2018-19 NBA Thread

With or without KD, when I wonder about the Ws chances, I remind myself they beat the Rockets in Gm 6 on the road without KD.

 

This almost seems like a troll job toward the Lakers? Need a second guy? For $124M you can have another member of the banana boat.

Sources: Rockets making CP3, others available

 

If the Lakers do that I'm going to say Isiah is the secret GM because its a classic Isiah Knicks move.

 

What’s are the reasons that Durant and Leonard, not Leonard and Duran, leave via free agency?

It’s not money and it’s not to win, unless Leonard goes to GSW. It can’t be for material comfort.
Are they looking for cultish adoration?

 

They are all playing GM in their minds, creating imaginary super teams, which franchises then strive to turn into reality. I mean, I kind of understand Durant. He wanted a title, got it, now he's kind of bored. So he thinks, what if I rebuilt the Knicks?

 

For Leonard it's going to be to get the hell out of Toronto. (And that's not a shot at the city.) Kawhi is a Los Angeles guy and probably doesn't want to spent his winters in Toronto. He can come home to his friends and family and not freeze his ass off while playing for a Clippers team that's going to be legitimately really good. He might stay, but my money is on the Clippers.

For Durant, he's winning in Golden State, but they were winning before he got there and they'll win after he leaves. He'll never be more than the 4th favorite Warrior and he'll always hear people say they're better without him. That stuff seems to bug the crap out of him. I think he'll jump to a place where he thinks he'll be appreciated, and I suspect he believes that any team he's on will be a winner. I don't know if that's the Knicks or Nets or what, but I think he's gone.

One thing that's clear from the last contract negotiation: the owner couldn't conceive of the possibility that players would go somewhere they wanted to be for $190 million instead of staying someplace they didn't want to be for $220 million. Money isn't the motivator they expected.

 

Winning isn’t the motivator either, apparently. Toronto is a great city, international and cosmopolitan. Living there during a basketball season where 40% is spent on the road anyway is not a hardship. And he’s well regarded and treated that way in Toronto.

 

Since when has Toronto won anything? The Clippers pushed the Warriors to six games in the first round. Let's see if the Raptors can do that.

Again, I'm not saying Toronto is a bad place. By pretty much all accounts it's a great city. It's also in a foreign country and cold as fuck during the winter, 3000 miles from his friends and family. I don't think there are too many people who "get" Kawhi. I think being home with his people will be a big deal for him.

It certainly wouldn't shock me if he stayed into Toronto. I'll be very, very surprised if he leaves and goes anywhere other than LA.

 

Don’t engage him.

Free agency gives you the right for the first time in your career to choose where you want to live. Play where the hell you want.

 

There is literally no answer that would satisfy many NBA "fans" as to why a FA would leave.

 

The Warriors were dogs until Steph got there; there's plenty reason to think Kawhi could do the same to the Clippers, what with Doc, West and Ballmer running things. The Clippers winning an NBA title would be akin to the Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz-Chipper era Braves, going from laughingstocks to title contenders.

 

I kind of think it was Iguodala going to the Warriors that made them for real. They've had fun, exciting teams in the past - but it was getting an All-Star FA (Iguodala) that made them legit. Oddly enough, Iguodala was playing for the 57-25 Nuggets when they got upset in the first round by the Curry/Klay led Warriors.