Blue Devils in the NBA 2024-2025

King of Defense said:
Lively's return: 4 pts., 5r, 1a, 1blk. Mavs win 120-118.

Funny that he returns just as Zion is shut down for the season.
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Zion being “shut down for the season” doesn’t mean a whole lot when there are only a handful of games left and your team has the 4th-worst record in the league and is merely playing for lottery position.
 
Once March rolls around, I tend to lose track of the NBA as I focus on Duke. I didn't realize what a dumpster fire the Suns season had become. I feel bad for Tyus, Grayson and Mason. I thought they were in for a good season as key role players for a real contender. Grayson is locked in for a few more years at $15MM-$16MM per so we won't cry for him too much, but Tyus and Mason will be free agents so hopefully they'll find better homes. Mason is 35, but was pretty productive this year, maybe there's a back-up role for him somewhere. As 28, Tyus still has a lot of gas in the tank, and, hopefully, a much better contract ahead of him. He definitely took a huge paycut to go to Phoenix. It would be great to see him on a good team again getting more market-rate pay.
 
Dariq Whitehead misses a career high by one point, scoring 17 for the Nets against Minnesota. Also a career high in minutes: 26:08. Missed all four 2-point shots but made up for it behind the arc: 5-for-9. Also 3 rebounds and 1 assist.

Banchero with a monster game -- 33/18/8 and a block. Granted, it was against the Wizards, but still ...
 
King of Defense said:
Dariq Whitehead misses a career high by one point, scoring 17 for the Nets against Minnesota. Also a career high in minutes: 26:08. Missed all four 2-point shots but made up for it behind the arc: 5-for-9. Also 3 rebounds and 1 assist.

Banchero with a monster game -- 33/18/8 and a block. Granted, it was against the Wizards, but still ...
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Speaking of Dariq, it was nice to see him in the crowd for our S16 game last week. Along with McCain and a few other former players.
 
Billy Dat said:
Once March rolls around, I tend to lose track of the NBA as I focus on Duke. I didn't realize what a dumpster fire the Suns season had become. I feel bad for Tyus, Grayson and Mason. I thought they were in for a good season as key role players for a real contender. Grayson is locked in for a few more years at $15MM-$16MM per so we won't cry for him too much, but Tyus and Mason will be free agents so hopefully they'll find better homes. Mason is 35, but was pretty productive this year, maybe there's a back-up role for him somewhere. As 28, Tyus still has a lot of gas in the tank, and, hopefully, a much better contract ahead of him. He definitely took a huge paycut to go to Phoenix. It would be great to see him on a good team again getting more market-rate pay.
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I guess Durant is washed but it's shocking that team was that bad (none of which is the fault of our guys on the team). Plumlee probably thought he was in a good position for a ring. He probably has one more season left in him, I hope he saddles up with OKC or someone next season.
 
Alan_Wilson said:
I guess Durant is washed but it's shocking that team was that bad (none of which is the fault of our guys on the team). Plumlee probably thought he was in a good position for a ring. He probably has one more season left in him, I hope he saddles up with OKC or someone next season.
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We'll take him in Boston next season.
 
Something needs to be done about tanking. It's really frustrating seeing all these teams losing by 30 all the time.

One idea: Ditch the draft. The NWSL has done this. But it would raise all sorts of parity issues, of course, and you could have a team blow one-third of its salary cap for five years on one star player who turns out to be a bust. (In the NWSL, they'd just sell that player to Barcelona or Lyon or Chelsea -- less of an option in the NBA unless the EuroLeague gets bigger.)

Another option: Promotion and relegation.
- Expand the league to 40, with two tiers. Welcome Seattle, Las Vegas, Mexico City, San Diego, Vancouver, Tampa Bay, Virginia Beach, Montreal, Kansas City and Greensboro (sentimental reasons).
- Within each tier, have East and West. Cut the number of games to avoid all these back-to-backs, so then each team plays every other conference team four times (4x9=36) and each team in the other conference twice (2x10=20) for a 56-game regular season.

You could make up some of those games with the NBA Cup, which would now be more interesting because it would have first- AND second-division teams involved. You could see some upsets like we see in England's FA Cup, the USA's US Open Cup or a 12-over-5 in the NCAA tournament. But keeping the number of total pre-playoff games under 75 would help ease the problem of having stars sitting out to rest or manage injuries.

