Gregory Navarro

Amazing and humbled to be included amongst such a diverse array of talented writers! #BlackList2020 #HandsomeStranger

@thebenroyer Did they both say it with a straight face considering Detroit didn't have Cade Cunningham who is far and away their best player? Imagine the Lakers without Luka--not sure Marcus Smart is bridging that gap.

Lakers coach JJ Redick and Austin Reaves both said they missed Marcus Smart tonight: Redick: “Not having Smart tonight killed us.” Reaves: “The way he plays, unselfish, guards the other team's best player. That's what he does. And when you don't have that, you know, it sucks.”

@tom_orsborn For someone who has been around the block, Tom, I can’t believe you stood idly by as Vic got baited into this insipid questioning, blighting any chance Vic had & drawing HEAPS of criticism. From Jared maybe (really a Celtics guy) but not you & the Express News. A damn shame.

Wemby welcomes a healthy MVP debate, but he also just told reporters he wants to "try to make sure until the end of season there's no debate."

@Emakarenish @tom_orsborn Performative? Have you actually watched him play?

@tom_orsborn Is Wemby the most performative player in NBA history?

Wemby states his case for MVP:

@JaredWeissNBA It’s moments like this where I really miss Pop. There’s no way he’d allow BS like this to be debated openly. It doesn’t make a case for Wemby’s MVP—it kills it, especially w/older voters. Just really disappointing for Vic allowing himself to get goaded like this.

Asked Wemby to provide his 3 campaign bullet points for why he should be MVP

@The_Wolverine38 @JaredWeissNBA The Spurs weren’t healthy either, in the majority of those matchups either, so there’s that too.

@JaredWeissNBA “Dominated their “real” team. There was only 1 of those games we were mostly healthy and lost by 1. The others we weren’t healthy at all.

@JaredWeissNBA Unpleasant. Feels like you're making white board material for the OKC locker room. While it's good for you, it's not good for Vic or the Spurs & their fans. In the future, hope he's savvy enough not to get baited into silly self-campaigning rants like this.

@B1TuckerCarlson This one isn't the incident to highlight/defend. Driver did some stupid things here, including carelessly leaving his license in the trunk. Not only that, the lead officer told him the 2 reasons he was pulled over & the female officer contradicted him & he didn't even mention it.

This is why you should never talk to the police, ever

@_INside_Circle_ True. But don't forget Myles shot 50%/56% from 3 in that Cavs series. 3 blocks. Against NY, he shot 56%/32% from 3, nearly 2 blocks. He's having a bad year, but so are a lot of Bucks. Kuz. Trent. Brook looks reborn since jumping. Bucks have terrible coaching & superstar drama.

@GD_Navarro There are always many culprits in a team sport, but Turner shot like 18% from 3 the whole series and 36% from the field. Unacceptable.

Myles Turner is averaging his worst numbers since his rookie season (12pts and 5 rebs), but Bucks fans tried to tell us he was going to be 20 and 10 lmaoo.

@_INside_Circle_ I watched those games, some multiple times. There were many culprits, but I truly believe if Hali doesn't get hurt, they win anyway to cap an EPIC run. Which is why the roster meddling is so worrisome. You might not get Top 4 & they gambled their pick protections for Zubic. 🤦‍♂️

@GD_Navarro Lmao okay, bro. Even Zubac "underachieving" would have gotten the Pacers a ring last season. Turner was THE reason the Pacers didn't beat OKC in 6. I'll take my chances adding a better center and potential top 4 pick to this roster. 🤷🏾‍♂️

@BuneErin @C2_Cooper They got the W. I'm good w/it.

@GD_Navarro @C2_Cooper Hit a sore spot?

@BuneErin @C2_Cooper Not like Wemby didn't still get his on nearly 50% shooting. And our rookie guard, Harper, bullied your whole damn team, from Nesmith to Huff to Nembhard, so there's plenty of other guys to pick up that physicality slack if that's the narrative bubble you wanna live

@C2_Cooper He can’t handle physicality consistently

@vblicernno @C2_Cooper Wemby had 20 in 26 minutes. So not so bad he can't light your team up at a near 50% clip.

@C2_Cooper Wembys’ offense is soo dogshit

@BalaPattySZN A win is a win but that’s gotta be up there w/one of the ugliest of the season. That last 9 minutes it was like they were trying to lose on purpose. Forced shots, TOs, airballs, giving up offensive rebounds like Oprah giving her audience cars, missed FTs, etc. A nail-biter.

ill take it

@tom_orsborn And there went the game.

Mitch on sitting Wemby: “It was a close call because there's a chance he could play, but it was clear it was the right decision in terms of there was nothing we wanted to risk. (That’s) kind of been the north star of every decision we've made (regarding his health).”

@JaredWeissNBA While it’d be nice to have Barnes back, those on-off numbers between the two are just a little bit different as their net rate plunges. It’s also a momentum killer—he had some real post-season awards buzz going. Now it’s all in jeopardy.

Mitch Johnson says Victor Wembanyama is still questionable ahead of his pregame warmup against the Denver Nuggets. “It’s a real 50/50 and group decision that he will lead.” Johnson said that Harrison Barnes will be active if his pregame warmup goes as expected.

@Matthew_Tynan So no MVP, DPOY, or First-Team? Even if the Spurs manage to win, that’s not a reason to celebrate.

After tonight’s absence, Victor will only be able to miss three more games the rest of the way to remain eligible for regular-season awards.

@KeepinItRealRob @EricSal_7 Lauri makes 50+ million NOW, not soon. Why gut your depth & choke your cap for a guy who only suits up for half his games? Makes 0️⃣ sense if you actually study the salary cap. Castle (if he even gets a max) it won’t kick in for 2 years after this season. Harper 3. Plenty of time

@EricSal_7 Would Lauri still not be a perfect fit though? I like what they’re building but it’s gonna get expensive very soon to retain all their guys

This is where I can’t agree. Most of NBA Twitter at the time, when Spurs Drafted Wemby, were calling for them to dump their assets for Dame and then Trae. Then it was Lauri. Spurs refused. Kept all their picks the next two years AFTER Vic was drafted. They could have easily made this situation a short window mess trading for 1 way, high cost, high volume scorers with cool names like many suggested. They instead kept all premium draft capital and cashed in a low cost deal for a two way perimeter talent like Fox. They could have also traded Castle & Harper for Giannis recently like many suggested and Spurs still refused. They could have also dumped Vassell, 14th pick/Carter Bryant for KD — they weren’t interested. They should get all the credit for how they’ve built this thing.

@KeepinItRealRob @EricSal_7 Lauri makes 50+ million NOW, not soon. Why gut your depth & choke your cap w/a guy that only suits up for half his games? Makes zero sense if you actually study the salary cap. Castle (if he even gets a max) it won’t kick in for 2 years after this season. Harper 3. Plenty of time

@EricSal_7 @tim_cato Even w/the strategic resting Lauri’s been doing for Utah, he’s missed way too many games to be comfortable trading for. Not quite AD level—but close. Never played a full season. We have enough organic health concerns w/players—availability just as vital as fit.

Lauri’s fit would have been fine. It’s the cost in assets trading with Ainge, along with the max, along with the non playmaking skillset ( Lauri is more of a elite finisher), along with his inability to defend multiple positions in space. Those are reasons SA didnt care about him,