The NBA’s crazy week (we didn’t even do a post yesterday about Rick Carlisle’s shocking exit from the Mavericks) continued early Friday morning as the Boston Celtics traded Kemba Walker and the 16th pick in this year’s draft to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Al Horford. The trade also sends Moses Brown to Boston, and each side included a second round pick.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news:
The Celtics are trading Kemba Walker, the No. 16 overall pick in the 2021 draft and a 2025 second-round draft pick to Oklahoma City for Al Horford, Moses Brown and a 2023 second-round pick, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 18, 2021
Brad Stevens first move as Boston’s main man was a big one, and gets the Celtics off of some of Kemba’s long-term money. This type of trade is quickly becoming the norm for the Thunder, who are perfectly willing to take on an expensive star in return for draft assets, and then later flip that player for other draft assets.
Boston gets financial flexibility moving off the $73M owed Walker with the return of Horford. OKC has three first-round picks in July now. Thunder can work with Walker on what’s next for him as they did with CP3, ‘Melo and Horford. https://t.co/xKQS56kfYh
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 18, 2021
Kemba Walker has been hampered by injuries since arriving in Boston and is owed $36 million this upcoming season, with a $37 million player option the next year. Horford is owed $27 million next year and $26.5 million the next, so this move definitely saves the Celtics some money. Despite already being 35 years old (36 next season), Horford was productive enough that the Thunder had to shut him down to help their tanking effort.
OKC continues to stack assets whilst the Kangz sit back and do nothing.
Not that we have a Horford, but these are the type of trades we should be making. OKC gets a first round pick and will eventually flip Kemba in return for further assets, especially if Kemba can get healthy.
Wow, I can’t recall a trade that big between the end of the season and the draft. I feel like we normally don’t see this kind of deal until draft day.
I still feel it is a bit for Boston to give up, unless they really know Kemba is just done.
My first thought as well, the timing of the trade is odd as hell.
Celticsblog commenters explained that the trade had to happen this season because during the offseason, kemba gets a 15% trade kicker and would count more heavily against okc’s cap.
OT.
Article on the 2018 draft having to do with Young and Ayton.
https://www.theringer.com/2021/6/18/22539399/2018-nba-draft-deandre-ayton-trae-young-playoffs
A quote from the article:
I don’t want to discredit Ayton, the scout said. But if he was in Sacramento, he would not be like this.
Lol, Kangz.
Very scary to see. Makes me wonder if the overall opinion amongst a lot of the agents and players in the league is that going to Sac would hurt guys because we have zero clue how to develop players? We have not cultivated any kind of environment or system to allow players to grow and develop their games.
And we haven’t improved a millimeter in years, other than the idiot coach apparently being buddies with the players.
Have a friend who worked for a sports agency for a few years after he got out of law school. The shit he would tell me about my favorite sports teams shocked me¦.until he got to the kings. It’s pretty much how we perceive them here except they aren’t fans at all.
Bad evaluating unless you’re trying to hide a guy.
Last podcast of Sam Veciene he even went into it a little. Didn’t call the kings out by name but made mention of how there are a couple teams and one in particular that is easy to distract with pre draft workouts to show only the best side of that player. His guest on thag podcast even dropped the, like a wicked second jump haha.
Its beyond embarrassing but true. The only team that consistently spends draft capital on players who are out of the league within 5 years.
Anybody out there doubt OKC makes the playoffs again before us?
Stacking draft assets. Now that’s a proper rebuild strategy that has a high chance of success.
Meanwhile, in kAnGz land, “let’s get that 10 seed!”
I now think there is a very good chance the Kings trade the #9 to OKC for the #16 and #18, then trade the #18 back for two 2nd rounders. kAnGz!
Reminds me of Vlade trading 10 for 15 and 20 to draft JJ and Giles when he could’ve stayed put and drafted Spida Mitchell.
Hindsight wisdom of this kind is boring and pointless. Three other teams from 10-12 didn’t see fit to draft Mitchell, either. Hell, everyone that didn’t get Tatum or Fox also took a pass on him.
Yeah I remember liking the results overall that draft night. Remember kind of wanting monk after they got Fox, but loved the swing on Giles with the extra pick. Didn’t work. Sure some were against, but many praised the move.
It’s kind of depressing to think of how Giles and Jackson may be out of the NBA while every player picked between 10 and 14 (Collins, Monk, Kenard, Mitchell, and Adebayo) are still playing and contributing.
Hmm, what’s the common denominator there…. Oh yeah! KANGZ, that’s what!
