Thoughts on Finals
I have a handful of thoughts after watching this year's NBA Finals. Here they are:
1. In almost any other year, the Cavaliers would be your NBA Champion. I'm serious about this. If they were not playing this all-time great team, the Cavaliers would have been NBA Champions. In fact, I will go so far as to say that if the Warriors did not sign Kevin Durant, the Cavaliers would have won in 5 games. The tables would have been turned. Cleveland scored 113 or more in 4 of the 5 games. Their defense was solid, but that doesn't matter when the opposition has three of the 8 best shooters of all time. It just doesn't. The Warriors might be the greatest NBA team of all time. But this was the best team that LeBron has been a part of. That's really saying something.
2. The Warriors and Kevin Durant formed a symbiotic relationship. As much as I despise the move that KD made in ditching OKC for Golden State, I really can't fault him for it. He is now on the fast track to "not two, not three, not four....." rings. His performance in the Finals was quite impressive, and the Warriors needed every ounce of it. Like I said, without him the Cavs win this series. When he initially made the jump to Oakland, many, including myself, thought he was just hopping aboard the Warrior's coattails. The Finals proved that the Warriors would have fallen at the hands of the King two years in a row if it not for KD, thus proving that they needed him just as badly as he wanted them.
3. Kyrie Irving is a top ten player in this league. Can you name 10 players who you would take over Kyrie? I know that I can't. And yet he didn't even make third team All-NBA. I understand that maybe in the regular season his value is not as evident, but in the playoffs, and particularly the Finals, that man is a bucket-getter. His craftiness around the rim is unmatched, and perhaps has never been matched. The way in which he finishes, especially for a guy who plays below the rim, is remarkable. The backboard is his best friend as he makes tough shots from every imaginable angle. Uncle Drew is just 25 years old and has already been in 3 NBA Finals, making the shot of all shots to win one of them. He's got stones. If you think you can name 10 players better than he is, you're delusional.
4. The Cavs cannot trade Kevin Love. I wrote about this a few days ago, but it is worth repeating. Kevin Love is not the reason the Cavaliers lost this series, not even close. In fact, I thought that he played quite well, even defensively. If Cleveland is serious about competing with Golden State they need to hang on to Love. They do need to add a fourth wheel to go along with Love, LeBron, and Kyrie, but getting rid of Kevin Love is certainly not the answer.
