Not all necessarily Dubs-related, but there could be opportunities as a 3rd team, so:
On GSW: "Golden State wants to find upgrades on its roster, and Kuminga's $22.5 million salary could be used in bigger trade scenarios."
On Giannis: "The writing is on the wall," one source with direct knowledge of the Bucks' dynamics with Antetokounmpo told ESPN this month.
If the Bucks are open to discussing Antetokounmpo with teams, the Knicks will no longer have the exclusive negotiating window as his preferred destination, sources told ESPN."
AD: ". . . The Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors are expected to be suitors for Davis, league sources told ESPN.
The Mavericks are open to exploring the trade markets for Davis, center Daniel Gafford and guards [he-who-will-not-be-named] and D'Angelo Russell, sources said. Davis' agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, has met with Mavericks interim co-general managers Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi and requested clarity about whether the franchise wants to extend Davis in the offseason or trade him ahead of the deadline. Finley and Riccardi stated the franchise wants to keep its options open and view how the team plays for the next few weeks. They have not ruled out the possibility of an extension . . . Teams are already preparing for conversations with the Mavericks at the deadline, and those talks could create significant decisions leaguewide."
I feel like I've often seen Ty Lue referred to as a "great coach". But I'm not sure why that is ... he has the one championship, but that was with LeBron Cavs at their peak - anything _other_ than championship would've been a straight-up failure. (Not to mention all the other complaints us Warriors fans may have about that title...)
Is there a reason to think that Ty Lue really is a very good coach?
There's a lot coaching analysis in the league that amounts to "If you won a lot and got a chip you must be good" irrespective of how much talent the team had. I have never thought Lue was all that impressive from anything I've seen but I'm no expert in coaching. I just don't associate any specific schemes, plans, ideas with him. Give the ball to LeBron and get out of the way, and if you have Kyrie, do that some of the time.
I think he's earned his reputation as one of the best playoff tacticians. So it's not in spite of him.
And last year people really didn't expect much for the Clips after Paul George left and they were a legit contender. They were an excellent team. What he got out of late career Harden, what Zubac and Powell turned into under his leadership. I think he deserves a lot of credit.
This year is the first year his teams have really underperformed. So it's definitely a data point, but his track record prior to this was pretty stellar.
> But you know what gets me through? You know what brings genuine, unfiltered joy to my cold-medicine-addled brain? Knowing we’re not as trash as the Los Angeles Clippers.
Thank you Daniel! You have succeeded in turning my dread during this point in our season to chuckling. The dysfunction of another team...the hapless Clippers. "NBA's most expensive therapy session"...what a hoot. Also, feel better soon, please.
It's a pretty balanced article and noted that the reason it's becoming efficient on average again is that only the elite guys are doing it now.
Post's not really strong enough yet to do this, but with his footwork (remarkably good, given what I remember of his draft profiles), I wonder if this is something he could add to his bag in future years.
I was looking at bballref shooting stats and comparing '22 to '26. I saw a noticeable jump in overall league efficiency from the 3-10' and 10-16' ranges. This article explains a lot.
Additionally, what stood out was that the '22 Dubs were significantly better in those ranges than the '26 Dubs. In '22, we were #1 in league the 3-10' range. We were #26 in 10-16' but only 2% off the league average in that zone.
In '26 we are #13 from 3-10' and dead last #30 for the 10-16' range... were are 11% (!!!) below the league average.
Surprisingly, to me anyhow, is that they don't also delve into the fact that there is so much more space now for a post-up. That's gotta be a significant factor in the better efficiency, with perimeter defenders more unwilling to leave today's better outside shooters.
> As analytics have taken root in the NBA, the post-up's numbers have also improved because teams are finding better situations to call the play. Today's multiskilled bigs and pace-and-space style allow for more dynamic post patterns than in previous decades [...] Wembanyama's post opportunities typically come higher up the floor near the elbow, giving him more space to operate and work off the teammates orbiting him on the perimeter.
I'd never want to gloat too much as the reason the Warriors have had so much success is that they have Steph Curry and the other 29 teams didn't. That was literally the luck of the draw and a couple of poor choices by the T-Wolves.
