Is there a salary cap in the NBA?
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Is there a salary cap in the NBA?
Yup but it's pretty complex. Long story short, the golden State warriors are going to have all 5 key players (big 4 plus iggy) returning next year, but they'll have minimal wiggle room to sign anyone else.
I disagree on the Celtics for sure. Thompson can be a big positive on the offensive glass against any lineup the Celts use and he's enough of a roll threat to force coverage. JR, Korver and Shump are all pretty interchangeable pieces as 3 and D players and wouldn't be expected to do anything with the ball considering LeBron would have the ball 99% of the time SO the only liability is that all 3 might be extremely cold at any given time from three and LeBron will have to find creative ways to keep them engaged. Regardless, all three are competent wing defenders against the Celtics and wizards guards. The only issue I see is bron getting tired due to the lack of a backup point guard but he's shown he can a heavier load when he needs to. There's enough talent there (More then okc behind westbrook) to at least compete with the Celts and wiz. Still think the raps would be the toughest test in the east fully healthy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sanosuke
Once again, they wouldn't make the finals. Considering the fact that you immediately went to Tristan Thompson literally only rebounding again is a big reason why. Shump is trash. JR Smith is not a 3 and D player... he averages like 2 3's point FGs that hit the bottom of the net a game. And Lebron could have the ball 100% of the time for 48 minutes. They're not making the finals without Love and Irving.
EDIT: JR smith isn't even a starting caliber basketball player.
That's all Tristan Thompson adds on offense so are you really surprised that's what I went to? He's a long athletic dude with an elite talent for offensive rebounding (and I mean elite as in he'd make Horford, Olynyk and the Celtics 30th ranked defensive rebounding his bitch). He may not be a post scorer or shooter, but hes extremely high energy and he does an excellent job cleaning up JR smiths 3-4 missed threes a game that you're so concerned with lol. I'm sorry but I think the cavs would crush the Celtics with or without love and Kyrie and Thompson is the biggest reason (offensively and defensively) this side of LeBron that I have faith in that statement. Against the raps and wizards, simply based on matchups not skill (Celts smacked the wizards so the skill is similar), id probably agree that the cavs without love and Kyrie would have a hard time.
Also: I think you're crazy that you think JR doesn't belong in the NBA. The dude is at least a top 10 sg in the league despite his inconsistency.
I'm considering with him missing threes because they're wasted possessions because he's not a 3 and D player like you called him. Taking Westbrook out the rebounding totals, Thompson is barely in the top half of the league in rebounding. It's insane that you even brought up Shumpert. Lebron James is an incredible player, but he's not dragging the Cavs over the Wiz, Celtics, Raps at all.
Lol it's insane that you think Smith isn't a 3 and D player. He consistently hits 40% from three every year on spot up attempts and plays above average wing defense. His only issue is inconsistency and that's been cut down a ton since joining the cavs because LeBron keeps him as level as that dude possibly can be.
Also the fact that you don't think Tristan Thompson is an elite offensive rebounder is exposing you're basketball knowledge. He's literally top 5 every year in oreb% among NBA starters (bench players play against weaker opponents and even then he ranks in the top 10 every year). I'm not saying Thompson or Smith are excellent players, but they're both NBA starters with defined roles.
Oh and shumpert would probably start on a lot of NBA teams too. So there's that.
I said rebounder, not oREB. Yes he's a great offensive rebounder. Shumpert is not a starter. That dude has started more than have a season and averaged more than half a game's worth of minutes in previous seasons and is only averaging like 8 points. His stretch for the Knicks as poop. If he would be a starter on any other team, he'd be there by now and starting. But he isn't, so he's not. JR Smith hits 2 threes a game. He contributes like, 2 more FGs and like a couple FTs a game and that's it. You're citing all this defense and oREB but it's adding up to maybe like, 2-3 possessions. They simply will not outscore anyone without Irving and Love. Period.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spencer 555
Your entire argument was would the Cavs make the finals without Love and Irving, not how great of role players Thompson, Smith and Shumpert are.
The only thing that's being exposed is how air-headed you are because your circle of friends outside of the forums probably don't understand sports and you think you know everything under the sun about them.
In regards to shump: he's not a starter on the cavs and he wasn't a starter on the Knicks. You're right. But imo he has developed into a role that he excels at with the cavs and I think smart teams would recognize that skill. I didn't say Shump would start for any other team, I just said that he COULD start for a lot of other NBA teams in his current role. I don't think Courtney Lee is better then shumpert for example.
