Replace K.Love with Prime Garnett, can Cavs beats Warriors?

[Derivative]

If you replace Kevin Love with prime KG, can the Cavs beat the Warriors next finals?

[LostCause]

The Cavs can beat the Warriors with Love. So yeah they can also do it with KG

[Doranku]

Well considering the Cavs can beat the Warriors this year with Kevin Love and prime KG is a ridiculous improvement... obviously.

[Derivative]

The Cavs can beat the Warriors with Love. So yeah they can also do it with KG

Not this years GS with Durant

[MP.Trey]

The Cavs can beat the Warriors with Love. So yeah they can also do it with KG
Exactly.

[Prometheus]

That would be an ass beating. LeBron and Garnett on the same defensive front line? Straight murder.

[NBAGOAT]

i got to go yes. KG/lebron is a better duo than curry/kd and kyrie fills out their weaknesses perfectly which is iso scoring. Also, that team is now elite defensively and likely a top 5 defense. KG's versatility is great for dealing with all the pnr's gs run. The spacing should still be fine with kyrie and jr. The fact that this is even a question should show how good GS is on paper however.

[Trollsmasher]

KG/Bron on D:lebronamazed:

now when I think about it LeBron would be an even more ridiculous fit on those Celtics teams than Durant on Warriors

[TommyGriffin]

Of course. They would beat them easily as well. People seem to forget that Golden State lost tons of key pieces during the off-season.

[Smoke117]

Absolutely.

[DaHeezy]

For sure they would. He would absolutely put Draymond in his place.

[Bankaii]

KG/LeBron on defense would be GSW's nightmare.
Pick and roll would basically be ineffective because of the versatility.

[Monta Ellis MVP]

Hey yall Monta Ellis MVP checking in here. Most of you know I am a Big Time Pacers fan but I am also a fan of the Cavaliers as well. This team would dominate. They are a perfect fit. Prime Garnett is better than current LeBron and we know how LeBron is more comfortable in a second fiddle role. On top of that we know Garnett is one of the top 5 best defenders of all time. We know how LeBron likes to coast on defense for stretches and leak out early in transition so he would play very well with Kevin. Garnett is also one of the best defensive rebounders of all time and he is pretty Alpha too. LeBron likes to grab a lot of uncontested defensive rebounds, he sometimes hogs them. Instead KG would be pulling down these boards while LeBron could be heading downcourt. His rebounds would drop but it would result in better team basketball. LeBron is great on the fast break and it's better to get him up court. Kevin Garnett is also an excellent ball handler and a terrific playmaker. LeBron would be able to not ball dominate as much and utilize more off-ball play while Kevin Garnett operates from the high post. LeBron's assists would come down but it would again result in better team basketball.

[Bankaii]

^Dude has responded to this thread twice with his alts and both are giant meltdowns.

[SouBeachTalents]

Of course. They would beat them easily as well. People seem to forget that Golden State lost tons of key pieces during the off-season.

Hey yall Monta Ellis MVP checking in here. Most of you know I am a Big Time Pacers fan but I am also a fan of the Cavaliers as well. This team would dominate. They are a perfect fit. Prime Garnett is better than current LeBron and we know how LeBron is more comfortable in a second fiddle role. On top of that we know Garnett is one of the top 5 best defenders of all time. We know how LeBron likes to coast on defense for stretches and leak out early in transition so he would play very well with Kevin. Garnett is also one of the best defensive rebounders of all time and he is pretty Alpha too. LeBron likes to grab a lot of uncontested defensive rebounds, he sometimes hogs them. Instead KG would be pulling down these boards while LeBron could be heading downcourt. His rebounds would drop but it would result in better team basketball. LeBron is great on the fast break and it's better to get him up court. Kevin Garnett is also an excellent ball handler and a terrific playmaker. LeBron would be able to not ball dominate as much and utilize more off-ball play while Kevin Garnett operates from the high post. LeBron's assists would come down but it would again result in better team basketball.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11900322&postcount=25

http://i.imgur.com/owGffV7.jpg

[Derivative]

The best players.in the series would be:

1. prime KG
2. Lebron
3. Durant
4. Klay
5. Irving/Curry
6. Draymond

[AintNoSunshine]

Fk yeah. They would absolutely destroy the Golden State Betas

TT
KG
Bron
JR
Kyrie

This team would kill

[KirbyPls]

The best players.in the series would be:

1. prime KG
2. Lebron
3. Durant
4. Klay
5. Irving/Curry
6. Draymond

1. Lebron
2. Prime KG
3. Durant
4. Kyrie
5. Curry
6. Klay/Dray
7. Dray/Klay

IMO :cheers:

[lilteapot]

Oh hell yeah. KG would feast inside and outside.

