Kevin Durant Leaves OKC- Joining Warriors

[KilgoreTrout]

No,

Have to renounce all of the cap holds too. Barbosa made 2.5, cap hold is 20% more, Barbosa alone puts them over.

They are going to be crazy thin, but crazy good with their top 6.

Would be a shame if someone suffered a major injury...

 

[BooyaCS]

Would be a shame if someone suffered a major injury...

Hey now if only curry could tear his other ACL... But I am not one to root for injuries (Unless it is Pittsburgh vs Baltimore in football)...

 

[KilgoreTrout]

All this stuff about KD being a beta...

It will take about 5 games to establish himself as the best player on the team... Much like LeBron in Miami...

There is no doubt that Bron is an alpha and a tremendous competitor. Bron has an "ain't gonna lose" mode. I'm not sure Durant does. Durant doesn't have Bron's court awareness, and he can't defend like LeBron. The Block is not something Durant could have done.

 

[BooyaCS]

There is no doubt that Bron is an alpha and a tremendous competitor. Bron has an "ain't gonna lose" mode. I'm not sure Durant does. Durant doesn't have Bron's court awareness, and he can't defend like LeBron. The Block is not something Durant could have done.

Crying in his Wheaties at Curry/Klay or Green would have been... Hey F you pass me the ball... Hey F you...

 

[KilgoreTrout]

Regardless, the Cavs still very much have to counter. Whether that means trading Love or signing Wade. Something must be done. That team will be very difficult to defend and despite how cash-strapped we are, we need to keep their focus on us and make them sweat a little bit. Would LOVE to be the 2011 Mavericks to their super team Heat.

We need to sign Jeff Gilooly.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

Tocov, honestly, none of this is true.

1) They are not super short.

Curry is 6'3, Klay is 6'7 at the SG (tall), Iggy is 6'6 at the SF (avg), Durant is 6'10 at the SF/PF (tall), Green is 6'7 at the C (short). That's not a "short" lineup, it's a "small" lineup since you're playing 5 guards. But "small" and "short" are being confused and cluttered.. Playing small doesn't mean you're running out 5 short players.

2) They are NOT soft.

Curry is a good defender; he just can't defend Kyrie Irving.
Klay Thompson is a DPOY level defender at multiple positions.
Iggy is a DPOY level defender at multiple positions.
Durant is an All-NBA level defender.
Green is a DPOY level defender at multiple positions.

People saying they are "soft" are confused or don't know the personnel.

3) Zero perimeter players?

This... makes absolutely no sense. All 5 of their starting lineup are "perimeter players." Steph Curry isn't a perimeter player?

What's going on in here?

4) They did NOT get worse on defense.

This keeps getting repeated. The Cavs picked apart Curry/Ezeli/Bogut/Varejao on the PnR. The Warriors had to play a big to rebound, but it didn't work.

Durant is a better defender than Barnes, and while Bogut is a better rim protector, you're better off with Green playing center for the majority of the game regardless.

Yes, rim protection wise, they are worse. Perimeter defense wise they are better. Net net they are a much better team.

Let's stop pretending people; instead, we'd be better off focusing on stategy and potential trade partners, etc.

Durant is an All-NBA level defender?

 

[KilgoreTrout]

I still think there will be some fit problems for this team. They will go through hiccups, but the talent is still overwhelming.

Curry is meant to be a number 2 guy. Durant obviously has the talent as a number one guy. But when the going gets tough, who bails them out?

Maybe they're so good it doesn't matter, but those backyard brawl kind of basketball games; I still think they'll have issues with that.

There's no Dwyane Wade mentality on that team. Where he's just cold blooded and has no problem with pressure being delivered on his shoulders.

LeBron can handle pressure like no one else can too. Kyrie is cold blooded.

They still lack that. But, there's no denying the talent they have.

I think Klay can handle pressure. He single-handedly won Game 6 against the Thunder. Well, him and Durant.

 

[The Wizard of Moz]

I don't think Durant leaving OKC is worse than Lebron leaving. OKC has Westbrook. Cavs had Mo Williams

As I've said in the past, Tornicade will bide his time, get a feel for the public opinion, and then argue the opposite side with random supporting facts

Here he even used the argument FOR why it was worse for Durant to leave and applied it to why it wasn't worse for him to leave. Remarkable

 

[FlatulenciaRoar]

The ultimate irony now would be for OKC to beat the Warriors in the WCF.

 

[dark2332]

The ultimate irony now would be for OKC to beat the Warriors in the WCF.

Except it would be a 1-8 matchup first round.

 

[The Wizard of Moz]

Zaza at that price is an absolute steal and a great pick up considering what $ they have to work with and is actually a good defender if not a rim protector.

He was 18th for centers in DRPM (+2.59), ahead of Whiteside, Howard, Ezeli, Chandler, Noah, Dieng, Marc Gasol, and Horford to name a few, and 23rd in RPM. He was +.68 in 2015/2016 NPI DRAPM, and a stout +1.59 in multi year NPI DRAPM. Not the be all and end all, but definitely defense was a strength.

The Mavs were 2.2 points per 100 possessions better on defense with him on court this year and 4.9 points per 100 better on defense last year.

He allowed 52.2% at the rim which isn't great. He was about average in guarding the roll man, above average in guarding the post (6th best among those who defended 150+ possessions).

But here's something about him: 226 players last year contested 100+ spot up jump shots--Zaza allowed the lowest points per possession in the entire NBA in defending them allowing .68 PPP.

Great pick up for them considering far worse players got much, much, much more money.

Fucking fuck

How is this team THIS LUCKY

Like the number of breaks they get is just incomprehensible.

When's it our turn to get a rim protector for the Mini MLE

 

[malus]

Fucking fuck

How is this team THIS LUCKY

Like the number of breaks they get is just incomprehensible.

When's it our turn to get a rim protector for the Mini MLE

We had our fair share of luck, what with the 3 #1 picks in our last 4 trips to the lottery.

 

[The Wizard of Moz]

We had our fair share of luck, what with the 3 #1 picks in our last 4 trips to the lottery.

We earned those fair and square. We had Byron Scott leading our tank, and the Clippers traded an unprotected pick for Baron Davis

This entire sequence is only possible if Curry takes the discounted deal because of his ankles at the exact time that he did, the cap goes up the exact time it did, Durants contract is up the exact time it is, the players for some fucking reason not agreeing to cap smoothing even though it basically only would benefit you if your free agent year lined up at the right time

Honestly I could spend an hour and a half writing about how lucky those cock suckers are. Us being damn good with the ping pong balls is not comparable IMO

 

[MrFilmkritik]

It's telling that, for all the talk of how the East is the weaker conference, NO ONE wants to try and beat LeBron. The East is just as hard as the West because the East has LeBron and that's enough.

 

[Tlyons]

I'm calling the next contract this pussy signs

a beta-max