PeterMP Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 I think there's a reasonable chance that move pays for the Blazers. Whiteside can still be effective when motivated and with the contract being up this year, he'll be motivated. Harkless has had significant injuries and best days are clearly behind him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrypticVillain Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 2 minutes ago, PeterMP said: I think there's a reasonable chance that move pays for the Blazers. Whiteside can still be effective when motivated and with the contract being up this year, he'll be motivated. Harkless has had significant injuries and best days are clearly behind him. Harkless struggled in the playoffs too... Hood should have been the starter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momma There Goes That Man Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 50 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said: You were the one who thought there would be actual competition after Durant signed with Golden State and they would have won three straight if Klay and Durant hadn't gotten seriously hurt. And they got taken to a game 7 and were had dead to rights before escaping. To say there was no competition was silly. And the Cavs barely made the finals last year as well. Also injuries happen all the time. You never know when something could strike which is one reason I expected at some point the Warriors would wear down and open the door for another team. It's never as easy as "welp, there is that super team they are a lock to win 5 titles in a row." Even if Kawhi joins LAL, the league is very competitive and they aren't a lock to win. The only time you could conceivably say that was with Jordan due to his magnificence. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sinister Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 Here we go... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 2 minutes ago, Momma There Goes That Man said: The only time you could conceivably say that was with Jordan due to his magnificence. Except I did say it in 2016 and they would have won the title each year Durant was there if he hadn't torn his Achilles. And I'll say that if Kawhi joins the Lakers this summer, then they will win the championship each year that he, LeBron, and Davis are there and remain healthy. Injury is literally the only thing that could create competition in that case, just like it was the only thing that created competition during Golden State's run. Does hoping for injury to induce competition seem fun to you? To me it's ghoulish, and symptom of a serious problem of competitive balance in the NBA. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterMP Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 (edited) If Leonard joins the Lakers, they are going to be very top heavy (not to add that Lebron is getting older and Leonard and AD have injury histories so any one of them not delivering expected performances wouldn't be a total shock). I'd not be surprised to see them lose. The key that fueled GS run was that they had superstars playing for under market money (e.g. the Curry extension), and the way that the cap went up a lot in one year because of the new CBA. The Lakers with Leonard are not the same as prime GS. The Lakers are not going to have an equivalent as Iggy as their 5th man. Edited July 1, 2019 by PeterMP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Do Itch Big Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 Yeah but LeBron AD and KL is 3 top 8 players arguably top 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 3 minutes ago, PeterMP said: The Lakers with Leonard are not the same as prime GS. Curry is not LeBron and Klay is not Davis. The Lakers would have three of the six best players in the league. The Warriors only had two during their run. The Lakers would have as good a three man group as has ever been assembled. Three legit MVP caliber players. They wouldn't need good fourth and fifth guys. They'd cruise on the strength of their top three alone. Injuries would be the only thing to get in their way, which is certainly possible. But that's all that would undo them, not competition from anyone else. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Do Itch Big Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 Steve is right. He low key nailed the Boston prediction too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterMP Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 (edited) 25 minutes ago, Dr. Do Itch Big said: Steve is right. He low key nailed the Boston prediction too. I was right there with him saying that Boston had issues. Heck, I predicted that the Boston young guys would take a step back if Boston appeared to come out this year with their supposed lineup. (Which is exactly what happend. Boston should have traded Kyrie last year like I said. That he wouldn't mix well with their young players was completely foreseeable.) It isn't at all clear that when you take into account defense that Lebron is still at top 8 player in the league. AD hasn't done anything but put up empty stats on teams that didn't matter. All of the 3 of them are going to have to their minutes restricted during the regular season, and they aren't going to have people that can reasonably fill those minutes. That LA team isn't as good as people think. Can they win a championship? Yes Are they leaps and bounds better than some of the other teams in the league? No. I wouldn't want to bet them winning a championship, but I'd absolutely bet that the core of AD, Lebron, and Leonard doesn't win 2. (I honestly think it is possible that the Lakers would be better off if Leonard doesn't sign there, and they (smartly) filled out a bench/got some role players.) I'll absolutely take the Lakers with the core of Lebron, AD, and Leonard not winning 2 championships. Edited July 1, 2019 by PeterMP 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 If all three of them are healthy, who is beating them though? They can load management all three of those guys and roll into the postseason as a four seed and cruise to a championship. Those three players are so freaking good that they can Team USA the rest of the NBA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momma There Goes That Man Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 39 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said: Does hoping for injury to induce competition seem fun to you? To me it's ghoulish, and symptom of a serious problem of competitive balance in the NBA. My apologies, I didn't mean to imply that injuries were all that one could hope for. A healthy warriors were taken to 7 games by the Rockets and should have lost. That's entertaining, that's competitive. They didn't just steamroll everybody for 3 straight years. And the whole thing only lasted 3 years while the league was pretty damn entertaining and competitive and enjoyable during that time despite the goliath Warriors hanging over the league. It's like watching Rocky and being disgusted that Apollo is too good he's too unbeatable and it's pointless so when Apollo wins at the end it was inevitable and a waste of everyone's time. I enjoy a titan, a superteam and their greatness while also seeing the success of the other team's and whether they can rise to the challenge. 4 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said: If all three of them are healthy, who is beating them though? They can load management all three of those guys and roll into the postseason as a four seed and cruise to a championship. Those three players are so freaking good that they can Team USA the rest of the NBA. Sounds like what we all said about the 2011 Miami Heat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sinister Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 Y'all shook, my goodness. LeBron is like 50 in Playoff years. