2013-2014 Official NBA Thread

[Al Bundy]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/ey...4-nba-schedule

With the Schedule released today, I figured it would be a good time to start the thread.

The NBA released its 2013-2014 schedule on Tuesday in a televised special on NBATV alongside a release on NBA.com and its team websites.

The season kicks off Tuesday, October 29th as Miami hosts the Chicago Bulls in Derrick Rose's expected return to the court. Then it's the Battle of LA as the Lakers host the Clippers. It could be the return of Kobe Bryant from his Achilles injury he suffered last spring, and will be the regular season debut of Doc Rivers as the Clippers' newest head coach.

It's a massive gamble by the NBA, considering Rose's struggles returning from his ACL injury suffered in the 2012 playoffs and Bryant's more recent Achilles surgery. If those players were to miss the opening night, it's going to make for a very underwhelming opening night of basketball, regardless of the markets involved for ratings.

Opening week continues on Thursday with the Bulls hosting the Knicks in what is likely to be Rose's return to the United Center in the regular season. The Knicks will be on a back to back, opening the season on Wednesday vs. the Bucks. Thursday night the revamped Warriors visit the Clippers, who are clearly the hot team, with two national appearances in the first three days.

Opening week concludes Friday with the Nets' home opener vs. the Heat, followed by another Lakers home game, this time vs. the defending Western Conference Champion San Antonio Spurs.

On the NBA's biggest regular season day, Christmas Day, starts with the Nets hosting Chicago, followed by the scoring-champ rematch of Carmelo Anthony vs. Kevin Durant as the Thunder visit Madison Square Garden to face the Knicks. Then in the main event, the Heat play the Lakers at Staples Center. Dwight Howard joins the Christmas fun as the Rockets travel to San Antonio to face the Spurs. And in the night cap, the Clippers visit Oracle Arena to take on Steph Curry and the Warriors.

Monday, January 20th continues the NBA's tradition of making Martin Luther King Jr. Day a huge basketball event, with four games on the schedule. Brooklyn travels across the bridge to take on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, followed by the Grizzlies hosting the Pelicans, the Lakers taking on the Bulls at the United Center, and the Pacers facing the Warriors in the bay to cap off the night.

The Lakers first meet Dwight Howard on November 13th in Houston, and again on January 14th. They first host Howard at Staples Center on February 19th, and again on April 8th.

The NBA Finals rematches occur on January 26th in Miami and March 6th in San Antonio. Will Gregg Popovich rest his starters? It's not a back to back, as the Spurs face Atlanta on the 24th, but it is in the middle of a three-game road trip.

Despite the departure of Dwight Howard, the Lakers keep the max number of nationally televised (non-NBA TV) games in the league at 25, tied with the Knicks and Heat. The Clippers have 21 nationally televised games, while the defending Western Champs, the Spurs, only have 15. The Bulls jump to 24 national games, with the league banking on Rose's return to carry audiences. The Thunder also feature on national TV 24 times.

Houston, with newly-signed Dwight Howard and James Harden, feature 20 games on national television, a pretty low number given the star power. The Mavericks won the NBA title in 2011, and now have just eight national TV appearances. The Warriors meanwhile jump to 17 games, while Eastern Conference finalist Indiana only appears 10 time next season. To put that in perspective, the Denver Nuggets appear 13 times.

The rest of the schedule is at the link.

[Shogun]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

I am excited for the season to start and I was going to make all kinds of predictions but the other night I saw Oden highlights and figured why bother. If he stays healthy and that is a big if the Heat are going to 3-peat. Of course that depends on Lebron staying healthy as well which I fully expect him to be and I expect him to be even better this year.

I will make one prediction in that I think the MVP will be Derrick Rose. We all know Lebron is the best player in the world but I think if Rose plays like he has in the preseason I think he will win it.

As far as my Celtics go it is going to be a long season but I think they will compete for a playoff spot if Rondo comes back early enough.

Yep. Unfortunately. I'd rather us tank the whole year and get in the lottery but whatever is fine, Its gonna be a tough year of watching but it will be fun to see some of the young guys develop and grow. I think Rondo will be ahead of schedule and once he comes back, We'll go as far as he can take us. And I have a good feeling that Most improved player of the year is going to go to Mr. Jeff Green.

[KC native]

GO SPURS GO!

[tecumseh]

Pacers take the East.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by Shogun

Yep. Unfortunately. I'd rather us tank the whole year and get in the lottery but whatever is fine, Its gonna be a tough year of watching but it will be fun to see some of the young guys develop and grow. I think Rondo will be ahead of schedule and once he comes back, We'll go as far as he can take us. And I have a good feeling that Most improved player of the year is going to go to Mr. Jeff Green.

I thought it was interesting that Ainge said a while back he doesn't see a franchise type guy in the draft.

“If Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was out there to change your franchise forever, or Tim Duncan was going to change your franchise for 15 years? That might be a different story,” said Ainge. “I don’t see that player out there.”

