Adding Bogut and Williams Does not make Cleveland any Better

With the NBA trade deadline coming and going with a whimper, we always have players being traded then being bought out or waived by their newly acquired team. This happens every year right after, or during, the trade deadline. This year was no exception.

Many players, surprising players, were waived or just out right let go. Brandon Jennings, not Derrick Rose who deserved to waived much more, was let go by the Knicks. He quickly found a new spot in Washington, which I think is a perfect fit for him as a backup to John Wall. After the Rockets traded away a late pick and cash considerations to the Lakers for Marcus Huertas, he was immediately waived, and has yet to be picked up to the best of my knowledge. The whole Jose Calderon story is widely known NBA news for rabid NBA fans such as myself. He was waived by the Lakers, the Warriors went to sign him, did actually sign him, but when Matt Barnes was waived by the Kings, the Warriors opted for Barnes and, only 2 hours after signing him, the Warriors waived Calderon. To the Warriors credit, they did pay him 415,000 dollars and gave him the jerseys they had made for him, but they wanted Matt Barnes more. Barnes is now playing extended minutes for the Warriors due to KD's injury, and I'm sure Calderon will get picked up by some team any day now.

The 2 biggest names to be either let go outright or waived after being traded were Deron Williams, who was released by Dallas, and Andrew Bogut, who was traded to the 76ers and then immediately released. These 2 guys have had pretty steady NBA careers. Bogut is a NBA champion. At one time in the league there were conversations claiming that Deron Williams may be the best point guard in the NBA when he played for the Utah Jazz. But, that was many moons ago, and Bogut was not really a key to the Warriors title run 2 seasons ago. David Lee played more minutes in that particular finals than Bogut did. Also, Andrew Bogut has had a very hard time staying healthy for the past 5 or 6 years in the league. When he is healthy he is a great rim protector and bully. He blocks shots, grabs rebounds and gets in the head of the opposing team's center. But, he has been injured way more than he has been healthy. He got hurt in game 2 of the finals last season and was never seen again. When he was traded to Dallas at the beginning of this season he barely played. I know for a fact that he started the season on the injured list. He just cannot seem to stay off the injury report.

Deron Williams, like I said earlier, was great at one point in his career. He was an exceptional, true point guard. He looked to be the newer version of John Stockton for the Jazz. He ran that offense like a well oiled machine, and it did not hurt that he could knock down the open jumper. When he was eligible for free agency, he was looked at as a prize for whichever team signed him. In 2010, the Brooklyn, then New Jersey, Nets signed him to a max deal, and he was going to be the guy to bring a title back to the state of New York. Well, things did not work out that way. Williams seemed to become a shell of his former self. His game deteriorated each year he was a Net. His game got so bad it was painful to watch at times. It wasn't funny painful either, it was sad. He just seemed to get worse at basketball somehow when he should have been in his prime. The Nets ownership tried to help him out by bringing in guys like Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, jeopardizing their future, but none of it worked. I don't think the Nets ever made it out of the first round of the playoffs with Deron Williams as the point guard. He was released by the Nets after the 2015 season, and I think many people, myself included thought he might hang it up, but the Mavericks signed him. He had some flashes of his former self, but it was kind of like watching an aging baseball player that used to hit .335 regularly, and was now struggling to hit .250, but would go 3 for 3 every tenth game or so. He looked washed up.

This weekend, both of these guys, Williams has already made his debut, will be part of the Cavs quest to repeat, and a lot of basketball people seem to think this will put the Cavs on top as the prohibitive favorites. Me, not so much. I do not see this tilting the pendulum very much, if at all. I know KD is out, but he will be back for the playoffs. I know Kyle Lowry is out for a month, but he will back when it matters. Boston has no major players out with injury. Same with San Antonio. OKC has Russell Westbrook and only got better at the deadline. The Hawks are at full strength. I just do not see the additions of Deron Williams and Andrew Bogut making much of a difference.

