Not sure if they will be able to keep Klay. I was already hearing rumors of Klay to Boston for the #1 overall.
When they signed Durant I said Klay would be the one that goes. I think they have him under contract for two more seasons; that's enough time to cement this team's place in history. If I'm the Warriors I don't make that trade. I'd rather have Klay for two more seasons only than whoever they could get at 1 for five seasons.
Not a chance in hell. However, I think they find a way to make it work. Klay has become one of the best defenders besides Green. Very underrated player.
Kevin Durant truly impressed me Game 1. He has been trashed NON STOP since leaving OKC to join a 73 win Warriors team who won a title and had just gone to back to back NBA Finals. Labeled as he was taking the "Easy Way Out". If you watched Game 1, he was the BEST PLAYER on the court. By far. So instead of being the "Easy Way Out" he somehow joined a 73 win team, took it over, and then dominated the so called best player since Jordan in Lebron. Still needs to win 3 more, but I was amazed by KD game 1.
Really? You were impressed? KD is a former mvp, clearly a top 3 player in the league. No shit he's going to look amazing. Klay has taken a backseat to him, so KD and Steph can pounce on everybody. Fuck KD. He's still a traitor. Any other team, and it would have been brushed under the rug, but unfortunately he took the coward way out. You shouldn't be giving him a single ounce of a compliment.
When they win the next 6 championships and are considered the greatest team of all time, and he isn't considered a luxury but the primary reason for the team's greatness, history will consider his time with the Thunder the same way it considers Babe Ruth's time on the Red Sox or Shaq's with the Magic -- as simply a footnote.
Cavs played a pretty good game and still got blown out in the second half. Without Durant I can see the Cavs being better than the Warriors. When you factor in beating them last year, and the Cavs arguable could/should have won two years ago if Kyrie and Love are healthy, Durant doesn't seem like overkill for the Warriors but an absolute necessity in order to beat the Cavs.
I actually think the Warriors were better than the Cavs last year without Durant. Bit of a fluke that Cleveland managed to come back from down 3-1. Seriously, compare these teams using the full season and it's not even close. Warriors played a significantly more difficult schedule every season, because the East has been garbage for 10+ seasons (which is why LeBron won't leave the East). 7 game series, sometimes you get unlikely results. Cleveland is 16-16 against the West this season.
Steph was hurt last year, Draymond gets suspended. Warriors were a better team last year. Cavs you can argue were better 2 yrs ago. All things considered the Finals Series would've been tied at 1 prior to this season if everyone was healthy. That's if Durant doesn't come to the Warriors. Durant is definitely an overkill so far. W/out Durant, THIS series probably still is 2-0 Warriors cause Irving is getting shut-down 2 games in.
Yeah, just saying what I have seen. You must be a Thunder fan. If so, understandable to be upset. They were pretty close to beating the Warriors last year, then blew it, then KD jumped ship. That narrative does look terrible. I am just pointing out he has been fantastic on the Warriors and a main reason why they will win the title this year. He isn't just there to watch and get a ring. He is a main piece, as you said, with Curry.
Not only that, but if they sweep the playoffs, which I hope they do, and something nobody would have thought they could do without him, then he would have indeed gone to a great team and made them better. Sweeping the playoffs would arguably be a greater historic feat than winning 73 games.
Agreed JB, .but it also highlights the current screwed up economics of the NBA. . My 2 cents: these max contract players jumping ship for quasi all-star team purposes may make for the occasional sexy match-up, but for fans of the other 90% has-beens, this "tea for two" power structure will get old real quick and the TV-DRAWN OUT shams (e.g. the 2017 NBA playoffs) will eventually turn off many basketball fans who will see it for what it is: a watered-down, non-competitive ESPN-hyped rip-off. East: Cleveland sweeps Indiana 4-0 Cleveland sweeps Toronto 4-0 Cleveland beats Boston 4-1 West: Golden St. sweeps Portland 4-0 Golden St. sweeps Utah 4-0 Golden St. sweeps San Antonio 4-0 * * Leonard injury noted -sitting around for a week......hyping the finals...... Finals: Game #1: Golden St. routs Cleveland 113 - 91 Game #2: Golden St. routs Cleveland 132 - 113 Game #3: at cleveland sometime in June Game #4: at cleveland sometime later in June Game #5: at oakland Game #6: at cleveland Game #7: at oakland... How drawn out (esp. that gap between the semis and finals) ? . Consider that the MLB team with the best record (Houston Astros 42-16) has played 58 games. That already represents 71% of the entire NBA regular season schedule (i.e. 58 games played with only 24 to go). "We don't care, we're getting fucked anyway." : )
I was reading SI recently. The union and agents ruined the competitive balance by insisting the salary cap skyrocket immediately (rather than a gradual increase). It made all previous contracts absurdly low by comparison and allowed stacked teams to keep adding guys. Not that the NBA was balanced before but it made things even worse by allowing basically every team enough cap space to sign Durant. It's supposed to be that only a few teams could afford to get Durant without giving up a significant piece.
