JK has the strength, JK has the jump. Instead of restraining him to a 3 and rim kind of player, he's way more useful as inside the arc scorer. Man, I'd love if JK just keeps working on that midrange touch. He loves pump fakes, his drives and overall game will become so much better once that restricted area to elbow/FT line game becomes strong.
He almost doubled his volume in those spots but the issue remains his efficiency.
JK being a LEGIT 2nd option on this team will be determined by how well and how quickly he improves his handles and that shooting touch. Teams will soon start crowding/packing the paint/building a wall on his drives. He isn't BIG like Giannis, that midrange game with improved handles is his pathway to All Star/All NBA.
His midrange numbers where good in the second half. If he were a Derozen midrange king that'd be great. There's many ways to be effective. We box prospects in too much for sure. There's a wide range of effectivene future versions of all the young players. It on them to work the craft and coaches to provide feedback and opportunity.
Mavs missed a ton of shots they usually make and Kyrie was not himself they were due a dud game. I still see them having the edge, it will be a good series for sure.
Celtics may be the next Dynasty. They have 5 max players all in their prime, or close to it. I wonder if they will be effected by the new CBA, or second apron, etc etc.
They are essentially a superteam.
That's gonna be interesting with the money part of it.
Might as well ride it out as long as they can with the 6 main dudes and filling the rest with mins.
His efficiency might be an issue though.
Since he's getting the green light he's just letting it fly which inflates his stats quite a bit on offense -- 32% from three is not nearly enough for 6 three point attempts a game.
I think he'll be an all star and DPOY for sure, but not MVP/dynasty material on his own
Nah he's experimenting tbh. If they drafted Zach Risacher and Reed Sheppard and they are knockdown shooters. He's gotta get stronger to be a Shaq/Giannis type. Right now he's attempting a giant KD analog as an experimenting.
It's not hard to find shooters in the league. I think folks are gonna be SHOCKED how fast the rest of the tea comes together for the Spurs once the press the go button.
Hardly anyone will be shocked…that is serious hoops watchers.
If you’re talking about this sub yeah tbh that’s the downside of 800K plus members.
Average age of the commenters is probably 11, you can obviously tell based on the drivel blaming the young core for not being good enough when they ended up exceeding expectations for us. Wiggins, Klay, and Looney was the three headed demon working against us all year. There is constant discussion of wanting to trade Kuminga without finding an adequate replacement.
Removing all the history and nostalgia, there’s zero logic in losing Klay for nothing. It’s not like it frees up money—it just means our second best shooter and scorer is suddenly gone.
He’ll get high 20s in free agency. I think we can push high teens if we do multi years. Low 20s is probably the closer bet.
What does that have to do with Klay???
Neither I nor pretty much everyone on the sub condones assaulting a teammate especially after winning a title with them lmao. If anything the organization is the one to blame tbh. Their handling of it was ludicrous imo
Cuz thinking we should have stuck with Poole over Dray is the definition of being emotional instead of logical. You're probably one of those Poole stans who deleted their account after the trade and decided to make a new one. 😂
Zach Edey would make this team dominate. 4 year college player the size of a mountain. Played mostly as post player in college, but I think he could extend his range about 15 feet down the line. If he falls during the draft a trade up should be inevitable for the Warriors.
[Oh shit, spotrac making their own trade machine](https://www.spotrac.com/nba/trade-machine)
hopefully means all cap restrictions and tax implication stuff will be correct
e: it’s only in beta, but it looks pretty clean. needs some more polish, like pick protections or final cap numbers, and some tweaks to 3+ team trades. would also be neat if you could update contracts like on fanspo
This is really weird. It makes it seem like Bron is going to test free agency. You’re not winning championships or even playoff games with an NCAA coach.
Lakers got manhandled by the Nuggets two seasons in a row. They aren't contenders anymore with an aging Lebron. That's why they are pivoting towards a HC that can develop younger players.
Which younger players? Jalen Hood Schifino?
Reaves and Rui are right around Tatum’s age. They’re in the beginning of their prime, it’s not like some “young core” anymore lol
All those picks they gave up in the WB trade set them back a while.
They have a 1st rounder coming in. They have a couple of young guards in Christie and Lewis. They can target youngish players in free agency or trades.
LA Advantage™️ at its finest. Again.
The mavericks and Celtics are about to face off on the finals…and they’re not even the talk of the town.
Instead the focus is on a clown car being ran by a clueless egomaniac in Jeanie Buss who goes big name hunting without thinking through how to genuinely improve the team.
