JULY 6th, 11:10pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.
JULY 2nd, 7:36pm: The rich are about to get richer, as free agent center DeMarcus Cousins has agreed to a contract with the Warriors, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. It’ll be a one-year, $5.3MM deal, with the Dubs using the taxpayer mid-level exception to add Cousins, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
It’s a shocking move for both Cousins and the defending champions, who initially didn’t appear to be locks to use their mid-level exception at all. However, when Kevin Durant agreed to a contract with a starting salary of $30MM rather than his max of $35.65MM, it opened the door for the Warriors to take advantage of the savings by using their MLE, which is worth $5.337MM.
Signing Cousins will cost the Warriors exponentially more than $5.337MM due to their projected luxury tax penalties, but the investment figures to be worth it for one of the NBA’s very best centers. Golden State will now have the opportunity to play an incredible five-man unit consisting of Cousins, Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
The club also retains key contributors like Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Jordan Bell, and Quinn Cook, with youngsters Damian Jones and Jacob Evans expected to contribute as well.
While others Cousins suitors like the Pelicans and Lakers will undoubtedly be upset about seeing him sign with the Warriors for a salary they could have topped, it didn’t appear that New Orleans, L.A. or any other team was willing to make a huge offer for the big man, with cap space drying up around the league.
Of course, it’s also extremely unlikely that Cousins would have accepted a $5.3MM offer from any other team. No other club gives him as clear a path to his first NBA title, and as one source close to him explains to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link): “He’s about winning.”
Signing a one-year pact will also allow Cousins to rebuild his value after suffering a torn Achilles during the 2017/18 season. According to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), the Warriors have no intention of rushing their newly-added star back to the court, so a December or January return appears likely. If Cousins returns to form during the second half of the 2018/19 campaign, he’ll be able to reach the free agent market again a year from now and potentially land a more lucrative longer-term deal.
Before going down with that Achilles injury, Cousins was posting the best numbers of his career, filling up the stat sheet with 25.2 PPG, 12.9 RPG, 5.4 APG, 1.6 SPG, and 1.6 BPG. He also made 2.2 three-pointers per game at a 35.4% rate. Achilles tears aren’t easy to come back from, so there’s no guarantee that he’ll ever be the same player he was before the injury, but even if he’s operating at 60-70% capacity in 2018/19, he’ll make the already-stacked Warriors even more dangerous.
The move comes approximately 24 hours after LeBron James‘ agency announced that he’d be heading to the Lakers. While LeBron, Magic Johnson, and the new-look Lakers dominated much of the coverage during the first two days of NBA free agency, the Warriors’ latest splash signals that they have no intention of giving up control of the Pacific Division – or the Western Conference, or the NBA – anytime soon.
Luke Adams contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NBA is over
They stop CP3 to Lakers but this is ok
That was a trade. This was a free agent signing. Different…. Although they never should have stopped the CP3 trade.
I know but in hindsight it just looks bad.
Because the league owned the Hornets at the time. This is nothing like that.
How dare you, the league is out to get the Lakers and you know it lol.
David Stern lowkey ruined Chris Paul’s best chance at ever winning a championship. If rings are ever a point of discrediting the man, people need to know he likely would’ve won one at least.
Why doesn’t another NBA team ramp up its game?
Get a great coach. Become a great owner. Play the right way.
You’ll get guys begging to play there and that’s what’s going on now. Just become a better team.
When LeBron was in Cleveland they couldn’t get any of these guys. Nobody wanted to play for that ridiculous owner.
So you don’t take a guy away from a great organization and make him play for a crap owner. Doesn’t make sense…. let a guy go where he wants to go.
Don’t take away from the best…. you try to become better.
What’s wrong with that? Everybody wants to bring the good down to their level.
Why don’t you try to improve to get to their level?
You don’t have to be a great coach, Walton is not a great coach. I could coach this team. There is no stepping up. Young players want to get paid big dollars all of these guys have already made a lot of money and they caught the perfect salary cap loophole at the right time while steph was on that team friendly deal. The only thing they can do is get rid of the MLE for hard capped teams.
That’s not correct, ZA. A great coach emphasizes ball movement for successful basketball. Schmuck coach rolls the ball out and guys just go one-on-one and get their own. (Not referring to D’antoni either… he is an excellent offensive Mastermind.)
I can coach the Golden State Warriors. Stevie Wonder could coach the GSW. Give him a chalk board, some chalk, let him scribble down some stuff and hand it to one of the players and say “do this”.
Look, they didn’t break any rules but CERTAINLY doesn’t have to be something the rest of the NBA has to like. Durant and Cousins are weak players who are too scared to fail. That’s the bottom line. In some ways I really respect Russ and PG for staying in OKC and wanting to go head up against the other WCF teams. Counsins is a top 10 player and no he would be lucky to get 5 shots some nights.