First off, Bogut needs to stay healthy, and that will not happen. But how does he really fit in with this team? When Kevin Love comes back, they will have Love, Tristan Thompson and Andrew Bogut. That front line does not scare me one bit if I'm a playoff team. Bogut cannot move like he used to, and he is always hurt. Love will be coming off knee surgery, and he is already a liability on defense as it is. Tristan Thompson is a good defender and rebounding, but his offensive game is mediocre at best. I wouldn't worry too much if I were the Wizards or Raptors if they have to face the Cavs in round 2 or the Eastern Finals. I'd much rather have guys like Markeiff Morris and Marcin Gortat or Serge Ibaka and Jonas Valenciunas to go up against that Cavs front court. The only team in the East that would have trouble with the Cavs front court would be Boston. They have no rebounding or inside threat at all.

Then with Deron Williams, his addition literally does nothing for me. I don't see how he makes any kind of difference whatsoever for the Cavs. I heard someone say he is like a better version of Matthew Dellavedova. I don't know if that is supposed to be a compliment or a symbol of how far Deron Williams has fallen as an NBA player. And, Dellavedova barely saw the floor in the Finals last year because he was too slow to guard any of the Warriors guards. Guess what? Deron Williams is older and slower than Matthew Dellavedova. People have also said he will make the open shot when LeBron or Kyrie drive and dish. First off, don't they already have Kyle Korver and JR Smith for that? Second, when will Kyrie pass anyone the ball, and when LeBron goes into playoff mode, only he and Kyrie will see the ball.

The signing of Williams is very, very unimportant, in my opinion. In fact, the addition of these 2 guys literally does nothing to change my mind. When KD comes back, and he will come back, I still have the Warriors breezing to a NBA title. They have too much fire power, and Andrew Bogut nor Deron Williams cannot do anything to stop that. I don't get the praise that is being heaped on the Cavs front office for these signings. Prove me wrong Cleveland, but the Warriors are still my absolute favorite to win the title. Especially when KD gets back.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Now that you read his thoughts on the NBA, hear him talk all about it the newest mini episode of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Ty Tells You How each NBA Team Can Win the Title: Pelicans, Mavericks, and the Bulls

Day 4 of my NBA countdown features teams 21, 20 and 19. These teams are good, but they could be better, or it is just a weird collection of players that I don't think will work out that well, or they are way too old to be highly competitive anymore.

Coming in at number 21, I have the New Orleans Pelicans. This team should be so much better than what they put out there on the floor. I know they had a ton of injuries last year, but that doesn't excuse their horrendous start, and the total lack of defense they "played". I really like their coach, Alvin Gentry, but I think he is better fitted to be an assistant as opposed to the head coach. He did great things while in Phoenix, but that was another team that he was the head man for, and they never reached their full potential. The roster has some great players, but they either get hurt too much, play hero ball or just haven't figured it out yet. Look, I'm about as big an Anthony Davis fan as there is. He is the new wave of centers. He can score in the post, rebound, block shots, run the floor, shoot the three and guard multiple positions. But, he has not been able to stay healthy for one full season since he has been in the league. I think he is a legitimate MVP candidate, if he can stay healthy. Unfortunately, that is a big if. He has all the tools, he just needs to not get injured. I really like their pick of Buddy Hield. As you all know by now, I would have taken Hield over any of the "one and done" players in this most recent draft. I love his game, he can score at will, and he will learn to play defense. He and Anthony Davis should make a fine pair. But, as I look at the rest of the roster, I don't see much. Omer Asik is done. He is garbage now. He can't score, he can't rebound and he doesn't defend like he used to. He and Davis were supposed to be the ultimate rim protectors, but Asik has not lived up to it. Tyreke Evans is not that good either. Sure, he can go for 30 one night, but the next night, he will go for 5 or 6 points on 2 of 15 shooting. He is exactly like Jeff Green. Has all the tools, but can never put it all together for a full season. Jrue Holiday is a very good point guard, but he too, much like Davis, just can't stay healthy. Kendrick Perkins was washed up in OKC, Solomon Hill is, at best, a tenth man off the bench, Norris Cole is a waste of a roster spot, Langston Galloway shouldn't even be in the NBA and they signed Lance Stephenson. Why on Earth would anyone want him on their team? He is a team killer. Their other pick in the most recent draft, Cheick Diallo, barely played in college, so who knows what he brings to the table. This team has one super star, one rookie that should be good, and nothing after that. The Pelicans will hover around 35 wins, depending on health.

