Is he that delusional?

Jalen Rose, capologist

The lines are 5.5-6.5, but why do I feel these should be pretty close?

Also, for the series:

Jokic +61
Dame -30

Plumlee WOAT

Denver 111-106

Raptors 102-93

Zero chance. Look how openly complimentary they are of Durant. Curry and Klay both called him the best player in the world on the heels of the win vs Houston. They want him there

Btw gg Rockets. Really are a sick squad. PJ Tucker very underrated. 16 game player for sure

If they sign both Thompson and Durant, they're looking at a potentially massive luxury tax bill. They would be repeat offenders, so it would be an even higher rate than usual.

I didn't necessarily mean the players (although I do think the recruiting may not be as hardcore as '16) but moreso the ownership.

If they think they can sign a solid forward at the midlevel and spend 100mill less on the team but still have 25-30% title equity vs 60% with KD, that may be a calculation they are willing to make.

Repeater tax with a 150m payroll is gonna be massive.

Imo to kevin, the downside of leaving a team is the fans hating you. In this case, he doesnt need to worry about any vitriol. He’s freerolling in that sense. No chance he stays

GSW prints money, theyre opening a brand new stadium and their owner isnt a scumbag

Maybe if like Knicks bink the lotto, get Zion, flip him for AD but he is really gonna just go to the Knicks to play with Kyrie or Butler?

What if the Lakers retool, what if another superteam forms?

Doubt he is too interested in that kinda competition.

I think he is a fav to stay if Knicks don't win the lottery.

Completely serious question:

Why do people love KD?

I dunno what you mean by people loving him. He's 1 of the best players in the NBA so obviously gonna have more than a few fans.

Why people "hate" him is obvious. He joined the Warriors and it made the league a lot worse from a competitive standpoint. Just made the league worse the last 3 years.

I don't have a horse in the race either way. ***** move to run to GS. But other than that I respect KD a lot, insane player and doesn't ***** to refs or whine and isn't super vocal. Couldn't care less about the social media stuff.

This crew hasnt announced a single game of this series and they get cherry picked for g7
Meanwhile doris is on the sideline

GS sent a hit squad to Latvia to jump Porzingis. They are trying to stop their inevitable demise.

Just saw a dude in a plumlee jersey...

Excuse me

The serious answer from my understanding (and please correct me if I miss anything or get it incorrect) is that there are four main camps regarding KD and some bleed into each other:

1. People that love KD because he's really good at basketball. He's easily one of the three best players in the league and I only say that to prevent any nitpicking about where he lands in that group. He was a top 2 pick, the face of a franchise in OKC, took them to the finals at a young age as a fan favorite underdog against Lebrons super team, and delivered on everything people hoped he could be. The people in this camp just like to see basketball played at an elite level and KD + the Warriors are perhaps the most elite it's ever been.

2. The team that set the record for the best regular season of all time added a top 3 player in KD that fit the system well. The people in this camp hate KD for ruining the competitive balance of the league. This was a super team on steroids. The people in this camp blame KD for ruining much of the suspense and intrigue the NBA often brings by being so much better than everyone else and hate him for it*.

3. These people believe Durant leaving a reported $30 million** on the table to go to GSW instead of OKC or Miami when you factor in taxes (and 13.9 million in salary alone) in an effort to win championships is what sports should be about. That people should be trying to win and not be trying to stay somewhere that will be worse for money. So they love him for it.

4. After GSW put up the best regular season record of all time in the 16-17 season, the KD led Thunder took a 3-1 lead against them in the conference finals. GSW came back and won the series 4-3, KD became a free agent, and he went to GSW. The people in this camp view it as a ***** move to go to a team that beat you in the conference finals that were already elite.





I think most people are here are mostly group 2 with some additional group 4 feelings bleeding in. Personally, I'm a casual fan so I fall into group 1 but I totally get the people that feel differently. It reminds me of the Yankees super teams from when I was a kid and I hated that.


*It's hard to argue against this belief even if you don't reach the same conclusion to hate him for it. The Warriors have been dominant and the only question has been can a team (the Rockets) designed to try and beat them actually do it.

** I recently listened to an interview where an old baseball player shrugged off the relevance of playing for a team in a state with lower taxes due to the city you play the game in being the one you get your check from. So it's not as much as people believe. I am unsure of the accuracy of these comments but figured it was worth mentioning in case others did.

The people that like KD on GS are either A. Warriors fans or B. Hate LeBron and KD making that move took a huge bite out of his GOAT equity/legacy. Now he just gets his ass kicked by GS.

Really doubt there are too many people out there thinking "Wow this is basketball nirvana, I love this all star team, wish the league had 1 team way better than the rest every year!"

Never realized how big of an annoying b.it.ch Jamal Murray is.

Thanks for the detailed write-up, that's pretty much what I had figured. At least 1, 2, and 3. Option 4 is a fun perspective and I kinda like it.

If you can't beat them, join them!

How are Portland in it after shooting 29.5% in the first half and 7.7% from 3?

Might come back to bite Denver.

they are refusing to call a foul on *big guarding Jokic down low*

Torrey Craig is playing one of the best individual defensive games I've seen in a long time. He's staying in front of Dame every time, not falling for any fakes. Very impressive.

CJ McCollum is awesome

That doesn't look good.

the hubie brown missed layup theory

THe teams are a combined 3-30 from 3