Here's how the playoffs could work, and I'll put actual team names from the Eastern Conference in the mix based on the current standings:

At the end, first-tier conference quarterfinals:
1st place Cleveland, bye
2nd place Boston, bye
#3 New York v #6 Detroit (best of 3)
#4 Indiana v #5 Milwaukee (best of 3)
#7 Orlando, #8 Atlanta and #9 Chicago go to promotion/relegation playoff
#10 Miami is relegated

In the second tier, the conference champions (let's say Toronto and San Antonio, teams that have some talent but have had some bad luck) are automatically promoted. They also get to face each other in a best-of-7 for the second-tier championship ... and the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

Promotion/relegation playoff (still split by East and West): We've got our three teams from the first tier (Orlando, Atlanta, Chicago). Then we take teams 2, 3 and 4 from the second tier. Let's assume Washington and Charlotte remain too incompetent to reach that point. Brooklyn and Philadelphia make it, along with an overachieving Greensboro expansion team. Split them into two three-team groups playing double round-robins:

Orlando, Brooklyn, Virginia Beach
Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia

Teams that win each group are in next year's first division. Teams that are second in each group play each other in one of the biggest games on the NBA calendar -- winner is up, loser is down.

NBA Draft Order:
First: Second-tier winner
Second: Second-tier runner-up
Next 4: Pro/rel playoff winners (2 per conference), sorted by BEST regular-season record
Next 2: Other promoted teams (1 per conference), sorted by best regular-season record
Next 12: All the first-tier playoff teams sorted as they are sorted under current draft rules
Next 6: Relegated teams, sorted by BEST regular-season record
Next 14: Remaining second-tier teams sorted by WORST regular-season record

So tanking in the first tier puts you on the precipice of relegation. Tanking in the second tier gets you the No. 27 pick in the draft.

Ready for the last wrinkle?

To ensure that players like Wemby and Coop don't tumble into the second tier -- players from relegated teams are eligible for the draft.

The restrictions:
- Each team must pick up that player's contract as is.
- Each team must pay compensation to the relegated team.
- Each relegated team can only lose 3 players.

Complicated? Yeah, maybe. Better than tanking? Definitely. And there'd be more pro opportunities for players -- salaries for second-tier teams would still be a lot higher than G-League teams.
 
Unexpected Duke results in Memphis win last night. Kennard didn’t play, but Bagley gets 16 minutes, 6 points and 5 bounds.

Lively for Mavericks plays 20 minutes, 0 points (memories of his final Duke game)😢
 
arnie said:
Unexpected Duke results in Memphis win last night. Kennard didn’t play, but Bagley gets 16 minutes, 6 points and 5 bounds.

Lively for Mavericks plays 20 minutes, 0 points (memories of his final Duke game)😢
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Kennard missed last week's game against the Mavs with knee soreness. Wonder if flared up again, even though he wasn't on the injury report.

Bagley's injury history is kind of ridiculous: https://www.foxsports.com/nba/marvin-bagley-iii-player-injuries

In short:

- Rookie year (2018-19): left knee sprain, missed 11 games. Played a career-high 62 games, averaged 14.9ppg, 7.6rpg, 1 block per game
- 2019-20: fracture in right thumb in October, returned to play 13 games before COVID (also right foot injury that kept him out when season resumes)
- 2020-21: plays only 43 games, starting 42. Preseason foot injury, then midseason wrist, calf, hand, groin, like a game of Operation
- 2021-22: Kings tell him he won't be in rotation but don't trade him until February, and he does OK in Detroit.
- 2022-23: Signs 3-year, $37.5m contract with Detroit but plays only 42 games. Hand injury is the big one, but he also has knee, ankle, illness and concussion. Still productive -- 12.0ppg, 6.4rpg
- 2023-24: Recurring back problems limit him in Detroit, and then he's traded to hell, I mean, Washington.
- 2024-25: Drops off the face of the Earth in Washington, playing only 166 minutes until being traded at the February deadline. Had a knee issue reported Dec. 25 and missed the next 27 games.

In Memphis, he only played meaningful minutes a few times:

- March 10: 22 minutes, 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks in 120-118 win over Phoenix
- March 31: 12:35 unproductive minutes against Boston

Then the stunner, in the regular-season finale:

- April 13: 30:47, 25 pts., +24, 12 rebounds, 11-for-16 from 2-point range (missed both 3s) in 132-97 rout over Dallas

Maybe Memphis figured he'd be worth a shot in the rematch with Dallas?

