Summer 2019 Free Agency Thread

[youngcrev]

Apparently Kyrie **** Irving is an all time great now lmao

He is, and I'm not sure why you're acting like that's even a hot take.

All three of Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving and Dame Lillard stack up with the best 6'3" and under players of all-time.

Kyrie and Dame aren't in the same conversation with Steph. They're both very good players that will likely be forgotten with history. Neither is a stand out player from this era.

[Kobblehead]

Apparently Kyrie **** Irving is an all time great now lmao

He is, and I'm not sure why you're acting like that's even a hot take.

All three of Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving and Dame Lillard stack up with the best 6'3" and under players of all-time.

Kyrie and Dame aren't in the same conversation with Steph. They're both very good players that will likely be forgotten with history. Neither is a stand out player from this era.

No wayyyyyyyy

Dame and Kyrie are both great players that will be remembered by anyone worth his salt in basketball history.

Kyrie is 26 and Dame is 28 and they're already extremely accomplished players. They still have at least half a decade of piling up accolades and stats.

I don't think you're properly gauging them against the other 6'3" and under guys in history.

[youngcrev]

He is, and I'm not sure why you're acting like that's even a hot take.

All three of Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving and Dame Lillard stack up with the best 6'3" and under players of all-time.

Kyrie and Dame aren't in the same conversation with Steph. They're both very good players that will likely be forgotten with history. Neither is a stand out player from this era.

No wayyyyyyyy

Dame and Kyrie are both great players that will be remembered by anyone worth his salt in basketball history.

Kyrie is 26 and Dame is 28 and they're already extremely accomplished players. They still have at least half a decade of piling up accolades and stats.

I don't think you're properly gauging them against the other 6'3" and under guys in history.

I think 6'3" and under is a really arbitrary metric, and that the guys that peak as a top 10ish player in the league tend to get lost. Obviously people will remember them that watched, that doesn't really mean much. They just won't really be discussed much from a historical perspective

[Foshan]

He is, and I'm not sure why you're acting like that's even a hot take.

All three of Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving and Dame Lillard stack up with the best 6'3" and under players of all-time.

Kyrie and Dame aren't in the same conversation with Steph. They're both very good players that will likely be forgotten with history. Neither is a stand out player from this era.

No wayyyyyyyy

Dame and Kyrie are both great players that will be remembered by anyone worth his salt in basketball history.

Kyrie is 26 and Dame is 28 and they're already extremely accomplished players. They still have at least half a decade of piling up accolades and stats.

I don't think you're properly gauging them against the other 6'3" and under guys in history.

I don't think they will be remembered in the same regard as Steph. Steph has changed the game, and will be in the vernacular of Joe Public like Jordan/Lebron. I think Kyrie/Lillard have Drexler/Barkley type legacies. The basketball heads will of course always know them and recognize them for being special, but if Lillard doesn't land a job on TNT, I don't know that he's remembered outside the halls of basketball geek-dom. ((Thankfully, we here at RealGM walk those hallowed halls of basketball geekdom, and therefore will always have a special place for them both ))

[youngcrev]

Kyrie and Dame aren't in the same conversation with Steph. They're both very good players that will likely be forgotten with history. Neither is a stand out player from this era.

No wayyyyyyyy

Dame and Kyrie are both great players that will be remembered by anyone worth his salt in basketball history.

Kyrie is 26 and Dame is 28 and they're already extremely accomplished players. They still have at least half a decade of piling up accolades and stats.

I don't think you're properly gauging them against the other 6'3" and under guys in history.

I don't think they will be remembered in the same regard as Steph. Steph has changed the game, and will be in the vernacular of Joe Public like Jordan/Lebron. I think Kyrie/Lillard have Drexler/Barkley type legacies. The basketball heads will of course always know them and recognize them for being special, but if Lillard doesn't land a job on TNT, I don't know that he's remembered outside the halls of basketball geek-dom. ((Thankfully, we here at RealGM walk those hallowed halls of basketball geekdom, and therefore will always have a special place for them both ))

I mostly agree... But Drexler/Barkley? No way. They'll definitely be more obscure than those 2. Maybe like Kevin Johnson?

[LloydFree]

No wayyyyyyyy

Dame and Kyrie are both great players that will be remembered by anyone worth his salt in basketball history.

Kyrie is 26 and Dame is 28 and they're already extremely accomplished players. They still have at least half a decade of piling up accolades and stats.

I don't think you're properly gauging them against the other 6'3" and under guys in history.

I don't think they will be remembered in the same regard as Steph. Steph has changed the game, and will be in the vernacular of Joe Public like Jordan/Lebron. I think Kyrie/Lillard have Drexler/Barkley type legacies. The basketball heads will of course always know them and recognize them for being special, but if Lillard doesn't land a job on TNT, I don't know that he's remembered outside the halls of basketball geek-dom. ((Thankfully, we here at RealGM walk those hallowed halls of basketball geekdom, and therefore will always have a special place for them both ))

I mostly agree... But Drexler/Barkley? No way. They'll definitely be more obscure than those 2. Maybe like Kevin Johnson?

