re: Realistic Expectations

MIN is the team most likely to win a lot in the regular season then completely shite the bed in the playoffs.

Gobert’s game does well in the regular season but he doesn’t have the perimeter help he needs to succeed in the playoffs. It was true in Utah and likely will be in Minny.

So the new Utah

Depends on how much KAT and Edwards do.

Their defense may not be fixed completely but having two superstars on offense helps offset that.

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he's 32.

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and his 60MM is for his age 35 and 36 seasons

I just watched back the whole of Game 4 v Phx.

That team, that energy, that chemistry with fricking Zion Williamson and Dyson Daniels instead of Naji Marshall and Billy… holy frick. It’s almost not fair.

I cannot wait for the new season and I’m all in for the finals.

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Jose has underrated handles. Was even more on display with the PR national team.

I get there's really no way to work him into the starting lineup, so the question of who's primary handler is still there (guessing CJ steps up)
But he takes care of the ball on offense & is the best facilitator when he's out there with the second unit, imo.

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I might as well go ahead and make this official: Herb Jones will be our PG when the smoke clears. (Disclaimer: This is just my "official" opinion, PLEASE No wagering !!)

I actually don't even like the term "Point Guard" in today's NBA...so I'm gonna consider "PG" to mean "Point Guy", from this point forward. We will have more than one that can function, at least for a bit, as our "PG", but Herb will be the main guy.

And btw: I can't wait to see what Dyson Daniels will be bringin' to the table...by late-season. Doubt he'll be Herb, Part 2...but the guy seems to have a load of potential.

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We will have more than one that can function, at least for a bit, as our "PG", but Herb will be the main guy.

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It's probably gonna depend on matchups and the pace they want to run. Herb makes smart passes. If he has BI, Zion, and CJ to pass it to then he can be successful. But he's not best suited to be the lead guard and you don't want him using all his energy running around pretending to be Jason Kidd.

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I don't think a 7th seed would be a disappointment.

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If we didn't have Zion coming back fitter than ever.

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he team got better post CJ but they still weren't world beaters, what were they 14-12 in the regular season?

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They were actually 14-14 after McCollum joined, but eight of those losses were when Ingram was hurt and didn't play.

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But how do you equate that with a better Denver, Minnesota, Clippers? Eastern Conference teams. I don't know.

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At this time of year, it always looks like almost every team got better. They drafted new, exciting players, and their rookies from last season will improve, etc.

But it's a mirage. You know how Antonio Daniels always says that "growth is not linear"? Well, decline isn't linear, either.

Two seasons ago, both Garrett Temple and Tomas Satoransky were league-average players -- quality rotation guys. Now, Sato's out of the league and back in Europe, and Temple is a buyout candidate.

The year before, we saw a sudden decline in the play of Eric Bledsoe and JJ Redick.

Every team has older players whose skills will decline. Those aren't easy to predict. We certainly hope that we don't see a significant decline from CJ, Jonas, or Nance, but it's possible. But those are our only players over 28, and other teams have much more exposure.

Dallas has eight players over 28. The Clippers have nine.

Just look at the Lakers last season. They had six older guys who haven't even been offered an NBA contract this season: Avery Bradley, Trevor Ariza, Carmelo Anthony, DJ Augustin, Dwight Howard, and Kent Bazemore. We had two of our players experience a serious decline; it's a much bigger deal when you have six players in that situation.

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Would be pretty helpful if he could cause that opens up a lot of things scheme wise if Herb can organize the offense some possessions.

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Plus...I never liked just standing a guy at the 3-pt line, especially in the corner. Just gives opponents the chance to "hide" or rest one of their lesser defenders. I NEVER wanna see Morant just standing... beside Herb again !!

Oats wanted to play Herb at PG at Bama. But Herb was just totally "raw" & without going into details, Herb was nowhere near ready to try & learn that position "on the fly". So, Herb's offensive game development was just totally shut down during college years. He only began learning to play offense...AFTER leaving college.

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The flip side of that is that we can improve greatly, win 48-50 games and STILL just be a 7 seed because of how tough the West could turn out to be.

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I think this is the general idea. I think realistically you have to expect Golden State, Phoenix, Memphis, and Denver to be better than us. A healthy Clippers roster with Kawhi and Paul George, probably better than us. That's five.

Minnesota? I think you have to give them their due, they were a good bit better than us last year whatever way you slice it, with or without CJ, and they got better as well, and Edwards will take another step. That's six.

Haven't even said Dallas who was in the WCF last season. Can't disregard Luka and the run they went on to end the season. I think Brunson will be a bigger loss than people think, but I can't say we'll definitely be better than them.

I don't know, the whole thing is just hard to predict. My original post said mathematically (which ain't good for anything) that Zion gets you to 53-55 wins. That's two 2-4 seed last season. But I can't sit here and say teams like Denver, Minnesota, and LAC don't take big steps either now that they're healthy plus additions.

I don't know what to expect. I could see us making a Memphis like jump and competing for a really high seed, but I don't think the play-in is even close to being out of question. It's kind of where I expect to land.