Watching the playoffs is making me think about this: is this the end of an era? And I don't mean just for the Warriors, but for the other teams with aging veterans like the Lakers, Suns, and the Clippers.
Watching all these skilled and lengthy players, it dawns on me that the Dubs are a team of ‘tweeners’, many of whom are on the undersized end of the spectrum. Klay, Dray, Kuminga, TJD, and even Steph (despite mega-strength) are a bit or quite a bit undersized for their current positions.
And unlike dynastic years past, the Dubs don’t have a roster with players that can do 2 or more or the following: shooting, scoring, passing and playmaking.
So, a lot of undersized, aging or inexperienced, and one-dimensional players.
Anyway, back to watching the Nuggets and remembering what the ‘beautiful game’ looks like.
If I’m the Front Office, everyone is on the trade block. Yes, everyone. Especially players that might bring back a haul of players and picks. Boston did it with KG and PP, and they got Brown and Tatum for doing so.
Especially with Houston, Memphis and San Antonio all likely to be better next season, even making the playoffs in the west is going to be challenging. Being good enough to reach the conference finals and beyond requires being *a lot* better, and that just seems pretty unlikely.
Somewhat under the usual hype-attention wire is this unimportant storyline:
It's quite plausible that in decades to come both LeBron and Jokic will be considered candidates for GOAT status. A classic dumb sports argument. Depends of course what Jokic does in the next decade.
But if that does happen, then a lot of focus will be put on these past two years. An argument for Jokic will be "He dominated LeBron head to head." Never mind that LeBron is 68 years old and that head to head isn't really that meaningful in a team sport.
this isn't a basketball question so much as an emotions one. If LeBron says OK I'll take the league minimum and play with GSW for a year, see if Steph and Klay and Dray and I can get ring, you'd say. ..?
The more the oldies in a team the less are their chances of surviving a regular season and going deep in the playoffs. On the other hand if Kerr can just play all the young guys and leave the OGs for the 4th quarter only, then maybe they will have a shot 😬 - and we know “if Kerr can…” is highly unlikely because he always prefers experience over youth
Seriously, though, if he's shopping for a place to win a title, or a place to play with Bronny, why would he choose us? I have to believe there are 5 or 6 teams with better chances at a title that would love to have him on a min.
But, to answer your question, sure ... the passing and size on defense would be a very good fit, even if it pushed Kuminga to the bench again.
I think if you trade out CP3 for Lebron, that’s a team that’s easy to see competing for a chip. Steph and Lebron can let each other play fewer minutes.
That’d seem pretty attractive a destination and he can stay connected to CA stuff.
Ooo, idea. Keep CP, get LeBron, trade Wiggins for PJ Tucker, and let's roll out the oldest lineup ever. CP, Steph, LeBron Tucker and Looney, because no one is older than Looney.
Klay has a big ego and I truly wonder if he can be happy being a 6th man. He did it for a short time, but can he accept it as permanent?
It seems so obvious that the role of coming off the bench and having free rein to fire away is made to order for him, but what does he really believe.
I could also see a mindset of ok, I am in a different role so why not a different team with a better chance to win. A new start to a new career. I would be leaning that way if I was him. He also is single, no kids to worry about moving.
I really wish Klay and Dray went into these years as gracefully as Manu and Tony Parker did attitude-wise. I don’t mean giving up, just actually being graceful sportsmen. Steph and Duncan did it/ do it and so far only Duncan’s “other two” stayed in step.
And they stayed competitive for the most part to the end. These Warrior teams are arguably better than those twilight Spurs teams and could really do more damage if yeah, Klay especially could accept a different role.
But yep, the egos are different. Coaches were too; I don’t think Pop would let slide some or much of what Kerr does at this point nor be inconsistent in treatment depending on a player’s years played. But those Spurs had Pop from jump. These guys had Mark Jackson, so that foundation was set early methinks, and Kerr maybe can only do so much with it at this point in those player’s careers.
Another advantage to Klay in coming off the bench is that his diminished defense is less of an issue, especially when he's matched up against the other team's bench mob. He'll be just there to score, sort of like Jamal Crawford or late-career Kyle Korver.
