NBA 2019 Off-Season Thread

[Kirby101]

Wouldn’t shock me if Kawhi goes to the Clippers. I just don’t know if he could mesh with Lebron and Davis, or if he’d even want to. As for your Knicks, rejoice! You got Julius Randle!

Woww, the third best player on the Pelicans, that is something. With the powerhouse Nets and Kimba at the Celtics, the Knicks should have another great year.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Apparently Dolan refused to offer Durant the max because of his injury

He's out all of next year. And the reality is that he's likely going to be in a Hayward situation the following year trying to get back into form, so you won't really even get KD at his best until year three. Assuming he is ever the same again. Then after that he has a player option. The Nets took a risk. Durant will be 32 the next time he see's an NBA game.

It's not nearly the guaranteed slam dunk people are expecting it to be.

[daBronzeBomma]

Can we just take a moment to acknowledge the crumbling of the 6th-most dominant* dynasty in NBA history?

After Bill Russell's Celtics, Michael Jordan's Bulls, George Mikan's Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal's Lakers, and Magic Johnson's Lakers, Steph Curry's Warriors proved a "jump- shooting team" could repeat as champions.

They lost KD for good. They don't get Klay back until after the All-Star Break at the earliest. They may not keep either Cousins or even Looney.

They'll still be playoff- bound come next April, but the rest of the league has caught up to them.

Good-bye champion- caliber Golden State Warriors. Your reign was long, but now it is over. I predict we don't see then in an NBA Finals again for a loooooooong time.

* - Tim Duncan's Spurs and Larry Bird's Celtics never repeated as champions, and that's a requirement for dominance.

[daBronzeBomma]

Can we just take a moment to acknowledge the crumbling of the 6th-most dominant* dynasty in NBA history?

After Bill Russell's Celtics, Michael Jordan's Bulls, George Mikan's Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal's Lakers, and Magic Johnson's Lakers, Steph Curry's Warriors proved a "jump- shooting team" could repeat as champions.

They lost KD for good. They don't get Klay back until after the All-Star Break at the earliest. They may not keep either Cousins or even Looney.

They'll still be playoff- bound come next April, but the rest of the league has caught up to them.

Good-bye champion- caliber Golden State Warriors. Your reign was long, but now it is over. I predict we don't see then in an NBA Finals again for a loooooooong time.

* - Tim Duncan's Spurs and Larry Bird's Celtics never repeated as champions, and that's a requirement for dominance.

Whoops, never mind. The Warriors just signed D'Angelo Russell to a 4- year max contract. Dynasty renewed!

Wait, now Iggy is going to the Grizzlies??? Dynasty done!

[Kirby101]

Whoops, never mind. The Warriors just signed D'Angelo Russell to a 4- year max contract. Dynasty renewed!

Wait, now Iggy is going to the Grizzlies??? Dynasty done!

Was that a trade or Ree Agency? I though him with KD and Kyrie would be unstoppable. Might also be max player cap stuff.

[Scott Taylor]

Whoops, never mind. The Warriors just signed D'Angelo Russell to a 4- year max contract. Dynasty renewed!

Wait, now Iggy is going to the Grizzlies??? Dynasty done!

LOL!

Iggy shot like a grandma who forgot her glasses for most of the finals. Love the guy, always will for what he meant, but it was time. We all knew KD was not long for the Warriors. I wish him the best in the massive grist mill that is New York. Glad I follow him on Instagram because the eventual meltdown could be epic.

Heard this morning that D'Angelo was likely to be traded. Crazy business.

[Surf]

Surprised no moves by the Clips yet...

Kawhi holding out for dramatic reasons or what?

[mathew101281]

[frankiedetroit]

Can we just take a moment to acknowledge the crumbling of the 6th-most dominant* dynasty in NBA history?

After Bill Russell's Celtics, Michael Jordan's Bulls, George Mikan's Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal's Lakers, and Magic Johnson's Lakers, Steph Curry's Warriors proved a "jump- shooting team" could repeat as champions.

They lost KD for good. They don't get Klay back until after the All-Star Break at the earliest. They may not keep either Cousins or even Looney.

They'll still be playoff- bound come next April, but the rest of the league has caught up to them.

