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Kevin Durant will join the Golden State Warriors (Official)
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P.K.
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 2:05 pm Post subject:

the association wrote:

P.K. wrote:

KD's had problems with Westbrook for a couple of years now where he (KD) believed that RW called his own # way to many times and wouldn't pass the ball.
Now he's going to a team that believes, top to bottom, in passing the ball to the guy that has the best shot. And has proven this on national TV for the last 2 years

In addition, KD knows that as long as they can keep the core of that team together, they're now the favorites to win a ring year after year.

I'd predict 3-4 more years of Cavs vs GSW for championships -- and GSW now has a serious advantage there

This was a good move by KD

All of this may play out very differently on the court, as many have pointed out in this and other threads, not to mention what we've seen in the world of actual superteam outcomes in the past ... there is still but one basketball ... I have Steph as option #2 on this new team, so how will that work with his underrated ego? And will Klay cooperate long-term if it means seeing his scoring average drop into the 14 - 18 PPG range? Also, will emotionally-erratic Draymond continue to feel good about <10 FGA per game? If Durant and Steph see a combined 40 - 45 FGA per game, and Klay and Draymond see another 20 - 25 FGA per game, how many opportunities remain for the supporting cast to develop any rhythm with their respective games?

Also, we may be sleeping on San Antonio, which has VERY cap-friendly deals in place for Kawhi and Aldridge right now ... if they add Pau this offseason, then go after Westbrook and some shooting star wing next Summer who might not even be on our collective radar right now, they are still carrying less salary burden over the life of that lineup (what's Pau got left, maybe two years after next Summer max.?) and look the (bleep) out Warriors and Cavaliers ...

Goodbye, parody ... (tip 'o the cap to NPZ) ...

I said in the Lounge that I'd expect RW to the Spurs next season. As of today at least, it's the most logical destination for RW to go to a contender. That can change as fast as tomorrow, of course.
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SuperboyReformed
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Joined: 07 Oct 2012
Posts: 4083

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 2:31 pm Post subject:

non-player zealot wrote:

SuperboyReformed wrote:

the whole parity thing is very frustrating. the way it is playing out is almost comically the opposite

Comically opposite of stated intentions. It's a parody of parity.

Let's start spellin it parody, bro. There are gonna be plenty of chances to use that word in the coming season. We're gonna make this thing catch on like hot fiya.

genius.<--period

lakersken80
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Joined: 12 Aug 2009
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 2:42 pm Post subject:

Space Jam 3: KD joins the Monstars and beats down the Tunes Squad Last edited by lakersken80 on Mon Jul 04, 2016 2:44 pm; edited 2 times in total

Steve007
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Joined: 21 Jul 2006
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 2:42 pm Post subject:

composite wrote:

With no Ezeli or Bogut, where's GSW's frontline depth though? GSW was exposed by OKC and to a lesser degree, Cleveland, with the lack of rebounding.

I'm not saying it fixes the problem but Durant averaged over 8 rebounds a game last season. But sure it will be interesting how that plays out.

Last edited by Steve007 on Mon Jul 04, 2016 2:51 pm; edited 1 time in total

Steve007
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 2:45 pm Post subject:

TDRock wrote:

Anyway I'm not sure how he'll fit in GSW and what that's going to do to their depth - which was an asset for them IMO - but it'll be interesting to see how this plays out...

One thing they can do now is always have at least one of either Durant or Curry on the floor.

Steve007
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 2:50 pm Post subject:

unleasHell wrote:

And I want to add something else, I know most of you are ready to hand the next 3 or 4 championships to the Warriors, but adding a great player to a great team does NOT always pan out as expected, consider this:

1) Adrian Dantley was a great player back in the days, in his third year he averaged 26.5 ppg and was 21. The Lakers got him and the rest of the NBA was thinking how unfair it was, well his first year with the Lakers he averaged 19ppg and the next season he was down to 17ppg. He simply did not fit and was traded, the next seven seasons he averaged just under 30ppg!

2) A 33 year old Charles Barkley was on the Rockets, after they had won back-to-back championships, he had averaged about 24ppg for the previous 10 years and once again the NBA looked at this as being unfair, Barkley's numbers dropped the next 4 years (he played only 62 games combined the last two) and they never reached the finals again.

3) Gary Peyton signed with the Lakers, after averaging 20ppg for the previous 11 years and his production dropped of but he still played another three years. He did not win a title with the Lakers...