Agree with that - also, I would love to keep Klay for a bench role (assuming no big changes to the roster) because, when he’s missing, he doesn’t know when to quit. It will be easier for Kerr to pull him before he shoots us out of games and leave him in when he’s hitting. Klay’s always been streaky - now more than ever.
If he fully buys in and Kerr doesn’t overplay him I think he can really be a game changing asset. Unfortunately Klay’s ego and Kerr’s extreme loyalty make that unlikely.
Not many guys around who can come off the bench and score 15 points in 5 minutes and swing a game. Perfect role for him.
Careers obviously can’t be compared, but I think the Warriors and Klay might both be at that stage the Warriors and Monta Ellis were right before the latter was traded.
At that point back in the day, the team was fringe of the fringe of playoffs contention, and Monta was probably better off being a sixth man for a winner but wouldn’t accept that yet. Monta’s ego was more adamant though in his ego telling him he was a (starting) star, though he was younger than Klay is now and was closer to his peak (which of course was lower than Klay’s own peak).
The Warriors now might be better off, like they were then, moving on and clearing the way for a new(er) era. As long as the Big 3 is in tact, the expectations are rings, and we’re at the point where that’s more and more unrealistic. It might be more helpful just to get playoff experience for the youngsters and that was a failure this year.
Back then, Steph, Klay, Dray, et Al were playoff upstarts getting that experience without the immediate rings expectation and the more they got that over a couple seasons, the deeper they could go.
So the agenda to me can’t be “let’s keep the vets and get ‘em rings” anymore imo, because it’s not realistic. It’s gotta be the next transition stage, and that might necessitate clearing out the old guys—whether gradually or immediately, by choice or not—the way the Celtics cleared out their Pierce/Allen/Garnetts or they way todays OKC Thunder had happened because of moving forward after Durant/Westbrook had moved on or were moved.
Of course agendas in the immediate post-Monta era was different than whatever it is now, but I think the former is less cluttered than it is now, and thus was easier to implement, though getting rid of Monta was most definitely NOT that easy or popular. But hindsight makes it obvious. Move forward into the future, not hold on to a past that keeps the team falling short.
Both involve hope but the difference between both and then and now was that hope then for the future was in a Steph who was still aging toward his peak. Hope now for the past involves a Steph who is aging beyond his peak.
So for Klay, that’s even more pronounced. And like Monta before him, he might have to be the first domino to fall to clear out the way for a brighter future to begin to develop. Followed eventually at some point by Steph whether it can be admitted or not. That won’t be popular and Lacob would get even worse boos than he did for Monta that night he faced the Oracle crowd after he traded him. But I’m sure he’d do that again. And he probably will have to, if he wants what’s once again good for the future.
"Back then, Steph, Klay, Dray, et Al were playoff upstarts getting that experience without the immediate rings expectation" Not so true of Igoudala. He was a 9-yr veteran with 6 years of playoff experience as a starter (albeit mostly in the first round) when he came to the Warriors. He had been an All Star two season prior. He was brought here as a savvy veteran who could help push us over the top, not a young upstart.
I’d hesitate to say it was immediate rings or bust back then though, and nowhere near a mentality or priority that existed for Andre like there is now of a “championship window” that needs to be urgently opportuned (I’m making up a word usage there) for Steph.
I don’t even know if Andre felt close to that as much as he wanted to just play with Steph and that squad that took out his Nuggets that last year he was in Denver.
I would be happiest if the Three We Drafted all retired together- what an amazing sports legacy that would be. But I can also imagine Klay really enjoying being a micro-wave scorer off the bench and a legend in the locker room for some young team that needs the experience and the shooting.
So many other young upstart teams just below, or at the playoff edge that could use some serious playoff savvy vets. Cavs, Pacers, Bulls, Kangz, Rockets …
Positionless basketball: Real or Myth? I feel like I’m hugely unqualified to discuss, but here: It’s not really about the ends of positions. Instead it’s about the meshing, and need for, particular skill sets. There isn’t a single combination of desirable skills, instead there are interesting combinations that can work. The big change is the breaking of the connection between height and certain skills. Here’s the utterly wrong, reductionist way of things.
