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Can Anyone Beat San Antonio?
HeretoBeatmyChest
Member Posts: 4,295
Will they get tired later in the playoffs? Ironically, Memphis in the first round could give them the most trouble.
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2012 up 2-0 on OKC but lost a tough game 5 when Ibaka/Perkins couldn't fucking miss then blow a large lead in game 6 in WCF.
2013 well we know the story "Ray Allen".
So they've had some tough breaks go against them and I think they once again appear to be the best team in the NBA. Something seems off about Miami/Indiana and out of spite I won't ever pick OKC.
Its like saying the Broncos are the Seahawks biggest threat in the AFC this year.
But yes I'm the guy who doesn't know shit.
I think the first thing to note is that the owner forced the GMs hand and did not want to bottom out. He probably should be fired for Gordon and Evans though.
It's not fair to mix the Evans signing and the trade together. They're individual moves. The Holiday trade and the owners mandate did put them in win now mode but that doesn't excuse the Evans signing. I actually like Evans but he's a sixth man and probably not someone you want on the court at the end of games. They overpaid by a lot.
Somewhat in my defense I was thinking they were the East. Bad to be misinformed but if they were and had stayed relatively healthy they'd be in the mix for the 3 seed there.
I mostly don't agree with the Anthony Davis and a bunch of D leaguers theory though. The being horrible route worked for the Thunder but they were incredibly fortunate. Drafting as well as they did is nearly impossible. I think building a winning culture is more important. Bottoming out is great in theory but look at all the contenders (and fringe contenders) this season. Wade is the only player Miami got with a high draft pick. Indiana never bottomed out. Duncan is the only player SA got with a high pick. Griffin is the only player the Clippers got with a high pick. Houston never bottomed out. The Thunder are the only team built that way.
I think once you get that franchise player you look to put real players around him immediately. I'm going to let the trade play out until next year. I want to see them healthy. If they can't make the playoffs I'll back off my stance. But I think a playoff appearence next season is more valuable than being terrible again with a bunch of young players.
I'd much rather have the 6th pick(they drafted Noel for the trade so could have taken someone else), cap space and another top pick in this years draft to go with Davis.
What has Holiday or Evans ever done to prove they can play on winning teams? Those two along with Gordon while paying them all 10+ mill a year is just bad basketball roster construction.
They basically clinched the fact that Uni Brow in New Orleans will be like KG with the Wolves.
Miami also bottomed out as well. Leading up to the decision they made sure their roster was set up to take on two max guys and basically punted the two-three seasons leading up to that point.
The Spurs aren't the Spurs without Duncan. That was a huge bottom out. With David Robinson they were a nice franchise who couldn't get over the hump(2 WCF finals losses spread out with many 2nd round exits). With Duncan they immediately became a title contender but tanking once Robinson was hurt.
The Clippers were rather lucky in that David Stern used his dictator power to veto the Chris Paul trade. They were going nowhere before that trade.
As for the Pacers well they are just remarkable. No top 10 picks at all. This is why Larry Bird is the next Jerry West. Great player who became a great NBA front office guy.
The common theme in most of these great teams is those players albeit not with that particular team were top 10 picks if not top 5 picks. You want to collect those instead of Jrue Holiday's who you can't win titles with as the main guy.
A roster with Gordon, Evans and Holiday is NBA purgatory where you are just good enough to avoid getting good picks but not good enough to matter. Basically like the Sonics in the Ray Allen-Rashard Lewis years.
I'd rather be Philly going forward with Michael Carter Williams, Noel, a top 4 pick guaranteed and another top 10 picks than New Orleans even though Davis is already a proven superstar.
What an NBA "expert" he is.