I'll start by saying that I think Iguodala is the 5th best player on the Warriors (obviously), but IMO the 3rd most important against the Cavs after Steph and KD.
I think losing him will be huge, and the reverberating effect when we play them will be an overall worse defensive unit - it also prevents them from playing their vaunted death lineup, which is the main reason I was interested in trading Love.
If we played a series against them where we both played our starting 5s most of the time, I would have a lot more confidence in the Cavs. Warriors fans are high on guys like McCaw, but that's a massive downgrade from Iguodala, especially against the Cavs.
Plus, it seems likely we'll add at least one vet during the season that gets bought out.
And having said that - I guess I should also say that I believe this Cavs team can play the kind of defense they played the year before. I think it's time to finally admit that the bad habits that we developed during the year showed up in the finals, and so much of it was just effort based. That's something I expect to be fixed just by having a different mentality throughout the regular season, although better defensive personnel would obviously help too.
If the Warriors lose Iguodala, do the Cavs NEED to make any changes?
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If the Warriors lose Iguodala, do the Cavs NEED to make any changes?
- bmurph128
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Re: If the Warriors lose Iguodala, do the Cavs NEED to make any changes?
- gflem
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Re: If the Warriors lose Iguodala, do the Cavs NEED to make any changes?
I don't think the Cavs magically play better defense this coming season with the exact same team. They will be a year older, and unless they sign someone to help with KD defensively the outcome will be the same. JR should be a bit better without the stress of his child being born premature but that isn't enough of an improvement imo.
Losing Iggy would change the W's rotation for sure, but his D on Lebron wasn't as much of a factor this past finals as he was in the 2 prior finals meetings. Him leaving (if he does) would hurt them, but it would just mean that Durant would have to log a few more minutes a game and I don't see how that is much of a negative for them.
Losing Iggy would change the W's rotation for sure, but his D on Lebron wasn't as much of a factor this past finals as he was in the 2 prior finals meetings. Him leaving (if he does) would hurt them, but it would just mean that Durant would have to log a few more minutes a game and I don't see how that is much of a negative for them.
Re: If the Warriors lose Iguodala, do the Cavs NEED to make any changes?
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Re: If the Warriors lose Iguodala, do the Cavs NEED to make any changes?
Would Cav fans be interested in a sign and trade, Kevin Love for Paul Millsap?