NBA: ***Official 2019 NBA Playoffs Thread***

[jbindm]

Why? He very well could miss all of next season, what good is that to stay with Golden St instead of signing a max deal this summer, and he will still get max offers. Also, he might not be the biggest fan of Golden St's medical staff and front office right now if they pushed him to play before he felt ready.

But does opting in with the Warriors mean that he's contractually obligated to rehab with their team doctors? Could he just opt in and then stay away from the team and work out and rehab on his own?

That might give him the most control over his future. Who knows what the league will look like going into summer 2020 free agency? Why sign long term now when you can still get the max later plus have more information about where the rest of the league stands?

 

[Doc]

I don't think the Lakers were serious candidates to land him but it probably takes them out of it, I don't think you can sell LeBron on waiting a year at this point. I think the Knicks will still absolutely offer him a max, Brooklyn and the Clippers probably consider it a bit more now, both have more assets and already have competitive teams without KD. Maybe a team like Dallas comes out of nowhere and makes a bigger push for him now, sell him on another year of Doncic's development and getting Porzingis back to full speed.

I really want to see the Jimmy Butler show go to Dallas.

 

[jbindm]

I really want to see the Jimmy Butler show go to Dallas.

Because it would eliminate the Mavs as a potential rival for the Nuggets?

Jimmy Butler is locker room poison.

 

[CyJack13]

But does opting in with the Warriors mean that he's contractually obligated to rehab with their team doctors? Could he just opt in and then stay away from the team and work out and rehab on his own?

That might give him the most control over his future. Who knows what the league will look like going into summer 2020 free agency? Why sign long term now when you can still get the max later plus have more information about where the rest of the league stands?

I guess the downside would be if rehab doesn't go well, there's not a long list of guys who have come back strong from Achillies injuries.

 

[jbindm]

I guess the downside would be if rehab doesn't go well, there's not a long list of guys who have come back strong from Achillies injuries.

True. But if there are teams willing to assume that risk right now by offering him a max then there's no reason they or someone else wouldn't be lining up again next year. If the rehab goes slowly or not as well as expected then who's going to know? He'd be working out with his own team of doctors and trainers.

 

[Doc]

Because it would eliminate the Mavs as a potential rival for the Nuggets?

Jimmy Butler is locker room poison.

I just think it’d be entertaining. I’m not really worried about Dallas as a Nuggets fan, I’m more worried about how Porter Jr. and Vanderbilt look in summer league. Feel like those two are really key.

 

[Dandy]

But can Golden State afford to keep him? I think if he stays, they would have to choose between him and Klay Thompson. Klay is due to sign a huge contract this year.
It would have been a max contract had he not been snubbed on the all-NBA teams.

Doesn't matter if GS can "afford" to keep him or not. He has the ability to opt-in with them and they'll owe him his due. They have no say in the matter if he opts in. That's $31.5M.

Steph is making like $40M and Klay is due like $30M. That's $100M of a $109M salary pool. I believe they can technically sign all three and go over the cap but their fee/tax for going over will be INSANE. GS can afford it though. Their owned by a billionaire and their new arena will make plenty of money.

What made the pre-Durant Warriors so good was their depth. When three dudes take up all of the cap their depth is gone.

 

[Gunnerclone]

I think it’s funny that people are going with the “GS training staff might be what sways KD” line of thought. KD is kind of a ***** his line of thinking was either:

A) I can come in and save the series
or
B) I can’t let them win this series without me because that would make me look bad

I doubt the training staff was ******* up.

 

[jbindm]

I think it’s funny that people are going with the “GS training staff might be what sways KD” line of thought. KD is kind of a ***** his line of thinking was either:

A) I can come in and save the series
or
B) I can’t let them win this series without me because that would make me look bad

I doubt the training staff was ******* up.

I think what probably happened was that KD pushed to play and the organization signed off on it even though everyone on both sides knew there was an injury risk. There's no villain here. He wanted to play, they let him because they knew his presence could singlehandedly swing the series, and the worst case scenario occurred.

 

[Statefan10]

I think what probably happened was that KD pushed to play and the organization signed off on it even though everyone on both sides knew there was an injury risk. There's no villain here. He wanted to play, they let him because they knew his presence could singlehandedly swing the series, and the worst case scenario occurred.

Everyone wants to blame someone when the reality was probably exactly what you said. There was outside pressure from fans, talking heads, etc, for him to play. There was probably a little bit of frustration with players who didn't fully know how injured KD was. KD would've been the only one who truly knew how healthy he was, no matter what an MRI said. KD's been my favorite player since I was little watching him at Texas, but at the end of the day, KD made his decision. He did not have to play if he wanted to. No one was making him play. He knew the risks, and this is the consequence of that risk.

 

[jbindm]

Everyone wants to blame someone when the reality was probably exactly what you said. There was outside pressure from fans, talking heads, etc, for him to play. There was probably a little bit of frustration with players who didn't fully know how injured KD was. KD would've been the only one who truly knew how healthy he was, no matter what an MRI said. KD's been my favorite player since I was little watching him at Texas, but at the end of the day, KD made his decision. He did not have to play if he wanted to. No one was making him play. He knew the risks, and this is the consequence of that risk.