Anyone thinking it doesn’t take a great coach to manage those egos and keep it a cohesive unit has never played team sports. Folks may not like saying that Kerr is good because he has a great team, but will you take away from Phil Jackson too? Coaches keep stars in check when they stop trusting their teammates
Phil implemented the triangle offense. Kerr coaches an All Star Team.
Your just adding to everyone’s point when they say “GS fans are band wagoners and don’t know anything about basketball” so stop talking. Grown men don’t need to be put in check.
Phill wasn’t the innovator of the triangle, not even Texas Winters was (Tex was a player for a college team who used it) But by your theory you prove the point. Kerr brought elements of all his great coaches (Jackson, Pop, D’antoni) and created the GS offense.
And I’m far from a bandwagon fan, not a Warrior fan at all. Just knew Lake fans would be here crying about this. Grab a clue the Lakers are not winning for at least 2 years probably 3. And this system the Warriors have of Super team, the blue print was showing by the Laker’s latest savior. When Lebron , Bosh and Wade did what they did they dared others to do it bigger and better. So if you’re going to be mad be mad at those guys.
And yes grown men need to be put in check. When it’s all Alpha mentalities someone has to control the room.
And no not anyone can coach the team , just because you played high school basketball doesn’t make you have the knowledge or respect needed for an NBA locker room. Just stop and get real before you talk about anyone else.
Gary, I don’t know what flew up your Gilbert hating rhetoric but let me remind you, the Cavaliers were in the finals the last four years.
Yes that’s true but the subject here is creating super teams. Cavs weren’t a super team last I checked.
Gilbert being “bad” or whatever had nothing to do with great players not going to Cleveland– the cavs have been capped out every year with James present since 2005. Gilbert spends what he can.
IDK what your point is. You’re just flapping around saying get better, get better like the worst kind of coach. Pretty sure everyone tries. Contests are win-lose not win-win. Some competitors are more competent and will win more. Some places are more popular for outsiders to gather at. Many factors.
One factor is the hardness of caps and people will be scrutinizing that more than ever given Cousins’ move.
You don’t get it and that’s okay. Part of it is managing the cap, part of it is being a team that when you play there the experience offsets money. That’s a very difficult thing to accomplish as money is so important in our society. A guy taking less to play somewhere? That’s nuts, it must be pretty incredible.
Great players weren’t wanting to go to Cleveland when LeBron wasn’t there, and before Gilbert bought them. Cleveland really isn’t thought of as a big market town. outside of Love, they never got any stars with LeBron. That was because of LeBron and Love’s salary. Cleveland is like Indiana, Milwaukee, and Detroit. If you want a marquee player, you’ll have to draft or trade for one. Players don’t find depressed old factory towns appealing.
It’s not the town, its ownership and management and the players who are there. The Warriors sucked for 25 years. Believe me I know. The 80s? The 90s? Wasn’t until 2007 the We Believe team made the playoffs and then we sucked for 5 years again.
LMAO!!! Why don’t the best players in the league do what you said? How about building a team over time instead of jumping to play with other great players? Seems like a cop out to me. Cousins could have gone to Washington, Boston, San Antonio, LA, Phily or stayed where he was and helped recruit players. Instead the player took the easy way out again and joined a power house. One of the best organizations in the league (Boston) were trying to get him. Your whole point is flawed and ridiculous.
There’s so many factors involved in this. The best players in the league often have egos. Steph Curry has no ego. Klay Thompson has no ego, even Kevin Durant has no ego. They fit. Durant fits it just happens to be he’s one of the top five players in the league. Other top players would not be able to do what the Warriors do. Shaun Livingston could start on half the teams in the league or at least 2 years ago he could. But he doesn’t have an ego he wants to enjoy going to work a good atmosphere feel needed, get what’s important to him.
LBJ, Love, Kyrie and a thing called a “salary cap” kept them from attracting more stars. But honestly. no one ever thought about having a 4th all-star let alone a 5th all-star. GSW was in a unique situation. Durant and Cousins jumped on for an easy ring. Purely as it relates to basketball, I hate Curry/Klay/Green but I respect them because they were the original champs. Durant jumped on for a title, and no I don’t care if he was MVP. He was a top 3 player and there’s no argument about that. Cousins has no heart. So what if he wins a ring. Means as much as Javale McGee’s or Festis whatever his name was.
so what did bosh,ray allen and lebron do when they joined miami? your giving cousins a lot of flack but it actually makes a lot of sense. celtics is the only team that makes close to as much sense but ive been saying for the last 2 years that the cousins should have acquired cousins. they could have have beaten the cavs the last 2 years had they gotten cousins off the kings. probably would have cost them the tatum pick though. he has ties to the sacramento area still. can sit out until january and not be rushed back. can finally get rid of the stigma he had in sacramento that no team can win with him on it
I’m not mad at the team. It’s specifically about guys like Durant and Cousins taking the easy path. I’m not an “LBJ fanboy”. I actually disliked him for the WAY he left the Cavs the 1st time. Durant joining the team that won 73 games and just beat him in the playoffs was weak. Cousins joining the back to back champs and settling for $5 mil was weaker.