[Shogun]

I disagree with Ainge. I think that between Wiggings/Jabari/Randle, one of them (at least) will end up becoming a franchise type player. However the jury is still out on that, But I think there are a big handful of guys in this draft that you can get in the latter part of the lottery that can come in next year and immediately contribute positively and become very solid players. I just hope that we don't get outside of the lottery and have a completely meh season and shitty draft position. I'd take another Antoine Walker in a heartbeat!

[Shogun]

interesting partial article on an NBA GM tanking.

OUR TEAM ISN'T good enough to win and we know it. So this season we want to develop and evaluate our young players, let them learn from their mistakes -- and get us in position to grab a great player. The best way for us to do that is to lose a lot of games. This draft is loaded. There are potential All-Stars at the top, maybe even franchise changers. Sometimes my job is to understand the value of losing.
I know that sounds crazy, but if you're an NBA general manager like me, the last place you want to be is in the middle. There are only two outcomes there: Either make the playoffs and be first-round fodder for one of the premier teams or miss the playoffs and pick somewhere around 11th to 14th in the draft. Either way, the odds are that you stay in that middle range. It's a recipe for disaster.
You need superstars to compete in this league, and the playing field for those guys is tilted toward a few big-market teams. They are demanding trades and getting together and deciding where they want to go in free agency. It's tough for us to compete with that. So a high lottery pick is all we have.
How do you pull it off? First, you talk it over with ownership. I analyzed the team and told them what I wanted to do, the guys I wanted to get rid of and the guys with future value whom we wanted to keep. We obviously traded away some of our veteran guys who gave us a better chance of winning right now for future draft picks and young players. The owners didn't want to tread water any more than I did. They'd rather go down to the bottom with the hope of coming up, so they signed off on it. It wasn't a fight at all. In a different season, it might not make sense, but this draft certainly makes it more appealing.
Our coach understands that too. It's no secret what we're trying to do, and you can't lie to him anyway or you'll lose all trust. We never really had to tell him, because the handwriting is on the wall. He knows exactly what's going on, and he's good with it. What's hard is keeping it from the players. If you took a poll in all 30 locker rooms, regardless of how the roster looks, I bet they'd all say they are a playoff team. That's good, because you want them to play with effort and lose organically. You never tell the players not to try to win a game, but it's obvious that you're putting out a team that's just not good enough to win.
We're not alone. Look at the 76ers. Since the draft in June, I don't think they've signed a player or made a trade to add a legitimate player. A bunch of us realize that our teams aren't good enough talentwise to do anything. You're going to be bad. There's no way around it. And even if you finish 0-82, there's still a 75 percent chance you don't get the No. 1 pick. We're just going to take our lumps and hope our number gets called.
As told to Jeff Goodman

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?story...rc=desktop&wjb

[L.A. Chieffan]

Hmm very interesting to see someone finally come out and admit it. Either Ryan McDonough or maybe even Sam Hinkie trying to trick everyone in to thinking it's not him

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by Big Smoke

Just a personal interest thing. I can sit and watch an NBA game, just prefer college basketball.

That makes no sense. The NBA is a much, much better product and it isn't particularly close.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by Shogun

interesting partial article on an NBA GM tanking.



http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?story...rc=desktop&wjb

OR you can trade very little value and get a superstar like James Harden.

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

That makes no sense. The NBA is a much, much better product and it isn't particularly close.

No team in Kansas City or St. Louis is the big reason NBA is hated around here, not to mention the douches who think KU basketball is better.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

No team in Kansas City or St. Louis is the big reason NBA is hated around here, not to mention the douches who think KU basketball is better.

Can I be a KU fan and an NBA fan? Cuz I am.

Pretty happy to see so many Jayhawks make the team.

Xavier Henry made it w/ the Lakers.
Cole Aldrich with the Knicks.
Markieff and Marcus Morris with the Suns but that wasn't a surprise.
Tyshawn Taylor still on with the Nets.

[KevB]

Originally Posted by KevB

If anybody is looking to join a NBA fantasy league, I set one up for CP that you can join at the link:

Yahoo fantasy b'ball league

We need 2 more teams to make an even 10 --- would really like to get to at least 10 teams.

[Shogun]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Can I be a KU fan and an NBA fan? Cuz I am.

Pretty happy to see so many Jayhawks make the team.

Xavier Henry made it w/ the Lakers.
Cole Aldrich with the Knicks.
Markieff and Marcus Morris with the Suns but that wasn't a surprise.
Tyshawn Taylor still on with the Nets.

Don't forget Shady with the nuggets!

[Shogun]

Originally Posted by KevB

We need 2 more teams to make an even 10 --- would really like to get to at least 10 teams.

Never played Fantasy Basketball but I'll give it a shot

EDIT: link gives me an error

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

No team in Kansas City or St. Louis is the big reason NBA is hated around here, not to mention the douches who think KU basketball is better.

Definitely this.