In fairness, zach collins will probably be out of the league too. I can’t remember a time when he isn’t hurt.
Collins has played 154 games in three seasons. Bagley has played 118.
But hindsight is boring and pointless….
Before the draft, I was pushing acquiring a late-1st to take Giles. Though I was think about acquiring that pick a different way. I like the idea of high-upside lottery tickets after having already made a safer pick or two.
Loaded draft, picks 11-14 were Monk, Kennard, Mitchell and Bam. Instead of drafting one of these guys Vlade drafts JJ who clearly doesn’t have the athleticism to be an NBA player and a guy in Giles with shot knees. Players picked around Giles included Jarrett Allen, John Collins, Anonuby. This isn’t hindsight thinking, this is just bad drafting, which has defined the last decade and a half and which is why we have sucked for so long. No excuses.
Yes looking back the trade back had terrible results. I just read through the STR thread about grading the draft. Lots of B and A- grades. Some people like OG at the Giles pick and some didn’t love JJ. Most felt it was decent value for the 10th pick.
Those that were upset with the trade down almost exclusively upset we passed on Monk. Saw about 1 mention of Mitchell and didn’t see Bam mentioned in thread at all. So yeah it does feel a bit hindsight to say why did we pass on them. If you or others were on it then that’s a great feather in the cap. But most of us weren’t or those that gave draft grades at the time.
That draft was hit and miss for me. My basic plan was to draft Isaac @ 5, Mitchell @ 10 (though I was open to Monk & Collins). Then try to get a later 1st (from POR, I believe) by taking on a contract, and using that to take Giles. In hindsight, Isaac’s injuries mean that #5 wasn’t a great call. I totally missed the boat on Adebayo. I was also definitely off on my opinions of DSJ & Ntilikina, though I wasn’t pushing them for the Kings.
The big picture idea is really about talent tiers. In general, trading down is a good idea if you find yourself at the front of a talent tier (As I believed to be the case in 2016). Not if you’re at the end of talent tier (As I thought the case in 2017).
By the way, if you have the link to that STR thread, I’d love to see it.
Here ya go! Only got about 1/2 thru the 540 comments. ð
https://www.sactownroyalty.com/2017/6/23/15862098/2017-nba-draft-grades-sacramento-kings-deaaron-fox-justin-jackson-harry-giles-frank-mason?_gl=1*trnqhf*#comments
Thanks.
Huh, I fully expected more pure idiocy on my part.
Just always glad I didn’t post then. I’m sure I would have filled the idiocy quota on several takes around 2016/17.
I was just skeptical about everything, but that and cutting grass is sort of my thing.
Hm. It looks like a lot of what I wrote aged well (though some parts were wrong).
Yep I noticed you were more on target than most, including myself.
I wasn’t opposed to turning the #10 into 15/20, but I agree with you in regard to Jackson’s athleticism. #15 seemed too high for him, but I did like the Giles selection at 20. Taking a flyer on a high-ceiling player with your third pick in the first round isn’t a bad strategy.
Even if it hadn’t been here, I’d love to have seen Giles fulfill some of that potential. So much skill and athleticism, he could have been very good had he gotten a break here or there.
Davion Mitchell has a lot of similarities to Donovan and not just their name. Just like I said Donovn was a future star back then, I see stardom for Davion. He’s Marcus Samrt with a better shot and juke moves.
Davion may turn out better than Suggs. Suggs is okay but he does not do enough to create space for my taste, a lot of straight line drives, and settles for too many contested shots.
The age disparity is where Suggs may catch up and surpass, but just like Donovan proved far superior to PGs taken ahead of him (Dennis Smith Jr and Ntlinkina) , this situation may play out all over again if Davion goes where he is projected to go (late lottery, early teens).
Davion is a far better defensive player than the alleged 1-5 stopper Scotty Barnes. Even though he does not fit a need, I would much rather we draft Davion than the bums bandied about at the top of this page (Wagner, Moody and Giddey, ha-ha, just laugable!)
Do you have evidence of this?
Because I find it interesting and good data points on our scouting and GMing skills at the time.
How much of our scouting department of yore is still here, I wonder?
I enjoy it. Lately been going back to find old STR threads and if our takes now match to then. It’s interesting¦and disappointing to see how often we are wrong. But cool to find the occasion when members really nail an outsider take.
My apologies, I don’t really understand what you’re saying/asking.
It’s not boring and pointless to address when your team has consistently bombed it in the draft. One draft, yeah I get, it, but how many have the Kings bombed?
