At least some players are keeping their sense of humor:
This is why teams need to build from within now more than ever. You need player control. It’s the only thing keeping Leonard from LA at the moment. Yeah, next year he can leave, but the reality is the Spurs were able to hold onto him as long as possible. Teams need to know if their soon to be free agents are leaving sooner rather than later.
I fully expect Ben Simmons to walk eventually in Philadelphia because he’ll want to play in LA. It’s inevitable and futile to think he won’t want the brighter lights. I hope I’m wrong, but unless the League makes the ability for teams to pay the Supermax so much more than it is now with no luxury tax hit so that players don’t want to forego the money, this is the way it’s going to be forever. You just have to hope you can win one before your best players want to live in California.
The basketball gods are punishing us for two things.
To restore balance after the Cavs 3-1 Finals comeback, which I believe will be the most unlikely sporting event I’ll witness in my life. So we’re doomed to routine for a while.
The childish analysis about how player legacy is all about the ringzzz. Players chase them and it’s our fault. Well, not mine, but simpletons who think that way.
I do hate the system. Thanks, The Ringer.
The whole KD thing if you recall happened because of the once in a generation cap spike that hit all at once that season. (Which is also why it’s financially impossible to create a superteam to beat the Warriors. Draft or get vets to take a discount.)
I don’t think there are any rules to change. The system is fine. Cousins would never be a Warrior if he didn’t have a career threatening injury, and he was simply not getting offers. He decided to go for a minimum w an elite team that allowed for proper rehab, and hey, it’ll be nice to get a ring.
It blows that Durant, and now Boogie are on the greatest shooting team in the history of the league. Sucks for the playoff doldrums, but I can’t blame any player, team, or the system.
Which rules they can’t really change until 2022-2023 at the earliest anyway.
I think the understanding is that he was, in fact, getting offers worth more than the Warriors’–several of them!–but that he’s going with the option he felt was better (i.e., less money, free championship with all the rest he needs beforehand, allowing him to come back as well as possible and then push for better deals next year).
Not according to the man himself!
Psh, you expect me to read actual sports news instead of just shitposts on /r/nba? AS IF JOSHUA
Supposedly the Lakers could have signed him for a similar amount but turned it down.
Hey, let’s hear it for the Wizards! They traded Gortat for Austin Rivers (the only reason I can think they did this is because they really don’t like Satorasky as a backup?) and are signing Dwight Howard (seems reasonable) and Jeff Green (seems reasonable).
So it appears the Wiz are content to just muddle along in 4th-7th seed territory year after year until either Wall or Beal bolts. It’s depressing, but I guess to an extent, you don’t have to try too hard in the East to get into the playoffs.
Having seen him up close and personal this last year, he’s still got some legs and is a nice complementary piece/6th man type. Okay, maybe 7th or 8th man, but still a solid rotation piece.
Gorat was traded because he and Wall were let’s say not the best of friends.
Kawhi may prefer the Sixers after all.
Sure, but I was sort of questioning why they got Austin Rivers for him (but if it’s one of those “this is the best guy we can get for the guy we’re dumping” then I guess it makes sense).
The entire restructuring of the Lakers is all part of the plan… I guess…
I mean, looking at this, it makes sense. The Cavs slotted shooters all around LeBron, and he still ended up doing 90% of the offensive heavy lifting. It just didn’t work, and that team could not be the Warriors. I think they are trying something crazy to beat the Warriors. Better than trying more of the same I guess.
I mean, Rondo and Stephenson are both offensively minded playmakers, Rondo is a very good defensive player (when he tries, which hasn’t been much outside of the playoffs) I would suspect Rondo on a good Lakers team would give a crap enough to play D.
But I think the idea here is to have a team with more playmakers than LeBron. Clearly losing Kyrie crippled the Cav’s ability to compete with the Warriors, as there was no clear #2 in Cleveland. I don’t know if Rondo and Stephenson would be my first choices as “playmakers” when Paul George, Boogie, Leonard were still out there, but I guess you get what you get.
Obviously there is no reason to even try to compete with the Warriors this next year (barring injury, which Boogie and Curry have been prone).
This just might be an experiment in short term deals to plan for the inevitable 2019-2020 breakup of the Warriors core. Could a plan like this work?
In the west this almost feels like a lost year. The Warriors are basically on cheat mode right now, and are working on bending the Salary Cap rules to maintain a squad for years to come. It sounds like Thompson and Green are willing to take pay-cuts to stay. Durant won’t, Curry won’t (and shouldn’t) and Boogie will take a MLE for a one year trip to get a ring.
This is a rough transition period in the NBA with the new Cap rules, and many people predicted the changes would lead to the formation of super-teams and further ruin the balance of the NBA.
Hey, at least the Eastern conference will be shaken up now!
Raptors/76’ers/Celtics/Bucks all fighting hard for supremacy with quite a few young teams of future (and current) Superstars. All hoping for a ticket to the Finals where somehow Kevin Durant has accidentally injured his foot running of Steph Curry’s ankle in a tragic celebratory go-kart party accident following a 4-0 sweep of the Rockets in the 2019 WCF. Because barring injury, no team in the East could beat the Warriors.
(Heck even a Boogie/Green/Thompson Warriors is hecking scary, and could be a toss up)
Also, with the King gone, the best player in the East is on the Bucks!
And we are getting a new Coach who actually is good at coaching. Nevermind that we don’t have any playmakers outside of Parker (who is leaving) and Middleton (who is a shadow All Star). Which probably slates us behind the Celtics and 76’ers and maybe the Raptors, in the 4 seed.
Which one has the better chance of getting him the ring? Yeah.