Kevin Durant’s Decision: 3 Takeaway For LeBron James
By Reece Helms
2. Golden State did not fix their flaws that cost them the 2016 NBA Finals
After Game 4, it seemed the Golden State Warriors were on track to repeat as NBA champions. All they had to do was win one more home game to close out the series.
Then Game 5 happened. Draymond Green was suspended, and Andrew Bogut was lost for the remainder of the series due to a knee injury.
Golden State was never the same after that. Draymond Green returned and had a huge impact in Game 7, but it wasn’t enough.
The Warriors had the best regular season in NBA history. They didn’t have many flaws en route to 73 wins. But the playoffs were a different story.
There were 2 flaws that cost the Warriors in the NBA Finals this year:
- Without Andrew Bogut, Golden State didn’t have rim protection
- They were too finesse. Draymond Green was their only physical, tough guy
When Andrew Bogut went down with an injury, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving took over the series. They didn’t have an answer defensively for either of them. They drove to the basket at will.
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Enter Kevin Durant, the 2nd best player in the NBA, if you ask me. Now, 2 of the 3 best players in the NBA play for the Golden State Warriors. You know who the 3rd player is.
Next year Golden State will be the best team in the NBA, and might even be the most talented team of all time.
If you think Draymond Green is a Top 15 player in the NBA today, then the Warriors have four of the 15 best players in the league. No one in modern NBA history has been able to say that.
You have to think, “Wow this team could break their own record for most wins in an NBA season!”
Not so fast. I think they were exhausted late in the year after chasing the record, and will be smarter and rest more during the regular season. At the beginning of the year, they’ll have to work on chemistry with Durant now being on the team. They will figure it out, I’m not concerned about that.
But here is something I am concerned about:
LeBron James isn’t going away. And neither is Kyrie Irving.
The physicality of LeBron overwhelmed the Warriors. It was obvious they needed to get tougher over the off-season.
Instead, they got thinner. They’re even more finesse now.
I’m not trying to say signing Kevin Durant was a bad move, no one in their right mind thinks that. Anytime you have the chance to sign one of the best players in the league, you do it.
But in order to acquire Durant, the Warriors had to let go of some players. They let Harrison Barnes sign with the Dallas Mavericks, and traded Andrew Bogut to Dallas, too.
Festus Ezeli signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. Marreese Speights signed with the Clippers, and Leandro Barbosa and Brandon Rush also left.
What made the Warriors special last season was their incredible depth. They could play 10-to-11 players in a single game, that advantage will be gone next season.
Right now, Golden State’s starting center is Zaza Pachulia. He’s a good player, but not the rim protector Bogut was.
Zaza Pachulia allowed a 52.2 percent FG when defending the rim last season, while Bogut allowed a 45.2 percent.
Not only that, but Zaza is not the shot blocker Bogut was.
Zaza’s best season as a shot blocker was the 2005-2006 season when he averaged 0.5 shots blocked per game. He didn’t even average 1 shot blocked, and that was in his prime.
Bogut averaged 1.6 shots blocked per game in the regular season, and had 5 blocks in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
Now Zaza’s 32, and will be 33 years old in February. He’s seen his better days.
Pachulia can be a good role player for Golden State, but he’s not the physical, shot-blocking center they needed. Rim protection will be an issue next season.
In Golden State’s defense, it might not even matter. If you have Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green on the court at the same time, that’s almost impossible to guard.
All four of those guys can catch and shoot before you have time to react. They are capable of scoring so many points, it might not matter how unreliable they are defensively.
Nonetheless, it’s not going to be easy. Nothing is guaranteed in this league.
Everyone thought Miami’s Big 3 of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh would easily dominate the league, and will win the NBA Finals without facing adversity. Obviously, we all know they did not win the NBA Finals in their first season together.
This situation is a little different, since this Warriors team have been together for several years, and they are coming off a 73-win regular season. But their core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green will have to adjust to playing with Kevin Durant.
While it’s a different situation from the Miami Heat super-team in 2011, they also share a few similarities. Depth was an issue early on for the Heat, and the Warriors will have the same problem. Miami also didn’t have a rim protector. Joel Anthony was their starting center in the beginning.
The Heat won 2 titles without a legitimate rim protector, stopping LeBron and Wade proved to be too much for most teams. Opponents will have the same nightmare, instead this time with Kevin Durant and Steph Curry.
Golden State will be the favorites next season, no doubt, but don’t forget about the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving gave the Warriors a lot of problems during the NBA Finals, and they aren’t going away any time soon.
Next: Can LeBron pass MJ?