Sure, we shouldn't gloat too much, it is bad karma. You're right. But I think you're underselling what the Warriors did here - it's not like Steph was a can't-miss #1 pick.
Five other teams passed on him (one team twice). He didn't want to go to the Warriors in the first place. Drafting and keeping him (instead of trading him for the likes of Amar'e Stoudemire), upset some of the veterans on the team.
It was not uncontroversial at the time, and I think the front office deserve some credit.
And the fans! On the old site, around 2011, there were plenty of posters who were loudly stating that we needed to trade Steph for a "real point guard" (usually Chris Paul).
I don't believe in karma so I'll continue to gloat. Gloating over the Clippers failures have given me some positivity in a time when that's in short supply. Most things in sports ultimately come down to luck in some way or another, that doesn't mean we can't have reactions to them. If the Warriors have a bad season you can bet that others would gloat on their failure, so why shouldn't we?
[Amick] The Golden State Warriors are intent on trading Jonathan Kuminga after things have "gone south" and the Brooklyn Nets are a team that has shown interest "for a while" in acquiring him.
Brooklyn has $15M in cap space, so theoretically, they could do a straight up JK for $7.5M player swap. I bet Brooklyn is starting this rumor in an effort to drop JK’s asset cost.
Amick is explaining in the clip that trading Kuminga is going to be hard. Says the market for him has always been based on his upside. He said Brooklyn WAS* interested for awhile which is a pretty important word the aggregators left out (for obvious reasons). He said Kuminga being on the sideline and having a lack of productivity is "going to make trade calls hard" and says the more likely resolution is the Warriors finding a deal that is not centered on Kuminga. Amick says "the optics are in the favor of whoever is calling about him", not the Warriors.
Would be such a fitting end to Moody's tenure with the Warriors if they had to trade him to get off Kuminga's contract because they've been sacrificing Moody for Kuminga since both were drafted.
For that to make difference, JK would have to agree to take less than his 22.5M this season, right? Because anything we owe him from the buyout still counts against the cap/apron, I think.
I was (probably incorrectly) assuming that it wouldn’t count against next year’s cap because it was a (non-guaranteed) team option. If it did count, I guess they could just let him rot on the bench for the rest of the season, make practices optional etc in an effective suspension. It’d be a waste of a roster spot, but if the alternative is losing Moody, I’d probably do it.
Brooklyn doesn't have cap issues so a trade for JK is based on his talent alone. Warriors need to find a team that needs to shed salary this coming offseason.
yeah. I don't know how any team looking at the last 8 games or so would be interested in JK as anything other than a flyer. And, he's pretty expensive for that.
Warriors will even have to sweeten the pie or take on a less than desirable contract or two. Plus the Warriors need to do a many for fewer deal to promote Spencer.
This deal will take a lot of creativity. But at least Kuminga is effectively on an expiring contract. If trading him makes the team worse, the Warriors can just pay him to sit or buy him out for his salary minus the remaining vet minimum.
Making this trade will require a lot of creativity. It would be so much easier were Kuminga just to resign himself to doing whatever his coaches ask of him for a few short weeks.
I wouldn't give up much to get rid of him. If they can't trade him for someone who can help, they can always keep him in reserve or send him home, then refuse the 2nd year of his contract and make him a free agent. Why send resources out the door just to get rid of him?
The only reason I can think of would be to preserve his salary slot, and with the apron penalties, this is not as valuable as it once, even to a team willing to overspend.
I loved the Nets as a trade partner for a while. Back when they had Mikal Bridges or Cam Johnson. Now, it would pretty much have to be for MPJ. And MPJ is making a ton of money. JK/Buddy/Moody/TJD for MPJ/Cam Thomas? It gets scoring and size, but you lose Moody. I'd consider it, but it's not a home run.
I don't particularly love throwing Buddy or Moody in just to resolve the JK situation.
MPJ is a return, but unless he's improved a bunch on defense, that's a ginormous defensive downgrade (JK is marginal, Buddy is OK, Moody and TJD are at least decent).
