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[VeeP]

Jokes aside. I was would love to see Klay go to another team in free agency.

Him on any young rising team would be scary.

He is getting buried behind KD and Steph, reduced to super 3 and D guy. Now imagine him on a less stacked team were he is the best shooter and get the ball far more often.

He's not getting buried at all. He still gets to touch the ball plenty of times, and his regular season average has not changed at all. He's just shooting poorly this post-season.

If anything, having KD, Steph, and Klay on the court at once make it easier for Klay to get a shot uncontested.

 

[LyleLanley]

Taking anything less than the absolute maximum amount of money you can get in free agency is a sucker move especially when you're still in your prime.

 

[hydragonwarrior]

Why can't the Bucks do it? They're young and on the rise.

And, uh... that's all I got.

Raps in 7

 

[Lionel Richie]

Taking anything less then the absolute maximum amount of money you can get in free agency is a sucker move especially when you're still in your prime.

Depends. In most situations, yes it is. In this situation? The Warriors have the potential to legit run the league and beat everyone senseless for at least the next 5 years, and it's not a "could happen" scenario, it's an "absolutely will happen unless something goes completely bad happens" scenario. Taking a few millions less in that situation to keep that core together is not that bad, he'd make a lot of money besides his NBA salary and he would be a legend part of an unprecedented legendary team. Some guys value that.

 

[Nafai1123]

Taking anything less then the absolute maximum amount of money you can get in free agency is a sucker move especially when you're still in your prime.

Money is temporary. Legacy is forever.

Still fucked up that millionaires have to make concessions for billionaires tho.

 

[Tom Penny]

I find it hilarious Klay manages to only average 2 assists a game on GS.

 

[beat]

Taking anything less then the absolute maximum amount of money you can get in free agency is a sucker move especially when you're still in your prime.

The cap on individual player salaries is an artificial limit that pushes down what true top-tier superstars should get anyways.

As it is, I think the difference to Durant in this situation is maybe $3.5M a year or so: the max the Warriors could offer him is about $35.4M/year and instead if they keep Iggy and Livingston, they can only offer him $32M/year. And if he signs another one-and-one deal instead of a long term deal, the Warriors can then offer him $35.7M next year. (all values just for the first year.)

Assuming Iggy and Livingston can still produce, giving up a relatively small amount of money to keep the team depth seems like a small price to pay. It's not like he's giving up 40-70% of what he should get. And it might even help his long term total earnings (meaning endorsements) to be have more chances to be a top contender.

 

[LyleLanley]

Depends. In most situations, yes it is. In this situation? The Warriors have the potential to legit run the league and beat everyone senseless for at least the next 5 years, and it's not a "could happen" scenario, it's an "absolutely will happen unless something goes completely bad happens" scenario. Taking a few millions less in that situation to keep that core together is not that bad, he'd make a lot of money besides his NBA salary and he would be a legend part of an unprecedented legendary team. Some guys value that.

Money is temporary. Legacy is forever.

Still fucked up that millionaires have to make concessions for billionaires tho.

That's pretty much what I meant. The owners/league have already screwed the players by severely limiting what the best guys can make. Now those billionaires are getting a future HOFer to take even less money, it's absurd.

The league and NBAPA would never do it but if you want real parity in the league they should get rid of the idea of a maximum contract.

 

[Tom Penny]

Taking anything less than the absolute maximum amount of money you can get in free agency is a sucker move especially when you're still in your prime.

Players can easily make up that money in endorsements vs getting the most salary on a shit team in a wasteland.

 

[LyleLanley]

Players can easily make up that money in endorsements vs getting the most salary on a shit team in a wasteland.

But hear me out, they can make all that endorsement money and the full value of a max contract.

 

[Hyperactivity]

The cap on individual player salaries is an artificial limit that pushes down what true top-tier superstars should get anyways.

As it is, I think the difference to Durant in this situation is maybe $3.5M a year or so: the max the Warriors could offer him is about $35.4M/year and instead if they keep Iggy and Livingston, they can only offer him $32M/year. And if he signs another one-and-one deal instead of a long term deal, the Warriors can then offer him $35.7M next year. (all values just for the first year.)

