And here’s the kicker: RJ is getting paid more than Wiggins!! And Wiggins isn’t even worth what HE is getting paid!!

Wasn’t aware of Wiggins new contract, it seems reasonable for what he means to the Warriors. RJ will probably get a little less than Wiggins because he’ll have to be All-NBA, All-Star or All-Defense to receive the incentives.

I think the Heat have proved you can’t count them out pretty much ever. Been remarkably resilient.

Indeed, but i hoped it was another resilient team to reach the finals… 🙁

it’s almost Keyser Sose-ish

Hey, don’t misspell his name or he’ll hunt you down, and all your family and friends too. Are we friends? 😀 It’s Soze with a Z, and that’s where i get my name from, Cyber… Soze! 😉 😛

Comparing RJ to Grimes directly is silly. They are different players with different roles. RJ’s role is somewhat more important than Grimes’ and he is paid accordingly.

Yes, everyone in the know gets this by now. Distribute the memo KB-wide and we’re probably done with this topic.

RJ is getting paid a lot of money to suck in his role. Hopefully he will be less sucky going forward…he played pretty well in the playoffs so there’s hope. But overall he’s been replacement-level bad and his playoff numbers are those of a replacement-level player on a hot streak, not a budding star. See: Cam Reddish’s playoff numbers.

There is also really no comparision between RJ and Wiggins. Wiggins came into the league as an elite above-the-rim athlete, while RJ seems totally devoid of fast-twitch muscle. After one very nice (but still offensively mediocre) playoff run, Wiggins returned to his shitty offensive self, putting up the same shitty offensive numbers he always has. But at least he has the athleticism to play excellent defense, especially against elite wings. RJ simply does not. And here’s the kicker: RJ is getting paid more than Wiggins!! And Wiggins isn’t even worth what HE is getting paid!!

With Grimes, you don’t really have to hope nearly as much. He’s a fine young 3-and-D starting 2 as is, and he is only 23, works hard, and has the attacking closeouts gift that Katz talked about. I don’t really get why E felt compelled to make up a bunch of bullshit about how he is unlikely to add to his game, maybe he has a personal grudge against him or something. It’s pretty telling that when his idol Seth Parnow contradicts him, all of a sudden, E throws Parnow under the bus…that’s like Trump-level shit right there…he’s smart when he agrees with me but dumb when he doesn’t. Please.

Which remains bizarre; Bullock and Grimes are basically clones of each other. And of course — and this is the most important point of all — their common ancestor is the coach, who simply cannot and will not function without major, significant roles for his safe, comforting, low-ceiling hustlebunnies.

All of which was first-guessed at the trade deadline and then later, and then reached its predictable nadir in the whiffing away of the winnable Heat series.

(djphan is hitting this issue out of the stadium by the way.)

This is another mainly psychological thing — Grimes has to be a plus defender to make even a modicum of sense — and so he is.(*)

I want to be clear, though — Grimes is a pretty good on the ball defender. But he’s being theorized and projected on that side of the ball, too. The team can play perfectly fine defense without him, and did in the biggest games of the year.

(*) And of course on the flip side, there’s a massive psychological need for RJ to suck on defense, given the a priori hatred — and so he does.”

This is made-up horseshit.

but want to note the sizable difference in their defense.

There is no “sizable difference” in their defense. Grimes missed three games in the Cavs series and the defense didn’t miss a beat.

This is another mainly psychological thing — Grimes has to be a plus defender to make even a modicum of sense — and so he is.(*)

I want to be clear, though — Grimes is a pretty good on the ball defender. But he’s being theorized and projected on that side of the ball, too. The team can play perfectly fine defense without him, and did in the biggest games of the year.

(*) And of course on the flip side, there’s a massive psychological need for RJ to suck on defense, given the a priori hatred — and so he does.