So Ty, how will the Pelicans win the title? The only way they win the title is if Davis stays healthy and is the MVP, not impossible, Holiday stays healthy and continues to be lightening quick and the rest of the roster plays the best basketball of their lives, impossible. I feel sorry for Anthony Davis because he is a great player stuck on a mediocre team. Maybe Buddy Hield will be the guy they need to be Davis' sidekick.

At number 20 I have the Dallas Mavericks. This team would be much lower, like near the 76ers and Lakers, if Rick Carlisle wasn't the coach. He is one NBA coach that is near Poppovich's level. The Mavs still have Dirk, but isn't he like a trillion years old? How much game does he really have left? I know he is a great shooter, but he is a total liability on defense, he can't rebound and his legs are going to give out on him soon. Wes Matthews played pretty well last year, coming off a torn ACL, but he may be the new first option for the Mavs. Can he handle that? I don't think so. He is a good spot up shooter and a good slasher, but to be the main guy, that doesn't suit his game. They did end up with Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut, after the whole KD signing, but does that even matter? Barnes looked atrocious in the finals. He couldn't make anything, and he was wide open. He also got abused on defense, but the Mavs gave him a max deal. Maybe he needs a change of scenery, but I just can't shake how bad he was in the finals. Bogut is a fine rim protector, but he is always injured, he cannot run anymore and his offense is non existent. He brings nothing to this team. Seth Curry, not Steph, signed with the Mavs, but he is, at best, your tenth or eleventh guy off the bench. The Mavs will look for more out of him, and I don't think he can do it. Deron Williams is still there, and while he played okay last year at times, his career was over while he was in Brooklyn. The rest of the roster has guys like Charlie Villanueva, Jose Barea, Justin Anderson, Devin Harris and Dwight Powell. Anderson and Powell are young, but not really all that good, and the rest of those guys, they are dinosaurs when it comes to NBA age. The Mavs will step back to about 30-35 wins, at best, this year.

So Ty, how will the Mavericks win the title? They can win the title if they find a fountain of youth, everyone drinks from it, returns to their primes and Harrison Barnes plays like a completely different player than what we saw in the finals. It's too far fetched.

At number 19, just missing out on the playoffs, I have the Chicago Bulls. This team is so much like the Knicks, with one major difference, it is scary. First off, I loved when they moved Derrick Rose to New York for Robin Lopez. I thought that was one of the best offseason decisions, but everything after that, total chaos. To go out and sign Dwayne Wade and Rajon Rando made absolutely no sense at all. First off, those two guys hate each other. Go back and watch some old Boston-Miami games, they despise one another. Second, they are both ball dominant players. Spoiler alert, there is only one ball, so only one guy can have it at a time. Third, Wade is only good for about 41 games of full effort now and Rando, he couldn't hit the ocean with a pebble. This may end up being a disaster. The only reason they aren't as low as the Knicks is Jimmy Butler. He is a much, much, much better all around player than Carmelo Anthony ever was/is/will be. Butler is a great defender, a great scorer, a great slasher and an awesome teammate. I would take him one hundred times out of one hundred to be on my team over Carmelo. He is the one reason the Bulls aren't as low as the Knicks. But, how will he fare playing alongside Rando and Wade? Will he get the touches he has earned? Who knows, but Jimmy Butler deserves better. He is an awesome basketball player. From there you have guys like Doug McDermott, average shooter, horrible defender, Nikola Mirotic, great shooter, even worse defender than McDermott, Taj Gibson, good glue guy, but not great at any single thing, Robin Lopez, good big man, but not even the best Lopez brother and Bobby Portis and Tony Snell, neither has had a real chance to play all that much. Not a loaded roster. I think Denzel Valentine could be good for them, but I don't know how often he will see the floor, considering all the three point shooters they seem to think they already have. He is a much better defender right now than both Mirotic and McDermott though. The Bulls could be the first team to crack 40 wins, or they could totally implode with this odd roster and only win 25 games. I'll go with the 40 wins because I think Jimmy Butler is that good.