Assuming Iggy and Livingston can still produce, giving up a relatively small amount of money to keep the team depth seems like a small price to pay. It's not like he's giving up 40-70% of what he should get. And it might even help his long term total earnings (meaning endorsements) to be have more chances to be a top contender.

Oh no, it makes perfect sense at an individual level, it's just that, by that logic, every superstar should be taking discounts, which just devalues the entire market. Which is why you aren't supposed to do it.

I actually like LeBron going all-in on letting his teammates get their cash. JR, Tristan Thompson, Delly, Mosgov, every one of them got a ton of money after playing with him, and even though the Cavs have the most expensive roster in the league, no one is underpaid on that team.

But hear me out, they can make all that endorsement money and the full value of a max contract.

Nah, Lebron has a billion dollar contract with Nike, he should just take the veteran minimum, it's not THAAAAT much money in the long run.

 

[Tom Penny]

But hear me out, they can make all that endorsement money and the full value of a max contract.

But you can't if you want to super team it up at laughable levels...

 

[beat]

That's pretty much what I meant. The owners/league have already screwed the players by severely limiting what the best guys can make. Now those billionaires are getting a future HOFer to take even less money, it's absurd.

The league and NBAPA would never do it but if you want real parity in the league they should get rid of the idea of a maximum contract.

IMO the max contract only screws the superstars. The NBA "middle class" then artificially makes more than they would otherwise.

The teamwide salary cap and esp the way the BRI split was cut down to 50% are what screw all the players.

Speaking of salary cap, ESPN Insider has a piece on how age and the salary cap luxury taxes might break up the Dubs after 2020... 2022 if age is the main limiter.

 

[paolo11]

Jokes aside. I was would love to see Klay go to another team in free agency.

Him on any young rising team would be scary.

He is getting buried behind KD and Steph, reduced to super 3 and D guy. Now imagine him on a less stacked team were he is the best shooter and get the ball far more often.

You want to separate the Splash Brothers???/s

I get what you say though. It would be great if he goes to Lakers hehe

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

There is very little chance that Cavs could survive with letting Klay just shoot open shots.

 

[Hyperactivity]

IMO the max contract only screws the superstars. The NBA "middle class" then artificially makes more than they would otherwise.

The teamwide salary cap and esp the way the BRI split was cut down to 50% are what screw all the players.

Speaking of salary cap, ESPN Insider has a piece on how age and the salary cap luxury taxes might break up the Dubs after 2020... 2022 if age is the main limiter.

I'm ok with the bolded, because I like the idea of there being more money for all the other players.

But when you go below even that, that's when it ticks me off, and I'm speaking for almost everytime it's done. If you go lower but add a trade-kicker, more years, an option, no-trade clause, etc. then I'm fine with it. Straight up discount just irritates me.

 

[BlackNMild2k1]

That's pretty much what I meant. The owners/league have already screwed the players by severely limiting what the best guys can make. Now those billionaires are getting a future HOFer to take even less money, it's absurd.

The league and NBAPA would never do it but if you want real parity in the league they should get rid of the idea of a maximum contract.

Players can easily make up that money in endorsements vs getting the most salary on a shit team in a wasteland.

But hear me out, they can make all that endorsement money and the full value of a max contract.

Sometimes in business you gotta take a side step, to get under a roof with a higher ceiling.

KD could take the Max, but that limits the potential of his career as a Warrior if key people also can't get paid enough to not consider staying for the long haul.
or
he can take a little less, keep the key components in place and ascend even higher than he ever would have for that extra $4M, which will be replaced w/ *ringz, *jersey sales, *endorsements, *shoes, *records, *legacy, and FUN doing what you love for a living.
All that easily trumps a mere $4M in the grand scheme of things. And probably ends up literally being worth many times more than that $4M in money made.

 

[Hyperactivity]

Sometimes in business you gotta take a side step, to get under a roof with a higher ceiling.

KD could take the Max, but that limits the potential of his career as a Warrior if key people also can't get paid enough to not consider staying for the long haul.
or
he can take a little less, keep the key components in place and ascend even higher than he ever would have for that extra $4M, which will be replaced w/ *ringz, *jersey sales, *endorsements, *shoes, *records, *legacy, and FUN doing what you love for a living.
All that easily trumps a mere $4M in the grand scheme of things. And probably ends up literally being worth many times more than that $4M in money made.

