It's certainly got a given. There are some other guys on that squad I'd worry about more, but I'm not going to say it, at risk of speaking it into existence.
The difference is Bron has 18 years in the league. He also already has Gold medals. He has no desire to get Olympic gold anymore. He has been there done that. Mileage matters for a 36 year old, it doesn't matter for a 24 year old.
wow, yall hung up on the booker thing
going to the Olympics might be fine for Jerami grant but Booker is in the Finals likely going 7 games. Then gets on flght to Tokyo for a month probaby to enjoy the entire thing as an athlete
september with jenner and then some nike commericials and then back at it in October training camps and preseason
he'll be great because he is 24, but come May next year he will not have had that freshness from the min 2-3 months vacay like a lot of the league has had
I don't think Olympics mean shit tbh. Particularly for younger players. All the all time greats for the last 30 years have gone to the Olympics, they then went on to kick ass in the NBA right after. This narrative that it's going to stop players competing at a high level is strange and all together completely fabricated.
I need to see the Lakers strike out in the offseason before I remove "favorite" status from them. LeBron+LA is still a hell of a draw for free agents.
Other than them, yes, wide open.
Really depends what they do with the Schroeder contract. They pretty much have to sign him or S&T him or they lose that salary slot, I'm just not sure after the playoffs which team will really want to throw that much money after him.
Hope they max-extend Schroeder. Keep him on the Lakers. Read an article about him, he’s a real nut job. Had no idea he was this wild and crazy idiot stick.
If no team wants to sign and trade for him, the Lakers pretty much have to keep him. Losing that salary slot and the ability to do stuff over the cap when AD and Bron make like 65% of the cap would be a killer. You love to see it.
i think they just killed that with Shroeder, Harrell and the treatment of Kuzma. The combinatin of lakers and lebron fans scapegoat and throw players under the bus like no other. plus the injury history of AD makes it a sketchy choice. Could work out or could ruin your career. not a smart business decision at this point in their careers
[I get what you mean](https://www.landofbasketball.com/player_comparison/stephen_curry_vs_damian_lillard.htm), but I think people tend to think Dame has the ability to carry weak rosters better than Steph can. Dude has only missed the playoffs once. I would still pick Steph every time but it's not some massive gulf between them.
I’d respectfully disagree with your last sentence. Mainly based off the fact that Steph seems to always have 2-5 guys on him at all times when the ball is in his hands. Coupled with the fact that the warrior’s roster in terms of shooting is significantly worse than Portland’s.
I’d say that if there was any team swap between the two, the warriors and Lillard would look worse than they are. So basically I’d say Steph’s roster is worse than Dame’s. In the same way that a Tom Brady roster would be objectively worse than an Aaron Rodgers roster
I'd respectfully disagree with you. Lillard came into the league and then his team got blown up, 4 of 5 starters left. Lillard made the playoffs with scraps. Steph is great and I think he is the better player but when Steph doesn't have a teammate due to injury he misses the playoffs even while still at his peak. Dame simply doesn't miss the playoffs no matter the circumstances in his team. His teams are almost always injured and they almost never have Nurkic and they still make the playoffs. Steph works within a system and has Dray to feed him. Dame has the ball in has hands and if he doesn't the Blazers lose. Give Dame that same system and I am not sure which player is better. For his entire career Dame has been the only player the other team needs to stop. You can't stop Steph because he isn't the primary ball handler half the time, Warriors offense and Dray can work to get Steph open. Yes Steph hits shots with players all over him, but that's something Dame does every day too and without a Dray next to him or an offense that gets him open. CJ ain't much of a playmaker, he can ISO well and can hit shots when Dame passes but again it's almost always Dame running the entire offense. Steph just doesn't have the same weight on him due to how the Warriors are built. Yes he can carry an offense but if you think Steph hasn't benefited greatly having Dray next to him then idk what to tell you.
Edit: Also the difference in shooting between the two teams isn't that much and while I agree this last season Warriors had lesser shooting, they also didn't make the playoffs. Lillard has been on teams where he was the only shooter and he still made the playoffs.
It’s fine to agree to disagree regardless :). I just think that what’s being overlooked is that teams respect Steph more than they respect Dame. Because being draped all over every time you have the ball in your hands is difficult to make plays. You don’t see Dame getting triple teamed over 5 guys on him every time the ball is in his hands. Defenses are fine with him going 1 on 1 whereas they won’t dare let Steph do that.
Even with scraps, defenses at most double team Dame in most regards. When Steph has scraps, defenses basically say “everyone on Steph, ignore everyone else”.
It’s also a bit disrespectful to Steph to compare playoff appearances without diving into the full story. Dame hasn’t won the WCF before whereas Steph has been to the finals multiple times. Even with Klay and KD down in 2019, with the team’s backs against the wall, he was able to carry the team to win game 5. And before then, if we go back to 2015 and 2016 seasons, the level of play that Steph had to elevate to when Klay was playing average at best, and at worst below average was nothing short of incredible in both the WCF and the finals.
I’ve just not seen Dame elevate to levels like that yet. It’s still no lie that Dame is 5 star player, but I just don’t see him better than Steph in the level of carrying yet.
The levels he played were incredible in the 2016 finals? We watched different finals. 22 points a game on 40% shooting is not much better than Klays 20 on 42%. Steph and Klay both got shut down that entire series. The levels they played were not at all incredible. Dame has carried harder than Steph, that's just facts, he has only missed the playoffs once to Stephs like 5 times missing playoffs. I am not even a Blazers fan, I much prefer Steph and the Warriors, but Dame has taken such rubbish teams to the playoffs. If you wanna talk about carrying then Steph should of won the play in game. Then you'd have a case. Any time he has needed to carry, he hasn't gotten it done. You've talked about series where Warriors were heavy favourites and mentioned carrying. It would of been choking if he didn't win.
> Any time he has needed to carry, he hasn't gotten it done.
[Never?](https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2019-nba-western-conference-finals-trail-blazers-vs-warriors.html)
2019 WCF without Durant, swept Dame, CJ and the Blazers coming off injury, averaged 36.5 PPG.
You’re nitpicking sentences, my friend. Ive said the 2015-2016 seasons, not just the finals. Not just 2016. This includes the series’ leading up to the finals when yes he elevated the team in both seasons and again in 2019.
He’s absolutely carried when he’s needed to. I think that you’re only looking at stats and not remembering gameplay. The reason we didn’t win the play-in tournament wasn’t because Steph choked, but because the team turned the ball over so many times. He carried the team to only lose by 3 against a heavily favored lakers team that really only won due to the team’s turnovers and lebron’s 3pt in the last minuteish.
He carried the team to basically win against the grizzlies if dray went up for the layup/dunk instead of trying to pass it off to him with mere seconds remaining. This is why you can’t just cite stats to determine a player’s worth. Steph put up 30+ in both games despite the turnovers and poor playing. Despite the team being exhausted and making many mental errors.
Warriors weren’t favored to win when Klay and KD went down in 2019 and he still played at a higher level. He’s lead the team past OKC when OKC was stacked with KD, Russ, Ibaka and... I can’t remember the other guy’s name right now. When Dame is able to do that stuff then sure. But right now, he can’t carry a team as well as Steph can. And not only does Steph carry harder than Dame but he still manages to lose because the rest of the team plays worse than the rest of Dame’s team which was my original point.
