2016 NBA Offseason

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Because in the NBA one guy can make that much of a difference. Stamkos just can't. Stamkos on the Leafs makes them maybe a playoff team, but not much more than that, at least not for a few years. If Durant went to Boston or DC, they'd immediately become the biggest threat out East to Cleveland; if he went to the Raptors, they'd become the best team in the East. Without him the Celtics and Wizards are both first round fodder. NBA is just the least team oriented game there is. You basically need superstars to win, not a truly great team.

Last true "team" win the championship was probably the early 2000s Pistons with Rip Hamilton and crew.

[bluejays]

Put me in the bucket of the quick demise of the NBA. We'll still tune in to root for the underdog to win, but this one is all but over for the next couple seasons. Durant used to be a stand up guy. What a lame decision. Hard to respect these guys when they do these types of moves.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

Last true "team" win the championship was probably the early 2000s Pistons with Rip Hamilton and crew.

Can't really discount all those Spurs titles either.

[nik-]

and the Mavs?

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by fleury

Put me in the bucket of the quick demise of the NBA. We'll still tune in to root for the underdog to win, but this one is all but over for the next couple seasons. Durant used to be a stand up guy. What a lame decision. Hard to respect these guys when they do these types of moves.

LeBron is the underdog ha!

[Street Pharmacist]

We want our athletes to be competitive and win at all costs, then get upset when they act on that

[Senator Clay Davis]

Having slept on it, I hate this even more than I thought. First lets start with the LeBron comparison. Well, there is none. Do we all remember that Cleveland lineup LeBron left in 2010? Well if you don't, here it is:

Boobie Gibson
Danny Green (well before he became a top 3 and D player)
JJ Hickson
Zydrunas Ilgauskas (well past prime)
Antawn Jamison (well past prime)
Jamario Moon (lol)
Shaq (LOL!)
Anthony Parker
Leon Powe
Sebastian Telfair (remember when he was gonna be great? Good times)
Anderson Varajao (arguably the second best player here...ouch)
Delonte (no comment necessary)
Mo Williams

That team sucks. And LeBron carried them to 61 wins. Durant isn't taking that team much past .500, if at all. The Thunder, even excluding Durant, have at least 4 players on their roster right now better than anyone on that Cleveland team. LeBron broke his back carrying a pathetic team much further than it ever should have gone. People hate "The Decision" and rightfully so, but the Cavs roster right there was the one they "put together" for LeBron. That's a D-League roster right there. Of course after LeBron leaves, a 42 (!!!) win swing to 19 wins. Unless Westbrook is dealt, the Thunder will make the playoffs, might be a top 4 team in the more difficult West, and if Westbrook is motivated and pissed at Durant, he will make a run at MVP.

Which brings me to the second point: The Thunder were a better team right now than when they lost to the Warriors. They improved! The casual NBA fan would look at trading Ibaka as a bad move, but Oladipo is pretty well viewed as at least as good and probably better right now. Add in a nice prospect in Sabonis and they opened their window even further with that trade. And this was after the Thunder nearly pulled off the greatest playoff run ever, beating two teams who combined for 140 regular season wins in SA and GS, and the Thunder got better before FA even started. And Durant left. This is not LeBron leaving Shaq and Jamario Moon.

This is just cowardice by Durant. He didn't want to take another run at winning a ring in OKC, even though OKC got better and the Warriors in theory could have gotten worse had they lost Barnes. He's taking the easiest road possible, instead of a pretty easy road. LeBron left a turd roster with no help. If nothing else LeBron owes Durant a bottle of wine for making "The Decision" look mighty reasonable now in comparison. Of course given Durant is kind of emotionally fragile, we could still see a DeAndre Jordan where he backs out after being destroyed everywhere. Still can't officially sign for a bit.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Of course since I do like a good conspiracy theory, I'm liking the thought Durant is actually setting the Warriors up here. Convince them you're coming, have them gut their depth to make the money work, and then #### them over and go back to OKC. Now that would be sensational and something not even Vince McMahon would dream up.

[SuperMatt18]

I am kind of excited for a full season of pissed of a Russell Westbrook who doesn't have to share the ball with Durant.

