Rip The Jacker
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You guys need more fire power imo. If you could somehow add another 18ppg scorer, I think you guys would be fine.
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Cavs vs. Warriors -- 2017 NBA Finals
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Rick Astley
A rich man's Dahntay Jones
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A 19/4/5 guy would be awesome.
Tlyons
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People forget we will have a healthy offseason for one Kyrie Irving(knock on wood) and Kevin Love. That will be huge moving forward IMO. I mean, we just won a championship with both of those guys playing zero ball in the offseason and Kyrie didn't play until freaking December. Throw in Kyrie working with Coach K and I see an mvp caliber year coming for Kyrie. Fuck GS.
Kiss the ring bitch.
Kiss the ring bitch.
jon connor
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The Warriors now have the 2 biggest pussy beta superstars in the league while the Cavs have the 2 big balled beasts in LeBron and Kyrie. After last year, I'm not ready to say the Warriors are a lock to win it all.
Totally right about this move making LeBron "The Decision" look 10x better now. I can't really imagine anything being worse than being up 3-1 in the WCF with a great supporting cast and going to the team that came back and beat you in 7. When you add the fact that the Warriors won 73 games and were very close to repeating as champs, its unheard of and really can't be topped. it's extremely hard to believe a player of KD's caliber would do that but I guess he did.
KD will never get a lot of credit if the Warriors win and will get absolutely shitted on if they lose. Curry will probably get the same treatment and rightfully so. Anything less than a 3peat will be viewed as an absolute failure. I always liked KD but this was career suicide.
The craziest thing to me is that now LeBron will be viewed as the only hero that can take down GS. This shit is seriously out of a movie or comic book or something. LeBron became the villain in Miami, came back to Cleveland which made him more neutral, and now people are going to be rooting for him and the Cavs because they know the Cavs are probably the only team that can defeat the Warriors.
Totally right about this move making LeBron "The Decision" look 10x better now. I can't really imagine anything being worse than being up 3-1 in the WCF with a great supporting cast and going to the team that came back and beat you in 7. When you add the fact that the Warriors won 73 games and were very close to repeating as champs, its unheard of and really can't be topped. it's extremely hard to believe a player of KD's caliber would do that but I guess he did.
KD will never get a lot of credit if the Warriors win and will get absolutely shitted on if they lose. Curry will probably get the same treatment and rightfully so. Anything less than a 3peat will be viewed as an absolute failure. I always liked KD but this was career suicide.
The craziest thing to me is that now LeBron will be viewed as the only hero that can take down GS. This shit is seriously out of a movie or comic book or something. LeBron became the villain in Miami, came back to Cleveland which made him more neutral, and now people are going to be rooting for him and the Cavs because they know the Cavs are probably the only team that can defeat the Warriors.
ACisKING
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Fuck kevin durant for ruining the NBA. Leave a contender and one if the best players in the world to join the team that you choked against up 3-1, that won the championship as recently as 2015, and which just won 73 games. It's the lamest move in NBA history.
And fuck the Warriors for somehow adding Zaza Pachulia for $2 million in a year where the average starting center makes $16 million per year.
And fuck the Warriors for somehow adding Zaza Pachulia for $2 million in a year where the average starting center makes $16 million per year.
Rick Astley
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There's a lot of touches to go around in this team for that to happen. Or LeBron deferring a lot in the regular season can make that possible. I can't even see GS' Big 4 scoring all more than 20ppg each.
ACisKING
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All good points but if the matchup is GSW, how is Kevin Love even going to play against them? You can't hide him on Barnes anymore. And whoever they put him on is just a pick away from Love guarding Durant one on one, with almost no help behind me given how much shooting the Warriors will have. It's really unfortunate because Kevin Love's skillset is perfect against literally every other team except the damn team you are almost definitely going to have to beat to win a championship.
I hate to say this, but unless a key Warrior gets injured it's going to be near impossible to beat this team. I'm not sure what we do to change that -- a true Godfather trade for KLove to get Butler or Cousins maybe. Also prayer. This is a team with three all time great long distance shooters and plenty of defensive talent. They are going to be able to get an open 40%+ shot from long range almost at will.
Zach Lowe's take
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/16766273/the-warriors-makings-all-super-team-addition-kevin-durant
Shooting for the stars
Zach Lowe
Shooting and age. They make this monstrous new superteam, this juggernaut that just decapitated its biggest long-term threat in the West, unlike any that came before.
Shooting makes every fit easier, because great shooters do damage even when they don't have the ball.
This isn't the 2011 Miami Heat, with two ball-dominant wings who couldn't spread the floor when the other guy took his turn.
This isn't the 2004 Los Angeles Lakers -- or the later Steve Nash and Dwight Howard version, either.
The Golden State Warriors now have four All-NBA players ages 26 to 28. The LeBron James-era Heat had three stars, not four, and one of them -- Dwyane Wade -- was older in their first year together than any of Golden State's current stars.