[iamgine]

If you replace Kevin Love with prime KG, can the Cavs beat the Warriors next finals?
They can but it's not a guarantee.

[SamuraiSWISH]

How about the 2009 Lakers, with current PG13 for Ariza?

PG- Fisher
SG- Kobe
SF- PG13
PF- Gasol
C- Bynum

[SouBeachTalents]

Or this Warriors team with Shaq

PG: Curry
SG: Klay
SF: Durant
PF: Dray
C: Shaq

[FireDavidKahn]

The Warriors would average 80 points against the Cavs + prime KG.

[Dragonyeuw]

Considering how much an upgrade Garnett is over Love, I dont know if that alone nullifies the added firepower of Durant on the Warriors but I think they could. That would be a beast of a defensive frontline.

[Smoke117]

How about the 2009 Lakers, with current PG13 for Ariza?

PG- Fisher
SG- Kobe
SF- PG13
PF- Gasol
C- Bynum

Nah definitely not. Paul George is good...but adding him isn't anything close to adding a prime Kevin Garnett. Besides, they are weak at pg and center since Bynum was always playing limited minutes. Also...the warriors small line up could really take advantage of Bynum and Gasol.

[Bigsmoke]

Sure.

The KG to Love improvement is just as big as Durant to Harrison Barnes replacement.

[tpols]

the thing is KG is the perfect replacement for Love .. we saw in games 3 and 6 of the past Finals that Cleveland w/ an older, hyped up richard jefferson in Love's place was able to hold Golden State to record dry spells because they no longer had a weak link to pick on and cavs athleticism and aggression was overwhelming for them.. so if you give Cleveland freaking Garnett, thats like perfect antidote for them to beat GSW.



it would be like giving Golden State Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain and cutting off the free rim runs ....

[francesco totti]

The defensive improvement would be so huge, its not funny how better cavs be with kg instead of love.

[BigKAT]

Prime Lebron > Prime KG.

But 32 years old Lebron and Prime KG?
I think KG might give him a fight for that FMVP.

I'm not sure they can win, but KG seems like he'll do well in the switch-heavy defense that is GSW's only bane

[swagga]

Prime Lebron > Prime KG.

But 32 years old Lebron and Prime KG?
I think KG might give him a fight for that FMVP.

I'm not sure they can win, but KG seems like he'll do well in the switch-heavy defense that is GSW's only bane

no way son, kg just wasn't a natural first option, lebron is just as well rounded but just a more important contributor to the game. Also lebron will get more of the ball, so kg won't put peak stats while lebron will put the same stats. Also while kg is barking and mean mugging lebron is actually leading and coming up big in big games .. somthing kg didn't do too well in the playoffs, so no, lebron would be the uncontested leader. FMVP would be even clearer.

as a team they'd be around 70 wins. kg and lebron's games mesh perfectly, and also kyrie, tristan thompson, schumper, jr and the rest work as perfect additional pieces. You can go big with lebron/kg/tt/jr/schump, you can go small with kyrie/jr/schump/lebron/kg ... both lineups can defend and score, you get balanced spacing, rebounding ... just some 2k shit tbh.

A 3 all-star perfect meshed team all in their prime vs a warriors team lacking size and balance. They'd clown golden state tbh. It wouldn't be pretty.

[AirBonner]

^Dude has responded to this thread twice with his alts and both are giant meltdowns.
Exposed :lol

[hold this L]

Of course. They would beat them easily as well. People seem to forget that Golden State lost tons of key pieces during the off-season.
What tons of key pieces other than Bogs did they lose? Everyone else was nice to have but none of them were that important. Bogut unfortunately is a huge miss.

It would be close, but it would depend how good the Cavs would be defensively vs the Warrior attack with Durant on it.

[swagga]

What tons of key pieces other than Bogs did they lose? Everyone else was nice to have but none of them were that important. Bogut unfortunately is a huge miss.

It would be close, but it would depend how good the Cavs would be defensively vs the Warrior attack with Durant on it.

they've lost a shitload of depth:
bogut, ezeli, speights ( >>>>>>>>>> zaza, javale, west) ... basically their entire frontcourt sans draymond.
barnes ( << kd but could defend stronger players ..)
barbosa and brandon rush (both were valuable contributors, 20 mpg of rotation time) and they were replaced with nothing.

so really, they've lost a lot.

