First Round Playoff Thread

[coolhandluke121]

Can we start a separate finals thread?

The Heat should trade Wade while he's still worth something. His conditioning and work ethic have been poor ever since his first title, hence the injuries and inconsistency. I know it's hard to tell when an NBA guard is a little out of shape because they all are in incredible shape compared to us, but I think Wade should have lost 10-15 pounds years ago. That's what Kobe did, and that's what Redd and CP3 should have done. Kobe's still balling at 33, whereas Redd became a corpse at 30 and CP3 is already down one meniscus at age 28. Wade is now 30. It's pretty clear where this is headed. Whining to the refs is a sign of helplessness, stemming from the fact that his body can't do the things it used to.

The Heat's careless passing in the first half was disgusting. Painful to watch, in a game 7 no less. There were about 7 or 8 careless zephyrs thrown out there for Boston to grab and run the other way. Ridiculous.

[crkone]

You don't need endurance when your deadliest weapon is kicking any defender in the head on your mid range jump shot and getting the call.

[europa]

Bosh is going to be very important in drawing defenders away from the basket. He also obviously provides both a perimeter shooter and a guy who can catch and finish in the paint. Miami has very few finishers beyond the obvious.

Heat should run LeBron/Wade pick-and-rolls with Bosh spotted up in the corner until the Thunder prove they can defend it. I think that should become their offensive staple in the series.

I think the player Celtics fans will be watching most intently will be Perkins. If he has a big defensive impact, Danny Ainge may want to slip out of Boston quietly before the mob comes and gets him.

[Ayt]

I see Sefolosha doing a decent job on Lebron, and Westbrook will be MVP. Thunder in 6 after a few questionably officiated games

So Durant will be on Wade? That's a tough match up for Durant even though he's become a very solid defender.

Still going to pick OKC to win in five.

LeBron is the only guy on the Heat roster who can even hope to defend Durant. He's going to have to defend him 40+ minutes and the Heat will still be relying on him to come up with a majority of their offense. Can LeBron do that? Maybe. If anyone in the league can it's him. But that's a lot to ask of any player.

Battier will spend quite a bit of time on him, IMO.

I especially do not trust Wade to turn in big performances with the way he has been playing. However, if Wade plays the way he is capable of then I think Miami has a great chance.

He was garbage in the ECF last year then was excellent in the Finals. I certainly wouldn't be surprised if he has a big series, especially with Harden guarding him for long stretches. I think Harden is going to have a very hard time keeping Wade in front of him.

[Newz]

I don't think Battier on Durant ends well for them. But we'll see. The match-ups in the Finals are awesome.

I agree with Jake that I think Westbrook is going to have a major impact... or Harden. Whoever it is that Chalmers is guarding and Wade is not.

[Nebula1]

I'd say it SHOULD be Miami Heat in 7, but will go with Thunder in 7.

[SheedsWeed]

Thunder in seven.

it's crazy that Durant is only 23, and how young the rest of the team is...Harden is 22, Westbrook is 23, Ibaka is 22. Whoa.

[coolhandluke121]

Thunder in seven.

it's crazy that Durant is only 23, and how young the rest of the team is...Harden is 22, Westbrook is 23, Ibaka is 22. Whoa.

I pointed this out to some friends the other day and it opened their eyes. This is unheard of. A team that young should have years of disappointment before they become a contender. If they stay together, we could be looking at the best 10-year stretch since the Bulls, and the best 15-year stretch since the Celtics - who did it when there only 8 teams in the league, mind you.

[White+Purple]

If they stay together, we could be looking at the best 10-year stretch since the Bulls, and the best 15-year stretch since the Celtics - who did it when there only 8 teams in the league, mind you.

But who is 'they'? They surely can't pay all of them.

[Max Green]

Heat in 6.

[coolhandluke121]

If they stay together, we could be looking at the best 10-year stretch since the Bulls, and the best 15-year stretch since the Celtics - who did it when there only 8 teams in the league, mind you.

They surely can't pay all of them.

I don't know why people have come to this conclusion and now pass it off as gospel. NBA owners, even in small markets, are rich as hell already. They aren't in the NBA to make money. It's a gentleman's hobby to them. If they're winning titles, they probably won't think twice about having one of the highest payrolls in the league.

I get that they will have issues with their payroll, but I don't expect an owner with a title contender to show the financial discipline to break up the team if it comes to that.

