The NBA Thread

[TomHurst]

THAT GAME WINNER BY CURRY AGAINST OKC.

Is it too early to give GS the trophy already? I can't say that I've seen a b-ball player take over a game consistently quite like Curry (and yes that includes Jordan).

I-10, meet Lebron James.  I think he would disagree. Lebron proved he is still the best player on the planet and it's not close.  In fact, Curry is probably the third best player on his own team and was outplayed by Kyrie Irving in the Finals....Go Cavs!

[thelakelander]

^Yeah, after a few games, I actually kind of felt bad for Curry with the way Irving was abusing him. In real life, people get arrested for that type of abuse. You won't witness too many situations where the league MVP becomes a complete liability. Obviously, this series was an exception. As for the other Warriors, Barnes just played himself right out of a max deal and you could argue that Green maybe better than Curry. With all of that said......does Varejao still get a ring?

[Keith-N-Jax]

There was one player they were talking about that was going get a ring no matter what team won. I guess this Varejao? Did he play for both teams? This maybe the guy they were talking about. How nice is that?

[thelakelander]

It was Varejao. The only way he gets one is for Cleveland to give it to him. Evidently, they don't have to.

[RattlerGator]

I guess those 96' Bulls were a lot better.

No, just fortunate they didn't have to play against the greatest all-around basketball player ever.

Persuasive case made in the Washington Post in favor of LeBron James:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fancy-stats/wp/2016/06/20/lebron-james-passes-michael-jordan-as-most-valuable-player-in-nba-history/?tid=pm_sports_pop_b

I love Jordan, but LeBron is clearly the better all-around player. I'm not sure MJ ever entered a Finals with an underdog team; LeBron has had to do that multiple times, and has now won at least one of them.

[WarrenSkeels]

NBA Draft 2016 tonight!!!!

Ben Simmons will undoubtedly go #1 overall and then Brandon Ingram to the Lakers.  But that's when it gets interesting.  Who's next?

[thelakelander]

My team has no picks and is more in a win now mode. I'll be interested in the associated trades and free agency action later this summer. You guys can have the rookies!

[spuwho]

Per St Augustine Record

  http://www.staugustine.com/sports/high-school/2016-06-22/ponte-vedraunf-star-beau-beech-expects-receive-nba-call-thursday-night

Ponte Vedra/UNF star Beau Beech expects to receive an NBA call Thursday night

Beau Beech looked up during a workout at the Atlanta Hawks' practice facility recently and spotted Hawks forward Kyle Korver standing on the sideline watching.

"That was a cool thing to see. That's a guy I look up to," said Beech, the former Ponte Vedra and University of North Florida basketball star, who expects to receive a phone call from one or more NBA teams tonight.

Beech doesn't expect to be selected in tonight's NBA draft. But after the two rounds are completed, the 6-foot-9 forward with the sweet jumper believes he will have options.


"Draft-wise it's a longshot," he said Wednesday evening. "I'm not ruling it out, but the draft doesn't define your career. A lot of NBA players were never drafted. Definitely, teams are interested in me to play for their (NBA) Summer League teams."

Beech could play in the Orlando Summer League (July 2-8), the Las Vegas Summer League (July 8-18), or both, with the hope of playing well enough to get invited to an NBA training camp.

UNF coach Matt Driscoll said Beech will probably hear from several teams after the draft.

"Everybody is definitely intrigued because he measures 6-9 in shoes with a 6-10 wingspan, and he can shoot the daylights out of it," Driscoll said. "What I think is possible is some team likes him enough to put him on their (NBA Development League) team, and I'm very confident he'll command a high salary, six figures, from a team overseas — Europe or Australia. He's going to do his best to fulfill his No. 1 dream — to play in the NBA. But he's going to make a lot of money playing basketball."

While Beech may not have stood out at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, where he averaged 7.7 points and 4.7 rebounds, he thought he played well at six team workouts and at a pro day in Las Vegas where 15 other teams were in attendance.

"I definitely had moments in every workout," Beech said. "I showed what I do well. I'm going to shoot, and I think I showed I can defend a lot of different positions. I didn't have a perfect workout. I saw some things I need to work on. I want to get more consistent with my shot off the move, off the dribble."

Beech, who shot 42.4 percent from 3-point range this season with the Ospreys, hopes to eventually become a 3-point shooter on the level of Korver or Golden State's Klay Thompson.

At Portsmouth, coaches played Beech strictly at guard, and he didn't get the chance to guard other forwards, Driscoll said. He did get that opportunity in team workouts, however, when he was paired against the likes of Florida's Dorian Finney-Smith, Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer, Iowa's Jarrod Uthoff and Syracuse's Michael Gbinije. Beech said the workouts consisted of various combinations of drills and 3-on-3 and 1-on-1 competitions.

Beech's final workout was Tuesday with the New York Knicks. He said at New York he worked out with two point guards. He also had workouts at Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Brooklyn, Memphis and Dallas.

He's been training in the Dallas area the past six weeks to improve his quickness to cover shooting guards and small forwards as well as his strength to cover power forwards.

"He's trying to adapt to the physicality of the game more than anything and being able to get his shot off," said Bud Beech, Beau's father and his high school coach at Ponte Vedra.

Beech has been training with other players represented by his agent, Mike Silverman, of Athlete Management Group, under coach A.W. Canada, who mentored several future NBA players when he was the coach at Detroit Pershing High. Beech's training partners include Quincy Acy of the Sacramento Kings and Cory Jefferson, Keith Benson and Jaron Johnson, who have played in the NBA and the NBADL.

"All of them went through what I'm going through," Beech said. "They stuck to the plan. And that's what I'm going to do. It might be another year or more before I get to the NBA."

"I think he needs to take it step by step and exhaust every avenue," Driscoll said. "His window to get into the NBA is probably three to four years, because the next Beau Beech is on his way."

Beech said he probably won't be watching the draft tonight. Instead, he'll be helping his dad coach Ponte Vedra at UNF's team camp.

But if he happens to get drafted, he said Driscoll promised to stop the whole camp for him.

"This is very exciting," Beech said. "I always wanted to be in this situation. Two months ago I graduated and within two weeks I'll be wearing an NBA jersey (at an NBA Summer League). Not too many people get to do that. It's a blessing for me and my family. I'm thankful for Coach Driscoll for all the things he's done for me, for my dad for helping me get here and for the man above, of course.

"To be the first guy from UNF to break through will be something special."