He's still a good player but not even close to as good as he was the last 2 seasons. You'd think they'd be great still without Durant since they won 88 games without him last year. And yet they look REALLY beatable right now. What's the deal?
Cmon dude. They lost Barnes, Bogut, and Ezeli to get Durant. That's why they're not as good right now as they were last year.
They have already talked about not caring about the regular season. They are just waiting to get to the playoffs. They are nowhere near as focused as they were last year at this time.
I think Curry still looks a step slow. Not sure if he's ever fully recovered from those ankle/knee injuries and with Durant out he could be overworking them again. The problem is that 50% of Curry is like 110% of most players. It's the new alternative math.
And Leandro Barbosa. They gutted their team besides 5 people, for Durant, and now they don't have Durant. They've been surviving (thriving) on talent alone. And they just lost a LOT of that talent. McNoName only lights us up, because we have a horrible defensive backcourt. If Durant doesn't come back, just as good as he was before the injury, they get beaten in the west playoffs. Curry is the same level player, it's the team that was designed to make him great, that's worse.
They have no depth, no big body screens to get Curry going early. You see the difference between Plumlee/Nurk screens for Lillard/CJ. A solid screen really helps get shooters open.
I just hope the Blazers pound the crap out of them so bad that the Spurs beat them. How sweet it would be to see the Warriors lose again even after getting Durant.
And he shot 10/27. I'm talking about Curry. His shooting percentages are down and 2 seasons ago, he averaged 11 assists, I think. So he's not shooting as well or setting up his teammates. He's still a good player but not a top 5 MVP candidate after winning it in back to back years including the first unanimous win. If he depends on Ezeli, Bogut, and Barnes to play great, maybe he's not as good as we thought. I wouldn't trade Dame for him.
No. He made the role players good and got them big contracts from other teams and then they sucked. Jud Buechler, for instance, got a big contract from Detroit because Jordan made him look good. The greats do this.
For Seth or Steph? I wouldn't trade Dame for any player in this league. But that's me. I want to win with Dame. Dame specifically said he wants to win it all IN Portland. I'm on board.
