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NBA Finals - The Problem with Steph Curry


Maithanet

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I think that the problem is that there is always this other team willing to one up you and make the offer. So rather than spoil your relationship with the player, you just keep handing out max contracts or else trade them early. Otherwise you end up in this situation with Ayton where you spoil your relationship and give the max contract as well. 

Maybe it's because of player empowerment, but there isn't a Curry is an injury risk, let's give him $12m per year or whatever he was paid situation anymore. It's give Michael Porter a max and maybe write some injury protections in. 

_

Speaking of salaries, really disappointed that Woj didn't disclose how much the Wolves are paying Rivers. Maybe that's available somewhere but I'd have to go look for it. 

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1 minute ago, Proudfeet said:

I think that the problem is that there is always this other team willing to one up you and make the offer.

Yes, that's another factor I didn't get into, but going from a 30 win team to a 45 win team is just vastly easier than going from a 45 win team to a champion.  A contract like Ayton for Indiana can make sense if the goal is to get back to respectability.  Ayton at that price would absolutely help Indiana win 45 games.  But Phoenix is already a 60 win team, and part of the reason was that they were getting good production from Ayton on his rookie contract.  It will be much harder for them to match the (regular season) success they had the past two years with Ayton's contract on the books. 

Hence it is understandable that Phoenix might have preferred to trade Ayton if there were teams out there willing to make a great offer for him.  But they were worried about sabotaging a potential championship team last year, so they never pulled the trigger (I'm not sure what sort of offers they were getting anyway).  And then once the offseason rolled around, everybody knew that Ayton on a max deal was a questionable bargain, so there wasn't much market for a sign-and-trade.

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Is everyone ready for LeBron to Cleveland 3.0 next summer?  Because if the Lakers don't win a title this year, it's probably happening.  Not sure how I feel about it, but if we get one more title out of it I'll manage.

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5 hours ago, briantw said:

Is everyone ready for LeBron to Cleveland 3.0 next summer?  Because if the Lakers don't win a title this year, it's probably happening.  Not sure how I feel about it, but if we get one more title out of it I'll manage.

I wonder if LeBron is ready for that.  Because I'd have to assume Altman would be like "You are 38 dude stfu and let us build a good team as we've been doing"

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12 hours ago, Slurktan said:

I wonder if LeBron is ready for that.  Because I'd have to assume Altman would be like "You are 38 dude stfu and let us build a good team as we've been doing"

Interestingly, the main hole on the Cavs roster right now is at SF.  They've got Lauri, but he's a role-player.  They've got an elite young PG who took the leap last year, a young PF who got robbed of rookie of the year last year and looks like he'll be a top ten player in the league in a few years, they just drafted a sharp-shooting two-guard, and they've got Allen locked in at twenty million a year at C for the next several years, which looks like an absolute steal with the cap skyrocketing.  

LeBron would fit into that roster like a glove, and the Cavs would actually have someone in Garland who could run an offense while he's on the bench, something they've largely lacked the past two times he's been on the team.  Kyrie was an amazing player, but he was a two-guard in a point's body and wasn't running an offense.  He was looking for his own shot.  Garland is a true point guard.

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I like it for the Cavs though. Its a shame they cant have him this season, but he might still be very good the year after.

Of course a lot will depend on how it goes with the Lakers this season.

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2 hours ago, Calibandar said:

I like it for the Cavs though. Its a shame they cant have him this season, but he might still be very good the year after.

Of course a lot will depend on how it goes with the Lakers this season.

My personal hope is that the Lakers further mortgage their future to trade for Kyrie, lose in the first round, and then LeBron leaves anyway. 

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10 minutes ago, briantw said:

My personal hope is that the Lakers further mortgage their future to trade for Kyrie, lose in the first round, and then LeBron leaves anyway. 

