If the warriors add Kevin Durant and finish with 8 less wins than they did last year, they should be ashamed of themselves.
I think most people are assuming they'll take a Spursian approach to the regular season.
It's not like these guys were playing 43 minutes per night anyways. All three of their guys averaged 33-34mpg. Even if they start benching players for entire games due to rest (which is ridiculous considering all these guys are in their mid 20s), they should be outright humiliated if they win less than 73 games next season.
You put Durant on the Nets and they'd win 55 games. Add Durant to the Warriors, and they should go undefeated.
Unless the Warriors are missing core guys to injuries, they'll be able to have two top-15 players on the floor at all times without playing their main guys more than 32-34 minutes per game.
It's hard to imagine them failing to win at least 70 games unless they rest their core guys for multiple games at the end of the season.
It's not even the fact they have four All-NBA players on the same roster. You can stick a bunch of talent on a roster and it isn't necessarily going to mesh. Kyrie, Love and LeBron all need the ball in their hands to be successful. They all create offense from the same parts of the court. It's a challenge to get them to mesh. It was a challenge to get Wade and LeBron to mesh that first year. Teams have tried just throwing talent together in the past (Lakers adding Payton and Malone) and it just hasn't really fit.
But this team... this team is surreal.
Kevin Durant can carry a bottomfeeder to the playoffs by himself. He's arguably the most gifted offensive player in the league and he has unlimited range. Durant is a 50/40/90 guy. Here's the thing about basketball... most of these pros can shoot wide open shots. Go watch players warm up before the game. They rarely miss. It's not a shock that a guy considered to be a poor shooter, Jaylen Brown, was able to hit 76 out of 100 wide open three pointers in a workout. So the more wide open a player is, the better he is going to shoot. That's partially why Buddy Hield shot 46% from three this year - he was surrounded with other good three point shooters. It's why guys like Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes were able to shoot in 38% from three this season - they were next to two of the greatest three point shooters of all time. The more guys you have that can shoot, the easier it is to shoot.
Which is why it's incredible that Durant was able to be a 50/40/90 player despite the fact he was consistently double-teamed and the team's next best shooters were Dion Waiters and Anthony Morrow. Lol. Ridiculous. Stick him on a team with two of the greatest shooters ever and forget about Home Run Derby Basketball... these guys could score 150+ per night. Don't be stunned if they shoot historically high percentages from three. Kyle Korver shot 49% from three a couple seasons ago... don't be stunned if one of these Warriors shoots 50% from three in this offense.
The pieces fit. They stacked the deck on an unprecedented level. Three of the greatest shooters in NBA history on the same team. They don't need the ball to be successful. This team should win every game they play. Anything less than 73 wins should be considered a failure.
Topic: As of July 7 - Project the East and West (Read 4252 times)