OT: I posted some wrong info last week and cant find my buried post to correct it. I said something like Bradley (or any 15th spot contender at this moment) would cost the FO $25M in real terms to sign him due to the lux tax. Thats absolute bollocks. After two 6% beers I was recalling the real cost to use the TPMLE. AB would prob cost anywhere from 5-8M, a much more palatable figure!! (5 times tables....)
Very good article that brings up a lot of good points (e.g. Kuminga and Wiseman are at their best in the same role), but it took him 10 paragraphs to mention the Warriors' best non-Poole prospect in an article about development.
I read somewhere on Twitter that the order of the Warirors' actual best prospects (Poole, Moody, Kuminga, Wiseman) and what the organizations thinks are their best prospects (Wiseman, Kuminga, Moody, Poole) are inverted lol.
Haha, I just recorded an E1P about Bjelly where I said the same thing. Where did this whole attack the close out, drive and kick game come from? It’s great.
But yes, those plays he made off the dribble stood out to me too. That's something we've only dreamed of and never had at the five. That's also why I was so glad to see him play some good defense. He got man-handled by Howard so it's not perfect but I am really excited to see what he'll bring to the team this year.
If Curry gets down to 34 minutes a game (hopefully fewer than that), there are like 15 minutes for Poole at backup PG which is his best position anyway. Can find 10-15 more for him at SG if his defense or the matchup merits it.
When Klay is back, they are going to have to figure out something else. I assumed we were talking about the depth chart to start the season.
Steph has never averaged more than 34.2 MPG under Kerr, so not sure why he would need to "get down to 34 MPG". The two years he averaged 34.2 were Unanimous and last year, while the KD years he averaged 33.2.
Danny Green was above Manu Ginobili on the 2013 depth chart. Harrison Barnes was above Andre Iguodala on the 2015 depth chart. I'd say the latter two players were better overall though.
Both Green & Barnes were good players and starting them over Ginobili & Iguodala was a luxury they were afforded because all 4 were good players. Baze is just not a great player, and I don't see the benefit gained. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It's all about fit, not who's better. Baze could have been that backcourt defender we need right now while still shooting a high percentage from 3. Poole is making a case for starting though in that his ability to create off the ball allows Steph to not have so much pressure to create the offense at the start of games.
Bazemore's high 3FG% last season was anomalous, and likely due for regression given his career .356 from 3 and .724 from the stripe.
We're pretty good at the wing as is. Give me Poole for shooting/scoring/playmaking; Wiggs for versatility/D/athleticism; OPJ and Lee for shooting/rebounding; Moody for more shooting; Kuminga for more athleticism/versatility; and Klay and André for ... being Klay and André.
Bazemore can fuck right off for actively stabbing his buddy Steph in the back to go jump in bed with LeBron. He stinks and he sucks, and he's not all that at basketball, either.
Lee is a better shooter (and shoot off the dribble from anywhere behind the arc, where Baze just shoots set corner 3’s) and arguably an equal-to-better defender.
Otto Porter $2.3 million, Jordan Poole $2.1 million, Bjelica $2 million, JTA $1.7 million, Iguodala $2.6 million. Add that all up you get about 10 million for a damned good five-man rotation.
Russell Westbrook alone: $44 million.
Just sayin'.
(GSW definitely has some high-paid players, but some real steals, too.)
So there has been some talk about Poole eventually earning a long-term contract at the same time Wiggins comes off the books. It will be interesting to see his game develop over the next several months and determine whether he can be a future starting SG.
The eventual proposed change and its effectiveness would also depend on whether Klay comes back, and whether he can slide over to the SF spot (this also assuming Wiggins leaves via trade/whatever). I am going to watch how Poole defends opposing starting SG's and later whether Klay's defensive effectiveness will diminish when/if he has to guard starting SF's like Leonard, George, James etc, especially after his injury. It was a luxury having a 6'7" SG in Klay who could lock down pretty much any SG and switch on 1-3.
> Damion Lee and Juan Toscano-Anderson will start in the Curry/Draymond spots tonight vs Lakers. Kerr said he wants to get Lee more minutes tonight after “a great camp.”
Well, they may not have the sizzle of Green/Curry, but the effort level will be there. Feels like we could win this game purely on the basis that LA's fogeys decide preseason isn't worth the effort of keeping up with Our Guys.
