NBA Eastern Conference Finals 2017

[TOO]

The real culprit for the cruddy state of the NBA's competitive balance today was the huge jump in the salary cap after the big new TV deal recently. It gave too many teams too much cap space all at once, allowing already great teams like the Warriors and Cavs to pursue one or even two max FAs to make their teams better. Durant probably shouldn't have been able to go to Golden State without taking a massive pay cut or without the Warriors having to gut their team by trading away a bunch of pieces. Also, the last CBA had clauses making it so that a team had almost no leverage to re-sign their own stars, because they reduced the amount of options teams had in terms of extensions and re-signed contracts being able to offer more money than team-change FA contracts.

These things will probably work themselves out in a few years. In fact the newest CBA has a lot of incentives to keep players on the same teams. And we aren't likely to have another salary cap jump like that in the immediate future. So once the current wave of contracts is ending, things should normalize. But in the meantime we have to watch a clump of years with the same small number of teams dominating the rest of the league.

And this is why its a waste to chase the 8th seed with win now moves, whats the point? Playing 4 more games and losing in the 1st round? Bleh.

[Indy]

I never said it wasn't. Maybe it's not as bad as he went home but he went from one stacked team in Miami to another in Cleveland.

Wasn't Cleveland pretty much a sad sack of a team all 4 years he was gone? They eventually ended up flipping another #1 pick for Love, but it didn't play like a stacked team prior to him coming.

Right, they stacked it when he got there just like in Miami.

I don't think you can say he went to a stacked team in Cleveland. If you are saying that traded their assets to get better players around him once he came back, I have a really hard time calling that anything but team building.

He leaves for a few years and they get three #1 picks. One turns into an All-Star in Irving, and the other two are traded for another All-Star. When you get three #1 picks and LBJ as an FA, you damn well ought to have a superteam. Let the Suns win three lotteries in short succession and get a GOAT FA, and I dare say even Robert Sarver could find some success.

I agree. What I am saying is that it isn't like they went out and bought a team the way Jerry did with the D-backs championship. They built it (through extreme luck). That isn't stacking a team, in my mind. It is how the process works.

[Indy]

The real culprit for the cruddy state of the NBA's competitive balance today was the huge jump in the salary cap after the big new TV deal recently. It gave too many teams too much cap space all at once, allowing already great teams like the Warriors and Cavs to pursue one or even two max FAs to make their teams better. Durant probably shouldn't have been able to go to Golden State without taking a massive pay cut or without the Warriors having to gut their team by trading away a bunch of pieces. Also, the last CBA had clauses making it so that a team had almost no leverage to re-sign their own stars, because they reduced the amount of options teams had in terms of extensions and re-signed contracts being able to offer more money than team-change FA contracts.

These things will probably work themselves out in a few years. In fact the newest CBA has a lot of incentives to keep players on the same teams. And we aren't likely to have another salary cap jump like that in the immediate future. So once the current wave of contracts is ending, things should normalize. But in the meantime we have to watch a clump of years with the same small number of teams dominating the rest of the league.

I agree that is why the Warriors were able to grab the best FA (and future HOF) player. And it might suck for us fans of teams that didn't go out and get someone to make them a ton better. But I am all for the jump, since if they delayed it or spread it out, they would just have been keeping more of the money in the hands of the owners, instead of the people that actually make money for the league. I will take the 3-4 years of imbalance (we weren't competing in that time frame anyway).

[Shabazz]

The real culprit for the cruddy state of the NBA's competitive balance today was the huge jump in the salary cap after the big new TV deal recently. It gave too many teams too much cap space all at once, allowing already great teams like the Warriors and Cavs to pursue one or even two max FAs to make their teams better. Durant probably shouldn't have been able to go to Golden State without taking a massive pay cut or without the Warriors having to gut their team by trading away a bunch of pieces. Also, the last CBA had clauses making it so that a team had almost no leverage to re-sign their own stars, because they reduced the amount of options teams had in terms of extensions and re-signed contracts being able to offer more money than team-change FA contracts.

These things will probably work themselves out in a few years. In fact the newest CBA has a lot of incentives to keep players on the same teams. And we aren't likely to have another salary cap jump like that in the immediate future. So once the current wave of contracts is ending, things should normalize. But in the meantime we have to watch a clump of years with the same small number of teams dominating the rest of the league.

There is so much luck that also plays a role in how GS was built. Minnesota passed on Curry twice (!). Klay Thompson went 11th. Draymond's a top 10 player in the league now and every team passed on him. Curry's ankle problems led to him taking an $11M-year contract.

Any of those things break a little differently and GS isn't a powerhouse.

[Superbone]

Irving was looking like a fake star before the King came back. People were calling Love a glorified Channing Frye. LeBron's impact is unmeasurable.

This.

Kyrie won 20ish games a year, Love was huge stats winning 20ish games a year, LeBron is the sole reason that team is a contender.

Huge? Yes. Sole? No.

[TOO]

Irving was looking like a fake star before the King came back. People were calling Love a glorified Channing Frye. LeBron's impact is unmeasurable.

This.

Kyrie won 20ish games a year, Love was huge stats winning 20ish games a year, LeBron is the sole reason that team is a contender.

Huge? Yes. Sole? No.

Absolutely sole. Take him away, they don't make it out of the East. Take away either Kyrie or Love, they still do. LeBron is transcendant that way, he's the MJ for this generation.

[Superbone]

Irving was looking like a fake star before the King came back. People were calling Love a glorified Channing Frye. LeBron's impact is unmeasurable.

This.

Kyrie won 20ish games a year, Love was huge stats winning 20ish games a year, LeBron is the sole reason that team is a contender.

Huge? Yes. Sole? No.

Absolutely sole. Take him away, they don't make it out of the East. Take away either Kyrie or Love, they still do. LeBron is transcendant that way, he's the MJ for this generation.

According to you, take them both away and Thompson too for that matter and see how well they do.

[TOO]

LeBron took this dumpster squad to the finals.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CLE/2007.html

[TOO]

Irving was looking like a fake star before the King came back. People were calling Love a glorified Channing Frye. LeBron's impact is unmeasurable.

This.

Kyrie won 20ish games a year, Love was huge stats winning 20ish games a year, LeBron is the sole reason that team is a contender.

Huge? Yes. Sole? No.

Absolutely sole. Take him away, they don't make it out of the East. Take away either Kyrie or Love, they still do. LeBron is transcendant that way, he's the MJ for this generation.

According to you, take them both away and Thompson too for that matter and see how well they do.

They'd be fine.