>w/o 'Rie, I think being lower than a 3 seed is reasonable
>A few teams made some big improvements to their rosters in the
>east
>CHI, MIA, WAS
>Then you have the playoff teams from last year; MIL, ATL, BOS
>PHI will get the Simmons thing resolved too

I think, if KD and Harden are both fully healthy, it's gonna be hard to justify lower than Top 3, because, like, a LaVine/Vucevic pair or a Beal/Dinwiddie pair just shouldn't be winning more games than a KD/Harden pair. Even Tatum/Brown, honestly, though I think both are exceptionally good young talents... they aren't a *pair of MVPs* at the end of the day, y'know?

>I'm of the opinion that 'Rie's antics are part of the HC's
>duty to resolve
>IMO, he's showing a complete lack of respect for the
>organization

I think it's fair to say that Nash should wear at least some of these problems around his neck... but it definitely feels like the organization and players are happy to just let Kyrie take the blame if shit goes south with their whole "hey, it's his choice to not play" response. It also feels like the population of NBA watchers as a whole has just roundly accepted "... yeah, Kyrie does his own thing wherever he goes, so I don't think there's anything Marks or Nash could've done here." And maybe they're right.

>Yeah, not signing the extension hits different
>He forced his way out of HOU...to his preferred destination
>Has to be a reason he's not signing the extension
>If it's Nash, that's easy math

Yeah, it'd have to be either problems with Nash or problems with Durant... and Brooklyn would much rather can Nash than lose Durant, lol. So even if Harden *does* leave because he's not feeling Durant, it's still probably Nash's ass end of the day.

>IRT the MIL, I was just illustrating how talking heads changed
>their predictions after game 1
>
>BKN is the back to back on paper champ
>If they finish out of the top 3 and exit the offs early, I
>expect Nash to be gone
>I guess the reason for my post is I expect that to happen and
>just wonder when he starts to get called on it

Well yeah, talking heads suck, generally, lol. Anyone changing any preseason predictions after one game deserves to be instantly clowned.

I think there were two main schools of thought going into this season in the East:
1. Brooklyn is the clear favorite, with or without Kyrie.
2. Brooklyn is the favorite... but without Kyrie, Milwaukee's clearly right there with them.

I've always been in Camp 2 personally. KD and Giannis are my Top 2 MVP candidates, and Brooklyn and Milwaukee are my Top 2 title contenders. How that shakes out end of the day... there's still a loooong way to go. But yeah, talking heads were probably back on TV after the Heat game saying "see? the Bucks AREN'T the favorites!" lol