2021 NBA PLAYOFFS MEGA THREAD

Derek said:

It's the disease of more and the Cavs momentarily prevented the Warriors from succumbing to it with our 2016 championship.

If a team wins for long enough eventually everybody wants more. These guys are competitive, and once it's obvious their competition isn't with the rest of the league, they start looking at their teammates. They'll start wanting more touches, more shots, and more money than the guys around them.

If the Warriors win in '16, who knows? Maybe Klay eventually wants to go lead his own team and be "the guy". If KD doesn't go and the Cavs end up with championships in '16 and '17, I'll bet Kyrie still goes out on his own looking to be the alpha.

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I've long thought that the '16 Warriors aren't even a thing if the Cavs win in '15.

The Human Q-Tip said:

I don't think he's in danger of being invited to any banana boat rides for the foreseeable future.

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Giannis stuffed his banana up a lot of tailpipes last night. His closeout championship game was almost as good as Willis Reed’s in 1970 against the Lakers (as the NYC media would have it).

I think Giannis's comments were also reflective of all the talk and speculation that he was going to go to Golden State (like KD) when his contract was up.
And Giannis defied that. Now that he's won a title with the team he stuck with, those narratives are going to change a bit.

Steve_424 said:

What constitutes a super team? I don't consider the 2020 Lakers one. The Warriors were built organically aside from KD (which obviously was the biggest piece, but they did win without him).

The Nets? LeBron's Heat?

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I would say Warriors 2.0 (after KD joined), LeBron’s Heat, present day Nets and Clippers fall into this category.

Honestly if not for the Cavs being a title contender at the same time as the pre-KD Warriors I would’ve found them easy to root for given they were built organically. Not exactly a small market team but not a franchise that had much recent success prior to their run.

2020 Lakers aren’t a super team. It’s still a hollow championship though, IMO. LeBron goes there, at the time, for non basketball reasons. AD/Klutch force AD there, and boom… you’ve got two of the five best players in the world with ring chasers and vet role players around them. The Lakers front office was a disaster for years and got bailed out simply because they’re located in Los Angeles and LeBron’s family wanted to live there. The only homegrown talent they had left there from years of sucking and accumulating draft picks was Kuzma.

I also don’t think anyone cares much about their title. The season stopped for 4+ months, restarted and took place on neutral courts, everyone fresh from the layoff, players with social injustice sayings on the backs of their jerseys, little fanfare with the Finals taking place during football season. It felt more like a gimmicky summer league tournament than an actual NBA Playoffs/Finals. Mickey Mouse ring.

2 For The Brew said:

Giannis stuffed his banana up a lot of tailpipes last night.

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Yikes Brew. Feeling frisky this morning.

Can this safely put Giannis above AD and Durant as alpha dogs? I don't think there is any comparison between them. Giannis freaking willed that game last night from both sides of the floor in a total dominant performance. Really something to behold.

I mean people tossing out the Lakers but I imagine if Chris Paul leaves there's one team that makes way more sense because they can both pay him and get him out of the West.

Miami.

Not sure if Butler+Adebayo and Miami's cast of role players is better than Phoenix but I do think I'd rather have Jimmy Butler when the chips are down more than Devin Booker.

Not really a shot at Booker. Just the way Jimmy BUtler is wired.


The other intriguing option is Chris Paul opts in so PHX can trade him.

CP3 for Ben Simmons. It's a win now move for philly, which they need to make, because Embiid's time is limited.



I do think Paul's preference will be to leave, though, if he can still get paid somewhere else. Not because PHX isn't good or he can't win there, but because of his age and the urgency to win a title right now.

TheLand1287 said:

It’s still a hollow championship though, IMO. LeBron goes there, at the time, for non basketball reasons. AD/Klutch force AD there, and boom… you’ve got two of the five best players in the world with ring chasers and vet role players around them. The Lakers front office was a disaster for years and got bailed out simply because they’re located in Los Angeles and LeBron’s family wanted to live there.

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Doesn't this kind of sound like 2016? Is ours hollow too?

(I don't think ours or theirs in 2020 is/was)

TheLand1287 said:

I also don’t think anyone cares much about their title. The season stopped for 4+ months, restarted and took place on neutral courts, everyone fresh from the layoff, players with social injustice sayings on the backs of their jerseys, little fanfare with the Finals taking place during football season. It felt more like a gimmicky summer league tournament than an actual NBA Playoffs/Finals. Mickey Mouse ring.