Good chance that happens.  The question is whether a Lebron/Davis/Irving trio would have a real chance at winning a title this year.  The rest of the Lakers team is a mess, so it's hard to imagine they'd survive against deeper teams like Phoenix and GSW.  And those three probably won't be healthy, because they rarely are these days.  But that said, IF they're healthy, that team could be a tough out.  Their skill sets actually compliment each other well. 

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I do actually think that if they can trade Westbrook for Irving somehow and the latter plays, they are a real contender.

True, Davis and Kyrie have not shown they can stay on the floor. But assuming they are healthy when it matters, thats obviously a very strong threesome. 

Westbrook split with his agent, who apparently tried to convince him that it was best to stay with the Lakers. Thats interesting.

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4 minutes ago, Calibandar said:

Westbrook split with his agent, who apparently tried to convince him that it was best to stay with the Lakers. Thats interesting.

I think that Westbrook might have realized that he gets way more shit for being washed up on the Lakers than he would for any other team in the league.  If he were still in Washington, nobody would be talking about how many bricks he's throwing up.  His off-court "brand" is definitely suffering, although I don't have much idea of how strong that brand is once his on-court brand disappears. 

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I'm having an impossible time trying to imagine what the Lakers could offer the Nets to bring Kyrie to LA?

They would surely pass on Westbrook straight up, Westbrook and some FRP towards the end of the decade, is not much of a needle mover for me either.

Maybe with a 3rd team involved somethings possible, but as things stand I cannot fathom how the Nets could be interested in any of the Lakers trash/scubs.

Even with Kyrie being a nutjob, Brooklyn has to get something in return for an All Star level guard.

 

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1 hour ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

Even with Kyrie being a nutjob, Brooklyn has to get something in return for an All Star level guard.

Not if priority one is getting him the fuck out of there. Westbrook and two firsts for Kyrie and Harris is a fair deal, the Lakers are just hoping they can keep the picks.

There's also some speculation that the Nets are open to swapping Kyrie for Lowry and some minor additional compensation. 

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3 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

I'm having an impossible time trying to imagine what the Lakers could offer the Nets to bring Kyrie to LA?

They would surely pass on Westbrook straight up, Westbrook and some FRP towards the end of the decade, is not much of a needle mover for me either.

Maybe with a 3rd team involved somethings possible, but as things stand I cannot fathom how the Nets could be interested in any of the Lakers trash/scubs.

Even with Kyrie being a nutjob, Brooklyn has to get something in return for an All Star level guard.

 

Brooklyn wants two unprotected firsts, which I believe would have to come in 2027 and 2029.  The Lakers are understandably hesitant to do that without a commitment from LeBron that obviously isn’t happening.  

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The Nets need Irving to have any chance of keeping Durant, and they're still holding onto hope that they can make that happen.  Once Durant is traded, they'll blow it all up and trade Irving because he is a PITA and doesn't help them any.  And the only team that will offer anything for Irving is LAL, so that's the deal they'll make. 

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1 hour ago, Maithanet said:

The Nets need Irving to have any chance of keeping Durant, and they're still holding onto hope that they can make that happen.  Once Durant is traded, they'll blow it all up and trade Irving because he is a PITA and doesn't help them any.  And the only team that will offer anything for Irving is LAL, so that's the deal they'll make. 

Are we sure that's the case?

Because Irving had a chance to leave and Durant's request for a trade didn't come until after Irving resigned with Brooklyn.

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6 minutes ago, Rhom said:

Are we sure that's the case?

Because Irving had a chance to leave and Durant's request for a trade didn't come until after Irving resigned with Brooklyn.

Am I sure what is the case?  Durant has expressed repeatedly that he wants to win, and a team of Durant + Simmons + whatever they can get for Irving is not even close to a contender.  A team of Durant + Irving + Simmons has the top end talent to potentially win a ring, although a lot of things would have to go right. 

I'm not saying keeping Irving means Durant will agree to stay.  But once Irving is gone, any chance that Durant agrees to give it one more year is out the window.   

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