So Ty, how will the Bulls win the title? The Bulls could win the title if all these weird pieces find a way to coexist and play team basketball, and the Cavs or Celtics or Raptors suffer catastrophic injuries to their star players. I just think teaming up Rondo and Wade, while you already have a great, young star, is going to blow up in their faces. What an odd offseason the Bulls had.

That does it for today. come back tomorrow for the next three teams. We are finally at the playoff eligible teams. Woo hoo!

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. What a difference a year makes. Both New Orleans and Chicago were in his top ten teams last year. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Why we got the the Cleveland Cavaliers and the NBA Finals so Very Wrong

The season ended not quite how we predicted

The NBA finals ended last night. There is no more real basketball to be played from now until late September. Both football and basketball are done, so this is the most dead period of sports that you can find right now. I'm counting down the days until college football starts. Baseball does not intrigue me, and everything else, Olympics included, bore me. With that being said, I will recount game 7 from the finals last night.

I, much like most writers, picked the Warriors to win. I picked them in 6 games. That, obviously did not happen. First things first, game 7 was phenomenal last night. For the most part, this series has been blow outs, and it has been not so great basketball. There were great individual performances, but the games, they were not that good. Game 7 changed that. I had no skin in the game last night, but my heart was beating fast and I watched every single second of that game with bated breath last night. It was a true back and forth. The Cavs would take a 5 or 6 point lead, then the Warriors would counter with a run and lead by 5 or 6 themselves. The game was decided by the stars as well. Sure, JR Smith made some big shots and Andre Iguodala did his thing on defense, but it was LeBron James and Kyrie Irving coming up big for Cleveland and it was Draymond Green, who was spectacular last night, and Curry and Thompson, although they both shot poorly. But, the stars made the difference. That's how I like my finals. Game 7 was everything I wanted this whole series to be, all the way down to Irving hitting that 3 with less than 1 minute left in the game.

Secondly, this series should have been over in 5 games. This is my "the NBA rigged this series" portion of my blog. Draymond Green did not deserved to be suspended for game 5. Yeah, he swiped at LeBron's man zone, and he did so much worse in the western finals against OKC, but it wasn't until LeBron bitched and moaned to the media and David Silver that they decided to suspend Green. I don't think it was the swipe, hell, I would have done something much worse than punch at a guy and call him names if he stepped over me on a basketball court, than it was the fact that the Cavs were down 3-1, the finals were getting record ratings, and LeBron used his stardom to get his way. David Silver, ESPN and ABC all wanted this series to go 7, if possible, and suspending Green did just that. The Warriors couldn't close it out in 5 because they couldn't stop James and Irving from getting in the paint and the Cavs pulled away. They then destroyed the Warriors in game 6, setting up last night's great game. Had Draymond not been suspended, the Warriors would have easily closed it out in game 5, but LeBron, the Cavs, and everyone in the media got their way and the series played on. Also, Steph Curry fouling out of game 6 was atrocious. In fact, the entire officiating crew in games 5, 6 and last night were as bad as the 2002 Lakers-Kings series. They were giving everything to Cleveland and nothing to Golden State. Curry hadn't fouled out of a game since college, but he somehow fouled out of a finals game. That is very, very fishy. The NBA has always had this shady cloud over it, but these last three games really made it almost too clear to me that the NBA may be as fixed as pro boxing and pro wrestling. It is becoming way too fascinated with the stars and they get so much better treatment from the refs than anyone else. It's disturbing.

Okay, got that off my chest.

Third, the Warriors did choke, but Cleveland also figured something out after Draymond got suspended. I won't say the Warriors lost the series, the Cavs definitely won. In game 5, they stayed big for most of the game, a la what the Thunder did. This rendered the Warriors rebounding useless. They had no one to block out Kevin Love or Tristan Thompson or even a guy like Richard Jefferson. The Cavs got so many second chance points and shots and that is how you beat the Warriors. They had no answer, especially after Andrew Bogut went down for the series. This was a smart move and it helped the Cavs win the title. Even last night, Love and Thompson seemed to grab every single rebound. They held the Warriors to one shot the majority of the night.  The Cavs also slowed the pace of the game to a snail. They held and held and held the ball in their half court set. They didn't seem to get into their set play until there were only 5 or 6 seconds left on the shot clock. This is another way to beat the fast paced Warriors. Make them play defense for all 24 seconds and it will slow their offense down because their players will get tired. Another smart move.

