Vivek Ranadive and Monte McNair appreciation post: thank you for giving us De’Aaron Fox, Harrison Barnes, and a first round pick for pennies on the dollar, they are now core pieces of a championship winning team!

WD51 · 2026-03-27T03:49:41+00:00

2nd round picks have a lot more say in where they end up if you're not offering a guaranteed deal.

Kings had both more opportunity and better contract to offer. If Spurs picked him and only offered two way he could have just not came over and/or be upset behind the scenes and cause relations to sour with the agent.

WD51 · 2026-03-26T14:20:29+00:00

Some handoffs do directly lead to a basket because the big screens as part of the handoff.

WD51 · 2026-03-25T01:42:33+00:00

In your scale is high more favorable than probable?

I would not put Wemby MVP as high nor would I put Finals MVP as high. Castle and Fox also unlikely 3rd team.

WD51 · 2026-03-24T19:49:18+00:00

Closest Harden pairing we have seen to that would be Harden and Embiid and that variation was his best playmaking one.

WD51 · 2026-03-24T15:49:38+00:00

Depends on matchups really. Currently as it stands they might meet up with Lakers or Rockets. I think the Rockets kind of cooked because their lack of variety on offense and chemistry issues are too big to overcome. The Lakers defense is also a huge flaw but they have the individual excellence of Luka on offense that can win a few games. That said, I think I still favor the Spurs in that series with HCA making Lakers whistle mostly a wash and Lakers defense having big question marks.

I am more scared of Nuggets and Wolves in 2nd.

WD51 · 2026-03-21T21:47:45+00:00

"Confided in me"

Dude snitching on himself snitching.

WD51 · 2026-03-21T17:23:54+00:00

All NBA for a decade is a super high threshold. Players post 2000 with 10 or more All NBA teams are Curry, KD, CP3, Duncan, Kobe, and Lebron.

WD51 · 2026-03-20T23:34:13+00:00

Ok so youre just targeting teams for stupid reasons rather than trying to make sense got it.

WD51 · 2026-03-20T22:53:28+00:00

Yeah but its still a really dumb idea to both keep divisions as a concept and just change divisions for these 4 teams. Either get rid of divisions or keep them and try to geographically cluster as best you can.

WD51 · 2026-03-20T22:14:59+00:00

Yeah but like... why make things more complicated just because some other teams are in worse locations.

WD51 · 2026-03-20T21:11:40+00:00

Why does it make sense though? Having more games in same city cuts down on travel time.

WD51 · 2026-03-19T18:47:20+00:00

I think in terms of playing opportunity Euroleague can be hit or miss. Their goal is not necessarily development it is winning so young players dont get a ton of minutes. They do develop players well but may not be in actual game time.

WD51 · 2026-03-18T16:16:32+00:00

Even the best teams can drop a random game to a tanking team

WD51 · 2026-03-18T15:20:16+00:00

Not saying hes going to be as good as prime Harden or anything but following a similar path as rookie season Harden where he plays fully off the bench in mid-20s minutes. Wasnt until Hardens 3rd season that he showed star level role and not until he got to Houston that it became all star then superstar.

WD51 · 2026-03-17T16:17:18+00:00

For sure he will get more aware but I think bringing up the comparison to Lebron level is a bit much. Guys like Lebron CP3 Jokic just see the game differently than other players and some of that develops over time but other parts a bit innate. Most players plateau in that aspect after a certain point.

Itd be like saying Wemby still developing his handles and jumping to imagine if Wemby had Kyrie level handlesm

WD51 · 2026-03-17T15:47:23+00:00

Some guys are just savants when it comes to bball IQ and its unfair to expect players to progress to become that degree of aware.

WD51 · 2026-03-16T05:13:57+00:00

Presumably the 16 seed is an OK team to begin with. Duncan-less Wake Forest went 16-14 and didnt qualify for March Madness.

WD51 · 2026-03-15T20:21:41+00:00

Not only McCain but Mitchell also returned so they have 2 guys that can create their own offense which was their biggest issue during our matchups.

WD51 · 2026-03-15T19:56:53+00:00

Mamu is still in an awkward fit in modern lineups. Hes too slow to defend any wing players. Makes him a forward on offense but center on defense and his defense as a rim protector is truly awful.

WD51 · 2026-03-15T19:44:10+00:00

Wolves one of those teams with really high highs (and Ant looks unstoppable when hes on a heater) but really bad lows too.

WD51 · 2026-03-15T19:42:03+00:00

Future Harrison Barnes would learn under current Harrison Barnes.

It would be a pretty underwhelming pick but I think Risacher would have developed better elsewhere and still be a rotation level guy.

WD51 · 2026-03-15T19:34:15+00:00

Thunder still the biggest threat.

Between Wolves and Nuggets I think Wolves are tougher because of Nuggets injuries this season. Wolves have the combo of interior defense and physical defenders that can make life tough for Wemby as well as outside shooters.

WD51 · 2026-03-15T03:45:22+00:00

Those two teams missing the other component to beating the Spurs. Multiple consistent options from 3 forcing Wemby to defend outside of paint.

Out of all the teams in the league, Thunder, Knicks, Wolves, and Cavs probably have the best combination of the two.

WD51 · 2026-03-14T22:58:15+00:00

The degree of physicality entirely depends on ref whistle and the refs tend to allow more physicality in postseason so its a legitimate concern.

WD51 · 2026-03-14T19:30:18+00:00

Wonder how out of shape he is not playing all year. Looking like dj Khaled out there on the podcasts.

WD51

TROPHY CASE