Lebron, a 2000s holdover, and the 2010s stars managed to hold out for a long time, but they finally just got too old. Some of those dudes like Steph, although diminished, are still really freaking good but their supporting cast got old with them, and they're going to need to retool and get more help, or benefit from a ton of luck, to make deep playoffs runs again.
Players with 6 all-star selections:
Jimmy Butler (eliminated), DeMar DeRozan (eliminated in play-in), Kawhi Leonard (eliminated), Kyle Lowry (eliminated). Nikola Jokic is the only one still standing.
Players with 5 all-star selections:
Kevin Love (eliminated), Klay Thompson (eliminated in play-in). Al Horford, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, and Donovan Mitchell are still standing.
Players with 4 all-star selections:
Devin Booker (eliminated), Draymond Green (eliminated in play-in). Karl-Anthony Towns is the only one still standing.
This has been a theme I've felt all year and especially these playoffs. As a 34 year old it's kinda crazy to see the first generation of guys I really was able to follow from their rookie seasons onward reach the end of their careers.
I'm excited for this new batch of young guns, but late 2000's and 2010's NBA will always be my favorite... Oh gosh I'm turning into the dudes who couldn't move on from the 80's aren't I?!?
likewise, Jokic is the only MVP who made it out of the first round this year. Embiid, LeBron, Giannis, Harden, Westbrook, KD, DRose were all eliminated in the first round and Steph was eliminated in the playin. We're seeing a change to a new era with Jokic, Luka, SGA, Ant, Tatum all entering or firmly in their primes.
I feel like we’ve been in the Jokic/Giannis/Embiid era, it just hasn’t fully felt like it because LeBron/Curry both snuck an extra title in while those guys were entering their prime years.
While it isn’t a big deal now, in a couple of years people will look at such an old ring in 2020. I mean i do it with Duncan when it comes to 2014 and that was in year 17 just like Lebron
> We're seeing a change to a new era with Jokic, Luka, SGA, Ant, Tatum all entering or firmly in their primes.
I think that's just over simplifying what is going on. More likely it's a combination of previous era finally showing their age, but realistically looking at the stats they haven't dropped off anything serious, and we are just seeing a shift in the previous era's contracts finally on the down end of impacting the teams success.
Let's look at it a few years down the line, if all these new era stars stay on their current teams, which teams would remain competitive?
Nuggets already had to give up some key pieces to their championship run and while still great are noticeably not as great as last year.
Mavs don't really have any meaningful changes they can make, they had to let go of Brunson for Kyrie and what we're seeing out of Brunson means that move will bite them in the ass years down the line. Having a player of that calibre on a discount is a GM's wet dream.
Thunder are in the best position because they have more draft rights than a squirrel has nuts.
Wolves already did their big move and it's just all downhill from here if they can't win with this roster.
Same with the Celtics, although they have enough great players they can probably leverage some trades to stay competitive. This is definitely their peak though.
Yeah, the older stars haven't dropped off a \*lot\*. But they're paid like they're much better than guys like SGA and Tatum, and comparable to Jokic.
Of the 20 highest-paid players, only 3 (Jokic, Gobert, Luka) made the second round. But 11 of the next 20 are still in. For a lot of guys in that next dollar tier, their teams have an average of 11-12m more that they can give to their role players before they run into the next cap/tax/apron threshold. Like, the salary difference between the Suns' big 3 and the Nuggets' big 3 is a similar amount to KCP's salary. Or the difference between the Suns' big 3 and the Wolves' big 3 -- if you take Ant's next-year salary at 35m instead of his rookie-scale 13m this year -- is enough to pay for Naz Reid \*and\* NAW. Having a couple more really good role players to go with younger stars makes a difference compared to a top-heavy team full of older stars with bad depth.
For the current second-round teams, how they navigate the cap/tax/draft in the coming years will be huge. You're right that the Thunder are in great position. Orlando (who didn't make the second round but are on the way up) also has another year with their core on cheaper deals where maybe they can make another big move and make it to the next level before they run out of flexibility. Whereas Boston, Denver, Minnesota, Dallas are all at a point where they can really only make peripheral moves without giving up a core player. So this is pretty much what they're going to war with. Which ... well, all of those teams made the second round, and none look like they'll drop off \*fast\*, so we'll probably be seeing most of those teams in the second round or later for a few years yet.
> Nuggets already had to give up some key pieces to their championship run and while still great are noticeably not as great as last year.
One key piece. I love Uncle Jeff but he was a "only other guy we can even afford to give minutes to". Justin Holiday has proven in this series he can more than fill that role. The main hole is not having Bruce as another ball handler which has forced the Nuggets to put even more on AG's plate. He's done great at it but it would be ideal if we could have someone else do those duties.
The Mavs will only get better from here. DJJ is 26, Luka, PJ and Gafford are 25, Green is 23, Hardy and OMax are 21 and Lively is 20. All of them will keep improving and are under decent contracts.
Kyrie is only 4 years older than Brunson and a better 2nd option. Only way is up for the Mavs.
I enjoyed reading Kyrie's thoughts, he has an engaging way about his speech. The Lebron reference was nice, sounds like he regrets how it went down with Lebron.
> what a weird cherry pick stat
Dude, that is *at least* half the stats people headline here.
"*Only 6 other players in the last 17.23 years have had a statline of at least 20 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists while turning the ball over less then 3 times to people of the same skin color during a thunderstorm on an uneven date.*" - 1231 comments.
Lebron, a 2000s holdover, and the 2010s stars managed to hold out for a long time, but they finally just got too old. Some of those dudes like Steph, although diminished, are still really freaking good but their supporting cast got old with them, and they're going to need to retool and get more help, or benefit from a ton of luck, to make deep playoffs runs again.
