The Dubs' playoff dominance this year has the rest of the league in panic mode.
The Dubs won their 2nd championship out of the last 3 in emphatic fashion, becoming the 1st team in playoff history to go 16-1. This year's GS team is clearly one of the greatest, if not the greatest, team of all-time to play the game of basketball. As long as this team remains intact and healthy, the Dubs will win multiple titles with this core.
Steph will remain in Oakland, possibly signing a max contract. After being the NBA's best bargain over the last 5 years, he deserves a max.
KD will also resign with the Dubs, taking less than a max to keep the team intact.
I see Dre as a toss-up, but if he leaves, his absence will be greatly felt. Dre was a major factor in helping the Dubs win the 2015 and 2017 titles.
It has been a little over a week since the Dubs reclaimed the NBA title. So far, rumors have been heating up, and to me, they all sound like panic moves. And here is my question: Why are teams mortgaging their future to "win now" in an era where GS is primed to win now?
Paul George's name has been thrown around in the mix. Indiana wants to get rid of Paul George this year while they can receive something in return for him. Rumors say that he wants to go to the Lakers. No problem. The Lakers should get him next year unless Indiana is willing to take on Luol Deng's contract. Cleveland wants PG but has NOTHING to offer him. Too many question marks on a team that has just made 3 straight Finals appearances.
So now, let's talk about Cleveland. They parted ways with their GM, albeit he was a puppet figure. We all knew LeBron was the real GM there. They want to get rid of Kevin Love now that he's deemed "useless" to the Cavs. LeBron orchestrated the Kevin Love trade from Minnesota back in 2014, and he had the team vastly overpay Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith. Tristan Thompson was virtually useless in the Finals, and J.R. Smith is a defensive liability. Actually, I'll take the back. Virtually the entire Cavs roster is a defensive liability. The Cavs' defensive numbers ranked near the bottom, while the Warriors' ranked in the top 5. Kyle Korver and Deron Williams, as we all knew, were terrible trades. Old, defensive liability, slow, and when they don't shoot 3's, they're useless. LeBron's name is being tossed around in the mix of things, so he's probably considering leaving Cleveland for Los Angeles. So why would PG spend a year of uncertainty in Cleveland, with LeBron possibly gone after next year and no GM? It has also been reported that Kyrie Irving may force out a trade if LeBron leaves Cleveland in 2018. Cleveland really doesn't have anything to give up to Indiana, except probably Kevin Love. So why would Cleveland give up Kevin Love for a 1-year rental player in Paul George, and possibly lose LeBron and Paul George for nothing and even Kyrie in a trade in 2018?
Cleveland also wants Jimmy Butler, but Chicago would be foolish in making such a lopsided trade that works in the Cavs' favor. What do the Cavs have to offer that will offset the Bulls' loss of Butler? Kevin Love doesn't have the upside that Jimmy Butler has.
GS isn't a superteam. They just drafted better than Cleveland. GS drafted Curry at #7 in 2009, Klay at #11 in 2011, Green in the second round at #35 in 2012, and signed KD last summer (drafted by Seattle at #2 in 2008) because they lost Harrison Barnes (drafted at #7 in 2012) to free agency. Harrison Barnes cost $3M last year but got a hefty pay raise to $24M a year. For $27M a year, KD was easily the better bargain than HB was at $24M.
Cleveland drafted Kyrie at #1 in 2011 (as a result of a trade with the Clippers) and Thompson at #4 in the same year. They also drafted LeBron at #1 in 2003 before he left for Miami in FA back in 2010, and convinced him to re-join the Cavs in 2014. The Cavs were awarded two more #1 picks (Bennett in 2013, Wiggins in 2014) and packaged them to Minnesota for Kevin Love (drafted at #5 by Memphis in 2008 before being immediately traded to Minnesota).
GS drafted #7, #11, #35, and signed #2 from free agency. Cleveland has players who were drafted at #1, #1, #4, and #5. Cleveland should technically be the "superteam." Instead, they mimicked GS' small ball, becoming a lite carbon copy of them. It worked once (Game 4) in the 2017 NBA Finals. That's a 20% success rate. GS did whatever they wanted to do at the rim at the Cavs couldn't stop them.
It is Cleveland's own fault for becoming dependent on a 32-year-old superstar to lead the league in minutes and become the Washington Generals when he's not on the court. GS isn't a superteam. Cleveland is technically the superteam. GS has better chemistry, and they're having more fun on the court. Cleveland isn't having as much fun as GS is on the court. I don't see the bond between LBJ, Kyrie, and Kevin Love on the court that I see with Steph, Klay, Dray, and Slim. The Cavs were fucking ran off the court, and the Dubs would probably have swept them if they weren't hosed by awful officiating in Game 4.
Now let's talk about the Knicks. They're listening to offers about Porzingis. I have a feeling that teams are going to overpay for Porzingis and become nowhere near close to contending. Remember the Knicks' "superteam"? They were supposed to be a superteam this year. Yeah, they won 31 games.
And what about Boston? All right, they were nowhere close to competing with Cleveland. They were run off the court. Markelle Fultz would have made a fantastic match in Boston. Except they panicked. Shipped him off to Philly, to acquire more picks. Whatever happened to quality over quantity? Are they willing to hand the reins of their team to a 5-9 point guard? He proved no difference against the Cavs in the East Finals. And he may leave for free agency next summer. This was the perfect time for them to sign Fultz. Instead, they're placing all their chips on Isaiah Thomas who may leave the team after a year. Then who do they have next? Horford was a waste of money. Unless they can guard Gordon Hayward and another star to go to Boston, then they whiffed on the Fultz trade with Philly.
And the Lakers? Bad deal after bad deal. They were so desperate to get rid of Mozgov's terrible contract that they shipped Russell off too. For Brook Lopez, who might even leave the team for nothing next summer. The Lakers' roster is nowhere near contending, and adding PG will not make them contenders. The Lakers should learn from GS—build your team the old-fashioned way, from the ground up. From drafting and developing and waiting patiently. The Lakers are where they are because they went all in for Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, and they're still paying for it now.
Bottom line: teams are jealous of the Dubs right now and are trying to take short cuts to compete with them. Unfortunately, this idea rarely succeeds.