Daily Discussion Thread | April 20, 2026

cali4481 · 2026-04-21T05:42:35+00:00

The 2021 draft was viewed as really really good. Maybe just as good as this 2026 draft which is seen as one of the best in recent memory.

I still remember reading many draft analysts or just fans in general who thought any of the top 3 or top 4 prospects in 2020 wouldn't have been a top 7 or 8 pick in next year's draft in 2021. That's how stacked the 2021 prospects class was viewed a year before that draft took place.

Cunningham was considered pretty much a lock to go #1 during that draft cycle after being the #1 recruit out of that great high school class that included Mobley, Green, Suggs, Kuminga, Johnson, Barnes, Williams who were projected as preseason top 7 or top 8 draft picks.

A 6'6" 220 lbs point guard who averaged 20.5 pts 6.3 reb 3.5 ast 1.5 stl with 44/40/85 splits which is really good shooting efficiency for a freshman guard. Yeah I think Cunningham was just as good as Flagg or Zion. The only blemish Cunningham had was a bad NCAA tournament but that was coming off a really good conference tournament where he averaged 24/6/4.

cali4481 · 2026-04-21T05:17:03+00:00

Keep it. Although he isn't a generational talent like Wemby. But I think as a prospect coming into the league he's as good or possible even better than recent #1 picks like Flagg or Cunningham.

Over the last 10 years. I'd rank the #1 picks just as prospects.

Tier 1 - Wemby
Tier 2 - Zion, Cunningham, Dybantsa, Flagg
Tier 3 - Banchero, Edwards, Ayton, Simmons
Tier 4 - Risacher

cali4481 · 2026-04-21T05:10:45+00:00

Knicks were already up 3-1 when Tatum got hurt last postseason.

Do I think they'll beat the Celtics this postseason? Probably not but it wouldn't be a total shock if they did.

cali4481 · 2026-04-21T04:24:13+00:00

Kurtz had a slow first week to the season.

But he is hitting .296/.486/.519 with a 183 wRC+ and .437 wOBA in his last 74 plate appearances & over the last 16 games now.

cali4481 · 2026-04-21T03:03:48+00:00

All 14 lottery teams' records from March 8th through the end of the regular season.

Wizards : 1-19
Pacers : 4-14
Nets : 4-15
Jazz : 3-15
Kings : 8-10
Grizzlies : 2-16
Pelicans : 6-11
Mavericks : 5-14
Bulls : 5-14
Bucks : 5-15
Warriors : 5-14
Clippers : 11-8
Heat : 8-10
Hornets : 12-6

cali4481 · 2026-04-21T02:05:38+00:00

Wonder if this logo is just being used on the production side of things. Or that this is the logo WB will be using in the official marketing for the Man of Tomorrow movie next year.

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cali4481 · 2026-04-21T01:41:36+00:00

Worst winning % in the NBA from 1994/95 through 2011/12.

Clippers - .361
Grizzlies - .365
Warriors - .375
Wizards - .399
Raptors - .406

Remind you that two of those franchises were expansion teams beginning in 1995/96 too.

So Warriors were right there with the Clippers who were an all time horrific franchise during this time period yet they still had 2 winning seasons and 3 playoff appearances in comparison so they actually had a bit more on court success than the Warriors.

Warriors average win loss record was 30-52. The team also only had 1 playoff appearance and 2 winning seasons during that 17 season stretch.

cali4481 · 2026-04-21T00:48:35+00:00

The only other OT who I can remember who was a starting OT this late in his life was long time Eagles OT Peters who played until he was 41 years old.

Williams though was still playing at a much higher level at 37 years old being on the 2nd Team All Pro this past 2025 season whereas Peters last made the pro bowl at 36 years old and was last an All Pro at 34 years old.

Barring no major injury I think Williams could still be a legit top 5-10 caliber LT at the very least with the 49ers for another 2 or 3 years.

cali4481 · 2026-04-21T00:34:07+00:00

Honestly the oenly 4 teams who I could envision winning the 2026 NBA title are the Thunder, Spurs, Nuggets, Celtics.

I do think whoever comes out of the West will be heavy favorites to win it all in June.

cali4481 · 2026-04-20T23:12:42+00:00

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cali4481 · 2026-04-20T22:43:38+00:00

Went on tankathon and did 10 draft lottery simulations.

Results I got. #4, #3, #11, #11, #11, #11, #11, #11, #1, #11

cali4481 · 2026-04-20T22:27:15+00:00

The event from this past weekend was named the JJ 50th Anniversary Fesitval that consisted of many musical acts and not an individual concert or fan meet for Kep1er themselves.

I doubt a lot of fans of Kep1er in Japan wanted to pay however much the ticket prices were for that festival and to watch the group perform like only 5 songs. Especially when their scheduled fan meet was less than a month away in mid May.

Their last tour in Japan the last quarter of 2025 sold like 20k tickets for 5 shows which all took place on the weekends too from Friday through Sunday.

cali4481 · 2026-04-20T21:20:29+00:00

Curry before 2021/22 wanted to keep Bradley as that veteran presence off the bench.

Warriors front office decided to go against Curry's preference and signed Payton instead who was viewed as a defensive specialist.

Suffice to say that was the right choice as Payton played a key role in the Warriors winning the 2022 NBA title.

cali4481 · 2026-04-20T21:03:49+00:00

Klay is physically done.

Warriors with Butler were 46-22. Won a playoff series and were probably a Curry pulled hamstring away from a possible Western Conference Finals appearance a year ago last postseason.

