Opinion The NBA Thread

[wicksy]

Curry is playing freakish basketball to open the season. The Pelican's lack of good perimeter defence with AD often defending Curry out on the perimeter has helped with that. That extreme level of production won't continue, but this does early days look like an even better season by Curry looming which will make for an incredible viewing spectacle.



He is certainly putting up some big scoring numbers early days. It's not out of the question Griffen averages 25ppg this season which may only by position is pretty great and would based on my early guestimate be second to Anthony Davis who in New Orleans' new ridiculously fast offense where he for the first time in his career is getting utilised I have getting his average up to more like 27ppg.

With Griffin, while Harden as a still poor defender was an MVP candidate I'm just not as sure. Griffin on the offensive end is terrific as a finisher, he has learnt to shoot and he is an excellent passing big also. Just the other end of the ball is where I'm less excited about what Blake offers. While DeAndre Jordan cleans up the boards and gets all those block shots, Griffen just doesn't have any influence with his rebound numbers very ordinary by position given his size and athleticism, and the same story with his block shots being poor every season which for a guy with that athletic ability again should not be the case. So I'm not so confident Griffen wins the MVP, particularly with Golden State and OKC Thunder looking like they'll run away with the best record.

As an aside, I'm finding it interesting out West how many teams/players/coaches/owners etc hate the Clippers and more particularly this current Clippers group and just as many hating Griffen. It seems like all the teams out West, with Golden State for a few years there starting that off, and DeMarcus Cousins most recently expressing his dislike for the Clippers and Griffen.
I don't get why. But I find it interesting anyway.

Cousins is the biggest sook in the NBA.... I highly doubt he had an achilles injury yesterday... It's more likely Karl sat him out due to the amount of negative energy he was bringing to the team in the first half.

The Warriors/Clippers rivalry will be interesting to watch this year.... As a Clippers fan, I cannot stand Curry and Co and wish them all a bad case of gonorrhoea. Klay Thompson, Bogut and Speights all carry on like their Mums have been dissed (Speights is no doubt just always angry for being born with two heads). While Doc used a poor choice of words, I don't discount what he was saying.... Had the Warriors met one of the Spurs or the Clippers in the playoffs, I don't see them walking away with that ring last year.

Back on Griffen and in particular, his defense.... He tends to leak out of guaranteed Clipper rebounds for the fast break or to act as another pg, especially if Paul is on the bench. With DJ on the floor, there is no need for Blake to waste his energy going for boards or blocks. Had DJ left for Dallas (Still laughing at you Mark Cuban.... #1 Tosser award), then we'd be seeing a huge spike on the defensive end for Blake accompanied with a drop off in his offense and/or minutes.

 

[Son of Skeletor]

As an aside, I'm finding it interesting out West how many teams/players/coaches/owners etc hate the Clippers and more particularly this current Clippers group and just as many hating Griffen. It seems like all the teams out West, with Golden State for a few years there starting that off, and DeMarcus Cousins most recently expressing his dislike for the Clippers and Griffen.
I don't get why. But I find it interesting anyway.

Donald Sterling, Doc Rivers, Chris Paul, Blake Griffen, Matt Barnes, Spencer Hawes, Lance Stephenson, Austin Rivers - it ain't no secret!

DeAndre Jordan was actually one of the least disliked Clippers until he reneged on the Mavs.

Cousins is the biggest sook in the NBA.... I highly doubt he had an achilles injury yesterday... It's more likely Karl sat him out due to the amount of negative energy he was bringing to the team in the first half.

Boogie's been ruled out of the next two games, so it's pretty safe to assume his injury was legit.

While Doc used a poor choice of words, I don't discount what he was saying.... Had the Warriors met one of the Spurs or the Clippers in the playoffs, I don't see them walking away with that ring last year.

Surely you jest?

 

[wicksy]

Donald Sterling, Doc Rivers, Chris Paul, Blake Griffen, Matt Barnes, Spencer Hawes, Lance Stephenson, Austin Rivers - it ain't no secret!

DeAndre Jordan was actually one of the least disliked Clippers until he reneged on the Mavs.



Boogie's been ruled out of the next two games, so it's pretty safe to assume his injury was legit.



Surely you jest?

Why would I jest?
Clippers eliminated them the year before and the Spurs are the Spurs. The odds of them getting through would have been much lower had they played of the them.

 

[wicksy]

Surely you jest?

Just to add to this....