Old days: Tall rim defender = center in the old days. Short guy with good dribbling and passing skills = point guard. SG is a shooter. SF can defend. PF is a scorer in the paint, good at picking and rolling with the PG.
New days: The skills don’t map to height at all. Need one great ball handler/passer. Three guys need to be able to shoot, ideally from 3. Spacing!! At least one defensive stopper on the other team’s best scorer. Everyone has to be able to make credible passes. Extra credit for weird packages: tall guy who can dribble and pass? Great! Short guy with amazing hands who can defend in the paint? Sweet! There’s a lot more.
In my view, most if not all of the Warriors' problems would be solved if they both practiced and played games with a LOT more Sade on the speakers. The smooth jazzy vibes, that incredible voice ... it just seems like the right move. At a time when a lot of teams are going with current, predominantly hip hop or pop sounds, I think the Warriors could pretty much corner the market on Sade-inspired basketball, and reinvigorate a new dynasty. Sign my petition below if you agree.
At this point I genuinely do not know. I would not be surprised if Klay leaves for more pay or a guaranteed starting spot. His massive fall-off on defense versus the fact that he is one of the few spacers left on a team that even with Stephen Curry has some of the worst spacing in the league also make me conflicted on how I feel about it (in the mid-term, on the day Klay's departure were to be announced I'd lock myself in a room with Klay Thompson highlights).
All I know is that if Klay leaves the Moody stans and their demand to start their boy now that evil Klay is gone will be unbearable ... so I guess in the end I want Klay back after all.
I'm pretty high on Moody, but if Klay signs a new contract, Moody is probably going to be traded. The only question would be if the extend him this summer to create a larger salary slot and then trade next year, or try to use his current contact with Wiggins and a pick to get an upgrade on Wiggins. If I understand the numbers correctly, once CP3 is off, signing Klay to a $25m/ year deal still leaves the Warriors under the 2nd apron so they can aggregate.
I think Klay returns, but I feel like he'd fit better with a young team needing a veteran sniper.
The improvements we need must be in-house; Moody needs to prove himself as a starting two-guard, Wiggs needs to play like we all know he's capable of, and JK, well it's one of two things imo, he either proves himself as the better 3 over Wiggs by working on his outside shot, specifically catch-and-shoot, or becomes a monster at the 4 making Dray come off the bench, which would be pretty insane if that happens.
I agree that JK needs to improve his shooting and your general description. But isn't the idea of position oriented basketball dated, and isn't it Kerr who basically destroyed it? Which makes me so confused when he says in interviews that he can't figure out if he should play Kuminga as the three or four, depends on his improvement as a passer. Was Iguodala or Barnes or Durant a three a four a nine or whatever or did he just figure out the best lineups. Steph's career began with a lot of handwringing as to whether he was a TRUE point guard. No one worries about that any more.
Positionless basketball is a myth, the Nick Nurse Raptors post-Kawhi were the closest to trying it with just stockpiling wings with long arms but it didn’t really work. There are 100% still positions in the NBA, it’s just that what each position is allowed/expected to do has expanded and the size of the players that can play each role is less regimented.
What has changed is the number of guys 6-8 and taller that have good perimeter skills.
JK has clearly proven in my opinion that he is too small to be a starting 4.
You can muck things up if you have a guy like KD who can easily guard 4’s, but bottom line you need to be able to defend and rebound vs size and the Warriors as currently constructed cannot do that with JK as the 4.
Heard the same about guards over a decade ago, yet, 72 inches STEPH, and 77 inches KLAY CHANGED THE NBA GAME! Not to mention 78" DRAY...That 80" HARRISON was no slouch either, one poor PLAYOFFS, notwithstanding...
Amazingly, there are scenarios where GSW can offer Klay a healthy amount like low $20 millions, so the GSW offer won’t be micro. But I think it can’t be macro because of needing to stay below the second apron, so GSW can be outbid by other teams.
I am planning to have an interview with Perks from GSW Reddit about these issues. I’ll put out a call for questions in a future post.
