Would love to see the Nuggets in the Finals. But, the Hawks are slightly above average EC team, if they were in the West. They'd have barely made the playoffs and would have needed to play in a play-in game. Consider that the Hawks played pretty well or ok throughout the entire season, yet they still have less wins than Portland and the Lakers who missed for Lebron (20+ games) and AD (30+ games), yet both won more games than Atlanta in a much tougher conference. If anyone in the East outside of the 76ers, Bucks, or Nets made it to the NBA Finals, it would be a ratings nightmare and super quick series. People might watch the Knicks. I'm pretty sure the top 7 teams in the West would sweep every team under the Bucks in 4 games, maybe 5 unless injuries happen. The NBA needs marquee teams and players to have good ratings, unfortunately. Alot of fans, especially on this site, don't like hear that. Even last year, as good as Miami was, and a great underdog story, they were going to lose the Lakers. Most people knew that. Most casual fans will watch Nets-Lakers, because of the star power alone. Two big market teams. Lebron/KD/Harden/Kyrie/AD, that's alot going on there. Especially, if it's a long series. NBA Finals get their best ratings in Game 1, Game 6, and Game 7. That's the problem with having a weaker team or a team without marquee players are fans going to watch such a team in a playoff run. Hard to say. Again, it's weird people complain about parity in the championships, yet the NBA's highest ratings are with popular teams and superstar players. 1980s was all Lakers, except two seasons from the West. 8x times in 11 years (1980-1991). Boston appeared 5x between (81-87). Chicago was in 6x NBA Finals from (91-98). I don't think we can compare sports, like MLB, NHL, and NFL, because they all have unique situations. It's even worse with comparisons to college sports, like NCAA Basketball and Football. Even, in the more competitive seasons over NBA history, where all of the playoff teams had great records and great playoff series, it didn't necessarily mean that ratings and attendance would be higher. I think parity is great for the league, itself. Will it help ratings? I'm not completely sure it would in a meaningful way. You still need a superstar player or two for a series to be ratings bonanza. https://bleacherreport.com/articles...-been-the-most-loyal-during-the-past-15-years
yes. At least he would get us to the playoffs. We don't even own our lottery pick because we traded him.
I don't disagree with what you say. Yeah, Hawks in the finals is extremely unlikely. Just my wishful thinking. Bottomline: I HATE big market superteam. I hope they all fail miserably. Honestly, the ONLY reason Rockets fans should root for the Nets is James Harden. Why would you want the snake KD win again? Why would you want the self-deluded Kyrie win again? Why would you want a super stacked team steamrolling over lesser talents? Why would anyone root for Goliath?
Not necessarily, you never know, a team, like the Hawks, Knicks, or Heat could blow through the EC and win a championship. I never say impossible, because it can happen. You don't know where dominos fall, but it's all unlikely. Still, we as Rockets fans do have an interest with Harden, but probably not KD and Kyrie. But, there are few fans on this forum that love those two or one of the two. Absolutely loathe them. Though, the beauty in that, is that at least, it's on a non-traditional powerhouse team. A super stacked team steam rolling lesser talents, not fun. But, I think if the Nets win it all, they would have had a pretty tough road to the championship. The Bucks are a super tough matchup for them. They have the roster, the coaching, and enough firepower to make alot of tough games. I believe this one will go all 7. The 76ers are probably just as tough and they have home-field. From the West, the Suns and Jazz would have homecourt and enough overall depth to make a good series. Both are good enough to make 6 game series with the Nets. Not necessarily beat them, but I'd have to give both edge a little in game 7 at home in the NBA Finals. Their primary threats are probably the Nuggets and the Lakers for obvious reasons. I even think that a healthy Nuggets team would have almost drawn an even series. I believe the Nuggets are the team of the future with Jokic, Murray, and Porter Jr. Though, they aren't quite as strong without Murray, but they can run up and down the floor with anyone, especially Jokic. The Lakers are always a threat with Lebron and AD with pretty good support players. They're also pretty good on defense. They'd probably crush the Mavs, unless they kept up their shooting and KP stays healthy. I hate this team, but if they pulled their heads out of their @sses and got their s#it, together. The Clippers would have chance against the Nets. They really don't need a big against the Nets, like they do against alot of these Western teams who have really good bigs. They can go smaller against the Nets and not sacrifice alot. Because, they don't have to worry about a Jokic, an AD, or KP.
I don't think they'll make the finals but I just wanted to point out that the Hawks most definitely did NOT play well all season. They were absolute garbage and then they had team meetings, changed their coach, Trae changed how he was playing, Bogdan got more involved and were on fire since then. It was almost like they were 2 different teams this year.
Lakers-Nets would be the most entertaining finals based off star power alone the NBA wants this to happen for sure, the ratings will be HUGE KD vs Bron, NY vs LA, polarizing players like Harden and Kyrie, elite offense vs elite defense that will be basketball played at its highest level, and unlike the Cavs vs the KD Warriors, it’s won’t be some extremely lopsided affair
The big 3 > big 2 and nets secondary guys are better than the lakers guys. I would probably take joe harris over anyone on the lakers not named Lebron or AD. Might take BG over anyone on the lakers too.
Shroeder is so hit or miss. He looks great in one game and terrible in the next. He isn't good as a point guard. He is an ok scorer. I think Harris would be a better fit with Lebron and AD. Rondo was good last year as he took pg duties off LeBron..
This is classic Cp3 at this point though. Thats why the Cp3 Harden duo was doomed to fail trade or no trade. Dudes always been the ultimate tease.
We have 50% chance at the lotto. Thats better than the 0% if we got to the playoffs then get stomped by the Lakers, or the Jazz I guess in this case since they have no 1 seed. In retrospect trading for Cp3 in the first place was a mistake, he was a FA in 1 year yet we gave up a Hardenesque haul to get him just for his ego. If we got him for "free" asset wise it wouldnt have hurt so much when we traded picks and swaps for WB.
Had to be done to keep Harden happy. Maybe Harden wants out earlier if we didn't trade for his buddy. I also think trading cp3 is what lit a fire for him to come back stronger so who knows what would have happened
Trading for CP3 was NOT a mistake. The Rockets won 65 games that year and had the Warriors(with Durant) on the ropes. The problem was the team gambled on Paul's health and got burned like every prior franchise he was with. The Suns are just the latest organization to potentially get screwed by the guy's inability to stay healthy in the postseason. The mistake was the Westbrook trade. The Rockets would've had to rebuild in a few years regardless given that Harden is in his 30s now and has a ton of mileage on that body. But once that deal failed to get the team past the 2nd round and everybody demanded to be moved(plus D'Antoni was let go), the Rockets quickly went from a Top 4 team in the West to the worst in the league.
It will be very lopsided because Lebron and AD really can't cover or slow down any of Brooklyn's players. Lakers had success against Harden last year because when they doubled and tripled him, WB and the rest of the rockets played like trash and couldn't make them pay. If they attempt to double and triple Harden this year, it would mean single coverage for Durant and Kyrie, and wide open shots for Harris. Brooklyn with Harden on the floor is the scariest offensive team of all time and the numbers back it up. You really never get any rest since Harden with their fire power. As Harden has stated on several occasions, Scary Hours.