4) A 39 year old Karl Malone signed with the Lakers, he had 17 out of his last 18 years he played 80 or more games, he had also averaged about 25ppg for the previous 17 years, his numbers dropped with the Lakers, he was injured and he retired, and could not help the Lakers win a title!

RECAP: Something could go sideways for the Warriors, with the signing of Durant, that's why they play the games...

But your last 3 examples are of players in their 30's. The Warriors big 4 are all in their prime. Curry is the oldest at 28. Barkley didn't join the Rockets immediately after those titles. The Rockets lost in the playoffs one year before they picked him up. Also the Rockets suffered from injury problems and the experiment really fell apart in the second year because of guys getting old and injured.

Imagine Shaq, Kobe, Malone and Payton all being together and no older than 28 and it's a completely different experiment.

Last edited by Steve007 on Mon Jul 04, 2016 3:04 pm; edited 1 time in total

Basketball Fan
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 3:03 pm Post subject:

After reading what I missed.... I don't hate Kevin Durant for this... his career and really at the end of the day he has to live with the decision he makes plus unlike LeBron he didn't host a ridiculous Decision special, was upfront with the Thunder GM/owner etc about what his plans were and doesn't nearly annoy me as much. He handled it as completely opposite as LeBron did when he went to Miami that goes a long way. And if there are Thunder fans that still hate him so be it you can't please everyone. (I think Thunder fans have handled it far better than Cleveland fans did when LeBron left) Honestly I don't see this working out for GSW as far as an actual title. I see Durant returning to OKC after this experiment. I'll probably skip the NBA Finals if GSW/any team with LeBron is in it though. Hopefully someone will be a spoiler ... Jerry West is truly a Wizard to convince Shaq and Durant to leave contending teams to join his(although its easier to sell the Warriors than the Lakers in 1996 when little did we know that another superstar was going to be a part of that team)

Basketball Fan
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 3:15 pm Post subject:

Steve007 wrote:

This would be like LeBron joining GSW after losing the 2015 finals.

Or (sacrilege) Kobe joining the Celtics after 2008

activeverb
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Joined: 17 Jun 2006
Posts: 37470

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 3:25 pm Post subject:

SuperboyReformed wrote:

the whole parity thing is very frustrating. the way it is playing out is almost comically the opposite of the whole spirit of everything.

That's the players union's doing. The league wanted to handle the big spike by dividing the new money evenly among the players so it wouldn't open up all these max spots on teams. In the long run, it will settle out, but it created a one-time opportunity where a team with a bunch of stars could add another max player.

That said, there will never be a way to stop players from joining together if they are smart and willing to sacrifice. All you can do is create incentives for them not to.

SuperboyReformed wrote:

at least one thing should be clarified now: next time people think about who the greatest of all time and stuff is...just imagine any of the other greats teaming up like this. in their primes and stuff.

Most of the most successful greats in NBA history did team up with talent like this!

Bird was teamed with McHale, Parish, Johnson, Walton -- four Hall of Famers and three guys on the all-time Top 50 Team.

Magic was teamed with Kareem, Worthy, McAdoo, and Cooper -- three Hall of Famers and a DPOY.

Jordan was teamed with Pippen, Rodman, and Kukoc.

Wilt teamed with West and Baylor.

Moses Malone joined with Dr. J, Maurice Cheeks, Bobby Jones, and Andrew Toney.

The 70s Knicks collected Hall of Famers by the bushel -- Dave DeBusschere, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Jerry Lucas, Bill Bradley, Willis Reed. They had 6 Hall of Famers age 27-32 -- they started 5 Hall of Famers and had one coming off the bench.

Obviously the mechanisms of how the teams were put together were different because of different rules, but teams have been stockpiling disproportionate amounts of talent since the league started.

SuperboyReformed wrote:

Durant will get pissy somewhere along the line when the NBA milieu (fans, media, the old player corps, etc) dismiss his success there, dismiss his hard work, bring up collusion, say he couldn't do it on his own, yada yada, same as Bron after joining Bosh and Wade.

It's better to have a success that some people dismiss than to have no success. And Lebron has shown that those kinds of dismissals tend to fade and in the end the winning is all that matters.

SuperboyReformed wrote:

I don't know how a title there wouldn't feel phyrric to a supposed world-class competitor and if he really is one at core, I don't think he'll miss that feeling after they do it while the sports world yawns.

I don't think there is a superstar in the history of the NBA who wouldn't love to be surrounded by more talent than anyone else. These guys want every advantage they can get; they are interested in an even playing field.

