₦airaland Forum

Khanben:
Javale for all his faults does his job, there is a reason for close to 8 years straight now, he has always been acquired by a contender. He might not be the greatest center, but he does his job and was a plus player for the warriors. If you are saying the Javale that played for the warriors is not better than what Gasol is now then you are the one who is not ready to admit bias in your arguments.
Iggy that played for warriors won final MVP, so don't even try that tact. I see you did not mention Draymond.

What job does McGee do? So you're telling me he is better than Dwight abi what's your actual argument? He has always been acquired by a contender? He dey play? What does he do significantly better than Gasol

Draymond is part of their core. Why should I mention him?

Khanben:
As for Kawhi, once again you are either lying to try to buttress your point, or you weren't watching nba basketball in those days. Kawhi came into the league and from his first year was a top 5 wing defender, by his second year he had progressed
and even added some small offensive elements to his game. A good example of who kawhi was in that time is Tybulle of the sixers take what he is doing on defense and add in the ability of averaging 14pts in the finals. Are you telling me anyone who knows basketball will not pick Tybulle as he his right now over any of Ariza and Co, not to talk of if he can average 14pts per game. So stop with all this trying to change history.
I reiterate my position if Ariza, Howard, Bazemore are your 4th, 5th and 6th man, then the drop off in talent for that team is just too much and they will not achieve much. If they are your 8th, 9th and 10th option then that is okay.

You are a very dishonest fellow. Who anointed Kawhi a top 5 wing defender when he entered the league? By what metrics? You awarded it to him from your bedroom or what.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_2012.html
Come and show me where Kawhi is on this list

Lebron, AD, Westbrook offset anything Kawhi would bring to the table as a role player. This is the fundamental flaw in your argument, in a team with those 3 where will 2nd or 3rd year Kawhi see enough shots to average 14pts

Are you comparing San Antonio that ran equal opportunity offense with old man Tim Duncan, Ginobili and Tony Parker to a squad with Lebron, AD and Westbrook?

Khanben:
PS: With the recent deals the Lakers just made it seems even they agreed with my position that is why they've just added Nunn, Monk and Melo. If they can pull off the deal for THT that will even make them better. With these recent deals, then by all account they are a Superteam.

Why would any half decent basketball pundit assume they will not add more players to a 9 man roster

Khanben:
As at the time we were discussing THT does not have a contract with the Lakers, I am making my stance based on who they have under contract not what they might do.

Story. So you thought they weren't going to make any further additions to the squad? Abi what would be the point of arguing solely based on an incomplete roster as if na wetin dem go use start season

So Melo and Kendrick Nunn are also 9th man type. The dishonesty dey smell

Hood and Ojeleye to the Bucks. Hood is a serviceable replacement for Forbes problem is he's always injured

Mills to the Nets they bring back Blake and Brown but let go of Bruce Brown

Andre Drummond to the Sixers.

So nobody will pick up Schroeder? Shocking. Don't see why the Pelicans don't take a gamble on him. He's definitely better than Devonte Graham

Khanben:
It seems you don't even remember the role players for most of these teams
Warriors had Prime Iggy and DPY Draymond, Livingston, Javale and looney as a solid 8 player rotation with Zaza, West and being seasoned fillers
The Spurs reign was so long,but they always had quality guys, Kwahi, Mills, Splitter, Boris Diaw, Danny Green all in their prime not old men on their last legs and for the older chips Steven Jackson, Bowen, Scola, Finley, Barry, Bris Diaw, Bonner, Horry.
2010 Celtics had Rondo, Rasheed Wallace, Perk, big Baby.
Let's not even get to the Miami big 3 at all.

Lmaoo did you just say Prime Iggy McGee? Same Shaqtin a fool MVP McGee abi which one? Looney

Kawhi was a baby, Splitter. Lewl!! What were the primes of Boris Diaw and Patty Mills and what numbers were they putting up?

So you're telling me a Perk and Big Baby are better than Bazemore, Ariza and Dwight Howard? This is dishonesty at its peak

I can concede for Miami because that team was deep as fuq

Khanben:
PS: like I said before if you're judging them based on their big 3, then that's more than fair, but saying Gasol, Ariza, Bazemore, Wellington and Howard are quality enough to fill spots 4 through 8 is disingenuous. Unless you are judging them on their names rather than what they are right now. There guys are in their career are where Matt Barnes was for the warriors old guys who should be the 8th, 9th man type.
Finally I did not ignore the strength of their big 3, which is just as strong as what the warriors had with the warriors team being younger. The main issue with the Lakers is the level of drop-off after their big 3 is just too steep and that is what you are refusing to admit

I'm saying considering the caliber of the top 3 players they have it's unrealistic and makes a mockery of the competition to assume the role players need to be significantly better. They have THT, Gasol, Ariza, Bazemore and Howard. Where is the drop-off? Even when he had the top two 6th men in the league y'all said it was not enough so what gives?