If I might put my question out now : "Which teams are going to have cap room to add Klay at more than $20m/year?" I can see that the Magic can by letting Markelle Fultz walk, which they will do as he has been both bad and injured a lot, but it has to be a pretty short list. And after that the question is "Does Klay really want to play for one of those teams?"
These are the times that I wish Jerry West was still advising the Warriors...
Congratulations on not getting swept, Lakers.
Rats. Would have been glad for the sweep. On to Denver!
Gentleman’s Sweep instead (like the ‘17 Finals).
Watching the playoffs is making me think about this: is this the end of an era? And I don't mean just for the Warriors, but for the other teams with aging veterans like the Lakers, Suns, and the Clippers.
Feels like the era ended last year, and this year is just hammering the point home with a sledge hammer to get through the thickest of skulls.
Did you not see the pregame show? That's all they were talking about.
I think in the future players like KD will elect to stay on a team with one or more super start as they start to age.
Every year is.
Having so much fun watching these PlayOffs!
Watching all these skilled and lengthy players, it dawns on me that the Dubs are a team of ‘tweeners’, many of whom are on the undersized end of the spectrum. Klay, Dray, Kuminga, TJD, and even Steph (despite mega-strength) are a bit or quite a bit undersized for their current positions.
And unlike dynastic years past, the Dubs don’t have a roster with players that can do 2 or more or the following: shooting, scoring, passing and playmaking.
So, a lot of undersized, aging or inexperienced, and one-dimensional players.
Anyway, back to watching the Nuggets and remembering what the ‘beautiful game’ looks like.
If I’m the Front Office, everyone is on the trade block. Yes, everyone. Especially players that might bring back a haul of players and picks. Boston did it with KG and PP, and they got Brown and Tatum for doing so.
So our play-in rivals down the stretch:
Sacramento: out in play-in
Lakers: Down 3-0
Phoenix: Down 3-0
Pelicans: Down 3-0
Looks like we have some work to do.
Especially with Houston, Memphis and San Antonio all likely to be better next season, even making the playoffs in the west is going to be challenging. Being good enough to reach the conference finals and beyond requires being *a lot* better, and that just seems pretty unlikely.
They need to rename the Oscar Robertson Trophy for the Western Conference Finals to the Larry O'brien.
It’s the Magic Johnson trophy though
That's for Finals Conference MVP
Somewhat under the usual hype-attention wire is this unimportant storyline:
It's quite plausible that in decades to come both LeBron and Jokic will be considered candidates for GOAT status. A classic dumb sports argument. Depends of course what Jokic does in the next decade.
But if that does happen, then a lot of focus will be put on these past two years. An argument for Jokic will be "He dominated LeBron head to head." Never mind that LeBron is 68 years old and that head to head isn't really that meaningful in a team sport.
this isn't a basketball question so much as an emotions one. If LeBron says OK I'll take the league minimum and play with GSW for a year, see if Steph and Klay and Dray and I can get ring, you'd say. ..?
I'll buy his GSW jersey
I’m reminded of Gary Payton and Karl Malone joining Shaq and Kobe, except I don’t know if the Dubs would even make the finals
Come on down
No thanks.
The more the oldies in a team the less are their chances of surviving a regular season and going deep in the playoffs. On the other hand if Kerr can just play all the young guys and leave the OGs for the 4th quarter only, then maybe they will have a shot 😬 - and we know “if Kerr can…” is highly unlikely because he always prefers experience over youth
Lebron be off his meds.
Seriously, though, if he's shopping for a place to win a title, or a place to play with Bronny, why would he choose us? I have to believe there are 5 or 6 teams with better chances at a title that would love to have him on a min.
But, to answer your question, sure ... the passing and size on defense would be a very good fit, even if it pushed Kuminga to the bench again.
I think if you trade out CP3 for Lebron, that’s a team that’s easy to see competing for a chip. Steph and Lebron can let each other play fewer minutes.
That’d seem pretty attractive a destination and he can stay connected to CA stuff.
If he comes to ride steph's bus, let's go!
