NBA Free Agency

[wadesworld]

GOAT

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Knowing how much this pisses off Bulls fans is wonderful.

Go Warriors

Ain't nothing without the ring.

[wadesworld]

Ain't nothing without the ring.

Well.  They still have the 73 win record, and they now will probably have about 5 championships in a 8 year period, at worst.  So...

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Well.  They still have the 73 win record, and they now will probably have about 5 championships in a 8 year period, at worst.  So...

Well see, cap going up again next year so some team can come along and sign 3-4 max contract guys.

[wadesworld]

https://twitter.com/derekcarrqb/status/749991986451451904\

Derrick Carr > Tom Brady, obviously.

[brewcity77]

I'm not sure how well Durant will work out for them. Durant is a great player, but there's still only one ball to go around. That team seems to run on Curry, Thompson, and Green. Is adding another ball-dominant player going to work seamlessly? We'll see. Sometimes what looks really good on paper works less well in actuality.

[DegenerateDish]

If I'm OKC, I'm immediately sending Westbrook to Boston for Nets pick, Jaylen Brown, Avery Bradley and Jerebko.

[brandx]

I'm not sure how well Durant will work out for them. Durant is a great player, but there's still only one ball to go around. That team seems to run on Curry, Thompson, and Green. Is adding another ball-dominant player going to work seamlessly? We'll see. Sometimes what looks really good on paper works less well in actuality.

I'm in total agreement, Brew.

I predict they will not have a better record than this year's team.

One the one hand, they are adding a great player. On the other, they are taking shots away from the two best shooters in the league and taking the ball out of Green's hands.

[brandx]

Golden State's defense also takes a huge hit.

[wadesworld]

Kevin Durant would make any team in the history of basketball better.  He is a top 5 player and his defense is underrated.

They won't go 73-9 but they will win a Title.

Durant isn't a "ball dominating player."  He's played with Russell Westbrook for all but 1 year of his professional life.  He's always been on an iso-dominated offense.  This will be the first time he's playing on an offense that requires ball movement.  He shot the 4th highest percentage on catch and shoot shots in the NBA last season.  The top 3?  Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and JJ Redick.

Remember all those wide open 3s that Harrison Barnes clanked in the NBA Finals?  Yeah, now give those to Kevin Durant.  Oops?

Not to mention the even more open shots that Curry, Klay, and Green will be getting.

[MU82]

Kevin Durant would make any team in the history of basketball better.  He is a top 5 player and his defense is underrated.

They won't go 73-9 but they will win a Title.

Durant isn't a "ball dominating player."  He's played with Russell Westbrook for all but 1 year of his professional life.  He's always been on an iso-dominated offense.  This will be the first time he's playing on an offense that requires ball movement.  He shot the 4th highest percentage on catch and shoot shots in the NBA last season.  The top 3?  Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and JJ Redick.

Remember all those wide open 3s that Harrison Barnes clanked in the NBA Finals?  Yeah, now give those to Kevin Durant.  Oops?

Not to mention the even more open shots that Curry, Klay, and Green will be getting.

I like this comment, and agree with most of it.

Durant is not your typical diva NBA star. He is relatively humble. He'd watch Westbrook jack up 8 straight bad shots and, after Westbrook would finally make No. 8, Durant would be there to high-five him. That doesn't seem like a guy who will be mad when Steph shoots.

I'd argue that Curry and the other Warriors will have to adjust at least as much as Durant will. There won't be 30 points a night out there for Steph, and probably no third MVP. Knowing what I do about him, I think he'll be fine with that.

KD also is very intelligent, so he knows all about there not being enough basketballs to go around, etc. Think of him as a more offensively talented version of Bosh, who gave up a ton of looks to be part of a championship-caliber team rather than stay in Toronto and be "the man." Or even Wade, who courted the league's best player to be his teammate and willingly ceded control. Some players really DO place winning first.

If Kerr is as smart as I think he is, he will care a lot less about regular-season wins and will do more "Popovich-ing" this season. He'll rest Steph and others in the second half of the season. He won't care about 73 wins or 70 wins or even 65. For this team, anything short of a title is a failure, so he'll play for that.

