NBA Thread

[sbr]

Yep.  It wasn't a very well played game but it was bananas to watch.

So happy with the outcome too!!

[CountDeMoney]

I suppose even a championship is a championship, even if it's an NBA championship.  Bless little Cleveland's heart.

[Sophie Scholl]

Believeland!  AHL, NBA, next up: MLB!

[Admiral Yi]

My bet is still alive. 

[Valmy]

Well Lebron pretty much solidified his all-time great status in that series. That was something else.

He has done the impossible and turned Cleveland into a city of champions.

[Valmy]

If the Clippers are healthy they should make it to the conference finals at least.

LOLZ

[derspiess]

Happy for Cleveland.  It was a hell of a game-- not in terms of shooting obviously, but there was <gasp> defense being played in an NBA game.

[Valmy]

Yeah the Warriors were pretty shut down in the 4th Quarter.

[jimmy olsen]

Durant will sign with the warriors!

http://nba.nbcsports.com/2016/07/04/kevin-durant-to-sign-with-warriors/?cid=eref:nbcnews:text

[jimmy olsen]

If they stay healthy I don't see how they can be stopped.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/06/sports/basketball/filling-warriors-bench-should-not-be-a-problem.html

Filling Warriors' Bench Should Not Be a Problem

By BENJAMIN HOFFMANJULY 5, 2016

In the wake of Monday's announcement that Kevin Durant intended to sign with the Golden State Warriors, fans on social media briefly began to question if the team would have to sacrifice its notable depth to acquire yet another star. With multiple media outlets reporting that the veterans David West and Zaza Pachulia had agreed to join the team, Golden State's "Strength in Numbers" slogan should safely be in play for 2016-17.

The cause for concern among Warriors fans, and glee among those hoping the Big Four experiment would fail, was that to accommodate Durant's contract — $54.3 million over two years according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations — the Warriors would have to find a trade partner for Andrew Bogut, their starting center, and give up any hope of bringing back the restricted free agents Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli. There is no doubt that Durant outshines all three players, but giving up both of the team's centers, and its starting small forward, seemed like a step back in terms of the deep rotations that Coach Steve Kerr has been known to employ.
Photo


 
David West, right, has also agreed to join the Warriors, according to media reports. Credit Alonzo Adams/Associated Press 

However, many veteran players should be willing to take bargain-basement deals to play for a team fresh off a record 73-win season and whose starting lineup features the winners of the last three Most Valuable Player Awards and four of the 15 members of last season's All-N.B.A. team.

Such moves are common among great teams, a recent example being the LeBron James-led Miami Heat teams that were able to add veterans like Ray Allen, Shane Battier, Mike Miller and Chris Andersen at bargain rates to complement the team's stars. It was a strategy that backfired for Gary Payton and Karl Malone when they joined the Los Angeles Lakers led by Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in 2003-04, although Payton finally won his first title a few seasons later when he joined O'Neal and Dwyane Wade on the Heat.

The first veteran to bite on the opportunity to chase a ring with Golden State was Pachulia, a 32-year-old veteran of 13 seasons, who most likely slots in as the team's starting center, reportedly for $2.9 million for one season. After averaging 8.6 points and a career-high 9.4 rebounds for the Dallas Mavericks last season, the 6-foot-11 Pachulia probably could have garnered a far larger deal — Timofey Mozgov, the 29-year-old backup center of last season's Cleveland Cavaliers, agreed to a four-year, $64 million contract with the Lakers — but having never advanced out of the second round of the playoffs, he is exactly the type of veteran a team like the Warriors attracts.

West's case is similar. A 13-year veteran and a 6-9 power forward, West turns 36 in August and is seeking his first title after a career that has included two All-Star appearances. He left more than $11 million on the table last season in a terminated player option with the Indiana Pacers to seek a title with San Antonio. His deal has been reported to be one year at the veteran minimum. He may no longer be the player who averaged 21 points and 8.5 rebounds a game for the 2008-09 New Orleans Hornets, but he proved more than capable of a bench role for the Spurs, averaging 7.1 points and 4 rebounds in just 18 minutes a game while still playing effectively on both ends of the court and staying healthy enough to appear in 78 games.

Provided both deals come to fruition, most of Golden State's roster is set. The starters are expected to be Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Durant and Pachulia. The bench should include Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, West and Kevon Looney, the team's first-round draft pick in 2015. That group will most likely be joined by this year's first-round draft pick, Damian Jones, and Patrick McCaw, the No. 38 pick, whom the team acquired in a draft-day trade. The undrafted rookies Robert Carter and A. J. English are also trying to play their way onto the Warriors after signing with them for the summer league.

There may be more veterans to come — perhaps even a few of the team's own veteran free agents could return — and there is no telling how quickly this roster can mesh together in Kerr's complicated system. But anyone concerned about the team's depth can apparently rest easy.

[sbr]

Tim Duncan is retiring.  Greatest player since Jordan-excluding LeBron who is still rolling.

[Valmy]

Tim Duncan is retiring.  Greatest player since Jordan-excluding LeBron who is still rolling.

I guess this day had to come. Dude has been about to retire for five years now.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Welp. 

[garbon]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-pulls-2017-all-star-game-from-charlotte-focuses-on-new-orleans-190148437.html

NBA pulls 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte, focuses on New Orleans

Without any movement by state legislators in North Carolina to change newly enacted laws targeted at the LGBT community, the NBA on Thursday decided to pull the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte.

"Our week-long schedule of All-Star events and activities is intended to be a global celebration of basketball, our league, and the values for which we stand, and to bring together all members of the NBA community – current and former players, league and team officials, business partners, and fans," the league said in a released statement.

The NBA is focused on the New Orleans' Smoothie King Center as the host for All-Star Weekend and the All-Star Game on Feb. 19, league sources told The Vertical.

For now, there are still other cities trying to lure the All-Star Game, sources said.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver had threatened to move All-Star Weekend out of Charlotte unless a discriminatory North Carolina law aimed at the state's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community was changed – and time to do so ran out because of the logistics and planning the NBA needs to run its marquee midseason event, league sources said.

The issue is centered on North Carolina's House Bill 2, a law that mandates transgender people use public restrooms corresponding to the sex listed on their birth certificates. The law also omits LGBT people from North Carolina's anti-discrimination protections, forbids local governments from widening LGBT protections and excludes all forms of workplace discrimination lawsuits from North Carolina state courts.

"While we recognize that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2," the league said. "... We look forward to re-starting plans for our All-Star festivities in Charlotte for 2019 provided there is an appropriate resolution to this matter."

Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan had been counting on All-Star Weekend as a signature event for his franchise, and the economic impact of losing the All-Star Game for the franchise and region promises to be dramatic.

The NBA had discussed moving the All-Star Game to the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, sources said, but scheduling conflicts at the facility became part of the reason the idea never advanced past high-level league conversations during the Las Vegas summer league this month, sources said.

New Orleans hosted the All-Star Game in 2008 and 2014.

[HVC]

Gay people ruin everything