If you’d like to run the numbers to verify that the Kings have been bad at drafting (which has to be true), I’d be interested in seeing how they stack up compared to other NBA organizations. I’d guess bottom-third, but could be bottom sixth.
I imagine that you’ll need to come up with a formula to assign a specific mathematical figure to each draft position, and another one in order to grade overall quality of play. You should probably also factor in things like the quality of the draft class as a whole (both as perceived, and with the benefit of hindsight), whether injuries caused a player to play below his perceived potential, the quality of the player’s teammates and coach, and probably lots of other things.
I’d do it myself, but I neither possess nor claim to have any particularly keen insight into such things. I’m as full of shit as everyone else.
Umm…kinda confused. Give me a break.
One does wonder who Vlade would have picked at 5 if another team had drafted Fox.
Josh Jackson.
I asked this question to Vlade at a Kings event, that was his answer.
Could you even imagine if that had happened?
Could you even imagine if that had happened?
He would have gotten an add’l 3-year extension.
The flip side was, if Fox had been taken already and we drafted Jackson at #5, then we would’ve taken Mitchell at #10.
Straight from the GM’s mouth.
So bizzare to me, why not Fox and Mitchell?
If Vlade was drafting for position at #10 he should have been fired on the spot.
Vlade seemed to be operating under the impression that you’re only allowed to have one ballhandler on the court.
Which adds extra special dumbness in that this comes from one of the better passing big men of his era.
That was my follow-up question. The answer?
We were building around Buddy, so three guards was never going to happen. Fox/Buddy or Mitchell/Buddy. A complete 0% chance of Fox/Mitchell because Buddy was the cornerstone of the team at the time, essentially untradeable.
oh my
The Ghost of Vlade Divac, or Puppetmaster Vivek?
It’s Vlavek. They were inseparable. And insufferable.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them make another big move or two and make the playoffs next season. Knowing Presti-magic, they’ll probably get the 1st and 5th picks this year, draft Cunningham and Kuminga. Then trade for Love and Hayward + a ton of 1sts. Then we’ll watch Kemba, Heyward, and Love put up healthy seasons while carrying OKC to a 4th seed. Then they’ll progressively flip all 3 for future 1sts while Maledon, SGA, Cunningham, Kuminga, and Poku take over.
Really, they have so many options on direction they could go, it’s crazy.
I could see them flipping Kemba to Dallas for Zinger and getting even more assets out of the deal.
Maybe. The timing of the trade definitely makes it feel like Kemba may not spend much time in OKC. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if they keep him for a season (ala Paul, Gallinari, Horford). I also wouldn’t be surprised to see him play pretty well in that season.
On a totally unrelated note, I was thinking last night about how a Simmons for DLo trade could make a lot of sense from all sides. I doubt the Wolves trade DLo considering his friendship with Towns and how they haven’t really had a chance to play together yet, but Simmons is a better fit for Towns/Edwards and DLo is a better fit for Embiid/Harris. Otherwise Simmons, and Russell are pretty similar in age and cost.
I think Simmons should be used to trade for a much better player. Russell misses a lot of games and can’t play defense worth a damn.
Think I saw someone suggest a Lillard/Simmons swap. That would be radical.
I find it really hard to imagine Portland ever trading Lillard unless he forces it.
I agree. I think the likely route is CJ/Nurk are used to revamp the roster, depending on who the coach is. They’re just never going to have a good defense with two net negative backcourt starters. Of course, their GM gave a doozy of a presser where he said his roster construction is great and it’s all the coach’s fault, so who knows what they’ll do. Personally, as someone who follows the team but is not emotionally invested in them, I think they have to take the leap and trade CJ for a wing/big upgrade. Maybe they could pull off something like CJ/Nurk/etc for Brogdon/Turner.
Barnes + 2024 POR 2nd (giving it back) for Nurkic + Jones Jr. + 2023 lottery protected 1st.
I’d do that, although I’m less keen on Nurk after this past season.
Then they flip CJ for Turner and TJ Warren.
That definitely balances their roster more. I think it’s going to come down to whatever coach they hire. My instinct tells me that if they get an established coach like D’Antoni (or Carlisle, but that’s unlikely), they’ll likely just run it back, maybe do some bench tweaks.
Their GM is getting a lot of (justified) hate up here. I haven’t seen such an arrogant front office performance since Petey D’s presser after the Malone ouster.
I always thought the CJ may be better if he was cast in more of a PG role. In IND, that could be the case playing with Brogdon and Levert.