Good-bye champion- caliber Golden State Warriors. Your reign was long, but now it is over. I predict we don't see then in an NBA Finals again for a loooooooong time.

* - Tim Duncan's Spurs and Larry Bird's Celtics never repeated as champions, and that's a requirement for dominance.

Definite hat nod to GSW. A Draymond suspension and KD injury away from 5 straight titles. (Though also, admittedly, a Kyrie and Love injury away from going 2-3). Also, they could be like the 96-97 Spurs who were awful after losing David Robinson, but then got Timmy with the No. 1 pick. They lose everyone but Steph and DG, suck for a year, then get the No. 1 pick and Klay for 2020-21.

Just for fun, I rank the NBA dynasties this way:
Bill Russell (13 titles in 15 years, including college)
The Lakers (they are a continuum - 31 title game appearances in 62 years; had more 60-game win seasons than seasons missing the playoffs; until the last six years...sigh)
The Jordanaires (6 titles in 7 seasons for Mr. J)
The LeBrons (8 straight title game appearances is Russell-ish, though 3-5 is not)
The 2015-19 Warriors

[daBronzeBomma]

Definite hat nod to GSW. A Draymond suspension and KD injury away from 5 straight titles. (Though also, admittedly, a Kyrie and Love injury away from going 2-3). Also, they could be like the 96-97 Spurs who were awful after losing David Robinson, but then got Timmy with the No. 1 pick. They lose everyone but Steph and DG, suck for a year, then get the No. 1 pick and Klay for 2020-21.

Just for fun, I rank the NBA dynasties this way:
Bill Russell (13 titles in 15 years, including college)
The Lakers (they are a continuum - 31 title game appearances in 62 years; had more 60-game win seasons than seasons missing the playoffs; until the last six years...sigh)
The Jordanaires (6 titles in 7 seasons for Mr. J)
The LeBrons (8 straight title game appearances is Russell-ish, though 3-5 is not)
The 2015-19 Warriors

Love the love for Bill Russell, my personal all-time favorite historical (i.e. "never-seen-play-during-their-career") athlete.

Looks like tomorrow is probably the day:

The 4th of July may become "the 4th of Kawhi", if The Klaw makes his announcement about which team be will play for next season.

Head says Lakers.

Heart says Raptors.

We'll find out soon enough ...

[Sacred Knight]

Kawhi and Paul George to the Clippers.

And the Lakers are screwed because they have no depth and the shelves are cleared in FA. Good times.

[mathew101281]

Kawhi and Paul George to the Clippers.

And the Lakers are screwed because they have no depth and the shelves are cleared in FA. Good times.

The West is going to be lit next year.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The West is going to be lit next year.

Meanwhile, the East has been upended as well. Toronto, a championship contender sinks to a .500 club at best in 2019-20, maybe even a Lottery team while Milwaukee and Philly become the top dogs in the conference.

Oh, yeah, forgot to mention Danny Green signed with the Lakers, further weakening Toronto.

[daBronzeBomma]

Wowza.

The best case scenario, IMO, was Kawhi staying with the Raptors.

The worst case scenario was Kawhi joining LeBron and AD with the Lakers.

But Kawhi and PG13 joining up with the Clippers was not something I remotely foresaw.

But Jerry West clearly did.

Dude built the Lakers, Warriors, and now the Franklin' Clippers into (potential) contenders. Greatest NBA Executive of all time, hands down.

Calling it right now: The 2020 Western Conference Finals will be The Battle of Los Angeles. Clippers vs Lakers. Every game a home game for both teams that play at the Staples Center.

Forget the Yankees vs Mets' Subway Series.

We could have ourselves a Hallway Series.

Basketball never stops!

[Hiromi]

I really like this development, now you have a bunch of teams with two superstars that can actually use their remaining money towards building complete teams, Danny Green is a good complement for the Lakers, Rondo returning is good provided he doesn't get hurt yet again, Boogie is an interesting development but it remains to be seen if he can fully recover from his achillies surgery. Ironically we have Boogie, AD, and Rondo on the same team again.

But this might be the most competitive the leagues been in a while and it's spread out over both conferences too.