NBA 2018/19

Did you expect that LJ will join Lakers? What do you think?

I think everybody knew it while ago especially when his son moved to LAL school and this was the key for LBJ move as well because he always with the family and a lot of time he said that family is over the basketball. The more interesting that Lakers bring Mcgee and Stephenson. It seems very unpredictible players and there is a lot question marks for them. I still waiting some big move for another star because with the squad which is at the moment I don't see big chances to fight for the title especially when you are in the west conference. What's your opinion?

And now DeMarcus Cousins joins with Warriors. NBA becoming totally bullshit and after few years they will totally understand that and probably there will be some rules to make stop this all stars gatherings.

This totally represents situation in nowadays NBA

Yeah, I totally agree with you. I think that it is not the most important thing to him to win the ring, so he picked up family over Cleveland but it will be interesting to see him there because I can't imagine him playing for Lakers 😄 And I don't like that Cousins joined the GSW it looks like he just want to win the title...

Lakers and Blazers will meet in a back to back Summer League Final. The two teams are like the summer league version of the Cavs-Warriors.

Who you will root for? I saw Lakers game against Pistons and Josh Hart looked great. Seems that he can be one of the key players in upcoming season.

I'm backing the Lakers, think they have established the winning culture now, they will have the best player on the court in Hart and I think Josh Hart will do one better than Lonzo and Kuzma last year and instead of sharing the MVP honours with someone he'll take both the tournament MVP and Finals MVP. We could see him start next year over KCP if he keeps this up

Josh Hart has Won the Summer League MVP, Here's his stats during the games in the tournament
G1 - 24 pts 2 rebs 3 ast 9/15 FG 4/8 3pt FGM vs Sixers - W
G2 - 19 pts 6 rebs 3 ast 5/15 FG 4/7 3pt FGM vs Bulls - W
G3 - 27 pts 6 rebs 3 ast 8/16 FG 4/12 3pt FGM vs Knicks - W
G4 (2rd Playoffs) - 20 pts 6 rebs 7/16 FG 2/6 3pt FGM vs Clippers - W
G5 - (QTR Final) - 18 pts 2 rebs 4 ast 6/12 FG 1/5 3pt FGM vs Pistons - W
G6 - (Semi Final) - 37 pts 9 rebs 1 ast 13/28 FG 6/15 3pt FGM vs Cavs - W

He's averaged 25.8 ppg 5.1 rpg 2.3 rpg on 47% Shooting and 39% from 3. He led the Lakers to the Summer League final with a perfect 6-0 record. You'd have to really expect him to drop a huge performance in the final and win FMVP too now. He's really made a strong case for big rotation minutes for next season

Portland Trail-Blazers get their revenge by beating the Lakers in the Summer League rematch by the score of 91-73

Everybody contributed well for the Trail-Blazers in the final where they really showed out with 6 players scoring in double digits, while another two scored 7 each. Portland took the lead early and never looked back They outplayed the Lakers in every aspect of the game, they shot better, defender better and just looked like the hungrier team. Finally, Portland did a great job defending against Lakers two top scorers (Josh Hart and Svi Mykhailiuk) with Hart only scoring 12 on 3/12 shooting and Svi only scoring 10 on 3/10 shooting. The Finals MVP was KJ McDaniels who dropped 17 pts 7 rebs in the Final.

Trail-Blazers had a fantastic summer league run going unbeaten with a 7-0 record on their way. The biggest key to this run would have to be that 9 players on the team came in with NBA experience who really have re-made a name for themselves, players such as KJ McDaniels, Wade Baldwin, Archie Goodwin and a few others played really well, Portland also had two talented lottery picks from this years draft to help them out too in Trent JR and Simons. Having such a deep team helped Portland dominate the summer league because someone different would always step up and lead them to wins (6 players scored 20+ pts) and you'd have to say Portland are a well deserved winners.