The collective shooting on this team is outrageous -- including perhaps the two greatest shooters ever, with a seven-foot gunslinger about to enjoy the cleanest catch-and-shoot looks he has ever had. Only three guys had a larger gap than Kevin Durantbetween their actual field-goal percentage and the mark we would have expected based on the difficulty of those shots, per SportVU data provided to ESPN.com. One of the three was reigning two-time MVPStephen Curry. Things are about to get much easier for Durant and Curry.
Defenders have to be inside the jerseys of Curry, Durant and Klay Thompson at all times. Do you know how powerful that basic reality is? Even if the Warriors changed literally nothing about their offense -- if Durant just played the role ofHarrison Barnes -- they could be the greatest scoring team in history. The lane will be wide open for cutters. They can generate open 3s at will, just by running everyone off picks until some defender falls behind.
But the offense will be different. That's the point. As great as they are, the Warriors over the past two seasons found the going much tougher in the playoffs. The whole league watched the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers ugly up their respective offenses by switching everything on Curry. A healthier Curry would have exploited that more often this past postseason, but it still felt at times like the Warriors were dancing around the 3-point arc, waiting for some event -- a defender messing up a switch or Curry launching step-back fire.
It was hard work, and it happened far from the basket. The Warriors now have more ways to enter the teeth of the defense. Durant can drive. He can run a nice pick-and-roll. He shot 61 percent on post-ups last season, per Synergy Sports, and honestly, that number kind of makes you want to cry. He has a ton of experience screening in the pick-and-roll, and his old dance partner, Russell Westbrook, is a so-so jump-shooter that teams are generally fine with leaving open; they'd try to go under and stick with Durant. Curry's main pick-and-roll partner, Draymond Green, is a so-so jump-shooter that teams are generally fine with leaving open.
What are you supposed to do with a Curry-Durant pick-and-roll? You can't leave either party open, even for a millisecond. You can't switch -- unless you hide your point guard on Thompson so that a bigger wing has Curry, and probably not even then. The Warriors' offense was beautiful and intricate. It will still be beautiful, but now it can also be simple: Dump the ball to Durant and get the hell out of the way. Simple is really useful during the playoffs, when defenses focus hard enough to track the intricate.
There will be fit issues; Durant will not get to hold the ball and jab step for five seconds as often as he did in Oklahoma City. The Heat's Big Three and those great Lakers teams were not nearly as good in real life as they looked on paper, at least not right away.
But again: shooting. Curry is fine playing away from the ball; he might be the most dangerous off-ball player in the league. Thompson might never have to dribble again.
The Warriors have limited resources to fill out a bench and acquire large humans, especially since they apparently chose Shaun Livingston over Festus Ezeli as the mid-sized salary to keep while squeezing in Durant's max money. Six months ago, the Golden State brass preferred Ezeli, but they have no confidence left in his knees or his game. The Warriors have only the minimum salary and room exception, worth about $2.9 million, left to fill the roster. That buys you nothing in a world of infinite cap room. Jon Leuer is making eight figures.
They need some competent size to cinch up their rebounding; Chris Kaman andJJ Hickson aren't getting it done. That is a real problem. Then again, there are a ton of leftover big men and very few cap-room teams with a need up front. But Durant fits their switchy defensive scheme. And he showed a new frenzy on that end in the postseason -- better effort, smarter reads and scary rim protection. He can guard every position in a pinch and provide more length and rebounding than Barnes in the revamped Death Lineup.
Every contender builds with one eye on James, and Durant is a much better one-on-one option against him than Barnes. That is crucial in preserving Andre Iguodala's body.
This team will be top-heavy -- and thin. They will need to find a couple ofRichard Jefferson-like ring chasers. That is the price you pay for loading up on stars. They would have eventually faced the same general money crunch anyway, with Barnes and then Curry on max contracts. This price is a little steeper, since they lose rotation players and access to the full mid-level exception, but you get Durant and figure the rest out.
Most championship teams are top-heavy and thin. No matter how deep you are, if a star gets hurt in May and June, you are probably sunk.
In the end, that is the best reason for choosing Durant over Barnes, Ezeli andAndrew Bogut: He is a hedge against an ill-timed injury to Curry, Thompson or Green in a way no seventh or eighth guy ever could be. The cruel irony is that the post-James Harden Thunder know better than anyone the importance of a hedge against superstar injuries. The Warriors can engineer depth when things really count by keeping two of their four stars on the floor at all times.
Zach Lowe's take
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/16766273/the-warriors-makings-all-super-team-addition-kevin-durant
Shooting for the stars
Zach Lowe
Shooting and age. They make this monstrous new superteam, this juggernaut that just decapitated its biggest long-term threat in the West, unlike any that came before.
Shooting makes every fit easier, because great shooters do damage even when they don't have the ball.
This isn't the 2011 Miami Heat, with two ball-dominant wings who couldn't spread the floor when the other guy took his turn.
This isn't the 2004 Los Angeles Lakers -- or the later Steve Nash and Dwight Howard version, either.
The Golden State Warriors now have four All-NBA players ages 26 to 28. The LeBron James-era Heat had three stars, not four, and one of them -- Dwyane Wade -- was older in their first year together than any of Golden State's current stars.