At this point it's the old guys giving it a go to beat the upcoming youth in the league. That would be my framing
This is what I’ve been saying. It’s potentially the a great story. Aging Superman and Batman team up.
My heart say 'Hell, no' but my brain says, 'Well, if he'll take the minimum, that would be hard to turn down...'
Would that mean Draymond comes off the bench?
Nope, LeBron would get Wiggins' job.
Wait i just remembered, we'd also be required to draft Bronny. Lol.
I hadn't taken it that far, as to figure out lineups.
Ooo, idea. Keep CP, get LeBron, trade Wiggins for PJ Tucker, and let's roll out the oldest lineup ever. CP, Steph, LeBron Tucker and Looney, because no one is older than Looney.
Klay has a big ego and I truly wonder if he can be happy being a 6th man. He did it for a short time, but can he accept it as permanent?
It seems so obvious that the role of coming off the bench and having free rein to fire away is made to order for him, but what does he really believe.
I could also see a mindset of ok, I am in a different role so why not a different team with a better chance to win. A new start to a new career. I would be leaning that way if I was him. He also is single, no kids to worry about moving.
I think he leaves and gets more money too.
he just doesn't have that Manu mentality
I really wish Klay and Dray went into these years as gracefully as Manu and Tony Parker did attitude-wise. I don’t mean giving up, just actually being graceful sportsmen. Steph and Duncan did it/ do it and so far only Duncan’s “other two” stayed in step.
And they stayed competitive for the most part to the end. These Warrior teams are arguably better than those twilight Spurs teams and could really do more damage if yeah, Klay especially could accept a different role.
But yep, the egos are different. Coaches were too; I don’t think Pop would let slide some or much of what Kerr does at this point nor be inconsistent in treatment depending on a player’s years played. But those Spurs had Pop from jump. These guys had Mark Jackson, so that foundation was set early methinks, and Kerr maybe can only do so much with it at this point in those player’s careers.
Yea but a totally different player than Manu. They couldn’t be more different.
Another advantage to Klay in coming off the bench is that his diminished defense is less of an issue, especially when he's matched up against the other team's bench mob. He'll be just there to score, sort of like Jamal Crawford or late-career Kyle Korver.
Agree with that - also, I would love to keep Klay for a bench role (assuming no big changes to the roster) because, when he’s missing, he doesn’t know when to quit. It will be easier for Kerr to pull him before he shoots us out of games and leave him in when he’s hitting. Klay’s always been streaky - now more than ever.
It will be interesting to see what happens.
If he fully buys in and Kerr doesn’t overplay him I think he can really be a game changing asset. Unfortunately Klay’s ego and Kerr’s extreme loyalty make that unlikely.
Not many guys around who can come off the bench and score 15 points in 5 minutes and swing a game. Perfect role for him.
What's crazy is that only with the Warriors would he be featured the way he was and have a coach who had nearly unwavering confidence in him.
If he leaves, he's gonna killed by that teams media when he goes into a slump.
Feels like his ego is his own worst enemy for the last two seasons.
Careers obviously can’t be compared, but I think the Warriors and Klay might both be at that stage the Warriors and Monta Ellis were right before the latter was traded.
At that point back in the day, the team was fringe of the fringe of playoffs contention, and Monta was probably better off being a sixth man for a winner but wouldn’t accept that yet. Monta’s ego was more adamant though in his ego telling him he was a (starting) star, though he was younger than Klay is now and was closer to his peak (which of course was lower than Klay’s own peak).
The Warriors now might be better off, like they were then, moving on and clearing the way for a new(er) era. As long as the Big 3 is in tact, the expectations are rings, and we’re at the point where that’s more and more unrealistic. It might be more helpful just to get playoff experience for the youngsters and that was a failure this year.
Back then, Steph, Klay, Dray, et Al were playoff upstarts getting that experience without the immediate rings expectation and the more they got that over a couple seasons, the deeper they could go.