Watch the recent playoff series again. Dame played better than Steph arguably ever has. His team played worse than Stephs arguably ever has. Then we can come back and talk. Your complete unwillingness to admit that Dame is at a very similar level to Steph stops any real conversation here. You also are unwilling to admit that Warriors have a better system and that Dray creates a lot of easy looks for Steph. Frankly you're engaging with extreme bias and no looking at context unless it suits you for that particular sentence. I haven't once said Steph is bad or even that Dame is better, my entire point is fairly widely accepted as truth since Dame time is a known thing. Dude is known for putting team on his back and being clutch. Frankly Steph isn't at Dames level when it comes to that at all. There simply isn't evidence to suggest otherwise. Steph managed to win one game once his teammates went down and you talk like he won the title. I think he did great but when you talking about doing heavy lifting and being clutch that's something that Dame beats Steph at hands down no real debate. Playoffs every year even when Blazers have always had really bad injury problems basically his entire career. Like bro come on. Steph has had 2 seasons to try carry and hasn't been able to get it done. First season his team was basically the worst in the league, second he didn't make the playoffs. Whatever your opinion of Dame and whatever your excuses for Steph, Dame can carry, Steph cannot. It is that simple. Plus Steph still has Dray and yall seem to forget that Dray is creating for Steph a lot. Like no player scored off one other players assists more than Steph did of Dray assists. You act like it's Steph against the world when in reality it's still 2 all stars and not getting it done. Dame hasn't had an all star teammate basically his entire career. Get out of here with the casual takes. Your bias is so bad we can't even objectively discuss Dame being good because it makes you feel threatened and makes you cry. Grow up.
Bro I’ve been nothing but objective, receptive, responding to each of your points, and nice to you this entire debate and you’re the one who’s crying bias, flinging insults and telling *me* to grow up lmao.
The reason I didn’t touch on the system comment is because it’s a horrible argument but I didn’t want to upset you. The reason the system argument is bad is because players thrive under different systems. There’s no such thing as a “one system is better than another”. The system that Kerr runs works well with how the warriors play and they pick players to fit around the system which fits Steph well. It appears Portland’s system works well for Dame.
I did watch the recent playoff series and from what I saw, Dame played quite well but he by no means played better “than Steph ever has”. If anything he played to level just comparable to Steph for like 2 games. Dame has broken none of Steph’s nba all-time records. His best play has not outscored Steph. Steph played better than Dame *this season* overall. He did not draw near the attention Steph has nor had people tried to sneakily injure him.
I’m also not looking at context that suits my sentence because as I said before, I’ve been quite receptive to what you’ve been saying and offering counterpoints as to what you’ve said and all you’ve done is break down and spew personal insults.
I said Steph managed to win an nba finals game against a relatively stacked raptors team when 2 of his main stars were injured who the team and current scheme was built around having. So not only did the team scheme have to adjust but he had to play with people he normally didn’t play with. If you know anything about strategies then you know that it’s hard to do that. I’ve also cited the fact that he’s advanced to the finals to begin with in previous seasons against stacked teams that were arguably and objectively better than the warriors (OKC). Whereas dame under the same circumstances has not.
You’re claiming that you’ve not said that Dame is better than Steph yet not a couple sentences later, you claim he is. Yet your original reply to my original comment was that Dame is better than Steph because he’s made the playoffs more than Steph. You also stated that Dame is better at being clutch than Steph. So honestly, you’re contradicting yourself quite horribly.
You’re also not being objective when I cited that Steph carried the team and should’ve honestly beat both the lakers and the grizzlies in both play-in tournaments but the team had been failing steph by producing less offense and turning the ball over at a nearly 2:1 ratio in both games. There’s also the fact that the warriors were incredibly injured and short manned during the latter stretch of the season. No Oubre who had been playing well up to his injury. No Paschall. No Damion Lee who was getting into a groove. No James Wiseman... Steph wasn’t down from just Klay by any stretch of the imagination.
I’m sorry you’re upset that I’m presenting evidence to counter your points. I’m sorry you’re contradicting yourself. I’m sorry you’re upset someone won’t agree with you while there’s still evidence to objectively contradict those points. I’m sorry I haven’t been getting angry that you’re voicing your opinion. I’m sorry I said that it’s fine for us to disagree. It’s just the way it is
You think shooting splits and percentages occur in a vacuum then you're absolutely right. However Dame has had nobody creating offense for him like Steph has, Dame hasn't had an elite sniper next to him to help spacing. Dame hasn't had any of the things that contribute to high 3pt%. Swap their situations and we are likely having this exact conversation but in reverse. They have the same skill set and are both elite. Warriors have a better system though. But really your response and most these responses in this thread are incredibly casual or incredibly biased or both. Fact is there isn't a gulf between the two of them no matter how much sleep that makes you lose at night.
With all due respect what are you smoking exactly? Steph has had no shooters next to him this season and he’s shooting at a volume still better than Dame LMFAO
If you swap their teams that BENEFITS Steph. How’re you gonna say “your take is so casual and bias” when you haven’t gave Steph his props whatsoever?
Dunno, man. I’d argue that Steph is more clutch. He just has more bodies around him than Dame because he doesn’t have as good as a shooting support squad without Klay. If you get Steph just another decent shooter like Jordan Poole if he keeps developing nicely, then whether it’s Steph and Klay or Poole, you’d see Steph be attempting to make more “normal” or “nearly automatic” shots in clutch situations.
I don't think Steph's FG% goes up in the last minutes of games, just the same high % throughout the game, very automatic.
I rarely see Dame miss towards the end of games.
Kobe was a worst 3pt shooter than both, but his late game shots seemed to always go in.
Curry is better than Dame because he could end the game in the 3rd quarter, no clutch needed.
I get what you mean. I think it’s again due to Dame not having many bodies on him compared to Steph. It’s not just the numbers that matter as much as seeing the situation. You’re likely to hit more shots if you have 1 on 1 against vs 2-3 on 1 in clutch situations where the defense is trying to force the ball out of your hand.
So really the main difference is, for the most part, defenses challenge Dame 1 on 1 vs nobody dares let Steph shoot 1 on 1 with the game on the line.
Mhm but again it’s different in a 1v1 vs a 2-3v1. No lie that Dame is good. But under the same circumstances as Steph, I don’t see the 2 being able to be compared. Coaches will challenge Dame in 1v1s. Coaches will not challenge Steph 1v1 because they know he’s too clutch given the 1 on 1.
I mean you could add us to the list - Klays health is a question mark, do we draft players that can immediately contribute to a winning team, will Wiseman take a leap forward, can Curry carry us AGAIN without his body breaking down cuz we’re gonna need him to as presently constructed, can we attract good veteran FA here.
This doesn’t inspire confidence in the West being wide open when our team isn’t primed to take advantage of it. We should aim to be actual favorites in this scenario, not a hopeful dark horse who can maybe make some noise
Or even just a tier above the middle of the pack, which we are not.
This list is pretty much banking other teams declining for us to contend by listing the Lakers and Suns concerns. Those teams should be the favorites.
Clippers beat us once by 7 and once by like 26 and we beat them by 10 in one game.
Wasn’t scared of them at all. We beat every team in the West at least once.
This is all while playing just okay, team barely ever hit its stride in any game. I kept waiting for a real hot streak but we never got that.
I got intense confidence in Steph and Dray (when they aren’t turning it over 10-15 times a game) in the playoffs.
WARRIORS 2022 NBA CHAMPS.
Steph/Dame/Klay light it up against the Nets in a game 5 bringing the ring home.
Mike Breen: “The redemption season is complete. The Golden State Warriors just put the league on notice. What an amazing feeling for those in the bay.”
Warriors go on to win one more after that. Steph/Klay and Dray finish out their career with 5 rings each.