The comments from Blazers fans on that is while CJ has the tools to be a PG, he lacks the feel and vision. I don’t know how much I agree with that, but he’s also spent his whole career next to Lillard, so hard to say.
I STRONGLY PREFER THIS
Why wouldn’t the sixers try a grandfather offer of like simmons, 4 first rounders and pick swaps for steph curry or dame lillard? Try to get the best table setters for a one or two year title contention run like the nets have.
I mean, they could try. I don’t think either GS or POR are taking those offers unless Steph/Dame request it. Maybe Beal?
Id try beal too if I strike out with dame and steph.
Steph Curry is gonna be a Warrior for life the way he changed the franchise
Meanwhile, our front office….
They won’t get anything terribly useful asset-wise by trading with Dallas. The Mavs are a tough read, but given how KP has turned out, luring them into sending out 2025-and-beyond first rounders is a tough sell.
Then again, maybe they cash out on Doncic since their front office is a shit-show.
Yup, presti is great at it.
yea as I said many times, OKc would be the most interesting franchise to watch in the off-season. I was hoping the Kings would make a move to acquire a combination of Maledon, Brown, and Roby. Assuming the Kings get the 8th pick I would have traded it to OKC for those players. OKC is going to build for now around SGA, Pukuseski, Bazely, and Dort. Brown and Roby would have been nice fits for the Kings.
Now I like to see if Zach Collins can be acquired on a team friendly deal. Portland will be shaking things up.
I don’t feel Brown, Maledon or Roby move the needle for me. They are end of the bench reserves who see garbage minutes on a good team. The Kings need significant talent from the top down and not more players the likes of Metu or Justin James.
I like Roby a lot and would love to pick him up on the cheap. I’d rather have him on the roster at PF than Metu or Bagley. That said, the Kings are going to have to make multiple moves to become good. Some big moves for the kind of talent you’re talking about. Some smaller moves for guys that can be role players that hopefully have potential for more. I personally, have a hard time seeing them moving the 9 for a player like Roby/Maledon/Brown unless it’s something like #9 for Roby + #16 + another pick. Of course, considering all the picks and likely moves the Thunder will be working with, there’s always the chance a guy like Roby is available for free (or close to it) at some point.
With the amount of picks the Thunder have I kind of wonder if they would take a chance on Bagley for a pick and filler.
Maybe if it’s a relatively low pick. Though I could come up with a LONG list of other approaches I’d pursue first if I were them. Especially since they currently have Bazley, Poku, and Roby sitting in the Bagley spot.
Seattle’s team is going to make the playoffs before us–their future expansion team, if it ever happens. If they don’t get an expansion team, I guess we’ll never see the playoffs ever again. 🙁
(I’m in Seattle right now. Was walking around downtown with my Kangz hoodie on. Some homeless man screamed in my direction, but I don’t think it had anything to do with the Kings.)
Might not even be expansion.
Shreveport Pelicans. Catchy!
Wouldn’t surprise me at all if NO moves. It was a ridiculous decision by the NBA to begin with.
Glad you are here when the weather is nice.
At least you aren’t dealing with the heatwave right now in Cali! Since my apartment has no AC and yesterday was the peak of the heatwave (even in the Bay Area), I had to go to a library during the afternoon, otherwise I would’ve melted in my apartment. And it was still very hot and muggy when I returned in the mid-evening. 🙁
Worse yet was Ayton’s declaration “Best class in NBA history” and the Kings got Bagley.
At least the Ringer article had the good manners not to mention Bagley or the Kings too much.
“Anybody out there doubt OKC makes the playoffs again before us?”
Ha! I have no doubt every other team in the league makes the playoffs before the Kangz.
Sigh.
I had a dream we got the first pick.
Thus, as is the way of the universe, we’ll stick at 9 and package it in a trade for an ill fitting near star player that Luke will play partly out of position.
You definitely got it right for the first part.
As we will certainly land the 1st pick in this year draft lottery.
Regarding the trade made by Thunder, I really wish we could find a way to get their 16th pick, then pick one of Kai Jones, Z. Williams, Wanger or Giddey.
Sticking at 9 ain’t too bad. Better than falling back!
I think I’m now in the camp that if the Kings stay at #9, the package it in a trade.
I’m 100% on board with this. I think the only way it doesn’t happen is if the front office is too passive or overvalues the existing players.
Gotta be more possibilities than the simple binary we have here.
I would certainly hope their plan to win doesn’t involve two holes in one in a row in the low lottery.