Oct 12, 2021Liked by Eric Apricot, punk basketball
Fun-but-off-topic story about Jon Gruden is light of his scandal and resignation that demonstrates why this news is not surprising in our household:
About 20 years ago, my wife worked for the NFL and was in charge of an event that Gruden was attending and would be addressing those gathered. When he arrived, my wife, a youngish African American woman, went up to him and introduced herself since they would be working together at this event. She said, “Hi Jon, I’m Jennifer (maiden name) with the league office and put her hand out to shake it.” His reply was simply a dismissive “Good for you.” and walked away without shaking her hand.
As someone who grew up in the east bay a Raider fan, this little act of “I’m too important for you” degradation was especially jarring.
Needless to say, she’s enjoying a nice, warm vente-sized cup of schadenfreude this morning.
She deserves a re-fill. I don't understand the ego it would take for someone to act like that. It makes me appreciate those public figures that are just as kind and respectful in real life as they appear on TV.
I understand that ego/insecurity can drive people to be disrespectful of those lower in the hierarchy. There are lots of successful people who leverage it to enable their success. Doesn't make it right or appropriate, but it does seem to correlate somewhat... And of course, any racist application of said insecurity is abhorrent of its own right.
I saw a headline but didn't bother watching of Stephen A asking "What do you mean you didn't mean to hurt anybody?" I don't know what the interview shows and Stephen A. is the king of bluster, but it's really far past time that reporters started asking obvious follow-up questions like that. Because coaches, players, etc. get away with all these ridiculous PR-crafted statements and no one calls them on it. See: Irving, Kyrie
Thanks, she’s totally over it and retired at 51 as a Senior VP for a Fortune 100 company, so it hardly ruined her for life, but at the time it was pretty deflating.
A good guy would have recognized that it’s a league fill misogyny and an environment especially tough on a young African American woman and made an effort to be friendly and made it clear he would do his part to help make sure her event was a success.
A decent guy would have shook her hand said something like “Nice to meet you, Jennifer. What’s the plan here and what do you need from me?”
Is he just a dick, or that was misogyny/racism in action? Doesn't need to be all well thought out. If a white guy same age comes up does he give him a little more time?
Seems to me in light of recent news it's probably a mix of all three. And wow, how those little interactions can add up. She was probably being judged on how the event went off. Connecting w Gruden would've helped. She lost a chance to network, and make a connection with a star who might have been able to help out in other avenues.
It just really sucks. Makes it all the more impressive what she later accomplished, and in my opinion she can splurge and buy a bakers dozen of schadenfreude donut dunkers if she's so inclined.
And sounds like she persevered, learned what she could, and kept preparing for the next opportunity to come along and eventually took advantage and ran with it.
You have lived my dream... I hope to live out my days of paddle boarding with rays and whales on the financial foundation built by my Sr VP superstar wife.
She sounds like a keeper, in case you need a reminder :-P
I mean, I do feel like Steph and Draymond have earned a spot in the starting rotation at this point, so fair enough. Moody, OPJ, Bjelica: your table is ready.
I feel like our guy apricot created a phenomenon! From Zach Lowe’s league pass rankings article:
“ Our guy Poku jacked almost seven 3s per 36 minutes and hit only 28%, a combination of profligacy and inaccuracy that has only been matched about a half-dozen times. He's so tall, he almost shoots downward.”
Last season the Warriors won only 3 games where Steph Curry didn’t score at least 24 points, and one of those was a game he didn’t play. (They were 1-6 in the games he missed with the tailbone injury.) In other words, without Steph being there and being really productive, the team had almost no chance of winning.
Not only is the new and improved offense more threatening when Steph rests (as Duby masterfully points out), they’re also going to have a much better chance of actually winning on those rare nights when Steph’s laser targeting system isn’t locked in or he needs to sit a game or two….and that’s *before* Klay returns.
Reducing the over-dependence on Steph a another reason to be really excited about this season and what I think guys like Hollinger might be missing.
On a side note, two of my draft crushes (Cam Thomas and Ayo Dosumnu) are looking like absolute steals!! Honestly, at this point, the Warriors should hire me.
pre-season. I'll go out on a limb and predict that Thomas won't hit 50% of his 3's over the course of the regular season and the reason he went so far down in the draft is that there were questions about his defense which are as yet unanswered.
