| Author | Message | ||
     Saarang Pilla Bewarse Username: Saarang Post Number: 421 Registered: 04-2015 Posted From: 97.126.40.189 Rating: N/A |
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19591472/zach-lowe-golden-state-warriors-pote ntial-dynasty-2017-nba-finals Zach Lowe's master piece on what next for other teams...moral of the story...most teams should and will wait out this dynasty...few of them need to keep trying. In the end, they are exactly the team the league expected and feared: the best offensive team ever, and the league's stingiest defense over the regular season and postseason combined. "I don't feel like I sacrificed at all," Klay Thompson told ESPN.com last week. "I'd rather be a part of something that could leave a legacy. There is more to basketball than getting yours, or being the guy. I hope I do this for a long time for the Warriors." The NBA has had super-teams before, but none quite like this. The Warriors boast four All-NBA-level players age 29 or younger. Three of them rank among the 10 greatest shooters ever; they are all lethal away from the ball. The fourth, Green, is more initiator than finisher, and ranks as a generational defensive player. Rivals a tier below Golden State and Cleveland are contemplating whether chasing the Warriors is even worth it while all four stars are in their primes. Why exchange draft picks and young players for present-day talent if an upgrade still leaves you way short? "You know where your competition is," said Danny Ainge, the GM of the Boton Celtics, who chose to stand pat at the trade deadline when the Chicago Bulls demanded a king's ransom for Jimmy Butler. "The formula to become an elite team hasn't changed. What you're asking is if Golden State has changed things so that you have no chance." Most teams don't have the luxury of even asking this question. Franchises in Charlotte and Memphis just have to be as good as they can be every season. The Celtics are different. They are straddling two paths as a 53-win team with a heap of extra draft picks, including the No. 1 pick this month and the Brooklyn Nets' unprotected pick next season. The Toronto Raptors were in a similar situation when they flipped Terrence Ross and three draft picks -- including one first-rounder -- for Serge Ibaka and PJ Tucker. They went close to all-in, though without surrendering any asset nearly as valuable as those Brooklyn picks. Cleveland humiliated them in four games. Most team executives around the league agree there might be some small overall chilling effect on win-now transactions in the wake of Golden State's run. Middling teams without a star could attempt a multi-year process-style bottoming out, though none appear primed to do so. "As a response to the Golden State mega-team, I hear the NBA is considering giving out banners to teams who don't get swept," chuckled Daryl Morey, Houston's GM. Morey is joking. He has a top-five player in James Harden -- "top-three, we think, for sure," Morey said -- and will not sacrifice a season of Harden's prime in trembling awe of these Warriors. Nor will the Spurs trifle with Kawhi Leonard's best years. They will not trade those players to bottom out, either. The whole point of tanking is to get a chance at players who might be as good as Harden and Leonard. |