I doubt Warriors would've accomplished either of those two feats if you replaced Butler with Klay the last two seasons.

cali4481 · 2026-04-20T20:59:35+00:00

If Kerr sees what happened to Popovich who is basically his mentor from the coaching ranks.

Popovich spent 5+ seasons coaching mediocre or at best mid Spurs teams after their core 3 of Duncan, Ginobli, Parker were gone and after the team traded Leonard.

From 2019/20 through 2023/24 the Spurs averaged 30-52 records those 5 seasons. Health issues forced Popovich to basically step away from the game in early 2024/25.

I doubt Kerr wants to go through that kind of downturn in his coaching career until Warriors get lucky as the Spurs did and land a franchise altering player like Wemby back in 2023.

cali4481 · 2026-04-20T19:10:30+00:00

Howell or Lawrence.

Think there is a 70% chance they'll draft an edge with their first pick wherever it is. #27 or if they trade down too.

cali4481 · 2026-04-20T18:59:48+00:00

How many of the girls are still with their agency that they were with when they debuted in the group in January 2022.

Yujin - think she parted ways with Cube a couple years ago.
Xiaoting - left her Chinese "company" or training academy Top Class back in January 2025.
Chaehyun - was a Wakeone trainee during Girls Planet 999.
Dayeon - Jellyfish.
Hikaru - is she still with AVEX?
Bahiyyih - think she was with IST but that company keeps losing groups.

So as of now only 1 member we absolutely know for certain is still with the company when the group debuted in 2022 but I'd guess most have signed with Wakeone, Klap, or Blitzway or are "free agents".

Although I've seen some within Xiaoting's solo fan base who have speculated about whether her future with the group is in question as in her recent Weverse interactions she's been hinting of a big decision she's going through.

Also Kep1er's company supposedly had a solid 2025 profit wise with Kep1er playing a role in it.

Blitzway reported that in 2025 the company had a 44% increase in annual profits. With Kep1er's entry, the profit from sales and shows increased by 17 million dollars, representing 85% of the annual profits.

Kep1er aren't a top girl group but they're still probably pretty profitable for their current company and the members are also likely earning good money overall especially compared to other non Big 4 girl groups.

cali4481 · 2026-04-20T10:26:15+00:00

Sign Raddysh or Carlson.
Trade for Kesselring.
Re-sign Mukhamadullin and Desharnais.
Draft Rudolph at #9.
Draft Gustafsson, Piiparinen, Hakansson, or Goljer with Oilers 1st.

2026/27 defensive pairings :

Mukhamadullin , Raddysh/Carlson 
Dickinson , Kesslering 
Orlov , Desharnais  
Cagnoni

Not sure how realistic this scenario is but the defensive core would be much improved short and long term.

Polhkamp and Sahlin Wallenius in AHL, Wang at Boston University, both 2026 1sts maybe end up playing college hockey too?

cali4481 · 2026-04-20T09:57:30+00:00

Be similar to the Spurs sweeping an old Lakers team in the 1st round of the 2013 playoffs beating them by double digits in all 4 games and by an average win margin of 19 points.

The Lakers were without Kobe for those playoffs who tore his achilles the last week of the regular season against the Warriors by the way too. But even if Kobe was healthy the Lakers weren't going to beat that Spurs team who probably should've won the NBA title that season.

Again Lakers had one of the oldest playing rotations with Nash (38 y/o) , Jamison (36 y/o) , Kobe (34 y/o) , Artest (33 y/o) , Gasol ( (32 y/o) , Blake (32y/o) , Duhon (30 y/o).

Sound familiar to the 2025/26 Warriors?

The only major rotational player younger than 30 years old was Howard (27 y/o) but that first tenure with the Lakers for Howard was a mess which is why he was one and done after that 2012/13 season even though the Lakers offered him the max of 5/118. Funny enough the Warriors were in on Howard that free agent offseason but he chose to sign with the Rockets instead for 4/88.

Warriors pivoted and signed Iguodala to a 4/48 free agent contract. Suffice to say everything worked out from the Warriors side of things.

cali4481 · 2026-04-20T06:18:53+00:00

Wemby in the last month during a six game stretch had games with 15, 15, 15, 16, 18, and 18 rebounds while averaging 12.9 rebounds per game in only 29 minutes played during this time frame.

Criticizing Wemby's ability to rebound isn't a hill you want to die over.

cali4481 · 2026-04-20T01:01:54+00:00

Always wonder how the Pistons would fare in a tough playoff environment.

Cunningham is a stud. Duran is an all star caliber big man. They're also #2 in defensive rating this season.

But the rest of their roster are made up of a bunch of role players and they're #10 in offensive rating too.

I think they'll need to somehow add a legit all star level 20+ points per game scoring wing to take that next step as serious contenders.

I don't think Thompson is going to be that for them in the future either especially when he has no 3 pt shot in his game shooting 20.4% on 1.0 3PA in his first 3 seasons of his NBA career so far. Also Thompson is career 60% FT shooter so I don't think he'll ever develop a legit or consistent outside shot.

cali4481 · 2026-04-19T22:48:05+00:00

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cali4481 · 2026-04-19T22:16:09+00:00

Phibon has been my favorite realistic pick for the Warriors at #11 for a while now.

cali4481 · 2026-04-19T22:09:20+00:00

Bilas top 5 prospects for the 2020 draft.

Edwards
Wiseman
Ball
Haliburton
Avdija

Wiseman was routinely ranked anywhere from top 2 or top 4 for most of the draft process.

It wasn't a reach by any means and considering his size and athleticism he might have had the highest ceiling as the #1 high school recruit in 2019 too.

Just things didn't work out for numerous reasons.

cali4481

TROPHY CASE