The Official Emirates NBA Cup 2024 Thread
- Thread starter QWERTYLICIOUS
- Start date
Group Draw results are as follows:
Western Conference
West Group A
East Group A
Western Conference
West Group A
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- LA Clippers
- Sacramento Kings
- Houston Rockets
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Phoenix Suns
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Utah Jazz
- San Antonio Spurs
- Denver Nuggets
- Dallas Mavericks
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Golden State Warriors
- Memphis Grizzlies
East Group A
- New York Knicks
- Orlando Magic
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Brooklyn Nets
- Charlotte Hornets
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Indiana Pacers
- Miami Heat
- Toronto Raptors
- Detroit Pistons
- Boston Celtics
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Chicago Bulls
- Atlanta Hawks
- Washington Wizards
Yeah, there's really no other way to do this objectively. There's always going to be imbalance since some teams get substantially better in the off-season and others get substantially worse. Having a committee go in and tweak things in an attempt to make them more balanced would most likely just introduce unwanted bias into the process. Aside from the cash bonuses for the winning team and the top two teams playing an additional game (which doesn't count in the standings) the NBA cup has no impact on the regular season or playoff seedings anyway so this system is good enough.
It looks like we got a little lucky here drawing the playoff team who is likely to drop the most (Clippers) and a Portland team which is still very much rebuilding. We played Minnesota well this past season -- hopefully that carries over. We'll also get an early look at how much Reed Sheppard improves Houston's playoff potential. They could be a team to watch next season though the Jalen Green situation looms as a turning point for them. He's entering year four and if he doesn't improve his 3pt shot or defense significantly I think he's in danger of losing his starting spot which probably means he gets traded. Either he takes a big leap or he's the odd man out along with whichever forwards end up in Udoka's doghouse this year.
It looks like we got a little lucky here drawing the playoff team who is likely to drop the most (Clippers) and a Portland team which is still very much rebuilding. We played Minnesota well this past season -- hopefully that carries over. We'll also get an early look at how much Reed Sheppard improves Houston's playoff potential. They could be a team to watch next season though the Jalen Green situation looms as a turning point for them. He's entering year four and if he doesn't improve his 3pt shot or defense significantly I think he's in danger of losing his starting spot which probably means he gets traded. Either he takes a big leap or he's the odd man out along with whichever forwards end up in Udoka's doghouse this year.