The East is totally up for grabs. Only team I'd say has very little shot is Brooklyn and possibly Milwaukee without Brandon Knight. Toronto, Atlanta, Wash, Miami, Chi, Clev...all have about the same chance to win the thing, imo.
Rose is done .. this guy is this generation's Grant Hill, we will never know how great he could have been.
Only two truly legitimate teams in the East now. LeBron might actually drag that crew of misfits to the Finals
Actually reading on it they're saying it might be similar to the Westbrook injury in which he missed a few weeks.
Just say it already, you're a Cavs fan. You claim Knicks but you keep slobbering over the Cavs in this thread.
Eh, even if Cavs go to Finals. lol. Good luck. I'm sure Cavs with love it with their overall franchise history and all, at the end all you need is a chance and whatnot, but I'd be willing to place good amount of $ on whoever is coming out of West.
It's an NBA thread, he is an amazing NBA player...it shouldn't burn that bad that Cleveland is a good basketball team, it's been like 8 months since he left. And I wish I could say much of anything positive about a Knicks player currently, but obviously I cant.
Very true. Infact who ever does rep the East I expect it to look a lot like last years finals....ugly.
Probably. Not for the same reason tho. Can't see another team shooting 53% in the Finals again for a long time lol
They got Lebron back and got Irving signed for awhile. I'd say their chances of landing another player whether that is Love longterm or another player is very good. The Heat always seem to land on their feet but I don't see the biggest names in 16 going to them. They got Dragic so thats good but I'm not anywhere near as high on him as you guys are. His career track record isn't really impressive outside of one year, players like that often peak right before free agency....then....well you've seen that before you've watched enough basketball. The Heat's core is never together, never healthy, is that expected to improve as the players get older? I am kind of lost with that logic.
His (Dragic') career track record is ascending. It is the same as many players that are super stars today. Namely Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Russell Westbrook, Kyle Lowry, John Wall, Lamarcus Aldridge etc... To say that you don;t find it "impressive" just reveals you don't know what an improving NBA player looks like or an ignorance of advanced metrics. His entire career has been impressive. period. He just moved into All-star, All-NBA status as of late. His trajectory is EXACTLY...not "close"..not" similar"..EXACTLY as the players I mentioned. THEN LOOK at his Minute count. He is a VERY YOUNG 28 years old. He is at the point of his career where guys like Steve Nash (2x MVP) where before they TOOK off at this age. As for the "core not being together". "Never Healthy". That is this year. Durant and Westbrook have played on and off together for 3 years and they are both Young. Teh Spurs had a stretch where everybody was injured on and off for 3 years, and they then ran off two finals appearances. As for the Cavs attracting another player if Love leaves.....Other than Lebron, Cleveland has never landed a single free agent in their HISTORY of any note...in ANY SPORT really. So unless, there is another guy born and raised in Akron/Cleveland, then I like their track record to remain the same. As for Miami not landing a free agent in 16'...that is just quite frankly ..wishful thinking, since their track record and Miami's IN ALL SPORTS is that of a attractive place in which to be rich. Now, you add in the fact that the Heat have one of the best organizations in all of sports...yeah..it won't be much of an issue to attract a big name in 16' if they desire. Basketball is different to football. Peak production years in basketball are 28-34. They have one guy entering that time..another at the start of it..one at the end..and one 3 years away from it. The Future is extremely bright. On the other hand, Cleveland's trajectory is that of a team, who's best player will be out of his prime, when Irving and Love enter theirs. They are going to need to supplement talent....in Cleveland...and we know how that has gone before.
BTW...this is eerily similar to the SAME debates we had in 2010'. Ever wonder why I always seem to be right? Not because I have some special knowledge of basketball...(although I do)..it's because I am betting on the Miami Heat ORG, and betting against the dumpster fire that is Cleveland, New York, Chicago, etc...
I will release a Section126 Top 50 NBA players board...soon. How many Heat players make it on? (4 looks ok...as of now, with Whiteside cracking in late) (In the NBA...only one team has 5 players in the top 90 in PER..guess who that is....)
Actually its like the debates this offseason, when the Heat went from Finals favorites to the 7-8th seed in the East. The Heat have a great organization but even great organizations don't win every year, they have to retool, we'll see how it goes.
Jason Terry getting the start again tonight...versus Chris Paul. I better make sure CP3 is in all my fanduel lineups tonight. He may go for 50 points and 20 assists, lol.
He descended this year so after one year he is tracking downward. I like Dragic but he's not a build your team around max player. He's a nice player though. I've never said a bad word about Miami and free agents or the town, I mean I am a fan of the state and the Dolphins lol. I do think Lebron can get players to Cleveland so I'm not with you on that one. And he did leave so you can chalk that up to whatever you want, he had the same offers on the table from Miami and Cleveland and he went to Cleveland. Lebron is one of the more powerful athletes on the planet, I think he could certainly talk someone big into going to Cleveland. If Love stays then they don't need anymore star talent they just need role players and I am certain Lebron can attract role players. I like clevelands future much more than the Heat's. We'll see how it goes.
Henry Walker. Our latest scrap heap find. Don't know how it happened but I'll take it. Need to play through Whiteside more. Could have dropped 30 tonight and he was the man in OT
Lebron left to go run his own franchise. If you bet on Cleveland's future vs Miami...you made a bad bet in reality and historically.
