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Hoops Rumors Live Chat 3/14/2023
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Walter
3:01
Who comes out of the west? Gun to your head
Dana Gauruder
3:04
I hope it's a squirt gun. By process of elimination, I like Denver to live up to it's likely No. 1 seed. Morant's situation puts a cloud over the Grizzlies, though they'd be a huge threat if he comes back strong and focused. The Kings don't have the playoff experience, I doubt all Suns players will be healthy at right time and the rest are too inconsistent (including Warriors).
ConnoršŸ€
3:04
Do u think Mikal Bridges would play this year? Or just next year?šŸ€
Dana Gauruder
3:05
Mikal's been playing great for the Nets. If you're talking about Miles, I don't think he'll be back. He said 3 weeks ago he might return this month but there's been no indication he's re-joining the team at this stage of the season.
Petar Djepar
3:06
Is there any chance that Jason Kidd can turn the situation around? He's season so far is sooo disappointing.
Dana Gauruder
3:08
You think they'd like to rethink that Kyrie trade? They gutted their depth to get him. There's no chemistry now without those role players that they dealt. Wood's role has diminished and he was their second-leading scorer. No, I don't see Kidd coming up with some magical rotation to turn things around, especially with Doncic banged up.
3:12
We have a little lull in the action at the moment (The person who submitted a baseball question -- this is a basketball chat). Let's digest the big news of the afternoon -- Scoot Henderson has been shut down. He was generally considered the No. 2 pick in the draft -- could Brandon Miller and others pass him now? I think it's something to strongly consider, especially with the emphasis of high scoring wings in the current game.
Chad
3:13
Wht do you think really going with KAT?
Dana Gauruder
3:16
Those severe calf strains take a long time to heal. If you recall a couple years back, Mike Trout strained his calf in late May. There was an expectation he would return after the All-Star break and he never played again that season. Towns seems to be making some progress -- without another setback, I think the T-Wolves would like to get him in there again before the end of the month. Fortunately, there's so much mediocrity in the West, they're right in the thick of the playoff race.
ampet1112
3:16
Will Brandon Miller's legal situation affect his draft stock?
Dana Gauruder
3:20
Doesn't seem to be. It's going to be quite interesting to see how this plays out getting closer to the draft. There's bound to be some backlash for the team that drafts him. Right now, he's reportedly in the mix for the No. 2 pick. He has All-Star talent. My guess is that unless he's charged with some sort of crime, he'll get picked second or third.
Keith
3:20
Do you think Morant will play again this year for the Grizzlies?
Dana Gauruder
3:22
He's been in touch with his teammates while in that counseling program in Florida, so I doubt he plans to sit out the rest of the season. The league could still impose some type of suspension for the gun waving video but I doubt it will be lengthy.
Keith
3:22
Who do you have coming out of the East?
Dana Gauruder
3:26
Hopefully the squirt gun rule is still in effect. It's a 3-team race in my mind -- I respect the Cavs but I still believe they're a year or two away. The Celtics, Bucks and Sixers are all good enough -- given Philly's recent history and Doc's teams flaming out in the playoffs, I don't fully trust them. Giannis is such a force but I still lean toward the Celtics.
Anti-tank
3:26
So how would you go about trying to fix the tanking issue? Seems to be going on for years with no real end in sight
Dana Gauruder
3:30
I don't think there's a real solution. The mentality in pro sports these days is to go through full rebuilds. You really don't have to "tank" as the season winds down, you just have to be bad for a few years. The play-in tourney actually seems to be helping somewhat -- most of the teams who have a shot to make it seem to be trying. The bigger issue is the amount of players missing games across the league, whether they're good or bad. Resting players with or without minor injuries was never a "thing" until a few years ago.
Keith
3:30
What is up with the Celtics? Losing to the lowly Rockets last night. Chances of being the #1 seed in the East seem to be slipping away.
Dana Gauruder
3:32
Boredom? A case of the pre-postseason blues? Their whole mindset is to get to the Finals again and win it. They don't appear to be all that concerned with getting home court throughout the playoffs.
