Ryan Anderson can't wait to play w/ Rockets. D'Antoni excited about team.

But Super Teams have always been around the NBA from its inception. Whether home grown or through trades, there have ALWAYS been super teams in the NBA. Russell's Celtics were a super team for a decade plus, Lakers traded for Wilt, Jabar, Shaq and Pau, 6ers traded for Moses, Jordan's Bulls traded for Rodman. Even Rockets tried to build super teams by trading for Barkley and signing Pippen to play alongside Clyde and Dream. All this happens all the time waaay before Miami's Big 3, Lebron building his super team in Cleveland and Durant going to GSW.

Super teams are not only good for the league, but necessary for the NBA to compete with MLB and especially NFL. Dynasties are great PR, whether you hate or love them. People are invested in your product.

 

I don't know. I kinda agree with you but just can't buy that. Let me think about it a while........

 

I'm tired of this comparison. This isn't a normal job. When you and me and 99% of the rest of this board look at opportunities, we don't have millions of fans waiting with bated breath to see what we choose. And our choice doesn't completely change the competitive balance in an entire industry.

Fact is, KD, had he not choked, would have made the Finals, not GSW. He could have A) maximized his earnings while B) likely being the favorite in the West in 2016-17. He took the EASY way out. He didn't' want to compete, which is what these players are supposed to live for.

Just a dumb comparison.

 

Once you take control of your emotions you will see that its just a job as stated earlier

 

I would disagree and say that parity is what maximized league income. Obviously you want your major markets to be competitive, but in the Playoffs, your typical fan isn't going to be rooting for a dynasty - they root for the underdog. Yes you can make an argument that more people will watch if to see a Dynasty overthrown, but you're assuming that the league is competitive enough to actually overthrow a Dynasty. Unless the Spurs make a major guard upgrade, I just don't see how anybody can stay with them for 7 games.

MLB & the NFL are hugely successful because the Astros can make the World Series, because KC can win it all, because Carolina & Denver can make the Super Bowl. All a Dynasty does is bring out the worst kind of fan - a bandwagon.

 

Yeah, so basically athletes shouldn't be treated as human beings and have the right to choose where they want to work in like other people? GTFO, KD didn't ask you to wait around with baited breath where he was gonna play in, didn't he?

Also the only reason your choice of work doesn't change the competitiv landscape is because you aren't as good in your industry as KD is, for example when Steve Jobs went back to Apple how big of an impact did it make in the technological landscape of the world? When Disney decided to buy Lucas Arts and Marvel Studios you think it didn't change the film entertainment industry? When Jak Sikma decided Alibaba would be listed you think it didn't make waves in the stock market? People make landscape making decisions all the time you just aren't aware of it.

 

My emotions are in control? Unlike some, I never thought Houston would get KD. I actually wanted him to stay in OKC, as I thought their team as constructed had the best probability of competing for years with GSW.

I just don't see how you can compare being paid millions and millions purely in the name of competition to earning a normal wage and looking for opportunities to develop your career and maybe make a salary a few % points higher.

 

This is funny.

Contract values only matter when they prevent you signing players. We are still sitting on 10-15 million in cap room, and can easily free up room for another max player next offseason.

So why does it matter what he is getting paid again? And what is so important about 2-5m in extra cap space?

 

Spot on. Also, for those that want the "regular job" comparison, you have to look at the very top 1% of whatever your field is. Yes, if some mid-tier staffer would rather take a random job in San Francisco, more power to them. However, if a legitimately great CEO -- arguably the best in an industry -- turned down an opportunity to lead an excellent company to instead be a No. 2 or No. 3, I'd think it was a shame that that person wasn't fully utilizing his or her talents. And if I was an investor in that company or industry, I wouldn't be too thrilled.

 

I don't trust people like Anderson. Always feel like he is lying to me with his athleticism.

 

I'm not sure where I said KD shouldn't be treated as a human, and if that was alluded to it wasn't my hope, but he 100% deserves at least a portion of the backlash he's getting.

Steve Jobs going back to Apple was best for the consumers. Disney acquiring Lucas Arts & Marvel Studios was best for the consumers. I'm well aware of "landscape-making decisions", and maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I don't see how this move helps but ~5% - 10% of the consumers.

I'm probably digging the wrong trench, I just disagree with those comparing it to a normal job opportunity.