It sounds like the Dubs may be looking to use his expiring as a way to grease the wheels for some other transaction, and get some return out of that. Even if that probably doesn't return a player of much value, I like it a little better (maybe we get back a well-protected first or a couple of 2nds).
I’d probably make that trade. Underwhelming, but the ship has clearly sailed on over- or even plain old whelming.
I don’t think I know enough about the Nets to guess whether they would go for it, though. Seems like their main motivation for acquiring MPJ in the first place was the draft pick they got, so presumably they’re hoping to get another one when they move him?
On the other hand, a move like this could do wonders for their lottery odds...
It also opens up a roster spot for Pat Spencer so that is something and MPJ is only under contract for one more year . At this point moving JK without losing a draft pick is a win.
The difference is it gets you MPJ who has been much better (when healthy) than Kuminga over an 7 year career and Pat would be on a minimum or near minimum, not $23m/year.
Yeah like Pat and love him the past week, but we're all getting a little too carried away with a 4 game sample size. I surely hope he keeps it up, and if we do free up a roster spot I expect him to get it, but if we could make a good trade that didn't open a roster spot, surely we still would
It may not be high but give the problems the Warriors have had in the non-Steph minutes since Shaun Livingston retired it should be a priority. Melton and Podz can do some good things, but neither one of them is really a PG.
As a negative asset, the only way to trade him is by either taking on a long-term contract or by attaching picks. Of the two options, the Warriors are probably wanting to attach near-term picks that should have relatively lower value while we're still a good team.
In addition to Harden/Kawhi being old, their returning role players underperforming, injuries, & all their offseason signings failing - Zubac has apparently regressed this season (possibly due to weight loss).
I don’t watch their games aside from when we played them, but Clippers media has been talking about Zu getting pushed out of the paint, missing bunnies he would have made last season, & being less aggressive overall.
Just a nightmare for the Clippers - I would enjoy it a whole lot more if OKC didn’t have their pick
Kind of crazy to think of the butterfly effect of Kawhi's game-winner that resulted in TOR beating PHI in the ECF. If any of those seven bounces on the rim goes slightly differently then who knows? Maybe Kawhi wouldn't have enough clout to force the Clips to trade so much for George and SGA remains in LA?
In fairness to the Clips, *at the time of the trade* you could have made pretty reasonable defense of it, since it also allowed them to add peak Kawhi. It wasn’t idiotic and unforgivable from Day One like the Luka trade.
It was just a ballsy/risky move that could not possibly have turned out worse.
It looks like a garbage move now, but I remember how effing scared we were of them for 3-4 years. They just got bit by the injury bug (and maybe Kawhi being a little non-team-oriented).
I actually think they've done a lot of smart GM'ing the last few years, but their injury luck just overwhelmed all of that.
It still could've turned out a tad worse - the Clips made the WCF for the first time ever a couple years after the trade (I know, low bar lol) - imagine if they didn't even have that
I've never been a fan of Chris Paul. Although he did facilitate one of my favorite Steph moments—the infamous "kick me off the court again, boy!" comment*—I find CP's antics and attitude grating.
When the Dubs signed him, it was a legitimate challenge to square the fact that my beloved team had signed one of my least-favorite players. It still felt like cheering for the bad guy.
That said, Chris Paul is a LEGEND. He's one of the best point guards in history, a Hall of Fame lock whose effort and dedication are unassailable. Unless we learn he was doing something morally bankrupt that left the Clippers no choice but to cut bait immediately, their recent treatment of him is absolutely classless. That was a Rodney Dangerfield level of disrespect.
So many good CP moments--the Curry ankle-breaker punctuated by hitting the jumper; the bench celebration was next level; the Curry dribbling through the entire Clippers team (he was guarded by something like 4 guys), then hitting the 3; the State Farm commercials with Steph on the 'up' escalator and Paul on the 'down' escalator (prescient); the whines of Houston fans who bemoaned the CP injury that (supposedly) cost them a trip to the NBA finals...
