Raise your hand if you're intending to watch the NBA Finals

[AHF]

1 hour ago, macdaddy said:

The whole purpose of the salary cap (other than saving owners from themselves) is to give all the teams a fair shot.   But it doesn't work.   When teams can work the system to go $30 million over then it's broken.   

Cleveland's committed salary for 2019-2020 season is more than Utah's total this past season. 

 

To me, the issue is less about being able to go over the cap and more about being able to pay certain players waaaayyyy less than their market value.  Paying  Joe Johnson the max means you are getting what you pay for in terms of market value.  You get zero advantage - you just play a ton for a very good player.  You pay the same or less for LeBron James and you get a huge advantage because the value is way more than his cost and you get to add more value to the rest of the roster.  Now add in people ring chasing on submarket contracts and that only exacerbates the lack of balance.

Remove the max individual salaries and the current structure will be fine, IMO.

[Wretch]

18 hours ago, AHF said:

LeBron has done it twice.  It is a major strike against both of them.

Totally agreed.  

I hope I don't come off as some kind of apologist because it couldn't be further from the truth.  My disgust for LeBron and that Heat team knew no bounds from 2010 to 2014.  I spent days going on roundabouts with friends and family on the finer points of sportsmanship and proper team building.  And while I could spend hours denouncing "the decision", slimy Pat RIley, the premature victory concert, the bandwagon, the predictions...Durant basically was like, "Hold my beer."  

And let us not forget...

I don't have the words for it all.  I'm a fan of Stephen A. Smith, about as much as was a fan of the Big 3 Heat...but I don't have a better way to describe Durant's escape to Golden State.  It's just weak...

 

 

[DennistheMenace17]

One of the reasons why I'm watching is because I want to see Korver catch fire.  

Oh whatever, we're all gonna watch the games either way. 

[Guard]

This is the least interested I've been in the NBA in years. Wouldn't surprise me if I stopped watching all together very soon. I barely watched the regular season so it wouldn't be difficult for me to ignore the NBA entirely. 

The playoffs have been trash two years in a row now and GS isn't being stopped anytime soon. They have way more talent  than everyone else and their core players are all in their primes. There is a real problem when the 2nd best team in a sports league is struggling to match the best team. The talent differential is obvious between the two squads. It gets worse when you compare the differential with GS  and everyone else. 

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, Guard said:

This is the least interested I've been in the NBA in years. Wouldn't surprise me if I stopped watching all together very soon. I barely watched the regular season so it wouldn't be difficult for me to ignore the NBA entirely. 

The playoffs have been trash two years in a row now and GS isn't being stopped anytime soon. They have way more talent  than everyone else and their core players are all in their primes. There is a real problem when the 2nd best team in a sports league is struggling to match the best team. The talent differential is obvious between the two squads. It gets worse when you compare the differential with GS  and everyone else. 

Ya but one Curry ACL changes the entire outlook of this year and next possibly...just saying teams can be vulnerable.

Ps Did Adam Silver break the NBA or did Stern hand him a faulty piece of crap ready to break?

[AHF]

1 hour ago, Wretch said:

Totally agreed.  

I hope I don't come off as some kind of apologist because it couldn't be further from the truth.  My disgust for LeBron and that Heat team knew no bounds from 2010 to 2014.  I spent days going on roundabouts with friends and family on the finer points of sportsmanship and proper team building.  And while I could spend hours denouncing "the decision", slimy Pat RIley, the premature victory concert, the bandwagon, the predictions...Durant basically was like, "Hold my beer."  

And let us not forget...

I don't have the words for it all.  I'm a fan of Stephen A. Smith, about as much as was a fan of the Big 3 Heat...but I don't have a better way to describe Durant's escape to Golden State.  It's just weak...

 

 

No question it is weak.  Weak on LeBron.  Weak on Durant.  Their career epitaphs should read:

"Too weak to win on their own but won a bunch when they cherry picked situations to team up with other studs."

[Wretch]

52 minutes ago, Guard said:

This is the least interested I've been in the NBA in years. Wouldn't surprise me if I stopped watching all together very soon. I barely watched the regular season so it wouldn't be difficult for me to ignore the NBA entirely. 

The playoffs have been trash two years in a row now and GS isn't being stopped anytime soon. They have way more talent  than everyone else and their core players are all in their primes. There is a real problem when the 2nd best team in a sports league is struggling to match the best team. The talent differential is obvious between the two squads. It gets worse when you compare the differential with GS  and everyone else. 

...and Cleveland IS an incredibly talented team.  That's what blows my mind.  

I watch the GS crowd erupt, and I read all the bandwagon comments on social media, and I just don't understand how people enjoy and support this.  

[macdaddy]

The gap between GS and Cleveland doesn't bother me.  In fact i expect the series to even out some.

The gap between those 2 and the rest of the league is sad.    The rest of the league was 1-24 against those 2 teams in the playoffs.   Ridiculous.  