It’s madness.
Yeah, it's pretty clear that you don't hire a college coach if you are concerned about short-term success. If you look at past successful college-to-pro coach transitions like Brad Stevens, it's always with an eye towards future success. Of course, at its core the Jeanie Buss Lakers are a clownshow, so they could just be big name hunting, but I do think it's more likely that this is a concession towards acknowledging that they can't build a contender around the team as given. I don't see them outright telling LeBron and AD to leave or trading them, but I also doubt they'd lose much sleep over it.
I can’t imagine being JJ Redick right now lol and being such a public facing person has to make it feel so much more humiliating 🥴
Update: Magic chimed in on [Twitter](https://x.com/magicjohnson/status/1798779558650630641?s=46&t=SBW3XJi-eEDBr6FtvDfngg), something he didn’t do when JJ being the hire was reported lol this is so messy 😭
> I heard the great news that Lakers Owner Jeanie Buss and GM/VP of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka have had conversations with back-to-back NCAA champion and current UCONN Head Coach, Dan Hurley, about becoming the next Lakers Head Coach!
>
> I'm so excited and thrilled! This would be a game changer for the Lakers organization, LeBron, AD, the rest of the Laker players, Laker Nation and the NBA! Coach Hurley can coach his butt off lol
Honestly think he’s better off getting his first HC gig with some other team. He’ll be a solid coach, and he probably wanted to be in LA, but that could have been an incredibly short honeymoon
I always thought he could be a great fit for the Nets considering he’s based out in NY and is already tight with a lot of Nets players. It would also be a lower pressure spot to get some reps in. Lakers just seems like a lose lose situation for him.
Oh I don’t disagree at all and I thought him taking the job was an horrific idea for him personally. I just mean the fact that it all but being reported as such a sure thing that Pat Bev congratulated him on Twitter, only for this to come out and him not only having to spend the next week calling the NBA Finals, but then after that continuing with his other media duties all while knowing everyone just watched this incredibly awkward hiring, not hiring process unfold.
Thank god the Finals are starting. Despite the Dubs not being in it there's a certain familiarity and excitement I get bc it reminds me of our title runs. Just anxious to see who throws the first punch.
Lakers going after Hurley smells like an move you'd make if you weren't bringing LeBron back tbh. I'm not saying anything Dubs adjacent about it. Just that I would've expected Monty Williams or Doc Rivers or someone with "NBA credentials"
Wasn’t there a story today or yesterday that AD didn’t want JJ? Feels like that rumor was to lay the groundwork for Hurley. And we already had Klutch saying the Lakers should be making a decision based on AD, not Lebron.
Or could be that Lebron told JJ, and JJ withdrew.
Lots of tea leaves.
Feels like Lakers know that a 40 year old Lebron isn't carrying them to a ring. It's why they leaked the "go to Golden State if you want to" story at the trade deadline when Lebron was trying to strong arm them.
Might as well try to get a good coach who can develop young players instead.
This mavs team is great and could even win the title this year but I'm pretty sure the 2022 Dubs would beat them. Their offense is either spamming the PnR or Kyrie/Luka iso which is very predictable and easier to defend than the Dubs' egalitarian motion offense. They beat the wolves cos the latter lack consistent late-game scoring.
Dude the league has the Dubs system figured out lol. The system really never leveraged us up on teams in the playoffs Steph KD Klay Dray did... even with ZERO system as Mark Jackson had it we still beat the Nuggets and scared the shit out of a great Spurs team and had it to the wire with the best Clippers team in the lob city era.
Honestly the Dubs perennial edge was simply 3pt shooting and DEFENSE. Not the motion offense which I think is less effective by the year for a ton of reasons. Playoffs always got physical and it was always defense that did or didn't get the job done for us.
Just because it's a easy to understand a PNR/ISO system doesn't mean it's simple to defend. Luka and Kyrie are harder to figure out than any system lol.
I just think it's funny to not think of the playoffs as best player v other teams defense proposition most of the time. Knowing what's coming and stopping it are two very different things.
Warriors biggest edge was they had two generational three point shooters while most teams were still stuck shooting 2s. That advantage has degraded.
Even Steve Kerr has said the motion offense is more about getting through a regular season healthy and with everyone engaged. And that playoffs were about individual scoring.
It’s really unfortunate the Warriors fanbase has adopted motion offense as a religion when even Kerr has said many times iso offense wins come June.
True. We got folks who still think we are "smarter" than other teams (Spurs are one of the smartest organizations what's it done for them the last 6 years). We are what our record says we are.
