Ho-Lee-crap..Durant to Warriors? Yikes.

[newAD]

That works until the players realize that chicago, new york, and los angeles give them the best marketing opportunities and it basically degenerates into those 3 cities with the occasional boston thrown in there as "Destinations" for these free agents.

the league is broken and lebron did it. i honestly don't care either way, but the fans in the other 25 or so cities will and so will the owners -- there's going to be blowback on this eventually.

salary isn't how these extreme high-end athletes make their money so "salary caps" only enforce that the bigger cities will win bidding wars

When is the last time that the Knicks, Bulls, or Lakers won the title? How many teams did KD turn down? Why did LaMarcus Aldridge turn down other teams to go to the "small market" Spurs? Why couldn't the Lakers get anyone to play with Kobe in his final years?

As long as there is a draft, then the team with the next star player can still pay that player the most when his contract is up. So I don't automatically see those 3 cities automatically getting a market on the championships.

Tim Duncan showed that you have to be willing to take less in order to strengthen a team. If superstars want to make super teams, someone will have to be unselfish in order to make it work.

Now, if you get rid of a salary cap....then yes, I could see the scenario where it comes down to a half dozen teams in the big markets.

 

[Kleitusbpn]

When is the last time that the Knicks, Bulls, or Lakers won the title? How many teams did KD turn down? Why did LaMarcus Aldridge turn down other teams to go to the "small market" Spurs? Why couldn't the Lakers get anyone to play with Kobe in his final years?

As long as there is a draft, then the team with the next star player can still pay that player the most when his contract is up. So I don't automatically see those 3 cities automatically getting a market on the championships.

Tim Duncan showed that you have to be willing to take less in order to strengthen a team. If superstars want to make super teams, someone will have to be unselfish in order to make it work.

Now, if you get rid of a salary cap....then yes, I could see the scenario where it comes down to a half dozen teams in the big markets.

did you even read half of what i said? the money of the contracts aren't worth half of what players get from sponsors. and you get more of that in bigger cities.

effectively there is no cap as-is. all you'd have to do is create partnerships with enough local businesses to supplement your "salaries" with other income.

just because the management involved is either incompetent or hasn't changed philosophies yet doesn't mean it isn't true.

and no, i didn't call phil jackson incompetent.

as for the new talent -- after 3 years they can move on -- it isn't rocket science here. one or two players isn't going to change the fact certain teams have 4 or more players of similar talent.

lebron changed the dynamics in the league by wanting to create super teams and being willing to take less to keep his teammates happy -- he broke the league. you can believe or not, i really don't care.

 

[chicolby]

where do you get this stuff from?

i never said that i even disliked him. if anything, i think he's doing the right thing for himself and i can admire that in the guy. i've done similar things as has virtually anyone who qualifies as an adult. he's just doing it on a larger scale.

i said lebron broke the league with his free agent antics and that teams were basically meaningless outside of a few outliers at this point (there's only one of them left, and that would be the warriors who contractually got lightning in a bottle which was mentioned previously). nothing more, nothing less. if you want to nitpick my wording then you have too much time on your hands.

change like what i'm describing doesn't happen overnight. you're going to feel the aftershocks of lebron's gaming the system for years after this and durant's contract is part of it.

or do you honestly believe anyone in their right mind would turn down a max contract if there weren't more factors involved. durant signed for one year -- showing he's starting to play the same game lebron is with teams and teammates.

To assign blame on one individual for breaking or gaming the system is what I object to. The rules and the players union and the owners who agreed are what broke the system. Not a player. It's unfair to blame the inevitable on a player - it's just that he put the focus on it when he went to Miami. Guess what - in the 80s there were only two relevant teams for many years, LA and Boston. In the 90s there was Chicago and a couple of teams that ran up against them.

James didn't break or game anything.