You can bring the numbers of some of these role players you listed and I bring the numbers of these guys let's see if the difference between this supporting cast and the ones you listed are as large as you claim

Khanben:
The Heat got swept with Ariza, Bazemore could not help the warriors get into the playoffs and Howard got beaten by the Hawks of all teams. Does the Lakers have a big 3 YES, but to call these players they've added as anything but bottom rung role players is disingenuous.
If you place all the role players of big 3s in recent history from the 2020 Nets, the KD warriors with Steph and Klay, 2010 Celtics, the Spurs and the Miami big 3s on any ranking. These motley crew assembled by the Lakers will come last.
So if we're talking about this Lakers competing for the championship and you are using their big 3 as justifiable evidence that is more than fair (personally, I will not even accept their fit as an excuse, because as far as I am concerned, they're 2 MVPs and an all nba talent on there). but to use a bunch of has been, role players as evidence of them being a super team is just playing a very very weak hand.

This is a dishonest argument on your part still. First off nobody expected the Heat to get swept going into that series so it showed a level of underperformance not mediocrity, Lol Bazemore and the Warriors ran into deeper teams. I can't believe you're using that Warriors team as an indictment on Bazemore. As for Howard lol. Ben Simmons was a bigger problem than he was, suggesting Dwight Howard is a bottom rung role player is Dishonest!!

Who were the good role players on the KD Warriors apart from Iggy? and maybe Livingston Is it Looney? McCaw, Pachulia? Abeggi

The Spurs were aged so it doesn't matter who their role players were but if you insist, Tiago Splitter, Boris Diaw, Danny Green

The 2010 Celtics role players were Kendrick Perkins and crew

The critical part you are insisting on ignoring is that the Lakers big 3 is better than any combination of big 3 you listed above and that alone makes them a Superteam. If they added you and I to the roster they are still a Superteam never mind Dwight Howard and Trevor Ariza

D

Khanben:
Let me make it simple, which one of these players the Lakers got would have been more than the 8th or 9th man in a fully healthy Bucks team?
If you don't know their team list when fullyhealthy Let me help you out
Giannis
Lopez
Jrue
Khris
Dante
[bench]
6th Pj Tucker
7th Pat
8th Bobby
J Teague

D for Dishonesty

Even when he had Schroeder and Harrell literally the top 2 6th men in the league y'all argued he lacked help and they still went out to add a top 2 rebounder in the league in Drummond

I listed playoff teams that the Lakers acquisitions were good enough to start for or be one of the first options of the bench you're mentioning Milwaukee. Smh

AD or Middleton who is better?
Westbrook or Holiday. Even if you argue Holiday is better (highly debatable) there is no arguing who is more accomplished
Some people still argue LeNomad is the best player in the league so that makes him better than Giannis by default

If you have AD, Westbrook and Bron. What caliber of bench players are you hoping to add to that 3 again? Bronsexuals were crying wolf for KD last season but somehow are asking for more help for a roster with 3 top 20 players in the league

Roland17:
Come on Khris! Consecutive misses..

63-69 USA

Giannis might never get his due credit for winning this chip with a player so inconsistent. He has one or two hot games but reverts back to his last name MIDdleton and serves brickfests on a steady

Khanben:
All the guys you just names are at best 8th or 9th man upwards on a roster. So let's not start with this loading up narrative again

Lmaoo Ariza was a starter on the Heat last season started all their games vs Milwaukee in the sweep, Bazemore was one of their top 3 guys off the bench for Golden State and played a lot of minutes. So no come here dey drop this opata yarns. Dwight was Embiid's primary backup at Philly

A team with 3 All NBA level players and a former #1 draft pick and 3 time DPOY making it 3 #1 draft picks on a roster is definitely loading up. Abi what did you expect? You wanted to add Bradley Beal and DeRozan too?

