General NBA Discussion

[Neal136]

Man ... Kevin Durant. That mother****er is cold-blooded.

 

[BurningRage]

Man ... Kevin Durant. That mother****er is cold-blooded.

They should replace Paul George in that Gatorade commercial with him.

 

[DinoDB1975]

My Captain Obvious statement of the day: basketball is a team sport, and more importantly, it's about match ups. It no longer matters if you have the best player in the game on your team if the opposing team has the advantage in other positions. The Cavs do not match up well with the Warriors. To ask LeBron to score and facilitate the offense, and then to have him guard KD will eventually wear him out, as it did last night. He had 39 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds...not sure what else he could have done. He was not going to outscore the triumvirate of Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Klay Thompson on his own.

If the Warriors keep their core of KD, Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green (honestly, they can throw anyone in the center position as they will eventually go small....ironically, LeBron's first championship with the Heat was a result of them playing small ball by necessity...which Steve Kerr adopted after Cleveland took a 2-1 lead in the 2015 Finals) they've got a dynasty. And since it's been reported that KD will accept less money than he could get to stay with GS, it's looking more like reality. All four are under 30. They could conceivably be together for the next decade.

For Cleveland and their fans, it's unfortunate that the Cavs were without Kevin Love and Kyrie after he was lost in Game 1 of the 2015 Finals, as LeBron needed a complimentary scorer to help take the load off him. And while Cleveland obviously benefited from Draymond's one game suspension and Steph's lingering knee issues, Golden State still had three chances to close out the Cavs.

Golden State added KD this year, and Cleveland got Kyle Korver and Deron Williams...there was no way for Cleveland to keep up with the arms race.

It'll most likely by a rematch next year, with the same result...the only way Cleveland would be able to compete is if they somehow get (and this is ALL hypothetical, not based in reality at all) either Paul George or Jimmy Butler...both two-way players that play great defense and can score (Kawhi Leonard would be on that small list as well, but he's not leaving San Antonio). PG13 could help with Durant, and Jimmy Buckets could neutralize Klay. But again, the Cavs do not have the assets to make it happen.

All that remains to be seen is if the Cavs can prevent Golden State from making history by being the first team to go undefeated in the playoffs.

 

[user 1190]

It's even harder to keep up with arms race when your best player keeps wanting a raise to be highest paid player in league. Not saying he doesn't deserve it but sometime you can have everything you want even if you think you are a king.

 

[Darkseed]

It's not just Lebron's pay but they overpaid several players (Thompson, Smith) and they are stuck with adding minimum salary additions. Cavs won't get better anytime soon unless they start to dismantle but that defeats the purpose.

Unless someone else makes unprecedented movies Warriors will roll thru west next year and pound the Cavs again next year.

Lebron is partially to blame because I'm certain he had influence in getting his guys paid now they are stuck.

But as been said, he really can't do more personally on the court they are outmanned plain and simple

 

[filip629]

This would be terrible. GS is bad for basketball. Their fans would not easily be able to see this but that much I figure. NBA is so ****ing boring right now. I can't believe people are still watching the games.

I was just being sarcastic Shawpaw.

 

[azurepred]

not that it would put Cle over the top, but WTF happened to Tristan Thompson? This guy has always been a rebounding juggernaut and would get his 3-4 easy dunks a game. 11 Reb and 8 points THROUGH 3 games?? I don't really see a realistic solution to overthrowing GS for SA or Cle.

They can be more competitive of course, but the one stupid thing Lue said was to try and speed up the pace. SA wasn't blowing out GS in game 1 b/c they had a fast pace. You have to make it a grind. Nobody can play fast against GS. The only reason why Cle was able to win 2 games with only Lebron two years ago was b/c they slowed everything down, which is why GS switched to small line up in that series.

I also feel Lebron hasn't gone to the post hardly at all in this series? That would surely wear out KD more than driving to the basket from the top every single time. It's just bad game planning. Again, they wouldn't win, but KD will wear down more if they punish him inside.

 

[azurepred]

It's not just Lebron's pay but they overpaid several players (Thompson, Smith) and they are stuck with adding minimum salary additions. Cavs won't get better anytime soon unless they start to dismantle but that defeats the purpose.

Unless someone else makes unprecedented movies Warriors will roll thru west next year and pound the Cavs again next year.

Lebron is partially to blame because I'm certain he had influence in getting his guys paid now they are stuck.

But as been said, he really can't do more personally on the court they are outmanned plain and simple

well, I think he thought if they kept the same exact team, they could repeat. That was obviously big whiff on his part. It's going to be hard to trade a lot of these guys. SA is strapped financially as well.

