I can't believe people still believe that flexibility BS. Its always next year or the year after. If his presentations so great how come he has struck out on all free agents except one and we are running that one of out of Town. The rockets have no real assets. Every team in the league will have max money.
If I'm KD or any NBA player, really, I want to play on the team that gives me the best chance to fulfill my potential as a player, as well as a chance to win. I don't think that's OKC for Durant. They are good, but it does not seem like a fun team to play on. Being a another cog in the GS talent machine does not look like the place for a superstar like KD to thrive. The risk of being underutilized like Love, Bosh would scare me away despite the high probability of winning a title. If I'm him I go to SA, HOU or MIA. Teams that are not overcrowded with stars, but do have talent and have shown they know how to acquire more of it.
I doubt that Beasley would be our starting PF with or without Durant. Is that lineup really inferior to Cleveland's? The Cavs are pretty much Lebron and Irving plus role players. Alongside Lebron and Irving, Love is just another guy rather than the all-star that he's been. If you had those three stars then I don't think that it would be that difficult to fill in the role players around them.
In this particular case, I believe he was referring to the flexibility to be able to assemble a big three and still retain your team for the immediate future. If you've already got 3 max players then you're not really talking about cap flexibility to make major deals. At that point it's about filling out the role players like Miami did around it's big three. The irony is that once you have the stars in place then it gets easier to fill out the role player because players are more willing to come here to have a chance at a title. It's why the Kevin Martins, David West's and Andre Miller's are willing to sign with SA for next to nothing.
A team that was only Durant and Westbrook nearly beat the Warriors.....so why wouldn't a better team with more talent be good enough to beat them? Doesn't make much sense.
With all do respect, Love and Thompson are not role players. but even if that weren't the case, Lebron is so next level good that it's a hard comparison to make. i don't see how Cleveland isn't the better team, even in a dream scenario where Houston ends up with the top two free agents on the market (hard to see that happening).
Bro, stop discounting all of the depth on that team including their two talented bigs! Are you kidding me?
Stop overrating the "depth" on that team, including their "two talented bigs"....which I can only assume you mean Ibaka and Adams who are one dimensional defensive players that bring next to nothing to the team offensively. I mean sure, Ibaka provides tons of flashy blocks but he's a weak rebounder and his numbers overall aren't very good. I think people just get caught up in the hype on that one. That's 100% the case when it comes to Adams, sure he'll give you gritty defense, but what other use is he? This is a whole lot like how Harrison Barnes was seen as an amazing player this time last year. Remember that? When it came down to it, the only players on the Thunder that showed up were Durant and Westbrook but let's face it, every time there is a team with a lot of star power, random scrubs will get hyped based on proximity.
He showed up for 4 points on 11 shots in 39 minutes when his team needed him most while the other team was focusing solely on the only 2 real players on OKC. He did get 12 rebounds though, so that was cool. I mean, what do we really expect from a 5 point a game SG who shoots 31% from 3? That said, I mean Ibaka was a 13/7 PF that some think is an amazing player so it doesn't take much I guess.
Not sure why the above team couldn't compete. It might not be the best pairing up of players, but if you start with KD and Harden, and then add one of Conley, Whitside, Horford... And then surround with Dmo, Capela, Ariza, Beverely, Beasley, KJ and change... That's really pretty super close. You know scoring won't be an option. And they should be able to make defense work. And you have Bev and Ariza both on solid contracts that are tradeable if necessary. What exactly would you propose that'd be a better path than that to a championship in the next 5 years?
I honestly think Harden and Durant would play so well together. Better than Westbrook/Durant, better than Kyrie/Lebron or any other duo. Thats not to say our whole team would be better, but it's a hell of a start. I'm not sure how well they would mix with Conley but we need to upgrade the pg position. Maybe sign David West and then our big men be by committee. West/Capela/Harrell/Beasley/Dmo?
Sign Whiteside and trade for Bledsoe, then Houston as a destination becomes a whole different scenario. Especially with 2 good friends like Harden and Beasley already on the roster. Durant Harden Bledsoe D-Mo Whiteside That is a championship caliber starting 5. With Beasley as the micro wave coming off the bench. Smoove and Goudelock at vet min are great values. And even Brewer, although pricey, would be a much better fit in MDA system.
If we spent our money on Durant and a PG, i'd be completely okay with bringing TJones or DMO back to start at PF.
I was with you till you said TJones, he's not an NBA quality player let alone a starter. This time next year he'll be playing overseas.
It's as good a lineup as any other team can offer. Harden for all the hate he gets around here is an elite young talent. One of the few players in the league that can drag a team into the playoffs no matter if it's Lin and Parsons or Howard and Ariza as his running mates. There are numerous stars like Irving, Love, Wall, Cousins, AD, Melo etc. who despite their talent have missed the playoffs. If Durant were to come here and join say Conley the balance shifts in the West. Memphis is now an ageing bubble team. OKC immediately takes a dive. SA still has Leonard and LMA and of course GS. Seems like a three team race with teams like Minny and Utah who could really surprise. I think it just really depends if he wants a change in scenery. Staying in OKC or joining a big three in Houston probably have equal probability in overcoming GS and SA.
KD signs for his max We leave the other max cap room a lot open Russ comes the following year Houston dominates for the next 7 years winning 5 rings.
If you believe that Thompson is a star then we'll have to disagree. Otherwise he's a role player. IMO Love isn't a star when he's in the role of third wheel. He's certainly skilled but he's not allowed to play to his strength and he doesn't really do the dirty work that is required to fill in around James and Irving. I wouldn't be surprised if Cleveland ends up moving Love this offseason. His salary isn't justified by his production. Lebron is great no doubt but it's not like he makes them unbeatable. If you tell me that Jordan was unbeatable in the finals then you might have a case. As good as Lebron is, he's still 3-4 in his finals appearances. We do this every year, whichever team wins then everyone assumes that that team is unbeatable. Up until the playoffs we saw tons of posts talking about how SA and GS would be winning all of the titles in the next few years. Now GS loses and CLE wins and Lebron is unbeatable. For the last 2 years not too many people have thought that Lebron made his team unbeatable. They played well 3 of the last 4 games and now Lebron is considered the difference maker again. Cleveland is a good team. IMO they aren't a great team. They got hot at the right time and GS wasn't playing as well as they had been in the regular season. OKC should have beat GS so everyone is thinking that they are great again. What's the more likely scenario, OKC and CLE suddenly went from good to great or GS didn't play as well in the playoff when they faced those teams? To me CLE was a good but not great team and GS was off their game during the entire playoffs. If we were lucky enough to sign Durant then I'll gladly take a Durant/Harden vs Lebron/Kyrie matchup. If you give us a 2nd max player like Horford or Conley then I also think that's a better compliment than Love is to Cleveland. Tristan Thompson and the other role players on CLE aren't difference makers in my mind. Hopefully, we can sign Durant and another max player and we can revisit this during the season to see how it works out.
I think part of the point of leaving OKC would be to get away from Westbrook who he has such poor chemistry with. The way they play the game simply isn't complementary. On top of that, Russ is going big market hunting. It'll be LA, NY, or Chicago for him.
I like this lineup, I really do. I think the weak point is the 4, which has been that way for YEARS! I hate that we can't get a good 4. At any rate, the only downside is Bledsoe, Dmo and Durant have an injury history. Its high risk but clearly high reward.
