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Knee jerk.
This season is still the Heat's to lose as far as I'm concerned. If they can hit the playoffs with Wade healthy they're still the favorite.
NBA 2013?14 Season
- Thread starter Neki
- Start date
This season is still the Heat's to lose as far as I'm concerned. If they can hit the playoffs with Wade healthy they're still the favorite.
Foggy
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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No kidding. Maybe people will shut up with the ridiculous notion that Paul George is even in KD's league. It is: 1. LeBron 2. KD and there is no number 3.
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At 23 George's numbers aren't too far off from a 23 year old Durant two seasons ago. He's also a better defender (KD is a good defender too though).
But one game proves things on this board so whatever.
Edit: Also, CP3 is better than Durant.
Foggy
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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I understand you're blinded by anything Texas but you don't actually believe statements like this do you?
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Ambiturner
Ssraeszha Raider
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Yeah those three are the very elite. I take Durant too because of his age, but compare their careers and its hard to say Paul isn't an equal, if not better player. But Paul is 28, Durant is 25 and they're so close as far as team impact that I'll take the younger guy for those extra three years.
Dwight belonged in this discussion three years ago but doesn't anymore. There is a whole slew of second tier players and I'd say Davis, George, Kyrie (considering this shitty start of his an albatross) andmaybeDrummond (i don't love him but you can't deny his production so far) have a chance to make it into that elite level. The other guys (Curry, Love, Harden, etc) are already old enough we have a pretty good indication of what their peak will be.
Dwight belonged in this discussion three years ago but doesn't anymore. There is a whole slew of second tier players and I'd say Davis, George, Kyrie (considering this shitty start of his an albatross) andmaybeDrummond (i don't love him but you can't deny his production so far) have a chance to make it into that elite level. The other guys (Curry, Love, Harden, etc) are already old enough we have a pretty good indication of what their peak will be.
LiquidDeath
Magnus Deadlift the Fucktiger
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The Pacers have no answer for Westbrook. Also, at best (for the Pacers) George matches KD's offensive output. If the Thunder keep up the defense they've been playing so far this year and Ibaka continues to grow on offense then they'll be right back in the championship series.
Of course I'm expecting San Antonio's old balls to slow down as the year goes, but I expect that every year and am always amazed that they keep playing at such a high level.
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Foggy
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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If you want to throw an inferior player like Kyrie in there, you have to put Westbrook in the discussion. I know you hate all things OKC, but get over it.
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Kyrie is certainly sucking ass this year but so is Westbrook. And unlike a lot of posters here I'm not going to let 20 games be a determining factor on evaluating a player. Kyrie's first two seasons in the league werevastlysuperior to Westbrook's. On top of that he's 21 and my listing was simply giving star level players that still have enough time to develop into something more than that. This doesn't mean he actually will, but at 21, Kyrie's potential is infinitely higher than Westbrook's, who at 25 has shown us the player he'll be.
Kyriecouldturn into an elite player still. Westbrook without question isn't ever going to be good as Chris Paul.
Lasch
Trakanon Raider
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When Kyrie next plays defense, it'll be his first time. And yet his best PER ranking has been 18th.
But yes, Westbrook has started slowly this year coming back from his injury. But he's still blowing Kyrie out of the water.
edit: and I love that you can point to Paul George's numbers as legit, but Irving's as too fast to judge.
But yes, Westbrook has started slowly this year coming back from his injury. But he's still blowing Kyrie out of the water.
edit: and I love that you can point to Paul George's numbers as legit, but Irving's as too fast to judge.
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Nice catch!
PER sucks though. Much better metrics out there if you're into that sort of stuff.
None of this negates the fact that Kyrie is 21 and has two seasons under his belt that were superior to Westbrook's first two. It's hard to argue against his potential. You aren't going to find many 19 year olds that come into the league and shoot 47% as a top scoring option. That's just unreal. Curry didn't do that (as a 21 year old). LeBron didn't do that. Irving is one the best young players to hit the league in a long time.
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Right. So isn't it telling when a player at such a young age produces at that level? If that doesn't make sense I don't know what to tell you here.