A huge unknown with the Lakers is LeBron's current skill set and speed. He's a freak of nature but even Vince Carter retired at some -- wait, Vince is retired, right? Every year I thought he was, he wasn't. OK, yeah. Retired. For now. Anyway, the best LeBron teams have relied not on mere All-Star play from him, but on MVP level play. It's not clear that he can bring that, and Westbrook seems to not even be capable of All-Star play. Assuming AD is healthy all year (BIG assumption), is this really even a Big Three game in game out?
The entire NBA has been in the "LeBron can't keep going in MVP mode like this" for so many years that most of us have given up trying to guess when the decline will start. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It's gonna happen when it happens, and not a moment before. Could this be the year? Sure, why not... but it could also not be the year.
I think it already has started. Over the past five years his minutes have gone down each year. Last year his simple stats were 25-7-7 which for anyone else would be their best year, but for him is a downgrade. And the eye test: watch for how many times he puts his head down and takes over or passes out of that, like he always has, as opposed to passing early and letting someone else try. He seems to be much more the latter than his older self. I grant you, still top ten in the league but not younger self with the ability to go nuts at any time. Same on D. We shall see.
I think his age is affecting his game mostly by how often (and for how long) he can be Super Lebron. Clearly, he’s going to be cruising a lot during the regular season. If the team can win enough games with minimal effort from him, that’s exactly what they’ll do.
I think that’s what makes the injuries to Arriza and THT so significant; it increases the chances that they’ll need him to play and contribute more in the regular season, rather than just using it as tuneup for the post season, which can wear him down.
Tiny PS: A subtle indicator is free throw attempts per game. They've gone from 10 at his peak to 5 last year. Him heading to the hole was the scariest thing in basketball for a decade. He's shooting more from the outside like older Jordan or Kobe, which makes sense but is less devastating, because JJ Redick he ain't.
Bruh, let Westbrook shoot that 3
Any news on whether GP2 will play tonight?
nada
But I did just learn that his nickname is apparently 'the mitten'
Yah, I can't believe he let that one stick.
c'mon, it fits him like... y'know what, never mind.
OT: I posted some wrong info last week and cant find my buried post to correct it. I said something like Bradley (or any 15th spot contender at this moment) would cost the FO $25M in real terms to sign him due to the lux tax. Thats absolute bollocks. After two 6% beers I was recalling the real cost to use the TPMLE. AB would prob cost anywhere from 5-8M, a much more palatable figure!! (5 times tables....)
less, I think - he'd be on the vet min, and most of that salary is covered by the league. So I think the actual tax hit is 2-3M?
Where are you, Duby? I'm in Canada (Vancouver) and would be glad to take you for a bubble tea or some such.
oh boy... Near Burrard Station actually, lmao
When I think of Vancouver, I also think of japa dog
http://www.japadog.com/menu_En.html
New article in The Ringer by Jonathan Tjarks
“The Rookie Curve: Can the Warriors Develop and Win?”
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/10/12/22715128/golden-state-warriors-jonathan-kuminga-james-wiseman
Very good article that brings up a lot of good points (e.g. Kuminga and Wiseman are at their best in the same role), but it took him 10 paragraphs to mention the Warriors' best non-Poole prospect in an article about development.
I read somewhere on Twitter that the order of the Warirors' actual best prospects (Poole, Moody, Kuminga, Wiseman) and what the organizations thinks are their best prospects (Wiseman, Kuminga, Moody, Poole) are inverted lol.
Who the fans thought were the team's best prospects: Poole, JTA, Chriss
Who the front office thought were their best prospects: McCaw, Evans, Smailagic
😉
actual, according to whom?
Somebody's getting a bit moody about their favorite player getting overlooked ;-)
Anyone who doesn’t already have a Bjelly boner needs to watch this clip from Draymond talking about him.
https://twitter.com/anthonyvslater/status/1448010180671594498?s=21
As usual, Professor D. Green is a joy to listen to
Should be a Bjelly Bjoner
It’s so bjig!
It's not the size of the Bjoat, it's the mjotion of the jocean.
Haha, I just recorded an E1P about Bjelly where I said the same thing. Where did this whole attack the close out, drive and kick game come from? It’s great.
Euro League MVP baby!
Way better than Eurovision winner.
I'm looking forward to this Expjlain One Pjlay
Hmmm, "do I want to hear Draymond talking about Bjelly's boner?"
*click*
But yes, those plays he made off the dribble stood out to me too. That's something we've only dreamed of and never had at the five. That's also why I was so glad to see him play some good defense. He got man-handled by Howard so it's not perfect but I am really excited to see what he'll bring to the team this year.
