If OKC is smart they will go ahead and trade Westbrook to the Lakers for some young talent and 1st round picks. There is zero chance Russ wants to stay there without Durant. Hell, I wouldn't doubt if Durant leaving has everything to do with Russ telling him he ain't staying next year.

That Sabonis kid better be pretty good or OKC will be a doormat pretty soon.

Well, we now know what the primetime Christmas Day game will be. Wonder what kind of hand KD will get at OKC?

(07-04-2016 04:11 PM)UofMark Wrote:  Well, we now know what the primetime Christmas Day game will be. Wonder what kind of hand KD will get at OKC?

Probably will be a rematch of the finals because OKC would get abused. Would be entertaining to see the cheap shots though.

MJ and Lebron didn't ride coat tails to championships. KD will never be amongst the elite now.

(07-04-2016 08:27 PM)NigelTufnel Wrote:  MJ and Lebron didn't ride coat tails to championships. KD will never be amongst the elite now.

LeBron didn't ride coat tails to championships? Do you just mean he was the featured guy?

(07-04-2016 08:36 PM)cwise Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 08:27 PM)NigelTufnel Wrote:  MJ and Lebron didn't ride coat tails to championships. KD will never be amongst the elite now.

LeBron didn't ride coat tails to championships? Do you just mean he was the featured guy?

Yeah... Lebron did it first with by joining two other All-NBA talents. He didn't get it done with his team that was a winner but couldn't get over the hump.

(07-04-2016 08:50 PM)Latilleon Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 08:36 PM)cwise Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 08:27 PM)NigelTufnel Wrote:  MJ and Lebron didn't ride coat tails to championships. KD will never be amongst the elite now.

LeBron didn't ride coat tails to championships? Do you just mean he was the featured guy?

Yeah... Lebron did it first with by joining two other All-NBA talents. He didn't get it done with his team that was a winner but couldn't get over the hump.

Disagree, Lebron was still the lead dog with the Heat. If KD ends up being the lead dog at GS, I'll change my mind.

(07-04-2016 08:36 PM)cwise Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 08:27 PM)NigelTufnel Wrote:  MJ and Lebron didn't ride coat tails to championships. KD will never be amongst the elite now.

LeBron didn't ride coat tails to championships? Do you just mean he was the featured guy?

Yes. Lebron was the man in Miami, the other guys road his coat tails. I don't see it that way in GS, but time will tell.

(07-04-2016 08:50 PM)Latilleon Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 08:36 PM)cwise Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 08:27 PM)NigelTufnel Wrote:  MJ and Lebron didn't ride coat tails to championships. KD will never be amongst the elite now.

LeBron didn't ride coat tails to championships? Do you just mean he was the featured guy?

Yeah... Lebron did it first with by joining two other All-NBA talents. He didn't get it done with his team that was a winner but couldn't get over the hump.

Joke. Lebron didn't have near the team KD had in Oklahoma City. He would have never left and had multiple titles by now with Russell.

KD is a good guy. But he will never be on Lebron's level. Ever.

The sad thing is that with Oladipo, I think OKC could have been improved over last year and made an even more serious run. Now ... they are going to have to trade Westbrook and go into rebuild mode. I'd move him now, see if you can con the Lakers into giving up Ingram.

The only real champion mentioned in this thread is michael jordan. He didn't give up when the pistons beat his teams azz several years in a row. He kept fighting and eventually conquered them. That's a big reason he is respected more than any of today's nba players.

I had respect for how golden state built their team. I don't like durant's decision which basically destroys another top team in the west to make the top west team better. Really puts a hurt on a smaller franchise, but i get it. All of today's players like to group up on one team to make themselves look better. They been doing it a lot since mj retired starting with the lakers franchise.

(07-05-2016 12:12 AM)Tigerfan935 Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 08:50 PM)Latilleon Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 08:36 PM)cwise Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 08:27 PM)NigelTufnel Wrote:  MJ and Lebron didn't ride coat tails to championships. KD will never be amongst the elite now.

LeBron didn't ride coat tails to championships? Do you just mean he was the featured guy?

Yeah... Lebron did it first with by joining two other All-NBA talents. He didn't get it done with his team that was a winner but couldn't get over the hump.

Joke. Lebron didn't have near the team KD had in Oklahoma City. He would have never left and had multiple titles by now with Russell.

KD is a good guy. But he will never be on Lebron's level. Ever.

That is ridiculous. Lebron did not win until he was teamed up with a guy who was already a finals MVP... Historically, teams that compete for multiple titles have a minimum two superstars and usually 3.

KD leaving is in noway different than Lebron leaving.

Just my personal opinion, but Westbrook will never be on a team that wins an NBA championship. While individually great, I think he will be in a constant power struggle anytime he is paired with another star. I think KD and RW are friends off the court but KD realized he was not going to win with RW by his side.

There's no doubt GS will win a lot of games next year. However, without Bogut they have ZERO defensive post presence. Unless they sign a rim protector, teams will eat them alive (just like James did) driving to the rack relentlessly.