Which brings me to my fourth point. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, for the most part, did not show up in these finals. They both shot terribly from three. They were missing wide open three point shots that they had made all season long. It wasn't like the Cavs were playing lock down defense. Quite the opposite was happening. They would get held up on screens and leave shooter wide open, the Warriors just were not making their shots. Curry also got exposed as a very mediocre defender in the finals. He couldn't stay with Irving, he was too small and lean for LeBron, too short to guard JR Smith and when he had someone else, like Iman Shumpert, that guy screened and forced Curry to guard and he did not come through. And what on Earth happened to Harrison Barnes? He was so, so bad in the finals. He missed every shot he took it seemed. The Cavs would leave him wide open for corner threes, the easiest three and a shot he made all season, and he would brick it pretty much every time. This was supposed to be his coming out party. He was supposed to get a max contract from someone after the finals. He was going to be the man for another team next season if he left the Warriors. Now, I wouldn't even consider giving him anything close to a max contract. Not only was his offense atrocious, but he was man handled by pretty much everyone he guarded during the finals. Barnes had the worst possible finals that a free agent could have. He was worse in this series than Kevin Love and Iman Shumpert were, and they were both terrible. 

Then we have Kyrie Irving. Wow, was he great. He scored at will. He shot a very high percentage. No one on Golden State could stop him. He was just as important to this title win as LeBron was. Yeah, LeBron had a triple double last night, but without Irving in the third quarter and that three he hit in the fourth, no way does Cleveland win the title. Kyrie Irving was absolutely spectacular and he is rising very fast up the best players in the league chart right now. What an incredible performance he had.

Finally, LeBron. I have dogged him the whole season and during the playoffs. I still think he is a prima donna, a whiner and I'm fed up with his constant complaining to officials, but he did what he promised he would do for Cleveland. He delivered a title. He was great in games 5 and 6. He had a triple double last night. He was not good on defense, Draymond put up 30 plus on him last night, but he ran this team and they won because of his effort. This is, by far, the most impressive thing he has done in his very impressive career.

Congrats Cleveland. You guys won the title and proved a whole lot of people wrong in doing so. I'm very curious to see how this team looks next year, but for now, enjoy your victory, you guys earned it....with a little help from David Silver and the refs.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He says if Cleveland can get a title this year, then why not the Cubs? Get all of your winners by following Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty's Look at the 2016 NBA Finals

The two teams we all thought would be here.

As I did last year, and I will do every year, I'm going to preview and predict the NBA finals. But first,

GOOOOOOOOOOOOD DAMMMMMMMMMMMIT. 

OKC should be playing in these finals, they blew it big time. They had a 3-1 lead, and they should have won game 6, and they had an excellent shot last night, but they went ice cold from the field and they reverted back to blaming each other and playing hero ball. They stopped doing what had worked so well for them throughout the first two rounds and the first four games of the conference finals and blew a huge lead against the Warriors. The Thunder lost, and that is a fact.

Okay, I got that off my chest, now lets get to the preview and my prediction.

We have a rematch from last years finals, but these finals will look very different. Last year, the Cavs were without Kevin Love going into the finals, and they lost Kyrie Irving in game one. This time, the Cavs are at full strength and may make this series very competitive. The Warriors, they are at full strength, but they look tired and this historic season looks to be taking a toll. But, they came back from a huge deficit against OKC, and they look like they may have gotten their mojo back. Klay Thompson and Steph Curry are absolutely on fire right now. The Warriors also have a ton of momentum and home court advantage going into the finals. 

Lets look at the starting lineups first. The Warriors have Curry, Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green. The Cavs will put LeBron, Kyrie, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and JR Smith out there. LeBron is the best player in the world, but he is older and has played in 6 straight finals. That's a ton of minutes on his body, but he is the best player on the floor. When you look at the other four Warriors starters, when opposed to the other four Cavs starters, I think the Warriors are much better. Case and point, who is going to guard Klay Thompson? The Cavs may try LeBron for a minute or two, but he will not be able to keep up the hustle it will take on defense to stop Thompson because he will be running the offense. So, that leaves guys like Kyrie Irving and JR Smith. Kyrie Irving, while a wizard dribbling the ball and a great shooter, he is a garbage defender and Thompson will destroy him. JR Smith is a better defender, but he is a hot head and he will get angry and start making dumb fouls when Thompson makes a few jumpers on him. Advantage Warriors.

