This roster lacks actual talent

Yeah this stuff is just not true. The problem with the roster is that we don't have any star players. You need a minimum of one, preferably two, to be a real contender in the NBA. But you aren't going anywhere if you have zero, which is what we have. We have a lot of good players, probably the most of any team in the league, but no stars. So I guess in that sense we "have a lot of talent" but it doesn't really matter. I don't believe it's possible to go toe to toe with the real top tier contenders and win a series if you've just got a bunch of good players.

 

So Sengun being a 23 yr old all star is not a star and KD putting up 25/5/5 on 63% TS is not a star?

LOL these are some dumb AF takes

 

If you want to call it something else you can. Call it a superstar, an MVP candidate, a tier 1 player, a franchise player, whatever. I don't care what you call it. As DD likes to call it, you need "a dude" and we do not have "a dude". And no, neither KD nor Sengun are good enough to be a dude.

 

KD literally won MVP. FMVP and he isnt a dude? lol

KD is regarded as one of the top 10 best.players of all time and he isnt even a dude? LMAO

 

Yeah and that was like 8 years ago? Obviously he used to be, I thought that went without saying. Of course prime Kevin Durant was on that level. But the version that we have in 2025-26 is not.

 

He barely dropped off and even shooting better from 3:
26/6/6 -2018
25/4/5 -2025

Somebody tell KD he isnt a dude anymore because he makes 1 less pt, reb and assist SMH You really think 1, 2 rebs and 1 ast is the diff between a non stat and top 10 all time???

Also Sengun is top 10 in the MVP race. Sure he wont win the MVP, but he is still literally and factually an MVP candidate at 23 yrs old.

https://www.nba.com/news/kia-mvp-ladder-dec-26-2025

Sorry to be blunt but acting like we have no stars is just you being delusional tbh.

 

If either of these things are compelling pieces of evidence for you then I don't think we have much to talk about. We just see the game in completely different ways. I do not care about KD's box score statline, his court impact is very clearly way less than it used to be in my eyes. And every advanced stat will back that up, he's not half the player he used to be in his prime. As for Sengun, if you think his appearance on the "Kia MVP ladder" means he's the same caliber of player as Jokic, Shai, Luka, etc, then sure. We are just too far off on what we believe here.

 

Jokic Shai Luka? Luka is on a worse team than the Rockets so using your logic how come Rox just beat them down at full strength if Rox dont have any stars?

Even the advanced stats put the Rockets ahead of the Lakers but they dont have any stars and according to you Luka is THE star right?

Its funny you mention Jokic since Sengun is also putting up similar stats to 23 yr old Jokic but I guess you dont care about stats just your own biased observations.

 

I definitely care about stats, just very little about box score stats. I think advanced stats do a much better job of showing us what's happening. It's got nothing to do with my own biased observations.

Also that is not my logic. I said "you need a star to be a contender" which does not mean "if you have a star you are a contender". The lakers have a ton of problems on that team, I don't think they're serious contenders unless they make major changes, currently I think the rockets are better.

 

Sengun and KD aren’t in the Shai / Joker / Giannis / Luka tier. But they are arguably in the tier after that, and you can absolutely win a chip with a top 5 - 15 guy, a “second tier” star type. The Celtics did it. The Pacers made the Finals last season with a guy that was more top 15 than top 5. The idea that you need a first tier superstar to be a contender is an antiquated notion in the second apron era.

 

We agree here on everything except that I don't think Sengun or KD are as good as you do. For me it's all one tier (1 thru 10 or so, don't have an exact number), but it seems like you have this separated in two different tiers. I have Tatum in my top tier. If you want to say there's a top tier of Jokic/Shai/etc, then the "Tatum tier" right below it, I don't have Sengun or KD in there. With your system I would have them both in tier3. So my initial point stands in that I don't think we're good enough.

 

Do you think Haliburton last year was better than Sengun and KD this year?

 

lol KD heard @harold bingo ’s criticism

 

JABARI

 

30/4/7 but KD is not a star? lol

What advanced stat are you looking at that says he isnt a star?

 

This.

 

Yes I do actually, I think Halliburton is better than both Sengun and KD. However, I don't think he's in that top tier either, I think he's in the same tier with Sengun/KD. So I wouldn't have called the pacers from last year contenders, but they're also in the east. And also they literally had major stars injured in every single one of their playoff matchups. I suppose if Curry/Booker/Ant gets injured against us, then Wemby/Jokic gets injured against us, and then Shai gets injured against us, we could make the finals too.

Look, we can disagree on this. It's clear I'm on an island here, I guess, but I just don't think we have good enough players to be contenders. We have a bunch of guys who are almost there, more than any other team, but we have no lead dog. Unless every team we play against has major injuries I don't think we're going anywhere.