Portland Summer League Run:
G1 - 93-78 W vs Jazz
G2 - 85-68 W vs Hawks
G3 - 95-89 W vs Spurs
2rd P/O - 95-69 W vs Hawks
QF 95-80 W vs Celtics
SF - 97-92 W vs Grizzlies
F - 91-73 W vs Lakers

The San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors agreed a deal to send Kawhi Leonard to Toronto and DeMar DeRozan to San Antonio! Spurs have also received Jakob Poeltl and a protected 1st round pick while Toronto also got Danny Green in the trade

What a massive trade that is, you'd have to give San Antonio credit for getting an allstar and a nice young piece for Kawhi who has no intentions in playing for them. It's a huge risk by Toronto however because Kawhi has made it clear he wants to play in LA so did they trade their allstar just for rental and one final title push?

From love to hate to be honest. From one of the top all star player with a great attitude to an unpredictable man who seems doesn't know what to do next. Seems that his uncle making pressure all the time to him and keeps him thinking about money not about the future.
I happy for Spurs that they finally would be able to trade Kawhi but in other hand it's sad to see loyalty player like DeRozan being traded to another team but he should be happy for this Raptors decision. Finally he will be able to feel how real basketball should be played and what an organization and great coaching staff San Antonio have.

Agreed, DeRozan has played and achieved so much with Toronto, it's crazy how all of a sudden he's gone. I think San Antonio is going to be a great fit for him and I expect Jakob Poeltl to really blossom given the way the Spurs tend to raise young players. As for Kawhi, I wish his uncle didnt influence his career that much but it is what it is, he's probably going to have one year in Toronto and then go. Expect Toronto to be legit contenders to win the EAST this year but then I think they'll rebuild.

Pretty amazing how much can change within 2 years.

The Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder agreed on a 3 team trade that's headlined by Carmelo Anthony and Dennis Schroder!

Atlanta Get: Carmelo Anthony, OKC's 2022 1st Protected Pick and Justin Anderson
Philadelphia Get: Mike Muscala
OKC Get- Dennis Schroder and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot

Atlanta are going to waive Carmelo so he can be a free agent and join a contender, Houston are front runners currently.

Los Angeles Lakers have some great depth in their squad
PG - Lonzo Ball/Rondo
SG - KCP/Hart/Mykhailiuk
SF - Ingram/Beasley/Deng
PF - LeBron/Kuzma/Wagner
C - McGee/Zubac

Their C position might not be great right now but the idea of playing Kuzma or LeBron at C in a small ball lineup to fill in the voided minutes is a possibility. It's really going to be exciting to see what Bron can do with this squad

They sure do, I think their Center depth is lacking a little, but they have 2/3 solid options in every other position, plus their small ball lineup with Lonzo/Rondo Hart Ingram Kuzma LeBron sounds like it could be very entertaining

Carmelo Anthony expected to sign a 1 year 2.4 million deal with the Rockets! Can Houston revive his career?

I think that he can make a big comeback because he had different role in Oklahoma City and it's hard to play together with Westbrook. He should fit perfectly in the Rockets especially when their gameplay is about 3 point shot and having Harden and CP3 he could have a lot of space. Great example last season Gerald Green who made tremendous comeback to NBA and was one of the key player. Who could expect that?

Agreed with this, the run and gun offense with ball movement is going to suit Melo best, he wont be isolated therefore he won't lose his rhythm and shoot like below 40%. I think playing in a Dantoni system where CP and Harden are your point guards is about as perfect situation as it gets for Melo. I can see Melo becoming the 2nd scoring option and averaging 18-20 points on good shooting percentage in Houston.

I'm not sure about 2nd scoring option but definitely he could have game changing stats. But yeah playing in Dantoni system it will help him a lot. Of course we should also mention the size of the contract because in tese circumstances Rockets won a lot or I should say didn't spend a "dollar" seeing the money and contracts overall in NBA lately 😄