This team needs improvement and has few assets. If the front office actually wants to improve, which I’m going to assume for now they do, they’re going to have to move some of the few assets they have.
Only person overvaluing anything is the ð¤ð¼. Which is why we are screwed. I get the feeling they are gonna run it back. If they keep Holmes. If they don’t force monte into the freak out desperation move to make that 10th seed.
Greg wrote that inaction is a failure. Monty McNair, don’t ‘inaction’ the coaching situation …please!
Do what you should’ve been hired to do, and be aggressive in fixing this team. Make a case to Vivek about getting a new coach. Make him understand how important this is.
Other teams are getting better as we stay put. This roster + Walton is not going to get you anything other than a shot at the Play-in.
Compete! Don’t settle for a paycheck.
(Exasperated Kangz fan)
This is a good play for both teams for all the reasons that you laid out so nicely.
I think that Boston may have themselves a diamond in the rough in Moses Brown, or at least a nice piece of quartz that can be polished up and made shiny. 7’1″, long, springy, and looks to be a guy who can protect the rim. There’s no indication that he might become someone who can spread the floor, but at 21, it’s not inconceivable. He’s cheap for another three years, at least, too.
Hell, maybe he or Time Lord will be shopped by Boston. Both seem like guys who can get a double/double only getting 25-30 minutes per game.
In other news, it occurred to me after all of the Ben Simmons discussion that Daryl Morey runs the show in Philly, and that might give McNair a leg up if the Kings start to get serious about a deal. Morey knows his stuff, so I don’t see much of a friend discount being likely.
It’s only mid-June, and already shit is crazy.
This truly has been the wildest, most bizarre week in the NBA that I can remember recently.
Next thing we know, they’ll reveal Kirilenko was actually a spy or something.
I get so frustrated with people around 60 and older who say the’ve done a “significant amount of research” and now think they know better than professionals with degrees on the subject. I really think they come from a generation when they read something or saw something on a screen, it must be true. I really feel Baby Boomers and the like are the most manipulated generation right now. My father is one of these types of people. He really believes Fauci and MI6 created and are profiting off of Covid. The internet is a deep dark place.
Just because you read something online doesn’t make it fact. I can probably find a “significant amount of research” saying eating ground beef raw is perfectly fine, but that doesn’t make it true.
There’s tens of thousands of physicians and scientists around the world and right here in our country that have concerns about the vaccine. It’s not conspiracy theory. There are risks with taking the vaccine and there are risks with not taking the vaccine. Each person should have the right to dictate what they put in their body and to make decisions for themselves.
I consulted my physician & followed his advice. Seems pretty basic.
I’d like to see your work on these tens of thousands of physicians and scientists. Where did that number come from? Who are these “physicians and scientists” and what types of medicine/science do they practice? What are their concerns? What did they say? On what information are they basing their opinions?
I mean, obviously pretty much all experts in the field have some degree of concern. There are exactly zero professionals that work with vaccines (or any other type of medication) that would ever say there aren’t any risks to any people in taking any type of medication. The question is, from what we know, does the likelihood and severity of adverse reactions from vaccines outweigh the benefits.
Then, if you have time, it would be great to see examples people not having the “right to dictate what they put in their body and make decisions for themselves.”
At the moment, without more details, all I’m seeing here is a field of straw men.
If you like his strawmen, you are really gonna love his anecdotal evidence!
Reminds me of a tweet I came across a while back where a scientist was referenced regarding how the vaccine alters your DNA. Who was that scientist, you ask? Turned out to be a geologist.
100%, this shouldn’t be hard to understand
I doubt anybody is having trouble understanding any of that.
LOL. I assume you’re mostly counting nameless “physicians and scientists” posting in the comments section of online newspapers.
I mean, sure. There are what, 7.9 billion people in the world. So there are probably at least a couple hundred million “physicians and scientists” considering how broad those terms can be. So if we use the most “tens of thousands” could reasonably mean and divide that by the number of “physicians and scientists” we’re talking about something like 0.05% of them “have concerns about the vaccine.” Sure. I can believe that. I mean, whether you want to take the advice of the 0.05% over the advice of the 99.95% is up to you.
Otis, I’ll have you know that CaptianCaffineLover9983 has three degrees in marine biology, astronomy, and quantum physics. As he clearly pointed out in that Vox comment section.
You’re shifting the argument here – covid19 risk and covid19 vaccine risk are not comparable. Only strong vaccine hesitancy and implicit bias would prevent one from seeing this.
