NBA 2015-2016 Season Thread

[Hiromi]

Very strange since for the first 2 months they look like a NBA D league team. I wonder if they'll screw up with finishing dead last be hilarious.

once we get past the break I think they'll regress a bit(and 6ers management will help ensure it), right now everyone looks past them to the break so just them playing hard can catch teams unaware.

Now the Lakers on the other hand should be worried, they have to get a top 3 pick or lose it, ironically to the 6ers(same next year if they do get a top 3 pick).

[Kirby101]

Good bye Derek Fisher as Knicks head coach. Being a great player doesnt mean you'll be a great coach.
I think the Knicks can still win mire than 35 games, and make the playoffs as a 7th or 8th seed.

He was a bad choice to begin with. Wonder who they will get?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

My Sixers gave Lob City all it could handle last night, leading by as much as 19 points in the first half. Unfortunately, as has often been the case, the young and inexperienced Sixers couldn't close the deal, going cold late in the fourth quarter, allowing the Clippers to tie the game on a J.J. Redick trey with ten seconds left, then pulling out the win in overtime. A good game, but a disappointing finish.

[Rob Allen]

Before the season, the line in Vegas was that the Trail Blazers would win 26.5 games this season.

Here we are at the All-Star break and the Blazers are 27-27 and in seventh place in the West.

I wish I'd made some bets...

[Hiromi]

Also didn't predict Houston and New Orleans would be sub .500 and Phoenix would be bottoming out.

This is going to be a REALLY interesting deadline, Hawks are reportedly thinking about blowing up the team, Korver, Teague, and Horford are all said to be potentially available, teams that are suspected to be good like the aforementioned Pelicans and New Orleans are doing terrible which means potentially big trades, Phoenix in addition to bottoming out has a locker room that's apparently turning toxic fast which means that roster is likely to get blown up, lots of stuff in the air.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Allen Iverson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Johnson, Lefty Driesell, Tom Izzo and Bo Ryan are among the 2016 finalists for induction to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

[JaggedFel]

Well SHaq is first ballot for sure.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

So is Allen. Rookie of the Year, 2001 MVP, 4-time scoring champion, 9-time NBA All-Star, pound for pound, the most feared scorer in NBA history. The Answer is a slam dunk first ballot HOFer.

[daBronzeBomma]

So here we are at the unofficial mid-point of the 2015-2016 NBA season. What have we learned?

- This season is shaping up to be a bigger version of last year's results, at least with regard to the Finals, League MVP and NBA Champions: Warriors vs Cavaliers Part II, Stephen Curry repeats as League MVP, and the Warriors repeat as the 2016 NBA Champions. Plenty of time for all that to change, of course.

- Kawhi Leonard has become the best two-way player and the clear-cut go-to alpha on the Spurs, as well as a legitimate League MVP (top-5) candidate.

- Dwight Howard and James Harden cannot coexist in Houston and one of them is going to traded before the mid-season deadline. Unfortunately, it'll be the wrong guy who gets traded (Howard) instead of the real problem (Harden). Only ... who could use a true center like Howard in today's NBA?

- Kobe has made Official Farewell Tour Seasons so hip and fashionable that now Shaq openly regrets not having one of his own before he retired.

- Speaking of Shaquille O'Neal, congrats on headlining the Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016 inductees! Shout out to Tom Izzo (Sparty on!) making it as well.

- Will the 2016 Golden State Warriors get to at least 73 wins this season to top the 1996 Chicago Bulls? I honestly think they might hit 75 wins at this pace.

- Do the Boston Celtics make a trade for Al Horford? Who would they have to give up (and who could they keep) if they do go that route?

- What happens if the Cleveland Cavaliers don't win the title this year? Blow it all up or just re-tool?

Questions, questions, questions ...

[Hiromi]

Letting Bigs compete was the best idea they've had for the skills competition in years, first time in a while I got invested in it, and Karl Anthony Towns winning was fun

Klay bests his team mate this year

Kenny's right, at this point Levine is competing against himself
edit: I take it back, Gordon and Levine are turning this into the best dunk contest I've seen in YEARS

That was as good a two man show as I've ever seen in the dunk contest, including Jordan and Wilkins.

It also astonishes me that we've gone from free throw line dunks, to free throw line windmill and between the legs dunks

[mathew101281]

Letting Bigs compete was the best idea they've had for the skills competition in years, first time in a while I got invested in it, and Karl Anthony Towns winning was fun

Klay bests his team mate this year

Kenny's right, at this point Levine is competing against himself
edit: I take it back, Gordon and Levine are turning this into the best dunk contest I've seen in YEARS

That was as good a two man show as I've ever seen in the dunk contest, including Jordan and Wilkins.

It also astonishes me that we've gone from free throw line dunks, to free throw line windmill and between the legs dunks

I was just coming here to say that that was the best All star Saturday night in years. but you beat me to it.

[HUTHAIFA]

Aaron Gordon won that Slam Dunk contest. That was the new Montreal Screwjob. Damn Canada

[WestPhillyPunisher]

- This season is shaping up to be a bigger version of last year's results, at least with regard to the Finals, League MVP and NBA Champions: Warriors vs Cavaliers Part II, Stephen Curry repeats as League MVP, and the Warriors repeat as the 2016 NBA Champions. Plenty of time for all that to change, of course.

Golden State figures to have the top spot in the West sewn up by the end of March. Over in the East, I don't see anyone challenging Cleveland, so yeah, we could see a repeat of last season's Finals.

- Will the 2016 Golden State Warriors get to at least 73 wins this season to top the 1996 Chicago Bulls? I honestly think they might hit 75 wins at this pace.

Unless Steve Kerr wants to break the record, I suspect he'll ease off the gas and rest his stars like Pop does once he's wrapped up the West in order to keep them fresh and healthy for the playoffs.

- What happens if the Cleveland Cavaliers don't win the title this year? Blow it all up or just re-tool?

The only way Cleveland blows it up is if Lebron leaves, otherwise, so, look for them to retool for one last shot before Father Time taps King James on the shoulder.

[daBronzeBomma]

It's the Mid-Season Trade Deadline Week!

Who is getting traded by the 3 PM EST deadline on Thursday 18th Feb?

[Hiromi]

I'd be shocked if we don't see at least one major deal go down.