Top 50 NBA Players (for real this time)

[SJ76]

No doubt. Guys like Lebron, MJ, Kobe, etc. that are known for playing both ends of the floor, usually start picking their spots around 30-31 years old. The stretches that they focus on defense get shorter as they get older.

At 34, Lebron can still shut down an opponents best player. But he can only do it for a few minutes or so at time. Not for the long stretches that he could a few years ago.

All the great ones are/were both way players. You don’t see hardly any one dimensional players that win rings.

Too bad Russ and Harden can’t get fired up on the defensive end and take pride in shutting their opponent down 1 on 1.

I played SG/PG but I still loved anticipating my opponents shot and trying to throw that shit in the 4th row. Lol

 

[trojanfan12]

Yeah.

LeBron just didn’t pick very many spots last year.

But I certainly agree he is still capable of playing thigh level defense in small doses.

Lol. He sure didn't. At his age though, we're likely only to see it in the playoffs and maybe in an occasional regular season game if it's one they really need.

 

[trojanfan12]

Probably didn't help matters Lebron learned a while ago playoff seed didn't matter much for him which lessened regular season even more.

True.

 

[CitySushi]

I agree about preserving Draymond for sure.

But I strongly disagree about using what limited movable assets the Warriors have to bolster the center position.

You can get 48 regular season minutes a game out of WCS, Looney and Smailegic. Pick up another big body who can give you 5-15 minutes in the event of injury and they are good to go.

Save the small lineups for the playoffs

Where the Warriors need help is with perimeter depth. WCS and Looney are quite serviceable modern 5s. It would be misallocation of roster resources to trade for a quality center given that they have WCS and Looney, IMO. There are more pressing needs.

For this season absolutely. But beyond as Draymond gets even more mileage on that body they need to have a guy they can at least be a reliable alternative for the center spot. Father Time will eventually come calling and even in he plays the 5 only in the playoffs it’ll add up.

 

[tlance]

For this season absolutely. But beyond as Draymond gets even more mileage on that body they need to have a guy they can at least be a reliable alternative for the center spot. Father Time will eventually come calling and even in he plays the 5 only in the playoffs it’ll add up.

I just think with the way the NBA market values big men currently, there will always be serviceable 5s available on the cheap.

Besides, they have Looney locked up for a couple more years. They just need depth.

Assets need to be allocated on the wings. Good 3 and D guys aren’t cheap.