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterMP Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 7 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said: If all three of them are healthy, who is beating them though? They can load management all three of those guys and roll into the postseason as a four seed and cruise to a championship. Those three players are so freaking good that they can Team USA the rest of the NBA. Several teams can. They aren't that much better than several teams, especially in the NBA playoffs as the road team. And realistically health is part of it. Part of ADs cost was his injury history. The Lakers were able to get him for what they got him for partly because other teams had to be worried about him getting injured. I'll say it again, I'll sit here today and bet you that the Lakers with a core of AD, Lebron, and Leonard don't win 2 championships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momma There Goes That Man Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 1 minute ago, Mr. Sinister said: Y'all shook, my goodness. LeBron is like 50 in Playoff years. Lebron himself fell for this when he proclaimed "not 1, not 2..." and then actually only walked away with 2. It's way too early to be crowning people. Anything can and does happen all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sinister Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 Well, he himself cost us 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 14 minutes ago, Momma There Goes That Man said: Sounds like what we all said about the 2011 Miami Heat Wade went through a precipitous decline, starting in 2011. Do you think the same will happen for Kawhi? I am not going to bet on that. And Bosh was never anywhere near as good as Davis. Let's say you're right, and Kawhi ends up on the Lakers and then they start declining at a similar pace as Miami did. You can still bet the house on them winning the next two championships. And then what, we get another season of competition before the next unbeatable super team forms up? I'm sorry, but two or three seasons of legit competition a decade is boring and unsatisfying. It's amateur. And the league can and should seek to do a lot better than that. 16 minutes ago, Momma There Goes That Man said: And the whole thing only lasted 3 years while the league was pretty damn entertaining and competitive and enjoyable during that time despite the goliath Warriors hanging over the league. Speak for yourself. The only real intrigue of the past three seasons until Durant got hurt was off court nonsense. The memes and pro-wrestling style drama might be enough for front runner fans and kids. But it's boring. And most importantly, it doesn't actually get people to watch the games. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momma There Goes That Man Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 There was a ton of amazing talent and great basketball on display the last few years. Intrigue was everywhere you looked despite there being one team supposedly leaps and bounds better than everyone else. I guess it sucks that you missed it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hersh Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 19 minutes ago, Momma There Goes That Man said: There was a ton of amazing talent and great basketball on display the last few years. Intrigue was everywhere you looked despite there being one team supposedly leaps and bounds better than everyone else. I guess it sucks that you missed it The run of four straight seasons of the same two teams in the finals had almost no competition and generally sucked. Lots of false drama was drummed up in an attempt to make it more interesting but at the end of the day it turned out exactly as predicted. These season the playoffs were better cause players got hurt. 35 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said: Speak for yourself. The only real intrigue of the past three seasons until Durant got hurt was off court nonsense. The memes and pro-wrestling style drama might be enough for front runner fans and kids. But it's boring. And most importantly, it doesn't actually get people to watch the games. 100 percent this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momma There Goes That Man Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 8 minutes ago, Hersh said: The run of four straight seasons of the same two teams Two of those 4 Warriors teams were virtually all homegrown talent and weren’t a super team so that’s not really relevant to this discussion. Actually, one of those finals was a shocking upset by the Cavs coming back from 3-1 in one of the greatest moments in NBA history. Not really helping your case. So again, I’m not complaining. The NBA was then and still is a quality and entertaining product. I guess the league sucked to watch when you could pencil Jordan into the finals every offseason. Yawn. Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justice98 Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 1 hour ago, Momma There Goes That Man said: And they got taken to a game 7 and were had dead to rights before escaping. To say there was no competition was silly. And the Cavs barely made the finals last year as well. Also injuries happen all the time. You never know when something could strike which is one reason I expected at some point the Warriors would wear down and open the door for another team. It's never as easy as "welp, there is that super team they are a lock to win 5 titles in a row." Even if Kawhi joins LAL, the league is very competitive and they aren't a lock to win. The only time you could conceivably say that was with Jordan due to his magnificence. I agree 100%. The anti-superteam argument doesnt hold up with me. GS kinda ran through the 16-17 season and playoffs, but they were otherwise vulnerable every other time. They had no business beating HOU in the ECF. You gotta get breaks. Sometimes they go in your favor, sometimes they dont. Now, on paper, I wouldnt wanna face a potential Kawhi, AD, Lebron squad, but I also wouldnt fit them for rings just yet either. That's why you play the games. This season will probably be more wide open than most. There might be 6-8 teams that think they can win going into the season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hersh Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Momma There Goes That Man said: Two of those 4 Warriors teams were virtually all homegrown talent and weren’t a super team so that’s not really relevant to this discussion. Actually, one of those finals was a shocking upset by the Cavs coming back from 3-1 in one of the greatest moments in NBA history. Not really helping your case. So again, I’m not complaining. The NBA was then and still is a quality and entertaining product. I guess the league sucked to watch when you could pencil Jordan into the finals every offseason. Yawn. Lol Um, it’s relevant in that you said the last few years were competitive. They weren’t. One series comeback, even if it was great, doesn’t mean those years were competitive. In fact I’m not sure how anyone can claim they were competitive when the same teams made the finals. That’s the opposite of competition. Edited July 1, 2019 by Hersh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 Every single team has the same opportunity to do exactly what Miami did and the Lakers may do. They run their business differently than others. They shouldn't be hated for it. They should be emulated. All this talk about it not being fair is hogwash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hersh Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 2 minutes ago, Kosher Ham said: Every single team has the same opportunity to do exactly what Miami did and the Lakers may do. They run their business differently than others. They shouldn't be hated for it. They should be emulated. All this talk about it not being fair is hogwash. The problem with that is there were be only a handful of great super teams, a few others like Toronto from two seasons ago that had a bunch of good players with great depth and a lot of terrible teams getting blown out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 The sum of the whole can win titles. Toronto just proved that. San Antonio has done it a few times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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