If we sign Kawhi...this dude just went from unemployed to coaching 3 of the top 5 players in the league. You could make the argument that with KD being sidelined next season, we literally would have the three best players in the league. Luke could have coached this team to 65 wins. Vogel is going to get to collect checks and not lift a finger.
I was thinking about this earlier today too. With KD out for a season (he was IMO the best player in the league this season) that would leave Kawhi as the best player, LeBron if that rest does his body well, could easily be the 2nd or 3rd best player, and AD is at worst around 6th. I’m basing this off of a list of Kawhi, LeBron, Curry, Giannis, Davis, and *vomits* Harden.
I think AD is better than Harden, Giannis, Steph and Harden. It's sort of like with Lebron where he was out of sight, out of mind. AD will remind people how good he is, especially with how open he'll be when people double team Kawhi and Lebron. If we do get Kawhi, we WILL have the two best defenders in the league on one team.
I think he has the potential to be better than them easily, if given the opportunity to make a deep playoff run. He’s penalized for not having gotten to do that yet though. I personally would take him over Harden, because AD can still do his thing without the refs and the antics, but most probably wouldn’t. Same with Curry, his shooting is so good and the Warriors run make you still have to respect him and keep him high on your list. But I agree, on an individual player level, AD can and may already be better, capable of putting up monster numbers on teams he’s had to carry, while as good as Curry is, his size still limits him when he doesn’t have at least Klay next to him to help free him up. I also put AD ahead of Giannis because AD has a money midrange jumper and can hit threes, while Giannis still doesn’t have that as a reliable part of his game. I don’t think AD being 6th best in the league (7th when KD is healthy) is a knock at all though, he’s 26, one deep playoff run and he jumps the list same as Giannis did the last 2 seasons. AD’s already got career playoff averages of 30.5 ppg, 12.7 boards, 2.5 blocks, and 1.8 steals in 13 games. That’s nuts.
AD might be the best player in the league next season and MVP the year after depending on media narrative when LeBron dials it back. Bron might swoop in and snag the finals mvp tho
Sorry savory, but based off AD's regular season records and post season results, no way can he be considered better than Giannis, Steph & Harden. AD struggles making the playoffs most years, whereas Giannis just led his team to a no. 1 seed, Harden has been a perennial MVP and one of the all time great offensive forces while Steph led a team to 73-9 and has 3 rings. The top tier belongs to Kawhi, KD, Curry, Giannis, Harden & Lebron - not in any order. Then we have the second tier of AD, PG, Westbrook, Embiid, Jokic, Lillard & Butler.
Still... I feel so much better about our coaching situation now. Teach Kuz to be more active on D and we'll be OK.
Vogel has no excuses now. Already as constituted they should go deep in the playoffs. The Ring depends on who gets signed: 3rd star or mix of 2nd tier players. I can make a case for the latter based on Davis fragility and Lebron age. If Kawhi comes, great. But all three will need some load management through the season. Those role players are going to be critical at times. Think this is a key reason why Pelinka wanted to keep Kuzma.
With Giannis, you have to take everything he does with a grain of salt. He led that Bucks team in the East. They also lost 4 straight to a good, but not great Toronto team. And Middleton is better than any player AD has ever gotten to play with when you take fit into consideration. Harden? His style works in the regular season, but when the refs start letting the guys play a bit more he loses effectiveness. And the gap between the two on the defensive side of the ball can be measured in light years. Harden has led his team to the WCF once. So he's gotten one round further than AD one time. I think AD is better than those guys. This next season we will see. It's hard to judge a guy when the best player he's played with is a second tier pg.