My hoops-crazy son and I were just talking about this and he said something like, "If Barnes had just hit a few of those shots in Games 5, 6 or 7, the Warriors would have won. Now it will be Durant taking those shots." But, ever the devil's advocate, I had to remind him that Durant missed several consecutive open shots down the stretch in Game 7 against the Warriors ... so who really knows? These guys, even the greats, are human.

I agree with you, wades, that Durant makes the Warriors better (as he would make any team better) and they will win a title -- and maybe multiple titles -- with this group. They might not win a title next season, but they obviously are the prohibitive favorites. They still have enough defensive players and enough offensive role players to surround their shooting stars.

It's still not accurate to call this team the greatest ever, and it won't be accurate even if they win it all next year. To earn that honor, a team has to do what Jordan's Bulls or Russell's Celtics did -- excel and win titles for years. Right now, they haven't even accomplished as much as the James-Bosh-Wade Heat did.

[brewcity77]

My hoops-crazy son and I were just talking about this and he said something like, "If Barnes had just hit a few of those shots in Games 5, 6 or 7, the Warriors would have won. Now it will be Durant taking those shots." But, ever the devil's advocate, I had to remind him that Durant missed several consecutive open shots down the stretch in Game 7 against the Warriors ... so who really knows? These guys, even the greats, are human.

I agree with you, wades, that Durant makes the Warriors better (as he would make any team better) and they will win a title -- and maybe multiple titles -- with this group. They might not win a title next season, but they obviously are the prohibitive favorites. They still have enough defensive players and enough offensive role players to surround their shooting stars.

On paper, it's a great move, and I agree that at least in theory, Durant should make them better (much better) than Barnes. But as I heard this, I flashed back to watching that Game 7 as Durant tried again and again to take over the game and in the process just put OKC in a deeper and deeper hole that ultimately sank their Finals dreams.

Even if one asserts Durant doesn't dominate the ball, he does have an over 30% usage (30.2). That's more than double Harrison Barnes' usage (14.9%). It may work great, but it wouldn't surprise me if it took them a couple seasons before they figured out fully how to get all the pieces operating in the same machine.

[brandx]

I like this comment, and agree with most of it.

Durant is not your typical diva NBA star. He is relatively humble. He'd watch Westbrook jack up 8 straight bad shots and, after Westbrook would finally make No. 8, Durant would be there to high-five him. That doesn't seem like a guy who will be mad when Steph shoots.

I'd argue that Curry and the other Warriors will have to adjust at least as much as Durant will. There won't be 30 points a night out there for Steph, and probably no third MVP. Knowing what I do about him, I think he'll be fine with that.

KD also is very intelligent, so he knows all about there not being enough basketballs to go around, etc. Think of him as a more offensively talented version of Bosh, who gave up a ton of looks to be part of a championship-caliber team rather than stay in Toronto and be "the man." Or even Wade, who courted the league's best player to be his teammate and willingly ceded control. Some players really DO place winning first.

If Kerr is as smart as I think he is, he will care a lot less about regular-season wins and will do more "Popovich-ing" this season. He'll rest Steph and others in the second half of the season. He won't care about 73 wins or 70 wins or even 65. For this team, anything short of a title is a failure, so he'll play for that.

My hoops-crazy son and I were just talking about this and he said something like, "If Barnes had just hit a few of those shots in Games 5, 6 or 7, the Warriors would have won. Now it will be Durant taking those shots." But, ever the devil's advocate, I had to remind him that Durant missed several consecutive open shots down the stretch in Game 7 against the Warriors ... so who really knows? These guys, even the greats, are human.

I agree with you, wades, that Durant makes the Warriors better (as he would make any team better) and they will win a title -- and maybe multiple titles -- with this group. They might not win a title next season, but they obviously are the prohibitive favorites. They still have enough defensive players and enough offensive role players to surround their shooting stars.