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I don't agree with this at all. That situation had to be really difficult from a mental standpoint no going home, no fans, limited interaction with family. From a hoops perspective, the home court the top seeds earned was thrown out the window. I actually think that's a pretty damn impressive ring. If we're placing asterisks, I'd put one on the postseason with an unprecedented number of injuries to superstar players. But I don't think we do that - a championship is earned by anyone who gets there.

guitarguy said:

Can this safely put Giannis above AD and Durant as alpha dogs? I don't think there is any comparison between them. Giannis freaking willed that game last night from both sides of the floor in a total dominant performance. Really something to behold.

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I can't stand Durant but he's still above Giannis to me. It's being forgotton already, but there were many times throughout this series and postseason where Middleton, not Giannis, hit the big shot. I'd absolutely put Giannis over AD though.

2 For The Brew said:

Giannis did not make a distinction based on contract status. To YOU there is a difference; that does not mean there is to HIM.

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That's fine, I was stating my opinion. Giannis, I feel, was taking shots at Harden more than anything.

Rich said:

I mean people tossing out the Lakers but I imagine if Chris Paul leaves there's one team that makes way more sense because they can both pay him and get him out of the West.

Miami.

Not sure if Butler+Adebayo and Miami's cast of role players is better than Phoenix but I do think I'd rather have Jimmy Butler when the chips are down more than Devin Booker.

Not really a shot at Booker. Just the way Jimmy BUtler is wired.


The other intriguing option is Chris Paul opts in so PHX can trade him.

CP3 for Ben Simmons. It's a win now move for philly, which they need to make, because Embiid's time is limited.



I do think Paul's preference will be to leave, though, if he can still get paid somewhere else. Not because PHX isn't good or he can't win there, but because of his age and the urgency to win a title right now.

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Why get out the West?

I think I'd rather take my chances with LJ/AD/CP against Utah, Phoenix, Denver, LA, and Dallas next year than I would Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Atlanta.

The Bucks winning sort of makes me feel old. I was in high school when they won in 71.
That was a helluva team. Kareem was uber-dominant. The Big O was fading. Not much quickness, but could still get the job done. Bobby Dandridge and Jon McGlocklin were sweet shooters.
Even original Cav Gary Freeman was on that team.

RchfldCavRaised said:

Yikes Brew. Feeling frisky this morning.

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That was a “Beverly Hills Cop” reference. He stopped a lot of narratives last night. They fell for the banana in the tailpipe trick.

(Probably as long as his last name).

Steve_424 said:

Why get out the West?

I think I'd rather take my chances with LJ/AD/CP against Utah, Phoenix, Denver, LA, and Dallas next year than I would Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Atlanta.

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The Lakers can't pay him. Which is honestly probably where the conversation just ends. I don't think he's going from 44 million to the MLE next season. Call me crazy.

There's other stuff, like relying on AD to be healthy and LBJ to still be the best (which he isn't). The rest of the roster is pretty mediocre.

But I mean if he's willing to play for the MLE then why not Brooklyn?? Or Milwaukee? Or The Clippers?

guitarguy said:

Can this safely put Giannis above AD and Durant as alpha dogs? I don't think there is any comparison between them. Giannis freaking willed that game last night from both sides of the floor in a total dominant performance. Really something to behold.

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I would put Giannis there - not because he’s the best player (although he made a damn strong case last night) but because he hung in there and stuck with Milwaukee. He’s also a different kind of alpha dog - not vocal or demonstrative or flamboyant, he simply leads by example and others follow (I’m biased as that’s my leadership style).

I hope he becomes the face of the NBA. My wife & I were rooting for the Suns at the outset but Giannis just won us over. Massive respect for the man.

Mott the Hoople said:

The Bucks winning sort of makes me feel old. I was in high school when they won in 71.
That was a helluva team. Kareem was uber-dominant. The Big O was fading. Not much quickness, but could still get the job done. Bobby Dandridge and Jon McGlocklin were sweet shooters.
Even original Cav Gary Freeman was on that team.

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And Greg Smith, the fifth wheel that they traded away to their regret. Kareem said that trade really hurt the team. It’s a funny sport; very difficult to know exactly how players will interact on a team. Advanced statistics don’t help that much with team chemistry. Being an old guy like me you’ll remember nobody thought adding Earl Monroe to Walt Frazier would work - and we know how that turned out.

Bobby Portis - who saw that coming?