The NBA post-LeBron

Seeing we are ~5 years away from the eventual departure of LeBron (and with him likely, Warrior dominance). How do you envision the NBA landscape? Who do you think takes the mantle that Jordan took from the Celtics/Lakers, Kobe from Jordan, and LeBron from Kobe? What teams will be the teams of the 2020s?

 

Giannis and Ben Simmons aren't going anywhere.

 

teams with good to great young cores and a potential perennial all nba player. now the hard part. predicting the dominate players.
philly's core and a healthy embiid. pretty much hinges on him for the difference between competitive and dominant.
boston's young core of top flight wings and i believe tatum hasn't even scratched the surface of how good he will be.
knick's porzingis and the freak in milwaukee could grab the mantle but neither team really looks like they are likely to dominate anytime soon.
timberpups have some seriously gifted players but they seem flawed on defense.
of course after winning the summer league title, the blazers need to be in this conversation. really though we will be good/great as our youngsters become stars 5 years hence and still have dame.
(rose city glasses wearer typing here)

 

Celtic Studs entering their primes....

 

theres a lot of special players in the NBA right now, but I don’t think any of them are close to taking LBJ’s mantle as a generational player. It may be 5-10 years after Lebron retires where we find that player. Lebron is a special athlete...

 

Centers pulling up from three like Steph Curry off the dribble

 

We will see, there is always going to be a mantle holder. However, the next manltle holder is likely in high school right now.

 

Sometimes there is surprise team that catches lightning in a bottle like 2006 Heat and 2011 Mavs. I hope something like that can happen to us. Dame gets hot, he brings title to Portland, and gets a statue outside Moda.

 

Some people at realGM think LeBron has another TEN years left in NBA.

 

He might but the player he is 10 years from now won’t be as good as the player he is today.

 

I think the NBA is on a collision course with a lockout and a massive overhaul to the CBA. That will affect things more than the departure of Lebron.

 

what do you see as the causes and what will the aftermath look like in your opinion?

 

This is an interesting thought, can you expand on why you think things are going towards a lock out? At least publicly the NBA / NBAPA seem to be in a much better place with each other than say the NFL / NFLPA who very publicly are at odds.

 

I could see this, I’m sure the non 2016 free agents/non star players are upset with their pay levels.

 

nba is in a better place than ever in recent history. WTF are you talking about?

 

Post Lebron? If anything it'll only be like a year between Lebron retiring and Lebron Jr. getting drafted lol

 

Why do you think it is? The numbers I have seen show that the numbers are the best they have been since 2011... not all time. But the current landscape is getting increasingly difficult to build a championship title team without 4 all star caliber players. It used to be 3 and even before that 2 plus a 3rd bubble all star. In the 80's the "glory days of the dynasty (Celtics / Lakers) dynasties were built with the draft then traded to fine tune. Teams were able to keep their expiring free agents. Statistically now almost all players that are career level starters or all stars leave the team that drafted them after their 1st non rookie deal.

What has been built is a situation where a team should follow the plan of the 76ers and the "Process" it even if you look at that situation they had to move top 5 picks before they had to pay them because before the process pans out the owners have to start shelling out money. AKA they have to pay based on potential now more than ever.

Now you can argue that the Warriors / Lebron rivalry has been good, but I question if that will be good with the rivalry is in California only now.

The commissioner himself has said the cap is too soft and presents a situation that makes it nearly impossible for small markets to compete.

 

But that was the players fault, not the owners. They offered to have the cap jump gradually instead of a huge jump one year and the players said no.

 

- NBA just signed a 24 billion (with a B) media contract. Why do you care so much about how much the players are making when the owners are making just as much from the BRI?

- TV ratings are higher than ever even with the lack of perceived competitive balance. Houston was one CP injury away from beating Golden State. The lack of smoothing led to the blip in 2016-- it's already beginning to normalize. The 2016 CBA negotiations were anything but contentious and were completed in record time.

-Let's not forget that the team that won 73 games without KD was built almost entirely with the draft (Curry #7, Klay #11, Draymond #35). Minnesota could have drafted the same players and built the same team. They didn't. KD will leave next year.

-There is more talent now than ever before in history with 30 players who could be all stars in any other year.

-Just because we are in cap hell and paying Leonard/ET/Harkless 40 mil a year doesn't mean the rest of league is in a bad place. We needed to be better and smarter.

-How much do you hear in the NBA about PEDs or political scandals, or domestic violence, or life threatening injuries, or boring games, etc etc etc that plague other leagues? Adam Silver is the best and most progressive commissioner in professional sports. He has had literally 0 missteps in his tenure so far.