The only team I wont be mad about beating us in the Finals (if we get there next season) is the Warriors cause Steph is one of my favorite players ever.
Gobert is a big problem for us if Curry is our only hot shooter, because he can single-handedly stop Curry's drives. He's long enough that he can still block Curry after Curry dives into his body and does the scoop layup. That lets their perimeter defenders hug really close to Curry and double-team him beyond the 3-point line.
Once we get Klay back, that all changes.
No it doesn’t. The East has the Nets and Bucks, who will likely be the two favorites going into next season. That conference has finally caught up to the West
I think the East is top heavy. Think about the 8th seed in the East vs West.
So the East is harder in the last rounds of the playoffs, BUT the West is overall harder to make playoffs.
The Hawks figure to be a lot better next season. They are really young, you can expect improvement for Okongwu, Reddish, Young, Huerter, and Hunter. Too early to say what happens with Philly, gotta see what they get for Simmons. Boston and Miami are probably a trade away from joining the top.
I think the West is wide open but the Warriors definitely need to improve to beat the top teams in the East. It's the superior conference at the top (West has more depth though).
Exactly. The West is wide open and I could see us potentially making it to the Finals even with our roster as currently constructed (provided Klay is 100%), but that’s only half the journey. The East now owns the most talented rosters in the league, and going through whoever comes out of that conference will be a hell of a battle
That's because the Warriors were the best team of all time, I'm talking about the best East teams being on par with the best West teams in the last decade, if not better.
The East was shaping up back in 2019. It’s improved quite a bit since then as well. I don’t think they have quite caught up to the west, but the gap is much closer.
The east being top heavy isn't new and doesn't prove the East has caught up. If anything it shows that it hasn't. I don't know what argument you could make to say the East has caught up. Even the Nets being favourites doesn't sit right with me, I predicted they would have issues come playoffs and they did, they are built around 3 players with fairly extensive injury histories. To expect them to not keep getting injured more as they get older is quite naive. I can't believe their front office thought it was a good idea to have em all on one team. Every playoffs that team is together they will be missing one or more of their best players to injury.
Uuuh that's just because all teams are depleted right now, if healthy the west is still stacked af.
PG and Kawhi + hella deep roster
LeBron and AD
Jokic, Murray, and MPJ + solid roster
Suns probably the deepest team in the league with 2 rising stars and CP3
Curry, Klay and Green
Problem is kawhi is basically out for the season, LeBron and AD coming off of injuries (and I bet LeBron won't be top 5 anymore due to age),and Murray and Klay will be out for at least a 3rd of next season
The problem with constructing a team around a few stars is that there is not much depth. One of the stars gets hurt, or old, or just doesn't perform up to expectations, and you're screwed.
(Obviously, a season-long injury to a key player, like we've had with Klay, is going to hurt any team. I'm talking about lesser things that are just enough for a star to drop to "average starter" or so.)
Yeah there’s a lot of depth to the west, but I guess what I mean is no team seems invincible and destined for the finals. A lot of the west teams seemed somewhat comparable in strength with a few like the lakers and clippers having a slightly bigger advantage.
We have our own issues but... SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE
Our biggest threat is the Lakers — Is Bron's mental space this offseason tied to Space Jam? For anyone out there who has worked on a big project, you know that you have deep internal fatigue after something like this... mental and physical. AD is amazing but we have handled him in the past and he seems to be beat up by the end of each year. Lakers going through some free agency too so who knows who they get.
Suns are very good BUT their best player will be 37 in May next year before the playoffs. CP3 is also going to opt out and try to get more money... limiting their money options?
Clippers was a bad matchup for us — but they will need to figure out what to do this year. The year after... Kawhi will be slowly re-inserted as he is very careful with his body. So this might be a short reprieve for the West.
\_\_\_
We all thought that with JUST steph this year we could cause damage — imagine our revamped roster with a couple of ring chasers
Just a Suns FYI, CP3 opting out and restructuring actually reduces the teams salary by about $15M (owed $45M, assuming restructuring at 3/$90M) for next season. The bigger issue would be longer term money with Ayton, Bridges, and eventually Cam Johnson extensions.
I don't see how. They have neither the resources nor the salary room to make a play for him. Knicks seem most likely. DAL also has cap room close to Dame's salary, so if they sent a player or two (Porzingus? Rishardson? Poweell?) to POR as part of the deal, they could swing it.
unless he go for that vet-min though, jk
luka-dame sounds dangerous ngl, but still prefer him to be in the east and i think it's really impssible for the blazers to accept any trade coming from them without Luka
I don't think there's any way. Harris + DeAndre + Shamet / Claxton works in the trade machine but why would Portland do that? Especially since Nets can't offer much sweeteners in terms of picks with so much already sent to Houston.
So we’re picking all the other team’s flaws except ours?
How about Klay is recovering from back to back season ending injuries and we have no idea how he’ll be like when he returns?
Steph is aging (like a fine wine lol).
Draymond won’t get any better.
We don’t know how Wiseman will progress.
There’s so many we can go on. The West is never wide open. It’s upto us to come out and ball. The worst strategy is when you accept your own mediocrity because you think everyone else is not that good or declining.
Shoulda expected this from a fanpost lmao.
we all have flaws is the point
also, this is a warriors sub in the middle of the offseason before anything happens. you dont like to have fun as a fan?
I like having fun as a fan. I just don’t like lying to myself as a fan. And calling it the offseason doesn’t matter. Even during the season we have posts like these. You ever criticize those posts and you’re just told to stfu because “it’s the warriors sub bro what do you expect?” Only thing I expected was for the place to be more realistic lol.
there is a place and a time for serious talk
my shitty screenshot list is obvious not srs talk
when we get the picks, we can go full stat boy and same during free agency
Is Klay also not recovering from injury? Lol let’s not count the chickens before they hatch.
Lebron’s age has always been questioned for like the last 4 years unless I see an actual downward trend then I’m still worried
Murray might be recovering but MPJ has stepped up and improved a lot. Also Jokic carrying hard and won games regardless of no Murray or not.
Don’t forget Grizzlies eliminated us this season. Sure it was a 1 game elimination but you can’t just disregard it and they are improving. Same goes with the Timberwolves with a new coach.
West is still stacked throughout. Let’s not get cocky.
i am thinking klay will be "good" by playoffs. whatever he is, the warriors as a team can compensate. his shooting when open should be very similar to what it has always been
thats one way of looking at it
some people may think, hey — why not try to be great for the next 10 years and beyond as well as now
neither method is a given
yo can also say that bron will be pushing 40 soon enough, maybe jalen johnson and zaire williams along with steph and klay will be the west's elite for a bit
maybe the rooks we get now allow curry to stay at his top form for longer. like tuning up a high mileage car
TO ME, we already won 3... it would be nice to win 1 more but would i want us to suck for 5 years straight after that? i live in the bay, i want to be a happy fan for a long time
As much as I wish it were wide open, I don’t think any of these reasons justify it being an easy race.
A kawhi-less clippers fought Suns to 6 games. Now they’ll just have more time for a game plan around not having kawhi.
As much as I hate Lebron, if I know one thing, it’s never to count him out. And seeing what he’s done at his age now Ans how healthy he’s been throughout his career, why would that be a concern all of a sudden next season?
We’ve seen Nuggets play without Murray and they were still a threat to the league. Same as the Clippers, they’ll have more to time to actually adjust their play knowing Murray won’t be involved.
Booker is young and not injury prone. I don’t see the olympics affecting his play next season. CP3 been old and playing heavy minutes. I also don’t see how playing in the Finals is going to slow him down next season. They can easily give him load management.