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Wretch said:

...and Cleveland IS an incredibly talented team.  That's what blows my mind.  

I watch the GS crowd erupt, and I read all the bandwagon comments on social media, and I just don't understand how people enjoy and support this.  

I had a conversation with my Heat-fan BIL yesterday.  He's in clear anti-Lebron denial so he tries to convince me that Durant's move wasn't bad for the league and wasn't the coward's way out.

I spelled out for him the fact that GSt could win with/without Durant and, in fact, OKC had their series last season vs GS won were it not for the fact that Durant folded late.

After I was done, he had nothing else to say.  He fell back on the lame excuse of, "well, it was his right to be a free agent, blah, blah, blah .."

I think a lot of the bandwagoners are like that.  They can't bring themselves to view it from an outsiders' perspective.  They chose to buy into the propaganda of, 'oh, he just did what he had the right to do.'  They ignore the wide-sweeping impact the move had on the sport overall.

I get it.  It wasn't illegal.  However, for the NBA as a whole, it was devastating.

The fact that Warrior fans and players alike act all cocky and arrogant about it just makes it 1,000 times worse.

Last year, them same "fans" were laughing at Durant's choke-job.  Now he's your hero?  Again, I get it but that don't make it right.

[AHF]

Your friend is conflating arguments to make himself feel better about the collusion job in Miami.  What is the player's right is a totally different thing than what is best for the league and the fans across the league.  It would have been within the rights of the UFA Dream Team members to all take low $$ contracts and sign with the same team and rampage the rest of the league while Jordan tells Isiah he can go #*$& himself before he gets to join the team.  

Would it have been good for the NBA?  Hell no!

What LeBron and Durant did is just a slightly diminished version of that.

[Sothron]

I don't watch the NBA playoffs once the Hawks or Twolves get eliminated. I honestly don't know if I can keep watching the NBA at all frankly. The GSW/CLE stranglehold for the next several seasons literally makes the 28 other teams worthless. Why waste time watching a team that literally has no chance of winning a title for at least the next 3-5 years?

[Sothron]

3 hours ago, Wretch said:

...and Cleveland IS an incredibly talented team.  That's what blows my mind.  

I watch the GS crowd erupt, and I read all the bandwagon comments on social media, and I just don't understand how people enjoy and support this.  

I don't either, Wretch. Watching GSW is like watching a Division 1 team play 8th grade JV. That is how sad it is. Other teams literally have no chance to compete against that. Durant broke the NBA. There is no other way to say it. I have no interest in watching the league now because of this. GSW will keep winning titles for the next 4-6 years, CLE will dominate the East for the next three seasons at least.

Why watch ANY OTHER team? Seriously?

[sturt]

I like a cap system that still allows you to spend enough dollars to keep your star players that you've developed.

I don't like... no, make that I find reprehensible... a cap system that allows players to manipulate that system in a way that allows them to gain advantage in the chase for championship rings.

But we're stuck with this until 2023.

Wish there was some way we could do something outside the bounds of the CBA to seriously impede that happening.

Anybody have any ideas?

(hehe)

[sturt]

http://nba.nbcsports.com/2017/06/06/kevin-durant-says-lebron-james-paved-the-way-for-his-move-will-other-free-agents-follow/

Though Durant says he did not consider James’ precedent, he readily admits, “He paved the way.”…

“As time goes on, and the changes start to become normal, people will start looking at it as normal,” Durant says. 

 

[Guest]

Muthaf*ckin Kyle just muthaf*ckin dunk't in tha muthaf*ckin Finals.

That is all.

[Guest]

KyleVP b*tches.  You are witnessing greatness.

[MaceCase]

Elton gonna be homeless if his bet with Kyle still stands. 

[marco102]

Umm.  I'm sorry, but I'm enjoying watching LBJ feel hopeless just like he's made the Hawks feel hopeless every year  they've met in the playoffs. 

You can hate the warriors, but they play the game the right way.  They share the ball, move without the ball, play tough defense.

I've enjoyed this coronation of GS which started in September.

 

[AUhawksfan]

Man I feel for Kyle after that one. Great game overall, and he had a chance to put it away but couldn't. You can tell how badly he wants to be there. He's the only one I saw come off the Cavs bench hustle, play tough D, and provide something for them. 

I thought he could've redeemed himself but they subbed JR in for him??? Then he proceeds to turn the ball over. JR made quite a few stupid plays and took some bad shots - should've given a hungry Kyle those minutes. 

I was going for Cavs over GS because how can you not like Kyle?  Too bad he won't get that ring. Zaza has been playing clumsy as hell and making some pretty stupid decisions/fouls that could've cost his team. Bringing back some bad memories.

[Thomas]

Well, it was a game that had some question to the outcome but in the end GSW is one game away from a sweep of the entire playoffs. Just shouldn't ever happen in any year and there is still at least some measure of chance it doesn't this time around. Easier to watch a close game than a blowout in the finals even if the teams involved are way more than just irritating to this Hawk's fan.