If Klay and Lee and possibly Barnes is the offer for GS to get Love and probably Martin thrown in too, is there anyone who still thinks GS is smart to not deal for Love?
I seriously cant think of one reason why this is a not no brainer for GS, especially considering Klay already is talking about wanting a max deal next year.
Klay's defense was ok, lets not make him into Ron Artest in his prime.
I have stated this many times before....
To upgrade from David Lee to Kevin Love it will cost the Warriors:
Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, cap flexibility (if they have to take on Kevin Martin), and potentially 1st round draft picks and/or Draymond.
If Kevin Love was a 2 way player sure you do that trade, but he isn't. The Warriors offense would be better, but at what cost to the #4 DEF based on points per possession and depth?
Other points:
- Kevin Love isn't exactly the most durable player either. He's NEVER played an 82 game season. When a team's futures already ride on Curry's ankle and whatever freak accident can injure Bogut, do you really want to a 3rd player who's never finished a full season? Klay Thompson has played every game and only missed 1 game last year due to his grandfather's funeral.
- Stephen Curry, Steve Kerr, and Iggy have spoken out to keep Klay. Those are 3 important people. Team chemistry matters, especially when your franchise player is making only 11 per year for the next 4 years and they just dumped the coach he publicly couched for.
- The Warriors team is good enough and young enough to stand pat and see what they've got. Curry, Klay, Barnes, Draymond can still improve. Draymond is worlds better on defense than Love and he showed major improvement with his 3 pointer last year. There's no reason he can't function as the stretch 4. With Kerr on the bench instead of Mark Jackson, the team should improve on the #12 ranked offense that relied on isolation and post ups. The team as is and with good health can sport a Top 5 offense (they certainly have the talent sans Love) to go along with the #4 DEF.
Sure Kevin Love is a great player, but the Warriors are a very good team without him. Add Love, but subtract Klay...they remain a very good team but with questions about defense and future flexibility. The goal is to add Kevin Love WITH Curry and Klay....you do that and they are championship contenders.