Drexler isn't, and never was in Barkley's class. Drexler is tier 3-4 as far as legends are concerned. Barkley is near inner circle.

[sixers hoops]

No wayyyyyyyy

Dame and Kyrie are both great players that will be remembered by anyone worth his salt in basketball history.

Kyrie is 26 and Dame is 28 and they're already extremely accomplished players. They still have at least half a decade of piling up accolades and stats.

I don't think you're properly gauging them against the other 6'3" and under guys in history.

I don't think they will be remembered in the same regard as Steph. Steph has changed the game, and will be in the vernacular of Joe Public like Jordan/Lebron. I think Kyrie/Lillard have Drexler/Barkley type legacies. The basketball heads will of course always know them and recognize them for being special, but if Lillard doesn't land a job on TNT, I don't know that he's remembered outside the halls of basketball geek-dom. ((Thankfully, we here at RealGM walk those hallowed halls of basketball geekdom, and therefore will always have a special place for them both ))

I mostly agree... But Drexler/Barkley? No way. They'll definitely be more obscure than those 2. Maybe like Kevin Johnson?

I like the Kevin Johnson comparison for Dame. Ability aside, Irving playing at Duke and being #1 pick, winning a title with Lebron, playing for a well-known organization like Boston, etc makes him more of a household name.

[youngcrev]

I don't think they will be remembered in the same regard as Steph. Steph has changed the game, and will be in the vernacular of Joe Public like Jordan/Lebron. I think Kyrie/Lillard have Drexler/Barkley type legacies. The basketball heads will of course always know them and recognize them for being special, but if Lillard doesn't land a job on TNT, I don't know that he's remembered outside the halls of basketball geek-dom. ((Thankfully, we here at RealGM walk those hallowed halls of basketball geekdom, and therefore will always have a special place for them both ))

I mostly agree... But Drexler/Barkley? No way. They'll definitely be more obscure than those 2. Maybe like Kevin Johnson?

Drexler isn't, and never was in Barkley's class. Drexler is tier 3-4 as far as legends are concerned. Barkley is near inner circle.

True.

[Kobblehead]

I don't think they will be remembered in the same regard as Steph. Steph has changed the game, and will be in the vernacular of Joe Public like Jordan/Lebron. I think Kyrie/Lillard have Drexler/Barkley type legacies. The basketball heads will of course always know them and recognize them for being special, but if Lillard doesn't land a job on TNT, I don't know that he's remembered outside the halls of basketball geek-dom. ((Thankfully, we here at RealGM walk those hallowed halls of basketball geekdom, and therefore will always have a special place for them both ))

Don't you think the amount of televised games and widespread social media following of the league will expand the volume of players from an era that get remembered?

There was nowhere near the amount of eyeballs and braincells on and dedicated to following the league back in the 80s and 90s and 00s as there are now.

I think 3-4 players from an era then becomes 8-9 players from an era now.

[Sixerscan]

I don't think they will be remembered in the same regard as Steph. Steph has changed the game, and will be in the vernacular of Joe Public like Jordan/Lebron. I think Kyrie/Lillard have Drexler/Barkley type legacies. The basketball heads will of course always know them and recognize them for being special, but if Lillard doesn't land a job on TNT, I don't know that he's remembered outside the halls of basketball geek-dom. ((Thankfully, we here at RealGM walk those hallowed halls of basketball geekdom, and therefore will always have a special place for them both ))

I mostly agree... But Drexler/Barkley? No way. They'll definitely be more obscure than those 2. Maybe like Kevin Johnson?

I like the Kevin Johnson comparison for Dame. Ability aside, Irving playing at Duke and being #1 pick, winning a title with Lebron, playing for a well-known organization like Boston, etc makes him more of a household name.

Lillard is only 28, has a lot more of his career left. He's already made more all star teams than KJ, has a first team all NBA.

This playoffs is big for a lot of guys. One of Portland/OKC/Spurs/Nuggets is going to make the WCF. The top guy on whichever team that ends up being is going to get a pretty big legacy bump. If it ends up being the Blazers you could see a pretty big bump for Dame.

[youngcrev]

I don't think they will be remembered in the same regard as Steph. Steph has changed the game, and will be in the vernacular of Joe Public like Jordan/Lebron. I think Kyrie/Lillard have Drexler/Barkley type legacies. The basketball heads will of course always know them and recognize them for being special, but if Lillard doesn't land a job on TNT, I don't know that he's remembered outside the halls of basketball geek-dom. ((Thankfully, we here at RealGM walk those hallowed halls of basketball geekdom, and therefore will always have a special place for them both ))

I mostly agree... But Drexler/Barkley? No way. They'll definitely be more obscure than those 2. Maybe like Kevin Johnson?

I like the Kevin Johnson comparison for Dame. Ability aside, Irving playing at Duke and being #1 pick, winning a title with Lebron, playing for a well-known organization like Boston, etc makes him more of a household name.

I guess. I don't know that the Duke thing gets him much of a bump since he was hurt the majority of the time there. The title with Lebron is certainly a big factor. Flat Earth might even get him a bump in terms of name recognition, haha.