Given what we've seen in preseason, assuming Bazemore stayed, where would you put him in the depth chart?
Bjazemore is last year’s news, we have a new obsession
No argument here :) Just thought it might spawn a good discussion thread
I refuse to think about Bazemore anymore than I would any other opponent. He's a Laker. That's all I know about him. It's all I want to know.
Starting SG
20 minutes for Baze, 20 for JP? 8 between DLee/Wiggs(/Klay when he's back?)
If Curry gets down to 34 minutes a game (hopefully fewer than that), there are like 15 minutes for Poole at backup PG which is his best position anyway. Can find 10-15 more for him at SG if his defense or the matchup merits it.
When Klay is back, they are going to have to figure out something else. I assumed we were talking about the depth chart to start the season.
Steph has never averaged more than 34.2 MPG under Kerr, so not sure why he would need to "get down to 34 MPG". The two years he averaged 34.2 were Unanimous and last year, while the KD years he averaged 33.2.
Poole can both start and play PG for all non-Steph minutes. I don't see credibility to have Baze above Poole on any depth chart.
Danny Green was above Manu Ginobili on the 2013 depth chart. Harrison Barnes was above Andre Iguodala on the 2015 depth chart. I'd say the latter two players were better overall though.
Both Green & Barnes were good players and starting them over Ginobili & Iguodala was a luxury they were afforded because all 4 were good players. Baze is just not a great player, and I don't see the benefit gained. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Got it. Yea, nothing specific in mind regarding now or later... just a general "What If...?" thought exercise
Ahead of Poole?
Yeah, ahead of Poole?!
It's all about fit, not who's better. Baze could have been that backcourt defender we need right now while still shooting a high percentage from 3. Poole is making a case for starting though in that his ability to create off the ball allows Steph to not have so much pressure to create the offense at the start of games.
Bazemore's high 3FG% last season was anomalous, and likely due for regression given his career .356 from 3 and .724 from the stripe.
We're pretty good at the wing as is. Give me Poole for shooting/scoring/playmaking; Wiggs for versatility/D/athleticism; OPJ and Lee for shooting/rebounding; Moody for more shooting; Kuminga for more athleticism/versatility; and Klay and André for ... being Klay and André.
Bazemore can fuck right off for actively stabbing his buddy Steph in the back to go jump in bed with LeBron. He stinks and he sucks, and he's not all that at basketball, either.
Tough crowd
Lee is a better shooter (and shoot off the dribble from anywhere behind the arc, where Baze just shoots set corner 3’s) and arguably an equal-to-better defender.
Don't agree that lee is as good a defender
Baze can do that off the bench.
3rd string SG behind Poole and Lee
4th string SF behind Wiggins, OPJ and JTA
2021-22 salaries:
Otto Porter $2.3 million, Jordan Poole $2.1 million, Bjelica $2 million, JTA $1.7 million, Iguodala $2.6 million. Add that all up you get about 10 million for a damned good five-man rotation.
Russell Westbrook alone: $44 million.
Just sayin'.
(GSW definitely has some high-paid players, but some real steals, too.)
It’s a pretty big rotation. Iggy plays 2?
He could but I meant five man rotation not starters. As mentioned you could throw Looney and Lee in for these prices too
Not sure I would include Iggy in there, don't know how good he is anymore.
You could do that for the Lakers roster also lol
Yeah but ours are better than theirs.
I looked at OKC's for fun and their top $44m including Kemba is probably more appealing...
And Looney’s $5.1m and Lee’s $1.9m give you two budget-friendly guys off the bench.
So there has been some talk about Poole eventually earning a long-term contract at the same time Wiggins comes off the books. It will be interesting to see his game develop over the next several months and determine whether he can be a future starting SG.
The eventual proposed change and its effectiveness would also depend on whether Klay comes back, and whether he can slide over to the SF spot (this also assuming Wiggins leaves via trade/whatever). I am going to watch how Poole defends opposing starting SG's and later whether Klay's defensive effectiveness will diminish when/if he has to guard starting SF's like Leonard, George, James etc, especially after his injury. It was a luxury having a 6'7" SG in Klay who could lock down pretty much any SG and switch on 1-3.
Tonight, I expect Damion Lee will be in more of the Klay/SG role and Poole will be playing the part of Steph.
