Woot. The long national nightmare is over.

Tony Allen, scratch that – all of Memphis – coming to Conley’s defense:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1894253-tony-allen-to-auction-off-shoe-used-to-kick-chris-pauls-face-during-game

We should also force more populated markets to relocate their surplus of citizens and corporations to less populated and less corporately occupied markets.

Preseason is not intended to be a predictor or translation of the regular season.

I think he can have the same trajectory as JJJ. Didn’t he enter around the same age? 19? They develop their defense first, and it takes 4 or 5 years for them to really round out into form.

When JJJ was drafted, GMs said that he would be one of the best players in the draft in 5 years, but not in the first 3. He was young and still growing into his body.

Incidentally, Bickerstaff was JJJ’s coach his first season.

Guys like Mobley, JJJ, Ziaire Williams (Z doesn’t have near the same ceiling as the other 2, but he was also extremely young when drafted) need patience. Start judging Mobley heading into year 5. He’s already solid defensively. And get him to 240lbs. Basketball Reference still has him at 215.

No. If not Vegas, and there is zero chance it wouldn’t go to Vegas, it would go to another state or, more likely, Mexico City.

The advantages you cite for Reno are irrelevant. What matters for the small cities with 0 major pro sports competition, is corporate presence (NBA level arena where the NBA team is the primary tenant, # of F500 company hqs, non F500 companies with $100, $500, $1 billion in revenue).The 4 Nevada Fortune 500 companies are all based in Vegas. For anecdotal comparison, Memphis has 3, OKC has 2, New Orleans has 1.

If Reno has a couple of Fortune 500 companies headquartered there, and a brand new NBA level arena with the suites and amenities, then it still needs a billionaire owner interested in bringing a team there, over Vegas or markets with 0 existing pro teams. Then the NBA owners have a committee to vet the market to see if it meets their standards.

Even among markets with 0 existing major pro sports teams, Reno is not a top candidate. Louisville has 3 F500 companies. Va Beach/Norfolk/Hampton Roads has 2. Boise has 3. Shoot, NW Arkansas has 3, and about a million people and the University of Arkansas. South Carolina has 3 1-million-people regions, and growing manufacturing, although 0 F500 companies.