And no one will yawn. For all they complain, fans love superteams.

the association
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Joined: 03 Feb 2015
Posts: 1982

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 3:26 pm Post subject:

Basketball Fan wrote:

After reading what I missed....

I don't hate Kevin Durant for this... his career and really at the end of the day he has to live with the decision he makes plus unlike LeBron he didn't host a ridiculous Decision special, was upfront with the Thunder GM/owner etc about what his plans were and doesn't nearly annoy me as much.

He handled it as completely opposite as LeBron did when he went to Miami that goes a long way. And if there are Thunder fans that still hate him so be it you can't please everyone. (I think Thunder fans have handled it far better than Cleveland fans did when LeBron left)

Honestly I don't see this working out for GSW as far as an actual title. I see Durant returning to OKC after this experiment.

I'll probably skip the NBA Finals if GSW/any team with LeBron is in it though. Hopefully someone will be a spoiler ...

Jerry West is truly a Wizard to convince Shaq and Durant to leave contending teams to join his(although its easier to sell the Warriors than the Lakers in 1996 when little did we know that another superstar was going to be a part of that team)

Other than the fact that Durant isn't on LeBron's level, which is why his decision wasn't the massive media focus this week that LeBron's decision was six years ago (which, in turn, is what led to the media spectacle and the primetime program, proceeds of which ... yeah, nobody cares about that part anymore, it seems), and the fact that you have no idea whatsoever whether or how much Durant was upfront with Thunder ownership / management, I agree with your thoughts ...

LeBron's decision became THE DECISION because his unrestricted free agency was the biggest free agent decision ever (probably in professional sports) ... I'll repeat that statement for emphasis: LeBron's free agency was bigger than anyone who has come before him, along with anyone who's come along since. It was ENORMOUS, in the event that anyone has already forgotten ...

As for the charming notion of a player owing it to ownership to let them know in advance of the player's free agency decision, I'd say Dan Gilbert and Clay Bennett are near the top of the list of NBA owners that deserve nothing more than a quick text reading "so long" after the ink's dry on the new deal with the new team ... but again, you have no idea what Durant did or didn't do in that regard, so this is all moot. LeBron would have been pilloried for announcing THE decision in the Players tribune, of course, too. Nothing can satisfy his critics, of which they remain legion ...

But LeBron's still the devil for many ... I get it ... but how many more times are we going to replay this movie again?

activeverb
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Posts: 37470

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 3:42 pm Post subject:

the association wrote:

Basketball Fan wrote:

Lebron really handled the Decision is a terrible way -- if he had changed teams without making a spectacle of it, opinion might have been different.

And some people got hung up on the fact that Lebron, Wade and Bosh planned this out -- for some reason, they think it's OK for a team to make smart moves, but not the players.

And of course Lebron was the first. Now, people don't blink at stars joining together.

Some people will always grumble about what Lebron did, because a lot of people dislike Lebron. But those people seem to shrinking and shrinking.

Lowest Merion
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 4:00 pm Post subject:

Buck32 wrote:

KD waited to see where Mozgov would sign before deciding.

Basketball Fan
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Posts: 24761

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 4:03 pm Post subject:

the association wrote:

Basketball Fan wrote:

I dislike LeBron I never wavered on that but I never faulted him for going to the Heat but he handled it badly by how he went about it. Its one thing to go elsewhere its another to make it a spectacle and keep the team you're leaving in the dark about the fact you are leaving before you release it publically. They found out when we did.

The Thunder GM/Owner wish him the best now do they mean it? Probably not but I bet they respect his professionalism in how he handled it.

Beyond that no player owes his previous team anything beyond that.

the association
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 4:28 pm Post subject:

Basketball Fan wrote:

the association wrote:

Basketball Fan wrote:

I hear you ...

But regarding The Decision and to AV's point above, was it LeBron or Maverick et. al. that drove that calamity anyway?

Steve007
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Posts: 13221

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 4:31 pm Post subject:

Quote:

Free-agent center Zaza Pachulia has agreed to a one-year, $2.9 million deal with the Golden State Warriors, replacing Andrew Bogut, who was traded to Dallas, league sources told The Vertical.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--zaza-pachulia-to-join-warriors-powerhouse-235809950.html

jonnybravo
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 4:53 pm Post subject:

Steve007 wrote:

Quote:

Free-agent center Zaza Pachulia has agreed to a one-year, $2.9 million deal with the Golden State Warriors, replacing Andrew Bogut, who was traded to Dallas, league sources told The Vertical.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--zaza-pachulia-to-join-warriors-powerhouse-235809950.html

Not a bad signing.

