WOJ BOMB

[WiggyRuss]

Golden State won last year in part because they had one of the few guys that could slow down LeBron...get rid of iguadala and replace him with a bunch of minimum salary players....good luck with that- there is still only 1 ball- what are the warriors going to score MORe points, MORe efficiently?

 

[LAD]

All i'm saying is, if it aint broke, don't fix it! $30m a year is a LOT of money to spend for a Top 5 player that really wouldn't make much difference to the team.

Plus, would Durant be happy being the #2 option? Or possibly even #3 if they give preference to Klay.

But my point is we don't know for sure how he will effect the team, only that the possibility he will be a nice addition is more significant than not. And him no longer being the #1 option will be a sacrafice he'll have to make if he wants to win. Clearly he hasn't been able to win where he is in OKC, being the #1 option. And when we look around the league we don't see any other "stars" winning by themselves.

Look at LBJ. He was the #1 option in Cleveland the first time around & that got him ZERO titles. Now here he is again the #1 option and still, ZERO titles so far. But, when he joined other "stars" in Miami he was a repeat champion. KD will need to decide if he's ready for that change or not.

 

[Mecca]

Golden State won last year in part because they had one of the few guys that could slow down LeBron...get rid of iguadala and replace him with a bunch of minimum salary players....good luck with that- there is still only 1 ball- what are the warriors going to score MORe points, MORe efficiently?

Ummm, luckily they don't have to worry about that because they have Iggy...lol

 

[LAD]

I think you're under estimating one thing: competitive nature.

These guys are professional athletes who thrive on competition. In the last 40 years in the NBA, only recently has it been "common" for athletes to try and team up to form super teams.

The time for KD to gel with the Hawks would be the exact same it would take for him to gel with the Warriors. The Warriors may win more games in the interim because of pure talent, but for the teams to be clicking on all cylinders it would take the same amount of time.

Don't know how familiar you are with the Hawks, but the system they run is nearly identical to the Warriors/Spurs (Coach Bud is a former Spurs asst). It obviously has different elements, but the principles are there. Everyone seems to forget the Hawks just last year made the ECF, with a 60+ win season. Yes they were swept, but if you put KD on that team, you don't think that makes a difference?

All I'm saying is that the Hawks make an intriguing destination point. If you want to argue that the Warriors should just be the favorite destination, that's cool, I don't have a real rebuttal to that. All of my points have been fairly logical in reasoning and nothing really out of line. If you're looking for a pure hierachy of where KD should go if he wants a championship, it should go: Warriors, Spurs, Cavs, Retire.

LOL @ the bolded sentence.

In response to your post, I understand he will have to gel, get acclimated-however we want to state it-but when we look at the two TEAMS involved, the Warriors are winning right now & the Hawks got swept in their last playoff appearance. Those are just the facts. So having said that, what would give him confidence that they could win (in ATL) with him there while they go through the acclimation process? Yes, I do think he makes a difference. They could probably win a game or two vs. being swept. But they're not winning the East with that line-up IMO.

The problem I see with comparing the offense that you say both teams use is that the Warriors have the better players-from their stars to the role players. Clearly that makes all the difference in getting winning results.

Honestly, I just can't understand why going to a team in the East that he most likley can't get to the Finals with is better than the team he's on now. RW is considerably better than Teague or anybody else on that Hawks team but with KD they'd be expected to do better than OKC?

 

[CitySushi]

LOL @ the bolded sentence.

In response to your post, I understand he will have to gel, get acclimated-however we want to state it-but when we look at the two TEAMS involved, the Warriors are winning right now & the Hawks got swept in their last playoff appearance. Those are just the facts. So having said that, what would give him confidence that they could win (in ATL) with him there while they go through the acclimation process? Yes, I do think he makes a difference. They could probably win a game or two vs. being swept. But they're not winning the East with that line-up IMO.

The problem I see with comparing the offense that you say both teams use is that the Warriors have the better players-from their stars to the role players. Clearly that makes all the difference in getting winning results.