As for how the Clippers have treated him, I agree that it looks classless unless something happened that we don't know about. But I don't feel sorry for CP. He's made almost 3/4 of a BILLION in his career. He'll find a way to keep soldiering on...
At the game, watched Zaza move his foot, and thought uh oh we’re in real trouble now. Held my breath until the ruling, exhaled, looked at my husband, and we both laughed ourselves silly. What a fun memory, Daniel! Feel better soon!
This whole article is an exercise in Schadenballmer.
Not that there is anything wrong with that.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47245704/shams-pass-nba-trade-deadline-notes-news-buzz-anthony-davis-giannis-antetokounmpo-teams
Not all necessarily Dubs-related, but there could be opportunities as a 3rd team, so:
On GSW: "Golden State wants to find upgrades on its roster, and Kuminga's $22.5 million salary could be used in bigger trade scenarios."
On Giannis: "The writing is on the wall," one source with direct knowledge of the Bucks' dynamics with Antetokounmpo told ESPN this month.
If the Bucks are open to discussing Antetokounmpo with teams, the Knicks will no longer have the exclusive negotiating window as his preferred destination, sources told ESPN."
AD: ". . . The Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors are expected to be suitors for Davis, league sources told ESPN.
The Mavericks are open to exploring the trade markets for Davis, center Daniel Gafford and guards [he-who-will-not-be-named] and D'Angelo Russell, sources said. Davis' agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, has met with Mavericks interim co-general managers Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi and requested clarity about whether the franchise wants to extend Davis in the offseason or trade him ahead of the deadline. Finley and Riccardi stated the franchise wants to keep its options open and view how the team plays for the next few weeks. They have not ruled out the possibility of an extension . . . Teams are already preparing for conversations with the Mavericks at the deadline, and those talks could create significant decisions leaguewide."
I feel like I've often seen Ty Lue referred to as a "great coach". But I'm not sure why that is ... he has the one championship, but that was with LeBron Cavs at their peak - anything _other_ than championship would've been a straight-up failure. (Not to mention all the other complaints us Warriors fans may have about that title...)
Is there a reason to think that Ty Lue really is a very good coach?
There's a lot coaching analysis in the league that amounts to "If you won a lot and got a chip you must be good" irrespective of how much talent the team had. I have never thought Lue was all that impressive from anything I've seen but I'm no expert in coaching. I just don't associate any specific schemes, plans, ideas with him. Give the ball to LeBron and get out of the way, and if you have Kyrie, do that some of the time.
Beating 73-9 Warriors deserves a lot of credit and he did make it to two more Finals after that.
His first year with Clips they beat the Jazz with Kawhi out for end of the series and were fairly competitive in the conference Finals.
He’s kept them competitive for last few years regardless of how much roster turnover they’ve had and guys missing games.
But did his teams have whatever success they had because of or despite him? Hard to know.
I think he's earned his reputation as one of the best playoff tacticians. So it's not in spite of him.
And last year people really didn't expect much for the Clips after Paul George left and they were a legit contender. They were an excellent team. What he got out of late career Harden, what Zubac and Powell turned into under his leadership. I think he deserves a lot of credit.
This year is the first year his teams have really underperformed. So it's definitely a data point, but his track record prior to this was pretty stellar.
Lmao, unmatched
> But you know what gets me through? You know what brings genuine, unfiltered joy to my cold-medicine-addled brain? Knowing we’re not as trash as the Los Angeles Clippers.
Thank you Daniel! You have succeeded in turning my dread during this point in our season to chuckling. The dysfunction of another team...the hapless Clippers. "NBA's most expensive therapy session"...what a hoot. Also, feel better soon, please.
Thank you Susan, I'm feeling much better already!
ESPN has a nice story on the return of the post-up.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47243702/nba-2025-2026-season-postups-trends-kristaps-porzingis-victor-wembanyama
It's a pretty balanced article and noted that the reason it's becoming efficient on average again is that only the elite guys are doing it now.
Post's not really strong enough yet to do this, but with his footwork (remarkably good, given what I remember of his draft profiles), I wonder if this is something he could add to his bag in future years.