But you can’t compare LBJ and Bosh going to a 47 win team to TRY and be great vs joining a 73 win team that just won the title the year before.
Agreed. No concern for the fans, especially those in about 24 markets. Skip the season and the meaningless games. 10 teams, playoffs only. Same hard working fans the cost of watching this rotting product. #NBAisbroken
The NBA is about entertainment, and selling tickets to 41 games a year. The playoffs and title are not why the league exists. Get over yourself. If every team in the NBA played team forst basketball the warriors wouldn’t even be a household name. Stop crying that some star player can’t win on his own. Basketball has always been a team sport and the last 2 decades of hero ball were terrible for ratings and attendance. The entire country enjoys watching the warriors and the warriors sell out all road games, no matter how bad your team is. The warriors are the best thing to happen to the NBA since Shaq was drafted.
The warriors are terrible for the sport. Great for sales and ratings but for sports it’s the worst thing since KD lost his balls.
You are not a sports fan.
GSW is now the most hated team in the NBA. You really think fans in Cleveland, Detroit, Sacramento are going to flock to the games to see their team lose by 30 points? Houston, Lakers, Boston, Philly and maybe OKC are compelling games. I can almost guarantee you the ratings this year will be low overall.
fact: GSW road games sold the most tickets in 17-18.
link to espn.com
so what did bosh,ray allen and lebron do when they joined miami? your giving cousins a lot of flack but it actually makes a lot of sense. celtics is the only team that makes close to as much sense but ive been saying for the last 2 years that the cousins should have acquired cousins. they could have have beaten the cavs the last 2 years had they gotten cousins off the kings. probably would have cost them the tatum pick though. he has ties to the sacramento area still. can sit out until january and not be rushed back. can finally get rid of the stigma he had in sacramento that no team can win with him on it
The Warriors WERE a good thing to happen. Now they’re just fair weather players.
wow
Grow some balls Silver and end this crap
What’s the point of even watching the NBA anymore?
This was true before today though. The league is in trouble if something isn’t done about the millenial superteaming and the faux salary cap.
There’s no point anymore. Pretty sure I’ll be tuning out… Unless I feel like watching my Kings get slaughtered by a superteam that shouldn’t be able to exist
LOL. He’s not even a difference maker. Always been a loser his entire career. (Partly attributed to being drafted/traded by the Kings)
Not a Warriors’ fan, but their brand of basketball is special, and I feel bad for people who miss it, or losers whom encourage others to.
I feel blessed to have watched this team in the Finals the past 4 years.
Well said. Couldnt agree more and im a celtics fan
calling someone a loser while posting online.
I’m a Knicks/Cavs fan. I respected the GSW the first two match-ups. I feel the fans are hyprocritical the way they want to point out the 1 game Green suspension and act like THAT was the reason they won meanwhile they forget how LBJ took them to 6 games without Kyrie or Love playing in the series (aside from game 1 where Kyrie got injured). But still, respected them. Then they got Durant because they needed more to go against the Cavs….ok.. But now? Cousins? Ridiculous. Get your dynasty and move on.
Wow!!!
Let’s just cancel the season. The all star game should be warriors vs the rest
Lakers huh?
Why
I remember in the 90s when The Bulls were dominating. Players wanted to come to Chicago and Jordan didn’t want them because he preferred beating them…
What happened to that kind of genuine competition? I always felt if the Jazz had gotten a break here or there, they would have had a Championship and beaten Jordan and the Bulls in the process
I blame David Stern for this, he was always in search of the next Michael Jordan and he never found one
You’re not serious right??? Rodman, Terry Porter etc. Ridiculous comment
I’m meant Ron Harper
Ron Harper is being compared to who, in this scenario ? And Rodman is a role player, great as he was at his job .. and he replaced Horace Grant for the 2nd go round … these moves would be like Ewing deciding he couldn’t beat the Bulls and then signing with them, then winning a championship 2 years in a row, and then them adding Karl Malone for $5.3M.. Harper was a decent scorer on some terrible teams but he was nothing more than a role player on a good team
A star player who jumped on a team to get a ring
Harper was never a star on the level of Ewing or Malone. He was a decent NBA starter, nothing more. His closest similarity scores on BR are Doc Rivers, Reggie Theus, David Wesley, and Jose Calderon. Not exactly All Star material.
Harper signed with the Bulls during Jordan’s first retirement. Rodman was a trade, essentially a castoff due to his behavioral issues in SA. He could rebound and defend. But no one was mistaking him for an elite all around player
Rodman was an elite defensive player in his prime when he came to Chicago
No one was mistaking him for an elite player? He’s in the hall of fame as the best rebounder and defender of all time. Good try with that narrative.
He was a great rebounder and a good defender, but no one should claim he is the best of all time at either one.
Rodman was a gritty hard nosed player who didn’t try and score. Harper was a role player. You can NOT compare the Bulls to the GSW that had 4 all-stars in their prime let alone adding a 5th after back to back championships. I LOVE sports but it’s almost like watching the Harlem Globetrotters vs the Generals minus the funny antics and trick plays.
