NBA 2016 Off-Season Thread

Was talking with a buddy about this, but are there any other sports where there are super teams created via free agency like in the NBA? It seems the NBA is just getting worse and worse with this. Maybe add the franchise tag like in football? I don't know what needs to be done. The past two years the warriors were all their own players, but now adding Durant to a 73 win team, is just insane.

r4ndomdan_sl said:

Was talking with a buddy about this, but are there any other sports where there are super teams created via free agency like in the NBA? It seems the NBA is just getting worse and worse with this. Maybe add the franchise tag like in football? I don't know what needs to be done. The past two years the warriors were all their own players, but now adding Durant to a 73 win team, is just insane.

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It happens at least somewhat because of individual contracts being capped. If you're getting the same money regardless of where you go, then you'll chose where to go based on something other than money. Combine this with the relatively high impact individual players have on the team compared to other team sports and this is the result.

The most recent CBA actually did a lot to stop this but the massive hikes in the salary cap (which the NBA tried to stop but the players prevented it) are creating strange results. Everything will even back out a few years after these spikes end.

I'm in the "I hope it blows up in their face camp." But that's just my gut reaction as a Cleveland fan. When Lebron bolted to Miami I wasn't upset with him leaving. It was the way he left that pissed us off. Since then he's grown up a bit, recognized his mistakes and gave us our championship. In hindsight Lebron had to leave to get the Cavs where we are at today. Despite Lebron the 2010 Cavs were not very good.

The KD thing is a bit different in my thinking. He's leaving a team that was on the brink of greatness. They needed one win to get to the Finals. A bit of tweaking and the Thunder could have been contenders again this year. But by all appearances he's bolting for the sole purpose of joining an already stacked team just for some Rings.

In the end I'm looking forward to next season though. The whole "Warriors are now the NBA villains" narrative is going to be interesting to watch play out. It will be nice to have all the petty drama shift from the Cavs and their dynamic over to the Warriors. Get ready for a ton of click bait on the Warriors now.

Final thought: As a Cavs fan I am really going to miss Ezeli. He basically choked in game 7 giving us the win.

If everyone runs with the narrative that they're the new NBA villains, it's because of their fanboys saying "this is a team that was built organically, they never had to resort to big name trades" for the past 2 years. I honestly never thought that having big names come to teams was somehow a bad or cheap move-- if it's allowed it's allowed. The NBA should probably revamp the entire way trades work like Brahma mentioned.

I'd written KD off as leaving this year and WB next year ever since they traded Harden and subsequently didn't win a championship. But after their playoff run, I had turned my thinking around and thought OKC would be the clear favorite to sign KD, at least for 1 year.

I certainly didn't think the team that beat them in the playoffs, largely in part to KD's sucking in game 6, would be his destination.
Since I called LeBron a bitch for making the Miami team, I gotta call KD a bitch for hopping onto the Warriors.

Cavs gonna get butler!

My facebook timeline is super salty over KD jumping ship and going over to Golden State...can't blame him though. Great crowd energy and a solid core of players already. I just wonder how the points will be divvied up.

Doesn't that make the whole championship irrelevant until the inevitable Cavaliers vs Warriors final?

Szlia_sl said:

Doesn't that make the whole championship irrelevant until the inevitable Cavaliers vs Warriors final?

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Welcome to the NBA

Forbes, apparently, has a good article on the current cap structure and its shitty reverse effect on super teams. The section regarding the ridiculously highly predictable finals is also good as the numbers reinforce most beliefs.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimpagel.../#723ef6cc7f0e

zzeris_sl said:

Bingo. When the costs rise, I'm not sure how much of the team they can keep and all of them will have rings by then. Just like Whiteside, someone always wants to get paid, show their alpha status, etc. I give it 2-3 years. Also, with just a couple teams going to the finals over and over...the NBA may not keep this torrid money pace up.

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Think someone said 4 years. 5 if someone takes a slightly lower salary.

Yeah, I don't really care about Durant's reputation/legacy or if he gets skewered and I know people love their stars, but I do hope it doesn't work out all that well simply because I think it will make the season less interesting if they truly do put it all together. Obviously these Finals proved that the improbable can happen, but I think another Cavs-Warriors matchup would be a little dull. I was really hoping Durant would choose Boston because that would have been a very strong team (especially with Horford) and helped balance the conferences a little.

I don't think DWade would be a great fit simply because he can't shoot the three. JR Smith stretches the defense. If they used him as a sixth man to run any unit that doesn't have Lebron or Kyrie, I could see it, but I don't really see that happening and it's still not as strong a move as GS's, so the gap has still widened, imo.

All prelude to Spurs making everyone their bitches next season!

This isnt bad for the NBA. Fuck OKC. What a shit franchise it is, having left Seattle, that situation with the Sonics was deplorable and the basketball gods rightly denied them a chance at the title. Durant is now California cool and doesnt have to work hard for open looks anymore. Klay Thompson can lay off handling the ball completely and just use his energy to hit wide open looks with Durant and Curry lurking on the perimeter.

He will still be one of the top scorers in the league, and now completes the assembly of perhaps the greatest team of all time. They have 2 of the best shooters EVER, arguably the leagues best defender and floor general, and now you add a 7 foot ball handler who can get buckets via the post, something they severely lacked this past playoff run. Not only can he post you up, but you can run screens with him and Curry all. night. long. He is a fantastic spot up shooter as well so you cant just leave him alone like poor Harrison Barnes. You have 4 legitimate elite level All-Stars on a SINGLE fucking team. Incredible.

Jozu_sl said:

This isnt bad for the NBA. Fuck OKC. What a shit franchise it is, having left Seattle, that situation with the Sonics was deplorable and the basketball gods rightly denied them a chance at the title. Durant is now California cool and doesnt have to work hard for open looks anymore. Klay Thompson can lay off handling the ball completely and just use his energy to hit wide open looks with Durant and Curry lurking on the perimeter.

He will still be one of the top scorers in the league, and now completes the assembly of perhaps the greatest team of all time. They have 2 of the best shooters EVER, arguably the leagues best defender and floor general, and now you add a 7 foot ball handler who can get buckets via the post, something they severely lacked this past playoff run. Not only can he post you up, but you can run screens with him and Curry all. night. long. He is a fantastic spot up shooter as well so you cant just leave him alone like poor Harrison Barnes. You have 4 legitimate elite level All-Stars on a SINGLE fucking team. Incredible.

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No fun IMO. Christ they are listed at over a 60% chance to win the title next year. That is insane!

Gotta say that getting Pachulia after having to trade Bogut was a pretty solid pickup too. Bogut's better, of course, but it's a hell of a lot better than having Ezuli or Speights take up that slot.