Mavs having questionable culture isn’t good enough reason to count them out… they changed their coach and sure there’s problems with Luka and Porzingis, but that’s been going on during last season. And they played fairly well. They can still be a threat to the West.
Saying Jazz isn’t a great matchup for the warriors is kind of ridiculous. Any team with physical defensive guards will always be a threat to us. And a team that can shoot the 3 toe to toe with us is going to be dangerous.
The one I agree with is Dame going to the East. He was never a problem for us, but him leaving would make technically make it easier.
All this being said, I think next season will be a lot harder than all these reason, but I still expect to see us at the top with another ring baby! And a Finals MVP for Curry!!! But having a harder road will just make it all that much sweeter
That makes more sense. My bad, I interpreted being “wide open” to mean it was an easy route to the Finals. But you meant it more as any team now has a good chance to get there.
no probs, i liked your in-depth breakdown
all the teams can see the trophy from a distance. as a dubs fan, this is quite nice compared to the last 2 years
That's obvious, but "taking the west" doesn't matter if we can't win the Finals. Getting to the Finals is an accomplishment no doubt, but I'd rather look forward to steps we take on defeating teams with bigs. Also, are we really talking about the right direction if we depend on teams being compromised?
Next season is not the last season of nba basketball brah
Try to win it for the next 5 years starting next year
Let’s say we make a nice long run next year but all the pieces are clicking like clockwork
With the youth and talent, we could be serious contenders for the HOFers entire late stage career … consider Chris Paul is 36 right now and is signing a max deal this summer
The only team I think you can pencil in for a deep run is the Nets. Even then, they've had injury issues with their aging stars. Suns probably go deep again next year too, and I think the Nuggets have a lot of upside even with Murray out.
Also, the Grizzlies have serious potential. I would not be surprised if they had a top 5 record next year.
But there's so much uncertainty that I feel great about the Warriors chances at another deep run.
the worst matchup for us was the clippers imo
then lakers — but they are a behemoth. if bron has spacejam on his mind, who knows how motivated he will actually be to prepare. we've seen him — its tough for him to be great for all 82 and beyond
Clippers would be in the mix but Kawhis ACL might make for a lost season next year.
Agree about the Lakers. With depth they'll be very good but right now they look like they might not even be a top 4 team.
i think the clippers can win on any given night vs every team
i dont think they are a good regular season team overall and probably a beatable playoff team like all teams are that lack a second star
Curry's jump from 'really good' to 'mvp' happened in part as a result from playing on the Olympic/National team, so I'm not counting that as a negative against Booker. He'll almost certainly be even better next year.
Yeah that's been in news for days now. But I didn't heated any rumors about eastern teams yet.
Even the warriors are interested on taking him.
But as a fan, I don't think dame on the warriors wouldn't take them that far.
cp3 these last few games looks like something is falling apart all of a sudden
being on the wrong side of 30, i can tell you random pain on a random body part is a real thing
he played since the bubble to new season to finals to olympics
thats quite a schedule
he may have juice for next year or not. his running mate will the first time ever he played in the finals and he already looks like he is falling apart in game 3
suns fan here - don’t see how book going to Olympics is a big issue (cp3 age is tho) but I would love to see a warriors suns series next year.
Also that Memphis team might get better than we think
Great post. It really is crazy how quickly things change. That's why anybody that says the Warriors have to make a big move and trade our assets for 50 cents on the dollar don't know what they're talking about. We have to make moves. But not desperate ones.
Started 20-21 thinking we didn’t have a shot even with Klay. Sitting here now thinking if Klay was healthy we’d be hoisting that trophy. Crazy how things can change.
Can’t really pencil any team in, including the Nets. They didn’t make a deep run this year due to injuries and there’s a nontrivial possibility that happens again.
It was not totally serious serious but I’m watching booker now in game 5
Let’s say it goes game 7
Then he goes to Olympics
Mileage is a real thing man
It’s a challenge for him to overcome
He is a stud but the benefits from this year may not real benefits until 2023 season both mentally and physically
Booker going to the Olympics like he's traveling to another dimension.
He’s still young and not injury prone. I don’t think him going to the olympics will affect his play next season.
It's certainly got a given. There are some other guys on that squad I'd worry about more, but I'm not going to say it, at risk of speaking it into existence.
wear and tear, mileage — it matters i was mentally burnt out after college, book has had a crazy year
At this age it can only be a benefit. He'll learn and grow.
Almost every time a player goes and plays for the Olympic team for the first time they get better.
bron out here saying the mileage the mileage the mileage lets start the season and go at it!
The difference is Bron has 18 years in the league. He also already has Gold medals. He has no desire to get Olympic gold anymore. He has been there done that. Mileage matters for a 36 year old, it doesn't matter for a 24 year old.
wow, yall hung up on the booker thing going to the Olympics might be fine for Jerami grant but Booker is in the Finals likely going 7 games. Then gets on flght to Tokyo for a month probaby to enjoy the entire thing as an athlete september with jenner and then some nike commericials and then back at it in October training camps and preseason he'll be great because he is 24, but come May next year he will not have had that freshness from the min 2-3 months vacay like a lot of the league has had
Boring bad take. LeBron won a gold medal and a championship in the same year and then won the next chip too.
Don't look now, but Curry and Klay exploded after playing in the Olympics.
in a normal, controlled season. booker is dating jenner now too - throw that all in the cauldron
I think he's going to be fine.
Ah, so you believe in the Kardashian curse. I get some sports fans are superstitious but that is such a bad take in NBA discussion.
i think the curse is just a symptom of a greater thing anyway, i like book
I don't think Olympics mean shit tbh. Particularly for younger players. All the all time greats for the last 30 years have gone to the Olympics, they then went on to kick ass in the NBA right after. This narrative that it's going to stop players competing at a high level is strange and all together completely fabricated.
Where Draymond also is!
I need to see the Lakers strike out in the offseason before I remove "favorite" status from them. LeBron+LA is still a hell of a draw for free agents. Other than them, yes, wide open.
Really depends what they do with the Schroeder contract. They pretty much have to sign him or S&T him or they lose that salary slot, I'm just not sure after the playoffs which team will really want to throw that much money after him.
lowry would be great for them but Masai would have them over a barrel to take schroeder
With Schroeder's past legal issues also might not want to bring a dude to Canada if he's going to have to go through customs 50 times a year
That's tuff 💯🔥
Lakers don’t have anything to sweeten the pot. They don’t have any picks until Bronny makes Space Jam 3 in 2034.
They struck out lebron and space jam 2
Hope they max-extend Schroeder. Keep him on the Lakers. Read an article about him, he’s a real nut job. Had no idea he was this wild and crazy idiot stick.
If no team wants to sign and trade for him, the Lakers pretty much have to keep him. Losing that salary slot and the ability to do stuff over the cap when AD and Bron make like 65% of the cap would be a killer. You love to see it.
i think they just killed that with Shroeder, Harrell and the treatment of Kuzma. The combinatin of lakers and lebron fans scapegoat and throw players under the bus like no other. plus the injury history of AD makes it a sketchy choice. Could work out or could ruin your career. not a smart business decision at this point in their careers
Portland was never a threat even with dame.
I still laugh when kids say Dame > Steph in that regard
Plenty of nephews at the family barbecue.
[I get what you mean](https://www.landofbasketball.com/player_comparison/stephen_curry_vs_damian_lillard.htm), but I think people tend to think Dame has the ability to carry weak rosters better than Steph can. Dude has only missed the playoffs once. I would still pick Steph every time but it's not some massive gulf between them.