Then there is Steph. No one on the Cavs can guard Steph. That was proven during last years finals. Irving will, once again, get destroyed. JR Smith is too slow. LeBron won't be able to keep up with him. It's a no win situation for the Cavs. Once again, advantage Warriors.

As far as Harrison Barnes goes, I think the Cavs would be best fit putting JR Smith on him and keeping him there. They are pretty much equal, as far as ability on both ends of the floor, and I think that would be a good battle. I would actually give the advantage in this head to head to the Cavs. I think JR Smith has that irrational confidence and Barnes thinks way too much when he plays. Advantage Cavs in that matchup.

In the front court we have Kevin Love guarding either Bogut or Green and then the Cavs will put Tristan Thompson on the other guy. This matchup one hundred percent favors the Warriors. If the Cavs want to put Thompson on Bogut, they will cancel each other out, but Bogut is a good rebounder, just as good as Thompson, and he is a better defender and a much better passer than Thompson. Then, there is the Kevin Love question. He is a great scorer and rebounder, but he is a terrible, god awful defender and he lets his mood affect his play. When he doesn't get touches or shots, he sulks. His defense, once again, is some of the worst in the league. Bogut would eat him alive in the low post and Draymond Green can take him outside, drive on him and he will get in his head. Kevin Love has become a liability and he will not be on this team next year. I'm about 99 percent sure of this. So, while Tristan Thompson may cancel out Bogut, Draymond Green can beat up Kevin Love and out rebound Thompson and Bogut would eat Love alive in the post and cancel out Thompson. Advantage, big time, Warriors.

That leaves us with LeBron. The Warriors starters will be hard pressed to stop him, but they have secret weapon on their bench, who I will get to in a minute. LeBron is a beast and he will get his on this Warriors starting bunch. Just look at last years finals. He is un guardable. Any team that has LeBron has the advantage of having the best player on the floor.

Now, the benches for each team. While it may look like the benches are compatible, they are not. The Warriors bench is so much better, younger, faster and play much better team defense and offense. The secret weapon to guard LeBron that I spoke of on the Warriors bench is Andre Igoudala. He won finals MVP last year for his defensive performance against LeBron. He can bang with him and force him to be a jump shooter, which is exactly what you should want LeBron to do. Igoudala may once again be the X factor in this series. Then the Warriors bring in guys like Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa, Festus Ezeli, Mareese Speights and Anderson Varejo. Each one of these guys brings exactly what they need to for the Warriors in their limited minutes. Livingston is a huge point guard and a decent scorer off the bench. Barbosa is instant offense and a lightning bolt. Ezeli and Speights provide great low post scoring and Ezeli is a pretty decent defender. And Varejo will want to show the team that gave up on him that he is still a good player. The Cavs bench has guys like Matthew Dellavedova, Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov. Mozgov is a non factor. He barely sees the floor anymore, so he doesn't matter. Dellavedova is one of the most overrated bench players in all of the NBA. He is dirty and a much, much worse version of Draymond Green. Dellavedova is garbage. Iman Shumpert is an excellent defender and a decent three point shooter, but he has been hurt all year and he has lost minutes to JR Smith. And that leaves us with Richard Jefferson. I think Richard Jefferson may be one million years old. He won't be able to keep up with anyone on the Warriors and he will be a non factor. The Warriors bench is lights years better. Advantage Warriors, by about a million percent.

That leaves us with coaches. Steve Kerr has been here as a player and a coach, winning multiple titles with the Bulls as a player and winning the title last year as the head coach of the Warriors. He has made this team a juggernaut. Tyron Lue is the "coach" of the Cavs, but I think we all truly know who pulls the strings and makes the decisions for the Cavs and his name is LeBron James. Lue is a figure head. Yeah, the Cavs went on a historic playoff run, but it was against the Pistons, Hawks and Raptors. That is, by no means, a murderers row. The Warriors weren't tested in the first two rounds of the west playoffs, beating the Rockets and Trailblazers, but they were tested by possibly the second best team in basketball in the conference finals, the Thunder. They have been pushed and rose to the occasion, like a champion, and a lot of that comes from the coach. Steve Kerr is a better coach than the two headed monster of Tyron Lue and LeBron James. It's a fact. Advantage Warriors.

