I was waiting for weeks for the Cavs to get eliminated just to say that, I hope they didn’t promise the Beard a max extension when they acquired him (like Morey reportedly did). And now that I’ve done the research, oh sh*t, dude has like a $45mil player option(!) for next season. And there’s no way he’s going to turn that money down, not at this stage in his career.
If this were the NFL, where the risk of serious injury is a
lot greater, I’d say that Harden needs to retire already because after his
stint with Cleveland, whenever it ends, I don’t think any team is going to
really want him again, at least not for any type of star-level money, regardless of how potent he may be offensively.
None of this is meant to be an insult against the
Beard. The Cavs are a good watch,
and whether the Knicks win a championship, Haliburton comes back or whatever, with a full season of Harden, I’m
totally expecting them to be the number-one seed out of the East next
season. Like this squad is built for the
82-game grind. They’re the only team I
can think of off the top of my head that not only have two allstar level PGs (if
you consider Mitchell as one), but furthermore, they two have totally different
looks. In other words, the Cavs play different
dependent on which one of them is running the show.
SHOUTOUT TO DARIUS GARLAND
But their braintrust made two big roster mistakes this
season. First was trading Darius
Garland. Why? Because last postseason, when they got embarrassed
by the Pacers, the excuse was ‘Garland is injured’. So if that’s the case, now that he’s back,
let’s at least give him another chance to see if he can compete in the playoffs
and be ‘healthy’ throughout, you know, if he was the difference between them failing and potentially making it out of the East.
Second, it doesn’t wholly make sense why they traded him for
Harden. Why? Because going back to that two PG thing, the
argument was already that Darius and Spider’s styles overlapped, and that
Mitchell, all things considered, should be given the keys to the car. Instead, they turned around and gave them to
the Beard, in a manner of speaking.
NO BEARD, NO CRY
James is a lot better than Donovan at getting all of his teammates
involved. It’s also cool that when Harden is running the show, Mitchell gets a chance to lay back and rest, until he’s
really needed to explode. But like I
said, that kinda confusion, if you will, is good for the regular season but not
so much for the playoffs - not against one of the handful of teams that's actually deeper and more talented than Cleveland. The way
the Cavs got to the ECF, given their talent and depth, wasn’t too convincing.
Maybe we can say that, with time, they all will mesh
better. Or rather, as optimistic(?) fans(?) we have to say that,
because there’s no way the Beard is going to opt out of that payday. So we’re going to get another season of this
if we want it or not, because even though some of the lower-rung teams may be
willing to take on Harden and his contract - I'm thinking something like the Blazers for instance - let's not forget he’s diva-ish and isn’t likely to play
for a squad that doesn't look like a contender. That can be a real problem, i.e. an overpaid player demanding to play on a contender - and furthermore, the contender being dumb enough to give him that money.
So by the looks of things, the one who’s going to have to bite the bullet - be scapegoated, if you will - is Jarrett Allen. He’s made a name for himself as sort of this perennial DPOY type. But given the way the Pistons ran all roughshod in the paint, against both Allen and Mobley, it's obvious that the former, not to blame it all on Jarrett, but he's lost a step or two.
He’s still good for lobs and putbacks and
stuff like that, which is needed playing alongside Mobley, who prefers the perimeter. But with that in mind, the
Cavs could still use an upgrade. And it
doesn’t have to be a C per se but even one of those brolly type wings like
Sengun or Anunoby. But instead, you know, that money is going to the Beard.
LET’S GO KNICKS(?)
Even though I was expecting NYK to fuck up in one way or
another instead of reaching the Finals, I also said, way back at the beginning
of this season, that the East was theirs to lose, but lose it they
didn’t. So, give props where props are
due. They have the most all-around talented
starting five in the league, and sticking together another season, instead of
hastily blowing it all up, has paid off.
Also, unlike last year, everyone is ‘healthy’ this postseason, and they’ve
also buttressed the bench.
The reason I'm glad they made it, more than anything, is
because they’d be the best matchup for the Thunder. Taking nothing away from the Spurs, but the
way OKC’s roster is built, obviously you’re going to need more than a Wemby to
beat them in a seven-game series. And
even if San Antonio does win, they’re probably going to be too worn down to
really compete with the Knicks.
NYK and OKC are the two deepest, most-talented teams in the league,
and thankfully they’re in different conferences, so it’s only right they should
meet. Also, their contest will finally
settle the young vs. old debate, in a way. You don't see young bucks like Jared McCain getting run on the Knicks.
Also, one last shoutout to Halliburton and the Pacers. Let’s not forget that they were on the verge
of totally upsetting the Thunder last season.
Too bad Myles Turner bounced, and they traded away Mathurin like
that. They should’ve at least gave
themselves a chance to run it back and see if they could replicate the magic and, whether win it all or lose, go down as a legendary team in history.
CONCLUSION
Maybe in a perfect world, Lebron would return to the Cavs,
and the Beard would head out to L.A. to play alongside - or rather let’s say replace - the perennially-injured Luka.
I recently read that whoever wins the WCF will be the favorites over the Knicks. But check this out - they're bringing in the rowdiest of the rowdy. I’m not so sure the Spurs can beat the Knicks in a seven-game series.
But as for
OKC, even though they aren’t as all-around talented, they are younger, have
better balance and greater depth (the latter particularly if everyone is playable).
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