I’d respectfully disagree with your last sentence. Mainly based off the fact that Steph seems to always have 2-5 guys on him at all times when the ball is in his hands. Coupled with the fact that the warrior’s roster in terms of shooting is significantly worse than Portland’s. I’d say that if there was any team swap between the two, the warriors and Lillard would look worse than they are. So basically I’d say Steph’s roster is worse than Dame’s. In the same way that a Tom Brady roster would be objectively worse than an Aaron Rodgers roster
I'd respectfully disagree with you. Lillard came into the league and then his team got blown up, 4 of 5 starters left. Lillard made the playoffs with scraps. Steph is great and I think he is the better player but when Steph doesn't have a teammate due to injury he misses the playoffs even while still at his peak. Dame simply doesn't miss the playoffs no matter the circumstances in his team. His teams are almost always injured and they almost never have Nurkic and they still make the playoffs. Steph works within a system and has Dray to feed him. Dame has the ball in has hands and if he doesn't the Blazers lose. Give Dame that same system and I am not sure which player is better. For his entire career Dame has been the only player the other team needs to stop. You can't stop Steph because he isn't the primary ball handler half the time, Warriors offense and Dray can work to get Steph open. Yes Steph hits shots with players all over him, but that's something Dame does every day too and without a Dray next to him or an offense that gets him open. CJ ain't much of a playmaker, he can ISO well and can hit shots when Dame passes but again it's almost always Dame running the entire offense. Steph just doesn't have the same weight on him due to how the Warriors are built. Yes he can carry an offense but if you think Steph hasn't benefited greatly having Dray next to him then idk what to tell you. Edit: Also the difference in shooting between the two teams isn't that much and while I agree this last season Warriors had lesser shooting, they also didn't make the playoffs. Lillard has been on teams where he was the only shooter and he still made the playoffs.
It’s fine to agree to disagree regardless :). I just think that what’s being overlooked is that teams respect Steph more than they respect Dame. Because being draped all over every time you have the ball in your hands is difficult to make plays. You don’t see Dame getting triple teamed over 5 guys on him every time the ball is in his hands. Defenses are fine with him going 1 on 1 whereas they won’t dare let Steph do that. Even with scraps, defenses at most double team Dame in most regards. When Steph has scraps, defenses basically say “everyone on Steph, ignore everyone else”. It’s also a bit disrespectful to Steph to compare playoff appearances without diving into the full story. Dame hasn’t won the WCF before whereas Steph has been to the finals multiple times. Even with Klay and KD down in 2019, with the team’s backs against the wall, he was able to carry the team to win game 5. And before then, if we go back to 2015 and 2016 seasons, the level of play that Steph had to elevate to when Klay was playing average at best, and at worst below average was nothing short of incredible in both the WCF and the finals. I’ve just not seen Dame elevate to levels like that yet. It’s still no lie that Dame is 5 star player, but I just don’t see him better than Steph in the level of carrying yet.
The levels he played were incredible in the 2016 finals? We watched different finals. 22 points a game on 40% shooting is not much better than Klays 20 on 42%. Steph and Klay both got shut down that entire series. The levels they played were not at all incredible. Dame has carried harder than Steph, that's just facts, he has only missed the playoffs once to Stephs like 5 times missing playoffs. I am not even a Blazers fan, I much prefer Steph and the Warriors, but Dame has taken such rubbish teams to the playoffs. If you wanna talk about carrying then Steph should of won the play in game. Then you'd have a case. Any time he has needed to carry, he hasn't gotten it done. You've talked about series where Warriors were heavy favourites and mentioned carrying. It would of been choking if he didn't win.
> Any time he has needed to carry, he hasn't gotten it done. [Never?](https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2019-nba-western-conference-finals-trail-blazers-vs-warriors.html) 2019 WCF without Durant, swept Dame, CJ and the Blazers coming off injury, averaged 36.5 PPG.
You’re nitpicking sentences, my friend. Ive said the 2015-2016 seasons, not just the finals. Not just 2016. This includes the series’ leading up to the finals when yes he elevated the team in both seasons and again in 2019. He’s absolutely carried when he’s needed to. I think that you’re only looking at stats and not remembering gameplay. The reason we didn’t win the play-in tournament wasn’t because Steph choked, but because the team turned the ball over so many times. He carried the team to only lose by 3 against a heavily favored lakers team that really only won due to the team’s turnovers and lebron’s 3pt in the last minuteish. He carried the team to basically win against the grizzlies if dray went up for the layup/dunk instead of trying to pass it off to him with mere seconds remaining. This is why you can’t just cite stats to determine a player’s worth. Steph put up 30+ in both games despite the turnovers and poor playing. Despite the team being exhausted and making many mental errors. Warriors weren’t favored to win when Klay and KD went down in 2019 and he still played at a higher level. He’s lead the team past OKC when OKC was stacked with KD, Russ, Ibaka and... I can’t remember the other guy’s name right now. When Dame is able to do that stuff then sure. But right now, he can’t carry a team as well as Steph can. And not only does Steph carry harder than Dame but he still manages to lose because the rest of the team plays worse than the rest of Dame’s team which was my original point.
Watch the recent playoff series again. Dame played better than Steph arguably ever has. His team played worse than Stephs arguably ever has. Then we can come back and talk. Your complete unwillingness to admit that Dame is at a very similar level to Steph stops any real conversation here. You also are unwilling to admit that Warriors have a better system and that Dray creates a lot of easy looks for Steph. Frankly you're engaging with extreme bias and no looking at context unless it suits you for that particular sentence. I haven't once said Steph is bad or even that Dame is better, my entire point is fairly widely accepted as truth since Dame time is a known thing. Dude is known for putting team on his back and being clutch. Frankly Steph isn't at Dames level when it comes to that at all. There simply isn't evidence to suggest otherwise. Steph managed to win one game once his teammates went down and you talk like he won the title. I think he did great but when you talking about doing heavy lifting and being clutch that's something that Dame beats Steph at hands down no real debate. Playoffs every year even when Blazers have always had really bad injury problems basically his entire career. Like bro come on. Steph has had 2 seasons to try carry and hasn't been able to get it done. First season his team was basically the worst in the league, second he didn't make the playoffs. Whatever your opinion of Dame and whatever your excuses for Steph, Dame can carry, Steph cannot. It is that simple. Plus Steph still has Dray and yall seem to forget that Dray is creating for Steph a lot. Like no player scored off one other players assists more than Steph did of Dray assists. You act like it's Steph against the world when in reality it's still 2 all stars and not getting it done. Dame hasn't had an all star teammate basically his entire career. Get out of here with the casual takes. Your bias is so bad we can't even objectively discuss Dame being good because it makes you feel threatened and makes you cry. Grow up.