And everyone just making their own choice sounds great, but unfortunately is not an effective public strategy.
Confirmation bias was already one of the strongest forces in the universe before the Internet. Now it’s even stronger. You can find support for any thing you want to believe. It’s why it’s so vital to teach people good researching skills, source-checking, and critical-thinking from an early age.
Otherwise, well… just look around, right?
If Baby Boomers are the most manipulated, it’s important to note that it is Boomers doing the manipulating, and those being manipulated are doing so willingly, and with enthusiasm.
This is a generation that is the equivalent to a plague of locusts, mindless and voracious in their consumption, future be damned. The hypocrisy is further emphasized by its stark comparison to their politics when they were young. War is bad when your ass is on the line, but it’s necessary and even easy when you’re the one sending young men and women into battle.
I have great doubt that the country will ever recover from them.
Anytime we get into long winded debates about non basketball topic’s we just create division and take away the small joy we all hopefully receive from talking basketball (even if its the Kangz where hope springs eternal)…if we want to debate other topics lets go to sites that promote them not here on our beloved basketball sanctuary….this discord will kill the site as people leave because we are all here to escape the challenges of everyday life and just want to talk and dream about our team….thanks
TL;DR version – Speak for yourself.
It simply boils down to whom they believe is an expert in a certain field.
The right-wing media has done a great job brainworming all kinds of people into questioning the expertise of people who, you know, have studied something for the entirety of their adult lives. But if Tucker Carlson opines on it…
My favorite Tucker Carlson fact is that he beat a slander suit because his lawyers successfully argued that no reasonable person would ever take anything he says seriously.
What I find interesting about the “There are risks on both sides” crowd is just simple math. Tucker Carlson published an opinion piece last month (that even Fox News would not label as news) claiming about 3,400 people died of COVID vaccines from late December to the month before the the piece. Let’s assume that was late December to the end of April. I picked Christmas as a starting point, because of course there’s no data to back up his opinion.
From December 25, 2020 to April 30, 2021, 233,000 Americans died of COVID, among about 13.1 million cases. That means one in 56 Americans who caught COVID during that time died from it.
147 million people were vaccinated during that same time period. So even if you believe Tucker Carlson (heh.), that 3,400 people died, that means about one in 45,000 people died of the COVID vaccine, according to Carlson (haha).
So even if you believe Tucker Carlson (come on), your chance of dying from COVID is about 800 times greater than dying from the vaccine.
If Tucker Carlson is too much of a Kamala hugging liberal for you to believe, *you* might be the problem.
The data is here: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailytrendscases
(And yes I know that Fauci and the CDC are working with China and the big pharma companies to shoot chin COVID from Italian satellites into the chins of people wearing their masks wrong (thankfully Luke Walton is protected) in order to magnetize their bodies and implant them with microchips instead of just using the damn phone that everyone is carrying anyway, so Fauci can get rich and never spend a penny of any of the billions of dollars the companies are paying him.
Here we ago again, a bunch of comments that have nothing to do with the article. Just a bunch of political opinions that have nothing to do with the subject.
You should request a refund.
I didn’t realize saying older folks are being easily manipulated by misinformation was a political opinion. I’d figure folks on all ends of the spectrum would agree to that one.
The only error I see is that it pretty clearly is not just older folks who are being manipulated.
Have you considered just scrolling past the conversations you don’t want to engage in? You can find plenty of on-topic discussion by scrolling in either direction.
Honestly when you consider where Stockton is from it makes perfect sense.
The fascinating thing about the 600,000+ people who’ve died from covid is that none of them will ever win an NBA title, either.
One tries to be empathetic, but I can’t generate any understanding of how people think this way. This kind of ignorance isn’t just willful, it’s also prideful.
Another medical degree from Facebook University.
I really, truly, honestly have such a difficult time wrapping my mind around the idea that anyone older than 12 needs to have it explained to them that they should care about other people. That just seems like innate human compassion and understanding.
Empathy isn’t as common as we would like to think. Especially empathy for people we don’t know or consider “others.”
I have empathy for others. Just not when I don’t believe in vaccines, apparently.
Or more accurately, the people who make the vaccines. I’m anti vaccine maker, not anti vaccine. There’s an important difference.
If inaction based on your beliefs (or lack thereof, apparently) actively harms those around you – well, I think it refutes your premise.
Prove it.
Could you be more vague?
I mean, prove that you may be lacking empathy, or prove that you should “believe in vaccines” (whatever that actually means)?