I bet everyone assumes that I have the Warriors in a sweep after reading this, but that is not the case. I think this series will be much more competitive than last year. If the Cavs make shots like they have been, it may go seven. But, the Cavs haven't faced a defense this good, not even close, in the playoffs. The Cavs defense is also very mediocre and that will hurt them against the Warriors. The Warriors also have home court advantage and they are historically great. I think the Warriors will win, once again, in 6 games. The Cavs will get two because LeBron will win one on his own and they will out shoot the Warriors in one game, but what it all comes down to, the Warriors are a better team that plays much, much, much better defense. They will find a way to shut down everyone else not named LeBron and the Cavs cannot win that way. The Warriors will cap this 73 win season with another title. I think someone like Curry or Thompson will be named the MVP of the finals, but we could also see Igoudala win again if he locks down LeBron, or Draymond Green if he stops playing dirty and just dominates Kevin Love. The Warriors are a better team and they should win. They have momentum and they have home court.

(ed note:) Warriors in 4. No doubt

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His wish for next season is a soft spoken, business like, shooter for the OKC Thunder. They need it. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Warriors may be the best team in NBA history

Steph Curry would average over 60% on these rims

As you all know by now, I'm a HUGE NBA fan. It is on my TV whenever possible. I wrote a ten part season preview. I love the NBA almost as much as college football.

NBA basketball is getting back to the good ole days. Sure, teams don't shoot the midrange jump shot as well anymore, and if you turn on ESPN, all they show are Clippers highlights and the men's college game is becoming borderline unwatchable, with all the one and done players, but the NBA has gotten a wee bit better. It's more enjoyable to watch games now than it was 5 or 6 years ago. Most of the teams have become pretty competitive, save for the 76ers, Lakers and Nets. The East has even improved from last year. The West is still much better though and will continue to be for awhile. The Spurs signed LaMarcus Aldridge and resigned Kawhi Leonard. They also still have Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli and Tim Duncan. When the Thunder are at full strength, Durant has missed the past 10 days, they're as competitive as any team in the league. The Clippers look bad right now, much to my delight, but they will fix things and still win in the 50's. The Mavericks have played surprisingly well 15 games into the season. Dirk is still Dirk, and Wes Matthews, coming off a torn ACL, looks pretty good. The Pelicans had a terrible start, a possible playoff hopes crushing start, but Anthony Davis is back completely healthy, and they've won their past two, beating the Spurs in one of those games. The Rockets are a mess, I'll give you that. Firing Kevin McHale may prove to be a huge misstep. It's not his fault that Dwight Howard doesn't care about basketball that much anymore. And what in the world has happened to James Harden? He was the MVP runner up last year, but this year, teammates are griping about playing with him, calling him a diva and a ball hog, and he spent the entire offseason partying and not staying in shape. It's gotten so bad with him that even Bill Simmons has cooled on the Thunder trading him being the worst thing that ever happened in the NBA, and he hasn't shut up about it for five straight years. The Grizzlies and Jazz are .500 teams right now, but they, much like the Clippers, will figure it out.