I was looking at bballref shooting stats and comparing '22 to '26. I saw a noticeable jump in overall league efficiency from the 3-10' and 10-16' ranges. This article explains a lot.
Additionally, what stood out was that the '22 Dubs were significantly better in those ranges than the '26 Dubs. In '22, we were #1 in league the 3-10' range. We were #26 in 10-16' but only 2% off the league average in that zone.
In '26 we are #13 from 3-10' and dead last #30 for the 10-16' range... were are 11% (!!!) below the league average.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2022.html#all_shooting_team-opponent
https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2026.html#all_shooting_team-opponent
Surprisingly, to me anyhow, is that they don't also delve into the fact that there is so much more space now for a post-up. That's gotta be a significant factor in the better efficiency, with perimeter defenders more unwilling to leave today's better outside shooters.
> As analytics have taken root in the NBA, the post-up's numbers have also improved because teams are finding better situations to call the play. Today's multiskilled bigs and pace-and-space style allow for more dynamic post patterns than in previous decades [...] Wembanyama's post opportunities typically come higher up the floor near the elbow, giving him more space to operate and work off the teammates orbiting him on the perimeter.
Yeah...they made a bit of a passing mention, but no effort to put any data to it's part of the effect.
I'd never want to gloat too much as the reason the Warriors have had so much success is that they have Steph Curry and the other 29 teams didn't. That was literally the luck of the draw and a couple of poor choices by the T-Wolves.
Sure, we shouldn't gloat too much, it is bad karma. You're right. But I think you're underselling what the Warriors did here - it's not like Steph was a can't-miss #1 pick.
Five other teams passed on him (one team twice). He didn't want to go to the Warriors in the first place. Drafting and keeping him (instead of trading him for the likes of Amar'e Stoudemire), upset some of the veterans on the team.
It was not uncontroversial at the time, and I think the front office deserve some credit.
And the fans! On the old site, around 2011, there were plenty of posters who were loudly stating that we needed to trade Steph for a "real point guard" (usually Chris Paul).
I think we can do (some) gloating now. :-)
It's arguable that when the Warriors turn came up Curry really was the best player available though.The Knicks certainly thought so.
Yeah, I wouldn’t want to gloat too much either. It’s bad karma.
I don't believe in karma so I'll continue to gloat. Gloating over the Clippers failures have given me some positivity in a time when that's in short supply. Most things in sports ultimately come down to luck in some way or another, that doesn't mean we can't have reactions to them. If the Warriors have a bad season you can bet that others would gloat on their failure, so why shouldn't we?
> If the Warriors have a bad season you can bet that others would gloat on their failure
Can confirm. I've experienced a large sample size.
r/warriors
•
12m ago
YujiDomainExpansion
[Amick] The Golden State Warriors are intent on trading Jonathan Kuminga after things have "gone south" and the Brooklyn Nets are a team that has shown interest "for a while" in acquiring him.
https://www.reddit.com/r/warriors/comments/1pibcvq/amick_the_golden_state_warriors_are_intent_on/
I thought the word over the summer was that the Nets weren’t interested in signing him
Brooklyn has $15M in cap space, so theoretically, they could do a straight up JK for $7.5M player swap. I bet Brooklyn is starting this rumor in an effort to drop JK’s asset cost.
Amick is explaining in the clip that trading Kuminga is going to be hard. Says the market for him has always been based on his upside. He said Brooklyn WAS* interested for awhile which is a pretty important word the aggregators left out (for obvious reasons). He said Kuminga being on the sideline and having a lack of productivity is "going to make trade calls hard" and says the more likely resolution is the Warriors finding a deal that is not centered on Kuminga. Amick says "the optics are in the favor of whoever is calling about him", not the Warriors.
Would be such a fitting end to Moody's tenure with the Warriors if they had to trade him to get off Kuminga's contract because they've been sacrificing Moody for Kuminga since both were drafted.
Would be very fitting for Lacob
Trading Moody just to get rid of JK. Can’t they just buy him out for the remainder of this season?
For that to make difference, JK would have to agree to take less than his 22.5M this season, right? Because anything we owe him from the buyout still counts against the cap/apron, I think.