So the agenda to me can’t be “let’s keep the vets and get ‘em rings” anymore imo, because it’s not realistic. It’s gotta be the next transition stage, and that might necessitate clearing out the old guys—whether gradually or immediately, by choice or not—the way the Celtics cleared out their Pierce/Allen/Garnetts or they way todays OKC Thunder had happened because of moving forward after Durant/Westbrook had moved on or were moved.
Of course agendas in the immediate post-Monta era was different than whatever it is now, but I think the former is less cluttered than it is now, and thus was easier to implement, though getting rid of Monta was most definitely NOT that easy or popular. But hindsight makes it obvious. Move forward into the future, not hold on to a past that keeps the team falling short.
Both involve hope but the difference between both and then and now was that hope then for the future was in a Steph who was still aging toward his peak. Hope now for the past involves a Steph who is aging beyond his peak.
So for Klay, that’s even more pronounced. And like Monta before him, he might have to be the first domino to fall to clear out the way for a brighter future to begin to develop. Followed eventually at some point by Steph whether it can be admitted or not. That won’t be popular and Lacob would get even worse boos than he did for Monta that night he faced the Oracle crowd after he traded him. But I’m sure he’d do that again. And he probably will have to, if he wants what’s once again good for the future.
Technically, Klay moped, but Monta moped-ed ... ed.
"Back then, Steph, Klay, Dray, et Al were playoff upstarts getting that experience without the immediate rings expectation" Not so true of Igoudala. He was a 9-yr veteran with 6 years of playoff experience as a starter (albeit mostly in the first round) when he came to the Warriors. He had been an All Star two season prior. He was brought here as a savvy veteran who could help push us over the top, not a young upstart.
I’d hesitate to say it was immediate rings or bust back then though, and nowhere near a mentality or priority that existed for Andre like there is now of a “championship window” that needs to be urgently opportuned (I’m making up a word usage there) for Steph.
I don’t even know if Andre felt close to that as much as he wanted to just play with Steph and that squad that took out his Nuggets that last year he was in Denver.
And so would Klay be on some other team.
Indeed. He's older, slower, nowhere near the defender, but a much better shooter than Dre was when he came here.
I would be happiest if the Three We Drafted all retired together- what an amazing sports legacy that would be. But I can also imagine Klay really enjoying being a micro-wave scorer off the bench and a legend in the locker room for some young team that needs the experience and the shooting.
if he can't cope with coming off the bench here why would it be different elsewhere?
So many other young upstart teams just below, or at the playoff edge that could use some serious playoff savvy vets. Cavs, Pacers, Bulls, Kangz, Rockets …
Orlando Magic.
Positionless basketball: Real or Myth? I feel like I’m hugely unqualified to discuss, but here: It’s not really about the ends of positions. Instead it’s about the meshing, and need for, particular skill sets. There isn’t a single combination of desirable skills, instead there are interesting combinations that can work. The big change is the breaking of the connection between height and certain skills. Here’s the utterly wrong, reductionist way of things.
Old days: Tall rim defender = center in the old days. Short guy with good dribbling and passing skills = point guard. SG is a shooter. SF can defend. PF is a scorer in the paint, good at picking and rolling with the PG.
New days: The skills don’t map to height at all. Need one great ball handler/passer. Three guys need to be able to shoot, ideally from 3. Spacing!! At least one defensive stopper on the other team’s best scorer. Everyone has to be able to make credible passes. Extra credit for weird packages: tall guy who can dribble and pass? Great! Short guy with amazing hands who can defend in the paint? Sweet! There’s a lot more.
Seems like "arm length" is the new "tall."
“With or without you
With or without you, oh
I can't live
With or without you”
Courteously by U2.
Magic and Cavs series is such a classic example of inexperience vs soft. Who’s going to win the road game first? Somebody has to.
Why? The Cavs can just win four at home and move on.
My brain was fried on that comment honestly
In my view, most if not all of the Warriors' problems would be solved if they both practiced and played games with a LOT more Sade on the speakers. The smooth jazzy vibes, that incredible voice ... it just seems like the right move. At a time when a lot of teams are going with current, predominantly hip hop or pop sounds, I think the Warriors could pretty much corner the market on Sade-inspired basketball, and reinvigorate a new dynasty. Sign my petition below if you agree.