You're missing the point.

That's logic next to every superstar in the league could follow, and they don't for a reason.

 

[BlackNMild2k1]

You're missing the point.

That's logic next to every superstar in the league could follow, and they don't for a reason.

Not every superstar is in the same position as KD.

Lebron was in a power position to push the Owner and GM to push into the Luxury to bring in and pay his people to join/stay, and he got them a ring for it.

KD jumped on a winning team that he really wanted to play with, and would remove some staple components to take a max deal. He wanted to join the team, not dismantle it. It's in his interest to take a small, temporary, and in the grand scheme of things, "insignificant" cut in pay to keep the team he wanted to join together.

How many other superstars were in that position?

 

[beat]

Yeah, the main reason most stars don't give a discount is because the roster improvement isn't that worthwhile.

Switching topics: this kid is my hero. He trolled the Cavs and got a trip to Oracle out of it.

 

[VeeP]

Yeah, the main reason most stars don't give a discount is because the roster improvement isn't that worthwhile.

Switching topics: this kid is my hero. He trolled the Cavs and got a trip to Oracle out of it.

Legend.

 

[Peter Ian Staker]

I'm ok with the bolded, because I like the idea of there being more money for all the other players.

I hate it. It pretty much guarantees most teams have to pay through the nose to retain even the most mediocre of role player.

Role players shouldn't be paid like 60%+ of what superstars get just because some GMs got more cap space that sense.

 

[FallingEdge]

Yeah, the main reason most stars don't give a discount is because the roster improvement isn't that worthwhile.

Switching topics: this kid is my hero. He trolled the Cavs and got a trip to Oracle out of it.

lmao, so that wasn't his mom, just a random lady

even better

 

[Tom Penny]

I hate it. It pretty much guarantees most teams have to pay through the nose to retain even the most mediocre of role player.

Role players shouldn't be paid like 60%+ of what superstars get just because some GMs got more cap space that sense.

There aren't even 10 true superstars in the league thus a shit ton of players are going to get overpaid to fill a roster when you are maxing 20-40 players that aren't even superstars..

 

[True Savior]

Klay would be great replacing Danny Green.

Paul/Klay/Kawhi with Murray/Patty/Danny/Simmons on the bench 😍

 

[neptunes]

Always take the money, especially in sports. You never know what tomorrow holds. A freak injury or health complication could dampen a season or two. (with the worst case scenario being the rest of your career)

 

[nemesun]

Allen was not a great defender in Miami and came off the bench. That was 4 years ago.

He ain't coming through that door.

What the Cavs really need is to trade back Love for Wiggins.

It was a tongue in cheek suggestion. The only way this team could compete with Warriors in the future is if GM Lebron fires coach Lebron and bring in a through and through defensive minded coach to replace him.

 

[Ric Flair]

Klay Thompson on the bucks is something i dream about and it will never happen, but they would easily be the team to beat in the east were he to go there.

 

[BassForever]

Klay Thompson on the bucks is something i dream about and it will never happen, but they would easily be the team to beat in the east were he to go there.

Is this after LeBron retires?

 

[ryutaro's mama]

Is there even a way to keep the Warriors core together (and by core I mean the 4 stars and Iggy and Livingston plus one of the bigs) without guys taking discounts?

Sure, if the FO committed to massive repeater tax cap penalties.

They are a lot more punitive than they were when Jerry Buss used to exploit the fuck out of it.

 

[phanphare]

Klay Thompson on the bucks is something i dream about and it will never happen, but they would easily be the team to beat in the east were he to go there.

you should watch the most recent game of zones

 

[OG Shaka Zulu]

Paul/Klay/Kawhi with Murray/Patty/Danny/Simmons on the bench 😍

That would be amazing!

 

[Ric Flair]

Is this after LeBron retires?

Pretty close to it, actually. It would happen in a few years and by that point Giannis would hopefully have a jump shot and LeBron will almost certainly be on steady decline at that point in his late 30s

 

[Servbot24]

Klay Thompson on the bucks is something i dream about and it will never happen, but they would easily be the team to beat in the east were he to go there.

They would need another piece along with Klay to compete

 

[Trey]

Or Wolfs or Pelicans.

