Basketball

[The Deluded Pablo Diego Jose Francisco]

Kevin Durant signs for GSW.

They are going to be one hell of a team next season

[Mifune]

Kevin Durant signs for GSW.

They are going to be one hell of a team next season

Wow. He is going to get absolutely slated .

Everyone is suddenly going to be huge LeBron fans. He is the only hope of stopping the Warriors next season.

[The Deluded Pablo Diego Jose Francisco]

Kevin Durant signs for GSW.

They are going to be one hell of a team next season

Wow. He is going to get absolutely slated .

Everyone is suddenly going to be huge LeBron fans. He is the only hope of stopping the Warriors next season.

Its just going to be like when LeBron went to Miami all over again. He's going to get so much hate when he goes back there, most of it being completely unjustified, the guy has spent 9 years at OKC and gave his all, he became a free agent and decided to move on to pastures new and in my eyes he owes OKC nothing. But of course, many fans wont think that, they'll think he's a traitor and he owes OKC everything so he must stay for the rest of his career.

[Mifune]

Wow. He is going to get absolutely slated .

Everyone is suddenly going to be huge LeBron fans. He is the only hope of stopping the Warriors next season.

Its just going to be like when LeBron went to Miami all over again. He's going to get so much hate when he goes back there, most of it being completely unjustified, the guy has spent 9 years at OKC and gave his all, he became a free agent and decided to move on to pastures new and in my eyes he owes Cavs nothing. But of course, many fans wont think that, they'll think he's a traitor and he owes OKC everything so he must stay for the rest of his career.

Miami weren't as good as GSW are though and the Cavs were much worse than OKC. I agree that Durant doesn't owe OKC anything but I can understand why people are angry with the move. He left a promising young team to go to an all-star team that they had just choked a 3-1 lead away in the playoffs. He has kind of f***ed the whole league over too seeing as GSW are pretty much going to be untouchable now.

[KingoStarr]

But GSW will need to trade a big wage away to afford him so I understand with the wage cap. So basically all teams should unite and refuse to trade forcing Durant to take a lower wage

[Mifune]

But GSW will need to trade a big wage away to afford him so I understand with the wage cap. So basically all teams should unite and refuse to trade forcing Durant to take a lower wage

Even with the increased salary cap?

[The Deluded Pablo Diego Jose Francisco]

But GSW will need to trade a big wage away to afford him so I understand with the wage cap. So basically all teams should unite and refuse to trade forcing Durant to take a lower wage

Even with the increased salary cap?

Bogut and Harrison Barnes have gone

This is a really good article on Durant's move to GSW if you have a spare 10/15mins.

(its a bit too long to just copy and paste put in here)

http://www.espn.co.uk/nba/story/_/id/16 ... ty-thunder

[Mifune]

That was a really interesting read .

[KingoStarr]

Dwayne Wade to the Bulls, joins Rajon Rondo on the backcourt, Chicago Bulls defense will be weaaaak

[The Deluded Pablo Diego Jose Francisco]

Dwayne Wade to the Bulls, joins Rajon Rondo on the backcourt, Chicago Bulls defense will be weaaaak

We got rid of Rose and Noah for a complete d******* in Rondo, and a has been in Wade

[KingoStarr]

Dwayne Wade to the Bulls, joins Rajon Rondo on the backcourt, Chicago Bulls defense will be weaaaak

We got rid of Rose and Noah for a complete d******* in Rondo, and a has been in Wade

As a Celtics fan I sort of have a soft spot for Rondo but I definitely wouldn't want him

Also I'm a bit of a Brooklyn Nets lover and they're making some big moves!!

[Mifune]

Simmons' passing and vision is already extremely good. Handling excellent too. His shot is kind of shaky and needs working on though.

Hope he is played at PG.

[The Deluded Pablo Diego Jose Francisco]

He definitely looks like one for the future.

[Mifune]

Sixers are fun to watch again !

[PISTON (BLACKCAT)]

Watched a lot of games this season and it appears many of the top teams haven't quite settled into "play-off" mode yet. Quite a few upsets and unexpected victories/losses on the very long road to meaningful basketball.
In my opinion GSW will miss Bogut more than many predicted and i thought this as soon as the trade was done so not hindsight. Durant is obviously a top player but in games there's only one ball to shoot and having three outside gunners can upset the balance. KT and SC were already getting good looks so there wasn't a necessity to get KD for better perimeter spacing.
GSW have given up a lot inside to gain an outside threat that they largely already had anyway. To me it wouldn't be a big shock to see KT or SC leaving in the relatively near future.
If GSW could find a diamond big man in the draft/free agency i think they'd be a well balanced outfit but further re-adjustments would be needed for the salary cap. SC leaving would give them excellent wage flexibility.

[Mifune]

I'd be surprised if curry or Thompson leave, but KD could. He's only on a two year deal with the second year being player option. If they are still having chemistry problems by end of season he could walk. If GSW are looking for a 5 then Nerlens Noel would be a great fit with them, although I really hope the sixers keep him.

[PISTON (BLACKCAT)]

I'd be surprised if curry or Thompson leave, but KD could. He's only on a two year deal with the second year being player option. If they are still having chemistry problems by end of season he could walk. If GSW are looking for a 5 then Nerlens Noel would be a great fit with them, although I really hope the sixers keep him.

They're still a very good team even with the odd missfire at present. They've got more than enough firepower to wipe out most of the duffer teams. However, when it comes to the play offs top sides will find their faults and try to drive home any advantage.
There's no doubts the game has moved outside more in recent years but that doesn't mean the paint can be ignored. Any team that truly dominates the paint will always be in a strong position. Rebounds are the key to possession and possession is key to shooting. If they're getting no boards then it puts additional pressure back on the shooters, even with the 3 ball reward.
I never thought an outside team would win the finals as the margins for error are too small for repeated accuracy game after game but GSW did it!!
However, they did it on the back of having a strong enough inside game to just about keep the opposition at bay and allow the outside advantage to show. Their inside wasn't strong, but it wasn't weak either.
In my opinion GSW have arguably made their strong point marginally stronger and their weak point a lot weaker.

One interesting recent trade was Kyle Korver to the Cavs. Now there's a player coming in to significantly strengthen a specific area. In my opinion Cavs already have very good shooters but not a great spot up shooter like Korver who has to be picked up at distance ALL the time. He will drag a defender outside and create space for the true Cav ballers to exploit in behind.

[Mifune]

Yeah I think everyone knows it's going to be another GSW vs Cavs finals. Like you said GSW are a more lopsided team this season and I agree that the Korver trade is a very good one for the Cavs. Cavs beat them last season and they beat them at Xmas, don't see how GSW have changed in order to beat Cavs, especially now LBJ has another shooter to feed. Not even half way through the season and yet though, so lots can change.

[PISTON (BLACKCAT)]

...and there we go, GSW blow out the Cavs!!!
Watched the highlights and i'd say GSW played the perfect game and everything dropped for them. I'd imagine this is just how they hoped it would work out before the KD trade.
There's a long way to go and my personal opinion is things will even out. All their gunners were firing and hitting. This opened up the floor and the Cavs got over run.
My prediction is things will be a lot tighter in future as GSW live by the 3, die by the 3.
For now though credit to GSW for that game, to the untrained eye they were almost unstoppable.

[Mifune]

Embiid is a legit superstar already. Single-handedly turned the Sixers from the worst team in the NBA to almost a playoff team. Can't wait until Simmons gets back, him feeding Embiid is going to be incredible. When we draft some guards then the East better watch out .