'24-25 commentary

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Lakers appear to have a road issue. More acute at the moment but there was weakness there last season too.

FTA advantage drawing attention again.

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Bucks go to 1 - 6.

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Pelicans sure under-performing my expectations.

Wembanyama with another bad offensive game and team lowest +/-.

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Bucks tied for 13th in the weak easy. Lots of road games upcoming.

Knicks rise up to 4-4 and take 3rd place.

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Kawhi at trade deadline or next summer? Have to see what he and team does, but trade probably should be considered.

Warriors, Lakers, Hawks, Nets are a few possibilities. Who else? Rockets? Griz?

Still hasn't played.

Can't trade til he does.

They probabky don't want to, yet.

But you can wait too long. If they already haven't.

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Sochan - Wembanyama is -1. Ok I guess but down from late last season. Down to 19th most used pair, so not really the core of cores as some thought.

Wembanyama shooting and scoring efficiency has ticked up most places, with long 2s being the exception.

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Spurs starters 43 pts better / 100p with Champaigne over Sochan. A rare equal / moderate test at 75 minutes each so far. Will it continue even or break one way or other?

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Myles Turner has been quite weak impact overall so far. On offensive rebounding and perhaps defense.

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Imo Bulls should trade Giddey or turn him into a backup forward.

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4 of youngest 10 teams have a winning record. Same for middle 10. 7 of oldest 10 do.

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The Wizards SRS this season is more than 50% worse than the Pistons' last season.

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Nuggets bench remains very weak overall.

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George and Embid, 24 missed games and BPM barely above and below neutral.

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Pelicans defense 6 pts worse with rookie center Missi on court, in big minutes. Team with him on beat in every main net stat comparison.

Obviously lots going on but this is part of the weakness, seen mainly beyond the individual boxscore stats. Bottom third on Darko.

Drafted too high? Too early to conclude but that was my take at draft.


What to do? Besides get healthy? Trades, coaching and / or top management change.

Analytics? What was offered, used? Anything work?

Very much not Moreyball.

2 elite tier factors, 2 middle 4 in bottom 20%. Shooting and shot defense in bottom 2.

Unsalvageable? Probably for playoffs this season. Certainly won't get good without massive changes. Not sure what the vision was, but it probably needs review / overhaul.


Only 1 lineup used barely 2 minutes per game, because of injuries but also chaos after that. Only 6 used for 1 min / gm. Regardless of injuries that is chaos. 237 lineups used, probably one of the very highest. 3 of the 5 most used have been horrendous.

20 of 20 most used player pairs negative and only a very few positive trios and quads. Have to assume there are talent and / or system issues.

Murray's very brief time on court has been near worst at -20pts / 100p.

Not fouling is not working.

To be fair, some things worked last season. A point by point review would be appropriate. Maybe at another time. Not my mess, but I could sort thru it.

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Cavs best at home. Thunder best on road.

Lakers modestly better than average at home, modestly worse on road. Well worse the average blowout W-L spilt affects expected wins readout.

Nobody has beaten Celtics by 10+. Thunder and Rockets just once. Rockets by Thunder. Thunder by Warriors.