Sad day for basketball

It's time for a hard salary cap per team but no limit on a single player's salary (within the team salary cap of course.)

This would spread the top players out much better.
 
Neopolitan said:
The gap between Jordan's Bulls and the rest of the league was never this large.



That's like saying he's better than Pol Pot.
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Jordans Bulls did set the win record prior to GS breaking it in 16...of course the Bulls actually finished the thing off with a title.
 
Neopolitan said:
I know everyone loves Adam Silver because he stood up for 's or whatever, but Stern would have never allowed this to happen as it's obviously now at a point that it's bad for the game.

This is, talent wise, arguably the golden age of basketball. But it will mostly be remembered as one of the least competitive times in the history of the league. That isn't good for the game.
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Adam Silver is a weak Commissioner, but at least he can make his players stand for the National Anthem.
 
cjb56 said:
They were calling the Jordan years a golden era, with a massive amount of talent throughout the league, and one team...the Bulls...won most of the titles. It didn't diminish how great the overall NBA was at that time, though. The GS thing hasn't, so far, but it could. As fondly as many recall the Magic vs Bird era, it was a pretty dull time to be an NBA fan unless you were a fan of the Lakers or Celtics.
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Parity may be harder to achieve in a sport in which it takes fewer players in concert to dominate a game, but this product could be a lot better. It appears that it will only be as good as it has to be to maintain interest. It had already lost mine during the regular season when Lebron was still here.


I don't think that there were nearly as many blowouts in previous eras, but then again, why would I remember them ?
 
adselder09 said:
Not so sure this is a good fit. Cousins can shoot but he isn't a perimeter player. He's going to mess up their spacing. Granted, he likely won't play until Christmas or after due to his injury. Then you have the head games - Cousins is a hot head. How does he mesh with Draymond - also a hot head. Also, at what point is there not enough ball to go around?
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Cousins signed for a ring and rehab, taking an enormous pay cut post-Achilles surgery. He's trying to sell the rest of the league on a fat 4 year after this. There will be games in which he hardly plays, but he'll be there when other teams are getting it going big. He won't be on the floor much with Draymond, but the locker room could be interesting. We'll have to see if he can subjugate his ego.
 
clarkgriswold said:
This is just the continuation of a disturbing trend in the NBA, but the actual impact of this single move will be much less than many think. Cousins won't play for a substantial part of the season. Old Boogie doesn't strike me as one of those intense rehab guys. Once he does return, the Warriors will beat everybody by 25 instead of 20 then run through the playoffs as previously expected.

The NBA has become increasingly unwatchable. MLB has had a long term problem with the "haves and have nots" based on the lack of a salary cap and the ability of some teams to just outspend the others, and now the NBA has become even less competitive than MLB. While shooting and athleticism is at an all-time high, fundamentals and defense have decayed considerably. The fan game day experience consists of an "Ahmad" type announcer screaming through every break to blaring hip hop music. I guess that all promotes the brand to a generation that buys shoes and plays NBA2K, but it's getting more and more difficult for me to enjoy.

Oh, and get off my lawn.
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Well, he's posting instagrams of his workouts and says he'll be ready for the pre-season.
 
Southwest Guy said:
Players making concessions and sacrificing stats and playing time. Owners willing to spend more to make more.
A team that drafts well and continues to add pieces to their winning formula.

The Cavs were loaded with Lebron, Kyree and Love to build around. Gilbert was willing to spend the money. While it may change GSW's players are coexisting in the spotlight where Lebron and Kyrie were not. Drafting and free agent signings along with the one year hostage take over was on LBJ. Hard to do business in that world.

Seeing this as a really good top to bottom organization at GSW more than a league problem. Build it and they will come.
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He also refused to treat Kyrie as a peer and drove him out of town. Kyrie then refused to be left holding the bag when the exit came, and all the 1+1s kind of ensured that it would come. No way Magic or Reilly would put up with that sh1t when he requires such special roster considerations around him.

His real contemporaries are all but gone as top level players. He sucks up all the air in the room. Remind me of all the quality FAs besides Bosh and KLove that wanted to play with LeBron. It will be an unreal free agent class after this coming season. We'll see who Magic can get to serve The King.
 
Yappi said:
It's time for a hard salary cap per team but no limit on a single player's salary (within the team salary cap of course.)

This would spread the top players out much better.
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I've been saying this needs to happen as soon as LeBron leaves Cleveland again, but it won't happen unless the fans leave.
 
Michael Bluth said:
Comparing 36 year old Ray Allen joining the Heat to 28 year old, second best player in the league, Kevin Durant joining the 73-win Warriors?
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Actually not comparing Kevin Durant to Ray Allen at all but I guess it sounds good for the narrative for the Cabe's of the world. More about the uproar over Cousins.

