How TF did Kawhi even win 60+ with this team?

[DAF86]

Stop it.

If we still had Manu, Green, Anderson and Murray over Mills, Bellinelli, Forbes and ing Cunningham we would be a 50 wins team. That's how bad the league is right now.

Manu, Green, Anderson all players that my TheGreatYacht loves. This shows how much he knows about basketball, tbh.

[dontouchmebwo]

Stop it.

If we still had Manu, Green, Anderson and Murray over Mills, Bellinelli, Forbes and ing Cunningham we would be a 50 wins team. That's how bad the league is right now.

Manu, Green, Anderson all players that my TheGreatYacht loves. This shows how much he knows about basketball, tbh.

This team won as many as 67 though and that was without Murray even playing, let's be real, Anderson, Green and a 37 year old Manu aren't responsible for the Spurs winning 67 games lol.

[DAF86]

This team won as many as 67 though and that was without Murray even playing, let's be real, Anderson, Green and a 37 year old Manu aren't responsible for the Spurs winning 67 games lol.

Of course not. Kawhi was arguably the best player in the World two years ago. He never had to carry this current crap though.

[TDMVPDPOY]

dunno about u guys, but a perimeter rotation of kawhi, green, simmons, anderson and ginoboli allowed us to chuck 2 or 3 perimeter players out there on the court that could actually play some lick of defense to keep the other team honest

after 2 seasons? all 5 of them arent even on the roster no more...

fck patfo

[therealtruth]

Maybe Kawhi saw the writing on the wall and that's why he wanted out.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Maybe Kawhi saw the writing on the wall and that's why he wanted out.

Yup, he deserved a significantly better roster

[duncan2k5]

Maybe Kawhi saw the writing on the wall and that's why he wanted out.

I think it was a combination of sending away dedmon and Simmons for nothing, LMA pouting the whole season just to choke in the playoffs, demanding a trade, not being traded then crying about his touches, just to immediately get signed to an extension... Then throwing money at mills and Gasol while every other team got better

[Spur916]

Agreed, KL was better then them that year and he is still better then them. The disappointment we felt from Kawhi during his playoff stints in 2015 and 2016 is pretty much what Westbrook and Harden deliver every year in the playoffs.

Harden giving up against a Kawhi-less spurs squad on his home-court and him being benched for their comeback against the Clippers the prior year are his most memorable moments for me. Then you have Westbrook who obviously doesn't need just a pretty good secondary guy like Paul George to have any modi of success but he needs a legit top 3 guy like Durant, in other words he would need a Kawhi level player to have any chance. Until any of these two guys can match what Kawhi was doing at his best level (IMO the 2017 playoffs against Memphis and dominating the Warriors was his top level but that whole season was an MVP showcase for him) to me, it's down right laughable that a pure one way talent or a year long stat padding session could be deemed the better player, the more exciting? yes....The more flashy? Yup....but not a better player.

Good post although I think Westbrook's case was more clear cut. Not only did Westbrook have the numbers he also had the narrative of getting the Thunder into the playoffs in the first season since KD's departure. At that time Kawhi was seen as being very much a product of Pop's system/coaching and a beneficiary of playing on a club that won 50+ games a season since time immemorial.

[itzsoweezee]

It's amazing how much people underrate Danny Green. And did you just forget about Manu ing Ginobili?

Kawhi is definitely a superstar but let's not pretend he was doing it all on his own

[Spur916]

It's amazing how much people underrate Danny Green. And did you just forget about Manu ing Ginobili?

Kawhi is definitely a superstar but let's not pretend he was doing it all on his own

Agreed.

Comparing this years team to last years Parker, Manu and Green are all big losses not only in terms of what they do in a tangible/basketball sense but also when it comes to experience and leadership. They've got a combined 3,000 games of experience in a Spurs jersey and you can't lose that all in one offseason and Kawhi Leonard and not skip a beat.

It would have been much better for stability of the franchise if their departures had been staggered over separate off seasons.

[dontouchmebwo]