 

[Deeznutz6]

It's even harder to keep up with arms race when your best player keeps wanting a raise to be highest paid player in league. Not saying he doesn't deserve it but sometime you can have everything you want even if you think you are a king.

See Tom Brady and Sidney Crosby

 

[Darkseed]

well, I think he thought if they kept the same exact team, they could repeat. That was obviously big whiff on his part. It's going to be hard to trade a lot of these guys. SA is strapped financially as well.

Agree......why I said nothing will change unless someone makes a dramatic move which I can't foresee.

 

[filip629]

This will probably be the final matchup between these two teams for the finals because Lebron will probably go play somewhere else next season

The big rumor going around the net is....should he pick the Clippers or form another super team with the Lakers?

 

[guyver1]

Does anyone feel like GM3 was the final deciding game.

Even if Cavs avoid the sweep..so what, it just means that GS will win it at home for GM 5

Either way, it seems whatever the outcome is, the results will favor Warriors and these finals were disappointing

The only thing that will make this memorable is that a Durant got his first ring

It pisses me off that the NBA has become so one sided

I am a traditionalist , so I will watch tonight but it would seem like a waste.

The only thing that could possibly still entertain these finals at this point

1. Another close one tonight..maybe OT with the the Warriors winning

2. Remarkably going to game 5 and Cavs winning in Oracle tying the series

 

[Darth Madden]

No way in hell is LeBron heading out West. If he makes another super team it will be in the East so he can go to the finals easier and just have to deal with GS then.

And yeah, game 3 ended it. Cleveland gets blown out tonight.

 

[guyver1]

No way in hell is LeBron heading out West. If he makes another super team it will be in the East so he can go to the finals easier and just have to deal with GS then.

And yeah, game 3 ended it. Cleveland gets blown out tonight.

that has occurred to me believe me, but Lebron loves competition

Cleveland's formula is so simple for success

If Lebron stays

1. Get rid of Smith, Thompson..do you know how much money that frees up

2. Get defenders with this money

3. Get bigs like Carmelo

Somebody needs to light a fire under Cavs owner's ass

 

[Darkseed]

Lebron going to Clips or Lakers forms no super team??? Dumb rumor.....

Don't foresee how Cle drop salary with their cap issue. Gilbert has done his part and opened the pocket book....not many quick options to make Cle a team to beat Warriors. Pretty much league wide issue...no quick fix

 

[azurepred]

Agree......why I said nothing will change unless someone makes a dramatic move which I can't foresee.

I read an article suggesting they have to trade Love and whoever else to try and get George. Thompson's contract will be impossible to move given what he's done in the finals so far. Can they really upgrade Shumpert? Jefferson will prolly retire, they will move on from Daron Williams. I think Derrick Williams should stay and learn the system. I think they will trade Felder and try to move Smith too. Korver should be a priority to keep and besides Irving and Lebron, the rest seem expendable.

The big rumor going around the net is....should he pick the Clippers or form another super team with the Lakers?

Clippers with Lebron would be no better than what he has now. Irving>Paul. And the Lakers? Nobody wants to go to them right now lol.

 

[Grimlock]

that has occurred to me believe me, but Lebron loves competition

Cleveland's formula is so simple for success

If Lebron stays

1. Get rid of Smith, Thompson..do you know how much money that frees up

2. Get defenders with this money

3. Get bigs like Carmelo

Somebody needs to light a fire under Cavs owner's ass

LeBron was the one who wanted JR and Triston to get the big contracts. Those are his guys. I don't think Melo helps. He's an older Love, with worse rebounding. So, unless they can get him while giving up little or no assets, to be a six man....then I'd pass on him.


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[guyver1]

LeBron was the one who wanted JR and Triston to get the big contracts. Those are his guys. I don't think Melo helps. He's an older Love, with worse rebounding. So, unless they can get him while giving up little or no assets, to be a six man....then I'd pass on him.


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I know that those are his boys..but Smith is past his prime who was mediocre at best that Lebron made famous and Thompson can't handle pressure of a good defense when the game speeds up with someone like KD. Thompson faced joke defenses this whole playoffs and there was no KD last year in the finals so nationally he looks like a rockstar

Ok maybe Mello is far fetched. But defenseive power will help Cavs dramatically and there are a lot of good defensive free agents in the league.

They don't need the money they are giving Smith and Thompson . Let those two go, and defensive stars can come in.

 

[Darth Madden]

He can go to LA and play with the Ball family. Wouldn't that be fun?

 

[BurningRage]

LeBron was the one who wanted JR and Triston to get the big contracts. Those are his guys. I don't think Melo helps. He's an older Love, with worse rebounding. So, unless they can get him while giving up little or no assets, to be a six man....then I'd pass on him.


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Carmelo is a pure scorer and can create his own shot. Love is basically a catch and shoot player.