All these teams pale in comparison to what the Golden State Warriors are doing right now. As you all know, the Warriors beat the Nuggets last night and tied for the best start in NBA history at 15-0. Sure, they've had some close calls to inferior teams, the Nets, but other than two or three games, they've been blowing out teams. Each win seems to be by at least ten, and the starters rest almost all of the fourth quarter. Steph Curry has been unbelievable to start the year too. He's averaging something like 33 or 34 points a game, shooting almost 50 percent from three, 60 percent from two and 90 percent from the free throw line. That's incredible! I don't know that there's ever been a 60, 90, 50 player ever. It would be astounding if Curry can accomplish that this year. He's also stepped up his game on defense as well this year. Sure, he won't be first team all defense, but second or third team is a real possibility. But, it's not just Curry winning these games. You're probably thinking, well it's him and Klay Thompson scoring in bunches. Nope, Thompson has, I don't want to say struggled, but he hasn't been scoring like he normally does. He still is playing absolute lock down defense though. That part of his game has never wavered. He's one of the best, if not the best, maybe a step behind Kawhi Leonard, the best defender in the NBA. Harrison Barnes, who turned down an extension, betting on himself, has been a beast so far. His numbers may not show it, I think he's a 14 point per game and 5 or 6 rebound per game player statistically, but what he's doing for the Warriors is awesome. He's already had two of the best dunks of the year, he's is getting to the line more frequently, and he's hitting midrange and floaters on a regular basis. He's going to get paid this offseason if he keeps this up. Draymond Green is proving that he's an elite defender, rebounder and he's becoming a pretty good scorer. He's also a total pain in the ass with the opposition, and the Warriors love that about him. I've never seen a guy under 6'8 that can guard centers like he does. It's amazing. He made the right decision to stay in Golden State. This is the perfect team for him to be on. The other players on the team are doing whatever they need to do to help this team to continue to dominate. Andrew Bogut is protecting the rim and grabbing rebounds like he has his whole career. Andre Iguodala is knocking down open threes and dominating on defense like he has his whole career. He's also taken to being a sixth man better than anyone who used to be a franchise player that I've ever seen. He clearly just wants to win. Shaun Livingston is still a point guard in a 6'7 players body. He has command of the second unit and he finds the open man every time. Festus Ezeli is still crushing it on defense for the second unit and he seems to have found a bit of a scoring touch lately. Mo Speights and Leandro Barbosa still play out of control at times, but they are both instant offense off the bench for a team that has a ton of offensive weapons. The only other bench player that kind of contributes is James Michael McAdoo and in his limited playing time, he hustles his ass off. That's great for an 11 or 12th man off the bench. You usually don't see a lot of hustle from guys that deep on the bench.

The main reason I'm singling out the Warriors today is, I feel like I didn't give them enough love in my preseason preview. I had them as the second best team coming into this season behind the Spurs. Time will tell, but the Warriors, right now, are far and away the best team in the NBA. They may be historically one of the greatest teams of all time if they continue to play like this. I never thought, not only would I say it, but see a team that has a chance to win as many games as the Chicago Bulls did in the 95-96 season. That was the team that went 72-10. That was unreal to watch that team play because they could've won 75 or 76 games that year. The Warriors won't win all 82 games, that's impossible, but I think they have a real chance to tie, or even surpass the Bulls team that won 72 games. Their schedule will get tougher and players will get injuries, it's a long season, but they seem to have a goal in mind. This offseason a lot of people said that they didn't earn the title, they didn't have to play all the tough teams, they faced teams with key injuries and so on and so forth. The thing that was said that really got to them, in my opinion was, that they were "lucky", and that they weren't "true" champions. First of all, that's bull shit. Any team that's won a title in any sport needs luck, be it with health of their players, bounces going their way, a player on a hot streak, any kind of luck has been involved with every champion in every sport. But saying they weren't "true" champions, that just gave a team that won 67 games and a title last year, a chip on their shoulder. Now, they don't just want to beat you, they want to destroy you. That's the killer instinct that people talk about when it comes to champions. Sure, they won last year, but they want to continue to win and they want to crush you while doing it.

I'm not a Warriors fan, I'm indifferent when it comes to the Warriors. They're a ton of fun to watch, and Steph Curry has surpassed LeBron James and Kevin Durant as the best basketball player in the world, but I'm a Thunder fan, so that's who I root for.

Oh, they are also doing this without Steve Kerr. Luke Walton has been the interim head coach while Kerr's back heals. That's crazy.

I just want to apologize to the Warriors fan base and the Warriors organization for not ranking them as the preseason number one team in the NBA. They're doing something magical right now, and this could be a historic season. Just sit back and realize when you watch the Warriors this year, you could be watching a historically great NBA team. Maybe the greatest of all time. The rest of this season will be the judge.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has seen one team go 82-0 in an NBA season, his Oklahoma City Thunder on NBA 2K13. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.