I was (probably incorrectly) assuming that it wouldn’t count against next year’s cap because it was a (non-guaranteed) team option. If it did count, I guess they could just let him rot on the bench for the rest of the season, make practices optional etc in an effective suspension. It’d be a waste of a roster spot, but if the alternative is losing Moody, I’d probably do it.
As always, it’s somebody managing the narrative. This sounds like Brooklyn trying to minimize their outgoing trade package, tbh.
Brooklyn doesn't have cap issues so a trade for JK is based on his talent alone. Warriors need to find a team that needs to shed salary this coming offseason.
This. Everything has an angle
yeah. I don't know how any team looking at the last 8 games or so would be interested in JK as anything other than a flyer. And, he's pretty expensive for that.
Maybe we can swap problems with Sac.
Warriors will even have to sweeten the pie or take on a less than desirable contract or two. Plus the Warriors need to do a many for fewer deal to promote Spencer.
This deal will take a lot of creativity. But at least Kuminga is effectively on an expiring contract. If trading him makes the team worse, the Warriors can just pay him to sit or buy him out for his salary minus the remaining vet minimum.
Making this trade will require a lot of creativity. It would be so much easier were Kuminga just to resign himself to doing whatever his coaches ask of him for a few short weeks.
I wouldn't give up much to get rid of him. If they can't trade him for someone who can help, they can always keep him in reserve or send him home, then refuse the 2nd year of his contract and make him a free agent. Why send resources out the door just to get rid of him?
The only reason I can think of would be to preserve his salary slot, and with the apron penalties, this is not as valuable as it once, even to a team willing to overspend.
I loved the Nets as a trade partner for a while. Back when they had Mikal Bridges or Cam Johnson. Now, it would pretty much have to be for MPJ. And MPJ is making a ton of money. JK/Buddy/Moody/TJD for MPJ/Cam Thomas? It gets scoring and size, but you lose Moody. I'd consider it, but it's not a home run.
I don't particularly love throwing Buddy or Moody in just to resolve the JK situation.
MPJ is a return, but unless he's improved a bunch on defense, that's a ginormous defensive downgrade (JK is marginal, Buddy is OK, Moody and TJD are at least decent).
It sounds like the Dubs may be looking to use his expiring as a way to grease the wheels for some other transaction, and get some return out of that. Even if that probably doesn't return a player of much value, I like it a little better (maybe we get back a well-protected first or a couple of 2nds).
I’d probably make that trade. Underwhelming, but the ship has clearly sailed on over- or even plain old whelming.
I don’t think I know enough about the Nets to guess whether they would go for it, though. Seems like their main motivation for acquiring MPJ in the first place was the draft pick they got, so presumably they’re hoping to get another one when they move him?
On the other hand, a move like this could do wonders for their lottery odds...
It also opens up a roster spot for Pat Spencer so that is something and MPJ is only under contract for one more year . At this point moving JK without losing a draft pick is a win.
I don't think opening up a roster spot for Pat Spencer is high on the priority list. Once Steph is back, Pat's role gets pushed down.
I think they'd rather be paying Spencer 20m+ than Kuminga right now...
We’ve seen Kuminga have much better stretches then pat is currently having let’s be real here
The difference is it gets you MPJ who has been much better (when healthy) than Kuminga over an 7 year career and Pat would be on a minimum or near minimum, not $23m/year.
More visually stimulating, sure. Better impact on winning games, I don't think so.
Yeah like Pat and love him the past week, but we're all getting a little too carried away with a 4 game sample size. I surely hope he keeps it up, and if we do free up a roster spot I expect him to get it, but if we could make a good trade that didn't open a roster spot, surely we still would
It may not be high but give the problems the Warriors have had in the non-Steph minutes since Shaun Livingston retired it should be a priority. Melton and Podz can do some good things, but neither one of them is really a PG.
We don't need to look back that far for good non-Steph minutes. We have Jimmy Butler.
As a negative asset, the only way to trade him is by either taking on a long-term contract or by attaching picks. Of the two options, the Warriors are probably wanting to attach near-term picks that should have relatively lower value while we're still a good team.
