ESPN:Chad Ford Offseason Grades For The West

The Warriors are going to be a monster to play this season even with a weaker bench....the thing I disagree with that someone posted is that they will get rest...they are going to play huge minutes with their starters and 3 of them played in Rio this summer..I think it'll be tougher for them to put it together than they think with so many guys wanting the ball. One of four of their starting lineup is going to get left out in the cold...my guess would be Klay and he's capable of being a franchise player for many teams. I like our depth against them as it stands, but you'll have to shoot lights out to outscore them.

 

David West will be huge for the Warriors this season

 

But Durant was THE best acquisition of ANY team this offseason. There wasn't any other player acquired in the draft, via free agency or via trade that will be better than Kevin Durant in 2016-17, 2017-18 or 2018-19. Durant isn't just light years ahead of anyone the Clippers picked up during the offseason, he's better than anyone on their entire roster.

Big deal, if Bass and Speights will fit better with the Clippers offense than their last teams, they aren't even in the same class as adding a player of Kevin Durant's caliber - and neither plays defense.

And Zaza doesn't suck. He averaged 8.6/9.5 in 26 MPG last year - compared to Bogut's 5.4/7.0. Zaza also had a higher PER and higher per36 averages, and most importantly was healthy enough to play over 2000 minutes compared to Bogut's 1471 minutes played. He will start at the 5 for GSW, with Green at the 4, Durant at the 3, Thompson at the 2 and Curry at the 1. Livingston and Iguodala will be their first two players off the bench and and far better than anyone the Clippers will have coming off their bench. GSW's starters are light years better than LAC's and in spite of their losses, their bench is STILL better than the Clipper's.

Hell, old man David West was beter last year than anyone the Clippers will have coming off their bench this year. Mo Speights is a one way, black hole of the player. When he gets the ball, he shoots, He does nothing else, including playing defense. Alan Anderson is a 34-year old shooting guard who played a total of 13 games on an injury depleted WAS team last year. Brandon Bass is 31 and put up 7/4 on a 23-win team. And Raymond Felton, is Raymond Felton. 'Nuff said. I still say that Cole Aldrich and Jeff Green are far better than any bench players the Clippers added. Aldrich is a great rim protector and a very efficient, if limited, scorer and Green is better than any SF they have on their current roster.

GSW = A for landing the best player to change teams since LeBron returned to CLE
LAC = D- for not addressing their weakness at starting SF and making an already shitty bench even worse.

BNM

 

Not a chance that happens. Even if that is their best lineup, why would you use it that many minutes. They went SBDS too much last year, I think they going back to just using it the last 6 minutes of the game.

And, honest question, where do you think they lost talent on their bench. They changed quite a few players but it seems to me like they got a similar or upgraded guy for everyone they lost. Is Barbosa really that much better than McCaw? Speights over West? Bogut is better than Zaza but is it that much? Then add in the potential of Kevon Looney. I see total of the non-Durant moves as a lateral one, maybe a slight downgrade at worst.

 

We appreciate your leaving Festus off the list, but in answer...your bench didn't get better in my view and I thought West would be a game changer for the Spurs but in the end....he's just older and slower..Barbosa, Ezeli and Speights were more important than you give them credit for...Barbosa is old but the dude still has wheels.

 

While I pretty much agree with BNM, this is not a college (or high school) class. The grades don't mean a thing. Just a way to fill space until October. The real grades will be decided on the court. I mean, this is fun, but nothing to get het up about.

Yeah, right. This is S2.

 

Exactly! It's early September. No games are being played, not even the Olympics to distract us. So, we need to talk about something.

Difference of opinion, spirited debate and flame wars are the coal that makes this train roll and help line Denny's pockets with gold. Thankfully, all out flame wars are rare around here. We are generally respectful in our disagreements, like Chris Craig and I are here. Time and games played may show him to be right, or me to be right, or us both to be wrong. Who knows, it's all speculation at this time.

BNM