Thompson - Love : The trade that wasn't and the implications for the NBA

Nice take on things.

I think the absence of Beverly and D'Mo was huge in the WCF series.

To your point ... we needed more offense ... and we need versatile defenders; Terry and Prigioni were run ragged having to defend GS guards and therefore had tired legs early on in games which I believe effected their shooting (especially Terry who you count on for timely 3s). Beverly taking the brunt of that defensive energy could have kept the other two guards fresh to make timely shots. D'Mo is not a great defender but brings pretty consistent offense and was great in combination with Dwight. I think Dwight missed D'Mo's high percentage points at the rim. Rockets were terrible at finishing at the rim with T'Jones and Josh Smith. Too many missed opportunities.

I believe with Bev and D'Mo in the game Rockets Win games 1 and 2. Then it would have been a whole different series.

 

DMO is underrated defensively. Probably because he is always seen falling down.

 

Not real, it was due to Curry who did not want to his friend to go. Warriors wanted to make the deal, Curry did not.

 

Makes you wonder how much more valuable a Chuck Hayes would be in today's NBA. Guy was incredibly versatile defensive big man.

 

While the OP has a nice take I don't really think those were the reasons GSW didn't do the trade:

1) Curry didn't want Klay Steph to get traded. This is probably the biggest reason why the trade didn't happen. LOL.

2) GSW wasn't on Love's "I'm staying" list, IIRC that list only includes NYC, Boston, Cleveland and LA. Not everyone is willing to take such a big risk as trading for a dude who keeps saying he will walk after a season. This is also one of the reasons I didn't want the Rox to trade for Love because he doesn't want to stay in Houston either.

3) Kevin Love wasn't universally perceived as a superstar in his prime like KG or Pau Gasol when he was traded, dude has been accused of soft, not playing defense, injury prone and not being good enough to reach the playoffs by himself, something that not only superstars but stars have done repeatedly like Melo, Tmac, Carter, Iverson etc. Even Bill Simmons wrote an article talking about since in a lot of people's eyes a star should be able to go to the playoffs at the very least.

4) Thompson is younger, cheaper and has no history of health issues.

Also, your point #3 has nothing to do with this trade, defensive versatility dawned in the league when KG, James Posey, (a younger and more spry) Perkins, Tony Allen, Rajon Rondo and Thibs all got together and designed a defense centered around defending the paint and 3 pt line with switches and leaving the mid range area open. Then Bosh, Lebron and Wade teamed up in Miami and drove the point home.

#4 has also existed even before Thompson, trends has shown 3 pt % has been increasing the last decade or so. 3 pt % has been increasing so not sure why this trade is suddenly the originator for it especially since one of Kevin Love's biggest come ons is he is actually a pretty good 3 pt shooter himself. In terms of value a 3 pt shooting PF (aka Stretch 4) should be more valuable than a 3 pt shooting SG who is standard in the league.

And while I'm at it I'll also argue against #1 because while it may be a "guards" league, bigs are still worth more than guards simply because the bigs can develop guard skills to compensate whereas the guards will always be smaller than the bigs and can't do the big men skills like paint defense and rebounding. In the 80's for example, Kevin Love spotting for 3 would be heresy but in today's league he is coveted because of that skillset. LBJ and Kevin Durant are technically big men at 6'8+ tall but they out guard the guards in terms of skillset. I mean who'd you rather have, Harden, Curry and Thompson or Lebron, Durant and Anthony Davis?

 

I always thought it would have been a bad trade for the Warriors. I was happen when the deal was proposed. It hurt both teams

 

Good call. Situationally I totally agree. That was supposed to be the idea with Dorsey rev.2.

As a regular rotation guy (esp in a fluid read and react system), his mediocre offense would probably keep him out of the rotation.

 

I think the #1 thing is that Draymond Green turned out to be A LOT better than people thought he could be. Dude was useful but I do nOT remember anyone thought he'd finish 2nd place in DPOY.

People projected that the guy who would play most of the PF minutes in place of Love if GS didn't make the trade would be David Lee-- who is not bad but nowhere as good as Draymond turned out to be.

Love was also a lot better (or was used a lot more frequently and effectively) in MIN than he was in CLE

 

I was wrong about the Thompson-Love trade, I must admit.

 

Wow. Great post and great read!

 

Great thread, OP.

In my mind,



Gotta have three good to great 3-point shooters on the floor together and the 4th guy has to be able to line up and knock down the 3 when needed. I don't think it necessary has to be the 1,2,3 shooting the 3-ball. It could be the 2,3,4 being the primary shooters with the 1 being a creator or the 4th guy that can line one up when needed.

