The Official 2016 NBA Preseason Thread

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

Tim Duncan

4th best player of our lifetime behind Jordan, Kobe, and Shaq (in that order)

[alpha]

He's better than Kobe. By a lot.

[capable_keL]

Tim Duncan

4th best player of our lifetime behind Jordan, Kobe, and Shaq (in that order)

how dare you taint his retirement by mentioning him with Kobe.

So draymond pimp slapped a heckler.

nut slap?

[Kid That's Lifeless]

LOL @ him being better than LeBron.

[an-also]

[capable_keL]

Unbelievable player and an amazing individual who always stayed true to himself. The fact he never left the organization, no matter how great the environment is, always struck a chord with me

he'll always be the true #21

[wheels]

^mirotic can shoot like a motherfucker.

True. I always forget he's on the team

[naturalborn103]

Chart helps show why KG is so underrated.

[djjeffresh]

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

The NBA has officially tweaked the "Hack-a-Shaq" rule for the 2016-17 season.
"The current rule for away-from-the-play fouls applicable to the last two minutes of the fourth period – pursuant to which the fouled team is awarded one free throw and retains possession of the ball – will be extended to the last two minutes of each period." In regards to inbounds situations, "a defensive foul at any point during the game that occurs before the ball is released by the inbounder will be administered in the same fashion as an away-from-the-play foul committed during the last two minutes of any period." You can check out the full press release below, but this slightly improves the fantasy outlook for the league's worst free throw shooters including Dwight Howard, Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan.
Source: NBA.com Jul 12 - 8:41 PM

[an-also]

Unbelievable player and an amazing individual who always stayed true to himself. The fact he never left the organization, no matter how great the environment is, always struck a chord with me

he'll always be the true #21

Absolutely agree. You could make an argument for him as a top 5 players of all time when you include offense, defense, leadership and the way he carried himself off the court. Not trying to go overboard here but I appreciate the fact that i could see him play.

I've never seen pop talk this long or this real...
"I"d be in the Budweiser league, fat and trying to coach or something if if weren't for Timmy"

[capable_keL]

Towns is the next Duncan

[an-also]

Their first year stats are eerily similar.

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

Towns is the next Duncan

#homeralert

[alpha]

Towns is the next Duncan

#homeralert

You think Kobe is a top 5 player of all time. Pretty sure that disqualifies you from passing judgement.

[eternalreflection]

Chart helps show why KG is so underrated.

MN management is the main reason. KG's 04 season stands up to anyone's.

[djjeffresh]

[djjeffresh]

im pulling for OKC this year, can't wait for their showdowns with the warriors. russ gonna russ.

[djjeffresh]

watching this usa vs aussie game. nice to see marv and doug back doing the nba on nbc, they even played the old school theme song.

[dirtee]

[unclebengi]

Steve Kerr is the man...that is all.

and oh yeah, the Indiana Fever are gangsta

[an-also]

Duncan, Kobe and KG all gone in the same year. :(

[alpha]

Yup that makes me feel old.

[capable_keL]

Yup that makes me feel old.

[Reason]

1. 76ers are seriously cursed. ben simmons went all joel embiid on us. didn't even play a preseason game yet.

of all the things to break, it had to be his foot? who sprains an ankle so bad he breaks his foot?

he gained something like 30 pounds since being drafted. clearly (and not just in hindsight) went overboard

2. espn power rankings have suns like 3rd to last. they will surprise people. even if they trade chandler or knight or bledsoe for future help, their youth core is preternaturally talented and capable of production. trading up for chriss was a brilliant move, booker is klay with playmaking ability, ulis is an efficient machine whose skillset and instincts will lead to a career more impressive than the celts' thomas' (because ulis' defensive know-how and anticipation is far superior, his shot is more reliable, and his ability to make plays for others/put them in scoring opportunities is definitively better), archie goodwin is a perfect 6th man scorer, and i haven't even mentioned dragan fucking bender or alex len

3. rick carlisle will single-handedly make barnes worth 94 mill. may not manifest until year 2 though as barnes is working hard but in baby steps to improve his ballhandling/playmaking/lateral movement on offense

4. not sure what the knicks are more of: delusional or terrible. if they sign their gang-rapist point guard to an extension that will be the nail in the coffin of phil jackson's executive career. poor porzingis. poorzingis. they have 22 nationally televised games this year compared to 7 last year. their sub-par to barely mediocre and wholly disappointing season will be on full display for america

5. the nets are the worst, but lin will average somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 ppg 7 apg 4 rpg and prove to be the nets best player (in part because he is durable and brook isn't)

6. if you bet on nba futures, pick the over on charlotte's wins (i believe it is at 37 to 39 right now). clifford is the most underrated coach in the nba and will find a way in the weak-ish east

7. the cavs are fucking dumber than rocks for not wrapping up jr smith already. give him the 4th year guaranteed, assholes

8. two conditions, if met, that guarantee the warriors win the title this year: 1. draymond green at 95-100% all playoffs 2. pachulia upholding his 25.7% defensive rebounding rate from last year (or if varejao combines with him to put up that kind of effort) if they had green for that suspended game and durant and pachulia in the playoffs last year no way cleveland wins. everyone is obsessed with kd's scoring but his rebounding would have made a huge impact. way too many offensive rebounds given up by the dubs in both the okc and cavs series. if not for klay's 11 threes in one game they wouldn't even have been in the finals.

9. boban is going to piss off andre drummond owners in fantasy next year. reggie jackson is an asshole in every way imaginable and his attitude will keep him and the team from taking anything more than a 2-3 game bump. the fucked up thing is i love reggie's game and root for him any time i watch him lol.

10. the greek freak is the most appropriate nickname of all time

[capable_keL]

[alpha]

Fuuuuuuu he comes back and just killed it.

If draymond doesn't miss game 5 dubs win. If Bogut plays dubs win. Dubs win, maybe don't get Durant.

[eternalreflection]

Well that assumes that Draymond is still Draymond if he doesn't hit other players in the nuts. If he got the 2+ games he deserved in the OKC series they probably lose that series.

Like OBJ you just have to live with the fact that they will fuck you over sometimes.

[Blockhead]

The fucking sixers are cursed.

[unclebengi]

I was beyond pissed about the 'cers firing Vogel, but keeping Nate McMillan was a shrewd move as usual by Bird. Nate's been more demanding of the guys to start camp, especially of PG, and it may just work because McMillan's a guy they already respect and the team's #2 Myles Turner is the hardest worker on the team. They need to add a 3&D 2 guard if they really want to contend for the 2 seed in the east.

Three other teams I'm excited to watch this year are the Thunder, the Bucks, and the Nuggets. The Thunder won't be as good as last year, but that Russ/Dipo back court should be dynamite and I love to watch Adams and Kanter as well. The Bucks and Nuggs are both a year or two away from making real noise, but I love the collection of talent they each have and hope they can gel this year and get into the playoffs.