The collective shooting on this team is outrageous -- including perhaps the two greatest shooters ever, with a seven-foot gunslinger about to enjoy the cleanest catch-and-shoot looks he has ever had. Only three guys had a larger gap than Kevin Durantbetween their actual field-goal percentage and the mark we would have expected based on the difficulty of those shots, per SportVU data provided to ESPN.com. One of the three was reigning two-time MVPStephen Curry. Things are about to get much easier for Durant and Curry.
Defenders have to be inside the jerseys of Curry, Durant and Klay Thompson at all times. Do you know how powerful that basic reality is? Even if the Warriors changed literally nothing about their offense -- if Durant just played the role ofHarrison Barnes -- they could be the greatest scoring team in history. The lane will be wide open for cutters. They can generate open 3s at will, just by running everyone off picks until some defender falls behind.
But the offense will be different. That's the point. As great as they are, the Warriors over the past two seasons found the going much tougher in the playoffs. The whole league watched the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers ugly up their respective offenses by switching everything on Curry. A healthier Curry would have exploited that more often this past postseason, but it still felt at times like the Warriors were dancing around the 3-point arc, waiting for some event -- a defender messing up a switch or Curry launching step-back fire.
It was hard work, and it happened far from the basket. The Warriors now have more ways to enter the teeth of the defense. Durant can drive. He can run a nice pick-and-roll. He shot 61 percent on post-ups last season, per Synergy Sports, and honestly, that number kind of makes you want to cry. He has a ton of experience screening in the pick-and-roll, and his old dance partner, Russell Westbrook, is a so-so jump-shooter that teams are generally fine with leaving open; they'd try to go under and stick with Durant. Curry's main pick-and-roll partner, Draymond Green, is a so-so jump-shooter that teams are generally fine with leaving open.
What are you supposed to do with a Curry-Durant pick-and-roll? You can't leave either party open, even for a millisecond. You can't switch -- unless you hide your point guard on Thompson so that a bigger wing has Curry, and probably not even then. The Warriors' offense was beautiful and intricate. It will still be beautiful, but now it can also be simple: Dump the ball to Durant and get the hell out of the way. Simple is really useful during the playoffs, when defenses focus hard enough to track the intricate.
There will be fit issues; Durant will not get to hold the ball and jab step for five seconds as often as he did in Oklahoma City. The Heat's Big Three and those great Lakers teams were not nearly as good in real life as they looked on paper, at least not right away.
But again: shooting. Curry is fine playing away from the ball; he might be the most dangerous off-ball player in the league. Thompson might never have to dribble again.
The Warriors have limited resources to fill out a bench and acquire large humans, especially since they apparently chose Shaun Livingston over Festus Ezeli as the mid-sized salary to keep while squeezing in Durant's max money. Six months ago, the Golden State brass preferred Ezeli, but they have no confidence left in his knees or his game. The Warriors have only the minimum salary and room exception, worth about $2.9 million, left to fill the roster. That buys you nothing in a world of infinite cap room. Jon Leuer is making eight figures.
They need some competent size to cinch up their rebounding; Chris Kaman andJJ Hickson aren't getting it done. That is a real problem. Then again, there are a ton of leftover big men and very few cap-room teams with a need up front. But Durant fits their switchy defensive scheme. And he showed a new frenzy on that end in the postseason -- better effort, smarter reads and scary rim protection. He can guard every position in a pinch and provide more length and rebounding than Barnes in the revamped Death Lineup.
Every contender builds with one eye on James, and Durant is a much better one-on-one option against him than Barnes. That is crucial in preserving Andre Iguodala's body.
This team will be top-heavy -- and thin. They will need to find a couple ofRichard Jefferson-like ring chasers. That is the price you pay for loading up on stars. They would have eventually faced the same general money crunch anyway, with Barnes and then Curry on max contracts. This price is a little steeper, since they lose rotation players and access to the full mid-level exception, but you get Durant and figure the rest out.
Most championship teams are top-heavy and thin. No matter how deep you are, if a star gets hurt in May and June, you are probably sunk.
In the end, that is the best reason for choosing Durant over Barnes, Ezeli andAndrew Bogut: He is a hedge against an ill-timed injury to Curry, Thompson or Green in a way no seventh or eighth guy ever could be. The cruel irony is that the post-James Harden Thunder know better than anyone the importance of a hedge against superstar injuries. The Warriors can engineer depth when things really count by keeping two of their four stars on the floor at all times.
KilgoreTrout
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KilgoreTrout
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I just threw up in my mouth.
ssopata
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The way everyone is responding to this in the media, there's no reason to even play the next 3-5 seasons. I heard this morning that even if the Warriors play at only 60% effort wise they'll still roll through the entire NBA. Just when I thought the media fellating GSW would subside after they blew a 3-1 Finals lead, GSPN will start the "greatest team in the universe" hype campaign again.
It'll be a shame if a WC team beats them in the playoffs or the Cavs do it in the Finals.
It'll be a shame if a WC team beats them in the playoffs or the Cavs do it in the Finals.
CavsFaninNJ
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Fuck Durant
Please pull a DeAndre Jordan
Even if he doesn't, Cavs in seven. Book it.
Please pull a DeAndre Jordan
Even if he doesn't, Cavs in seven. Book it.