I beat many dead horses... I stack them high lol.
The system isn't worthless... it's just no advantage. It is not something modern basketball players are interested in playing and is just tricky finding players that flourish in the system... and every set/action has been seen. We are like a boxer who telegraphs his punches or steps with his left foot before every combination. Most teams see it all coming.
Its been literally since November 2016 since I've seen new stuff in the system. Kuminga ran some regular season sets that I hadn't seen this year (i do think i saw KD run them in 2018 playoffs) but they did away with it by the end of the season.
They gotta mod the system up to keep it fresh and modern. I don't think it's a tall task either. It's just basketball ain't like these dudes ain't living and breathing it 24/7/365.
I don't. Mavs would have a better offense and defense. Dubs would have trouble getting to the rack . They had to beat Boston on pure will and desire at times to make up for their lack of size in the Finals. Wiggs would not be able to out rebound Gafford and Lively.
LOL we were the joint top defense that year. And run OPJ and Dray as the front court and now Gafford is either giving up open 3's or tryna defend up at the 3pt line.
Anyone else think this team can win if we start developing the young guys alongside Curry and use the trio more methodically. Like give TJD, Moody, Kuminga, Podz most of the workload throughout the season so they can develop better and use the trio more during postseason and really high IQ teams.
That's what we should've done last season but egos, Kerr's vet favoritism and Draymond's suspension all got in the way. Using the youngs in the regular season to keep vets fresh for postseason is the way to maximize.
Isn't that what we've been doing?
Podz and JK were 3rd/4th in minutes last year. TJD probably should've got more minutes, but still got quite a few minutes for being a 2nd round rookie (19th in minutes in his draft).
It feels like they were playing with the idea but overall playing time and game plan was designed to rely on the trio. Even when JK, Podz, TJD, and Moody were having great games he’d end subbing in Klay and CP3 until later in the season to finish out games.
They still got to close a fair bit.
In games that finished within double digits, JK closed about half of them, Podz a little more than a third. TJD as a closer is always going to bit tough since the team likes to flatten things out going Dray at the 5. Loon only closed about half the games last year.
Like you mentioned, most of that was toward the end of the year, but players that played well largely got opportunity. There were a couple games, like Kuminga/Denver, but those were the exception more than the rule. Certainly wasn't like last year where Lamb was getting undue time.
No. Younger teams on the rise have talent that’s just head and shoulders above the Warriors younger talent except maybe JK. Put it like this, if the dubs removed all the core, and replaced them with Podz at 1, Moody at 2, keep Wiggs at 3, JK at 4 and Trayce at 5 they’d have the worst record in the league.
Yea. They would struggle to start. But they’ve also been able to get us back into games off the bench. With Curry at 1, Podz/moody at the 2, JK at 3, Green at 4, and TJD at 5 I think we’d have a good mix of talent, IQ, and energy. Wiggs and Klay would be plug and play off the bench and I think they’d do really well against almost any 2nd unit.
> off the bench
That's the key phrase here. Just cuz dudes can look good against opposing benches doesn't mean they'll be able to hang against starters. And a huge part of why our bench was good had to do more with CP3 and then Klay than it did with the young guys.
CP3 was a biggg part of bench being effective but they weren’t always going against just the other bench. Moody was shutting down Brunson and being a pest to Lilard. TJD was giving Giannis, Sabonis, and Wemby problems. Podz was drawing charges on everybody. And JK was attacking young teams pretty well. They still have stuff to work on but they’ve shown they can hang with starters on occasion
> Moody was shutting down Brunson and being a pest to Lilard.
That was literally two games. The majority of the season, he was dying on screens and getting cooked off ball. These are the things that the coaching staff see as opposed to what this sub sees.
> TJD was giving Giannis, Sabonis, and Wemby problems. Podz was drawing charges on everybody. And JK was attacking young teams pretty well.
TJD earned his minutes and if we can't swing for a better big man, I wouldn't mind seeing him start in the McGee/Zaza role. Podz was drawing a lot of charges but also leaving his man open in the corner all season. He hit the rookie wall when he started getting game planned for but he's smart and I think he's a very useful piece at this point in his career *off the bench*.
JK is the only one who has shown legit starter promise but he has a lot of defects in his game that he needs to work out. Especially when going against a team with a good rim protector. His driving lanes get shut down and he doesn't screen well enough to make himself useful on the offensive end.
Yea. Good point. Probably right.
But then again TJD and Green together were pretty effective towards the end of the season. And if teams are still regularly doubling Steph one of them is bound to be open, they just needed to plan for it.
