NBA 2024-25 Season Thread

Me too.

JJ just sat both lebron/luka

He’s not staggering them. I guess its okay if u keep Reaves on cuz he can run point. Shrug

Luka/LeBron/Reaves
Is the best big 3 in the league.

Somebody prove me wrong.

If players today are so skilled that they are knocking shots like that down, I'll be happy to watch them do it.

If anyone prefers some 7 foot oaf being fed in the post like what most of 90's basketball was, I don't know what to say.

I'm not seeing how you can legislate against step back very practically. Thought they might be limiting the amount you can attempt it a game. Cut and dry. Only so many allowed until the last two minutes maybe??

Tuned in at the start of the 2nd half to see Hayes finish back to back lobs. Apparently the gane started this way too. 6-6 for Hayes. As far as lobs go, he's actually really good.

I agree entirely about games; this is my point: the actual issue is the perceived lack of effort in the regular season. On a micro level, I still think we get competitive minutes from players and competitive stretches of close games. But fundamentally, teams don't have time to prepare bespoke game plans for opponents like they do in the playoffs, and they desire to extend their rotations beyond what would be optimal in the postseason.

Does nostalgia play a role here? Were teams competing hard for all 82 games in the 90's?

Players sitting out too much is a fundamental issue that the minimum game requirement for All-NBA eligibility has somewhat addressed. It is bad for the product if fans pay huge ticket premiums only to be rug-pulled by a late inactive for a star player.

Ultimately, I do not see the competitiveness issue ever being solved to the satisfaction of the "old-school" fan. They can't reduce games, and then it becomes a math problem: It simply doesn't make sense for teams to push the regular season beyond a certain point. The only rule change that could change this is the one change off the table.

Good data. I admit that I didn't think the difference was that significant.

The playoff analogy applies here, too, IMO. We love the chess match element of the playoffs, as each series will see both teams constantly optimise to try and distil down to their best rotation and plays to win. Players who can't score or defend will eventually get removed from the floor. Casual fans love this; it makes for great narratives and barroom chat.

In a data-driven NBA, less efficient shots have been purged from the game over time. This has had a cascading effect, where the global talent pool has tended to produce more players who can do the things on the court that align with the data. It's all a logical cycle that will only ever go one way.

It would be acceptable to tinker with the rules if our fundamental objective were introducing more middy shots back into the game. But I think the real aim is something more profound that can never be satisfied.

You have to be able to counter different looks throughout the playoffs. You are right: a dominant centre is no longer a requirement to win a championship. But against Denver, Minny, or Dallas, the Lakers will need to be able to introduce credible size and rim protection for stretches in order to be successful. It doesn't have to be AD, and I don't think introducing a 5 to allow AD to play the 4 would be the magic answer that unlocked the Lakers back to another championship.

Alex Len didn't sign with the Pacers in the end. I think that would be okay for now—Hayes rotates with a guy who is still a plus rim protector, and you live with it as a weakness, hoping the new Luka / LeBron / Him playmaking rotation helps you outscore opponents when it matters.

In 20 years, the 'old school fans' will be people who watched Lebron/Curry/Durant/Wemby/Jokic and they'll be whining about how things aren't the way they were in our current era anymore.

100%

This is why the real solution will be new star players, rivalries that engage more casual fans, dynastic teams, and the love/hate narrative they engender.

The torch hasn't been fully passed from LeBron / Steph to what's next. But it will. The hunt for Wemby's first championship, the interest in Cooper Flagg's development, potentially a new Boston dynasty. Great players and teams and coaches we don't know about yet. Again, we need solid narratives to engage casual fans and make the noise about the past fade away. We will get them in time.

If we want to do less damage to the scoring records, we could just change the 2 to 2.1 and the 3 to 2.8.