I could be more vague but I was responding to your premise that my actions are harming others. Prove it. After all, you have the CDC, most of the US governments and other governmental bodies like the EU on your side, Fauci (the noted virologist he is), many famous people, etc etc etc.
It’s only chuckleheads like me that listen to Tucker Carlson and are anti-science that won’t take vaccines. After all, anyway. Other than the fact that Tucker Carlson is a noxious asshole rich douchebag who I wouldn’t piss on if he were on fire to put him out, or the fact that I think science has it’s place and should be listened to. That includes, in fact, doctors.
It shouldn’t be that hard to convince anyone that we’re in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, but mostly what I’m convinced of is there is a humungous reshuffling of wealth away from the middle class (surprise surprise).
I will stipulate that you’re not being vaccinated may well not harm anyone else. That’s just chance.
Assuming that’s the case is where you lack empathy, IMHO.
You left out – the vast majority of qualified immunologists, virologists and scientists that are not famous, don’t work for governmental bodies and are not named Anthony Fauci.
You’re saying that we aren’t?
Actually, I quit You’re right, I’m clearly wrong and have no empathy whatsoever because I refuse to be vax’d. Whatever was I thinking?
Good talk.
About as useful as shaving my balls with a katana sword.
Well, this is indisputable
And has been the case with unabashed bravado for AT LEAST the past 40 years. And with downright mockery of the middle class (mockery of the lower class has been going on forever) in recent years.
Science doesn’t “have its place.” It literally includes everything.
Even with the caveat that it may not include religion, superstition, or conspiracy theories, science has explained who might be more susceptible to such nonsense, and why.
Science works because no matter how solid a concept it may create, they don’t just call it a day and drop the subject. They continually check to see if they made mistakes.
I read a supposition that if all human knowledge was wiped out, people would eventually make the same scientific discoveries and conclusions, whereas none of religions that has ever existed would be the same. How could they be?
Fauci is a proven liar many times over !
Again, you’re going to have to show your work on that one.
I’ll give you a prompt: Is Fauci a liar or is he making policy and guideline suggestions based on the best available information at any given time, then adjusting and evolving those opinions as more information becomes available?
Yeah, that ain’t hard to understand. As new information presents itself and additional data is collected, scientific recommendations change.
Seems folks want to point fingers about what the scientific community said over a year ago when that information has clearly changed. Why not take the current recommendations to heart rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
I’m not sure believing or not believing in vaccines or vaccine-makers is direct evidence of the presence or absence of empathy. One can clearly not get the vaccine but still act in ways that don’t put people around them in harm’s way or dismiss/mock/deny the suffering people have experience as a result of the pandemic. It’s more difficult within a society, but it can certainly be done.
The fact that most of these knuckleheads “don’t have enough data” to believe in the safety and efficacy of vaccines, yet need zero data to believe in whatever anti-vax conspiracy Dan Bongino or Charlie Kirk bust out on Facebook, tells you all you need to know.
The right-wing war on common sense/opinion of educated people continues.
We’re literally living in a world where a decent percentage of people think less evidence means more proof.
Nailed it.
I’m always so disheartened to see Dan bongino and Ben Shapiro show up regularly in apple podcasts’ top charts. I think right wing propaganda is not just popular among the baby boomer generation but quite pervasive in amongst millennials as well.
Indulging persecution fetishes, outrage addictions, and conspiracy theories has proven to be a pretty profitable business model. It’s good work if you
can get itare willing to do it.These days, a “significant amount of research” means spending an hour on YouTube, and then another hour reading posts on Mercola.
a new year, a new GM, and the same bullshit.
Who got a new GM this year?
Did everyone see that Dirk’s being brought on board as a special advisor to help with the gm and head coaching search in Dallas? Made me instantly think of vlade, but I hope it turns out better for them.
Special advisor, sure, why not? Unless Cuban makes him General Manager, the franchise should survive.
I sure hope so. Seems eerily similar how a fan favorite player gets brought back to quell fan anger over front office bull shittery going on.
If Celts can get out from under Kemba’s contract, gives me hope that somebody must want Hield, who makes half of what Kemba makes.
I think we’ve always had the ability to move Hield, just don’t think McNair wants to add a first rounder to make it happen. Still feels like that may be tough to do before the deadline, or next offseason.
If the Kings take salary back, they can move him. No one is taking on Hield’s salary without a pretty good asset attached.
The guy does one thing well and he’s 69th in the NBA at it. So basically, every team has two rotation players who shoot better than Buddy at this point in his career.