Stop. What star FA wanted to come to the Bulls, and was rejected by Jordan? Zero.
Barkley in ’96
And that was a potential trade Jordan was against. And so it didn’t happen
Proof
Here’s the difference. BARKLEY HAD NO SAY IN THE TRADE and Jordan was like “na…we don’t need him”.
The GSW will be the weakest and least respected dynasty of all-time.
It always takes just one 90s dude that forgot to turn in their Gerrycurl. Dude this has nothing to do with the Bulls and trying to make everything that happens today not to measure up to the Bulls. It’s over.
And it’s always some millennial who has no appreciation of history that sees nothing wrong with what happens in this world today.
This boils down to competitiveness. If you play a video game and instead of playing the natural roster of your team, you add a bunch of all-stars from other teams and you beat the computer team by 50 every game then what’s the point? Where’s the challenge? How great would it be if Cousins went to OKC, Lakers, Portland or San Antonio with the attitude like “Yo I want to go at the GSW and be on the team that beats them this year”? Even if you know it would be near impossible, embrace the challenge.
I truly think it’s the fault of us fans and the media. We’ve made it so that players career’s are defined RIGHT NOW….”If LBJ wins next year, will THAT be enough to move him past MJ”? We call Bill Russell a better player than Wilt because of the rings. Karl Malone is 2nd all-time in scoring ahead of MJ, Kobe, LBJ and will never be in a conversation as one of the greatest because he has no rings. How ANYONE can call Duncan the greatest PF without Malone even being in their thoughts is appalling. It’s a TEAM sport. MJ is the greatest but he didn’t win squat until he had Pippen and a great supporting cast in a time where defense mattered.
I’m done (hops of the milk crate and tosses the microphone on the ground).
♂️♂️♂️♂️♂️♂️
Wow. They might not lose a game all year.
NBA needs to block this just like when they blocked CP3 from going to the Lakers. This is ridiculous
I agree with this they need to block it to keep nba integrity
The nba was controlling the pelicans at the time and the league owners had to approve of the trade, which they did not. Cousins is a FA and can sign anywhere he chooses. The nba can’t stop it, nor should they. No one called for the nba to stop Miami from getting their big 3 and ray Allen. No one stopped the Lakers from getting Payton and Malone. No one stopped the Celtics from setting up a big 3. Dude is coming off a serious injury and who knows what he can contribute. The Lakers could have signed him for $20+ million and passed, same goes for Nola. But yea, the nba should get involved. I’m not a warriors fan, but good for them. All you clowns that complain about players taking less to form super teams are probably the same clowns crying about the players being greedy. Which is it?
I actually would rather see players take less to try and win. Winning the championship should be no. 1 thing to shoot for.
But when the teams are rigged (even by the players themselves), what does the championship even mean?
Enjoy 2nd place Lebron
2nd? La will be lucky to get in the 8-5 range.
Someone done pooped in LeBron corn flakes, he had a dream
Good for them. Already sick of hearing about BRON, BRON
I’m so sick of all the lebron love. I’ll be enjoying every Laker loss
Hahaha…..celebrate the team that just added their 5th all-star and hate on the guy that went back to his hometown, won them their 1st chip ever in the NBA, and first team in 60 years to win one for the city. He then leaves and joins a team with NO all-stars at all in the toughest conference and says “we can build a winner”. He’s not afraid to compete. That’s more than I can say for Durant and Cousins.
Did I say anything that eluded to me celebrating the warriors? Nope, because I’m not. I am not a warrior fan and don’t root for them. I am just genuinely going to enjoy lebron struggle against better teams, that’s all. I get tired of fans and the media treating him like a marter. Yes he’s great at basketball, and he seems like a great dude off the court, that’s great. But there’s a point when a person can be celebrated at nauseum, which leaves me where I am, nautious.
So you replace one thing that nauseated you for one that nauseates us all. Ok.
Son of a
Son of a
Brett Brown is taking a snooze somewhere SMH
The Sixers are going backwards, while the Warriors continue to march forward.
This is a joke….I mean come on..im a sixers fan so were in the east but this is an absolute joke for the league to let this happen, anything less then sweeping every team in the playoffs is a failure for this team as far as I’m concerned, no score should even be close or it should be looked at as failure
You are the biggest sixer hater on this board. I enjoy your posts on MLBtraderumors but your posts on here are blatantly negative. Give it up man.
WELP
Is he healthy? What’s his status?
Seriously tho, this is getting ridiculous. No one has the heart to go against the Warriors. This is obscene and I don’t think it’s the best move for Cousins either. He might get a cheap ring out of it but how is he going to rebuild his value? How many shots will he get? This is wack. It’s “fair”. They didn’t break any rules but this is every bit of absurd.
Lmao the Warriors front office is the greatest of all time by a long long way. Straight up making the NBA look silly.
So then what kind of product do you have if you’ve made yourself look silly?
