NBA 2015-2016 Season thread

Yeah, the Warriors could definitely make it happen. All the long term contracts were signed at great times before the cap blows up this offseason. Unfortunately it would probably mean losing Bogut and Iguodala in addition to Barnes.

I hope it doesn't happen, cause that would probably mean that the Dubs didn't finish this season off with a title. I just can't see Durant wanting to join the two-time defending champs to get his titles - that would be more lame than what Lebron did joining Wade and Bosh. Durant wants to win, but I'm guessing he'd rather join a team that couldn't do it without him where he could be the difference maker. Not a team that just won back to back titles in historic fashion.

And it's far from a given that the Warriors win it, but yeah, I'd much rather see our team finish off this season with a title rather than lose it in the end but get Durant as a consolation prize.

Hell, OKC themselves still has a great shot this year, who knows how good they are when the playoffs come rolling around. We have yet to see this team in the playoffs in the post Scott Brooks era. Saturday could easily be a preview of the WCF.

Unless the Warriors are going to lose a key piece or two anyways, it would be a really dumb move for them. If it works out, they're still the best team. If it doesn't, then they just dismantled an all time great team

Not gonna happen. Not the way Durant plays, he doesnt really fit in. You have two volume shooters in Curry and Thompson. Curry takes a lot of shots, but like Wayne Gretzky once said, "You miss all the shots you dont take.". His percentage from deep is astonishing, so Kerr is going to want to continue to feed him off of screens or have him iso a good amount of the time. The only way that part gets fixed is if Curry starts to defer more, focusing his energy on facilitating and finding Durant at the elbow/high post. Which means he gives up shots which would be unthinkable the way he is stroking it right now. He isnt going to suddenly be bad next year, so this will probably continue.

Then they already have Green who is a more physical version than Durant at this point IMO. He obviously isnt the same level in the shooting category and overall scoring, but Green is an All-Star and probably much more valuable defensively as well. I wonder if GMs would even trade Green for Durant straight up? Food for thought.

Lastly, this stupid fucking advertisement garbage with All-Star weekend is getting out of hand. The league said this,

"The NBA on Thursday named participants for the events set for Feb. 12-14. All-Star Saturday night also will include theVerizonSlam Dunk Contest and theTaco BellSkills Challenge."

Like, what the fuck. Soon there going to start doing things like "Lets send it back down to the guys at the Black and Decker announcers table!" before Jeff Van Gundy frustratingly drones through a preface advertisement featuring Kentucky Fried Chicken.

That's not new, I think it was the Sprite dunk contest for years. The shitty thing is they're going to start wearing sponsors on their uniforms

I guess I just don't understand why GS would want to sign Durant. Their chemistry isn't just the starting 5, it extends to their entire goddamn roster. Why break that up over the potential of having Durant who will just take shots from their already ridiculously efficient shooters? They are historically good now, why fuck that up?

I guess the argument is Durant would go to the Warriors for the same reason Aldridge went to the Spurs. Individual production may go down, but for the sake of winning (in theory, will have to see how it plays out). And Durant isn't like just adding a Carmelo style super star who would jack up shots and not seem able to fit into any semblance of a system. Durant could play Warriors style basketball with a high efficiency, inclusive, rhythm/chemistry style game like the Warriors play. I'm not saying it would be a good idea signing him, but I could see it working if Durant were willing to sacrifice some shots and be willing to expand his game just a bit off the ball, in the post, playing point, etc. Having a high efficiency shooter who can take players off the dribble, who is also long, can rebound, can play post positions while still essentially playing small, etc, sounds exactly like something the Warriors would be okay with. I don't think it's what Durant necessarily wants or the Warriors should force financially, but I think it's a little bit more complicated than just saying Durant will take shots away from their shooters.

I have a novel idea if Durant signs with GS. Maybe their backcourt could take less shots and handle the ball less and devote more energy on the defensive end. Smash Bros average less but make it up with D. Everyone is happy and net +/- is even better.

Slaythe_sl said:

There are a couple other benefits too. First, and what I see as the biggest pro by far, is if you're signing Durant, you're stopping any other team in the league from doing so. We still play in a league where 99% of the time you need one of those top players to win at all and Durant is still good enough to be considered one of those guys. Second, injuries are a big deal in the NBA and the more guys you have that you can lean on when someone goes down the better.

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That was my exact thinking here, as well. Durant is one of the few guys that makes any team a contender right now...he's also insurance to carry the team if Curry goes down for a bit.

I don't think it's going to happen, but it's a nice thought experiment/what if scenario.

I just don't see why you would take a team that might end up being the greatest of all time, and mess with it.

Slaythe_sl said:

Do you not think the western conference playoffs would be easier on the Dubs with Durant on the Warriors rather than the Thunder?

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In a vacuum, of course it would. You would have to give up Iggy, Bogut, and Barnes, though.

I just don't see anyone beating the Warriors in a 7 game series. So risking team chemistry just so you can beat a team easier than you'd beat them anyways just isn't worth it to me.

My position is Durant gives them the chance to make them the greatest team of all time, even though they may already be there so just by a bigger margin, but also risks them not gelling together and possibly making them worse.

Even assuming that Durant, Curry and Thompson are all unselfish guys and would make an honest effort to play nice together, hoops is a "too many cooks" sport. There's only one ball. For most teams - for all the other teams in the league probably - 1 superstar is better to have than three role players. But at a certain point, and I'd argue the Warriors are there, the role players are better to have.

I would miss Bogut and Iguodala for sure. Especially Iguodala. The SBDS is just too good and he's an integral part of that lineup.

Any change that leads to Curry taking less shots is a negative.

What's Durant really bring, though? It's not like Warriors need someone that can create their own shot or score efficiently. They're at a point of diminishing returns with a player like Durant and a lot of his strengths could just be redundant. So he's not hurting them so much as not making them much better.

Or maybe he makes them better and they go 82-0 next year. The point is, why risk it?

I'm sure Bob Myers will do the right thing. Gotta trust the guy at this point. He took a lot of risks and made some unpopular decisions and they have all paid off. Trading away Monta Ellis for Bogut while banking on, at the time, an injury prone Steph Curry. Drafting Thompson, Barnes, Green, and Ezeli. Firing Mark Jackson after dragging the historically shitty Warriors to relevance. Hiring Kerr. Seriously. It's fucking impressive what the dude has done since 2011.