In regards to thompson. My whole argument as to why Thompson would crush the Celtics on offense was because of his offensive rebounding talent and you're rebuttal was that he wasn't that good of a rebounder. Don't backtrack lol. Here's how the convo has gone in my eyes:
You: Thompson is an offensive liability
Me: against the Celtics, Thompson's offensive rebounding would make him a huge positive on that end... and he's really not that bad on offense; just limited.
You: Thompson isn't that good at rebounding.
Me: yea he is? Wtf?
You: I meant rebounding in general, not simply offensive rebounding
Me: backtracking?
In regards to your statement critiquing my "entire argument": my argument is pointless if I don't make a case for Thompson and the other cavs role players. How am I supposed to prove to you that the cavs would make the finals without love and Kyrie without highlighting the cavs role players and stating reasons why they would matchup well against the east. Am I just supposed to be like "Oh true ur right what was I thinking, silly me"?
In regards to you questioning my social circle: ...
It's not that simple Sano. If you take Love and Irving out, that gives you about 35-40 more shots to distribute to other players. While they aren't as individually talented as those 2, role players can usually play better with better rhythm (easy to play better when you know you're getting shots) and when you have LeBron, he can generate a lot of open shots for teammates to further enhance their value. That is not something debatable, LeBron has literally done this multiple times throughout his career. Also, with a LeBron heavy offense, his teams tend to focus more on defense, which hasn't been great the past two years, especially this year. The team he took to the finals without Love and Irving hobbled was pretty great defensively.
I don't think LeBron without Irving and Love makes the finals in the east, but it's debatable. And that's pretty impressive.
Cavs vs Celtics love/irvingless prof?
LeBron goes to the bench and the cavs start to fall apart instantly lol.
Korver dunk!? Awesome
Bahahahahaha, what a choke job by the Cavs. Irving dribbles the ball into the ground and takes a bad shot instead of trying for a 2 for 1. Then they let GS burn half the remaining time and fail to foul Green when he caught the ball. Then James gets stripped and turns it over.
Watching this game, I can't help but notice how many fouls get committed on every play. So much pushing and grabbing and slapping, it's such a crapshoot when the refs actually call something. How do they decide which push-off to call? Because there's always a push-off if a rebound is up for grabs. This is why the NBA is so sloppy, because players are breaking the rules on every play and gambling that the refs won't call it that time. And it's not even subtle bumping and leaning like the old physical eras, it's just blatant fouling. It looks ugly.
Warriors baby! Even when the Cavs are at full throttle they can't capitalize enough for a win against this team.
Where's my bitch Serge at? Clowning around somewhere I'm sure.
@kb the cavs felt they needed to play more physical vs the warriors, it wasn't quote as ugly in the first 2 games. Tbh I really enjoyed the game, I love watching ugly basketball lol. Get pissed when they even call the shitty ticky tack stuff.
Now that the Warriors are up 3-0 would it be a bitch move to switch sides and root for the Warriors?
Naw. Join the bandwagon.
Warriors def gonna make history
first team to lose a 3-0 series lead twice
:)
The Warriors weren't up 3-0 last year, it was 2-0, then 2-1, then 3-1. And no NBA team has ever lost a playoff series after being up 3-0 (like 126-0 IIRC). This team sure isn't going to be the one to do it.
I guess I should watch more basketballs
Also, I'm sure Durant is going to win Finals MVP because of what he's doing, but please don't forget how important Steph is to this team. People like to bag on him whenever they get a chance, but he makes the whole thing tick. Remember the multiple times in Game 1 where Cleveland left the lane wide open for Durant to dunk because they were too busy trying to cover Steph for a 3? Take a look at the plus-minus for the series:
Player +/- Total Minutes Curry 52 110 Green 40 94 Durant 37 119 Thompson 35 114 Iguodala 33 82 Pachulia 16 41
Plus-minus isn't all that matters, obviously. But it's interesting that Curry can separate himself from Durant's tally so much despite them being on the floor together so often.
So you think that people who are intentionally made role players are good enough to produce enough to make up for the absence of Irving and Love if they were full time starters? If this was the case then they wouldn't be role players.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Professor
More to the Steph point:
Steph Curry is averaging 28.7 PPG, 9.7 RPG and 9.0 APG in the Finals and might not sniff Finals MVP. - from Micah Adams
Normally no. LeBron changes things dramatically though. He makes everybody better not only with his passing, but his ability to draw the entire defense's attention. Plus there are a lot of other nuances that go into it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sanosuke
Kyrie would also be a lot better, but he's kinda stupid, or rather takes a lot of stupid shots. The Warriors were like this before Steve Kerr, once they cleaned that up they took off.