Anyway you people are so predictably dishonest. The same people that comfortably called Ray Allen, KG and Paul Pierce a superteam despite their average ages being 34 in 2010 are swearing this team is old meanwhile AD and Westbrook 2 of the best 3 players on the team are 33 years or younger. Smh

Of which why aren't the Warriors trying to get a guy like Siakam? I think he will be a better fit than say a Bradley Beal. Gives them size and defense and wouldn't need the ball as much as a Beal neither would he need to be the best player on the squad. Send a rookie and Wiggins the other way, it will take them much less to get him I assume as Masai may need to blow up that team with Lowry gone

Khanben:
Bobby back at 2yr 9mil the steal of FA so far. Comes with a 1yr player option which he will certainly decline especially if he plays as well as he did the past season.

I'm absolutely shocked he did not get a better deal elsewhere. Retaining him was absolutely huge, their best bench player for me and if he plays as well as last season then he would be worth a new and bigger deal. They need one more shooting guard off the bench to replace Forbes or perhaps our Naija boy Nwora shows improvement to fill that role next season

PJ Tucker to the Heat hmm. They do get DiVincenzo back though.

Roland17:
Lowry to the Heat and CP3 extends with the Suns

The Suns don handicap themselves with the length of this deal. No guarantee they will get this far next year

Will be interesting to see what they do when it's time to pay Booker and Ayton

So Bazemore, Ellington, Ariza, Howard confirmed to be coming to the Lakers. This team is more than enough to win it all. No excuses

As for LeNomad what can we say? I see our guy has formed another Superteam Abi this one no be Superteam

Anyway suggesting a team with Bron, AD and Westbrook won't be a top 2 contender would be asinine. As far as the West unless Kawhi returns healthy and even at that they will still need some help stopping them

The ultimate wildcard is AD's health. Lebron is not enough even with Westbrook to threaten anybody. Also they are going to need shooters or role players that don't need the ball to be effective. It's easy to forget that despite Milwaukee's size it was their shooting vs the Heat that blew that series open and made it uncompetitive. I want to see the final form of this roster before chuckling in mischevious glee at another Superteam mishap or groaning in despair at the prospect of a 5th ring for LeNomad

As for D.Tigers and D'Tigress what can I say? Typical Nigerian teams always flattering to deceive

For D'tigers their lack of size I always thought would ultimately do them in but I didn't expect the FT shooting to also be such a problem. Our turnovers especially in the Italy game was absurd

As for the women they were in my eyes an even bigger disappointment, played well vs the best team then completely crumbled against the two weaker teams. Facing a Japan team that was on fire from the 3 pt line they did nothing to defend it and worse they didn't attempt any 3's of their own, trying to fight 3's with 2's it was so comical to watch

Anyway our basketball is merely a reflection of the sorry state of our sports as a whole. We just went to the Olympics to do excursion which explains why a nation of almost 200 million cannot boast of one medal. In any sane environment heads would roll and people would resign in shame but since the fish is rotten from the head

birdman:
Simmons for Lowry, Van Vleet, Anunoby and first round pick? Ah, are you mad? na craze, abi na village tinz. The person who even suggested this is very unfortunate. Oh wait, its Morey you think everyone else is a yam head?

I thought Lowry was an UFA. Masai should be sacked on the spot if he agrees to this trade. Although I would be tempted to do this trade on the back of how poorly FVV played this year, he was by far the worst volume 3pt shooter in the league. Would probably give him another year to prove himself before considering shipping him

The reason you don't give up a farm for Ben Simmons is simple, he cannot be the best or even second best player on a Championship winning team,

birdman:
Dikembe Mutombo
Lifetime NBA earnings: $140 million
After Tax Estimate: $70 million
Major philantropy: Donated $15 million to build hospital in Congo

That is just one project. There are many others, obviously you cant do this with salary money. You need a long term game plan.

Some other interesting ones to lookup
- Tmac (outstanding work in Darfur)
- Olajuwon (cautionary tale, almost gave to al qaeda charities without knowing, managing money is hard!)
- Lebron

For anyone interested, you can see the type of federal taxes Lebron, Mayweather, Tiger Woods pay here: https://www.propublica.org/article/the-billionaire-playbook-how-sports-owners-use-their-teams-to-avoid-millions-in-taxes

That is federal o, we have not counted state taxes. Its hard getting wealthy. Its even harder staying wealthy. Even harder still if you plan on philantropy. I would go further, but this is not the forum for such. Guys, everything is not about hating or liking players.

That dude will have earned over $300m before his 30th birthday. It will take a crack and drug addiction far worse than Lamar Odom's to blow through that money in these modern times bruh. Philanthropy or no philanthropy

Roland17:
They run plays for him when he plays for Australia in comparison to Spurs.

