Game Threads Index (February 05, 2023):

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More: The two members of the traveling party who spoke to The Athletic said that they did not see who shined the laser from the SUV. They also don’t know if the laser was attached to a gun, but they believed it was. A Pacers security guard in the loading area at the time remarked: “That’s 100 percent a gun.”

“NBA Security and league investigators conducted an investigation interviewing numerous eyewitnesses and reviewing video surveillance following allegations made by the Indiana Pacers organization regarding a postgame incident on Jan. 29. While we substantiated that a postgame situation arose that was confrontational, based on interviews and other evidence gathered, we could not corroborate that any individual threatened others with a weapon,” Bass said.

Video of confrontation in-arena.

Details:

The verbal sparring continued intermittently for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, until Morant entered the loading area. He, Pack and the others dispersed into two vehicles. Morant, Pack and one other person got into an SUV, sources said. The first vehicle turned toward the bus before exiting up a ramp and out of the arena’s loading area. The SUV moved toward the Pacers bus, turned, slowed, and that was when members of the Pacers traveling party noticed a red laser coming from the car and being trained on players, coaches and others

I don’t know what the context of this is, perhaps it’s Kyrie, or the scoring record, or a song lyric. I really don’t know. The replies aren’t helping either imo hahaha

Source of information used in this tweet is from a tweet by LeBron James: https://twitter.com/kingjames/status/1622394143912919041?s=46&t=pqy83QgHthylWOdHkg5YOQ

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When @ShamsCharania says it’s time to go you pack your bags. Plus Elijah said he wanted to go back home 😅🙏🏾

To the #mffl  like I’ve always said y’all and BKN have made my NBA experience. Nothing but immaculate vibes as @tpinsonn would say. Tweet

Some words from Spencer after he got traded back to the Nets in return for Kyrie. Seems he found out through the Shams tweet, which is hilarious.

Also, W Twitter pfp from Spencer

https://twitter.com/JaMorant/status/1622365982915235842

" did a investigation seen they were cappin . still let a article come out to paint this negative image on me & my fam . & banned my brother from home games for a year . unbelievable "

Ja Morant comes out publicly on twitter to talk about the laser incident at the Grizzlie-Pacers game from a report from the Athletic.

Edit: https://prnt.sc/Rrnp2p-ZSwvQ
Screenshot incase tweet gets deleted

Earlier today, Chris Haynes reported that Kyrie was ecstatic about the trade to the Mavericks and looking forward to playing with Luka Doncic:

Kyrie Irving is said to be “ecstatic” about the trade to Dallas Mavericks and “looking forward” to joining forces with Luka Dončić, a league source tells @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport.

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Funnily enough, 1,985 days ago, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe reported that Kyrie was ecstatic about the trade to the Celtics and looking forward to playing for Brad Stevens:

Have been told that Kyrie is "ecstatic" about the trade, looking forward to playing for Brad Stevens and understand the #Celtics tradition.

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As we all know, Kyrie Irving had an illustrious career with the Boston Celtics and was loved by their fans even after his departure to Brooklyn.

Further:

• The Nets' refused Dallas' attempts to ship them Christian Wood's expiring contract or one of its less palatable long-term deals held by Tim Hardaway Jr. and Davis Bertans.

• Wood is attracting interest from Clippers along with D'Angelo Russell.

• Stein has previously mentioned, and again mentions that KD is big fan of Dorian Finney Smith.

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Sources familiar with Durant's thinking tell the Daily News the star forward has been less than enthralled with Simmons, who is averaging just 7.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 6 assists per game on a max contract in Brooklyn

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The Lakers simply would not move those picks. Not for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield, not for various assets from Utah, not for various assets from San Antonio and, according to league sources, not in weekend discussions for Irving.

A move that seems to fit what they want is a trade for Bradley Beal, but the Wizards have made it clear over and over again that they have no interest in trading Beal (despite having a lot of long-term incentive to do so) and he has a no-trade clause.

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The Nets had a higher winning percentage without Kyrie than they did with him in each individual season that he was on their team; but if you add up all of the wins and losses over the last four seasons, their winning percentage with him is actually higher with him than without him.

2022-23 | Record with Kyrie: 24-16 (.600) | Record without Kyrie: 8-4 (.667)

2021-22 | Record with Kyrie: 14-15 (.483) | Record without Kyrie: 30-23 (.566)

2020-21 | Record with Kyrie: 36-18 (.667) | Record without Kyrie: 12-6 (.667)

2019-20 | Record with Kyrie: 8-12 (.400) | Record without Kyrie: 27-25 (.519)

All 4 Seasons | Record with Kyrie: 82-61 (.573) | Record without Kyrie: 77-58 (.570)

This is a perfect demonstration of Simpson's paradox where averages over individual time periods indicate one trend while the combined data indicates the opposite trend. The reason for this is because the sample sizes for each individual season varied by a lot.

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Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving signed together with the Nets in the summer ahead of the 2019-20 season.

In three-plus seasons while they were both on Brooklyn's roster, they appeared in just 74 games together.

H/T @SNYNets

Sam Amick for The Athletic via Corvo

Multiple reports suggest Lakers are ready to go all in but wary of Kyrie bolting in a few months time. The above scenario would also need the inclusion of another player in the trade.

Would be a solid return for the Nets but definitely not good enough if they aim to retain KD?