Or they can just trade Westbrook for a few really good players and reload. The assets they have are ridiculous, and they would have to screw up royally to not somehow parlay that into a potential dynasty.

[europa]

Trading Westbrook isn't the same as keeping all of them. If that's a move OKC makes to keep Harden and Ibaka than the point they couldn't keep them all together will have proven to be correct. Presti's a smart and creative guy so I'm not putting anything past him at this point. But it will be a financial challenge to keep both Harden and Ibaka if that's what he wants to do.

[mattg]

If they stay together, we could be looking at the best 10-year stretch since the Bulls, and the best 15-year stretch since the Celtics - who did it when there only 8 teams in the league, mind you.

They surely can't pay all of them.

I don't know why people have come to this conclusion and now pass it off as gospel. NBA owners, even in small markets, are rich as hell already. They aren't in the NBA to make money. It's a gentleman's hobby to them. If they're winning titles, they probably won't think twice about having one of the highest payrolls in the league.

I get that they will have issues with their payroll, but I don't expect an owner with a title contender to show the financial discipline to break up the team if it comes to that.

Or they can just trade Westbrook for a few really good players and reload. The assets they have are ridiculous, and they would have to screw up royally to not somehow parlay that into a potential dynasty.

Your last paragraph is really ironic. Trading westbrook for lesser players would be te definition of screwing up royally.

[drew881]

Looking at their salaries they have some good salary coming off the books in Robinson, Mohammed, and Cook, Ivey, and Fisher. They also don't have to extend QO to Hayward and Jackson the year after.

If they want to keep Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka, and Harden, the contracts they'll have to get rid of are Perkins, Sefolosha, and Collison, all really good role players that contribute to where they are now. Do you try sign the 4 big guys at the expense of 3-4 good rotation players (ie the Miami Heat), or is better to have 3/4 of those stars and maintain that rotational hustle player core?

Its interesting that most people are acting as if the decision is Harden vs. Westbrook, which is the juiciest ESPN-type discussion, but I think Ibaka would be my odd man out of if I had to drop one of those 4.

[mattg]

I don't even think there's a legit argument for keeping ibaka over one of harden/Westbrook.

[AussieBuck]

Multiple championship winners make an awful amount of extra revenue I imagine.
Let's say that they give Harden the same contract Westbrook got say Ibaka gets a flat $11 million for the purposes of my laziness.
2013/14:
Westbrook
Harden
Durant
Ibaka
Perkins
Sefolosha
Collison
Aldrich
Jackson
= $61 million.
Add a couple of ring chasers and they are still under the luxury tax. They would creep up over the years thereafter but it's not like it's astronomical.

[Nebula1]

Aubrey Mcclendon and Tom Ward have the potential to become much richer once natural gas takes deeper hold in the markets.

[drew881]

Multiple championship winners make an awful amount of extra revenue I imagine.
Let's say that they give Harden the same contract Westbrook got say Ibaka gets a flat $11 million for the purposes of my laziness.
2013/14:
Westbrook
Harden
Durant
Ibaka
Perkins
Sefolosha
Collison
Aldrich
Jackson
= $61 million.
Add a couple of ring chasers and they are still under the luxury tax. They would creep up over the years thereafter but it's not like it's astronomical.

Durants contract goes from 17 to 22 mil in future years, so that will hurt. Eventually guys like Collison, Sefolosha, and Perkins will have to go. They will be replaced by MLE, Vet min guys.

[AussieBuck]

Multiple championship winners make an awful amount of extra revenue I imagine.
Let's say that they give Harden the same contract Westbrook got say Ibaka gets a flat $11 million for the purposes of my laziness.
2013/14:
Westbrook
Harden
Durant
Ibaka
Perkins
Sefolosha
Collison
Aldrich
Jackson
= $61 million.
Add a couple of ring chasers and they are still under the luxury tax. They would creep up over the years thereafter but it's not like it's astronomical.

Durants contract goes from 17 to 22 mil in future years, so that will hurt. Eventually guys like Collison, Sefolosha, and Perkins will have to go. They will be replaced by MLE, Vet min guys.

Well yeah, my point was that because they don't have bad contracts or second max contracts it's all still manageable into the future without getting into the Lakers/Isiah-Knicks territory. Especially if they put the extra revenue back into player salary.

[jerrod]

now's the time to overspend though. even if you're losing money now, if you can grab 2 or 3 titles early on in the franchises existence, that's huge. that sets you apart from a lot of other teams forever.