I knew I did not like Cousins. Wasn’t sure why, but here we are.
I LOVE Cousins which is why it’s so hard to see him sell-out. He has that “nasty, I want to rip your head off” aggressiveness. I thought he would go to LA for the sole purpose of going against the GSW .
WHAAAAAAAAT???? HAHAAHAHA @ Lakers fans
WTF!!!
So, LA gets Shaqtin’, and the Warriors get Boogie? Have fun in the West Bron
The only hope for the league is if Klay Thompson leaves after this season when he’s a free agent
Why would he do this? They already win without him. A bandwagoner I guess?
You guys are acting like he isn’t coming back from a season ending injury that ruined many careers. If he’s old Boogie then that’s one thing, but he might not be the same player. Until he’s on the court, no one can say if he’s as good anymore.
Ooooooooooooo….
Amazing. I never saw this for a second. Get bodied, pretty much all of us lol
So…Brook Lopez back to the Lakers at this point? Not going to lie, this threw me off
On a side note, GS just replaced David West with DeMarcus Cousins….
We did WAY more than that!!!!
Why watch the nba anymore the eastern teams might as well fold
How can you call yourself a “sportsjunkie”?
Along with the west.
Gonna have to start watching a lot of hockey come October
This is honestly an April fools type article. NBA is a total joke now if it wasn’t already
WOW! This is so bad for the league and the fans of the 29 other teams. Can you imagine if Magic and Larry decided to play against each other. Or if Jordan joined the Knicks or Pistons so he’d have a better supporting cast? The rivalries, the best of the best ACTUALLY COMPETING AGAINST ONE ANOTHER is what made the NBA great, really all sports great.
Magic and Larry did play against each other.
Maybe they would have if they could, free agency was what lat 80s?
Obviously I meant if they decided to play WITH each other instead of killing each other trying to win a ring.
He’s making 5mil he could have gotten a max deal somewhere else….. crazy
nobody is gonna give him a max deal with a torn Achilles. he needs to prove he’s healthy first
There has to be an arrestable offense here. Someone involved should be locked up somehow!
WTF!? I didn’t see this coming at all! At what point does the NBA say “no, enough is enough” ?? Lol. This insane. It’s not even fair how good this team always is. I remember when the Lakers made a very fair trade for CP3 and the NBA blocked it then approved not as good of a trade sending him to the Clippers all because owners were complaining that the rich was constantly getting richer and it wasn’t fair and yet we have this going on. I will admit, I am a Lakers fan but I loved what the Warriors were doing with their home foreman talent mixed in with a few vets but I did lose all respect for KD when he did what he did and watching them in the finals wasn’t even fair and now they got this guy to make matters worse for other teams. I mean awesome for them and congrats to their fans..the real fans not the bandwagon ones lol but this is just insane to me to see them get this guy on top of the roster they already have. The West is won before the season even started lol. I bet the rockets wish they would’ve made a harder push for another super star now. Wonder if OKC buys out Melon and either the Lakers or the Rockets try to get him.
This is really interesting. I mean, players don’t really come back from Achilles injuries. For the Warriors the alternative is ZaZa, who is a fine player in his own right, but the upside if Cousins can be 60% of what he was, which seems to be the consensus post Achilles, is still really good.
Quiet Jason Kapono, you’re just sad you’re not playing for the warriors anymore.
How’s that Rondo signing now?
Getting worse by the minute.
They gave up Javale Mcgee for boogie?! Lol
I just projectile vomited. Looks like I’m becoming a hockey fan now…
If he went to LAL and became the 2nd option out there, that would’ve been acceptable. But to go to GSW to be handed a chip?? Such a cheap move, IMO.
What ever GSW have done from 2017 forward must have an asterisk. Just as bad as throwing games. Stacking teams.
Shame. One team that makes all the other teams look like crap.
As bad as throwing games? Put the crack pipe down.
anything less then an championship is a failure and winng the championship wouldn’t even be impressive, you have an all star team, you literally shouldn’t lose more then about a dozen games per year and the series against the lakers Houston and Oklahoma shouldn’t even be close….it sa joke
Again, is it as bad as throwing games? No.
Every Team wants to get better. The Warriors just happen to be far better.
a great team is good…look at sports no team has had a BS superstar team like this, its counter competitive
They drafted their super team of curry/green/klay. They signed one super star, Durant. They should be penalized for drafting well and taking advantage of their cap situation? Boogie was there for the taking. Lakers didn’t want to use their cap space to make a legit offer. Nola didn’t either. So what would you do, take a MLE from a bad squad or take the same deal from a champion
And I will add again the Warriors faced a decision of paying the same dollars for either their own fee agent Harrison Barnes or going after KD. The crime is not the Warriors signing KD or KD wanting to play for the Warriors – the crime is that Harrison Barnes ( seems like a super nice guy – nothing personal ) is worth the same as KD.
Maybe that’s the problem with the NBA salary structure.
