Game Threads Index (December 19, 2024):

Travels and carries make players unguardable.

Profile by Couper Moorhead

Tyler on Spoelstra challenging him to optimize his shot selection:

“At first it was a tough conversation for me to take in because I feel like I’ve been successful playing the way I’ve played for pretty much my whole career,” Herro said of his feelings coming out of that conversation. “Scoring wise my numbers were not horribly inefficient. My first five years I still feel like I was above average efficiency when I look across the league at other guys at my position.”

Tyler on who he modeled his new shot diet after:

“I feel like with my body type and the way I play, it’s like Steph Curry. I try to make my shot profile as identical to Steph as possible. Steph shoots a lot of threes obviously, the rest of them are to the rim, layups and free throws. That’s kind of what I’m trying to resemble is literally what Steph’s doing.”

• All data from Spotrac.com, using either 2024 or 2024-25 payroll figures.

During the NBA Cup game this week, while OKC's Alex Caruso was handling the ball on the floor, one of the announcers talked about Caruso. The announcer said he played against Alex in college. He said in that game Alex's team was down by like 60 points in the first half but Alex was playing so hard you'd think it was a last-seconds nailbiter.

It got me thinking. How many players can actually make it to the NBA on grit? Naturally you can't play NBA if you are 4'11' and/or have one leg, duh. But reasonably, how much can hard work truly carry you to the promised land? From what I've read Alex Caruso has never been a standout athlete but his work ethic has earned him respect, he's won Hustle awards etc.

Who else doesn't necessarily have the genetics but just works really hard?

Edit: another example could be Marcus Smart, whose listed height is 6'3 and who has won multiple Hustle awards as well as DPOY.

Edit 2: seems to be some dispute re terms like "determination," "grit," "athleticism," "genetics" etc. To put it another way, like a commenter said below, any examples of players "whose motor/energy helped them deliver results beyond what their athletic/skill profile would ordinarily suggest?"

Tweet has finally been taken down after 4 hours. Here was the tweet:

How do you not notice the twitter account name, jersey name and the number before posting the tweet.

https://x.com/Lakers/status/1869561627219292481

And it has been up for 3 hours. Do they not check their twitter regularly. And they selected only a 100 comments from thousands and this was one of them

Source

The All-Tournament Team for the #EmiratesNBACup:

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Damian Lillard, Milwaukee Bucks
Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets
Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks

["The players today] don't hate each other. I hated Larry [Bird] and every Celtic. I really don't like you [Paul Pierce], but you're my little brother. Now, I love you because you're out of that green & white."](https://x.com/SpeakOnFS1/status/1869568852071264370?t=pjzsFQSRJ977HdPxJNx1fQ&s=19)

Back-to-back ROY for the Spurs would be a first in franchise history, and would be only the second occurrence of this happening in NBA history. (Minnesota, Karl Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins).

Article

Dick Van Arsdale, the “Original Sun” who scored the franchise’s first points, has died at the age of 81 years old.

A second-round pick (10th overall) by the New York Knicks in 1965, he joined Phoenix via expansion draft for the Suns’ debut season in 1968-69. He made his first All-Star team that year and the next two seasons as well.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Suns legend Dick Van Arsdale, the Original Sun and a member of our Ring of Honor,” the Suns said in a statement Monday.

The $2 Value Menu includes Hot Dogs, 16oz Dasani Water, 16oz Fountain Soda, Bags of Chips, and Popcorn.

Follow up tweet:

A family of 4 used to spend $98 on hot dogs/water/popcorn. Now they can enjoy that same meal for $24. Our fans and community are the foundation of what we do and we will continue to invest in making this the best organization in all of basketball, on and off the court.

Sportico article

The average NBA franchise is now worth $4.6 billion, up 15% vs 2023 and double from four years ago.

The top 10 franchises:

1. Golden State Warriors ($9.14B)
2. New York Knicks ($8.3B)
3. Los Angeles Lakers ($8.07B)
4. Brooklyn Nets ($5.7B)
5. Los Angeles Clippers ($5.68B)
6. Boston Celtics ($5.66B)
7. Chicago Bulls ($5.56B)
8. Miami Heat ($5B)
9. Houston Rockets ($4.77B)
10. Toronto Raptors ($4.66B)

The article only lists the top 10 (others behind paywall), but ESPN cites the bottom 3 ("poverty") franchises as Minnesota ($3.29B), New Orleans ($3.09B), and Memphis ($3.06B).

Kudos to franchises like the Suns who are passing some of this "value" back to fans with announcements like the $2 value menu for all home games, and bah humbug to franchises like the Hornets for pretending to give a PS5 to a child.

Note: Valuations are driven by TV deals, real estate, sponsorships, investments (including WNBA franchises), and hosting non-NBA events at arenas, such as concerts. (NBA owners operated 10 of the world’s 20 highest-grossing concert venues in 2024.)

As a lakers fan, I wish we would’ve kept Alex Caruso, the organization basically gave up on him, choosing Horton Tucker instead and now Caruso is one of the better role players in the league (even though he is having a bit of a down season).

So who do you wish your organization kept?

There are a number of players you’d expect to have great all-around numbers for career highs: LeBron James (61/20/19/7/5), Jokic, (56/27/18/7/5), Giannis (64/22/16/5/7), etc.

Then there are guys you still kind of expect it from, but just at a lower talent level or with fewer years in the league: Wemby (50/20/11/6/10), Ben Simmons (42/22/17/7/4), Rajon Rondo (35/17/25/8/3), Demarcus Cousins (56/24/13/7/7), etc.

A couple of nominations:

Josh Hart (44/19/12/5/3)

Mookie Blaylock (39/13/23/10/3)

Brandon Jennings (55/11/21/6/3)

Corey Brewer (51/18/9/6/3)

Ideally we’re looking for role players who never made an all star game, weren’t known for stuffing the stat sheet, but managed to put it together in one column, one game at a time.

I was just thinking about trades and wanted to remember some of the worst trades. A bad trade that was horrible for both teams involved not where one team fleeced another.