2018-19 NBA Off-Season

Who argues they didn’t? It left good teams that normally wouldn’t be able to sign these players to sign them. With no spike it’s a hell of a lot less likely these players move.

What are you arguing?

 

I'm not trying to give KD shit because he went to a place where he could win. It's his right. Good for him. I just don't agree with @Scout that winning two rings with the most star-studded lineup of this generation suddenly puts him in the Magic/Bird category of all-time greats.

He's not a better player because he went to Golden State, so why would his legacy dramatically improve? If Karl Malone or Charles Barkley had joined the Bulls in their prime years, would they now be among the top-10 players of all-time? Doubtful.

I think LeBron winning a ring in Cleveland, which was the worst team in the NBA before he returned, carries more weight, if you want to say rings play a role in legacy.

 

Over time, the current reactionary, title-chasing BS will fade. It'll be just 'KD won X number of titles.'

Barkley didn't stay in Philly and wait for them to build a contender around him. He left and went to a much better team in Phoenix, and went to the NBA finals with Phoenix.
Then he went to Houston to join Drexler and Olajuwon.
That is Drexler, Olajuwon and Barkley together, and two of them landed in Houston as free agents.
I don't recall any poo-pooing at the time or concerns about super teams and ring chasing.

The criticism around LBJ going to Miami (not the marketing aspect, just the roster moves) and KD going to Golden State is nonsense generated by the folks covering the NBA to generate content.
It's a complete crock. Faux outrage and disingenuous talk about 'legacy' about something that has been done many times through league history.

 

Neither of them are among the top-10 players of all-time anyway.

Someone like, say, Kareem IS one of the very best of all time, even if he won more titles in L.A. than he would’ve had he stayed in Milwaukee.

 

They were not "the worst team in the NBA." The Cavs went 33-49 the year before Lebron's return, leaving around ten teams with worse records, a few of which were much worse (see Philly, Orlando and Milwaukee).

They improved to 53-29 the next season, although it's worth noting that Lebron was not the only significant addition, they also added another All Star in Kevin Love (coming off a season in which he was 2d Team All NBA averaging 26.1 pts and 12.5 rebounds in Minnesota), as well as other new faces like JR Smith, Mozgov and Shumpert.

 

Super teams have been around for a long time in pro sports. They're just not usually in Miami and Oakland.

If it were New York, you wouldn't hear half of a peep.

 

Huh? Anything to back this up?

 

Well, to be fair, the Yankees have only been buying up all the best players for, like, a century.

 

Link?

 

You are playing OOP's music.

 

It depends how you define super teams. But if you look at every team that won a title between 1980-1987, pretty dang super.

(Do we remember Moses Malone less fondly becuase he had to join Philly that way?)