Imagining having last nights fast break situations but with Klay/Giannis instead of Steph/KD.

steph/KD is much scarier on the break than Klay/Giannis.

 

[Peter Ian Staker]

steph/KD is much scarier on the break than Klay/Giannis.

Scarier? Probably

Much scarier? Not really.

 

[Boombloxer]

That's pretty much what I meant. The owners/league have already screwed the players by severely limiting what the best guys can make. Now those billionaires are getting a future HOFer to take even less money, it's absurd.

The league and NBAPA would never do it but if you want real parity in the league they should get rid of the idea of a maximum contract.

Just get rid of the cap, period. I want players to make as much as they possibly can. Every superstar in the league is underpaid in terms of value to the franchises.

There is very little chance that Cavs could survive with letting Klay just shoot open shots.

Yes, but some people think he'll go 3/16 every game instead his average so...

 

[rokkerkory]

Stop the nonsense Klay is staying with Dubs

 

[PadWarrior]

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

RJ says the Cavs aren't going to make "too many adjustments" for Game 2 🤔

 

[Killa Sasa]

Feeling like the goons will come out from CLE. Dahntay Jones' time to shine! Hope people watch their ankles/necks.

Physicality is one thing, but expecting the greasiness to rise and increase the scramble factor. Interesting to see if the refs will swallow their whistles in Oakland or Cleveland, assuming they do more than the standard amount.

Expecting hit squads from both sides but CLE to strike first since they looked pretty damn outmatched. Bullshit and antics from both to come.

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

Hmm...

Game 2 Score Prediction: Klay gets Nasty 130-90 GSW

 

[ryutaro's mama]

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

RJ says the Cavs aren't going to make "too many adjustments" for Game 2 🤔

Nobody believes you.

Hmm...

Game 2 Score Prediction: Klay gets Nasty 130-90 GSW

If the Cavs lose by 40, I will annoint you, YoshiDamus.

 

[beat]

Nobody believes you.

Sounds plausible to me. It's like what Kerr said about how GSW won against OKC last year:

Ask Kerr about last year's Western Conference finals, and he remembers scrambling to figure out any kind of strategic move that could change the course of the series.

”But honestly there really wasn't one," Kerr recollected recently. ”Sometimes there's just a move like the Cleveland series the year before or even the Memphis series. All right... let's have (Andrew) Bogut guard Tony Allen; that's a really major move but it makes sense. Then the Cleveland series, OK, let's start Andre (Iguodala) to open up the floor.

”But during that OKC series, it's like, there just wasn't a move to make. We just had to play better. Man, they were so difficult to play."

The biggest adjustment I think are coming are (1) make more shots (2) Kyrie and LeBron have to hustle back on D (Love probably can't run any faster than he was trying in game one) and they'll have to try to cover both the layup and three in transition even when shorthanded. It's a tough problem. (3) (less likely IMO) They already were trying to target Curry, but the Warriors defensive schemes have accounted for some of that, so the Cavs need some fancier double screen or screen-the-screener actions.

A major change would be giving more minutes to Richard Jefferson or Shump instead of Love, which they might have to try but probably not in game 2.

-------

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/presents-19522177/the-nba-most-profitable-play-not-dunk

This is the cheat code of today's NBA: the fouled 3-pointer, delivering, on average, 2.5 points per play -- a king's ransom compared to the average payout of a 3-point attempt (1.1 points). It is, simply put, the most profitable play in the game.

[...]

IF THREE-SHOT FOULS are an epidemic, James Harden might be identified as the host.

The Rockets MVP candidate has the three-shot foul down to a science, perfecting it in front of the most analytically-driven team in the NBA. Dribble into the high pick-and-roll. Wait for a defender to extend out an arm. Bam, rip through the reach-in for a 3-point attempt, no matter where on the floor.

Whistle, three freebies.

For Harden, it works like clockwork. Entering this season, the record for most three-shot fouls in a season was 44, set by Harden in 2015-16. This season, Harden has generated 122 of them, more than any NBA team. No other player this season topped the 50 mark. (Lou Williams, whom the Rockets acquired at the trade deadline it must be noted, placed second with 49).

[...]

From that moment on [early Jan] this season, only Harden drew more three-shot fouls than Dragic.