Basketball Fan
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Posts: 24761

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 5:00 pm Post subject:

the association wrote:

Basketball Fan wrote:

the association wrote:

Basketball Fan wrote:

I hear you ...

But regarding The Decision and to AV's point above, was it LeBron or Maverick et. al. that drove that calamity anyway?

Regardless LeBron agreed to it which was dumb on his part and probably the only public misstep he has committed in his career.

It also didn't help that Dan Gilbert acted like a (bleep) afterwards. Compare that to the reaction of the Thunder GM/owner they handled it far better. Hence less backlash on Durant.

How you handle things goes a long way in perception.

Sure people may hate Durant for this so be it. However he handled it quite well.

AC Green's V-Card
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 5:00 pm Post subject:

Future wrote:

AC Green's V-Card wrote:

ChefLinda wrote:

If Jerry West was in our front office right now, Keven Durant STILL wouldn't be giving the Lakers the time of day. We're rebuilding and he went to the team making back-to-back finals appearances. I guarantee you that last part was more persuasive than WHO he met with.

Let's face it, if Jerry West is in the front office, he doesn't trade future first rounders for Nash.

iF west was still in front office, our team would of never missed the playoffs for 3 seasons straight...

West is a very respected man in the NBA, not just within Laker nation. West, unlike other old timers actually supports the new age kids, while most of the old timers criticize them

He has the uncanny ability to stay forward-thinking and know where the game is going.

doughboy90650
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 5:26 pm Post subject:

Can't wait for Dubs Cavs 3. NBA Finals.

nevitt_smrek
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 5:50 pm Post subject:

Who is going to defend the rim on this newly constructed team? _________________ Smrek 2, Nevitt 1, Barkley 0

ChefLinda
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Location: Boston

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 5:58 pm Post subject:

AC Green's V-Card wrote:

Future wrote:

AC Green's V-Card wrote:

ChefLinda wrote:

Let's face it, if Jerry West is in the front office, he doesn't trade future first rounders for Nash.

He has the uncanny ability to stay forward-thinking and know where the game is going.

I love Jerry West, but he's not God. How many trophies did Memphis win?

Jerry has not been the hands-on GM in GS, only a consultant. Would I rather have him as a consultant for the Lakers? Yes. But that's all he would be in L.A. for many reasons.

Every franchise has it's ups and downs and must rebuild when it's superstars leave or retire. We can play the "what if" game about D12, Nash, CP3 yada yada yada. But even as Jerry West and Jerry Buss made a lot of great decisions for the Lakers, they also made some crappy ones. But the wave of nostalgia that erases the crappy ones is something I feel the need to call out.

Love Jerry, but he wasn't cut out to be our "forever" GM (even if the whole Phil and Jim Buss stuff hadn't entered the picture). Jerry was so nervous he couldn't even WATCH Laker playoff games. He would drive around in his car and check the score on the radio, then poke his head in and out of the Forum. He was so high-strung about the Lakers he about gave himself a nervous breakdown. He realized that couldn't go on. He never felt the same about Memphis or GSW as he did the purple and gold so it's easier for him to advise in those situations without compromising his mental health.

His conversation with KD obviously had an impact. But Jerry didn't build the team that KD ultimately signed onto. Jerry advised them and it was up to them to build the team.

paolomagma
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Posts: 2395

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 6:03 pm Post subject:

2014 MVP joins the 2015 & 2016 MVP / 73 regular season win team. The league is now watered down even more so than last year. It's going to be Warriors vs Cavs in the finals for years to come. No team from the west can beat GSW despite being the more talented conference.

Dave20
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Posts: 11333

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 6:03 pm Post subject:

Barring any injuries the Warriors will win 70 games each year and 3peat.

JerryWest_44
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Posts: 25319

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 6:08 pm Post subject:

nevitt_smrek wrote:

Who is going to defend the rim on this newly constructed team?

Exactly - playoff basketball during crunch time is half court dominated. OKC and Cavs had a layup drill against GSW

thurloly
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Joined: 14 Nov 2008
Posts: 23930

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 6:13 pm Post subject:

2 team league is happening. I am so excited to watch GSW vs Cavs every year, duh!!! And then listen to endless rants about the greatness of Lebron. What a day to be alive in NBA world!

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