ShastaKingsFan
All-Star
They're a 4th quarter team. If they are anywhere close, they always have a fighting chance
[NBA] The 2025 Finals
- Thread starter Mr. S£im Citrus
- Start date
They're a 4th quarter team. If they are anywhere close, they always have a fighting chance
coolhandluke
Starter
Thunder thought they had the game in the bag and blew so many layups at the end.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Dudes not it at all
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
If the Pacers pull this off, would it be the greatest upset in the history of the NBA? We are talking historically great defense, MVP and 60 plus win team here.
sactowndog
All-Star
Man that Hali trade looking almost as bad as the Luka draft. Between Vlade’s drafts and Monte’s trades ugh. Monte tenure looking worse than the Pete tenure.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Define close they were down 15 in the fourth and down 20 to NYK in the fourth
Joshyjosh31
Starter
It’s worse luka didn’t prove he was a star in the league yet or show signs haliburton on the other had was baby Steph and we saw it in the league and still traded him for a ****ing center not named Jokic or Embiid
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Here's the thing, are either of these teams beating the Shaq/Kobe Lakers? The Heat with the big 3? The Celtics of either era? And so on. I think the Thunder as of now are farther away from any of the truly great teams than the Pacers are away from them at this point. Maybe the Thunder eventually get there but that will rely on Holmgren getting to that ceiling of his most likely. SGA and this squad at this point in their development would get straight slapped around by the Jordan Bulls haha.
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
Dude, isn’t the constant negativity exhausting?
Ummmm, its 1 game, but it was alot more important for the Pacers - it wasn't as impressive as the Knick win either.
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
I get your point but this team probably could have 70 wins if they wanted to. Their defense is suffocating. SGA is unguardable. We actually probably need them to win this so then don’t trade for Giannis or it’s night night for 5 years.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Nemberhard looking like prime CP3 in that fourth shouldn’t be overlooked
ShastaKingsFan
All-Star
Who would you rather build your team around as a lead player, Luka or Hali? That's how bad this is
That 3 was most entertaining of the game.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
But it's still SGA and a bunch of role guys/semi stars or not fully developed talent. They aren't the level of dominance of teams of the past and thus why the league has "parity" right now and why the Thunder can't get cute like they did tonight. Yeah, that parity is probably going to be changing at some point though. Personally I'd actually rather Giannis go to the Thunder because if the Spurs get him they'll probably be putting Fox, Wemby, and Giannis together which is bye bye parity if Wemby is healthy. Who would the Thunder give up? Certainly Holmgren to start and probably Williams too taking a big fat chunk of their talent core in the process.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Luka no question if you're starting ground up. The Pacers aren't winning because Haliburton is superstaring them somewhere, they have chemistry and are rolling right now.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
It’s still Luka but man Hali is that dude to think haliburton and saki should be in Sacramento right now hurts. We built bulls west and the pacers are building Kings the way it should’ve been
Joshyjosh31
Starter
I assume they pick between JDub/Chet then add in Topic, Wallace, and picks
If OKC were smart they’ll do it but they’ll probably ride this out with a fraud number two option
ShastaKingsFan
All-Star
I'd take Hali. Much better leader and helps everyone around him reach their full potential. His value goes much deeper than "superstar" numbers
SLAB
Hall of Famer
And we chose De’Aaron Fox. Lmao
QWERTYLICIOUS
Starter
I appreciate your stance, but not drafting Luka (a generational talent) because you had Fox was by far the worst of the two moves.
QWERTYLICIOUS
Starter
Luka.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Maybe, I remember hearing the same things about Rondo back in the day though. If you have a deep team like the Pacers do Hali is obviously a better fit because Luka would be launching while Siakam stood in the corner pouting, lol. Tonight when Hali was kind of getting exposed he took a step back and let his teammates pick up the slack. Luka probably wouldn't do that haha. Carlisle when at this best has done this kind of thing before and built off the same basic vibe. Play to your strengths and just keep going. Go down with the ship if it does, oh well. He didn't slug it out with the Heat back in the day either, he ground them down because that was his team build and he knew a slugfest would be doom against the Heat. Now to see if the Thunder are what they think they are. It's their move next.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Do you think vlade trades Luka after seeing his potential in the league? Mistakes before the draft can be forgiven outside of passing on Wemby and lebron
ShastaKingsFan
All-Star
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
And beyond that people are griping about the WRONG THING. Gripe about the Kings inability to DEVELOP talent. Or even know what the talent is in front of them. Vlades mistake was seeing Giannis in Bagley. Like WTF? If he saw a bootleg Amare he's at least able to trade out of Bagley for something useful.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Rondo? Really?
Yes. It was Rondo's "leadership" and the guy that made the engine work, blah, blah, blah. People forget out good Rondo was I think. Like I said, ground up you need an MVP level talent if he's your go to. Maybe Tyrese could be that guy, but I think he's a little more unselfish than you typically find in players like Luka. You design your offense around Luka's.
Bulls West - HA
