General NBA Discussion

[Neal136]

I wonder if they try to extend Durant's contract after next year in GS..they need to free up money , who will they get rid of

I think they might cut Green or Iggy to keep Durant

Or, perhaps they'll find a way to keep the team together:

Sources: Kevin Durant willing to take less than max to keep Warriors' core intact

 

[guyver1]

Or, perhaps they'll find a way to keep the team together:

Sources: Kevin Durant willing to take less than max to keep Warriors' core intact

Of course he says that now. He hasn't won the championship yet. Think he should wait until it's over..his agent might think otherwise

 

[Darkseed]

Couple more years of this and I'm done. No talent even close in the league to dismantle the Warriors. The only other super team can't get it done..... winters will be mighty boring after the madness ends

 

[karamazov80]

You know that Lebron wants desperately to lash out against the unfairness of KD and Curry being on this super team together, when even without Durant that team was nearly unbeatable. But of course. . .he can't because of Miami.

 

[filip629]

And with all of that being said, KD is playing out of his mind so far in the Finals. He isn't messing around.

Never said he wasn't a great player. Just had to jump ship to win a ring. That's what I HATE most about today's NBA. Superstars are bailing out on talented teams to make it easier to win rings. It's not about competing for a ring, it's about the path of least resistance to a championship.

 

[filip629]

I think next season the NBA is going to lose a lot of the viewers especially in the playoffs if the Eastern Conference doesn't get better

How is the East going to get better? Who's going to beat GS in the West next year? The NBA is a joke.

 

[filip629]

You know that Lebron wants desperately to lash out against the unfairness of KD and Curry being on this super team together, when even without Durant that team was nearly unbeatable. But of course. . .he can't because of Miami.

Ain't that the truth. It doesn't help that no true superstar wants to play in Cleveland. GS is going to be king of the hill for years to come and the Cavs will be their fodder unless some serious changes are made to their roster. It's a 2 team League either way. It's just a matter of which of the 2 will win.

 

[azurepred]

How is the East going to get better? Who's going to beat GS in the West next year? The NBA is a joke.

As long as Pop doesn't retire, I think SA is only a couple of pieces away from really challenging GS. I think Leonard is the 2nd best player in the world, and at this stage in their careers, is a much better defender than Lebron on a guy like KD. Bos can easily get much better if they trade that #1 pick. I assume Cavs will TRY to dump a lot guys for bigger defenders since defense has been their biggest issue all year.

 

[filip629]

As long as Pop doesn't retire, I think SA is only a couple of pieces away from really challenging GS. I think Leonard is the 2nd best player in the world, and at this stage in their careers, is a much better defender than Lebron on a guy like KD. Bos can easily get much better if they trade that #1 pick. I assume Cavs will TRY to dump a lot guys for bigger defenders since defense has been their biggest issue all year.

The Spurs are a good team and Leonard is a fantastic player but they are more than 1 or 2 players away. It's an older roster that needs younger talent. GS is in their prime and going no where any time soon.

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

The Spurs are a good team and Leonard is a fantastic player but they are more than 1 or 2 players away. It's an older roster that needs younger talent. GS is in their prime and going no where any time soon.

The salary cap is the only thing that will break up Golden State

 

[jstep13]

3 of 8...no it's not a new Star Trek character, it's going to be LeBron's record in the Finals (1 of 10 if he hadnt had 2 MIRACLE finishes)...

Think about that for a moment. He was a hair away from being 1-9 in the Finals....

 

[Grimlock]

When I was in high school people thought McGrady was better than Kobe

He might have been at times. Kobe was better for much longer though.


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[Grimlock]

I think it's more of...here's another superstar bailing on his team because he can't win a ring so he can join a super talented team and coast to a title. I don't blame the Warriors for signing the best player they could during free agency. I blame Durant for leaving an already talented team and not wanting to compete for a title. Personally speaking, I see way more hate for KD than I do for GS. GS is going to compete for titles with or without KD. It's not like GS needed KD to get over the hump and win a ring....it's actually the other way around. I think peeps want to see GS lose strictly so KD doesn't get a ring.

That makes sense. The thing is that people have been doing what KD did for years. Karl Malone and GP joining the Lakers. LeBron, Wade, Bosh. KG, Ray Allen joining the Celtics. Drexler and Barkley to the Rockets. Shaq, Gasol, to the Lakers.


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[Shawpaw]

If we want to talk overrated players, I'd start with Harden, Westbrook, and Melo. There are three very overrated players who won't be able to ever lead a team to the finals as the top player on any given team. They are players that put up big numbers, but are worse that the numbers suggest. These are players who don't make other players on their team better. LeBron makes teammates better in a pretty big way. So you can look at the numbers LeBron puts up, plus look at how he makes others around him better...like Magic did.