To put that in perspective, in Dragic's two previous seasons, he had tallied only two three-shot fouls in 150 games, nothing more than happy accidents. In the last 10 days of January this season, Dragic picked up four of them. In February, seven more. In March, a whopping 17 three-shot fouls. By the end of the season, he'd finished with 33, third-most behind Harden (122) and Williams (49).

[...]

Why did Dragic all of sudden discover the cheat code in mid-January? Dragic won't say. But then you check the calendar. On Jan. 17, Dragic played Harden's Rockets. Four days later, Dragic's three-foul shot party began. With a suddenly explosive offense, the Heat finished 28-11, the best record in the East over that time.

And as Eric Apricot has been pointing out on Twitter, the ratio of threes made while fouled (aka four point play opportunity) vs missed serves as a proxy stat for who's shooting genuine attempts vs who's cynically jacking up fake shots to hunt for a foul.

 

[TTG]

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

RJ says the Cavs aren't going to make "too many adjustments" for Game 2 ��

I don't know that they should, they dun goofed in transition so bad it was hard to tell what their scheme was, but besides that, I don't know if tactics were the problem. A lot of it is defensive effort. They had no steals in the game, like total; on loose balls they were terrible as well. A lot of people have been talking about "less off ball stuff, more letting their stars take advantage", but having the watched some highlights, GSW went really early during the minutes that mattered. Not a lot of time to see how they were defending off ball past the usual knock the shooters around stuff.

You gotta look at Lebron's rotations, he was on pace for like 43 minutes in the first half and GSW stretched the lead early in the second quarter when he was still on the floor with their bench versus Draymond + Klay thing they like to run. They were ripe for the Cavs to tie the game back up with David West bricking some shots and Iggy fouling every time he was on Lebron on defense, but LBJ was gassed and they stretched the lead instead.

Tristan Thompson was really bad for them too. Zaza erased him from the offensive glass and having him on the floor means McGee can get minutes too, so when he doesn't do anything offensively and Javale does it's a disaster. West and McAdodoo are in there when the Cavs go small and Cleveland has the advantage then, so Thompson has to prove his worth. Finally, I watched that 13-0 run coming out of the half and they had Thompson looking to create twice in a row. One time it didn't work, LBJ came around to get the ball from him(Tristan was actually at the 3 point line looking to pass like Draymond or something) but it was too late by then and they turned it over, next trip down Tristan with the ball in the post resulted in a jump ball. So... yea, maybe don't do that.

Transition, defensive effort and focus, shorten up LBJ's minutes slightly. Minor adjustments to get the ball out of JR and Thompson's hands, but like that's it. Now that I've said that, Lebron isn't going to be on Durant at all and they'll sag off Klay or some shit, but that's what it looks like to me a few days after the game.

They already were trying to target Curry, but the Warriors defensive schemes have accounted for some of that, so the Cavs need some fancier double screen or screen-the-screener actions.

For every 20 videos I ignore from that channel, there's one that's worth it: Curry on switches. tldr; They're leaving a lot of open space for Lebron, he could definitely exploit it more.

 

[Anth0ny]

Lol is it a surprise that big dick draymond is a god at defending? He and kawhi are on another level...

 

[friskykillface]

Next two years of Cavs vs Warriors would cause a change in the playoff structure

The west gets their chance at a pre finals LeBron
Future LeBron shook

 

[Zoggy]

Yeah, the main reason most stars don't give a discount is because the roster improvement isn't that worthwhile.

Switching topics: this kid is my hero. He trolled the Cavs and got a trip to Oracle out of it.

its a good story but its bullshit. no way his parents didn't know he was wearing warriors gear under it.

 

[TTG]

Lol is it a surprise that big dick draymond is a god at defending? He and kawhi are on another level...

No, but watching Klay take out his frustration on Love was something. Durant on Lebron was the best I've ever seen him defend on ball too.


Also, Iggy is still washed. He faked some people out with that random buzzer beating 3 and a wide open dunk they helped off him on on offense, but he was fouling Lebron every time down on the other end.

 

[friskykillface]

Iggy sacrificed his skill for the 2015 finals
Based Iggy

 

[Zoggy]

iggy is still sixers goat post iverson.

philadelphia roots for the warriors