hyberx wrote:Just think if the trade went through, we would have Love and K Martin on the team for the 4 and 2 spot, instead of Green and Thompson? Oh boy lord have mercy on that defense. It was never a good trade to begin with, adding in Thompson.
Love and Martin are bottom tier defenders, and have never played on winning basketball teams. Martin is a career choker. These are guys who have made a career of putting up numbers on terrible teams. I think Golden State is considerably worse if you swap Green/Thompson for Martin/Love due to fit.
You have to remember chemistry. Thompson is the best perimeter defender on the Warrior's roster, and Draymond is the glue that binds that team together. You think Love or Martin are going to dive for lose balls, and show up with Green's energy every night? Those two combined don't show half the passion that Green shows. Thompson is an above average defender, and one of the best shooters on the planet. Sure you get nice shooting from Love at the power forward position, but at the expense of losing a much better shooter in Thompson who is way more mobile, and is able to get his shot off just about anywhere. Love would be a spot up shooter in GS, so you would lose a guy who can spot up, post up, and run around screens for days, for a slow power forward who can hit spot up 3's. Sounds like a bad idea.
Love is a solid player, but I don't think he fits in at all on the Warriors. He plays no defense, and he's undersized. You would lose a ton of mobility and hustle. Green is no slouch on offense either, he's capable of blowing up from downtown every now and then. With Bogut anchoring down low, you don't really need a slow plodding PF like Love. That's why you can slide these small forwards as power forwards into their lineup. Guys like Green/Barnes/Speights/Lee just gives you so much more versatility than Love eating up the majority of minutes.
I think Golden State has something special going, and the power forward position has been a strength for them, not a weakness. I would hate to see Kevin Martin and Kevin Love in that starting lineup. That team would be considerably more selfish, less athletic, less dynamic, and softer.