By chance, what would you predict OKC's record be this past year without Westbrook?

If Westbrook and Durant got along better he would've stayed in OKC. It' all on Westbrook.

Russell may have been a factor in the decision. I put more blame on Sam presit (GM) who absolutly adores white, unathletic guys. He didn't build the team he was supposed to and let everyone go. He is untouchable in terms of his ability to draft players (Westbrook, KD, Ibaka, Harden, Jackson, etc), but his management of the franchise sucks. He got rid of Brooks, which is a big reason KD left.

I think next season the NBA is going to lose a lot of the viewers especially in the playoffs if the Eastern Conference doesn't get better

I think so too. People just aren't as engaged. One dumb thing I read was that the hashtag #NBAFinals is used MUCH less frequently on social media over the past two years.

I have no problem with GS signing him. It's a smart move, but yeah it's pretty sad on KD's part. Enjoy the ring they didn't need you to get.

If I wanted to win a ring in the next 2 years, I would sign with GS too. KD was minutes away from the finals against CLE last year. Had he left someone like Pheonix, I'd understand. But he had a team built around him and just left to a team that was already stacked. I love hearing what veteran players think of him now lol

Couple more years of this and I'm done. No talent even close in the league to dismantle the Warriors. The only other super team can't get it done..... winters will be mighty boring after the madness ends

And unfortunately ESPN and others are just going to keep pumping GS into the spotlight, having topics such as "greatest ever?" etc. It's terrible for the game IMO. That's why NFL, MLB, NHL are better in terms of overall sport.

 

[DinoDB1975]

So much to catch up to! Some random thoughts/replies.

What are the excuses going to be when LeBron loses….... Again

Save 2 miracle title wins from other 2 teams choking, lebum would be like what 1-9!in finals?

Hi jstep, back for the annual LeBron bashing.

I kid, I kid.

No excuses, Golden State is simply a better team. LeBron is the best player on the court (Kevin Durant is a close second), but he can't guard all five positions at once or play the entire game. Cleveland's margin or error is so small that they almost have to play the perfect game. They are competitive until half time/the start of the third quarter, but a few defensive miscues/long rebounds not secured and the Dubs have run off seven/eight points before you know it.

GS added Kevin Durant, arguably the second best player in professional basketball, to a 72 win team. Cleveland added...Deron Williams? Golden State is by far the better team.

Wouldnt it be fun if Lebron went to the finals 10 straight but just never won another title? It would make the confusion of where he ranks among the best so much fun to debate!

That would be impressive, because since the Cavs won the championship last year, the ten straight without winning a championship streak would have to start this year.

So that means LeBron would be playing in the finals until 2026, when he's 41!

I'm a Warriors fan, but if you put LeBron on basically any team in the east he'd be in the Finals. If LeBron loses to the Warriors, he isn't the one to be blamed. He's had very solid games in this series so far, with the only blemish being the turnovers.

His Game 1 turnovers (eight) were horrible. Did a much better job last night..."only" four turnovers; still too many, but countered with a 29-11-14 triple double while shooting 66% from the floor.

Harden and Westbrook play in extremely difficult conferences.melo has never had a supporting cast. I would be willing to bet anything If harden and Westbrook played in the lame east they could easily make one finals appearance. Easily.

Give melo the supporting cast of either Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving in that we conference I guarantee you he makes at least one finals appearance.

Conversely if LeBron was in the west I doubt he would make 8 straight finals like has. Plus kyrie and love were both star players before Lebrun so please save the he makes other players better rhetoric for someone just started watching basketball yesterday.

Lebrun is so overrated it's not even funny.

jstep is a longtime poster in the NBA thread, and he's cool with me, so we're going to have to agree to disagree here. I will say that neither Kyrie Irving nor Kevin Love played in the play offs with their respective teams before LeBron.

I agree LeBron would have far more issues in the West. I don't think Harden or Westbrook could beat any LeBron team unless they had stacked rosters. Melo had a pretty decent team in Denver.

How many playoff games did Kyrie or Love win prior to playing with LeBron? If they were truly stars, they would have even played a single postseason minute without LeBron. They weren't good enough alone. And Kyrie was playing in the east, so he has no excuse...

I see Grimlock beat me to it (my favorite Dinobot, by the way).

I'm surprised to actual hear people who think LeBron is overrated. I'd agree he was overrated in his first Cavs stint, but he's damn good these days. Historically good. Remember when at one point people actually considered Melo as possibly as good as LeBron?

Yea, I have been anti-Lebron since the decision but I have to admit, he's definitely top 5 all time in my book at this point. Yes the east has been weak but 7 straight finals is pretty damn impressive. I don't really give him a pass for losing as much as he does though. For one thing, he made the decision to form a super team in Miami so honestly, those finals losses definitely don't get a pass. I get the hate for Durant for joining the Warriors but I don't see how that's worse then Lebron joining Wade and Bosh which was WAY more calculated. At least the rest of the Warriors were built from the draft. I give Lebron some credit for going back to CLE and winning it last year...that was impressive coming back from down 3-1. But he doesn't get a pass for losing this year if it happens...I don't care if the Warriors got Durant.