 

[Kleitusbpn]

To assign blame on one individual for breaking or gaming the system is what I object to. The rules and the players union and the owners who agreed are what broke the system. Not a player. It's unfair to blame the inevitable on a player - it's just that he put the focus on it when he went to Miami. Guess what - in the 80s there were only two relevant teams for many years, LA and Boston. In the 90s there was Chicago and a couple of teams that ran up against them.

James didn't break or game anything.

he did what was never done before. the people who take the step get the credit/blame -- and for future reference i agree with you saying that the owners set up a system and he took advantage. it doesn't speak badly of him at all.

to be slightly fair to the owners as well, you cant see every outcome.

truth is it says James is smart as hell and has the cojones to step up and take all the crap -- which means he earns what he gets in the end. good for him.

 

[schuele]

Didn't Nebraska beat Texas once when they had Durant ?

No, but pretty close. Texas only beat NU by one point that year.

 

[TheNewNU]

I don't think Durant going to GS is nearly as big of a deal as Lebron to Miami was, for starters Durant handled it much better than Lebron did. The article was classy and he was very respectful and contrite to the fans of OKC. Durant also didn't leave his hometown. Durant wasn't even drafted by OKC, the Sonics moved there from Seattle so I don't think fans have that much to complain about. Also I don't think this was a great move on the part of Durant, you were one Klay Thompson hot streak away from the finals last year, you have an amazing coach in Billy Donovan, Victor Oladipo was a solid addition and you've still got Westbrook who you've been playing with for a long time and have plenty of chemistry with. I think it made the most basketball sense to stay in OKC.

 

[newAD]

did you even read half of what i said? the money of the contracts aren't worth half of what players get from sponsors. and you get more of that in bigger cities.

effectively there is no cap as-is. all you'd have to do is create partnerships with enough local businesses to supplement your "salaries" with other income.

just because the management involved is either incompetent or hasn't changed philosophies yet doesn't mean it isn't true.

and no, i didn't call phil jackson incompetent.

as for the new talent -- after 3 years they can move on -- it isn't rocket science here. one or two players isn't going to change the fact certain teams have 4 or more players of similar talent.

lebron changed the dynamics in the league by wanting to create super teams and being willing to take less to keep his teammates happy -- he broke the league. you can believe or not, i really don't care.

Touchy touchy. Yes I read what you wrote. I'm well aware that endorsements can mean well more than a players salary (for the superstars). But endorsements have zero to do with a GM filling out a roster (except for enticing a player to come there when a free agent).

There is a cap for what the teams contracts can be worth, so Milwaukee or LA it doesn't matter. The GMs still have to play by the cap rules. That's why Barnes and Bogut are no longer with Golden State. So why would Golden State need to part with them???? Because players have egos, and want to get paid. I'd love to see what would happen when a GM says to a star player, "Hey we want to decrease your salary, so we can form a super team. You don't mind do you?" Guys like Duncan are the exception not the rule.

Can you earn more in endorsements in the big markets? Sure. But that didn't stop Duncan from winning five.

So, with your logic, Reggie White broke the NFL.

 

[Kleitusbpn]

Touchy touchy. Yes I read what you wrote. I'm well aware that endorsements can mean well more than a players salary (for the superstars). But endorsements have zero to do with a GM filling out a roster (except for enticing a player to come there when a free agent).

There is a cap for what the teams contracts can be worth, so Milwaukee or LA it doesn't matter. The GMs still have to play by the cap rules. That's why Barnes and Bogut are no longer with Golden State. So why would Golden State need to part with them???? Because players have egos, and want to get paid. I'd love to see what would happen when a GM says to a star player, "Hey we want to decrease your salary, so we can form a super team. You don't mind do you?" Guys like Duncan are the exception not the rule.

Can you earn more in endorsements in the big markets? Sure. But that didn't stop Duncan from winning five.