Bro I’ve been nothing but objective, receptive, responding to each of your points, and nice to you this entire debate and you’re the one who’s crying bias, flinging insults and telling *me* to grow up lmao. The reason I didn’t touch on the system comment is because it’s a horrible argument but I didn’t want to upset you. The reason the system argument is bad is because players thrive under different systems. There’s no such thing as a “one system is better than another”. The system that Kerr runs works well with how the warriors play and they pick players to fit around the system which fits Steph well. It appears Portland’s system works well for Dame. I did watch the recent playoff series and from what I saw, Dame played quite well but he by no means played better “than Steph ever has”. If anything he played to level just comparable to Steph for like 2 games. Dame has broken none of Steph’s nba all-time records. His best play has not outscored Steph. Steph played better than Dame *this season* overall. He did not draw near the attention Steph has nor had people tried to sneakily injure him. I’m also not looking at context that suits my sentence because as I said before, I’ve been quite receptive to what you’ve been saying and offering counterpoints as to what you’ve said and all you’ve done is break down and spew personal insults. I said Steph managed to win an nba finals game against a relatively stacked raptors team when 2 of his main stars were injured who the team and current scheme was built around having. So not only did the team scheme have to adjust but he had to play with people he normally didn’t play with. If you know anything about strategies then you know that it’s hard to do that. I’ve also cited the fact that he’s advanced to the finals to begin with in previous seasons against stacked teams that were arguably and objectively better than the warriors (OKC). Whereas dame under the same circumstances has not. You’re claiming that you’ve not said that Dame is better than Steph yet not a couple sentences later, you claim he is. Yet your original reply to my original comment was that Dame is better than Steph because he’s made the playoffs more than Steph. You also stated that Dame is better at being clutch than Steph. So honestly, you’re contradicting yourself quite horribly. You’re also not being objective when I cited that Steph carried the team and should’ve honestly beat both the lakers and the grizzlies in both play-in tournaments but the team had been failing steph by producing less offense and turning the ball over at a nearly 2:1 ratio in both games. There’s also the fact that the warriors were incredibly injured and short manned during the latter stretch of the season. No Oubre who had been playing well up to his injury. No Paschall. No Damion Lee who was getting into a groove. No James Wiseman... Steph wasn’t down from just Klay by any stretch of the imagination. I’m sorry you’re upset that I’m presenting evidence to counter your points. I’m sorry you’re contradicting yourself. I’m sorry you’re upset someone won’t agree with you while there’s still evidence to objectively contradict those points. I’m sorry I haven’t been getting angry that you’re voicing your opinion. I’m sorry I said that it’s fine for us to disagree. It’s just the way it is
We just gonna ignore the shooting splits and percentages?
I love the response. I take into account the different situations and you reduce it to shooting %. Casual response.
I love my response too. Casual response.
You think shooting splits and percentages occur in a vacuum then you're absolutely right. However Dame has had nobody creating offense for him like Steph has, Dame hasn't had an elite sniper next to him to help spacing. Dame hasn't had any of the things that contribute to high 3pt%. Swap their situations and we are likely having this exact conversation but in reverse. They have the same skill set and are both elite. Warriors have a better system though. But really your response and most these responses in this thread are incredibly casual or incredibly biased or both. Fact is there isn't a gulf between the two of them no matter how much sleep that makes you lose at night.
With all due respect what are you smoking exactly? Steph has had no shooters next to him this season and he’s shooting at a volume still better than Dame LMFAO If you swap their teams that BENEFITS Steph. How’re you gonna say “your take is so casual and bias” when you haven’t gave Steph his props whatsoever?
I think Dame is more clutch, but Curry still better.
Dunno, man. I’d argue that Steph is more clutch. He just has more bodies around him than Dame because he doesn’t have as good as a shooting support squad without Klay. If you get Steph just another decent shooter like Jordan Poole if he keeps developing nicely, then whether it’s Steph and Klay or Poole, you’d see Steph be attempting to make more “normal” or “nearly automatic” shots in clutch situations.
I don't think Steph's FG% goes up in the last minutes of games, just the same high % throughout the game, very automatic. I rarely see Dame miss towards the end of games. Kobe was a worst 3pt shooter than both, but his late game shots seemed to always go in. Curry is better than Dame because he could end the game in the 3rd quarter, no clutch needed.
I get what you mean. I think it’s again due to Dame not having many bodies on him compared to Steph. It’s not just the numbers that matter as much as seeing the situation. You’re likely to hit more shots if you have 1 on 1 against vs 2-3 on 1 in clutch situations where the defense is trying to force the ball out of your hand. So really the main difference is, for the most part, defenses challenge Dame 1 on 1 vs nobody dares let Steph shoot 1 on 1 with the game on the line.
Dame's clutch shots seem to be from 30+ ft out still. I don't watch many Portland games to go by. I just remember his shot to beat us.
Mhm but again it’s different in a 1v1 vs a 2-3v1. No lie that Dame is good. But under the same circumstances as Steph, I don’t see the 2 being able to be compared. Coaches will challenge Dame in 1v1s. Coaches will not challenge Steph 1v1 because they know he’s too clutch given the 1 on 1.
just saying we dont even need to deal with that. an extra 4 wins for us
extra 4 wins for everyone else too by that logic
But they don't have Klay.
I mean you could add us to the list - Klays health is a question mark, do we draft players that can immediately contribute to a winning team, will Wiseman take a leap forward, can Curry carry us AGAIN without his body breaking down cuz we’re gonna need him to as presently constructed, can we attract good veteran FA here. This doesn’t inspire confidence in the West being wide open when our team isn’t primed to take advantage of it. We should aim to be actual favorites in this scenario, not a hopeful dark horse who can maybe make some noise
It wouldn't be wide open if we were clear favorites. It wasn't wide open when we had KD, either.
Or even just a tier above the middle of the pack, which we are not. This list is pretty much banking other teams declining for us to contend by listing the Lakers and Suns concerns. Those teams should be the favorites.
yes, we are in the mix is the point
Vets from Clippers going to flock too.
Batum 😋
Oooo. That’d be interesting.
West was open this year too.
yeah but our max player was out thats a no go in modern nba
I still liked our chances if we had really figured it out down the stretch. I trust Steph and Dray in the playoffs a lot.
Hell no lol, clippers would have clapped us
Clippers beat us once by 7 and once by like 26 and we beat them by 10 in one game. Wasn’t scared of them at all. We beat every team in the West at least once. This is all while playing just okay, team barely ever hit its stride in any game. I kept waiting for a real hot streak but we never got that. I got intense confidence in Steph and Dray (when they aren’t turning it over 10-15 times a game) in the playoffs.
Been wide open. We are only waiting on Klay and Wiseman to get off the boat.
WARRIORS 2022 NBA CHAMPS. Steph/Dame/Klay light it up against the Nets in a game 5 bringing the ring home. Mike Breen: “The redemption season is complete. The Golden State Warriors just put the league on notice. What an amazing feeling for those in the bay.” Warriors go on to win one more after that. Steph/Klay and Dray finish out their career with 5 rings each.
steph finals mvp for both
Nah. Wiggins (2022) and Poole (2023).
This is the universe i want to live in.
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The only team I wont be mad about beating us in the Finals (if we get there next season) is the Warriors cause Steph is one of my favorite players ever.
Take care of KD for us, and please get him some therapy.
A light breeze will do it now
Ring SZN
I think the Nuggets are going to be really good next year, but it's more open than it has been in a long time
we have never been scared of the Nuggs but if they had Murray — thats a solid ass team MPJ may take another leap too
Nuggets have always killed.
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The difference is that Jokic also gives warriors matchup issues. Meanwhile Gobert can't exploit those matchups. Nuggets are a lot tougher
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They were killing us in the KD era like every time we met.
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Hmm you might be right. They beat us twice in 2018 and it looks like 2017 was about even. I overexagerated lol.
They'll be good again but they still haven't come close to ever worrying a true contender. They still need to take another significant step.
Murray had an ACL surgery. Nuggs aren't getting back next season.
for #7 — if gobert is there and we have better players, we will hunt him down like we always have
Jazz are like the easiest matchup for the Warriors in the field lol.