Honestly, I just can't understand why going to a team in the East that he most likley can't get to the Finals with is better than the team he's on now. RW is considerably better than Teague or anybody else on that Hawks team but with KD they'd be expected to do better than OKC?

If KD came to the Warriors the biggest problem is that there is going to be a much bigger acclimation process than there would be with the Hawks. Not just because of KD but because of the overall turnover of the team. You're talking about 5 major rotation guys in Barnes, Bogut, Iguodala, Livingston and Speights being gone. That's HUGE. 1-4 the Warriors would have more talent than the next 2 teams combined. But as we've seen depth has been a key in the Warriors success.

RW is better than Teague, but you don't take into account the chemistry factor. Again we've seen what that can be like with a team like the Warriors. Chemistry is real, and with the Hawks they could have something special there. That team in general is a selfless bunch, with two additional All-Star Caliber players in Millsap and Teague, without removing any key pieces (other than Horford).

The problem with the Thunder has and always will be, who will defer to who. In the Hawks system, there would be no deferring. And that's not just because KD is KD, it's because the system they run allows for the players to all have contributions. They don't rely on any one guy, which is why they had 4 all-stars last year. It was a collective effort.

Now if you add one of the best 3 players in the NBA to that equation, you're hugely understating their potential by saying they couldn't beat the Cavs.

 

[LAD]

If KD came to the Warriors the biggest problem is that there is going to be a much bigger acclimation process than there would be with the Hawks. Not just because of KD but because of the overall turnover of the team. You're talking about 5 major rotation guys in Barnes, Bogut, Iguodala, Livingston and Speights being gone. That's HUGE. 1-4 the Warriors would have more talent than the next 2 teams combined. But as we've seen depth has been a key in the Warriors success.

RW is better than Teague, but you don't take into account the chemistry factor. Again we've seen what that can be like with a team like the Warriors. Chemistry is real, and with the Hawks they could have something special there. That team in general is a selfless bunch, with two additional All-Star Caliber players in Millsap and Teague, without removing any key pieces (other than Horford).

The problem with the Thunder has and always will be, who will defer to who. In the Hawks system, there would be no deferring. And that's not just because KD is KD, it's because the system they run allows for the players to all have contributions. They don't rely on any one guy, which is why they had 4 all-stars last year. It was a collective effort.

Now if you add one of the best 3 players in the NBA to that equation, you're hugely understating their potential by saying they couldn't beat the Cavs.

I just doubt that West gives up that many pieces to get KD, honestly. So, not really worried from that perspective. And like I said, honestly, I don't care where KD ends up.

To your other point, the Warriors likewise are a sharing group as well and have the title to show that it's worked for them at the highest level. Also, Teague has gotten a lot of attention lately so how do we know he even wants to share that spotlight with KD? It's one thing to share the ball with other role players but a whole different thing when another proven star is thrown into the mix. Which is also why I said it could be the same situation that he's in right now in OKC just in a different location.

Regarding the bolded sentence, this is where KD will have to decide which is more important to him. The amount of touches he gets in the offense or the best chance at holding up a championship trophy in May.

 

[trojanfan12]

Having a team with superstars at every position doesn't automatically mean you're going to win the title. Anyhow, GS are the current champions and will probably repeat.

Why give a guy a $30m a year contract when he, AT BEST, won't make any difference at all in regards to total wins and championships? Would Durant make the current Warriors team better than the 44-4 they are now?

There are cases littered throughout NBA history where a team basically had 1 star too many. The early 80's 76ers with Dr. J, Darryl Dawkins, Bobby Jones, Mo Cheeks, Lionel Hollins, etc. and the Lakers 4 Hall of Famer lineup come to mind just to name 2.

 

[Wamu]

All that matters is once the Cleveland LeBron's (trademarked!) get bounced outta the Playoffs in the 1st round # 23 will get the fuck outta Cleveland again & become a Laker. The only question remaining is does he sport the # 8 or 24 once he lands in LA-LA Land?

Spoiler

...CELTICS IN SEVEN!