So, with your logic, Reggie White broke the NFL.

the nfl isn't supremely dependent on its superstars. the top 3-4 players determine who wins a title in the NBA which changes dynamics completely.

and yes, in many ways, reggie white broke the nfl. nothing wrong with saying it and i rather admired the guy.

if you honestly don't think teams aren't capable of going around the salary cap with outside money you're naive. "outside endorsements have nothing to do with salary cap" my ass.

knicks have a tv network (msg network). how much effort do you think it would take to have their players have pre-packaged deals for ads on that network with going rates of oh... 20 million per year. how much more effort would it take to do that with say... the biggest radio stations in town? throw in some supermarkets and health food stores... how about gas stations.

think they could get durant 50 million with ZERO effort on his part?

if someone lined up another 50 million in endorsements for you, with no effort, and all you had to do was sign the bottom line, would it change your mind? because i can guaruntee you i'd bloody think real hard. Now if you do it for oh... 4 other players...

think you could get around that pesky salary cap?

those bigger teams can do that. the fact that they don't currently is irrelevant as lebron is showing them exactly how to do it. salary caps don't mean crap when numbers like that are thrown around.

and that's what lebron did -- he brought that era forward with the Nike billion dollar deal. It won't take much for GM's to figure the rest out.

he broke the league.

all it takes is a good marketing team and a guy like john calipari to sell it and an owner with more than one working brain cell.

 

[michaeljjoe]

Hope LeBron enjoyed his one title in Cleveland....

I actually don't think it works having that many pure scorers on one team, especially adding ANOTHER prolific 3 point shooter like Durant. The Lakers "dream team" 15 years ago was a total disaster. What the Warriors really needed was an athletic post presence like D'Andre Jordan. Wouldn't be surprised to see the Spurs take them out before the Finals.

 

[chicolby]

I actually don't think it works having that many pure scorers on one team, especially adding ANOTHER prolific 3 point shooter like Durant. The Lakers "dream team" 15 years ago was a total disaster. What the Warriors really needed was an athletic post presence like D'Andre Jordan. Wouldn't be surprised to see the Spurs take them out before the Finals.

I love the Spurs, but I think finally we will begin to see the decline of the Spurs. Their age is going to finally start to show.

Also the reason Golden State works is that the players seem to be unselfish and I believe KD fits that mold.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

I actually don't think it works having that many pure scorers on one team, especially adding ANOTHER prolific 3 point shooter like Durant. The Lakers "dream team" 15 years ago was a total disaster. What the Warriors really needed was an athletic post presence like D'Andre Jordan. Wouldn't be surprised to see the Spurs take them out before the Finals.

Lakers dream team consisted of two guys who were many years past their prime. If the Lakers had gotten the Glove and the Mailman a few years earlier they'd have won, but much like Duncan now, they were big in name only by that time. Plus, I think Kobe and Shaq were starting to feud a little weren't they? Fuzzy on that, but that's what I thought. So you had two feuding superstars fighting for control of the team, and two really old guys who didn't make a lick of difference but had big names, not the same as what we have today. GS players are all in their prime, KD is a top 2 or 3 players in the league (Malone and Glove weren't even top 2 or 3 on the Lakers) they appear to be unselfish, and if you really think they won't make it to the finals you should go to Vegas right now and lay your money down.

Having said all that, I think Curry is damaged goods who will need to manage his remaining time in the NBA. I think he's in big trouble health wise. I know first hand how a nagging injury never heals 100% and I said it when Curry sat out part of the playoffs this season and will say it again, I think it's a much bigger deal than most, but with KD, Curry won't have to play as much or as hard so it could help extend his career/effectiveness.

 

[tone1017]

The difference is shooting. Steph and Klay are the two best shooters in the league and they just added arguably the 3rd best shooter and the best pure scorer. The spacing will be unbelievable, the thing with having great shooters is even when they don't have the ball they make the defense pay attention to them and alter everything. Remember all those open 3s Harrison Barnes was missing in the finals? Kevin freaking Durant will be shooting those now. Good luck with that.

 

[burkek]

Boom!!!

GoldenState just became unstoppable. As a season ticket holder I'll enjoy this as I have the last 4 years.

 

[G0B1GRED]

I can see D-Wade going to Cleveland now (to return the favor of Lebron going to Miami in 2010), and if that happens, I would put the Cavs as a slight favorite over the Warriors.