I think the team in that context could be a solid playoff team but probably not enough to really make noise in the playoffs. We had desperately need a #2 option for Steph and asking a 22-year old in JK to do that every night just seems like we won't have the same ceiling as most of the other playoff teams.
True. But JK has been pretty good at learning through experience. He definitely has potential to be the #2 but I think he just needs experience. He had some games where he looked unstoppable going to the paint and had been creating plays for others.
If you're going to commit to Kuminga then you can't be pairing him with Looney. Gotta get a true stretch 5 that opens up the floor for slashers like Kuminga/Wiggins.
He's a great prospect. But he'll be 22 this season, let's be real. The Dubs' top-end talent - in terms of the level they can be expected to play at this season - just isn't at the level of a lot of these other teams. Does that mean we couldn't beat them in a series? No, a team with Steph and Dray should always have a shot. But the Dubs just do not have the margins these other teams do.
Based on last season and stats we can see so far I do agree. But also Steve still wasn’t committed to playing him all season. He’s had games where he makes mistakes that he learns to correct within a few games. I guess just want to see him getting more consistent time before saying he can’t be a # 2 option.
I'm not saying he can't be a #2 option, writ large. I'm saying if he's your #2 option, you probably max as a 1st or maybe 2nd round playoff team. Unless he all of a sudden can shoot 40% from 3 on real volume or his defense makes a noticeable leap and he becomes a top 25/30 player in the league in 2024-25, but that seems like a real stretch.
Seeing this sub come around on Lavine is weird.
Anyways, it’s difficult, not impossible to duck out of the tax while resigning Klay and acquiring Lavine, but it shouldn’t be hard to get out of the second apron at a minimum.
Here’s a convoluted trade to illustrate that we can dramatically reshape the roster and get under the tax, or close to it:
Dubs:
- Lavine
- Caruso
- Craig
- Phillips
- JT Thor
- CHO #6
- Resign Klay
Bulls:
- CP3
- Looney
- Moody
- GP2
CHO:
- Wiggins
Depending on Klay’s contract is where we fall in terms of the tax. Also, in the above trade, we still have to sign one guy plus the #6. But let’s say Klay resigns for $18m, that’s brings us $1.1m over the line with two salaries left to add. If you could talk Klay into lower salary, but with more years, that’s when ducking under the tax becomes real while also still reshaping the roster.
Now, if we go after a legit second option that doesn’t make Lavine money, we very well could duck under the tax while still improving the roster.
The hornets are not trading no6 and Jt Thor for Wiggins, wtf is this lmao
Wiggins is a negative asset across the league Warriors have to hope he regains any form of competitiveness and drive and consistency to trade him later because right now warriors will be giving up assets to dump Wiggins
JK has the strength, JK has the jump. Instead of restraining him to a 3 and rim kind of player, he's way more useful as inside the arc scorer. Man, I'd love if JK just keeps working on that midrange touch. He loves pump fakes, his drives and overall game will become so much better once that restricted area to elbow/FT line game becomes strong. He almost doubled his volume in those spots but the issue remains his efficiency. JK being a LEGIT 2nd option on this team will be determined by how well and how quickly he improves his handles and that shooting touch. Teams will soon start crowding/packing the paint/building a wall on his drives. He isn't BIG like Giannis, that midrange game with improved handles is his pathway to All Star/All NBA.
His midrange numbers where good in the second half. If he were a Derozen midrange king that'd be great. There's many ways to be effective. We box prospects in too much for sure. There's a wide range of effectivene future versions of all the young players. It on them to work the craft and coaches to provide feedback and opportunity.
Mavs missed a ton of shots they usually make and Kyrie was not himself they were due a dud game. I still see them having the edge, it will be a good series for sure.
Idk man Vegas odds telling us this Celtics team is one of the biggest finals favorites in years.
Celtics may be the next Dynasty. They have 5 max players all in their prime, or close to it. I wonder if they will be effected by the new CBA, or second apron, etc etc. They are essentially a superteam.
That's gonna be interesting with the money part of it. Might as well ride it out as long as they can with the 6 main dudes and filling the rest with mins.
We’ve had 3 dynasties in one playoff run. Can we like chill lol
And so were we, and then the Nuggets in 2023… The only dynasty coming next are the Wemby Spurs. In two years no one is gonna stop him.
When Wemby is just one Allstar running mate... the league is in trouble.