I'll go out on a limb here and say 36 year old ten time All Star Ray Allen who took 3 million less a year to play at Miami and get another ring with 3 of the top ten players in the league was ring chasing on a super team. The best 3 point shooter in the history of the game at 36 was a damn good steal for Miami.

I'd also go out on a limb and say Ray Allen's impact on the Heat for one year could easily be much more than Cousins one year on this contract. A 270 pound player that no one else wanted to take a chance on with arguably the worst injury in sports. Compare that to Ray Allen who hit the 3 to tie game 6 with the Spurs and propel them to OT and a another championship ring. That 36 old sharp shooter who averaged 26.5 minutes a game.
 
cabezadecaballo said:
Him calling Rodman a ring-chaser is pretty funny, too.
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Not that big of a reach. He idolized Jordan and hated the Spurs enough to act cancerous enough and basically forced their hand to trade him for friggin Will Perdue. I think they threw his babysitter Haley in to sweeten the pot.
It was no secret Rodman wanted to play with Jordan. I guess saying he wanted more rings at 34 is funny to some.
As good of a defender and rebounder he still was he Terrell Owensed himself out of Dodge. Good move on Rodman's part because it earned him 3 more rings.
 
I realize Cousins wanted a multi-year deal, but the fact that no one even had an offer out there blows my mind. He's a top 5 big, granted in a game that's moving smaller and smaller. Didn't he have a 40-20 game in NO earlier this year?
 
Southwest Guy said:
Agree with both of you on this. Do you think the fans won't come back ?
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They'd always come back for competitive basketball. Eventually.

Maybe PPVs could prove more profitable than League Pass and ESPN/TNT with local contracts ? Revenue sharing battles ? I just see (82x30).5 with +80% certain outcomes and meaningless games as an eventual loser in the current paradigm.
 
Just some random thoughts from recent basketball transactions...

Demarcus Cousins - what exactly has the guy ever won? He's been great at putting up numbers for himself, but his teams don't win. Has he even played on an over .500 team? He's had discipline issues. Sure, he's not going to hurt the Warriors, his role will be very limited. But does he make them better than JaVale McGee or Looney??? Not really. If anything, they may be able to actually run the ball through a legit post player like they never have before.
And people seem to forget, the Warriors were a Chris Paul hamstring injury from not making the finals last year. The West will be very competitive as usual.
 
Cousins' assist averages have been pretty high for a big the last couple years. I think he's a spacing asset more than a hindrance.

Golden State loves throwing it into the low post/short corner area, followed by their "elbow split" screening action (one to the basket down the lane, one to the corner). Cousins is a perfect fit IMO since he can both score and pass from the post spot in this action.

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nwwarrior09 said:
Cousins' assist averages have been pretty high for a big the last couple years. I think he's a spacing asset more than a hindrance.

Golden State loves throwing it into the low post/short corner area, followed by their "elbow split" screening action (one to the basket down the lane, one to the corner). Cousins is a perfect fit IMO since he can both score and pass from the post spot in this action.

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But don't you think their ball movement and passing game doesn't mesh with him? I mean there's going to be enough touches that they can incorporate him some, but I'm willing to stay home on the wings and make him score if I'm defending them.
Is he going to be happy being a 10 pt. 8 rb per game guy as opposed to 20/10?
Also, how does he defend? Can he play the high screen and roll? When they play the Rockets, he's guarding Capella, can he switch off on Harden or Paul and guard them on the perimeter?
 
Cousins is definitely not a spacing asset - he may be able to pass from the post which is something the Warriors really haven't had, but he isn't going to space the floor like the Hamptons-5 lineup.

And I worry about Cousins being an emotional hot-head but if teams want to stick with shooters and let Cousins go 1v1 in the post as Red suggests above, he'll be a 30-15 guy easy. Granted that's assuming he's healthy and able to play - can't see him seeing the floor until after Christmas.
 
I consider post play to be a big part of spacing. A post touch collapses the defense the same as a drive. Cousins on this team gives defenses the dilemma of collapsing on the post or sticking to the shooters in a four out perimeter.

If he's healthy, in a seven game series Golden State is going to out score anyone in a shoot out four times if needed. Defense is almost irrelevant when you have as many scorers and shooters as they do AND play with pace, spacing, and ball and player movement.

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Part of the genius of this signing IMO is that if he is a hothead or doesn't fit they won't have any overly difficult time moving him at the trade deadline since he'll have an expiring deal.

Teams trying to shed salary will want him, as will anyone ambiously trying to get a leg up on his free agency next summer. Within the cap structure, Golden State could probably just move him straight up for another solid bench guy they couldn't otherwise get.

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