I wouldn’t know about smoking crack. But I do know there is absolutely no reason to even see what happens in FA or potential trades. It simply doesn’t matter anymore. It’s like taking a sword to a gun fight. Only one team has the guns and the rest, if lucky, has a butter knife.
Instead of the good team throwing games it’s the entire league throwing away all the games played against the warriors. It’s like a black man trying to be president of the local KKK. It’s simply not going to happen. Why would anyone watch it? Ok. If you’re a warrior fan you can thump your chest but the rest of us realize this is not competitive
The rules in he nba are made to stop teams from forming like the warriors. It was fine when they basically drafted well. It’s another thing to get a KD for the price of a JR and a Boogie at the price of a 2nd year Gleague player.
Moazetongue…couldn’t agree with you more!
I don’t understand what everyone is upset about. The Warriors drafted the core of their team and developed talent within their organization.
Curry, Thompson, Green, and Barnes.
Then the front office went out and made smart moves. They added a declining, overpaid at the time, former-star in Iguodala (they gave up a lot for him, it was a make or break move) who fit with what the team wanted to do and had a little bit of the attitude the younger players lacked. They went out and signed Livingston, a “what if” player who they saw something in during his comeback playing for a bad Nets team.
We can keep going, I mean Barbosa, David West, McGee. Etc…
Then, like most young teams do when they want to win a title they go sign a guy to help them get better. They signed Durant, swapping out their drafted player, Barnes, for Durant. Barnes ended up getting a max deal, so Durant was only slightly more expensive.
Tonight, they sign a player that many teams didn’t want just a year ago. A ‘difficult’ teammate, an ‘uncoahable’ talent and most recently a player coming off an injury that basketball players don’t recover from. His signing is a total gamble. The very best they can get is 60-70% of what he was this season. He may come back and be 75% of his former self, but not this season and likely not ever.
What I’m getting at is that the only thing the Warriors did wrong was that they were 2 years ahead of schedule when they won the title. If they hadn’t won the first, they’re just like any other young team that makes the big move to put them over the top.
Preach. Some of these commenters are just completely clueless.
Nba is gonna be boring to watch for years now. So boring.
He is still coming off the Achilles. He should he ready in late December/January, which gives him more time to heal, and obviously, that factored into what was probably out there for him, as well as taking this deal with them
There’s no way to stop a guy from taking 1/5 instead of a max contract – that’s his decision to forego HUGE money.
Unless you’re going to create a rule regarding significant salary decreases – but then you’re just ensuring people are overpaid or unable to land a job full stop.
Are we able to call Boogie a sell out now? I mean for real. You’re telling me he didn’t take a HUGE discount to buy a championship? I mean isn’t that exactly what Durant did?
Durant didn’t take a huge discount. Year on year he’s earning big money – he decided against locking himself in for multiple years instead.
So boogie is worse? I mean he basically said I’m an elite C in this league and I’m scared to play against GS. So rather than man up and sign with LA (for more money) he sold out. I’m a bucks fan so I have no rooting interest in the West by the way
I don’t think either of them have done anything wrong. Boogie wants to win – if he went the opposite direction and sold out winning for bigger bucks, people would knock his lack of desire to win in the first place.
It doesn’t matter what players do, people are going to complain.
That’s not true though. A true competitor doesn’t sign with a team he can’t beat at a discount to be the 3-4 option. There were tons of other places he could’ve signed and still received more money (LA, Houston) and at least battled GS. He basically said I want to win a title so I’m okay with riding the coat tails of Curry and Durant
There’s a big difference between wanting to win and wanting to be gift wrapped a championship. He chose the latter.
Sorry, but looking at the figures says you’re wrong. Durant’s contract doesn’t work within the cap if he gets a max deal, and max deals were on the table. Durant’s contract doesn’t work within the cap if he gets a 3 year deal with the same AAV. It HAD to be no more than 2 years because they wouldn’t be able to make the numbers work.
Fortunately, we have a way of figuring out EXACTLY how much of a discount Durant took. Mike Conley signed a max deal during the same free agency period Durant did. So far, Durant’s discount stands at $3.5M, and he has to make $101M over the next 3 years in order to have taken no discount. That figure just doesn’t work with the Warriors roster.
I don’t think sell out would be the right term here. That implies chasing the most money.
Sell in?
Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap.
Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap. Hard. Cap.
Hahahahaha
The NBA shoudnt allow this…..you dont even need to watch basketball to know who will win the championship, and as far as I’m concerned it wont even be fair or even any type of achievement…its like a middle class person going to the mall with a millionaire and seeing who will leave with more stuff….its not even impressive
But Cousins doesn’t really make any difference in that regard. Warriors were going to win the title again in 2019 the moment Durant re-signed and honestly, if he had left they were still the favorite with whoever they filled that spot with.
right but now it pretty much seals it and losing anything more then 10 games and no championship is a failure….they are pretty much stacking things against themselves with the FU kind of ALL star super team stuff
losing more then 10 games and not inning a championship would be a failure…..their playing against themselves with this super team bs. I can see 2 players wanting to band together or even 3 possibly 4 but even that’s getting ridiculous…..its a joke
Crying.
