2023-24 NBA Thread

[WilyWestbrook0]

I'll start this now since the 2023 off season will be a pretty big deal this year: Wembanyama draft and Ja Morant suspension are huge.

[K.C._Royals]

My only hope and desire for the 2023-24 season is for the Hornets to finish above .500 and make the play-offs... If LaMelo can remain healthy & play at least 70 games and their #2 overall pick in the draft (whoever he may be) is ready to contribute as part of the rotation then they can definitely accomplish that.

[WilyWestbrook0]

My only hope and desire for the 2023-24 season is for the Hornets to finish above .500 and make the play-offs... If LaMelo can remain healthy & play at least 70 games and their #2 overall pick in the draft (whoever he may be) is ready to contribute as part of the rotation then they can definitely accomplish that.

I'm hoping the same for my Thunder. They narrowly missed the playoffs on the play-in loss, and finished a couple games below .500. With Chet playing, I think it's definitely doable. OKC definitely missed that interior presence last season.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Morant officially suspended -- 25 games:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...d-25-games-nba

[WilyWestbrook0]

First major offseason move -- Beal to Suns:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...s-bradley-beal

[WilyWestbrook0]

Another big move -- Porzingis to Celtics with Marcus Smart going to the Grizzlies:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...es-sources-say

[WilyWestbrook0]

And now we have a Poole-for-CP3 swap:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...s-jordan-poole

[pwaldo]

First major offseason move -- Beal to Suns:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...s-bradley-beal

Looks like Durant trying it again in Phoenix seeing as how he pushed for Beal. If the Suns implode again can we finally start harping on Durant for all these franchise crippling journeys he has been on his career. Lebron rightfully gets killed for his career/soul crushing of teammates but it is about time Durant gets taken down a few pegs for all the nonsense he has pulled with several teams now. Now I guess this move could benefit the Suns but after being in the NBA Finals a few seasons ago and after just getting beat by the champion Nuggets who you will probably have to contend again with next year I don't see how this move sets them up to play well against the Nuggets. You have to be ecstatic if you are Denver seeing that Durant will get to "build his own" team in Phoenix IMO.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Oh I could write a lot about Durant for sure.

Draft first round ended as I type this. Long night; three hours in and we still have an entire round left.

[WilyWestbrook0]

So about the Wembanyama hype...he certainly looks to be the most versatile and skilled player I've seen at his height. But there's really no precedent in NBA history for a player his size having longevity. The taller a person is, the more injury-prone. I think Rik Smits is the only player 7-4 and taller who had a relatively long and healthy career. Ralph Sampson, a player Wembanyama is often compared to and also similar height, was a great talent, but had just three healthy seasons and was pretty much done by age 30. Yao Ming, a player I remember well from the 2000s, was 7-6 and also didn't have a long career -- only four fully healthy seasons, and seven statistically significant ones at 40 games or more. Sampson and Ming were both pretty much done by 30. Most players of more typical height (6-7 or so) can play well into their 30s -- look at LeBron. Almost all the all-time greats were still very good and relatively healthy at 30-35, but no player of Wembanyama's height has ever had a dominant career lasting that long. If he were more of Kareem's height (7-2), I'd have less concern, but I really question whether he can play great for an extended number of years at 7-5. If he does, it will be unprecedented in league history.