C'mon now. This is the team who I had winning it all last year if they had stayed healthy. And, they're the 9th choice....
Lol Denver got no shot. Any bet that's not the Nets is throwing money away. Unless Kd or Harden get injured
Take Denver at 22-1 & GS at 9-1...Toss out LAL & Phoenix. Say hello to the Nets in the Finals. That's the exacta box.
Gordon got a big extension, which I don't think he particularly deserves. Dude turned out to be a lateral move for the Nuggets. And, from an ESPN article: "Gordon, who turns 26 on Thursday, averaged 12.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 25 games with Denver. In the postseason, he raised his production to 11.1 points and 5.4 rebounds as the Nuggets made it to the second round before being swept by the Phoenix Suns." Methinks ESPN doesn't know the definition of the word "raised."
The Nuggets are a completely different team with Murray out there. (along with the maturation of MPjr) I understand your disillusionment with Gordon, but let this crew be together for a season.
anyone feel like the west is pretty open ? it doesnt feel like any of these teams are head and shoulders above the rest and they all have so many question marks.
Gordon completely disappeared in the playoffs. Even though Murray was out and defenses have one less offensive weapon to gameplan against, your production should actually go up, considering you're playing more and you're going to be seeing the ball more. Dude's production dropped when he got traded from Orlando. And then dropped further from regular season to postseason. Production should have gone up, since you're no longer the primary option and you now have an all-world passer to feed you the ball. Jokic giving you the ball + less pressure on you as an offensive option + a mental refresh of not having to play for the Magic organization? And you produce less than you did than in Orlando? Yikes. Not saying Gordon won't be good, but it's just strange that Gordon didn't look like the missing piece to a championship team.
I think everything runs through the Lakers. If AD never got injured, Lakers most likely make it to the Finals last season, instead of PHX's magical run.
lakers are a question mark because we dont know how these pieces will fit...... though i think they will be tough if AD plays the 5 more. the spacing will be terrible if they play a traditional 5 with westbrook. also im not sure if this roster can be as good defensively as they have been though that feels thats mostly depends on AD. when is healthy he can erase a lot of mistakes and make up weak spots elsewhere.
Lakers? People forget how good Bron and AD are when fully healthy. Those 2 dont need much when healthy. The key was getting them healthy which is where WB, Melo and Dwight/Jordan come in.
fwiw: His Denver production did go up in playoffs (albeit, not much, and only due to more minutes). The error in the quote was espn listing his seasonal ave in regular season, not his Denver average. espn really does make a lot of stat errors in their articles. Gordon is not a needle-mover. But he is on the right team to maximize his talent, with Jokic’s passing and Murray coming back. His problem is thinking he’s better at scoring than he is.
That sounded like a start to the season than a betting line, but what a fictional start to the season.
I dunno about championship but I can see them making the finals. Jazz are lame, Suns stayed the same and Lakers have Russ. If the Nuggets catch fire at the right time or of Murray can come back healthy in time they might just take the west. West is wide wide open.
My psychic said that the Rockets are winning it all this year, and if I was smart, i would bet every single penny I have betting on them. So, that's where I am.