The NBA shoudnt allow this…..you dont even need to watch basketball to know who will win the championship, and as far as I’m concerned it wont even be fair or even any type of achievement…its not even impressive
Other than the warrior fans that think they did something good, no one is going to watch the finals. No one.
They did draft well though, I’ll give them that. But Durant should never have happened. His signing just coincided with the huge TV deal that blew the cap up.
This is so stupid
Now, losing Randle for nothing is painful.
You didn’t lose Randall for nothing. Look at all the great signings the Lakers had. Specifically Mcghee and KCP. And why not toss millions at Rondo to play backup.
LA Cavaliers…
I’m wondering how many minutes will Cousins get in GSW. If he comes back 100%, will he even average 25 min per game? Would Warriors still go small ball Death Lineup to close out games?
hes the best center in basketball… he will get minutes.
Depends on the team. If you’re playing against a team that has a center that’s making it difficult on the warriors you play Cousins and it’s over.
Cousin just stick it to all the teams that didn’t want to pay him the max.
Lmaoooooo this is ridiculous. Guess the warriors will win it again. I wonder what LeBron’s plan was going to LA and the West with what seems like no clear plan. There is no one there to help him. At this rate they’re the 4th or 5th best team with no shot of getting past GS. I doubt Pop sends Kawhi to LA so LeBron is in the same situation he was in in Cleveland (maybe worse).
Welp.
Boogie is really banking on having a bounce back year being the 4th or 5th best player on the Warriors. Really strange choice if he’s unable to secure a max deal next year.
Who’s a bigger sellout. Durant or Cousins? These super teams is what makes the NBA boring.
nba is boring but its numbers are way up in recent years.. hmmm
yep. for all the salty “bored” people complaining, there’s a bunch of new NBA fans coming in, especially in other countries. business is good for the NBA.
None.
Golden State was upset at the Lakers getting LeBron and stealing Javelle McGhee. Good luck stopping this. You are battling union president CP3, union vice LeBron, KD, Kawhi, Boogie, etc.
If anyone can disrupt the Dubs chemistry it would be Cousins so let’s hope that happens…crazy.
There’s always that I guess
That’s the final straw. I’m done with NBA. Never coming back.
Bye Felicia
Got it Murwin, I’ll let Woj know immediately. Look for his tweet.
oh no! what’s the NBA gonna do now! please stay…
lets go‼️‼️‼️‼️
Screw this my favorite sport is soccer now
And that ain’t the 4 loko talking bros I’m done with the nba
Go Belgium lol
Everyone bitching about the signing is crazy.. just shows the warriors are starting to feel the heat from teams like the rockets and Celtics… Celtics always play them tough and thst will be an awesome series that may go 7 next year for the finals …
You’re literally insane
Those Celtics have been battling the warriors so tough the last handful of finals. Summer league finals but you gotta start somewhere.
Haha
Football is full of arrogance, bloated with indecipherable rules, and run by hypocritical owners who employ entitled players who disrespect the American flag. Basketball is a 1 team league with a pointless and now irrelevant regular season. Time to focus on MLB 100%!
Soccer is the sport to watch now lol
Cool comment dude.
You forgot to mention how the internet is full of ignorant people who like to make unfounded statements about things they know nothing about
MLB has been dying for decades. The product is so watered down that it really doesn’t matter at this point how much they juice the ball, juice the players, shrink the strike zone, etc. – it’s no more watchable than HR derby – which is good for once a year.
In about five minutes, we can expect a pitch. Ooooo. Here comes the catcher and coach. Maybe 15 minutes to the next pitch.
Slowness of play just lets soft-headedness prevail. Area tags, jogging to first.
If they’d just not take 45 seconds between pitches it would be fine. No one wants to see someone dance in the box and take their batting gloves on and off twice before adjusting their cup for 10 seconds. Get in the box, get ready, and swing the bat.
Start up the Anthony Davis to Boston rumors again!
Did LeBron or CP3 actually sign yet? Go to the Sixers for 10M each. Then add Brook Lopez for vet min.
No one can officially sign until the 9th I believe.
They can’t officially sign til the 6th. Also, if Bron wanted to go to Philly… he would have gone to Philly. Now you think he’ll come for over $120 mil less than he got paid by the Lakers over the length of his contract?!? No one wants to live in Philly and deal with the rudest, trashiest fans in all of sports. Oh, “the process” haha, no one falls for that nonsense except for Philly fans.
This is crazy. There will b no point in watching the NBA. Such a watered down product
Officially, NOP had the worst off season.
Lose: HOF level talents in DMC and Rondo.
Gain: Backup level talents in Randle and Payton.
And they get to live with the knowledge that the swap was likely preventable.
Cavs lost LBJ, but they get the bonus of knowing it wouldn’t have mattered any way.
Exactly. LeBron’s motor is about to die.