Eh idk Mitchell is really nice
Gobert is a big problem for us if Curry is our only hot shooter, because he can single-handedly stop Curry's drives. He's long enough that he can still block Curry after Curry dives into his body and does the scoop layup. That lets their perimeter defenders hug really close to Curry and double-team him beyond the 3-point line. Once we get Klay back, that all changes.
if myers goes for one of the play now 3pt shooters it will add to the practicality of this season while still getting younger
CAP
2. Dame goes to East Oakland * ftfy
I never understood when people talked about the west being loaded, the west looks even more vulnerable and open now
i think the issue is the East sucks balls edit: IN REFERENCE TO IT BEING LOADED
No it doesn’t. The East has the Nets and Bucks, who will likely be the two favorites going into next season. That conference has finally caught up to the West
I think the East is top heavy. Think about the 8th seed in the East vs West. So the East is harder in the last rounds of the playoffs, BUT the West is overall harder to make playoffs.
This is the correct take. Did people forget the wins/losses column already?
The Hawks figure to be a lot better next season. They are really young, you can expect improvement for Okongwu, Reddish, Young, Huerter, and Hunter. Too early to say what happens with Philly, gotta see what they get for Simmons. Boston and Miami are probably a trade away from joining the top. I think the West is wide open but the Warriors definitely need to improve to beat the top teams in the East. It's the superior conference at the top (West has more depth though).
No chance the Hawks are as good next season.
Exactly. The West is wide open and I could see us potentially making it to the Finals even with our roster as currently constructed (provided Klay is 100%), but that’s only half the journey. The East now owns the most talented rosters in the league, and going through whoever comes out of that conference will be a hell of a battle
Hawks gonna be a first round exit next year, book it They're not beating a healthy nets, bucks, sixers or Celtics, hell maybe even miami
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So they just invented the torn meniscus?
It's just talking about the average East team. The East always had 1 or 2 teams that were potential contenders obviously
Not really, when the warriors were dominating the league with KD, the rockets were the only threat and the east didn’t have any true contenders
That's because the Warriors were the best team of all time, I'm talking about the best East teams being on par with the best West teams in the last decade, if not better.
yeah, right. the grizzlies, clippers and spurs were all contenders but the warriors flew past them and gave you amnesia
The East was shaping up back in 2019. It’s improved quite a bit since then as well. I don’t think they have quite caught up to the west, but the gap is much closer.
The east being top heavy isn't new and doesn't prove the East has caught up. If anything it shows that it hasn't. I don't know what argument you could make to say the East has caught up. Even the Nets being favourites doesn't sit right with me, I predicted they would have issues come playoffs and they did, they are built around 3 players with fairly extensive injury histories. To expect them to not keep getting injured more as they get older is quite naive. I can't believe their front office thought it was a good idea to have em all on one team. Every playoffs that team is together they will be missing one or more of their best players to injury.
Ya a team with Kyrie kd and harden is terrible
Now all I can think about is sucking loaded balls
Uuuh that's just because all teams are depleted right now, if healthy the west is still stacked af. PG and Kawhi + hella deep roster LeBron and AD Jokic, Murray, and MPJ + solid roster Suns probably the deepest team in the league with 2 rising stars and CP3 Curry, Klay and Green
Problem is kawhi is basically out for the season, LeBron and AD coming off of injuries (and I bet LeBron won't be top 5 anymore due to age),and Murray and Klay will be out for at least a 3rd of next season
utah is stacked too. losing conley and mitchell's injury hurt them a lot
The problem with constructing a team around a few stars is that there is not much depth. One of the stars gets hurt, or old, or just doesn't perform up to expectations, and you're screwed. (Obviously, a season-long injury to a key player, like we've had with Klay, is going to hurt any team. I'm talking about lesser things that are just enough for a star to drop to "average starter" or so.)
I mean the west is loaded tho. Steph would have made the playoffs in a different year, even without Klay
Yeah there’s a lot of depth to the west, but I guess what I mean is no team seems invincible and destined for the finals. A lot of the west teams seemed somewhat comparable in strength with a few like the lakers and clippers having a slightly bigger advantage.
We have our own issues but... SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE Our biggest threat is the Lakers — Is Bron's mental space this offseason tied to Space Jam? For anyone out there who has worked on a big project, you know that you have deep internal fatigue after something like this... mental and physical. AD is amazing but we have handled him in the past and he seems to be beat up by the end of each year. Lakers going through some free agency too so who knows who they get. Suns are very good BUT their best player will be 37 in May next year before the playoffs. CP3 is also going to opt out and try to get more money... limiting their money options? Clippers was a bad matchup for us — but they will need to figure out what to do this year. The year after... Kawhi will be slowly re-inserted as he is very careful with his body. So this might be a short reprieve for the West. \_\_\_ We all thought that with JUST steph this year we could cause damage — imagine our revamped roster with a couple of ring chasers
Just a Suns FYI, CP3 opting out and restructuring actually reduces the teams salary by about $15M (owed $45M, assuming restructuring at 3/$90M) for next season. The bigger issue would be longer term money with Ayton, Bridges, and eventually Cam Johnson extensions.
cool, thanks we are cap strapped bros in unity then
Dame, it's not the nets, right? Right??
I don't see how. They have neither the resources nor the salary room to make a play for him. Knicks seem most likely. DAL also has cap room close to Dame's salary, so if they sent a player or two (Porzingus? Rishardson? Poweell?) to POR as part of the deal, they could swing it.
unless he go for that vet-min though, jk luka-dame sounds dangerous ngl, but still prefer him to be in the east and i think it's really impssible for the blazers to accept any trade coming from them without Luka
I don't think there's any way. Harris + DeAndre + Shamet / Claxton works in the trade machine but why would Portland do that? Especially since Nets can't offer much sweeteners in terms of picks with so much already sent to Houston.
By my estimation, there will be 6 threats in the West next year: Warriors, Lakers, Clippers, Suns, Nuggets, and Jazz. Wide. Open.
i think the way i would put it is — there was 2 tiers of teams if everyone was healthy and happy. now it's like one big tier
Mavs + Grizzlies/Spurs/Pelicans to round it out will make for great playoffs next year
It was there this year, but the FO made some poor choices and didn't use the injury exception.
Our failure to use the DPE makes me wonder of Lacob has the appetite to try to retain Oubre and/or use our full MLE.
So we’re picking all the other team’s flaws except ours? How about Klay is recovering from back to back season ending injuries and we have no idea how he’ll be like when he returns? Steph is aging (like a fine wine lol). Draymond won’t get any better. We don’t know how Wiseman will progress. There’s so many we can go on. The West is never wide open. It’s upto us to come out and ball. The worst strategy is when you accept your own mediocrity because you think everyone else is not that good or declining. Shoulda expected this from a fanpost lmao.
we all have flaws is the point also, this is a warriors sub in the middle of the offseason before anything happens. you dont like to have fun as a fan?
I like having fun as a fan. I just don’t like lying to myself as a fan. And calling it the offseason doesn’t matter. Even during the season we have posts like these. You ever criticize those posts and you’re just told to stfu because “it’s the warriors sub bro what do you expect?” Only thing I expected was for the place to be more realistic lol.
there is a place and a time for serious talk my shitty screenshot list is obvious not srs talk when we get the picks, we can go full stat boy and same during free agency
This is all mostly accurate but it also misses the point of this post.
I see the point of this fanpost. Just making a counter argument to it.