 

[jeans15]

Who is going to rebound and protect the rim for them.... a 3pt shooter can be guarded by anyone......crowd the 3 and make them drive....Zaza Pachulia.....thats a joke.

 

[newAD]

the nfl isn't supremely dependent on its superstars. the top 3-4 players determine who wins a title in the NBA which changes dynamics completely.

and yes, in many ways, reggie white broke the nfl. nothing wrong with saying it and i rather admired the guy.

if you honestly don't think teams aren't capable of going around the salary cap with outside money you're naive. "outside endorsements have nothing to do with salary cap" my ass.

knicks have a tv network (msg network). how much effort do you think it would take to have their players have pre-packaged deals for ads on that network with going rates of oh... 20 million per year. how much more effort would it take to do that with say... the biggest radio stations in town? throw in some supermarkets and health food stores... how about gas stations.

think they could get durant 50 million with ZERO effort on his part?

if someone lined up another 50 million in endorsements for you, with no effort, and all you had to do was sign the bottom line, would it change your mind? because i can guaruntee you i'd bloody think real hard. Now if you do it for oh... 4 other players...

think you could get around that pesky salary cap?

those bigger teams can do that. the fact that they don't currently is irrelevant as lebron is showing them exactly how to do it. salary caps don't mean crap when numbers like that are thrown around.

and that's what lebron did -- he brought that era forward with the Nike billion dollar deal. It won't take much for GM's to figure the rest out.

he broke the league.

all it takes is a good marketing team and a guy like john calipari to sell it and an owner with more than one working brain cell.

You should take Pat Riley's job , and you can tell D. Wade he shouldn't be upset by their initial offer. You can tell Wade, ".....you can get all sorts of endorsements, to supplement your income."

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/r...-angered-dwyane-wade-four-teams-pursuing-him/

Players want to get paid, and paid well by the teams they play for. They and their agents all understand they can get endorsements (but not the way you think is going on).

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, NBA teams face multi million dollar fines, loss of draft picks, and voiding a player's contract if they pull off what you think could happen, by circumventing the salary cap with team arranged endorsements. The GM who does it would likely lose his job, and the agent for the player would likely lose clients, and I'm guessing his right to represent additional clients. Players can get endorsements, but they have to be done on their own/though their agent.

But....if you have a law degree, and are smarter than the NBA's lawyers, agents, media members, etc, and you think you could pull this off, even though it is against the rules, go ahead.

Oh, and by the way, Shaq broke the NBA long before Lebron did.

 

[newAD]

I can see D-Wade going to Cleveland now (to return the favor of Lebron going to Miami in 2010), and if that happens, I would put the Cavs as a slight favorite over the Warriors.

Nah, he'll stay with the Heat, as Pat Riley will figure out a way to work some illegal endorsement deals into his contract to get him to stay after his "Pay Cut."

 

[tone1017]

Who is going to rebound and protect the rim for them.... a 3pt shooter can be guarded by anyone......crowd the 3 and make them drive....Zaza Pachulia.....thats a joke.

Sure, make steph, Durant and draymond drive, that will solve all of your problems. Except if you help off anyone you're leaving one of them or Klay wide open for a three. It's just too much firepower. Their best lineup last year both offensively and defensively was going small with steph, Klay, Barnes, iguodala and draymond. Now you switch out Barnes for a taller, longer, more athletic defender and maybe the best offensive player in the NBA. There's a little more to it than stay close to a three point shooter otherwise steph wouldn't have made 400 3s last year.

 

[tone1017]

I'm not a warriors fan and not really a fan of this move at all but this isn't like the Heat or Lakers previous "super teams". They don't have to integrate a bunch of guys that will crowd the floor or build a new system. They have an awesome system and have upgraded the best lineup in basketball in the largest way imaginable. Yes they are lacking size and rim protection but both draymond and Durant can protect the rim in spurts. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out and they'll surely have a few growing pains but they're gonna be an absolute terror if they stay healthy.