Dionis going to be on suicide watch now…
Hahahahaha
The Player’s Association should stop this. Cousins only getting a 1 year/$5MM deal is not a good precedent to set.
Cousins, Randle, Noel collectively sign for $14M. Then there is D Jordan….
I’m pissed about this but intrigued. Boogie is a wild card, literally. He’s coming back from achilles injury, and he could be a malcontent. He may not perform well in new role and or have injury setbacks. The his attitude could cause trouble. If Boston or Philly land Kawahi, that could change things. But like most I don’t see anyone threatening the GSW yet.
I was excited for the offseason and other teams closing the gap. This is garbage
I hope GSW season implodes
It’s an AAU world in the NBA. Time to think about making the cap a hard one.
I think this is the perfect opportunity for the Celtics to try to trade for Anthony Davis
Haha, why does Boogie signing w/ GS mean it’s an “opportunity” for Boston to acquire Davis? Even IF that pipe dream happened, the C’s would be sacrificing their young, inexpensive core to STILL lose to the Warriors.
Well NO only went into win now mode cuz they got Boogie so I think the fact of losing him makes them panic and go back to rebuild mode. Yes you can say they did great without him but I don’t think they can replicate that again this year. I think Lakers and Nuggets keep NO out of the playoffs. So if they do panic I think Celtics can give up Rozier, Brown, Morris and maybe a pick for Anthony and Celtics would still have a good bench
That package wouldn’t get you close to Davis. Any Davis trade starts with Tatum and the Kings pick and THEN adds filler like Rozier and Morris.
Everyone who isn’t a Warriors fan is mad about this, and I get it, but why isn’t a great team allowed to get better? The warriors are one of the most homegrown teams, if not the most home grown title contender, are they only allowed to get better unless it’s with more homegrown players? Is that the only thing that will make all other NBA fans happy? I doubt it, people will still be pissed…
I love how at the last second, the Celtics had to interject that they were a “Finalist”. Get outta town with that fantasy.
I think most that are angry are the ones that earlier today were saying Lebron was about to lead the Lakers back to glory. And now this changes that how?
Lakers weren’t winning this year even with Kawhi (if they got him) If the Lakers are to win with Lebron is will most likely be year 3.
LeBron will be 35 in year 3. Nobody, not even LeBron, beats Father Time. High school guys like Kobe and KG went downhill quickly at that age. You only have so many games in your legs.
Jordan won his last at 35. And Jordan had an older team. Most these Lakers will be in ear 4 or 5 come the 3rd year of Lebron’s contract. That be in position to make a run. Not crowning them 3 years from now just saying that is the best hope currently.
Y’all gonna be real mad when they sign Dwight
It’s pretty crazy that no one cared about the Warriors when they were losing for 20 straight years. Then they build the right way (FINALLY) through the draft, and then play their salary cap perfectly and add the best player in the league in Durant. Now everyone cries foul that they are cheating? Of course good players want to play with them, that’s been happening since the dawn of free agency. Look at Malone/Payton in LA, Miami with the big 3 + Allen, hell HOFer Mitch Richmond jumped on a Laker title in the early 2000s. It always happens.
Just remember nobody gave two craps about the Warriors until they build a dynasty without fully buying one (Kobe/Shaq Lakers, Big 3 Celtics, Big 3 Miami, etc.) You should applaud teams that build through the draft and supplement at the right time. If LeBron went to Philly and won a few titles, I don’t think people would bitch the same way. Rich get richer, thank the GM/Management that’s light years ahead of the rest of these clowns.
They signed a superstar for the MLE. That’s not “building the right way” that’s building a monopoly. Imagine Ronaldo and Messi on the same team. Why watch?
everyone seems to forget just how bad the warriors were. like knicks and kings bad, even with the dysfunction. they even had a player choke a coach. they finally turn it around and everyone loses their minds when they make the finals 4 years in a row. every single person on these message boards would be thrilled if their team made the finals 4 years in a row so get off your high horse. pats fans are going through this right now. celtics and lakers went through it in the 80s. yankees went through it 80 years ago. it happens. the warriors will be pretty bad again 4-5 years. dynastys are great for ratings and ticket sales but apparently it doesnt matter what the team is, it could be the nets, the kings, the hawks whoever. if you win 2 titles in a row and then add a superstar to win 2 more, your going to become the most hated team in the sport. even if you only won 1 playoff series in 30 years before that
It’s not that they made 4 straight finals. bron made 8 straight and I hold nothing against him. It’s that the warriors ruined the competition of the NBA. I don’t care about their past all I see is the monopoly they have now
I never seen so many grown men cry in my life.
I’m not crying *sniffle* I just have something in my eyes
Love this move, finally I will be able to love the Warriors, if 100% healthy which probably he won’t be he is by far the best player in that team. Anyway shows his high basketball IQ, what a smart move, getting a ring while rehabing. Finally I will be able to enjoy GSW’s games.
NBA should have a 29 team season, with the winner playing the Warriors to be crowd overall champion, just like facing Shao Kahn, Mortal Kombat style!