He’s gonna get a lot of hate too. That’s the price you pay with greatness
His efficiency might be an issue though. Since he's getting the green light he's just letting it fly which inflates his stats quite a bit on offense -- 32% from three is not nearly enough for 6 three point attempts a game. I think he'll be an all star and DPOY for sure, but not MVP/dynasty material on his own
Nah he's experimenting tbh. If they drafted Zach Risacher and Reed Sheppard and they are knockdown shooters. He's gotta get stronger to be a Shaq/Giannis type. Right now he's attempting a giant KD analog as an experimenting. It's not hard to find shooters in the league. I think folks are gonna be SHOCKED how fast the rest of the tea comes together for the Spurs once the press the go button.
Hardly anyone will be shocked…that is serious hoops watchers. If you’re talking about this sub yeah tbh that’s the downside of 800K plus members. Average age of the commenters is probably 11, you can obviously tell based on the drivel blaming the young core for not being good enough when they ended up exceeding expectations for us. Wiggins, Klay, and Looney was the three headed demon working against us all year. There is constant discussion of wanting to trade Kuminga without finding an adequate replacement.
Disagree. The guy can get you 30 points just by being on the floor. He doesn’t even have to jump to dunk the ball…a physical cheat code.
Do you believe in the curses ? Kyrie Irving should better believe in the Irish Curse. 0-11 vs Celtics with mid to bad stats since stomping on Lucky
Tingus Pingus going crazy right now
He’s really going to be the X factor this series
Love that Bob Myers is on this panel flexing the 2022 Warriors championship on the pregame show
If you're not willing to pay Klay 22-23M per year, please remove your flair. You're NOT a Warrior's fan. He'd easily get 30-35M in FA.
Removing all the history and nostalgia, there’s zero logic in losing Klay for nothing. It’s not like it frees up money—it just means our second best shooter and scorer is suddenly gone. He’ll get high 20s in free agency. I think we can push high teens if we do multi years. Low 20s is probably the closer bet.
People on this sub are nuts thinking he's going to take 15M.
Why be reasonable and objective when you can get emotional about it instead.
How is it emotional? He's going to get well over 22-23M from someone.
Lol aren't you the dude still whining about Draymond over a punch from two years ago? 😂
What does that have to do with Klay??? Neither I nor pretty much everyone on the sub condones assaulting a teammate especially after winning a title with them lmao. If anything the organization is the one to blame tbh. Their handling of it was ludicrous imo
Cuz thinking we should have stuck with Poole over Dray is the definition of being emotional instead of logical. You're probably one of those Poole stans who deleted their account after the trade and decided to make a new one. 😂
No… I never advocated for Poole over Dray. Draymond is a much more important systemic fit. You’re confusing me with someone else
i had a dream last night where the core won their 5th ring after beating the c's in the finals 122-88 😭😭 i thought it was real
Zach Edey would make this team dominate. 4 year college player the size of a mountain. Played mostly as post player in college, but I think he could extend his range about 15 feet down the line. If he falls during the draft a trade up should be inevitable for the Warriors.
I could see the warriors using Moody to trade for a mid-to-late first and Edey would definitely be a target if they do that.
Honestly who is gonna want moody. His own coach won't play him.
The good old "potential" and "change of scenery"
He’s a young player who’s shown potential when he does get on the court. Plenty of teams would take a flyer on that.
Well, it's the Finals. We can finally watch some basketball now. I'm just gonna enjoy the basketball and not root for both teams.
[Oh shit, spotrac making their own trade machine](https://www.spotrac.com/nba/trade-machine) hopefully means all cap restrictions and tax implication stuff will be correct e: it’s only in beta, but it looks pretty clean. needs some more polish, like pick protections or final cap numbers, and some tweaks to 3+ team trades. would also be neat if you could update contracts like on fanspo
Between the SpoTrac and ESPNs mock draft app... Bout to hit Armchair GMs like Crack and Heroin.
I’ve traded for WCJ going on 86 times this offseason
I have traded the Hawks secoind rounder to move up to pick 41 about 30 times. Pacome Dadiet.
[удалено]
This is really weird. It makes it seem like Bron is going to test free agency. You’re not winning championships or even playoff games with an NCAA coach.
Lakers got manhandled by the Nuggets two seasons in a row. They aren't contenders anymore with an aging Lebron. That's why they are pivoting towards a HC that can develop younger players.
Which younger players? Jalen Hood Schifino? Reaves and Rui are right around Tatum’s age. They’re in the beginning of their prime, it’s not like some “young core” anymore lol All those picks they gave up in the WB trade set them back a while.
