2020-21 NBA Season Discussion

[Dupp]

Kyrie and harden fit is woat level. Personality wise too Kyrie is gonna hate it. They’d be so much better with someone like jrue over Kyrie.

Kd loves Kyrie and their personalities mesh perfectly so I dunno it’s a strange dynamic.



Nets getting harden for trash though. I don’t care how many picks they give you want a sure thing all star for a all time talent like harden. I’m talking someone like Mitchell from Utah. Nets players are very average for harden.

Crazy times

[eminence]

If Tillman takes the Nets offer to spite Morey that might be an alltimer.

[RCM88x]

Their offense will be great in theory. But who else is on the roster currently if this goes through? DJ, Prince, Joe Harris (if they sign him back) and Garrett Temple?

Might be 1st in O and 30th on D, honestly wouldn't surprise me at this point.

What I always liked about this Brooklyn team with Kyrie and KD was that the team around them was already quite solid, balanced, and had their bases covered. Adding Kyrie and KD felt like it just might be enough to push them into elite territory (same deal with LAC, although that didn't workout ultimately). This move almost has to completely wipe the cupboard clean for it to even be possible, but idk maybe all the drama around it narrows the market (though it didn't for PG or AD).

[Doctor MJ]

This KD/Harden/Kyrie combo is going to be so fascinating. How do people see them meshing? Steve Nash is going to have his hands full, but that coaching staff should produce basically an unguardable offense, right?

Well, what I'll say is that Durant-Harden makes a super-team in my eyes. Were it just the two of them, I'd be worried about a bunch of chemistry stuff, but there wouldn't be a more talented offensive duo in the league.

But Kyrie is there, and I was already down on the Nets because I thought treating Kyrie as "he can do whatever he wants" was going to cause problems. With 3 of those guys out there, and all 3 of them being guys who are a headache to deal with, it just feels like drama is a certainty and that the team isn't likely to be resilient if there's any serious struggle, which is likely.

On the other hand, as much as I dislike it, there is at this point a good amount of evidence to suggest that the whole "my turn, your turn" approach to pairing stars can actually work pretty dang well. If each of these guys gets to "own" about 1/3rd of the teams total possession, that probably is all you need to lead a good offense.

I'll add that while I originally thought the Durant-Kyrie Nets just didn't have what it took to get to the Finals, seeing the Bucks struggle again last year in the post-season already shifted my perspective some. The Nets are going to be a flawed team, but if they don't have to play anybody great, who knows how far they can go?

[eminence]

If KD comes back a superstar that squad will be good enough to beat anyone, will they... Ehh, more up in the air, but the talent is there and the fit is good enough. Biggest question mark to me is just if KD is good enough after the injury to be a top 5 type guy.

[Homer38]

2 problems that the nets could have .... Defense and the ego.If it's fine the Nets are going to be tough to beat, but if they have adversity and Kyrie or Harden are not happy because they don't have the ball often it could be a disaster, but we'll see.

[Joey Wheeler]

Honestly the Nets would be scarier if they traded Kyrie and got better fitting pieces around KD/Harden. As it stands, they might get to the Finals but have no chance against Lebron and AD.

[MO12msu]

This bums me out because I was hoping we could finally see Durant be the main engine of an offense again. One could argue (I would) that he will have not been the best offensive player on a team since his age 27 season. That's insane for an ATG offensive player.

[HeartBreakKid]

Tillman Fertita is the new Dolan

[eminence]

I do agree that from a roster view the Nets would be best trading Kyrie+ for Harden, but that obviously introduces other off-court issues.

[Dr Positivity]

Tillman Fertita appears to be a great example of Bill Simmons theory that new owners will make a lot of trades cause it's fun. A clean slate allows him to live out of his fantasy of proving he is a genius GM/owner. Vivek seems to be doing better after a few years now that the thrill of making any move is less.

[Clyde Frazier]

I think the likelihood of the rockets taking a non-kyrie nets package is quite low. They'd have to decide on paying all those guys within 1-2 years and Fertita is pinching pennies these days. I also think you can make the argument that a Harden/Durant duo is better than the trio from a fit standpoint. Either way this all hinges on Durant and to a lesser degree Kyrie's health. A lot of unknowns there.

[therealbig3]

Rockets are really in no rush here, I think the Nets beat writer that announced that a deal was basically done already jumped the gun and was way too premature.

The situation here is clear: the Nets offer can easily be beat by other teams, if they choose to do so. The question is if they choose to do so. And I will say that the longer Houston goes without trading Harden, the more and more leverage he has in this situation, since less and less time on his contract means he can play hard ball a lot more with the Rockets and with potential trade partners.

Honestly though, if it really comes down to it...Kyrie for Harden is such a no-brainer from the Nets perspective. But I think a lot of Harden's interest in Brooklyn is to play with both KD and Kyrie.

[RCM88x]

If the Nets are smart they let Kyrie and KD play for 20 games and evaluate from there. Making the move for Harden and selling the whole farm for him before those two even play a game seems like a poor idea.

[Joey Wheeler]

Harden and Durant would be a crazy good offensive duo. IMO, Durant is the best scorer of all-time along with Jordan and Harden might well be the best one-man offense we've seen, his ability to shoulder insane loads at very high efficiency is crazy. This could well be the core of a team that challenges Lebron and AD.

The issue is that while the offense is covered with those two, they offer little defensive value. I actually think Harden/KD is a stronger duo on offense than Lebron/AD but the latter are also elite on defense. Ergo, the rest of the Nets roster needs to be focused on creating a strong enough defensive basis to compete. That will not happen if Kyrie is your third starter... you need to get a strong rim protector and some strong wing defenders. A guy like Kyrie would be great coming off the bench but he'd never accept that role. With Harden/KD in place, the Nets need to focus on upgrading their defense and somewhat matching the Lakers size.

[eminence]

Whew, Utah entering the trade season with a hot one.

But seriously, I like picking up extra picks in a flat draft.

[MisterHibachi]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

So the Bucks didn't actually talk to Bogdan and ask him if he was interested in coming??

[Clyde Frazier]

Read on Twitter

The thunder now have SEVENTEEN first rounders through 2026! Nice move by morey bringing in green to contribute too.

[RCM88x]

All this pre-draft news has just been wild. NBA feels more like a reality tv show than anything else right now honestly.

[MO12msu]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

So the Bucks didn't actually talk to Bogdan and ask him if he was interested in coming??

Either that, or they're just trying to avoid any tampering charges.