[Frequitude]

Not gonna lie, guys. I like the move. But that's because I'll enjoy watching the Warriors go all Harlem Globetrotters on the rest of the league. It'll be fun to watch for a fair weather basketball fan. Condolences to the hardcore though.

And I can't blame Durant. His salary is held artificially low. May as well go have a blast and win a championship. If the CBA changed max contracts to be something like $40M this wouldn't be an issue.

[Jason14h]

I do like a good conspiracy theory, I'm liking the thought Durant is actually setting the Warriors up here

More like Nike is going to pay him 200 million as they wanted a Nike star in GS, and that is the entire motivation behind this.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

More like Nike is going to pay him 200 million as they wanted a Nike star in GS, and that is the entire motivation behind this.

And in the California market in general.

Kobe is gone from the Lakers.
CP3 & Blake (Jordan Brand) and the Clippers don't look like they will ever take that next step.
KD gives them a star on the best team in the West and in that major California market.

Plus Warriors vs. Cavs in the finals looks like a lock - and you know Nike wants that Durant + Green vs Lebron + Kyrie battle come playoff time that they can use in their marketing & advertising.

[Senator Clay Davis]

??????

[nik-]

Giving Kate Upton feminine hips would do a lot more than adding a third breast.

What's the NBA equivalent of feminine hips?

[octothorp]

I think one of the losers is ESPN. After GSW, OKC had to be one of the more frequently-watched teams in the league in terms of TV interest. GSW already had fantastic ratings, and an OKC GSW matchup is still intriguing, but are casual fans going to get excited about an OKC/SAS or OKC/CC matchup anymore? Ad revenue is based so much on marquee matchups, and the NBA has just potentially lost one marquee team.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by octothorp

I think one of the losers is ESPN. After GSW, OKC had to be one of the more frequently-watched teams in the league in terms of TV interest. GSW already had fantastic ratings, and an OKC GSW matchup is still intriguing, but are casual fans going to get excited about an OKC/SAS or OKC/CC matchup anymore? Ad revenue is based so much on marquee matchups, and the NBA has just potentially lost one marquee team.

If Wade signs in Cleveland, I don't know if I can continue to be a fan. What the point of watching all year when you already know the outcome?

[Senator Clay Davis]

Reminder: The Bulls were the #1 seed the first year of the Big 3 in Miami. The Warriors are going to take a step back in the regular season, maybe even a big step back. Gonna take time to work out how everything works with the new dynamic. Cleveland will not add Wade I don't think (or Gilbert is insane because that puts them deep into the luxury tax), and the Cavs are an injury to LeBron or Kyrie away from being nowhere near as good. I guess that's the intrigue to the regular season.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Reminder: The Bulls were the #1 seed the first year of the Big 3 in Miami. The Warriors are going to take a step back in the regular season, maybe even a big step back. Gonna take time to work out how everything works with the new dynamic. Cleveland will not add Wade I don't think (or Gilbert is insane because that puts them deep into the luxury tax), and the Cavs are an injury to LeBron or Kyrie away from being nowhere near as good. I guess that's the intrigue to the regular season.

I'd bet a significant amount of money that next year's finals will be a third straight year of Cleveland versus Golden State.

The Bulls were the #1 seed that year, but wasn't that the year Rose went down with his first big injury and a few other guys did as well? I think the Bulls were the favourite to win that year until the injuries issues hit weren't they?

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by nik-

Giving Kate Upton feminine hips would do a lot more than adding a third breast.

What's the NBA equivalent of feminine hips?

Robert "The Tractor" Traylor.

[Simanium]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

I'd bet a significant amount of money that next year's finals will be a third straight year of Cleveland versus Golden State.

The Bulls were the #1 seed that year, but wasn't that the year Rose went down with his first big injury and a few other guys did as well? I think the Bulls were the favourite to win that year until the injuries issues hit weren't they?

The Bulls were #1 in Lebron's first year in Miami and his second year in Miami. In his first year the Heat beat the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals. The following year is when Rose hurt his knee in the first round of the playoffs and they lost in the first round. I agree completely though, barring injury, hard to think it will be anything other than a Cavs-Warriors final.