 

[PeliniTheCrutch]

I think I might be the only person in the world who isn't a D-Wade fan somehow. That garbage a couple years ago where he took numerous random days off because of a phantom "injury" while Lebron played his @ss off every single game was crap. The Spurs owning him and the Heat in the finals was just too good.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Wade is several years past his prime and I don't think he makes any difference to anyone at this point, at least in terms of helping said team beat the Warriors in the finals anyway. Sure he could make somebody better, but it's Cleveland and Golden State's world now, and Wade doesn't shift the balance of power in Cleveland's favor even if he did go there.

 

[jeans15]

Sure, make steph, Durant and draymond drive, that will solve all of your problems. Except if you help off anyone you're leaving one of them or Klay wide open for a three. It's just too much firepower. Their best lineup last year both offensively and defensively was going small with steph, Klay, Barnes, iguodala and draymond. Now you switch out Barnes for a taller, longer, more athletic defender and maybe the best offensive player in the NBA. There's a little more to it than stay close to a three point shooter otherwise steph wouldn't have made 400 3s last year.

Teams don't play playoff defense during the regular seadon.. and the NBA teams are a joke past the top 5.

Yes you make them drive.....but you make them shoot tough 2s like Cleveland did....you can stay in the game giving up 2s.....not when they shoot 3s at 40% plus clip....you don't help off of great 3pt shooters.

Everytime GS takes a 2 pt shot the defense wins.

 

[tone1017]

I understand what you're saying, I just don't think it can work. If your strategy is to press the last 2 mvps out to 30 feet and guard them with one guy you might as well just give up. If you switch everything you're gonna end up with a lot of point guards guarding kd one on one and you might as well give up.

 

[tone1017]

Lucky for us I'm guessing NBA coaching staffs are probably a little more sophisticated than me and can find something that can at least slow them down.

 

[jteten]

I hope GS win 75 games next year. I'll still take Lebron and Cleveland in that series. They really didnt figure out who they needed to be in the finals until game 5.

Piling up scorers doesnt guarantee victory. If Kyrie had been healthy 2 years ago, the Warriors would likely still be looking for that first fun and gun title.

The NBA is as great as its ever been. Folks clamoring for the old days would hate watching the Detroit pistons of the late 80s. The current state of free Agency is the natural progression of all sports. I dont hate KD for it and Stephen A is a tool. Players are making moves to win championships. Its fantastic. Lebron has done that since he left for Miami and I respect him for it. Cant say that for many athletes....in any sport.

 

[huskerfan830]

I understand what you're saying, I just don't think it can work. If your strategy is to press the last 2 mvps out to 30 feet and guard them with one guy you might as well just give up. If you switch everything you're gonna end up with a lot of point guards guarding kd one on one and you might as well give up.

That's one of KD's major faults though, he gets switched up on a guy 8 inches shorter than him and he still elects to take a contested jumper instead of working the post. With absolutely zero rim protection outside of Green, how to the Dubs stop a Russ or Lebron or Kyrie just going layup drill on them? We've seen what happens when LBJ is the biggest guy on the court, and it's pretty tough to stop. I'll take that all day over 35-40% from the 3; especially in the playoffs.

 

[jeans15]

I understand what you're saying, I just don't think it can work. If your strategy is to press the last 2 mvps out to 30 feet and guard them with one guy you might as well just give up. If you switch everything you're gonna end up with a lot of point guards guarding kd one on one and you might as well give up.

Their still my favorite...I'm just saying you gotta give up something.....KD is known to turn it over trying to make plays...If you give up 2...your superstar or scorer can score 2 as well...you give up 3 3pt shots...and you hit your next 3 2pt shots...you are now down 3pts........Gotta make it an even game....And forcing them off the 3 is the only way to do that...even if you give 2 easy points.

 

[newAD]

I hope GS win 75 games next year. I'll still take Lebron and Cleveland in that series. They really didnt figure out who they needed to be in the finals until game 5.