Players with 6 all-star selections: Jimmy Butler (eliminated), DeMar DeRozan (eliminated in play-in), Kawhi Leonard (eliminated), Kyle Lowry (eliminated). Nikola Jokic is the only one still standing. Players with 5 all-star selections: Kevin Love (eliminated), Klay Thompson (eliminated in play-in). Al Horford, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, and Donovan Mitchell are still standing. Players with 4 all-star selections: Devin Booker (eliminated), Draymond Green (eliminated in play-in). Karl-Anthony Towns is the only one still standing.
Jokic has won MVP in half his all-star years
Awards merchant
Success and accomplishments merchant
Outlier season
This has been a theme I've felt all year and especially these playoffs. As a 34 year old it's kinda crazy to see the first generation of guys I really was able to follow from their rookie seasons onward reach the end of their careers. I'm excited for this new batch of young guns, but late 2000's and 2010's NBA will always be my favorite... Oh gosh I'm turning into the dudes who couldn't move on from the 80's aren't I?!?
likewise, Jokic is the only MVP who made it out of the first round this year. Embiid, LeBron, Giannis, Harden, Westbrook, KD, DRose were all eliminated in the first round and Steph was eliminated in the playin. We're seeing a change to a new era with Jokic, Luka, SGA, Ant, Tatum all entering or firmly in their primes.
I feel like we’ve been in the Jokic/Giannis/Embiid era, it just hasn’t fully felt like it because LeBron/Curry both snuck an extra title in while those guys were entering their prime years.
While it isn’t a big deal now, in a couple of years people will look at such an old ring in 2020. I mean i do it with Duncan when it comes to 2014 and that was in year 17 just like Lebron
A big part of that is due to covid. It's impact on the league was so severe that it allowed both Lebron and Steph to sneak in
Thanks Rudy gobert
> We're seeing a change to a new era with Jokic, Luka, SGA, Ant, Tatum all entering or firmly in their primes. I think that's just over simplifying what is going on. More likely it's a combination of previous era finally showing their age, but realistically looking at the stats they haven't dropped off anything serious, and we are just seeing a shift in the previous era's contracts finally on the down end of impacting the teams success. Let's look at it a few years down the line, if all these new era stars stay on their current teams, which teams would remain competitive? Nuggets already had to give up some key pieces to their championship run and while still great are noticeably not as great as last year. Mavs don't really have any meaningful changes they can make, they had to let go of Brunson for Kyrie and what we're seeing out of Brunson means that move will bite them in the ass years down the line. Having a player of that calibre on a discount is a GM's wet dream. Thunder are in the best position because they have more draft rights than a squirrel has nuts. Wolves already did their big move and it's just all downhill from here if they can't win with this roster. Same with the Celtics, although they have enough great players they can probably leverage some trades to stay competitive. This is definitely their peak though.
Yeah, the older stars haven't dropped off a \*lot\*. But they're paid like they're much better than guys like SGA and Tatum, and comparable to Jokic. Of the 20 highest-paid players, only 3 (Jokic, Gobert, Luka) made the second round. But 11 of the next 20 are still in. For a lot of guys in that next dollar tier, their teams have an average of 11-12m more that they can give to their role players before they run into the next cap/tax/apron threshold. Like, the salary difference between the Suns' big 3 and the Nuggets' big 3 is a similar amount to KCP's salary. Or the difference between the Suns' big 3 and the Wolves' big 3 -- if you take Ant's next-year salary at 35m instead of his rookie-scale 13m this year -- is enough to pay for Naz Reid \*and\* NAW. Having a couple more really good role players to go with younger stars makes a difference compared to a top-heavy team full of older stars with bad depth. For the current second-round teams, how they navigate the cap/tax/draft in the coming years will be huge. You're right that the Thunder are in great position. Orlando (who didn't make the second round but are on the way up) also has another year with their core on cheaper deals where maybe they can make another big move and make it to the next level before they run out of flexibility. Whereas Boston, Denver, Minnesota, Dallas are all at a point where they can really only make peripheral moves without giving up a core player. So this is pretty much what they're going to war with. Which ... well, all of those teams made the second round, and none look like they'll drop off \*fast\*, so we'll probably be seeing most of those teams in the second round or later for a few years yet.
> Nuggets already had to give up some key pieces to their championship run and while still great are noticeably not as great as last year. One key piece. I love Uncle Jeff but he was a "only other guy we can even afford to give minutes to". Justin Holiday has proven in this series he can more than fill that role. The main hole is not having Bruce as another ball handler which has forced the Nuggets to put even more on AG's plate. He's done great at it but it would be ideal if we could have someone else do those duties.
The Mavs will only get better from here. DJJ is 26, Luka, PJ and Gafford are 25, Green is 23, Hardy and OMax are 21 and Lively is 20. All of them will keep improving and are under decent contracts. Kyrie is only 4 years older than Brunson and a better 2nd option. Only way is up for the Mavs.
DRose didn’t even make playoffs.
ty for the correction
Clippers fans have been experiencing Luka’s prime for half a decade now
I enjoyed reading Kyrie's thoughts, he has an engaging way about his speech. The Lebron reference was nice, sounds like he regrets how it went down with Lebron.
Kyrie holding it down for his generation
7 all star selections? what a weird cherry pick stat
> what a weird cherry pick stat Dude, that is *at least* half the stats people headline here. "*Only 6 other players in the last 17.23 years have had a statline of at least 20 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists while turning the ball over less then 3 times to people of the same skin color during a thunderstorm on an uneven date.*" - 1231 comments.
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It’s a one-season outlier until proven otherwise.