I 100% disagree. No super star has ever done what Kevin Durant has done. Lebron FORMED a super team and he was definitely the lead dog of that super team. KD joined an existing super team, in which he might not even be the best player on the team. It's like if Larry Bird joined the Lakers after losing a 3-1 lead in the finals a few weeks earlier. SO WEAK. KD should be criticized by any sports fan.
and this aligns with what I heard a few years back from someone close to the situation that eventually blew up their core....well the part where he was unhappy with management anyway lol. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/index.php...t-i-heard-about-kd-melo-pau-gasol-etc.262157/
I respect your opinion. Let me be clear, I don't agree with KD going to GSW. Let me make sure everybody understands that first and foremost. I don't think it is good for the competitive balance of the NBA. That said, when you look at teams that were dynasties, they had multiple hall of famers on their rosters. That wasn't really fair or competitive either. The same teams competed for the title every year because they were stacked. That is all I'm saying. It doesn't really matter to me if the team was constructed through free agency or trade. Go back and look at some of those rosters. These guys say they wouldn't do what Lebron and KD did, but many of them didn't need to because great teams were built around them nor did they really have the option to. KD had the makings of a great young dynasty around him and they threw it all away and traded Harden over a few million dollars trying to be the Spurs. Then a lot of those old school guys chased rings at the tail ends of their careers by trying to go to teams where there were other star players in place. That is where this teaming up stuff all started. MJ can say something because all he ever really had was Pippen depending on how you feel about Horace Grant and Rodman. Dirk can say something the way he won his one ring. Most of these other guys that won multiple rings had amazing talent all up and down their roster. These current era players feel like they have to have that type of talent on their team to win and for the most part, that theory has proven to be correct. You have to have multiple stars on your team to win NBA titles and especially multiple titles.
KD saw the same thing the rest of us following OKC saw: They weren't completely sold out to win at all costs, Presti cared more about his precious "process" and being very good over a number of years more than winning a championship. In all fairness, this could be the mandate he was given by the owner. Either way, the Harden trade was a terrible idea for their franchise and I'm very grateful for the gift to my team. I closely followed OKC solely because of KD and now I couldn't give a care about them.
Oh for sure that the writing was on the wall about how Thunder management was doing pretty much everything NOT to convince Durant to come back. One thing I left off in that original thread was that the guy I talked to mentioned Durant being pissed off about a billboard that went up during that 2014-2015 seasn in OKC when he was injured. I didn't press for more info but I can only assume it was about this: http://www.espn.com/blog/truehoop/p...y-thunder-prepare-for-life-after-kevin-durant IMO, if Durant wanted that 3rd star/veteran rather than another young player he should have went to management like a leader/alpha dog and demanded Presti go out and get one. From everything I've read/heard/seen Durant just doesn't have the testicular fortitude to voice what he wanted even though he is the leader of that Thunder team. You didn't want Harden traded? Should have spoken up. You wanted a 3rd star/vet after Harden was traded? Should have spoken up. You think you and Russ might not coexist successfully any longer? Should have spoken up. From MJ, to Kobe, to Lebron, to hell even Dirk...the franchise player voiced their opinion because they have that right. Durant had that right and should have exercised it.
Caveats: It's the first game and I only watched the 3rd and about half of the 4th. But... What the heck was Durant thinking? GSW will make it through the regular season, but with Bogut and Festus gone, KD will have to do more dirty work inside, which both wears on him and wastes some of his talent. In the playoffs, that discrepancy will be even more pronounced. They have to make a trade for a legit big guy or they won't make it. Tonight, GSW looked like a rec league team out there just jacking crap up from everywhere.
Pachulia was supposed to be their Bogut replacement, maybe the Spurs frontcourt of LMA and Pau was just their natural foil since it's a lot like a traditional frontcourt. They looked just fine in preseason, maybe they just need to adjust to the NBA level defense and they should be ok. There's too much talent on that team for them to be this bad lol.
Expecting KD to play defense on the 4s? Good luck ... And not enough touches for all the shooters. Smiling as the Spurs built their lead earlier Pop's system ... change the players, they're still a great team. Sigh ...
Durant would have had a ring by now if he did not choke back in May. And this was the first time OKC was fully healthy heading into the playoffs. OKC was loaded with talent with the best front court in the NBA and yet he could not get it done and then went ring chasing with the very team that knocked his ass out. He is the biggest mental midget among NBA stars and the OKC brass owes him nothing.
Their mantra was "Strength in Numbers", and yet they completely abandoned that to sign Durant. Bogut, Barnes, Ezeli, Barbosa, Speights all gone. One of the main reasons they won 73 last year was their bench could maintain an elite sustained level of play when the starters were out, which is why the starters also got to rest so much. Now their bench is trash and Durant is completely redundant to Klay Thompson. Not good for the Warriors.
Damn... That is NOT a good look. Doesn't look like someone's enjoying basketball right about now... Kinda like the Warriors all through last year's playoffs in fact. It's possible that signing KD made the Warriors locker room a whole lot less fun. I don't have a dog in this KD situation, but I don't want him to flame out emotionally. Hope Kerr is on top of it, for KD's sake.
Their bench and depth was great, but I think it was a cumulative more than just their bench being good. It was good, but its main benefit was that the starters didn't have to log huge minutes game after game. It was still that starting group that was dominant. They still have AI and Livingston off the bench, and I suspect the bench will be "ok", even though not as good. The big question will remain, in that starting group, is it an improvement, and how does it impact chemistry and minutes and rotation. The BIG issue is that Barnes, while horrible offensively in that Finals, at least througout the season was content to focus on defense at the 3 and not take a ton of shots from Curry, Klay, Green, and you'd be fine taking him out for AI anyway. With KD, he obviously prefers offense over defense, he does take shots away from other efficient players, and it's not clear from a rotation perspective where and how the minutes between Green, Durant and AI get spread. Ultimately you probably end up with more small ball with Green at center, KD at PF and AI at SF... but as good as Green is as a versatile defender, and as good as AI is as a versatile defender, can you count on KD to put in the effort defensively at the 4? I think he has the skillset but not the want to do it regularly (though to be fair he probably shouldn't, its not his role). And that ignores the Bogut for Pachulia downgrade, and the rest of the overall frontcourt issues. But there's still way too much talent on that team, and they still are the favorites.
I actually wouldn't be surprised if Anthony Davis went off and scored 30 or more because im sure most of his points will be in the paint.
Lots of laughs ESPN adding Durant in their click bait to discuss up-coming free agents this summer. Uh, Durant just signed a 1+1 to make max money. And extra lulz at Curry being on the list. That's like putting Duncan on lists back in his prime. 2017 free agents: Curry, Durant, CP3 lead star-studded class