Diamond Life in the Golden State!
Don’t you think
Steph is a smooth operator?
No need to ask ...
😂😂😂
"He move in space with minimum waste and maximum joy"
At this point I genuinely do not know. I would not be surprised if Klay leaves for more pay or a guaranteed starting spot. His massive fall-off on defense versus the fact that he is one of the few spacers left on a team that even with Stephen Curry has some of the worst spacing in the league also make me conflicted on how I feel about it (in the mid-term, on the day Klay's departure were to be announced I'd lock myself in a room with Klay Thompson highlights).
All I know is that if Klay leaves the Moody stans and their demand to start their boy now that evil Klay is gone will be unbearable ... so I guess in the end I want Klay back after all.
What people wanted to see was based on the roster construction last year.
Hopefully the dubs don't just run it back and things get spicy for the right reasons next seaosn.
I'm pretty high on Moody, but if Klay signs a new contract, Moody is probably going to be traded. The only question would be if the extend him this summer to create a larger salary slot and then trade next year, or try to use his current contact with Wiggins and a pick to get an upgrade on Wiggins. If I understand the numbers correctly, once CP3 is off, signing Klay to a $25m/ year deal still leaves the Warriors under the 2nd apron so they can aggregate.
What leads to the poison pill rule?
I think Klay returns, but I feel like he'd fit better with a young team needing a veteran sniper.
The improvements we need must be in-house; Moody needs to prove himself as a starting two-guard, Wiggs needs to play like we all know he's capable of, and JK, well it's one of two things imo, he either proves himself as the better 3 over Wiggs by working on his outside shot, specifically catch-and-shoot, or becomes a monster at the 4 making Dray come off the bench, which would be pretty insane if that happens.
I agree that JK needs to improve his shooting and your general description. But isn't the idea of position oriented basketball dated, and isn't it Kerr who basically destroyed it? Which makes me so confused when he says in interviews that he can't figure out if he should play Kuminga as the three or four, depends on his improvement as a passer. Was Iguodala or Barnes or Durant a three a four a nine or whatever or did he just figure out the best lineups. Steph's career began with a lot of handwringing as to whether he was a TRUE point guard. No one worries about that any more.
Positionless basketball is a myth, the Nick Nurse Raptors post-Kawhi were the closest to trying it with just stockpiling wings with long arms but it didn’t really work. There are 100% still positions in the NBA, it’s just that what each position is allowed/expected to do has expanded and the size of the players that can play each role is less regimented.
Disagree. What OKC is now and what SA is becoming is pretty much the definition of positionless basketball.
A lot of that has to do with Chet and Wemby, of course.
I'd also add that it works when everyone is a scoring threat from the perimeter.
That's a really tough roster to build.
Agree 100 pct.
Positions will never go away.
What has changed is the number of guys 6-8 and taller that have good perimeter skills.
JK has clearly proven in my opinion that he is too small to be a starting 4.
You can muck things up if you have a guy like KD who can easily guard 4’s, but bottom line you need to be able to defend and rebound vs size and the Warriors as currently constructed cannot do that with JK as the 4.
Heard the same about guards over a decade ago, yet, 72 inches STEPH, and 77 inches KLAY CHANGED THE NBA GAME! Not to mention 78" DRAY...That 80" HARRISON was no slouch either, one poor PLAYOFFS, notwithstanding...
That is 74" STEPH...
Money-wise, I don’t see how we can keep Klay, unless he re-signed for some micro amount. It seems unlikely.
Amazingly, there are scenarios where GSW can offer Klay a healthy amount like low $20 millions, so the GSW offer won’t be micro. But I think it can’t be macro because of needing to stay below the second apron, so GSW can be outbid by other teams.
I am planning to have an interview with Perks from GSW Reddit about these issues. I’ll put out a call for questions in a future post.
If I might put my question out now : "Which teams are going to have cap room to add Klay at more than $20m/year?" I can see that the Magic can by letting Markelle Fultz walk, which they will do as he has been both bad and injured a lot, but it has to be a pretty short list. And after that the question is "Does Klay really want to play for one of those teams?"