On another note...could DMC look any more bored with his new job??
In addition to Harden/Kawhi being old, their returning role players underperforming, injuries, & all their offseason signings failing - Zubac has apparently regressed this season (possibly due to weight loss).
I don’t watch their games aside from when we played them, but Clippers media has been talking about Zu getting pushed out of the paint, missing bunnies he would have made last season, & being less aggressive overall.
Just a nightmare for the Clippers - I would enjoy it a whole lot more if OKC didn’t have their pick
I forgot that OKC has their pick. Ugh.
It’s okay, tho — if you’re getting the League MVP and Finals MVP for Paul George, you should expect to send out a godfather package of ALL the picks.
Oh wait…
> if you’re getting the League MVP and Finals MVP
Kind of crazy to think of the butterfly effect of Kawhi's game-winner that resulted in TOR beating PHI in the ECF. If any of those seven bounces on the rim goes slightly differently then who knows? Maybe Kawhi wouldn't have enough clout to force the Clips to trade so much for George and SGA remains in LA?
…
In fairness to the Clips, *at the time of the trade* you could have made pretty reasonable defense of it, since it also allowed them to add peak Kawhi. It wasn’t idiotic and unforgivable from Day One like the Luka trade.
It was just a ballsy/risky move that could not possibly have turned out worse.
this was my argument a few stories ago.
It looks like a garbage move now, but I remember how effing scared we were of them for 3-4 years. They just got bit by the injury bug (and maybe Kawhi being a little non-team-oriented).
I actually think they've done a lot of smart GM'ing the last few years, but their injury luck just overwhelmed all of that.
20-20 hindsight.
It still could've turned out a tad worse - the Clips made the WCF for the first time ever a couple years after the trade (I know, low bar lol) - imagine if they didn't even have that
I've never been a fan of Chris Paul. Although he did facilitate one of my favorite Steph moments—the infamous "kick me off the court again, boy!" comment*—I find CP's antics and attitude grating.
When the Dubs signed him, it was a legitimate challenge to square the fact that my beloved team had signed one of my least-favorite players. It still felt like cheering for the bad guy.
That said, Chris Paul is a LEGEND. He's one of the best point guards in history, a Hall of Fame lock whose effort and dedication are unassailable. Unless we learn he was doing something morally bankrupt that left the Clippers no choice but to cut bait immediately, their recent treatment of him is absolutely classless. That was a Rodney Dangerfield level of disrespect.
*Full disclosure: The description of this video claims the inciting confrontation went down differently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4q0Ezt6_Ck),
So many good CP moments--the Curry ankle-breaker punctuated by hitting the jumper; the bench celebration was next level; the Curry dribbling through the entire Clippers team (he was guarded by something like 4 guys), then hitting the 3; the State Farm commercials with Steph on the 'up' escalator and Paul on the 'down' escalator (prescient); the whines of Houston fans who bemoaned the CP injury that (supposedly) cost them a trip to the NBA finals...
As for how the Clippers have treated him, I agree that it looks classless unless something happened that we don't know about. But I don't feel sorry for CP. He's made almost 3/4 of a BILLION in his career. He'll find a way to keep soldiering on...
Uhh what?? 750 million?
Ha ha haaaa - nothing like sports hate to cleanse the soul or cold - get well soon !!!
This article is missing a little bit of Ty Lue and his facial expressions. ;D
At the game, watched Zaza move his foot, and thought uh oh we’re in real trouble now. Held my breath until the ruling, exhaled, looked at my husband, and we both laughed ourselves silly. What a fun memory, Daniel! Feel better soon!
Thank you Janet!! I'm baaaack
I’m waiting for the full story behind this season and the CP3 drama to come out.
It reeks of Jeff Van Gundy's toxic personality.
My impression of JVG isn't of a toxic guy at all.
Woulda been more enjoyable on the CP3 front had he never donned a Warriors jersey. Now my reaction, much like his tenure here, is a bonafide ‘Meh’
Brilliant entertainment to read! In terms of basketball the warriors could be for real- not a 50% team.