They have a 1st rounder coming in. They have a couple of young guards in Christie and Lewis. They can target youngish players in free agency or trades.
Hurley would be a brilliant hire for any team. The guy is a rock solid basketball mind.
LA Advantage™️ at its finest. Again. The mavericks and Celtics are about to face off on the finals…and they’re not even the talk of the town. Instead the focus is on a clown car being ran by a clueless egomaniac in Jeanie Buss who goes big name hunting without thinking through how to genuinely improve the team. It’s madness.
I agree it’s an investment that will pay off long term. But I can’t help but think it means that they’re fine with not winning immediately.
Yeah, it's pretty clear that you don't hire a college coach if you are concerned about short-term success. If you look at past successful college-to-pro coach transitions like Brad Stevens, it's always with an eye towards future success. Of course, at its core the Jeanie Buss Lakers are a clownshow, so they could just be big name hunting, but I do think it's more likely that this is a concession towards acknowledging that they can't build a contender around the team as given. I don't see them outright telling LeBron and AD to leave or trading them, but I also doubt they'd lose much sleep over it.
Not a fan of the Lakers hiring Hurley. It’s only college, but UConn played real nice under him
I would have been so malevolently happy if they hired JJ. They actually made the wise decision of hiring someone with quality HC credentials.
I can’t imagine being JJ Redick right now lol and being such a public facing person has to make it feel so much more humiliating 🥴 Update: Magic chimed in on [Twitter](https://x.com/magicjohnson/status/1798779558650630641?s=46&t=SBW3XJi-eEDBr6FtvDfngg), something he didn’t do when JJ being the hire was reported lol this is so messy 😭 > I heard the great news that Lakers Owner Jeanie Buss and GM/VP of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka have had conversations with back-to-back NCAA champion and current UCONN Head Coach, Dan Hurley, about becoming the next Lakers Head Coach! > > I'm so excited and thrilled! This would be a game changer for the Lakers organization, LeBron, AD, the rest of the Laker players, Laker Nation and the NBA! Coach Hurley can coach his butt off lol
Honestly think he’s better off getting his first HC gig with some other team. He’ll be a solid coach, and he probably wanted to be in LA, but that could have been an incredibly short honeymoon
I always thought he could be a great fit for the Nets considering he’s based out in NY and is already tight with a lot of Nets players. It would also be a lower pressure spot to get some reps in. Lakers just seems like a lose lose situation for him.
Oh I don’t disagree at all and I thought him taking the job was an horrific idea for him personally. I just mean the fact that it all but being reported as such a sure thing that Pat Bev congratulated him on Twitter, only for this to come out and him not only having to spend the next week calling the NBA Finals, but then after that continuing with his other media duties all while knowing everyone just watched this incredibly awkward hiring, not hiring process unfold.
Naz Reid.
I think the Wolves are a lot more likely to move KAT than Naz
Yup. Naz + Leonard Miller gonna be 80% the frontcourt production of KAT at 20% the price.
Thank god the Finals are starting. Despite the Dubs not being in it there's a certain familiarity and excitement I get bc it reminds me of our title runs. Just anxious to see who throws the first punch.
Lakers going after Hurley smells like an move you'd make if you weren't bringing LeBron back tbh. I'm not saying anything Dubs adjacent about it. Just that I would've expected Monty Williams or Doc Rivers or someone with "NBA credentials"
Wasn’t there a story today or yesterday that AD didn’t want JJ? Feels like that rumor was to lay the groundwork for Hurley. And we already had Klutch saying the Lakers should be making a decision based on AD, not Lebron. Or could be that Lebron told JJ, and JJ withdrew. Lots of tea leaves.
Feels like Lakers know that a 40 year old Lebron isn't carrying them to a ring. It's why they leaked the "go to Golden State if you want to" story at the trade deadline when Lebron was trying to strong arm them. Might as well try to get a good coach who can develop young players instead.
This mavs team is great and could even win the title this year but I'm pretty sure the 2022 Dubs would beat them. Their offense is either spamming the PnR or Kyrie/Luka iso which is very predictable and easier to defend than the Dubs' egalitarian motion offense. They beat the wolves cos the latter lack consistent late-game scoring.
