v*r
发帖数: 4532 | 1 http://grantland.com/the-triangle/nba-trade-value-sneak-peek-no
My defense: I didn’t feel right about rewarding a shooting guard trapped in
a point guard’s body, someone ill equipped to execute the traditional “
make teammates better and take over when it matters” recipe. I call those
players “0-guards.” In some cases (a.k.a. Russell Westbrook), they’re so
good that it doesn’t matter. In other cases (Tyreke Evans, Steve Francis),
it does matter. Kyrie’s five-year, $90 million extension wasn’t helping
his cause, nor was the fact that his NBA teams had never succeeded for even
four straight weeks. And also, I freaking hate Cleveland. I really do. (Just
kidding.)1
But I couldn’t shake the fear that I had screwed up. I spent the next two
weeks watching Cleveland more closely, ultimately bumping Kyrie’s ranking
before Part 2 of the written column was posted on February 25. LeBron’s
miraculous return to form (thanks to two weeks of R&R in Miami)2 had
overshadowed a more compelling subplot: Finally, we saw all the ways Kyrie
could affect a winning team. Ridiculous first step. Excellent shooting. Semi
-freakociousness on fast breaks. A world-class ability to finish in traffic
from any and every angle. It’s all there. When you project him as a Wealthy
Man’s Tony Parker, Kyrie’s basketball ceiling makes more sense: He’s a
ridiculously efficient scorer who needs another creator (or a fluidly
brilliant offensive system) to get everyone else involved.
Could LeBron be that creator for him? No question. It’s already happening.
Even if Kyrie will never have the Conley Clock in his head (see Part 2), it
doesn’t matter if he’s playing with the right guys. I was dead wrong about
Kyrie’s potential. But hey — at least I got to the right place with it.
Just took awhile. |
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