NBA Official 2026 NBA Playoffs Thread

spurraider21 said:
MPJ was more important than people ever gave credit for, and he was really hurt during their playoff run last year. iirc it was his shooting shoulder.

it wasnt just the shooting (which is more dangerous than Cam). even if his man to man defense is meh, he gave them legit size and range on defense in a way that Cam Johnson simply doesnt, and he's always been a solid rebounder

Braun and Gordon were the overpays. Gordon is a good defender but i dont get why people keep referring to him as the nuggets rim protector. he isnt that.
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Nah, Aaron Gordon is legit, imho. I don't think it exists another role player like him in the NBA. He's elite and way more valuable than many "stars" in the league. The problem with him is that he's just breaking down physically.
 
spurraider21 said:
MPJ was more important than people ever gave credit for, and he was really hurt during their playoff run last year. iirc it was his shooting shoulder.

it wasnt just the shooting (which is more dangerous than Cam). even if his man to man defense is meh, he gave them legit size and range on defense in a way that Cam Johnson simply doesnt, and he's always been a solid rebounder

Braun and Gordon were the overpays. Gordon is a good defender but i dont get why people keep referring to him as the nuggets rim protector. he isnt that. murray has badly struggled against minnesota during their playoff series', and thats a problem. but otherwise i dont think paying him was a mistake

the nuggets werent able to replace some of the guys from their title team.

- KCP was a very good 3&D player for a few years, but he left in free agency and they never filled that gap. Braun is a solid defender and athlete but he's not giving them what KCP gave. I guess Spencer Jones has come close.

- Bruce Brown was playing nearly 30mpg for those teams and he was an effective 2-way player. they never replaced that impact, and even Brown upon his return hasnt lived up to the level he was at that year

- Reggie Jackson was there, and you could argue Hardaway Jr replaced his value.. but Jackson was another ballhandler who could drive to the rim. nuggets only have murray for that role now

- Jeff Green was their reserve 4/5 who gave them pretty solid minutes as the old vet. they had nobody the last couple of years. and where was valanciunas during this playoff series?
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Reggie Jackson laps THJ imho
 
spurraider21 said:
MPJ was more important than people ever gave credit for, and he was really hurt during their playoff run last year. iirc it was his shooting shoulder.

it wasnt just the shooting (which is more dangerous than Cam). even if his man to man defense is meh, he gave them legit size and range on defense in a way that Cam Johnson simply doesnt, and he's always been a solid rebounder

Braun and Gordon were the overpays. Gordon is a good defender but i dont get why people keep referring to him as the nuggets rim protector. he isnt that. murray has badly struggled against minnesota during their playoff series', and thats a problem. but otherwise i dont think paying him was a mistake
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Basketball Reference's similarity scores aren't perfect, but I think they're a decent starting point where it come to analyzing a player's general career impact. Aaron Gordon's similar players are guys like Caron Butler, Kenyon Martin, Cliff Levingston, Orlando Woolridge... and I think those kind of impact comparisons are probably pretty accurate. They're all decent players, but not guys you'd think of as the second or third best players on a championship team. Murray's statistical analogies are Jeff Malone, Spencer Dinwiddie, Ricky Rubio, and Jameer Nelson... This is not to say that those comparisons are perfect, but I think it's fair to say that Jokic has never had a hugely impactful player at his side whose success wasn't mostly the result of being on the court with him. Christian Braun starts for Denver... on the Thunder or the Spurs, he'd be more like a 9th man in the rotation.

 
DAF86 said:
Nah, Aaron Gordon is legit, imho. I don't think it exists another role player like him in the NBA. He's elite and way more valuable than many "stars" in the league. The problem with him is that he's just breaking down physically.
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hes a very good defender. hes not a rim protector
 
Robz4000 said:
They can have one, not both tbh.
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cant trade both because of stepien anyway.

the issue with risacher, who i loved as a prospect and thought was solid as a rookie, is you are no longer getting him in year 1 of his rookie deal. his rookie deal isnt very cheap due to his being #1 overall, and he only has 2 years left.

and where does he play? he's not playing ahead of devin, julian, keldon, or bryant
 
there's an alternate universe where Denver loses that last regular season game

Nuggets able to coast through the 1st rd, giving AG a real good shot of recovery and make it really tough for OKC in rd 2 or even beat them

instead, they go home in Rd 1, they can thank Roddy and Valanciunas for it
 
Denver is simply getting to realise that they were never as good as they thought tbh.. The title run was more of a lull era in the nba and they capitalised. But now okc and spurs have hoarded all the talent in the league and everybody else must overpay mid tier players. They were also on the wrong side of new contract trend.. they overpaid in a time when owners overpaid for everyone, now everybody is weary of max contracts and denver doesn't have room to improve anymore. They should trade jokic tbh.
 
spurraider21 said:
cant trade both because of stepien anyway.

the issue with risacher, who i loved as a prospect and thought was solid as a rookie, is you are no longer getting him in year 1 of his rookie deal. his rookie deal isnt very cheap due to his being #1 overall, and he only has 2 years left.

and where does he play? he's not playing ahead of devin, julian, keldon, or bryant
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Not saying the Spurs should trade both picks, but they can if they wait until draft night. The Stepien Rule only says you can't ever be in a position to potentially not have a first in two consecutive future drafts. On draft night, 2026 will no longer be a future draft and the Stepien Rule rolls forward to only consider 2027-2033.
 
spurraider21 said:
cant trade both because of stepien anyway.

the issue with risacher, who i loved as a prospect and thought was solid as a rookie, is you are no longer getting him in year 1 of his rookie deal. his rookie deal isnt very cheap due to his being #1 overall, and he only has 2 years left.

and where does he play? he's not playing ahead of devin, julian, keldon, or bryant
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I'd bring him off the bench with Champ and Keldon (CB should prolly be starting next year tbh).

Fox
Castle
Vassell
CB
Wemby

Harper
Champ
Keldon
Risacher
Kornet
 
Raven_ said:
Denver is simply getting to realise that they were never as good as they thought tbh.. The title run was more of a lull era in the nba and they capitalised. But now okc and spurs have hoarded all the talent in the league and everybody else must overpay mid tier players. They were also on the wrong side of new contract trend.. they overpaid in a time when owners overpaid for everyone, now everybody is weary of max contracts and denver doesn't have room to improve anymore. They should trade jokic tbh.
Click to expand...

IMG_2921.webp
 
I knew the Timberwolves wanted it more, but just didn't think they had the shot creation to finish the job. Think this goes down as the GOAT win in their franchise history, edging game 7 on the road vs Nuggets in '24. Incredibly impressive.

The agenda pushers are already attempting to soften the blow, but a massive "legacy" hit to one of my favorites, Jokic. Closest analog in this era is Antetokounmpo, who's been getting skewered for his lack of playoff success the past half decade despite having worse teams with more injuries and not having anything to this degree on his resume.
 
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