Yeah, as a Warriors fan I never understood the Warriors hate after getting Durant. Like you said, the Dubs were built pretty much through the draft, and only have one major addition via signing Durant. So I guess you can hate KD, but why are people hating on Steph or Klay? I guess I understand Draymond hate...he's like a modern Rodman or something along those lines.

No Warriors hate, mostly hate on KD. And some eye rolling at Joe Lacob saying the Warriors organization are "light years" ahead of other organizations. And for those that argue that KD did the same thing LBJ did when he first left Cleveland for Miami, it's the same...but different. It's the same in that both players exercised the rights as a free agent to go to whatever team they felt fit them better professionally...but different in the context. Fairly or not, Kevin Durant is looked at as joining the team he couldn't beat when he was up 3-1 on them. LeBron didn't join the Celtics, who eliminated the Cavs the season before he joined Miami.

From one of Shea Serrano's articles: "The third-greatest distance ever covered in celebration was when Reggie Miller hit what would become the game winner in Game 4 of the 1998 Bulls-Pacers series and then ran about 75 feet. The second-greatest distance ever covered in celebration was when Eddie Johnson hit that buzzer-beater in Game 4 of the 1997 Jazz-Rockets series and then ran about 85 feet. And the greatest distance ever covered in celebration was when Kevin Durant lost in the 2016 playoffs to the Warriors and then ran about 1,400 miles to join them in Oakland the next season."

Ouch.

When I was in high school people thought McGrady was better than Kobe

Well, we have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. A lot of analysts thought McGrady had the potential to be better than Kobe.

The salary cap is the only thing that will break up Golden State

Not when it's reported that KD would be willing to take less to stay with the Warriors.

 

[DinoDB1975]

3 of 8...no it's not a new Star Trek character, it's going to be LeBron's record in the Finals (1 of 10 if he hadnt had 2 MIRACLE finishes)...

Think about that for a moment. He was a hair away from being 1-9 in the Finals....

Dude, you had the perfect opportunity for a LeBron receding hairline joke...

He might have been at times. Kobe was better for much longer though.

We think alike.

That makes sense. The thing is that people have been doing what KD did for years. Karl Malone and GP joining the Lakers. LeBron, Wade, Bosh. KG, Ray Allen joining the Celtics. Drexler and Barkley to the Rockets. Shaq, Gasol, to the Lakers.

Well, Malone and GP were at the end of their careers. KG and Ray Allen were both traded to the Celts. Now, I'm sure the fact that Kevin McHale and Danny Ainge were former teammates might have had something to do with KG being sent to Boston instead of somewhere else...I seem to remember reading their was another deal on the table were the principals were KG and A'mare Stoudamire being traded.

Same as Drexler and Barkley, both were traded, as were Shaq and Gasol.

The Gasol deal looks better now, years later, since Marc Gasol has developed, but the initial Pau Gasol for Kwame' Brown (with Marc Gasol thrown in) deal was a steal for LA. They got two championships out of it.

 

[Darkseed]

And unfortunately ESPN and others are just going to keep pumping GS into the spotlight, having topics such as "greatest ever?" etc. It's terrible for the game IMO. That's why NFL, MLB, NHL are better in terms of overall sport.

I'm no Warriors fan and I don't look forward to the next few years. It raises the question about them being one of the greatest dynasties in league history if the they continue dominating the league.

They aren't simply winning games they are heads and shoulders above anyone else. Not many teams can claim to be that dominant over a span of years should their run actually materialize.

Folks will use the same argument they due with Lebron about league talent. I don't agree with it 100% and even if I did......it wasn't given to them they had to earn it

 

[jstep13]

LeBron basically started, or at least, popularized this super team garbage, twice. Another team finally beat him at his own game. He has no one to blame but himself. If he had stayed in Cle the first time and won the right way, the league wouldn't be in the mess it's in now.

 

[Darkseed]

Jstep hate remains strong

I think Celtics "super team" Garnett, Pierce, Allen and Rondo started it. Lebron needed a super team to beat them because it wasn't happening in Cle

 

[jstep13]

Jstep hate remains strong

I think Celtics "super team" Garnett, Pierce, Allen and Rondo started it. Lebron needed a super team to beat them because it wasn't happening in Cle

Nope, I would say Houston and LAL started it even before them - it was almost a Sideshow act when they did it. But like I wrote, Lebron popularized it, and dare I say "cool", thanks to his asinine announcement. The league took notice and the rest is history.

Thanks LeBron.