I've argued Steph is the most important player hands down and it's still true. Durant will win MVP though because not only does he have great numbers, but he had his moment in the 4 th quarter of game 3.Quote:
Originally Posted by KBHoleN1
How's this for mvp deserving.
In 46 minutes with LeBron on the floor the cavs were a +7. In 2 minutes with LeBron sitting, the cavs were -12.
Also, Durant looked pretty bad last night other then the 4th quarter. I'd say he has a way to go still before we start talking about him as the best player in the league. Been pretty annoyed with all the hype in the media the last few days about Durant.
That cliche comment got me triggered lol.
Who does Cleveland add to the team in the future to try and combat GS?
Get rid of love and the bench and add quicker defenders?
This is purely off top of my head, in no order at all. But i'd take each of them over JR SmithQuote:
Originally Posted by Spencer 555
Thompson, Reddick, Bradley, Beal, Derozan, Fournier, Bazemore, Lou Williams, McCollum, Wiggins, Zach Levine, Clarkson, Booker, Wade, Roberson, Waiters, KCP. That's not counting guys like Harden, PG13, Bledsoe who all play off the ball some times. I'm sure i missed a few too.
You have to remember the difference though. Who is Durant guarding compared to who is Curry guarding.Quote:
Originally Posted by KBHoleN1
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spencer 555
lots of rumors of Melo heading there ona smaller contract. Tons of rumors on Philly radio about Porzingis and Melo to Sixers with Melo accepting because Sixers will buy him out and let him go to Cleveland.Quote:
Originally Posted by Saint
Also heard rumblings of PG13, but not as likely imo.
I was kinda speaking about sg in its purest form. A lot of those guys are combo guards/sf.Quote:
Originally Posted by Greendaybum5
That being said the state of sg isn't great in the league (I think I specified that) and I see what your saying.
I don't think I'd take Clarkson or reddick over him, but reddick may just have had a down season. Levine and waiters I'm not sold on over Smith either, but probably would prefer them over Smith in a bench scoring role.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spencer 555
once again not looking this up, but i think reddick is coming off one of his best seasons ever. and remember we're talking about JR smith in his current state not 5 years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spencer 555
Naw reddick regressed both offensively and defensively this year. He's probably right there with Smith in terms of value though.
Man, Spencer, what are you talking about? Do you have stats to back this up, or are you just guessing?Quote:
Originally Posted by Spencer 555
JJ Redick PER TS% WS WS/48 BPM VORP 2014-15 16.2 .622 6.7 .134 0.7 1.6 2015-16 17.5 .632 6.7 .154 0.8 1.5 2016-17 14.8 .599 4.8 .105 0.0 1.1
JR Smith PER TS% WS WS/48 BPM VORP 2014-15 13.6 .538 3.7 .085 0.7 1.4 2015-16 12.4 .542 5.5 .111 1.3 2.0 2016-17 8.1 .484 0.8 .034 -1.3 0.2
Now which player regressed this year?
Smith was injured the entire year rofl
To put some things in perspective, here are the playoff numbers for both players (considering Smith is just getting healthy)
Reddick: ws: 0 ws/48: -.011 PER: 4.9 BPM: -3.5 TPA: -13.5
Smith: ws: .6 ws/48: 0.71 PER: 7.8 BPM: 1.4 TPA: 11.74
Smith is considerably better then reddick in this playoffs and if you look at the playoffs last year he was considerably better then too. Smith was not nearly as good as he was for the cavs in the 2016 playoffs this year, but he's arguably better then reddick because of his defense on the perimeter alone (reddick is certainly below average).
I watched every game of the clippers and jazz series and reddick was pretty damn bad so that's where I might be a bit biased in saying Smith is better overall, but I don't think it's a stretch at all.
Yes, Redick had a bad playoff series. The Jazz specifically tried to cover him up and make other people take shots, and he's not good enough to create his own most of the time.
But you didn't say playoffs originally, and you should have if that's the point you were trying to make. Also, JR didn't start so well in the playoffs, and didn't contribute much until the Boston series. And no one game plans for JR Smith, he gets open looks every time he touches the floor because of LeBron and Love and Irving. Without Griffin, the Clippers begin to hurt for offensive weapons and it makes it easier for the Jazz to stick with Redick and not give him looks. I don't think comparing JR's situation to Redick's this postseason is very accurate.
On a team like the Cavs, a shooter like Redick should be deadly. But then you wonder why Korver didn't have a better year, or at least a better playoffs.