> Damion Lee and Juan Toscano-Anderson will start in the Curry/Draymond spots tonight vs Lakers. Kerr said he wants to get Lee more minutes tonight after “a great camp.”
https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/1447990598762315780
Well, they may not have the sizzle of Green/Curry, but the effort level will be there. Feels like we could win this game purely on the basis that LA's fogeys decide preseason isn't worth the effort of keeping up with Our Guys.
This is like finding an oasis in the desert for what's left of the "Start D Lee" contingent.
Yeah, Poole earned first chance at winning the starting spot, and made it a laugher...
Best part is, thats not because Damion Lee didn't play well, but because Poole has played amazing!
Before the pre-season games started, I thought there was actually a pretty good case for starting JTA, but Poole’s play has squashed that.
That said, I’m happy to see JTA is still seen as important/pivotal despite all the fancy rootin’ tootin’ shootin’ from Poole, OPJ, Bjelly and Moody.
Fun-but-off-topic story about Jon Gruden is light of his scandal and resignation that demonstrates why this news is not surprising in our household:
About 20 years ago, my wife worked for the NFL and was in charge of an event that Gruden was attending and would be addressing those gathered. When he arrived, my wife, a youngish African American woman, went up to him and introduced herself since they would be working together at this event. She said, “Hi Jon, I’m Jennifer (maiden name) with the league office and put her hand out to shake it.” His reply was simply a dismissive “Good for you.” and walked away without shaking her hand.
As someone who grew up in the east bay a Raider fan, this little act of “I’m too important for you” degradation was especially jarring.
Needless to say, she’s enjoying a nice, warm vente-sized cup of schadenfreude this morning.
She deserves a re-fill. I don't understand the ego it would take for someone to act like that. It makes me appreciate those public figures that are just as kind and respectful in real life as they appear on TV.
Right? Dude walked into a room where he was clearly the most important/famous person, but still felt like he needed to make that even more clear.
I understand that ego/insecurity can drive people to be disrespectful of those lower in the hierarchy. There are lots of successful people who leverage it to enable their success. Doesn't make it right or appropriate, but it does seem to correlate somewhat... And of course, any racist application of said insecurity is abhorrent of its own right.
I saw a headline but didn't bother watching of Stephen A asking "What do you mean you didn't mean to hurt anybody?" I don't know what the interview shows and Stephen A. is the king of bluster, but it's really far past time that reporters started asking obvious follow-up questions like that. Because coaches, players, etc. get away with all these ridiculous PR-crafted statements and no one calls them on it. See: Irving, Kyrie
Either that was Marc Spears or they both said the same thing. Which is 1000% valid and earned.
Thanks, she’s totally over it and retired at 51 as a Senior VP for a Fortune 100 company, so it hardly ruined her for life, but at the time it was pretty deflating.
A good guy would have recognized that it’s a league fill misogyny and an environment especially tough on a young African American woman and made an effort to be friendly and made it clear he would do his part to help make sure her event was a success.
A decent guy would have shook her hand said something like “Nice to meet you, Jennifer. What’s the plan here and what do you need from me?”
A complete dick would do exactly what he did.
Is he just a dick, or that was misogyny/racism in action? Doesn't need to be all well thought out. If a white guy same age comes up does he give him a little more time?
Seems to me in light of recent news it's probably a mix of all three. And wow, how those little interactions can add up. She was probably being judged on how the event went off. Connecting w Gruden would've helped. She lost a chance to network, and make a connection with a star who might have been able to help out in other avenues.
It just really sucks. Makes it all the more impressive what she later accomplished, and in my opinion she can splurge and buy a bakers dozen of schadenfreude donut dunkers if she's so inclined.
And sounds like she persevered, learned what she could, and kept preparing for the next opportunity to come along and eventually took advantage and ran with it.
You misspelled "sad sack of shit excuse for a human being"
You have lived my dream... I hope to live out my days of paddle boarding with rays and whales on the financial foundation built by my Sr VP superstar wife.
She sounds like a keeper, in case you need a reminder :-P
Thanks! And just to be clear, building our financial foundation was an equal, joint effort.
dang, what do/did you do? there's not a lot out there that's on equal footing w/ fortune 100 sr. VP
$178k/year is pretty good financial contribution, especially when you consider you are contributing these tax free.
https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0112/how-much-is-a-homemaker-worth.aspx
stand up comedy
@anthonyVslater
No Steph Curry and Draymond Green tonight in Los Angeles. They will play in the preseason finale vs Blazers at home.
Ok Poole, time to strut your stuff.