In any case -- he's an unrestricted free agent. Maybe he'll find a good fit.

That said, well, here's a rather candid assessment from Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/14bdj38/why_was_marvin_bagley_iii_sooo_mid_in_the_nba

Kind of a surprise to hear "poor fundamentals" when it comes to a K-coached player, but in the one-and-done era, I guess it happens ...
 
Big night in Playoffs for the Brotherhood. 4 players averaged 28 pts each, maxing out at 37 by Gary Trent on a masterful 11-16 FGs and 9-12 3FGs. Low man Wendell Carter (10) still had a double double with 12 rebounds. Tatum's 36 pts and 9 rebounds with 4 assists are pretty great, but 7 turns ain't. Banchero turned in "just" 29 points and 6 rebounds.
 
The BOS Tatums vs the ORL Bancheros + Carter is turning out to be a real dynamic matchup. If each team retains those guys (and there is no indication they won't) this could become a legendary Eastern Conference rivalry. The 3 of them scored 77 points, grabbed 32 rebounds and dished out 9 assists. Tatum led the way with a huge double-double, with 37-14-3 and 3 steals, while Paolo went for 31-7-3. Neither shot all that efficiently from the floor (10-25 and 12-32) but Tatum was cold as ice from the FT line (14-14). BOS pulled out the win over ORL to take a 3-1 series lead.
Gary Trent cooled off considerably from his last outing, scoring just 6 on 2-6 FGs for MIL, who is on the verge of elimination (3-1) to IND.
 
Banchero and Wendell Carter have both had good series for the Magic. Paolo’s shooting is going to be inefficient so long as he has to carry so much of the scoring load. At times he’s the only real threat out there. I expect Boston to close it out in G5 but this series easily could be 2-2. Boston doesn’t look right without Jrue.
 
Matches said:
Banchero and Wendell Carter have both had good series for the Magic. Paolo’s shooting is going to be inefficient so long as he has to carry so much of the scoring load. At times he’s the only real threat out there. I expect Boston to close it out in G5 but this series easily could be 2-2. Boston doesn’t look right without Jrue.
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Yeah if Orlando had any reliable guard play Boston would be in trouble. Wagner has stretches of good play but his shooting seems worse to me and his defense leaves a lot to be desired.
 
AGDukesky said:
Yeah if Orlando had any reliable guard play Boston would be in trouble. Wagner has stretches of good play but his shooting seems worse to me and his defense leaves a lot to be desired.
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KCP was supposed to be the answer as a floor spacer but hasn't worked out so far. None of the other guards are consistent outside shooters and the team was a distant last in both 3 pointers made (11.2 per game) and percentage (31.8%), with no regular making better than 35.3%.
 
Matches said:
Banchero and Wendell Carter have both had good series for the Magic. Paolo’s shooting is going to be inefficient so long as he has to carry so much of the scoring load. At times he’s the only real threat out there. I expect Boston to close it out in G5 but this series easily could be 2-2. Boston doesn’t look right without Jrue.
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Boston definitely isn’t right without a healthy Holiday and a healthy Brown. It’s clear they’re struggling right now. Add that to the fact that Porziņģis has become less reliable with his mid range game against smaller opponents when switches have taken place. Last year he feasted on those switches, and in this series he’s really struggling even when he’s got a huge height advantage.

Right now I would put Boston’s chances at repeating at less than 10%. They’re just not playing well at all.
 
SouthernDukie said:
Boston definitely isn’t right without a healthy Holiday and a healthy Brown. It’s clear they’re struggling right now. Add that to the fact that Porziņģis has become less reliable with his mid range game against smaller opponents when switches have taken place. Last year he feasted on those switches, and in this series he’s really struggling even when he’s got a huge height advantage.

Right now I would put Boston’s chances at repeating at less than 10%. They’re just not playing well at all.
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I might put their odds a little higher, especially if Brown and Holiday can get back or close to 100%. But the Cavs look pretty scary right now. Similar to the Thunder with just absurd depth and lineup versatility. Knicks may be a tough out next round, too, if the Celts are still not at full strength.
 
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