(07-04-2016 01:06 PM)Blazer4Life14 Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 11:24 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  OKC had the fortune of having Durant drafted by the Sonics

we'll see what their team is like when they lose Russ next year to FA

this may reorg the balance of the West's top teams, after GSW of course

Rumor around here is OKC will do everything they can to sign Westbrook to a long-term deal fairly soon, convincing him how much they believe in him, that it's his team to run now, etc. I'd honestly rather have him than Durant leading the way. Kind of cowardly for Durant to join GS of all teams, but that's his choice...

Westbrook isn't signing an extension. For years, the expection was for him to bolt to LA.

I wouldn't call Durant a "coward" for making a business decision. Playing in a large market with the best team can mean millions of dollars more over his career. It might suck, but it's not cowardly.

(07-05-2016 11:06 AM)Latilleon Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 01:06 PM)Blazer4Life14 Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 11:24 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  OKC had the fortune of having Durant drafted by the Sonics

we'll see what their team is like when they lose Russ next year to FA

this may reorg the balance of the West's top teams, after GSW of course

Rumor around here is OKC will do everything they can to sign Westbrook to a long-term deal fairly soon, convincing him how much they believe in him, that it's his team to run now, etc. I'd honestly rather have him than Durant leading the way. Kind of cowardly for Durant to join GS of all teams, but that's his choice...

Westbrook isn't signing an extension. For years, the expection was for him to bolt to LA.

I wouldn't call Durant a "coward" for making a business decision. Playing in a large market with the best team can mean millions of dollars more over his career. It might suck, but it's not cowardly.

Oakland is a dump. See the Raiders and the A's

I know SF is across the bay but it might as well be 1000 miles away

Warriors are moving to SF in 2019.

(07-05-2016 11:57 AM)TigerNK Wrote:  Warriors are moving to SF in 2019.

Yup. And 8 million people live around the bay. Silicon Valley ain't claiming the Kings.

(07-05-2016 10:16 AM)cscottl1981 Wrote:  There's no doubt GS will win a lot of games next year. However, without Bogut they have ZERO defensive post presence. Unless they sign a rim protector, teams will eat them alive (just like James did) driving to the rack relentlessly.

With GS, they just won't call the fouls on them defensively like other teams and keep opposing bigs in foul trouble. Just like they do for lebron's teams. Problem solved.

(07-05-2016 11:06 AM)Latilleon Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 01:06 PM)Blazer4Life14 Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 11:24 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  OKC had the fortune of having Durant drafted by the Sonics

we'll see what their team is like when they lose Russ next year to FA

this may reorg the balance of the West's top teams, after GSW of course

Rumor around here is OKC will do everything they can to sign Westbrook to a long-term deal fairly soon, convincing him how much they believe in him, that it's his team to run now, etc. I'd honestly rather have him than Durant leading the way. Kind of cowardly for Durant to join GS of all teams, but that's his choice...

Westbrook isn't signing an extension. For years, the expection was for him to bolt to LA.

I wouldn't call Durant a "coward" for making a business decision. Playing in a large market with the best team can mean millions of dollars more over his career. It might suck, but it's not cowardly.

I thought he would make one more run at it. Sign a one year max deal with a player opt out. Honestly, with Oladipo and their young bigs (Kanter and Adams), I think they would have been better than GSW (they were an eyelash away from beating them last year).

That's what makes it disappointing to me. He is bailing on a team that would have had a legitimate shot at winning at all.

If it didn't work out, RW is probably gone, then KD could have gone as well knowing he gave it his best shot. If it did work out and they won it all, he could either stay and defend the title alongside RW, or leave OKC knowing he brought the city a championship.

I agree, cowardly is too strong, so I'll just leave it at lame.

(07-05-2016 12:26 PM)NigelTufnel Wrote:  

(07-05-2016 11:06 AM)Latilleon Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 01:06 PM)Blazer4Life14 Wrote:  

(07-04-2016 11:24 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  OKC had the fortune of having Durant drafted by the Sonics

we'll see what their team is like when they lose Russ next year to FA

this may reorg the balance of the West's top teams, after GSW of course

Rumor around here is OKC will do everything they can to sign Westbrook to a long-term deal fairly soon, convincing him how much they believe in him, that it's his team to run now, etc. I'd honestly rather have him than Durant leading the way. Kind of cowardly for Durant to join GS of all teams, but that's his choice...

Westbrook isn't signing an extension. For years, the expection was for him to bolt to LA.

I wouldn't call Durant a "coward" for making a business decision. Playing in a large market with the best team can mean millions of dollars more over his career. It might suck, but it's not cowardly.

I thought he would make one more run at it. Sign a one year max deal with a player opt out. Honestly, with Oladipo and their young bigs (Kanter and Adams), I think they would have been better than GSW (they were an eyelash away from beating them last year).

That's what makes it disappointing to me. He is bailing on a team that would have had a legitimate shot at winning at all.

If it didn't work out, RW is probably gone, then KD could have gone as well knowing he gave it his best shot. If it did work out and they won it all, he could either stay and defend the title alongside RW, or leave OKC knowing he brought the city a championship.

I agree, cowardly is too strong, so I'll just leave it at lame.

Just listened to the CA podcast with Tillery, Herrington, and Edmiston and a great point was made... Kevin Durant probably talked to Russell Westbrook about RW's plans and Westbrook might have indicated he was gone as soon as he could go.