 

Except MLB and NFL aren't making global tv money now, are they? Ticket sales are so 90's, nowadays the NBA as a league makes more money because the NBA is a GLOBAL sport, you have people all around the world watching it and so advertisers who are the real cash cows are willing to pay big bucks to be exposed to so many viewers. If I'm paying good money via league pass for a country I don't even LIVE in then I better see the best basketball possible, that means stacked teams going against stacked teams not a team who lucked out in draft vs a team with just 1 star and scrubs like what happened when Shaq Lakers went up against KG and Minny team scrub Wolves or Spurs vs Pau Gasol and Memphis has beens Grizzlies.

What you're saying runs against history, the NBA always had its highest ratings when there are dynasties and rivalries in the NBA. Its also the era people remember the most, remember the time when LA Clippers had Sam Cassell and Elton Brand and they had a matchup against Atlanta Hawks who had Josh Smith, Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams? Neither did I

Also the NBA has NEVER had parity, even when the max salaries weren't implemented they were still dominated by dynasties starting from Bill Russell Celtics to Showtime Lakers to Celtics Big 3 to MJ Bulls. The NBA will always have 3-4 teams better than the rest, if you remove max salaries the non-max guys will all play for big cities like LA or NY because they can get endorsement money to supplement their now extremely low salaries. In that case it won't be star players like KD who will determine competitiveness, but role players like Bogut or Zaza who will sign for 2M to play for LA instead of 5M because rings and endorsement money> the 3M difference in salary. I'd rather have guys like KD be the defining factor than mid level players.

 

Yeah but that's still his right to do so, and honestly as someone outside looking in you have no right to interfere on what he wants to do. It's like getting mad at the instagram founder for selling out to Facebook or getting mad at Bill Gates for donating all his money to charity instead of continually investing in technological advancements, why's it your business?

To me deciding where you want to play for is a very personal choice, you can always get mad at other people's decisions that's fine since eveyrone is entitled to their own opinions but you should also allow them to make that choice. Even Stephen A Smith who called the decision the most weak sauce move done by a superstar (I wouldn't necessarily disagree) didn't call for the abolishment of max contracts and say superstars shoudln't be able to decide who they want to play for.

 

Because you have to find value in the age of hard caps.
A huge reason for GSW success is Curry being the best contract in the NBA.
2 mil here and 5 million there allows you to have a quality bench or is the difference between offering a max vs pay cut to that superstar.

 

There's never been a team that won 73 games. Thn you have this years MVP, last years finals MVP. You already are the favorites to win and you add the previous MVP who almost beat you.Lets not forget they are not aging stars hunting for a ring they are young and in their primes. I'm sorry this isn't the same. He took the easy weak way out. BTW trades are different from choosing to go to a place. There has never been a situation like this. Durant almost made the finals and had a future hall of famer on his team. It's just weak.

 

You're right, it is his choice. I think that's largely a strawman argument, though -- is anyone actually trying to interfere and take away free agency? I haven't seen that, other than a few extreme cases (and you can find that for anything). What I've largely seen is paying customers question the value of supporting such a team, and I think that's completely fair. As you said.

 

When they say that they're usually referring to prime free agents. Lebron, Melo, Durant, etc., not guys like Ryan Anderson.

 

Buddy i like your posts and usually agree with what you write. This time however i think you are wrong. Durant wanted to win, and the best possible place to do so was with the Dubs. Is it an easy way out? No!! As good as they are they still have an 82 games season ahead of them and the playoffs, they have to play and sweat and win those games, it wont be easy, the NBA is tough, they have to earn it, and as good as the Warriors were last season they were not invincible, as proven by the Cavs in the finals and almost done by OKC as well.

Bottom line is that competitive superstars like these like to win titles, and they want to be in the teams that give them the best odds of doing so and they also like playing with other superstars, the more the merrier i think. It happens in other sports as well, take soccer for example, do you think that if this summer a guy like Pogba goes to a super team like Real Madrid fans are going to say the same kind of stuff they are saying about Durant? "oh my God how can Pogba go play for a team that already has Cristiano Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, James, Ramos, Kroos etc.?? what a beta move, he took the easy way out!!" naaah my friend, on the contrary it makes sense, they needed each other, Durant wanted to be in a place that gave him the best chances to win and at the same time, to keep earning the big bucks, he got it. The Warriors on the other hand wanted to be even better than they already were by vastly improving their weakest position and have a better shot of winning again, they got it as well.

If Durant really wanted to win this is the logical move and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, people are complicating it with this romantic notion that this is wrong and he should have picked the weaker team because it was his, and that somehow wanting to play with better players is a bad thing, I disagree.

 

just stay healtht brah

 

Probably has more to do with the fact that the Rockets don't have a great overall roster or coaching than Harden himself.