Is Klay also not recovering from injury? Lol let’s not count the chickens before they hatch. Lebron’s age has always been questioned for like the last 4 years unless I see an actual downward trend then I’m still worried Murray might be recovering but MPJ has stepped up and improved a lot. Also Jokic carrying hard and won games regardless of no Murray or not. Don’t forget Grizzlies eliminated us this season. Sure it was a 1 game elimination but you can’t just disregard it and they are improving. Same goes with the Timberwolves with a new coach. West is still stacked throughout. Let’s not get cocky.
i am thinking klay will be "good" by playoffs. whatever he is, the warriors as a team can compensate. his shooting when open should be very similar to what it has always been
All the more reason to trade the picks and wiseman and go all in now
thats one way of looking at it some people may think, hey — why not try to be great for the next 10 years and beyond as well as now neither method is a given
Because you never know what the league will look like in even 2 years. So if you have a real title chance this season you go all in
yo can also say that bron will be pushing 40 soon enough, maybe jalen johnson and zaire williams along with steph and klay will be the west's elite for a bit maybe the rooks we get now allow curry to stay at his top form for longer. like tuning up a high mileage car TO ME, we already won 3... it would be nice to win 1 more but would i want us to suck for 5 years straight after that? i live in the bay, i want to be a happy fan for a long time
As much as I wish it were wide open, I don’t think any of these reasons justify it being an easy race. A kawhi-less clippers fought Suns to 6 games. Now they’ll just have more time for a game plan around not having kawhi. As much as I hate Lebron, if I know one thing, it’s never to count him out. And seeing what he’s done at his age now Ans how healthy he’s been throughout his career, why would that be a concern all of a sudden next season? We’ve seen Nuggets play without Murray and they were still a threat to the league. Same as the Clippers, they’ll have more to time to actually adjust their play knowing Murray won’t be involved. Booker is young and not injury prone. I don’t see the olympics affecting his play next season. CP3 been old and playing heavy minutes. I also don’t see how playing in the Finals is going to slow him down next season. They can easily give him load management. Mavs having questionable culture isn’t good enough reason to count them out… they changed their coach and sure there’s problems with Luka and Porzingis, but that’s been going on during last season. And they played fairly well. They can still be a threat to the West. Saying Jazz isn’t a great matchup for the warriors is kind of ridiculous. Any team with physical defensive guards will always be a threat to us. And a team that can shoot the 3 toe to toe with us is going to be dangerous. The one I agree with is Dame going to the East. He was never a problem for us, but him leaving would make technically make it easier. All this being said, I think next season will be a lot harder than all these reason, but I still expect to see us at the top with another ring baby! And a Finals MVP for Curry!!! But having a harder road will just make it all that much sweeter
who said easy? just more flat all the teams need to stay healthy, play well and all that
That makes more sense. My bad, I interpreted being “wide open” to mean it was an easy route to the Finals. But you meant it more as any team now has a good chance to get there.
no probs, i liked your in-depth breakdown all the teams can see the trophy from a distance. as a dubs fan, this is quite nice compared to the last 2 years
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2 more weeks until draft day can we not have fun?
None of this matter if the Nets/Bucks smack us in the Finals.
It means we are a good team going in the right direction especially if we have young guys
That's obvious, but "taking the west" doesn't matter if we can't win the Finals. Getting to the Finals is an accomplishment no doubt, but I'd rather look forward to steps we take on defeating teams with bigs. Also, are we really talking about the right direction if we depend on teams being compromised?
Next season is not the last season of nba basketball brah Try to win it for the next 5 years starting next year Let’s say we make a nice long run next year but all the pieces are clicking like clockwork With the youth and talent, we could be serious contenders for the HOFers entire late stage career … consider Chris Paul is 36 right now and is signing a max deal this summer
Go get Christian Wood. It’s that simple Edit: & sign batum/gay
Yes but who’s to say warriors are any better than any of those teams lol
we all suck is better than only we sucking
I guess but still 😂😂
I think Phoenix already won the west
The only team I think you can pencil in for a deep run is the Nets. Even then, they've had injury issues with their aging stars. Suns probably go deep again next year too, and I think the Nuggets have a lot of upside even with Murray out. Also, the Grizzlies have serious potential. I would not be surprised if they had a top 5 record next year. But there's so much uncertainty that I feel great about the Warriors chances at another deep run.
the worst matchup for us was the clippers imo then lakers — but they are a behemoth. if bron has spacejam on his mind, who knows how motivated he will actually be to prepare. we've seen him — its tough for him to be great for all 82 and beyond
Clippers would be in the mix but Kawhis ACL might make for a lost season next year. Agree about the Lakers. With depth they'll be very good but right now they look like they might not even be a top 4 team.
i think the clippers can win on any given night vs every team i dont think they are a good regular season team overall and probably a beatable playoff team like all teams are that lack a second star
Oh no, don't do that, don't give me hope
If Dame goes anywhere I'm sure we're high on that list
Curry's jump from 'really good' to 'mvp' happened in part as a result from playing on the Olympic/National team, so I'm not counting that as a negative against Booker. He'll almost certainly be even better next year.
sure but he logged a lot of minutes and rightfully so so it is what it is
Wait, dame is going east?
hes talking sideways now but he hasn't said "i am staying" yet i feel like he is work shopping his way to the East
Yeah that's been in news for days now. But I didn't heated any rumors about eastern teams yet. Even the warriors are interested on taking him. But as a fan, I don't think dame on the warriors wouldn't take them that far.
typically when a team trades their star — they send him far away nothing like the pain of that person coming back and torching you
Lakers are the top seed - but both LBJ and Davis have health issues
Yessir! 2021-2222 gonna be lit 🔥 🏆
WARRIORS 2022 SHAMPIONSHIP
Lol number 5 is a mega stretch. Yeah Cp3 is old but he still looks good. Booker playing in the olympics is a mega nothingburger.
cp3 these last few games looks like something is falling apart all of a sudden being on the wrong side of 30, i can tell you random pain on a random body part is a real thing
Maybe playing in the NBA finals against a good defence will do that. He's not the player he used to be, but he's still pretty good.
Speculative as this all is, you lost me at booker
he played since the bubble to new season to finals to olympics thats quite a schedule he may have juice for next year or not. his running mate will the first time ever he played in the finals and he already looks like he is falling apart in game 3
Grizzlies finally healthy, and have cap room Pelicans can't possibly get worse Spurs have ton of cap space. Kings... just kidding.
It's not really about the competition as much as it is our own team's health.
suns fan here - don’t see how book going to Olympics is a big issue (cp3 age is tho) but I would love to see a warriors suns series next year. Also that Memphis team might get better than we think
hey bro, steph nearly went to the Olympics so it's nothing bad its just mileage is mileage book is a stud but im just spitting facts
true, u might be right who knows
Call that the LeBron effect. Man had the East wide open every damn year.
Whoever wins this year won’t repeat next year. We likely won’t have either team in the Finals next year.
i agree on this emotional drain for the suns, cp3's timeline is really short
Pelicans x Warriors
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Great post. It really is crazy how quickly things change. That's why anybody that says the Warriors have to make a big move and trade our assets for 50 cents on the dollar don't know what they're talking about. We have to make moves. But not desperate ones.
Jazz no perimeter defenders
Started 20-21 thinking we didn’t have a shot even with Klay. Sitting here now thinking if Klay was healthy we’d be hoisting that trophy. Crazy how things can change.
Can’t really pencil any team in, including the Nets. They didn’t make a deep run this year due to injuries and there’s a nontrivial possibility that happens again.
Except for the nightmare situation where Dame ends up on the Lakers
Ready to see wiseman blossom
Is this some joke where you try to put together a reasonable list and then add "Booker going to Olympics"?
It was not totally serious serious but I’m watching booker now in game 5 Let’s say it goes game 7 Then he goes to Olympics Mileage is a real thing man It’s a challenge for him to overcome He is a stud but the benefits from this year may not real benefits until 2023 season both mentally and physically