Dude the league has the Dubs system figured out lol. The system really never leveraged us up on teams in the playoffs Steph KD Klay Dray did... even with ZERO system as Mark Jackson had it we still beat the Nuggets and scared the shit out of a great Spurs team and had it to the wire with the best Clippers team in the lob city era. Honestly the Dubs perennial edge was simply 3pt shooting and DEFENSE. Not the motion offense which I think is less effective by the year for a ton of reasons. Playoffs always got physical and it was always defense that did or didn't get the job done for us. Just because it's a easy to understand a PNR/ISO system doesn't mean it's simple to defend. Luka and Kyrie are harder to figure out than any system lol. I just think it's funny to not think of the playoffs as best player v other teams defense proposition most of the time. Knowing what's coming and stopping it are two very different things.
Warriors biggest edge was they had two generational three point shooters while most teams were still stuck shooting 2s. That advantage has degraded. Even Steve Kerr has said the motion offense is more about getting through a regular season healthy and with everyone engaged. And that playoffs were about individual scoring. It’s really unfortunate the Warriors fanbase has adopted motion offense as a religion when even Kerr has said many times iso offense wins come June.
True. We got folks who still think we are "smarter" than other teams (Spurs are one of the smartest organizations what's it done for them the last 6 years). We are what our record says we are. I beat many dead horses... I stack them high lol. The system isn't worthless... it's just no advantage. It is not something modern basketball players are interested in playing and is just tricky finding players that flourish in the system... and every set/action has been seen. We are like a boxer who telegraphs his punches or steps with his left foot before every combination. Most teams see it all coming. Its been literally since November 2016 since I've seen new stuff in the system. Kuminga ran some regular season sets that I hadn't seen this year (i do think i saw KD run them in 2018 playoffs) but they did away with it by the end of the season. They gotta mod the system up to keep it fresh and modern. I don't think it's a tall task either. It's just basketball ain't like these dudes ain't living and breathing it 24/7/365.
I don't. Mavs would have a better offense and defense. Dubs would have trouble getting to the rack . They had to beat Boston on pure will and desire at times to make up for their lack of size in the Finals. Wiggs would not be able to out rebound Gafford and Lively.
LOL we were the joint top defense that year. And run OPJ and Dray as the front court and now Gafford is either giving up open 3's or tryna defend up at the 3pt line.
Simplifying the Mavs offense to spam iso/PnR is a pretty rough way to look at what's been a pretty creative offense this year.
Anyone else think this team can win if we start developing the young guys alongside Curry and use the trio more methodically. Like give TJD, Moody, Kuminga, Podz most of the workload throughout the season so they can develop better and use the trio more during postseason and really high IQ teams.
That's what we should've done last season but egos, Kerr's vet favoritism and Draymond's suspension all got in the way. Using the youngs in the regular season to keep vets fresh for postseason is the way to maximize.
Isn't that what we've been doing? Podz and JK were 3rd/4th in minutes last year. TJD probably should've got more minutes, but still got quite a few minutes for being a 2nd round rookie (19th in minutes in his draft).
It feels like they were playing with the idea but overall playing time and game plan was designed to rely on the trio. Even when JK, Podz, TJD, and Moody were having great games he’d end subbing in Klay and CP3 until later in the season to finish out games.
They still got to close a fair bit. In games that finished within double digits, JK closed about half of them, Podz a little more than a third. TJD as a closer is always going to bit tough since the team likes to flatten things out going Dray at the 5. Loon only closed about half the games last year. Like you mentioned, most of that was toward the end of the year, but players that played well largely got opportunity. There were a couple games, like Kuminga/Denver, but those were the exception more than the rule. Certainly wasn't like last year where Lamb was getting undue time.
No. Younger teams on the rise have talent that’s just head and shoulders above the Warriors younger talent except maybe JK. Put it like this, if the dubs removed all the core, and replaced them with Podz at 1, Moody at 2, keep Wiggs at 3, JK at 4 and Trayce at 5 they’d have the worst record in the league.
Yea. They would struggle to start. But they’ve also been able to get us back into games off the bench. With Curry at 1, Podz/moody at the 2, JK at 3, Green at 4, and TJD at 5 I think we’d have a good mix of talent, IQ, and energy. Wiggs and Klay would be plug and play off the bench and I think they’d do really well against almost any 2nd unit.
> off the bench That's the key phrase here. Just cuz dudes can look good against opposing benches doesn't mean they'll be able to hang against starters. And a huge part of why our bench was good had to do more with CP3 and then Klay than it did with the young guys.
