Cavs/Clips/Knicks - Cavs 2018 Champs - Kyrie to LA

[FNQ]

Last thing though, you keep saying Irving gets to play with Lebron which makes his stats better. I don't necessarily disagree with this, yet I don't think Lebron really impacts Irvings game that much. Lebron is a huge threat on ball, off the ball i'm easily taking Klay/Durant/Green whoever else the Warriors throw out there then Lebron/Love/JR. The Warriors have arguably 3 top 5 3pt shooters in the league and the 2 best. For all the talk about Love, hes really a 36% 3pt shooter on 4 shots per game. Klay averages 7 per game at 42% for his career, huge difference right there. Obviously Durant is a much better 3pt shooter than Lebron as well. This clearly opens the paint more for Curry than it does for Irving.

Not that I disagree entirely with your assessment of Irving. Guy was overrated like crazy after his title, I've said the same. Id take Kemba over him easily, I was called crazy.

To be clear, I agree entirely with the assessment above, and when I cite that he's playing with LeBron, that's more when comparing him to guys like IT/Lillard, who are the focal point of the offense and as such, the focal point of the oppositions defense. Irving is a clear 2nd thought when defending the Cavs, while IT/Lillard are clearly the 1st. On the W's.. its hard to tell who's 1st/2nd/3rd or what have you

I figured as much. That being said do you account for that when comparing Currys stats to say Lillard?

Curry is the greatest 3pt shooter we've ever seen. I think part of that has to do with the fact of his freedom and confidence that if he misses his team is so good it doesn't matter.

What I am saying is I don't think the Warriors lose all that much if they swapped Curry for Lillard. There would certainly be chemistry/learning curve, but I think with Lillard it doesn't change a game in last years playoffs.

Oh god, you have to. But the thing about Steph was that he was putting up this kind of statistical craziness pre-KD too. By his sophomore season he was jacking up those crazy 3pt shots, and he's been allowed to because he's just that damn good

But to your point, I dont think we'd lose all that much either. The sole difference would be in terms of playmaking, but with this much talent, I'd have to believe Lillard would be able to adjust as well. I still think Curry is handily above Lillard as a complete player, but I also think Lillard is just one tier below him and we'd be just fine if we had to swap them

[Jaw]

My impression of the trade in its current form is that its good for Cavs in present (not sure 2018 champs godd but gives them a better shot than this past year) but leaves them quite barren for the future (2021 is very far off and lotto protected on top of that detracts most of the value out of it). Its closer to Cleveland's original talks of a starter, young player on rookie deal and a pick than their recent demands of a blue chip prospect but I think its a better move than getting a good young player since at least keeps them in the conversation to get Lebron and improves their shots at adding another banner.

For the Knicks its a meh return. At the heart of the Melo-Jackson drama this would've been a major win for Knicks that allowed for them to turn the next page without taking back any bad contracts. Now it seems the Melo situation has cooled off and I think this trade is just meh. It does send the Knicks ultimately in the right direction and I'm not sure Houston could beat it so its probably worth it.

I think value wise its a steal for Clippers. They get Irving for basically the spare parts of Paul trade which isn't bad considering he could've left for nothing. Even with Irving however I think the Clippers team is extremely limited but that was the case before the trade too so I don't think that should stop them from doing the trade.You can do a lot worse than Irving, Galo, Griffin and Jordan and only 1 team can win it all each year anyway (and it looks like it'll be Warriors until that core gets tired of winning together or start getting old in 4 or 5 years).