NBA Finals Recap and Offseason Questions.

The Spurs Celebrating a 5th Championship

Man was I wrong. I picked the Heat to beat the Spurs in the Finals and couldn't have been more wrong. well I guess if I said the Heat would sweep then that would be worst but still wasn't a good look. 

To be honest with you, I don't know why I picked the Heat. All year I said on this blog and on Twitter, probably on Facebook and maybe on Myspace that the Heat were not as good as last years team. They seemed worse using the eye test and were worse according to the numbers in terms of offensive efficiency and defense. The biggest thing they got a lot worse at was 3 pt defense. I knew all of this and yet I still picked the Heat. 

The Spurs were probably a little better than they were last year if you think about how their young players were developing. That mainly includes guys like Kawhi Leonard, Patty Mills, and Danny Green. Remember that Kawhi missed the free throws to ice the championship last year and Green was shut down after a few historic shooting games in last years finals. 

People forget that Steve Kerr played for the Spurs

Now if you know me or talk to my friends you would know that say that I don't like Danny Green. Now it's not that I don't actually like Danny Green but it just annoys me when people over praise Danny Green. Yes he plays in his role well and knocks down open jump shots but let's not think for a second that he isn't a Michael Finley late in his career or Danny Ferry or Malik Rose or Steve Kerr. Either way those players were good players but over time you forget that they played on Spurs championship teams because those guys were just cogs in the San Antonio System. They played nice roles and benefited from playing with Hall of Famers. 

Sorry for the random rant but I had to express that but either way I should have know the Spurs would win because A) I knew the Heat team wasn't as good, B) I also knew the Spurs were at least slightly better, and C) the western conference was so much better than the Eastern conference that it only made sense for the west to win. 

I think I overrode my own logic because I was down on the Spurs because they were having trouble with most playoff teams besides The Heat and the Blazers. Which means I probably should have known again. They just match up well with the Heat. To be honest I still feel like they would have lost to the Thunder if Ibaka was fully healthy. The Spurs did play well in game 5 and 6 and deserved to win the series because they were the better team at the time but they were only better due to a slowed down Ibaka. Ibaka was obviously playing through pain and it reflected in his scoring in game 5 and his rebounding in game 5 and 6. Also I think that the Thunder would have won at least 1 game in San Antonio. I also think that the Rockets would have gave them a little more trouble than the Blazers although I think they would have eventually beaten them. 

I know I sound like I'm not giving the champs their respect but I am just bringing up points. Winning a championship isn't always about being the best team. It's about match ups and luck more than people think. The Heat won last year and luck absolutely played a part in their championship run. It is just something you have to except. But you have to respect what the Spurs did because they showed how much a true team can accomplish. I love the way that team plays, it's a pick up game baller's dream.

Dwayne Wade struggled in the NBA Finals

The other big take away from this finals is just how bad the heat has gotten from last year. Now I don't want to exaggerate because they were still really good, which they should have been because they had 3 perennial all-stars and all time greats. But they were definitely not that good because of two things that is worrisome. First Dwayne Wade was terrible in the Finals after sitting a bunch of games in order to save himself for the playoffs. The worst part is that it wasn't that he was shooting poorly but he was bad at creating, penetrating, and finishing at the rim. Some of that is a credit to the Spurs but he played better against the last year. He really just looked gassed which made no sense because they prepared for it.

The other problem was that the Heat lacked depth. This was something that was seen as an issue once the big 3 signed. The problem was wether they would be able to field a good team with those guys taking up most of the salary cap. The first 3 years were different because they had guys willing to take pay cuts and they had a lot more help other than the big 3. This year they Heat had to make moves to reduce their tax bill because it was beginning to get hefty so they amnesties Mike Miller and took flyers on guys like Greg Oden and Michael Beasley. While this happened they had to rely more on guys that were aging like Shane Battier, Ray Allen, and Birdman and guys still playing on their rookie contract. 

This meant that more pressure was on the big 3 but what was worse was that it really meant that LeBron James had to do even more. Which made the Heat resemble the Cavs team that LeBron left 4 years ago. Which leads in to my other portion of this article........

Biggest Offseason Questions and my Answers:

LeBron might be thinking Cavs? Maybe not.

1. What Should LeBron James do this Summer.

My Running the Spread Blog partner Spencer and myself indulged in a twitter argument over this very question. Spencer was adamant that LeBron was not going to go anywhere. I thought differently. Now if you read the tweets it would look like I was sure the LeBron was going to leave but my point was more about what seemed like the smart thing to do. Also that the decision wasn't as easy as Spencer seemed to make it. Looking at the NBA landscape there is only one team that makes sense for LeBron to go to and that's Cleveland. But before I get into that let me say why LeBron would consider leaving. 

Him staying is predicated or should be about what his teammates do. If either D. Wade or Chris Bosh decide to opt in to their contracts, which are set to increase their earnings than LeBron would have to think about it. A contract opt in for any of those guys would mean that the Heat would have similar cap problems that they had this year and would not be able to field a team good enough to win a championship. The wild card is D. Wade who could be looking at how he played this year and wanting to cash in on his contract now because he could be done in a couple years. 

The Cleveland situation has it's problems because of the management history and also being in Cleveland but that team has a lot of talent that is on cheap contracts. LeBron on any team is going to make that team a 50 win team in my opinion. So if the Cavs draft Joel Embiid, trade Waitors for another veteran than in my opinion LeBron would still have a chance to win a Championship where he couldn't before. A lineup of Irving, a defense and 3 point sg veteran, LeBron James, Tristan Thompson or Anthony Bennett who showed signs of life, and Joel Embiid with Varjao and Jarrett Jack coming off the bench. That could be a very good team. Now my gut tells me that he stays in Miami but it's only because I expect Bosh and Wade to take less money and that way they bring in 2 or 3 good players for help. If that doesn't happen than why should LeBron stay?

2. Where Will Carmelo Go?

Melo and D. Rose need each other.

I honestly think that Carmelo will end up on the Chicago Bulls. I have heard a lot of Bulls fans against this and I think it's because they think Anthony will become a black hole with the ball. What they don't understand is that Anthony is at a point in his career where winning is the most important. I think Tom Thibadeau would command good defense out of Melo and Rose would still have the ball most of the time. What people over look is that Melo has never played with a guy close to as good as him in the NBA. Yet he showed in the Olympics that he can share the ball and that he can score off the ball. You keep the ball in Derek Rose's hand and you have Carmelo to take pressure off of Rose to create everything than you have a great passing big man in Joakim Noah. You also have the Bulls great defense as well.

I think Carmelo on the Bulls makes them an actual title contender. I think the last couple of years it has been more hype than anything because at the end of the day in the playoffs teams would be able to key in on D. Rose. So I think this needs to happen for the league because the East needs to get better and Melo needs to at least reach the finals at this point.

3. Speaking of the East, How Will the East get Better?

Honestly I do not know. I'm hoping the east gets better because the west is just so far ahead of them. Maybe the Pacers trade for a Point Guard or somehow get Kyle Lowry. That would make them loads better. Also maybe the Pistons make moves under Stan Van Gundy to become good or the Wizards take another step. Also somebody trades for Kevin Love but the east has to get better!

Next week I'll try to do a NBA Draft preview and eventually a more comprehensive offseason outlook. Maybe me and Spencer can do a podcast next week as well.