R. Alan
3:33
Even if the Big Three come back next year, are there any options (outside of the draft) that would bring the Wiz back to irrelevance? For a team so close to the cap, are there role players they can sigh?
Dana Gauruder
3:36
I'm sure you meant relevance -- they've been irrelevant for years. It's troubling that even with Beal, Porzingis and Kuzma on the court, they've been struggling (lost five of last six, needed a last second tipin to beat Pistons). Kuzma will opt out, so he may not be back. They tried to strengthen the rotation with some signings during offseason last summer but they didn't make much of an impact. Their lottery pick has been a bust so far. That franchise is really at a crossroads.
Warriors 15th Roster spot
3:37
Is Dwight Howard's season over in Taiwan?Ā Ā The team could use some Frontcourt depth in the event of a Looney/Draymond injury.
Dana Gauruder
3:40
Not sure when that season ends, though I'm sure he could leave early if he got an NBA offer. I think he was in some sort of 3-point contest over there a couple weeks back. I wouldn't completely rule out a team signing him if they felt they needed another 'big' for the postseason.
NBA fan
3:41
How can we stop load management? Reduce games? Forfeit 1st round pick for repeat violation? 10 day dl for like mlb ?
Dana Gauruder
3:44
It would really hard to enforce. You could just say a guy has a sore ankle or foot, he's sick, etc. I don't think game reduction would be the answer. It really has to be more of a mentality, a source of pride for current players to want to be out there every game, especially the stars.
Suns perimeter D
3:45
Suns really missed Bridges, Cam, and Crowder last night.Ā Ā Ā Looks like they are going to have to out-score Opponents in the Playoffs because the Wing defense has taken a slide backwards.
Dana Gauruder
3:46
Naturally, their depth was going to take huge hit, giving up rotation players to bring in KD. The huge 'if' is whether Paul, Durant, Booker and Ayton will all be healthy during the postseason. If that's the case, they can make a deep run. If not, they could easily get bounced in the first round.
Keith
3:46
Thoughts on Wiseman now with Detroit. Looks like now that he is getting regular minutes, he is starting to figure it out, and be successful.
Dana Gauruder
3:51
There's no doubt he can put up some numbers and be a prolific interior force offensively. His defense is still a work in progress -- he offers some shotblocking but he often gets caught out of position. That could improve over time with a more cohesion unit -- the Pistons rotation is in disarray. I do think he feels more comfortable with the extended minutes and lack of pressure a young player feels on a top playoff contender. The other question isĀ Ā will a timeshare with Duren -- who's looked quite good in his rookie year -- work in the long run? You can't play 'em together, so will they be content playing 24 minutes apiece? It's an interesting dilemma.
Chicago Cows
3:53
How different is Chicago gonna look next year? No first round pick unless Portland somehow gets in the playoffs, the cheapest owner in the NBA and 20 mil on the cap for Lonzo and who knows about him, seems to need drastic changes with no routes
Dana Gauruder
3:56
Right off the bat, we don't know if Vuc will be back. Then you factor in Ball's situation. Who knows if he'll be able to play and how effective he'll be. The Bulls will almost be compelled to bring a starter level PG in case the knee issues persist. DeRozan will be entering the final year of his deal. I strongly suspect the Bulls will trade either DeRozan or LaVine this summer. There will definitely be a lot of speculation, that's for sure.
Keith
3:56
Predictions for any big off season trades this year?
Dana Gauruder
3:57
I may have just answered that one above.
Frank Tripoli
3:58
After this contest one has to come to the reality that we have a serious defect in our team. It's certainly not for lack of talent. IMO, the lack of "PRIDE" that the banner teams possessed is wholly absent with this team. I only hope that it's not to late to acquire it!
Dana Gauruder
4:00
Don't get wrapped up too much in a bad loss here or there. The best teams will turn it on when the stakes are high. Injuries played a role in this but I'll remind everyone that the Warriors lost seven of eight in March last season and wound up winning it all.
That's all the time we have for today. Join Luke Adams on Thursday for our next chat!
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