I disagree. I think the Kings could come out in a wash. I could see Buddy being dealt for two smaller deals of equal salary that in the end are more movable for McNair.
Just a butt pulled example is Buddy to the Clippers for Kenard and Zubac.
Somebody will take him. The problem is that the Kings still think he has Steph Curry value.
All of the drama with Boston and Dallas is likely productive.
Both of those teams can completely change a roster and a front office in a single off season and still beat the Kings.
It is not clear now but there is some logic behind these decisions, not random changes.
McGenius vindicated. Bogi craps the bed in the two biggest game of his career! Trae came to party and advance to the Eastern conference finals, and Bogi pissed in the punch bowl.
I love a good redemption story, see Paul George answering the Jazz fans who chanted overrated at him, who is overrated now, so I would like to see Bogi complete his own redemption arc today with a Game 7 masterpiece. All he has to do is be the Robin to Trae’s Batman, is that too much to ask?
Regardless how he performs today, the Hawks should be preparing for the Bucks instead of returning to hostile territory against long historic odds.
It is appropriate to revisit the decision to let Bogi walk, to not cede to inferior assets ATL were offering in a sign and trade or imbalance your roster by paying three Gs and 1 SF 80-90% of your cap.
The miraculous 26 point comeback in Game 5 was enabled because Lou Williams stepped into the role Bogi was suppose to provide, secondary scorer to Young. In Game 6, Kevin Huerter tried to fill in but his contributions were just a little shy of what was needed.
But Huerter found floor time in the crunch, while Bogi was benched by McMillan. If that was not an appropriate response to choking, I do not know what is. And this is to go with the attributes that I know as well as anyone:
> great teammate
> saavy pick and roll wizard
> capable defender 1-3 with 7’0 wingspan
Choking may too strong of word. Lets say he wants to win so bad, he gets tight. Who is more trustworthy when he has an open look at the rim, Ty or Bogi? The textbook shot mechanics are secondary to (1) confidence (2) focus (3) constancy of shooting motion and this is why any fan in their right mind would rather have Ty with an open look and the game in the balance over Bogi.
The Hawks, the darlings of the NBA with the most exciting player in the league, have an compelling roster. They are arguably a perfectly constructed, starting with their superstar PG and enforcer in the middle, a dominant rebounder and shot blocker to neutralize Embiid.
The Kings can respectfully match their Young and Capella with Fox and Holmes, but it is thereafter that the quality of the rosters diverge. Look what the Hawks have on the wing: Huerter, Hunter (hurt), Collins, Galinari. They have size and versatility and force. We have Barnes and Lou Williams.
But I detail the make-up of the Hawks team to lead back to Bogi. Gallinari and Williams are past their career peak. Collins is leading toward his. Hunter is out. Huerter is finding his way. It is Bogi who is suppose to be smack dab in the prime of his career, in terms of age and experience.
Now is his time to shine and he is blowing it! As the roster currently stands, Bogi needs to be that secondary scorer, and he is failing. Unlike Seth Curry, the lethal scorer after or with Embiid.
Curry has obliterated Bogi in the last two games in their head-to-head matchup. Where are the Bogi advocates now?!
This is what McGenius and what I saw leading into his free agency. Good player but hardly indispensible. And when the rookie you drafted projected to be better at what Bogi does best, pick and roll, the value he offered was not irreplaceable. If Bogi was more dominant defensively or more special as a scorer than you retain him and balance your roster later.
But his shot making was suboptimal, and so the 61% TS% in limited games, including his late regular season run has to be chalked up as an outlier and anomaly.
I do not contend Bogi is not a good player or incapable of having a big Game 7, but I strongly challenge those like Jerry Reynold adamant that letting Bogi walk was a mistake. Just bc Bogi is better than Buddy does not mean we needed to keep him. Maybe neither player is worth keeping if you aspire to have a championship caliber roster?
And less I be accused of cherry picking two bad games, I remind you that 39% was Bogi’s best 3 point performance in his tenure with the Kings. So many open looks go clang for an alleged marksmen. And Bogi is only 40% on FGs in 11 playoff games and 32% on 3s despite all the open looks he gets off the attention paid to superstar Trae Young.
This is 4/72 player we had to have and leads the peanut gallery to say Kangz until they are blue in the face? I would rather have Seth Curry, Terrrence Davis, even Maxey on the 76ers or Mann on the Clippers in this climatic do-or-die moments. These are the fearless players that gloriously seize the moment and those that do not only can be put into the fearful category or maybe just not as good as you thought.
Badge Legend