Warriors would've lost this year as well if they didn't have KD. It'd be 2-0 for Cavs right now without him(poor shooting game by Klay and Draymond in game 1 would result into a loss, Draymonds foul trouble game 2 would result into a loss). So they obviously needed him to win again and thats ignoring the fact they would pay the same money(and how much that would lower their ceiling) to Harrison Barnes instead.
It was the Players Union and Michelle Roberts fault. Not the NBA's. The NBA wanted smoothening. Michelle Roberts said NOPE which caused the cap spike allowing KD to the Warriors.
I understand that. When I say the 'NBA," I mean the other side of that negotiation - the owners, who I believe should have held their ground more firmly on an issue that so clearly had the potential to define the outcome of the next 5-7 NBA seasons.
Did people think the Warriors were a dynasty team in waiting for Kerr transformed the team? What this shows is that great drafting, great coaching and some luck can make a great team. SC, KT, DG, none of these players were cannot miss prospects coming out of the college.
Really the only way the Cavs have a chance if the refs decide to favor the cavs. Even if Lebron is getting 40-10-10 I don't think they can beat this warriors team. This was a 73 win team last year. They didn't really even lose their best bench players to get Durant.
That has literally nothing to do with what I'm talking about. And I'm not criticizing the Warriors anyway. Any team that has the ability to add a guy like KD would do it. What I'm saying is no team in that tier (Spurs, GSW, Cavs, Clips, etc...) should have been able to add a max player to their roster. The whole point of the salary cap is to keep some level of parity in the league. If you don't manage the administration of the cap prudently, you create scenarios like this.
This is actually good for the NBA. Lakers and Celtics dominated the 80s. Play better organized basketball and try to beat the best.
Sorry, I did not intend to reply to you, must just hit the reply button by accident. Just trying to say the key to great team is smart management.
Y'all need to stop watching the NBA playoffs when your team (presumably Rockets) are out. I'm enjoying life right now while what is bitter creating thread after thread about how the NBA sucks
When Lebron left the cavs , his team was so bad they got the number one pick 3 times in a row. OKC was the 6th seed this year . Westbrook is at least a top 10 NBA player. Cleveland didn't have one in the top 50. Yes he went to form a super team. The third guy on that super team was also signed as a free agent. KD going to the Warriors is a completely different level of bs. I think a lot of the backlash from lebrons move was because of how it was done ( live on air) but we forget he used that as an opportunity to generate cash for charity. KD "wrote" some BS article about how this it would be so fun to play for GS. No ****!!! Things are pretty fun when your team wins 73 games and you don't have to do nearly as much on the floor because of the talent around you. That's like saying , it is fun to play for the U.S. In the olympics because the ball movement is so great . Nah , it's fun because you get to beat the snot out of teams that are way less talented.
Yup - agree with all of this. Not to mention that the Thunder made a solid move by moving a guy whose value had clearly declined (Ibaka) in favor of a young guy who could have thrived next to KD (Oladipo). The Thunder would have already been the favorites to win the title, but KD wanted an even easier route. I thought it sucked when Lebron left Cleveland the first time, but the situations are barely comparable.
I hate when people do this. You cant base an outcome off games like 1 and 2. If durant never came, they would have an entirely different system throughout the year. It would have been an entirely different game. Saying if durant wasnt there that they would lose is way too simplistic.
Even with that said, I still don't really blame KD for his decision. He left OKC and went to a far superior city, superior organization with better chances of success and didn't have to make any financial sacrifice (might actually end up with more $$ through endorsements). Because of the player's union's idiotic decision (comically enough, Lebron was the VP of the union at that time) to reject cap smoothing, it created this once in a lifetime situation in which practically every single team in the league had enough capspace to sign KD to a max.
Yeah - this is the part I struggle with a little more. I think where I basically shake out on it is that KD obviously has the right to make the move. By the same token, I (and the media and other fans) have the right to call it what it is - a weak ass move that indicates a lack of competitive willpower. I hate that I'm siding with Stephen A. Smith and against the greatest Longhorn basketball player of all time. Wanted to add that the comparison to "normal" jobs is kind of stupid (Draymond often makes this argument for KD's decision). If you work at Apple, and Microsoft offers you more money, better chance of success etc..., no one faults you for making that move. However, that is because Google and Microsoft's product isn't competition...it's a phone, laptop, etc... If you are in the business of competition and you undermine that, you should expect some hate and stop crying about it.
From the fans perspective it definitely was a weak move. But practically every one of those very same fans would have done the exact same thing if a they were faced with the same situation (move to a far more preferable city, to work for a superior & more fun company all the while getting paid more). I consider all those old school players complaining about this as BS as well, back in their days it was absolutely impossible to do something like this. So it's completely pointless for them to say they never would have done something like this in some kind of attempt to claim moral superiority. Before the crazy cap explosion, none of the title contending & title favorite teams had anywhere near enough cap space to sign a max player while retaining their core. If the cap explosion happened back in MJ's prime, I'd imagine there be a long line of great players in their primes lining up for the possibility of playing for the championship without having to make any kind of financial sacrifice.
