right now. I think he's the starting 2 on a healthy Pistons roster. That I said, I seem to recall reading that the Pistons were talking about experimenting with Luke at PG during Summer League. I don't know what, if anything, came of that, though.

Yeah, he's kind of sharing a combo 1/2 role with Bruce Brown at the moment (Brown may even be the nominal 1; he certainly typically is guarding the initiator, and he does a fair bit of bringing the ball up and getting them into sets). But, when the Pistons have been at least moderately healthy this year, he's definitely been the non-point-guard half of a two-headed ball-handling monster coming off the bench with Derrick Rose. And (surprisingly for me, at least) they fit together pretty well early on (their numbers when out there together have really taken a nose-dive since Jackson got hurt and the roles got confused). So he never was really taking on as much of a lead ball-handler role as many had predicted early on, at least until injuries have hit. Anyway, he's playing a good bit as a finisher/secondary creator, and looking good doing it, for the most part.

All of this is going to get complicated, of course, now that Griffin is back. Blake dominated that team's offense last year (and deservedly so; the guy was pretty incredible doing literally everything, even down to pull-up off-the-dribble threes and running pick and rolls like a guard). He sucks up so much of the usage when he's out there that it can be somewhat slim pickins for the guards. (This is why Luke was coming off the bench behind Brown, who is a defensive guy that doesn't need a ton of room to stretch on offense.) Will be really interesting to see how Casey tries to balance Kennard and Rose with Griffin, though his hand may be forced if they keep having this terrible injury luck.

[TheOldBattleship]

A strong game for Jason Tatum tonight: a team-high 23 points on 8-17 from the field, 9 boards, an assist, two steals, and a block. Only 1 turnover, too. The Celtics have had a bit of a cakewalk thus far, but they're 6-1, and wins over Milwaukee and Toronto are nothing to sneeze at. There's been a lot of, shall we say, chemistry speculation with the departure of Kyrie and the arrival of Kemba, and I certainly don't know enough about the situation to totally discount that. But for my money, the bigger difference from last year's team is the health of Gordon Hayward. He's been pretty awesome this year, and you can finally see the lineup versatility that Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens wanted when they put all these dynamic wings on the floor together. Just so many guys who can hurt you in so many ways.

[dukelifer]

A strong game for Jason Tatum tonight: a team-high 23 points on 8-17 from the field, 9 boards, an assist, two steals, and a block. Only 1 turnover, too. The Celtics have had a bit of a cakewalk thus far, but they're 6-1, and wins over Milwaukee and Toronto are nothing to sneeze at. There's been a lot of, shall we say, chemistry speculation with the departure of Kyrie and the arrival of Kemba, and I certainly don't know enough about the situation to totally discount that. But for my money, the bigger difference from last year's team is the health of Gordon Hayward. He's been pretty awesome this year, and you can finally see the lineup versatility that Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens wanted when they put all these dynamic wings on the floor together. Just so many guys who can hurt you in so many ways.

Yes - Hayward is playing much better- this is a good team but they could use some height down low. Not sure how they will manage in the playoffs without a decent big man

[sagegrouse]

Yes - Hayward is playing much better- this is a good team but they could use some height down low. Not sure how they will manage in the playoffs without a decent big man

It appears Hayward, with a gruesome ankle dislocation and tibia fracture in the opening game of 2017-2018, had a "two-year" injury. He seems to have returned to the all-star he displayed in Utah.

[Steven43]

Yes - Hayward is playing much better- this is a good team but they could use some height down low. Not sure how they will manage in the playoffs without a decent big man

Celts should get Al Horford!

[DukieInBrasil]

Jayson Tatum had one of the all-time worst shooting performances in NBA history, going for an ice-cold 1-18 FGs (5.6%). He's been having a pretty good year so far, so i don't know what was up with that.
Luke Kennard, otoh, continues his great start, going for 25 pts. He's averaging almost 19ppg on almost 57% eFG.

[Truth&Justise]

It appears Hayward, with a gruesome ankle dislocation and tibia fracture in the opening game of 2017-2018, had a "two-year" injury. He seems to have returned to the all-star he displayed in Utah.

And on cue he's out 6 weeks with a broken hand. His Boston stint has been snakebitten.