NBA 2017-2018 Season Thread

The disparity of the NBA isn't going away anytime soon because there isn't a single dynamic pushing these results. A lot of the issues at play would require the Player's union to approve measures which isn't going to happen.

You can't slow down free agency and there will always be guys willing to sacrifice money to chase rings. In the past, this might have been guys near the twilight of their career anyway, where their earnings where low. Now you have the second best player in the league accepting a big pay cut; part of this is these guys are willing to bet on making that money back later (because endorsement dollars are crazy and losing $40 million over 4 years can be made up very quickly).

The "superteam" era already got us a repeater tax and increased luxury tax bills. Some owners are willing to pay it. Even if the Union allowed a hard salary cap, you'd end up in a situation where the very best teams have guys playing for less than market value while mediocre teams are stuck paying Luol Deng $18 million to sit on the bench next to $16 million man Timofey Mosgov.

The Warriors deserve credit though. Remember when Mark Jackson was the coach and he changed the culture of that team, drafted Curry and starting building a winning mentality.

Sadly for him they had a rough stretch and couldnt win enough games or quell the turmoil and Jackson was fired. In comes Kerr, and not even 2 years later they have Klay and Draymond and turn into the league's new showcase team.

It's not like they just used underhanded moves or started winning because of favorable conditions, they actually built that team from the ground up, Durant is just an added luxury that actually turned them into a heel like team, and changed their image and now everyone just throws the superteam word around.

Remember they won without KD, and went out and payed him after losing a crushing series to LeBron, being denied the moniker of best team in NBA history. (and it worked as they lifted the Larry O'brien trophy the following campaign)

Warriors owner not shy about his team's superiority over entire NBA

This kind of hit a nerve, fortunately it was said in 2016.

Does anyone else think Durant could gain 20 lbs, gain some strength over an off-season and develop his game so he can be more durable and become an even better defender?

Or has he already hit his physical apex? I feel like his lean frame contributes to his injury problems and prevents him from being able to really protect the rim against a tougher big.

I know his job isn't to defend 5's but the guy is what, 6'10? He has ridiculously long arms, if he just gained more strength I feel like he could start to really attack the basket more, be a more useful defender and stay healthy.

He COULD look like LeBron if he WANTED to. He isn't in the same athletic atmosphere as James, but body wise I feel like he could still gain weight and become an even better player.

Look at him in his rookie season, he was so skinny his jersey barely fit him, he was swimming in the damn thing. GMs then were saying he had to put on muscle to get better, which he did, but I wonder if he stopped training to get bigger or what you see is what you get.

I mean he's never going to be Wilt, but when he was first coming into the league he couldn't even do 1 rep of 185 on bench.

Jozu said:

The Warriors deserve credit though. Remember when Mark Jackson was the coach and he changed the culture of that team, drafted Curry and starting building a winning mentality.

Sadly for him they had a rough stretch and couldnt win enough games or quell the turmoil and Jackson was fired. In comes Kerr, and not even 2 years later they have Klay and Draymond and turn into the league's new showcase team.

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Your history is way off on this. Mark Jackson didn't draft Curry, Don Nelson did. The last gift to the franchise of an offensive genius. Mark Jackson never drafted anybody because his opinion wasn't given that much weight on those decisions.

Mark Jackson had Klay and Draymond. The team that won the title in '15 had the same core as the last team Mark Jackson coached. And he wasn't fired because they had a rough stretch. He was fired because they regressed in their second straight year in the playoffs. They went from an exciting second round series exit vs. the near champion Spurs in '13, to a first round loss against the Clippers in '14. And one of the main reasons they lost was a lack of offensive strategy. Exit Jackson, enter Kerr. Loved the move when it was made and before they won a single game in the 2014-15 season.

Jackson played a part in changing the culture, but it had much more to do with the moves that brought in certain players which had the ability to change the game defensively. Drafting Klay to replace Monta (this was all Jerry West), trading Monta for Bogut (which many fans hated at the time), trading picks to create the cap room to sign Iguodala, and then hitting the jackpot drafting Green in the second round.

From what I understand, Durant spent more time in the weight room in the offseason. Seems like the dude either doesn't eat much, or just has a hard time putting on any sort of mass.

Itlan said:

From what I understand, Durant spent more time in the weight room in the offseason. Seems like the dude either doesn't eat much, or just has a hard time putting on any sort of mass.

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He always looked like the guy who just had a tall/lanky frame. Not saying he couldn't maximize some more muscle onto it, just that he's never going to get big like that.

Yeah Kerr is the one who changed everything. It was pretty much the exact same team that got eliminated in the first round to champions the very next year. Kerr implemented small ball, ball movement, moved Iguodala to the bench, and made Green a starter. He instantly made the team a dominant force overnight. People not familiar with the Warriors say any coach could lead the team to a title but it's not true. Jackson had the team running terrible iso offensive plays. He turned the team around defensively and instilled a winning culture, but his offense was garbage.

Interesting bit on Durant's move from OKC not just being about his NBA legacy

From OKC to the Bay: How KD is building a Silicon Valley empire

Merrith said:

He always looked like the guy who just had a tall/lanky frame. Not saying he couldn't maximize some more muscle onto it, just that he's never going to get big like that.

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1000%. He'll never be Lebron (at 250 or 265 lol), but he can definitely put on a solid 10-20 pounds in the offseason imo (maybe 2 offseason, but still).

As usual, people are giving too much credit to the coaches. Jackson may not have been managing the offense perfectly, but those guys were all much younger when he was in charge.

Guys on rookie contracts improve, more news at 11.

Yea I forgot Nelson drafted Curry. I am biased because I love Mark Jackson, so perhaps that's why I'm remembering that situation incorrectly.

Either way it wasn't long after Kerr came in that they started to win.

It was immediately after Kerr came in. I don't think I'm giving him too much credit. Unless you think in the 5 months between Dubs getting eliminated by the Clips and the start of the next season Klay, Green, and Curry all simultaneously developed to the dominant force they are now.

About Durant and muscle mass: the thing is, the guy is an athlete not a fitness model, so getting muscle just to get muscle is not part of the plan, as every additional pound he does not need to do his assigned task is just weight he'll need to carry back and forth on the court. So the question is: does the additional weight that could help to play and defend isolation and to contest rebounds worth the additional fatigue that could jeopardize his scoring ability?

Let me know how the 2nd half of that Rockets vs Warriors game go, because that first half was intriguing.

GSW in 3rd quarters....