Yes but he also looks like a completely different animal on the court. They are not missing Ben Simmons at all

I've never understood how Patty Mills always turns to prime Steph Curry anytime he suits up for Australia

joshboo:
Simple question. Swap AD and giannis in this playoffs run/win, would the bucks have won the Championship?

I recall Rich Paul chatting megedefegede that AD would have beaten the Raptors if he was on the Bucks that year and gotten to a chip. Make him do am without Lebron if e easy. Because you can't tell me he has done anything Giannis wouldn't have done if Lebron was a teammate

The best and maybe closest analogy I can think of though not entirely accurate in this AD vs Giannis is TMac vs the late great Kobe.

It's easy to dismiss TMac's lack of chips or playoff success but if you followed hoops in the early 2000s you would know TMac was no joke and there were legitimate comparisons with Kobe with a significant number of fans that would tell you he was an even smoother scorer than Kobe

TMac was also injury prone like AD but I struggle to believe he wouldn't have won at least two chips with a prime Shaq.

However Kobe is more like Giannis in mentality and intangibles. Talent is never enough, you need that mental toughness and grit which IMHO AD and TMac arguably more skilled players lacked

Think about it. You think Giannis would leave Milwaukee to go play with Lebron? He will rather chew roasted barbed wire. By 2019 people were already placing championship demands on a Giannis led team.

With AD people were talking about just making the playoffs. Even when he had Rondo, Holiday, Cousins just making the playoffs was considered an achievement. He's a full 1 and a half year older than Giannis, came into the league the top draft pick yet the bar has always been low with AD

Even if you argue he played in the harder conference well he had the chance to go to the 'weaker' conference and be a top dog and lead a team but no he chose to be Lebron's sidekick. Of course it paid off instantly but will he be discussed and his legacy elevated like Giannis is experiencing now? Hell no.

This is the difference in their grit and their mindset and it transfers to their bodies and how they look after it as well. Their mentality. One wants to bring a title to his city, the other happy to be Lebron's sidekick smack Dab in his prime

joshboo:
I feel birdman just dey cap honestly .

I no know whether na bad belle or he actually believes what he's spewing

Khanben:
Giannis is older than Ben Simmons by less that 2yrs. Mhenn I sorry for Sixers fans that your process, will not work.
Apart from the improved ability to process the speed of the game and improved defensive awareness which are both natural progressions from playing multiple years in the league the boy no gree improves at all. He is exactly the same player he was in his rookie season apart from experience

Ben Simmons is like that proverbial fish that is dry and cannot be bent again. The ship has already sailed on whether he can be the best option to lead a team to a title.

The question now is whether he can be a serviceable #2 and this is why the comparison with Giannis annoys me so much, he doesn't have the energy and physicality to be a Giannis but ironically he actually is the real run and dunk man because he actually has no moves besides dunking and layups in transition or when there are breakdowns on defense.

birdman:
Thank God you no be financial advisor . Someone that will be retired at 35 and have to make that money work for the rest of his life. Next thing na espn 30 on 30, stories that touch

Lol is this man serious at all? Do you know how many stocks, startups and VCs a guy like Giannis will be putting money in now? Not to mention he lives in freaking Milwaukee. You think this is the 70s or 80s? I don't think the Antetokounmpo lineage will ever experience poverty again never mind Giannis. Lol is this guy serious at all. This nigga can co-own a sports team by the time he retires ffs.

joshboo:
Honestly I don't think the result would be different, AD is very talented more than Giannis but I don't think he challenges himself hard to be very great.

You think AD comes back from that hyperextended knee and balls out like Giannis did? I think not. AD is not an Alpha dog like Giannis that is why he had this same Holiday on his team and was missing playoffs outright on a regular basis.

If he was an Alpha he would go to that Boston team and try to lead them to a chip not fly under Lenomad's wings. Till AD leads his own team to a chip heck even an NBA Finals no objective analyst will ever mention him to be better than Giannis again

birdman:
After taxes, that is half. Less than half after all the hidden state and municipal fees. If its just you and your family you are looking out for, it will go some ways. If you are planning on doing Mutomob type things like building hospitals, or Lebron type things like sponsoring a whole class through college, or trying to bring some projects to your hood in Milwaukee, yeah its not enough. Based on what I have heard Giannis say, he has a heart to help, having gone through deprivation himself. He gon need funds for that. Life is meant to be lived cooperating with others and helping others. Everything is not just you and your fam. No one black or otherwise is going to fulfil their life mission going it alone. Periodt.

