Does the success of the Warriors impact Gordon Hayward‘s fate? Randy Hollis of the Deseret News suggests as much, noting that the reality of living in Golden State’s shadow may slightly reduce the forward’s chances of returning to the Jazz.
Hollis argues that the Jazz “probably won’t” win a title over the course of Hayward’s career and that the Warriors’ youth and makeup could result in some rather moot battles for conference supremacy over the course of the next half decade.
The scribe adds that a move to the Eastern Conference, then, could be more appealing for Hayward (or any free agent in a similar situation) where he wouldn’t need to worry about plateauing somewhere before the Finals as he may with the Jazz. Hollis does, however, recognize that winning the East still results in a seven-game showdown with the Warriors.
There’s more from the Western Conference:
- A quick look through some of the big men the Nuggets have worked out reveals that the team could be aiming to improve their sub-optimal interior defense, Nick Kosmider of the Denver Post writes.
- The Mavs aren’t afraid to search the globe for talent, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. In the past month alone, team president Donnie Nelson and scout Tony Ronzone have been everywhere from Las Vegas to Iceland and Serbia.
- The Spurs face a series of questions this offseason, Bobby Marks of the Vertical writes in his breakdown of the team’s summer agenda, including what to do with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
If KD stays with the Warriors and that team stays together, they get additional guys to take veterans min contracts, they’ll be the Heat/Cavs of the West – 7 years straight. There’s a better chance to beat the Cavs than there is the GSW. KD choked last year with the Thunder, the rest of the West would have been like “they bleed” if the Thunder closed out instead of choking.
No idea what you are saying.
Players running for the “easiest” path sucks. If you’re really a competitor then train up and try to beat the best. It seems like players these days are just going for the quickest path to the finals and hoping for a ring vs trying to actually BE the best and continue to improve their game.
I don’t blame players for ring chasing. Be a champion is a fun experience.
You want to beat the warriors or Cavs. Then it’s San Antonio or Boston are the only teams close that could go at them with a big addition. If you want a championship these four teams should be the only options