Piling up scorers doesnt guarantee victory. If Kyrie had been healthy 2 years ago, the Warriors would likely still be looking for that first fun and gun title.

The NBA is as great as its ever been. Folks clamoring for the old days would hate watching the Detroit pistons of the late 80s. The current state of free Agency is the natural progression of all sports. I dont hate KD for it and Stephen A is a tool. Players are making moves to win championships. Its fantastic. Lebron has done that since he left for Miami and I respect him for it. Cant say that for many athletes....in any sport.

And don't forget K. Love who was out for the finals last year too. I know he wasn't stellar in the finals this year, but game 7 he was a warrior despite not shooting well.

 

[G0B1GRED]

David West just signed with the Warriors for 1yr/$1.5M deal (veterans minimum). He reaaaaaally wants that ring after doing the same thing with the Spurs for a year.

 

[jteten]

Pau Gasol going to SA. They just got significantly worse defensively.

 

[jeans15]

Pau Gasol going to SA. They just got significantly worse defensively.

They will be ok....it's the Spurs.

 

[jawatkins]

Cities are not that big of an impact on endorsement deals anymore, it's how good a player is and how flashy his personality is. John Wall has no personality, you don't see him anywhere. Steve Nash had similar numbers, guy was everywhere. Russell Westbrook plays in OKC, he's everywhere. The world keeps shrinking and people have short memories, be flashy or get left behind. Curry gets a pass until he is no longer one of the top 3 in the NBA, then he'll fade as fast others who only had basketball to offer the fans.

 

[schuele]

Cities are not that big of an impact on endorsement deals anymore, it's how good a player is and how flashy his personality is.

No way, man - New York and LA are where all the endorsements are. That's why Eli Manning gets soooo many more than his older brother.

 

[CameronKrazie86]

I hope GS win 75 games next year. I'll still take Lebron and Cleveland in that series. They really didnt figure out who they needed to be in the finals until game 5.

Piling up scorers doesnt guarantee victory. If Kyrie had been healthy 2 years ago, the Warriors would likely still be looking for that first fun and gun title.

You can play that "what if game" either way. What if Steph, Bogut and Iguodala weren't hurt and Draymond wasn't suspended in game 5, the Warriors would probably have won their 2nd straight title. But they didn't get the job done and Cleveland got their deserved championship. You play who is in front of you. Cleveland won the series fair and square just as Golden State did the year prior.

Regardless, the Warriors took their worst starter (Barnes) who is getting a max contract from Dallas and instead paid about $3 million more on average to get a former MVP who is better at every single thing. Durant's ability to get to the free throw line should help almost as much as what he brings defensively with his rebounding and shotblocking from the three. As someone who lived a 2 minute BART ride away from Oracle and has seen this franchise go from sucky to champions, I am beyond excited for next season.

 

[jteten]

You can play that "what if game" either way. What if Steph, Bogut and Iguodala weren't hurt and Draymond wasn't suspended in game 5, the Warriors would probably have won their 2nd straight title. But they didn't get the job done and Cleveland got their deserved championship. You play who is in front of you. Cleveland won the series fair and square just as Golden State did the year prior.

Regardless, the Warriors took their worst starter (Barnes) who is getting a max contract from Dallas and instead paid about $3 million more on average to get a former MVP who is better at every single thing. Durant's ability to get to the free throw line should help almost as much as what he brings defensively with his rebounding and shotblocking from the three. As someone who lived a 2 minute BART ride away from Oracle and has seen this franchise go from sucky to champions, I am beyond excited for next season.

All fair points. I can imagine the excitement is beyond belief. On paper, they should just walk through the regular season and first rd or 2 of the playoffs. They will be a match-up nightmare. It will be interesting to see them go from the beloved NBA darling to being hated in most buildings. That said, all sports are better and more interesting with dominant teams. Next season will be fascinating.

I cant begin to imagine why someone would give Barnes a max contract. He is a nice player, but not anywhere near a game changer.