If KD didn't have a history of paying a little too much attention to what others think of him then this might not have been such a big deal. But a lot of people are taking the bolded part of your post and running with it since he's proven to be pretty thin-skinned. I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but I think it's silly to try and assign blame.

I just don't think there was a mis-diagnosis by the training staff or direct pressure coming from the organization for him to play. He wanted to (regardless of his motivations) and they let him. Not much more to it than that.

 

[Statefan10]

If KD didn't have a history of paying a little too much attention to what others think of him then this might not have been such a big deal. But a lot of people are taking the bolded part of your post and running with it since he's proven to be pretty thin-skinned. I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but I think it's silly to try and assign blame.

I just don't think there was a mis-diagnosis by the training staff or direct pressure coming from the organization for him to play. He wanted to (regardless of his motivations) and they let him. Not much more to it than that.

I was listening to the Dan Patrick show and he talked with a writer from the Bay Area who said that the Warrior's medical staff is one of the most conservative staffs in the NBA and they would not let a player play just because he wanted to. That conversation was a little over a week ago. The staff most likely cleared KD but he was not 100%, which led to this happening. Him tearing his achilles was not a sure thing just because he played, it's still a freak accident, it was just more likely because he already had a semi-injured calf.

 

[jbindm]

I was listening to the Dan Patrick show and he talked with a writer from the Bay Area who said that the Warrior's medical staff is one of the most conservative staffs in the NBA and they would not let a player play just because he wanted to. That conversation was a little over a week ago. The staff most likely cleared KD but he was not 100%, which led to this happening. Him tearing his achilles was not a sure thing just because he played, it's still a freak accident, it was just more likely because he already had a semi-injured calf.

Yeah, I agree. I think the calf injury got to the point where it was likely he could play without incident, but there was still a risk that he could do more damage. It just kind of depends on what he and the training staff decided was an acceptable risk of that happening.
Completely tearing his achilles tendon was probably the worst case scenario. All we know is that it happened. We just don't know what the likelihood of it happening was - 5% , 10%, 20? If KD and the organization decided that it was an acceptable risk then that's that. They played the numbers and got burnt. Bad luck.

 

[CyJack13]

Can we talk about how tough Kevon Looney is? Playing through basically a broken collarbone, he looked like he was in so much pain last night. Just watching his face as Ibaka put his shoulder into his chest going through a screen was painful for me.

 

[jbindm]

Can we talk about how tough Kevon Looney is? Playing through basically a broken collarbone, he looked like he was in so much pain last night. Just watching his face as Ibaka put his shoulder into his chest going through a screen was painful for me.

Yeah, and then didn't he fall and land right on it late in the game? I could be mistaken but I think that was what finally got him off the court for good.

Tough dude. I underestimated him. He had a good postseason run after Boogie went down.

 

[CyJack13]

Yeah, and then didn't he fall and land right on it late in the game? I could be mistaken but I think that was what finally got him off the court for good.

Tough dude. I underestimated him. He had a good postseason run after Boogie went down.

Yep, he's played himself into a nice contract next year.

 

[cycfan1]

Everyone wants to blame someone when the reality was probably exactly what you said. There was outside pressure from fans, talking heads, etc, for him to play. There was probably a little bit of frustration with players who didn't fully know how injured KD was. KD would've been the only one who truly knew how healthy he was, no matter what an MRI said. KD's been my favorite player since I was little watching him at Texas, but at the end of the day, KD made his decision. He did not have to play if he wanted to. No one was making him play. He knew the risks, and this is the consequence of that risk.

KD was under a massive lose lose scenario.

Not play and lose - he's soft, doesn't care, his teammates were 'frustrated' he wasn't out there according to media

Not play and win - Warriors didn't really need him anyway

Play and get hurt - someone has to get fired because he was playing hurt


The guy was playing 75% last night and was the best player on the court.... really something else.

 

[Statefan10]

KD was under a massive lose lose scenario.

Not play and lose - he's soft, doesn't care, his teammates were 'frustrated' he wasn't out there according to media

Not play and win - Warriors didn't really need him anyway

Play and get hurt - someone has to get fired because he was playing hurt


The guy was playing 75% last night and was the best player on the court.... really something else.

It gave me a stomach ache watching him go down and grab behind his ankle. I instantly knew when he started feeling around and pinching that area that it was his achilles.

 

[jbindm]

Can we talk about how tough Kevon Looney is? Playing through basically a broken collarbone, he looked like he was in so much pain last night. Just watching his face as Ibaka put his shoulder into his chest going through a screen was painful for me.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/06/11/kevon-looney-i-should-be-able-to-play-in-game-6/

Sounds like he's going to give it a go tomorrow night, too. The Warriors will need him, even if he's limited again. Without him they'd be playing with essentially a six man rotation - Curry, Thompson, Iggy, Draymond, Boogie, and Livingston. Everyone else on the roster is virtually unplayable.

 

[Dandy]