Absinthe wrote:Kidd has been awful, but the front office is primarily to blame.
I was fine with them taking a risk with Kyrie. He’s a top 20 player but he has a lot of baggage. The front office got screwed in that trade though. I personally don’t believe that the market for Kyrie was all that hot. Kyrie essentially forced himself out. They should have played hardball with the Nets. You want DFS? No, we’re going to keep him. If you want him, you must take on Bertans contract or you have to give us Claxton. The Mavs were the ones taking on the risk, not the Nets.
But they made the dumb trade anyway. And here’s the real kicker—they gave away their best perimeter defender, didn’t get any serviceable role players in return, and then didn’t make a separate move to shore up the team. You mean to tell me that the team thought that the trade was going to work when your front court is Wood, McGee, and Maxi?
In short, the trade shouldn’t have happened with what they got back if they weren’t going to make separate deals. The Nets should have included Claxton or taken on Bertans’ contract or they shouldn’t have gotten DFS. The Mavs negotiated out of weakness and it shows.
If Kyrie had 1.5 years left on his contract then I'd understand. But Kyrie is basically a rental. In the offseason, 4-year max to Kyrie is a poison contract. I think it was panic move of Brunson. They got Wood to replace Brunson's scoring. Then FACU, Kemba. Finally Kyrie.
Offensively Kyrie is top 20, but if you consider the defense Kyrie is not in top 20 as a player.
#1 players better than Kyrie for 20 teams.
* KD, Butler, Cade, Tatum, Giannis, Jokic, Embiid, Mitchell, Booker, Kawhi, Lebron, Lillard, Curry, SGA, Sabonis, Edwards, Luka, Ja
I can list #2 guys from different teams that contributes more to winning than Kyrie does for last 6 years. Imagine adding Paul George instead of Kyrie.
* PG13, Ingram, Jaylen Brown, AD, Jrue, Harden, Murray, S.Barnes, Fox, KAT, JJJ. I think they'd all add more wins.
Top 20 for offense. Top 10 for Allstar game. Top 10 for clutch time scoring.
Overall, Kyrie's not in top 20. His last 6 years shows that. Wrong perception.