|
Bruce Brown , Aldridge , Blake Griffin, Nic Claxton , Dragic and Patty Mills all hit the market
This year, Kyrie's refusal to get the vaccine did clearly >disrupt things. That's a given. And when they traded Harden >for Simmons, again, that seemed pretty clearly to be a move >not for this year, but for next year and forward, to help the >defense and ball movement. > >So next year, when (theoretically) Kyrie can play for more of >the season and (theoretically) Ben can join them? They're >going to be projected as a Top 5 NBA team once again. And >people on Twitter will moan and scream and gnash their teeth, >but the upside is still just so obvious. > >Now, would I place money on a Top 5 NBA regular season finish >considering the turmoil that tends to surround these guys? No, >lol. They're a classic case of "if they end up winning a >title, I won't be surprised, and if they end up flaming out, I >won't be surprised." It'll either result in a ring or in >massive disappointment... but at least they realistically have >"the ring" option on the table, lol. Better to have the pieces >with actual title upside than to be, say, the Utah Jazz or >something. > >And re: Jarrett Allen... look, Allen can't defend in space the >way a playoff center needs to. He just can't. He's a good rim >protector, and he's active on offense, but when you get into >the playoffs, that doesn't matter. Utah's realizing they have >to be able to bench Gobert on defense, the best defensive >center in the league, and Denver has to bench Jokic, the best >offensive center in the league, on defense too. True big men, >even the best in the world, just get scorched in space against >the best of the best shooting offenses in a playoff setting in >today's game. And Cleveland's going to have to reconcile that >fact in the coming years with Allen and Markannen on the >floor. > >When Giannis can play the 5, and Draymond can play the 5, and >Bam can play the 5, and (the hypothetically healthy) Anthony >Davis can play the 5, you have to have a guy who can defend >inside and out who can switch on screens to have a real shot >at winning the title. And Ben, when he was on the floor, was >one of the best defenders in the NBA. Considering his >defensive versatility and his passing acumen, using him in the >way GSW uses Draymond makes complete and total sense. It just >increases their upside so much. (Of course, Draymond is >significantly tougher than Ben, goes without saying, lol. But >in terms of skill on both ends, Ben definitely has it. Will be >interesting to see what he chooses to do with it next >season.)
------------------- I wanna go to where the martyrs went the brown figures on the walls of my apart-a-ment...
|