Defensively, gotta have an anchor and gotta have perimeter defenders who run the opponent off the high-percentage spots on the 3-point line. Can't let guys throw it up from the corner without contest. Gotta scramble at the 3-point line and force opponents into 17-23 footers or to go all the way inside against a paint/rim defender.

I also agree with OP that we shouldn't be stuck on PBev. Love the guy. Love what he brought. But to pay him on a long-term deal right now.....nope. Wouldn't do it. The best I would do is to overpay him for 1 season with a second non-guaranteed season attached to the first one that makes him trade-able or simply releasable.

Aaron Craft is a better defender than Pat Bev a this stage of their respective careers and Craft can be had for the minimum. I'd take Craft on a 2-year minimum deal over re-signing and keeping Bev at any amount. I'd rather sign Craft and then look to sign-and-trade Bev or let Bev walk.

You get Craft in Bev's roster spot. Then look for a young, shooting PG that can knock down the 3-ball at 42-45%. Say Seth Curry, or Corey Hawkins, or possibly CJ Watson at the minimum. Craft and Curry or Hawkins/Watson would be a nice upgrade to Bev/Pablo/Jet....and you've still got a roster spot and more salary space to add a player either through S&T of Bev or through outright space.

I still believe that if we trade Trevor and combine the assets from Trevor with #18 and Capela that we may be able to get up to top 8 in this draft. That would be a nice spot to get the best shooter in this draft (Hezonja) if he's still on the board or possibly a great, young playmaker/defender in Winslow while simultaneously carving out max cap space for a player like LaMarcus to sign outright as opposed to having to trade assets for him.

With a nucleus of Harden/LaMarcus/Dwight/HezonjaorWinslow/DMo/Smith, you've got your 3 shooters and your defensive stoppers. With Craft and a scoring/shooting PG, you've got another defender and another shooter. Go sign a guy like Alonzo Gee for more versatile defense.

Going about the off season this way gives us a lot more flexibility on court for 2015-16 and it sets us up to add another max free agent in 2016 without trading away any assets.

 

JayZ750, great post!

No question that versatility is the KEY. And shooting.

Today's NBA is: 1 PG, 1 Low Post guy that can block shots, and 3 Swingmen that can shoot and switch on defense.

3pt shooting, attacking the basket to get to the FT line -- all signs to a guard's league.

 

Not true. He is avg.

 

Like I said, underrated.

 

I agree with this. The Warriors would not have been the same team. It would've been nearly as bad as the Cleveland trade, which looks worse with each passing day.

With everything else being unchanged, you would've had a lineup of

Lebron, Irving, Wiggins and Thompson paired with Smith, Shumpert, and Mozgov. You got a championship contender until 2020+.

 

It is a great well thought out post, but I don't agree with the suggestion of dropping Josh Smith. He is inefficient, and unfortunately a poor free throw shooter, but it was his versatility that brought us this far. I wish he had played better defense, and scored more on the low block, but we needed his playmaking too.

D-Mo is pretty versatile, his main problem is his poor rebounding. He is always going to be a finesse player, but he needs to get stronger, so he can go up against the elite 4-5's on offense.

D-Mo's last showing against Anthony Davis was encouraging. It's a pity we missed him and Bev in the playoffs.

 

Not true he is above average.

I remember Bullard quoting a few weeks after the all-star game that D-mo's stats for opponents points per possesion were at the top of the league. He was 5th in drawing the charges in the league. Actually he started drawing the charges regularly the previous season when he finished 4th in the league despite only averaging 15 minutes per game.

Now I know Howard is a better defender because rebounding is a big part of defense. But regardless the stigma that D-Mo is below average or even average is dead wrong. He is at the top of the league at defending his man, and drawing charges. He is below average rebounding and shot blocking for a 7 footer. So in all above average. At 24 years old he can get continue to add size and learn the art of boxing out to securing rebounds better.

A comparision of Howard/D-Mo opponents FG% by distance is near identical.

D-Mo less than 5ft 59.6% DH 58.4%
D-Mo 5-9ft 39.6% DH 39.5%
D-Mo 10-14ft 35.7% DH 36.8%
D-Mo 15-19ft 40.1% DH 39.8%
D-Mo 20-24ft 36% DH 37.8%
D-Mo 25-29ft 32.9% DH 24.2%

Link to stats above. (side note Capela's stats were top of the charts but limited sample size)

http://stats.nba.com/league/player/#!/oppshooting/?Season=2014-15&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&sort=TEAM_ABBREVIATION&dir=-1

Charges drawn link.

http://hoopsmanifesto.com/articles/nba-stats/nba-charges-drawn-total-201415.html

Given his offensive improvement from the post and 3 point line I don't see Morey parting with D-Mo unless it gives he a 3rd star. He is a perfect fit with our 5's. We need a point guard as the OP stated.