[hold this L]

they've lost a shitload of depth:
bogut, ezeli, speights ( >>>>>>>>>> zaza, javale, west) ... basically their entire frontcourt sans draymond.
barnes ( << kd but could defend stronger players ..)
barbosa and brandon rush (both were valuable contributors, 20 mpg of rotation time) and they were replaced with nothing.

so really, they've lost a lot.
That's wrong. Barnes was just straight up garbage defensively. In the OKC tie in particular, he was getting abused and beaten to the point where other Warriors were helping him to double on who he was marking, and his defense sucked in the final as well. Durant is better at rebounding and can actually block shots, on top of adding some height and length to the starting 5.

Ezeli was straight up garbage last season as well. His finals in 15' was a huge downgrade to 16'. Javale is an awful player and Speighs was a good shooter off the bench, but Speighs was also the worst defender in the league. Definitely would have liked him in the team, but I'll take West over him or Ezeli no doubt. Bogs is just a massive loss because of his rebounding but more importantly he protects the rim better than almost any center. Zaza is mediocre at that, while being solid at rebounding. West and Durant are improvements defensively over what the Warriors had, Zaza is a big downgrade and any of Ezeli or Speighs >>> Javale :lol of course. All the important pieces other than Bogs are still in the team though, all 7 of them. Saying that, defending at the rim and rebounding are two major concerns, esp the former.

[swagga]

That's wrong. Barnes was just straight up garbage defensively. In the OKC tie in particular, he was getting abused and beaten to the point where other Warriors were helping him to double on who he was marking, and his defense sucked in the final as well. Durant is better at rebounding and can actually block shots, on top of adding some height and length to the starting 5.

Ezeli was straight up garbage last season as well. His finals in 15' was a huge downgrade to 16'. Javale is an awful player and Speighs was a good shooter off the bench, but Speighs was also the worst defender in the league. Definitely would have liked him in the team, but I'll take West over him or Ezeli no doubt. Bogs is just a massive loss because of his rebounding but more importantly he protects the rim better than almost any center. Zaza is mediocre at that, while being solid at rebounding. West and Durant are improvements defensively over what the Warriors had, Zaza is a big downgrade and any of Ezeli or Speighs >>> Javale :lol of course. All the important pieces other than Bogs are still in the team though, all 7 of them. Saying that, defending at the rim and rebounding are two major concerns, esp the former.

first, barnes has seen time in the playoffs guarding zach randolph, blake griffin and other real bigs. Durant wouldn't have a chance. This is possible because barnes has a lower center of gravity and lower body strength. Furthermore, do you really want durant defending the paint? He isn't physical, nobody is intimidated and he'll rack up fouls as he isn't a defensive specialist. So for the defensive role i'd go with barnes.

Barnes sucked defensively vs OKC and vs the cavs because he was targeted with switches to play against durant and lebron. everybody looks bad against these guys. His defensive value isn't against superstars, but in his ability to play small ball while defending the post and being expendable foul-wise. His use was bringing balance to the team. Durant isn't a post defender against bigger players (lebron, love, thompson will all abuse him). Durant as a 5 sounds fun in 2k but in real life it'll be a bad strategy, it might work for SOME minutes in SOME configurations.

So really, durant isn't an improvement defensively.

bogut gave you excellent passing, screen setting, and defense besides rebounding. zaza might give comparable rebounding and nothing else. david west couldn't get minutes over trash in SA and if you think speights is a bad defender you'll think west plays for the other team with his defense. Especially in the small ball gsw style he'll have a hard time doing anything positive, as he can't set screens like bogut, can't pass like bogut, can't shoot like speights, can't play as a 5 like ezeli. He just doesn't fit. And while ezeli fluctuated a lot he was an athletic big off the bench that played with heart, which can always be seen in his rebounding rate. He was a valuable body that could run and was good for 5 fouls and rebounding.

also, javale mcgee is a net minus as his iq is nick young level, these are the players that will fukk things up guaranteed and they'll find a way to never win a ring.

[HenryGarfunkle]

I assume the majority of this thread is people picking the Cavs while overrating Garnett and calling GS soft.

I'm not in the mood to rant so the answer is just simply no. Move on. The king has spoken. No they couldn't win.

/thread

[Prometheus]

I assume the majority of this thread is people picking the Cavs while overrating Garnett and calling GS soft.

I'm not in the mood to rant so the answer is just simply no. Move on. The king has spoken. No they couldn't win.

/thread

:facepalm

[Smoke117]

I assume the majority of this thread is people picking the Cavs while overrating Garnett and calling GS soft.

I'm not in the mood to rant so the answer is just simply no. Move on. The king has spoken. No they couldn't win.

/thread

cringe

[SamuraiSWISH]

'92, '93, '96, '97 Chicago Bulls would slaughter these fools. Even with Durant. Screw make believe superstar pairings etc. The perimeter defense, length, and athleticism would be too much. Just too alpha.