It just seems to me like there are a handful of standout guys in each era, and some of the really good players tend to get left out of conversations. I think of Harden, Curry, KD, Lebron, Kawhi and Giannis as the true standouts of the here and now. Russ will probably get talked about a bunch due to the triple double feats. Some of those guys will age out, while some others will move up (Jo if he can stay healthy, AD if he gets on a competitive team, maybe Zion and Ben, maybe Jokic if they can make some playoff noise). I think Paul George, Dame, Kyrie, KAT, Blake, Jimmy, Gobert, Kemba, ect all kind of just blend in. The franchise players that you probably can't win a championship with as your #1 guy.

[phillychuck]

Kyrie will get a big bump from the Uncle Drew stuff, which, to be fair, is pretty fun.

[Kobblehead]

Carmelo Anthony will be remembered despite not winning **** and never being good enough to be a #1 on a title team.

Scoring leaders don't get forgotten.

The Mike Conley and Jimmy Butler types get forgotten. The dudes that spent portions of their career fluctuating between role player and star. Dudes that came into the league as stars and stayed stars like Dame and Kyrie will not be forgotten.

[youngcrev]

Carmelo Anthony will be remembered despite not winning **** and never being good enough to be a #1 on a title team.

Scoring leaders don't get forgotten.

The Mike Conley and Jimmy Butler types get forgotten. The dudes that spent portions of their career fluctuating between role player and star. Dudes that came into the league as stars and stayed stars like Dame and Kyrie will not be forgotten.

I agree on Carmelo. You could probably put AI in that category too. Dame and Kyrie aren't putting up 30 a game though. Kyrie didn't even crack the top 10 in PPG this year. Dame barely did. Embiid scored more per game than this year than either of those guys have in their career

[51X3RF4N]

I see this as an easy Off-season. You offer both guys the max and if they both say yes then you move on to filling vets who can shoot in on the wings and get a PG who can defend like a Pat Beverley. Offer Bobi and Mike Scott small deals to come back, offer JJ and TJ the minimum. Develop Zhaire and Jonah into rotational pieces. Keep Ennis one more year.

Simmons/TJ/Draft pick
Beverley/JJ/Zhaire
Butler/Ennis/Veteran
Harris/Scott/Draft pick
Embiid/Bobi/Bolden

And run it back with a full off-season for these guys to glue together better.

If Jimmy says No thanks I don't want to play for Brett Brown...

Then you resign everyone else and offer Kahwi the Max. Then Kemba. Then Middleton or Brogden.

If all of them say no then you go for smaller deals for vet 3&D wings, resign everyone else, and run it back 1 year to see what you've got in Zhaire and draft picks.

[BullyKing]

Lol at Redick coming back for the minimum.

[Kobblehead]

I agree on Carmelo. You could probably put AI in that category too. Dame and Kyrie aren't putting up 30 a game though. Kyrie didn't even crack the top 10 in PPG this year. Dame barely did. Embiid scored more per game than this year than either of those guys have in their career

Both Dame and Kyrie are in the Top 10 in active ppg leaders. Top 30 all-time. And both are still only in their mid-to-late 20s. Meaning they have several strong years of peak performance and production accumulation ahead of them.

And did you see Dame last night? Dropping 50 on a personal rival and hitting a buzzer-beater in a close-out game to eliminate him? How can you think he's going to fall through the cracks?

[youngcrev]

I agree on Carmelo. You could probably put AI in that category too. Dame and Kyrie aren't putting up 30 a game though. Kyrie didn't even crack the top 10 in PPG this year. Dame barely did. Embiid scored more per game than this year than either of those guys have in their career

Both Dame and Kyrie are in the Top 10 in active ppg leaders. Top 30 all-time. And both are still only in their mid-to-late 20s. Meaning they have several strong years of peak performance and production accumulation ahead of them.

And did you see Dame last night? Dropping 50 on a personal rival and hitting a buzzer-beater in a close-out game to eliminate him? How can you think he's going to fall through the cracks?

Yeah, he was incredible last night. I'm not denying he's an awesome player. I just don't think he stands out that much in this era. Also, latter years tend to drive down career PPG.

[Kobblehead]

Also, latter years tend to drive down career PPG.

Usually some of the early years do, too. Except in the instances where players enter the league and are stars the moment they step foot on an NBA court. Both Kyrie and Dame did that very thing. Which is another reason why I don't think they'll be forgotten players of an era. Instant stars that rack up production and accolades do not get forgotten.

[youngcrev]

Also, latter years tend to drive down career PPG.

Usually some of the early years do, too. Except in the instances where players enter the league and are stars the moment they step foot on an NBA court. Both Kyrie and Dame did that very thing. Which is another reason why I don't think they'll be forgotten players of an era. Instant stars that rack up production and accolades do not get forgotten.

So is Blake Griffin in that same category? Star from the jump, #1 overall pick, also top-10 in active PPG, handful of all league awards, commercials.

Looking at former players, Mitch Richmond feels like he fits what I'm talking about. Really good player that kinda disappears into his era.