It's still not accurate to call this team the greatest ever, and it won't be accurate even if they win it all next year. To earn that honor, a team has to do what Jordan's Bulls or Russell's Celtics did -- excel and win titles for years. Right now, they haven't even accomplished as much as the James-Bosh-Wade Heat did.

If there is any team that could absorb another high scorer without the current scorers being resentful, it is probably the Warriors.

This is not like putting Durant on a team like the Knicks with Carmelo and Rose where those two would be pouting if they lost touches.

GS is now a team that can regularly put up 120 point games. But replacing Barnes and Bogut with Durant and Varajao/Damian Jones will be huge defensively come playoff time.

[wadesworld]

If the Warriors' big 4 stays healthy next season and for the entire postseason they'll win the Title.  You could throw 5'10", 145 lb. me in there at center and they'd still win the Title.

[MU82]

If there is any team that could absorb another high scorer without the current scorers being resentful, it is probably the Warriors.

This is not like putting Durant on a team like the Knicks with Carmelo and Rose where those two would be pouting if they lost touches.

GS is now a team that can regularly put up 120 point games. But replacing Barnes and Bogut with Durant and Varajao/Damian Jones will be huge defensively come playoff time.

Good points about the Warriors' egos (or relative lack thereof).

As for defense, Bogut was a 20 mpg player and Barnes was only OK. I actually was pleasantly surprised with Durant's defensive effort as I watched the Spurs and Warriors series. With Green, Iggy, Thompson and a few others, I believe they have enough defensive players and length to do fine. I guess we'll see come next May and June!

[wadesworld]

Good points about the Warriors' egos (or relative lack thereof).

As for defense, Bogut was a 20 mpg player and Barnes was only OK. I actually was pleasantly surprised with Durant's defensive effort as I watched the Spurs and Warriors series. With Green, Iggy, Thompson and a few others, I believe they have enough defensive players and length to do fine. I guess we'll see come next May and June!

Yup, Durant has never been a bad defender, but certainly not a strength of his.  But this past year he steppes his defensive game up big time.  He'll be just as good of a defender as Barnes was.

[reinko]

I'll gladly take the field Wades,  since you are sure they will win the title,  what kinda odds you offering me?

[wadesworld]

I'll gladly take the field Wades,  since you are sure they will win the title,  what kinda odds you offering me?

Not interested in bets 11 months and an entire season out. Injuries happen.

[reinko]

They won't go 73-9 but they will win a Title.

Oh.

[wadesworld]

Oh.

Oh?

[tower912]

My first reaction is 'holy crap, anoint them'.    Upon further reflection....... injuries happen, egos happen, and there is only one ball.    It will be must-see basketball, but a lot can happen in 11 months. 

[MUfan12]

Getting Zaza for under 3 mil is a steal for GSW. Will help replace some of the defense lost with Bogut.

[brewcity77]

My first reaction is 'holy crap, anoint them'.    Upon further reflection....... injuries happen, egos happen, and there is only one ball.    It will be must-see basketball, but a lot can happen in 11 months.

+1

I think back to Bosh and Lebron joining Wade in Miami, or Lebron coming back and bringing Love to play with Irving. It's easy to say that superteams will win the title, but neither of those teams did it in year one. This is different because GSW are well-established before Durant, but his presence and usage will be a big adjustment for everyone on that team. Easy to forecast a title, much harder to actually win one.

Getting Zaza for under 3 mil is a steal for GSW. Will help replace some of the defense lost with Bogut.

Yeah...Zaza is a nice signing, provides R&D.

Another signing I haven't seen much mention of is the Bucks landing Mirza Teletovic. I really like the pickup. Fits their needs well, but was lost in what was a bit of a logjam of mid-level bigs in Phoenix. I could see him being very effective in Milwaukee as a spot starter or rotation big with three-point ability.

[wadesworld]

Zaza is a better fit than Bogut was. That's big.

Teletovic was a great signing...that then got followed up by the awful Delly signing.

[BM1090]

Golden State's defense also takes a huge hit.

Durant is a good defender (especially in the playoffs) and he's certainly better defensively than Barnes. It gives them even more length/quickness on that side of the ball.