[Ca$H]

LOL the Cavs would need prime Jordan in order to match up with Patrick McGawd.

[Spurs m8]

They can win with garbage Love, so can defs win with Garnett.

This Warrior team is so overrated - on paper they're okay, but you'd think you were talking about a 6/6 team....not a 1/2 team aye.

I know Durant has joined, but he's a beta choker like the rest

[hold this L]

first, barnes has seen time in the playoffs guarding zach randolph, blake griffin and other real bigs. Durant wouldn't have a chance. This is possible because barnes has a lower center of gravity and lower body strength. Furthermore, do you really want durant defending the paint? He isn't physical, nobody is intimidated and he'll rack up fouls as he isn't a defensive specialist. So for the defensive role i'd go with barnes.
Barnes is not a defensive specialist either. I'm not really worried about Durant picking up fouls as he has rarely ever been fouled out.


Barnes sucked defensively vs OKC and vs the cavs because he was targeted with switches to play against durant and lebron. everybody looks bad against these guys. His defensive value isn't against superstars, but in his ability to play small ball while defending the post and being expendable foul-wise. His use was bringing balance to the team. Durant isn't a post defender against bigger players (lebron, love, thompson will all abuse him). Durant as a 5 sounds fun in 2k but in real life it'll be a bad strategy, it might work for SOME minutes in SOME configurations.
I mean.. when they are playing the same position, they will end up playing one another. But there's a reason Iggy was often put on James, because he abused the hell out of Barnes. I agree that with superstars, everyone will look bad. But he wasn't a great defender even when James nor Durant were on him during those ties, so what was the point?

I don't know where this myth has come out that Barnes is a good defender. He's always been solid, though he was awful vs the Spurs when the Warriors weren't running them out of town during the season when Diaw was abusing him so badly that other Warrior players were coming in to help him, and both vs OKC and Cavs.

Your talk of balance sounds like you don't even believe what you're saying but hope that it's the case. Bogut was a huge loss, Durant on the other hand is a huge upgrade defensively and colossal improvement offensively. True Durant is a bit weak, but Warriors switch better than anyone. Green and Zaza will switch in the paint when needed, especially Green. Durant will never be a 5 with the Warriors. It will be Zaza for 20 minutes, Green for 10-12 minutes, and the other 16-18 minutes will be shared by West, Curlyjao, and Damian Jones once he's back. He also might be a good prospect. Warriors were lucky he was injured in the draft, otherwise they never would have come close to get him. Myers putting work as usual. :pimp: I guess Javale will take Jones' minutes until he's back from injury though. :facepalm


So really, durant isn't an improvement defensively.
Are you kidding me? Durant was the best player defensively in the 7 game series from both teams, while Barnes was probably the worst along with Westbrook from the starters. It's insulting to Durant to put him with Barnes, let alone claim Barnes helps the team more defensively. Barnes has been lucky AF that he played the last few years with all players that were all much better than him, and regressed heavily post injury last season when he came back.


bogut gave you excellent passing, screen setting, and defense besides rebounding. zaza might give comparable rebounding and nothing else. david west couldn't get minutes over trash in SA and if you think speights is a bad defender you'll think west plays for the other team with his defense. Especially in the small ball gsw style he'll have a hard time doing anything positive, as he can't set screens like bogut, can't pass like bogut, can't shoot like speights, can't play as a 5 like ezeli. He just doesn't fit. And while ezeli fluctuated a lot he was an athletic big off the bench that played with heart, which can always be seen in his rebounding rate. He was a valuable body that could run and was good for 5 fouls and rebounding.
I agree with you. Bogs is a huge miss. Him legal screensetting :rockon: offered a ton, also he is a great passer and one of the best shot blockers in the game. But no way is West worse than Speighs, dude is literally the worst defender in the league. I'm not even using a hyperbole, go see previous comments on him I made during last season. He's a black hole that does nothing defensively other than a block here and there, but his positioning (and his incredibly low ball IQ) allow him to make Love look like a great defender in comparison. Ezeli would help of course, but because the center position is the main weakness of the warriors right now. Look, the Warriors ran a 9-10 man deep team when most teams run a 7-8 team for the playoffs in particular. However, Warriors still have an 8 man team ready to go. If McCaw or Jones ends up impressing, it will end up as a 9 man team. Of course unless Jones turns into a star this season which I doubt, the center position is weakened. I don't know why people make it seem like the Warriors are so far worse off depth wise compared to other top teams.

also, javale mcgee is a net minus as his iq is nick young level, these are the players that will fukk things up guaranteed and they'll find a way to never win a ring.
Javale is trash, I don't think anyone is expecting him to do anything other than win another SHAQtin a fool MVP award.