The Bucks just gave Kris Middleton $180 million dollars. No doubt he tests the free agent market 2 summers from now. Maybe he requests a trade next summer.

Knicks clearing cap space for Gianis in 2021...

Knicks are always clearing cap space... If he test the free agent market he is gone. No max player in the last decade has tested and went back.

_________________

Dallas signing Gianis' younger brother prolly signals they're all-in on the Gianis 2021 sweepstakes. Mavs can leverage
Luka and retired Dirk to woo Gianis away from Milwaukee. Porzingis, Gianis and Doncic would be one hell of a big 3. Mavs would still need a legit PG. Chris Paul might make sense if Gianis were joining the team this Summer. Hard to see 36 year old Paul being a heavy minutes starter in 2 years. Paul does enjoy yelling at younger players, maybe Dallas brings him in to coach up one of their younger PG prospects. Although Luka's capable of running point and Gianis and Porzingis both have above average handles for 7 footers. A defensive minded combo PG/SG with a not terrible handle might be all they need, someone like Beverley.

Im movin' to Milwaukee.

I'm gettin' the fuck outta here. Fuck this place.

_________________

NBA fandom spends far too much time projecting player movement years down the road. It's an unattractive feature for me.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Me too. 99% of the projections turn out to be wrong

_________________

They should just move the entire league to Las Vegas.

_________________
"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

I still say if Knicks landed the #1, Durant and Irving follow.

Yes it’s getting quite out of hand.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

You see this in baseball and basketball that there is an entire fandom of a theoretical league that doesn't seem all that concerned with the day to day action of the actual league. I guess fantasy is kind of like that for the NFL but its not the same. At least those people have something on the line. The MLB/NBA people seem to fashion themselves as cutting edge GMs in the making. Maybe I'm wrong.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

You're right. Just look how many people on here are willing to bash GarPax for personnel moves all the time as opposed to discussing what happens during the actual game.

_________________

It happened to MLB 2 decades ago. The enjoyment isn't the game. The game itself is just a data point. Collating and analyzing the data is the enjoyment.

For some i guess. I still get more enjoyment from watching the game and discussing the competitive aspects of it.

I don't care much for comparing data points. Its boring and most of the guys that focus on that don't actually watch the game.

_________________

The enjoyment for me is ALWAYS the game. The athletics of it, the momentum changes, the coaching,
and the game within the game. Those things have been dumped into the ditch because the Math boys feel they can explain all that. Look at it like a house. The data is foundational as is the plumbing, HVAC, and electrical. But the enjoyment of the house is anything but foundational. The Math boys suck the fun out the Great Room. They rather talk about the damper in the fireplace. I want to talk about how great the fire is. I know the damper is key. Quit shoving it in my face like I don't know. The IMU-"Abreu is in regression" is a perfect example.

Its the Bernstein effect. Its one of the reasons i stopped listening to his show. Stats are cool as a supplement. They're good if they can support what you're seeing on the court.

They are terrible if its the only thing that is ever discussed.

I get enjoyment simply from watching the game. If the game is competitive and guys are getting after it then thats enough for me. Skill level too.

Doesn't have to be championships on the line. It can be a regular season game for all i care.

_________________

The Championships or Bust crowd is even worse than the Data Is All That Matters crowd, although there's obviously vast overlap between the two

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Yep and also part of the Bernstein effect. I've watched sports (all major sports) my entire life and i never got the feeling that a sporting competition was meaningless unless you win a championship til the Score came around. They aren't the only ones but they most assuredly were the first. Even the local sportswriters or my guy Chet never made that big a deal out of winning it all.

_________________

Actually, it's fair to have that attitude. That's the point of everything, isn't it? It's why Reinsdorf's name is Dirt.

It doesn't heighten the experience all that much for me.

When the Bulls were winning all the time it got boring after awhile. I appreciated the Jordan Journey almost as much as i did the winning.

Most years the competition was relatively weak and that cheapened the experience for me somewhat.

_________________

No, if you have that attitude you're very likely to be as miserable as Bernstein and his ilk. I'd say a championship is the point of everything if you're a pro athlete. If you're a fan and can't enjoy a season that exceeds all expectations but doesn't end in a championship I'd suggest a new hobby.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Championship or bust is fan-like. The data is all that matters fella ISN'T a fan.

Both are fan like. The former are fans of being miserable twats and the latter are fans of math. I find them pretty equally odd.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

In October 1983, I was PISSED. It was not odd.

I just can't understand the mindset. You KNOW you're setting yourself to be miserable/pissed pretty much every year of your life as a sports fan save one or two GLORIOUS years. I can appreciate a team like 2008 White Sox. Danks and Thome in Game 163 were awesome. I can't imagine, even after losing to the Rays, being like "well, that season sucked"

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Sox-Baltimore series. That was the most disappointment that i have ever felt as a sports fan. Fucking Tito Landrum.

If we just could have got to Lamar Hoyt in Game 5 it was going to be a wrap. We would have won the World Series 22 years earlier.

_________________

The better mindset IMO is “seriously contend or nothing”.

Season after season mediocrity destroys my fandom.

_________________

O's 19 runs 28 hits. Sox 3 runs 28 hits. A bed wetting bust of a bust.

Game 4 was theirs for the taking and if they could have got Hoyt in Game 5 it would have been lights out.

_________________

This thread feels very middle aged and very white