I think LeBron James used his power unwisely. The Lakers were on the verge of using basically the package they sent to Washington for Westbrook to get Buddy Hield from Sacramento. Hield isn't as splashy a name as Westbrook, but he would have fit into LA's offense perfectly (and defensively, well, he's as uninterested as Westbrook). But James had to have Westbrook, because Westbrook is more famous. Maybe James can ruminate on that when Westbrook is shooting LA out of a game, or when James has to navigate through a packed paint because there's no one out on the perimeter that defenses respect.
If you have a bunch of old players with injuries even at game 0, they won't get healthier after 82 games.
We should enjoy mocking the Lakers while we have the chance - there's not going to be much of the season where we have a better record than them.
The thing about Westbrook is that he's always ass when he starts with a new team, but then by the second half of the season he always turns it around (see Washington for most recent example). Until the playoffs, of course.
Except for the fact that there's only one guard. Knowing that, who on that list (after game 1) would you predict to be relegated to the second team by season's end?
Durant was a SG his rookie year (which is probably partly why he's got such good handles - you can thank PJ Carlesimo for that).
Under the radar signing: Bjelica has finally landed on a good team and his true value may show. He's like a poor man's Jokic.
Agree. I was impressed with him last night. I have seen flashes in the past, but he looked very solid with the Warriors offense, and loved his crisp interior passing and ability to drive and dish. Very underrated signing.
To the discussion of what position those players play now, the position KD played in 2007 is as relevant as the position AD played in 2007. Fact is, both are frontcourt players now. Do you honestly want to dispute that?
The other addition I'd make to the "Durant at shooting guard" conversation is that Durant looked terrible that year, hated the position and Carlisimo was pilloried for that decision. I don't think that's why Durant has good handles for a big man--I think causality flows the other direction: Durant had good handles for a big, so Carlisimo tried to play him as a super-sized guard. It's not like Durant couldn't use his dribbling skills at small forward. Funny enough, now I think he could probably play any position in a pinch just due to how all-around skilled he's become, but I doubt he'd ever agree to play guard again. He's much more likely to move up the positional spectrum, not down. He's a 3 who's comfortable playing small ball 4 or 5.
All correct, but it's not obvious Carlisimo was wrong. Remember Durant was a girlie-man who couldn't do the minimum bench at the combine even once. Playing him at PF would have been a disaster then. SF was probably his best position, but he didn't get beat up much at SG.
Oh, I'm not saying that "3 who can play 4 or 5" was at all viable back then. Not only has he put on muscle since then, the league has changed a lot. I'm saying that today, he's much more suited to play up a position or two, not down.
Yeah I can see where Russ will be very beneficial throughout the season when LBJ goes to the bench, is injured, or just sits out various games. He will give them that energy and offense. But the Lakers took more 3's last night than the Warriors did. (42) Together they are not exactly simpatico.....yet. Lebron shot it great (5-11) from deep, but there were times when he demanded to initiate the offense (like he always has preferred to do) and Russ looked like a spectator. Let's hope that blows up in their faces. Going down the stretch of close games, Russ is the 3rd option at best, can he hit those clutch jump shots?