My brain immediately said "no Steph/Dray no watch" and then I realized this wasn't the last two years.
I also appreciate that the first time Lakers are going with their "big three" we sit our two best players. Well played Steve Kerr, well played.
I mean, I do feel like Steph and Draymond have earned a spot in the starting rotation at this point, so fair enough. Moody, OPJ, Bjelica: your table is ready.
I feel like our guy apricot created a phenomenon! From Zach Lowe’s league pass rankings article:
“ Our guy Poku jacked almost seven 3s per 36 minutes and hit only 28%, a combination of profligacy and inaccuracy that has only been matched about a half-dozen times. He's so tall, he almost shoots downward.”
Imitation is flattery! https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32383249/lowe-league-pass-rankings-breaking-nba-teams-30-11-fun-style-unintended-comedy
You down with OGP? Yea, downward threes.
"Our Guy" is @EricApricot as far as I'm concerned
Today is brought to you by the numbers 3 & 24
Last season the Warriors won only 3 games where Steph Curry didn’t score at least 24 points, and one of those was a game he didn’t play. (They were 1-6 in the games he missed with the tailbone injury.) In other words, without Steph being there and being really productive, the team had almost no chance of winning.
Not only is the new and improved offense more threatening when Steph rests (as Duby masterfully points out), they’re also going to have a much better chance of actually winning on those rare nights when Steph’s laser targeting system isn’t locked in or he needs to sit a game or two….and that’s *before* Klay returns.
Reducing the over-dependence on Steph a another reason to be really excited about this season and what I think guys like Hollinger might be missing.
Per Void’s correction, 6 has replaced 3 as today’s co-sponsor.
I count 6, but your point definitely stands (6 for 20 when Steph scores less than 24 or sits).
I simply scanned the game logs and found
Toronto 1/10
Minnesota 1/27
Memphis 3/20
I guess I’m missing the other 3. What are they?
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/curryst01/gamelog/2021
PHO
@HOU
MIN
TOR
@MEM (out)
NOP (out)
(Guess the URL doesn't set this, but sort by points ofc)
You’re right. Doh! Sorting by points is working far smarter than going through game-by-game like I did, which is far harder.
On a side note, two of my draft crushes (Cam Thomas and Ayo Dosumnu) are looking like absolute steals!! Honestly, at this point, the Warriors should hire me.
To be fair, I’ve never heard anyone say they were hoping to get a rash.
Thomas was a born scorer.
pre-season. I'll go out on a limb and predict that Thomas won't hit 50% of his 3's over the course of the regular season and the reason he went so far down in the draft is that there were questions about his defense which are as yet unanswered.
A huge unknown with the Lakers is LeBron's current skill set and speed. He's a freak of nature but even Vince Carter retired at some -- wait, Vince is retired, right? Every year I thought he was, he wasn't. OK, yeah. Retired. For now. Anyway, the best LeBron teams have relied not on mere All-Star play from him, but on MVP level play. It's not clear that he can bring that, and Westbrook seems to not even be capable of All-Star play. Assuming AD is healthy all year (BIG assumption), is this really even a Big Three game in game out?
The entire NBA has been in the "LeBron can't keep going in MVP mode like this" for so many years that most of us have given up trying to guess when the decline will start. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It's gonna happen when it happens, and not a moment before. Could this be the year? Sure, why not... but it could also not be the year.
I think it already has started. Over the past five years his minutes have gone down each year. Last year his simple stats were 25-7-7 which for anyone else would be their best year, but for him is a downgrade. And the eye test: watch for how many times he puts his head down and takes over or passes out of that, like he always has, as opposed to passing early and letting someone else try. He seems to be much more the latter than his older self. I grant you, still top ten in the league but not younger self with the ability to go nuts at any time. Same on D. We shall see.
I think his age is affecting his game mostly by how often (and for how long) he can be Super Lebron. Clearly, he’s going to be cruising a lot during the regular season. If the team can win enough games with minimal effort from him, that’s exactly what they’ll do.
I think that’s what makes the injuries to Arriza and THT so significant; it increases the chances that they’ll need him to play and contribute more in the regular season, rather than just using it as tuneup for the post season, which can wear him down.
Tiny PS: A subtle indicator is free throw attempts per game. They've gone from 10 at his peak to 5 last year. Him heading to the hole was the scariest thing in basketball for a decade. He's shooting more from the outside like older Jordan or Kobe, which makes sense but is less devastating, because JJ Redick he ain't.