Just off point, this "I no send them" strong head wey people dey carry come from naija, that is how some folks go spend 30 years for yankee, no real progress, other than paying bills and buying aso oke. No viable business, no next generation wealth. Instead to humble and learn from people wey don reach there before you. By the time they wise up, they too old to take advantage in a meaningful way.

Lmaoooo is this man trolling me or what? Giannis would have earned over $300m in salaries before his 30th birthday living in small town Milwaukee and you're telling me he's going to need help of the NBA fraternity to run his projects?

Please tell me who will agree to donate his dollars to a man who earned that much in his career. Do you realize Giannis is on track to be the highest earner in league history or how much do you think his next extension is going to be ATBE when he would only be 30.

What Giannis has will be more than enough to donate or partner with cooperate America. He does not need any fellow NBA fraternity kankan because God knows if I were a NBA player donating to Giannis would be like Larry Ellison or Mark Zuckerberg donating to Jeff Bezos

This your Nigerian analogy no fly here oh. This Giannis money even village people no fit finish am.

Khanben:
If you switch Giannis for AD they get bounced in the 2nd round by the nets.

Easily. People forget Giannis dropped 40 in Game 7 taking 12 fewer shots than KD did

benji93:
There was a time we debated the AD/Giannis issue here when even bringing up Giannis in comparison to AD was strangely an insult to the person of AD. I suppose we are past that now.

Very funny argument but thank God time has opened everyone's eyes. That extra intangible that separates the greats from the all time greats Giannis has and AD has not shown us he has yet.

Nobody can sit here and objectively argue that AD could have led this Bucks team to a title

When it comes to their individual achievements Giannis has more hardware. He now has a ring so there is no coherent argument to suggest AD is better

Roland17:
If I hear say na just bants! Dem no born dem well make dem deny am.

Even him official mouth piece on mainstream media Ryan Windhorst acknowledged it. LeBum started recruiting the Chef at the All Star games, it was known! Warriors owner, Joe Lacob had to make a public statement about it, he acknowledged he was aware but was not worried because he had a positive and reassuring conversation with Curry about it!

The man is the General Assembler! Make we no forget say he actively tried to recruit Kawhi after they landed AD ;Dbut Kawhi turned him down ! Make we no forget that one oh! People wan kpai on top KD matter but General Assembler wen dey coordinate him talent across the league na Saint! Una go choke on top KD matter!

I have said it before and I will repeat, the only exceptions are Giannis/ Dirk and Kawhi..More so for the first 2 because they did it in a small market.

Ole ni everybody, yahoo ni babalawo!!!

I don't know who I would even be more disappointed in between Steph or Lebron if this happens. How does it improve either of them's legacy sef?

We all kinda agree KD joining the Warriors eliminated him from GOAT consideration so how does playing with Steph and AD boost Lenomad's GOAT campaign among objective fans

A40:
AD is more naturally gifted than Giannis but he can't carry the load Giannis is carrying in Milwaukee. Simple concept that should not be too hard to grasp

A40:
He has led his team in all stats except blocks this year. There was a year he led his team in every statistical category for the season. AD cannot shoulder the load Giannis is shouldering in Milwaukee. This is not up for debate

A40:
Exactly. Giannis style might not be aesthetically pleasing to a purist but there is something about a baller that wants all the smoke on both ends of the floor. Somehow some way they will have their team playing better than their talent levels

40stradamus has been preaching the gospel of Giannis since Day 1

Roland17:
Oh man! It’s probably not going to happen with CP3 with the Suns! I expect the assemblers especially the chief assembler to continue his campaign to recruit 2 more all stars for the Lakers.. lol. As Chef Curry don turn am down make we see

Lol was LeNomad really trying to recruit Steph or na just bants.

Khanben:
Absolutely agree with you, IMHO all I think he needs to improve is
1. Get his FT% to at least 75%.
2. If he can consistently make shots from 12ft in, either hook shot, or the fade away he has been using sometimes, if he can hit those 50-60% of the time, then it is over for the rest of the league.

PS: if I am to pick just one, then the FTs at 75% should be his first target.

For me it's his free throws before any other thing because as we saw last night the man can't be stopped from getting to the basket. We saw in the all star game where he went 16/16 as well. If he takes it to the basket good things will happen.

The hook shot will also be a good addition to his skillset but I believe provided he keeps going hard in the paint he will keep getting fouled and that will make it even more critical that he becomes more proficient at the line.

What stood out to me is that he only took 2 3pt attempts and I hope that's how he continues moving forward. Infact he should be fined each time he takes more than 3 pointers in a game. Each time he takes them he's balling the defense out