what do you mean by substitutions? i am unfortunately an orlando "tragic" fan but won't be watching much this season. it's really nice to see rose back, too.

seemed like the coach took players out whenever they got hot.

heh, yeah I just read about Vaughn subbing out Nicholson for Maxiel after he was hot. great start!!1

3peat

#pacers

championship time

(or the 3 seed and another trip to the ECF whatever)

Also taking Nicholson out when he was 8/9 was hilarious. It's pretty sad to do it that blatantly right at the start of the season.

Knicks :(

Lakers. No one gave them a chance yesterday without Kobe against the Clippers but they reminded everyone that LA always has been, always will be, and still is a Lakers town. Once Kobe comes back they will be even better. Other strong teams will be ofc the thunder, warriors, grizzlies, rockets, and spurs in the west. In the east the bulls should do well once they regain their chemistry and form, along with ofc the heat, nets, pacers, and knicks.

The Lakers are going to win maybe 25 games this season, yo. They're really, really bad.

Don't worry, Silver is gonna gift wrap Wiggins for you. Enjoy the next 10 years.

If they're really really bad how did they completely outplay the Clips last night who everyone supposedly claims is a far superior team? I know it's just one game, but the Lakers don't have to deal with a volatile Dwight, have had an actual offseason for D'Antoni to implement his offense, and a bench far better than what they've had in years past. Plus, they don't even have the best SG in the league playing for them right now, just wait until he comes back. It's early, but I'd put em in the playoffs as maybe a 6-8 seed. We'll see tho, plenty of ball to come. Lol wiggins is gonna be reserved for a team like the sixers. I'll be surprised if they win 20 games this season.

Lakers suck

I dunno man, obviously you've got some great players there in Gasol/Kobe/Nash's corpse, but they're old and injuries happen. Plus we don't know how Kobe will come back from the Achilles, which is a notorious career ender. He's one of the most determined guys to ever play, so if anyone can come back, it's him, but it's worth worrying about. Outside of those three though, who do you have? Nick Young? Dude is streakier than my grandpa's underpants. Jordan Farmar? I guess he's the greatest Jewish player ever in the NBA but that's not exactly saying a lot. Xavier Henry? Wes Johnson? It's a team full of lottery busts. It's gonna be a fun team, and they'll definitely win some games they shouldn't, but I don't think you should plan on a playoff spot just yet.

Hope the Raptors suck so we blow it up for a chance at Wiggins.

gonna be a fun season now that there are some decent teams in the east again other than the heat and the pacers

KOBE BETTER NOT BE A FREE AGENT

He won't. Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak have acknowledged he's not and they're already working on getting a contract extension for him.

Dunno. I would assume he wants a ring more than he wants a lot of money from LA & I can't see him winning rings any time soon with LA's current roster. He could probably go to Miami and play SG while DW is on PG and SG when Kobe is benched. Logically, that's what I'd shoot for, but honestly, he should probably just stay with LA and retire w/ them like he probably will.

You can't play your top trio for more than 30 minutes each, and the rest of the team is a turd. Sorry man, you're going to have to pay attention to more than one game. They're going to be BAD.

Always rooted for the Celtics. #cantrootformontreal

There's no way he's leaving LA. If anything, the front office will bring the pieces to him during the 2014 free agency (carmelo, lebron, etc.) rather than he going somewhere else to get a ring.

We'll see lol. Nash is like the only one who is restricted minutes wise. Gasol can play pretty much whenever and when Kobe comes back he'll be restricted probably at first but then no one is going to control him afterwords. But yeah it's still early. We'll see how the west pans out, lookin forward to seeing it.

Lakers. They'll probably still barely make playoffs, but I won't get my hopes up. At least Dwight is gone though.

i'm stuck in Michigan. maybe the Pistons actually have a chance this year? i love the return of Chauncey.

it was amazing to watch the lakers bench destory the clippers yesterday

I remember hearing that LA wants to spend most of their money on the team overall, then give whatever they have left to Kobe. That and the mix of Kobe not being too happy with the low amount of money + the want to win another ring = potential free agency.

We'll see what happens post-season though.

Damn the thread was open too long.

Kobe is never leaving LA at this point. I don't think of him as the guy who would throw that away after 5 rings there. Even if he's been frustrated the last few years, he's not going throw away 16 years on the team.

Also didn't know Lakers bench beat the Clippers yesterday. I think they might actually get at least past round 1 in playoffs if they've already developed the bench this strong. I'm betting there will be injuries and other issues that will force the bench, just like with Kobe now.

Plenty of people have done that, though. Maybe no one with Kobe's passion for winning and with 5 rings, but then again maybe that's what separates him from the others.

kobe's prime> lebrons prime
THE HEAT WILL BE DETHRONED THIS YEAR. FUCK LEBRON YOU TRAITOR

dwight howard sucks
like phaze said lakers will have so much more depth and a better offense this year, and kobe will always be a laker, hes said it multiple times, he will always be a laker.

missouri doesn't have an nba team. rip