DJariya

The season starts in 12 days and preseason starts Friday. Might as well get something going now for the new season.

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The season schedule is only partially released. And fans being brought back is TBD. Here in Los Angeles, Staples Center will be empty until further notice.

fujishig

I can only imagine fantasy basketball is going to be an even bigger headache than fantasy football was this year.

Decker

No LeBron or AD for the Lakers' Pre-Season opener tomorrow.

Speaking of which :

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DJariya

Damn, PG-13 just signed a massive contract extension with the Clips

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Here's the actual specifics. It's 4 more years added on top of the current season.

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fujishig

If Kawhi bolts for whatever reason, that is not going to be good for the Clips...

Noonan

Not only did the give up their future but now they sign him to an un-tradable contract? Wow; I thought the Clippers wanted to win.

DJariya

Bobby Marks breaks down the apparent new money he's getting. He better not be firing up lazy bricks like he did in last season's playoffs.

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~~ PAL ~~

To me, that is an extremely dumb move to give George a max extension, when he has shown absolutely nothing to warrant it. The Clippers seems to just feel pot committed because they gave up 6 players/picks to get him in the door.

Decker

To be fair, the last three contracts to be dubbed "untradable" have all been traded -- two of them twice.

But yeah it's a surprising and questionable move. Though if you're The Clippers and you make sure you have a star in your new building, I guess it's the right move?
Looking forward to see what Hollinger and others think of the signing.

Edit : Pelton thinks it's a good sign that the Clips are going to be able their core together for a while.

DJariya

Bill MacDonald, Stu Lantz and Mike Trudell are officially back as the Lakers broadcast team on Spectrum. However, this press release is strangely worded. I don't know what they mean by just 31 games. So 41 games are going to be national exclusives? That seems like a lot.

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The Questyen

There is no world where AD is the second best player in the NBA so move him closer to the end of that top ten and it's a great list.

DJariya

So here is what the modified Staples Center looks like.

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LA is a fucking dumpster fire for coronavirus right now. 12 to 13K cases per day. You couldn't open this up for limited fans right now.

DJariya

Been watching this game between the Clippers and Lakers. Nice to see the new faces. Schroder did some good things and I really like the addition of Harrell.

By the way, Bill and Stu said tonight on the broadcast that they and all the NBA announcers are not travelling when their team goes on the road due to the pandemic. They will do what baseball did and call road games remotely.

DJariya

I'm excited about having Montrezl Harrell this season. He showed some flashes tonight, but once the games count, he's going to give them the rebounding and scoring off the bench that they didn't get from Dwight and Javale.

fujishig

I kind of think his primary use is going to be allowing AD and Lebron to rest in the regular season. I'm not confident his style of play holds up in the playoffs, though maybe last year was an outlier with all the other crap going on and him coming back from injury.

Decker

I would have been more concerned if we hadn’t also gotten Marc Gasol. With the two of those guys, I think the bench can hold its own.

DJariya

The 3rd Ball brother was cut by the Pistons

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His father ruined his career, especially pulling him out of UCLA after the whole shoplifting scandal and then with no college playing experience on his belt.

~~ PAL ~~

That guy fucked himself. Did his father also instruct him to go steal shit at a store while in a foreign country? It was only after that particular "international incident" that he got his ass yanked from college, so no one to blame but himself.

DJariya

THT scored 33 points tonight against the Clips. I know it was a meaningless game, but the dude can really play. Hope he gets a lot of playing time this season.

Decker

It would be pretty funny if after waiting for four years for Kuz to have a breakout season, THT ends up being the Lakers young star.

fujishig

The only issue is that both were pretty useless in the playoffs last year. But again, they are going to be backing up two of the greatest players ever, so if they can give any minutes once the playoffs roll around, that's gravy.

The dude was the least talented of his brothers and was a stretch to get drafted even before his (and his dad's) shenanigans.

Decker

As expected my Twitter feed blew up yesterday with semi-serious and tongue-in-cheek THT takes.

Red Hood

I just checked and the NBA is keeping the league pass price at $199 even with less games and so far they plan on doing blackouts for local markets, which makes no sense since people aren't able to attend games.

DJariya

Noah Vonleh waived by Bulls after testing positive for COVID, but he was expected to get cut.

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Decker

The blackouts are about protecting regional broadcast networks , not about in-person attendance.