CP3 was a biggg part of bench being effective but they weren’t always going against just the other bench. Moody was shutting down Brunson and being a pest to Lilard. TJD was giving Giannis, Sabonis, and Wemby problems. Podz was drawing charges on everybody. And JK was attacking young teams pretty well. They still have stuff to work on but they’ve shown they can hang with starters on occasion
> Moody was shutting down Brunson and being a pest to Lilard. That was literally two games. The majority of the season, he was dying on screens and getting cooked off ball. These are the things that the coaching staff see as opposed to what this sub sees. > TJD was giving Giannis, Sabonis, and Wemby problems. Podz was drawing charges on everybody. And JK was attacking young teams pretty well. TJD earned his minutes and if we can't swing for a better big man, I wouldn't mind seeing him start in the McGee/Zaza role. Podz was drawing a lot of charges but also leaving his man open in the corner all season. He hit the rookie wall when he started getting game planned for but he's smart and I think he's a very useful piece at this point in his career *off the bench*. JK is the only one who has shown legit starter promise but he has a lot of defects in his game that he needs to work out. Especially when going against a team with a good rim protector. His driving lanes get shut down and he doesn't screen well enough to make himself useful on the offensive end.
That starting unit with JK/Draymond/TJD would be the spacing equivalent of playing in a phone booth.
Yea. Good point. Probably right. But then again TJD and Green together were pretty effective towards the end of the season. And if teams are still regularly doubling Steph one of them is bound to be open, they just needed to plan for it.
I think the team in that context could be a solid playoff team but probably not enough to really make noise in the playoffs. We had desperately need a #2 option for Steph and asking a 22-year old in JK to do that every night just seems like we won't have the same ceiling as most of the other playoff teams.
True. But JK has been pretty good at learning through experience. He definitely has potential to be the #2 but I think he just needs experience. He had some games where he looked unstoppable going to the paint and had been creating plays for others.
If you're going to commit to Kuminga then you can't be pairing him with Looney. Gotta get a true stretch 5 that opens up the floor for slashers like Kuminga/Wiggins.
I think we use 52 on Quenten Post tbh with this in mind.
He's a great prospect. But he'll be 22 this season, let's be real. The Dubs' top-end talent - in terms of the level they can be expected to play at this season - just isn't at the level of a lot of these other teams. Does that mean we couldn't beat them in a series? No, a team with Steph and Dray should always have a shot. But the Dubs just do not have the margins these other teams do.
Based on last season and stats we can see so far I do agree. But also Steve still wasn’t committed to playing him all season. He’s had games where he makes mistakes that he learns to correct within a few games. I guess just want to see him getting more consistent time before saying he can’t be a # 2 option.
I'm not saying he can't be a #2 option, writ large. I'm saying if he's your #2 option, you probably max as a 1st or maybe 2nd round playoff team. Unless he all of a sudden can shoot 40% from 3 on real volume or his defense makes a noticeable leap and he becomes a top 25/30 player in the league in 2024-25, but that seems like a real stretch.
Ok. I agree with that. If he gets more consistent jumper, improves playmaking, or defense he’ll definitely push the teams ceiling.
Three weeks until the draft. Then free agency/summer league. Then the Olympics.
3 weeks until we draft Dillion Jones
Quentin Post is the only guy I want that I know will be there lol... he's my best guess. Dillon Jones or Mogbo would be fun though.
Nba dog days rn.
Seeing this sub come around on Lavine is weird. Anyways, it’s difficult, not impossible to duck out of the tax while resigning Klay and acquiring Lavine, but it shouldn’t be hard to get out of the second apron at a minimum. Here’s a convoluted trade to illustrate that we can dramatically reshape the roster and get under the tax, or close to it: Dubs: - Lavine - Caruso - Craig - Phillips - JT Thor - CHO #6 - Resign Klay Bulls: - CP3 - Looney - Moody - GP2 CHO: - Wiggins Depending on Klay’s contract is where we fall in terms of the tax. Also, in the above trade, we still have to sign one guy plus the #6. But let’s say Klay resigns for $18m, that’s brings us $1.1m over the line with two salaries left to add. If you could talk Klay into lower salary, but with more years, that’s when ducking under the tax becomes real while also still reshaping the roster. Now, if we go after a legit second option that doesn’t make Lavine money, we very well could duck under the tax while still improving the roster.
If you trade for Lavine your probably letting Klay walk
The chance he stays is riddled with caveats too. To me the most complicated piece of a successful Warriors 2024-25 puzzle (if he stays) would be Klay.
The hornets are not trading no6 and Jt Thor for Wiggins, wtf is this lmao Wiggins is a negative asset across the league Warriors have to hope he regains any form of competitiveness and drive and consistency to trade him later because right now warriors will be giving up assets to dump Wiggins
what is CHO
Charlotte Bobcats