Regular season match up for the Warriors against teams they didn't play in the playoffs

V Spurs (1 win, 3 losses)
V Clippers (3 wins, 1 loss) (But Clippers did eliminate in round 1 the year before)

Total (4 wins, 4 losses)


Regular season match up for the Warriors against teams they did play in the playoffs

V Pelicans (3 wins, 1 loss)
V Grizzlies (2 wins, 1 loss)
V Houston (4 wins, 0 loss)

Total (9 wins, 2 losses)


I think Doc has the right to suggest that they missed the team they struggled against most during the season and the team who they have trouble against in big games (see 2014 playoffs - Round 1). It's certainly not a ridiculous statement like you seem to think it is.

As for the Clippers being the most hated team..... Good.... We thrive on it... Just like Collingwood thrives on it. Would rather a bunch of tough, antagonistic players on my team than a bunch of girls (See Kendrick Perkins).... Oh and half the people you listed are not even affiliated with the team anymore..... Donald Sterling was a c@#$ nobody liked, Matt Barnes should be locked up and Spencer Hawes is a Mongolian goat herder at the best of times. Guys like Blake & Lance get a bad wrap.... Hilarious off the court and genuine good guys.... Agree with CP and JJ... Super arrogant. DJ acted immaturely over the off season but I can tell you one thing... The only true colours we have seen from that debacle is Mark Cuban's.... Absolute f-wit of the highest order!!!


EDIT: Doc Rivers please.... Watch some pressers with him in attendance....

 

[Son of Skeletor]

Regular season match up for the Warriors against teams they didn't play in the playoffs

V Clippers (3 wins, 1 loss) (But Clippers did eliminate in round 1 the year before)

You said had the Dubs met the Spurs or the Clippers in the playoffs, then you couldn't see them winning the championship.

Based on the 2014 playoffs? When they were coached by Mark freaking Jackson? That's drawing an awfully long bow...

I think Doc has the right to suggest that they missed the team they struggled against most during the season and the team who they have trouble against in big games (see 2014 playoffs - Round 1). It's certainly not a ridiculous statement like you seem to think it is.

I read Doc's entire quote when it was published. The general gist of it was that the Clips only lost to the Rockets because they didn't take them seriously.

Doc plz.

As for the Clippers being the most hated team..... Good.... We thrive on it... Just like Collingwood thrives on it. Would rather a bunch of tough, antagonistic players on my team than a bunch of girls (See Kendrick Perkins)....

Kendrick Perkins? What's he got to do with anything?

Oh and half the people you listed are not even affiliated with the team anymore..... Donald Sterling was a c@#$ nobody liked, Matt Barnes should be locked up and Spencer Hawes is a Mongolian goat herder at the best of times. Guys like Blake & Lance get a bad wrap.... Hilarious off the court and genuine good guys.... Agree with CP and JJ... Super arrogant. DJ acted immaturely over the off season but I can tell you one thing... The only true colours we have seen from that debacle is Mark Cuban's.... Absolute f-wit of the highest order!!!

I know who's on the team now - Knightmare was wondering why the Clips have antagonized so many teams in recent times, and I think that list of names is pretty self-explanatory.

Lance gets a bad rap because he pushes women down staircases and bailed on the team who gave him his chance, ostensibly due to the fact that he believed he deserved to be paid like a superstar. Agreed that Griff is a pretty funny bloke, but he does some stuff that gets up opposition noses.

As for the DeAndre debacle... Cuban is far from beloved in the NBA, but he had near universal sympathy in that particular instance.

EDIT: Doc Rivers please.... Watch some pressers with him in attendance....

 

[SApies]

Wheres the best place to buy NBA tickets? I'm heading over in March. Also is there a travel thread on here? Had a suss but couldn't find anything. Cheers!

 

[Knightmare]

Wheres the best place to buy NBA tickets? I'm heading over in March. Also is there a travel thread on here? Had a suss but couldn't find anything. Cheers!

For NBA tickets I believe this is where you should be looking: http://nbatickets.nba.com/

It's the only place that seems official in their selling of the tickets.

 

[SApies]

For NBA tickets I believe this is where you should be looking: http://nbatickets.nba.com/

It's the only place that seems official in their selling of the tickets.

Thanks mate, I did see that. Not worth risking other sites I guess!

 

[wicksy]

Doc Rivers..... All time good guy!!

 

[Son of Skeletor]

Doc Rivers..... All time good guy!!

 

[nahnah]

Not many good teams this season, Cavs are in cruise control. Bring on the rematch of last years finals, hopefully cavs can be the healthy team this time.

Nice to see Curry struggle the other day.. He is human.

 

[Knightmare]

Not many good teams this season, Cavs are in cruise control. Bring on the rematch of last years finals, hopefully cavs can be the healthy team this time.

Nice to see Curry struggle the other day.. He is human.

v the Kings and to a lesser extent Detroit in today's game Curry's play has normalised after that ridiculous and historically great start.

With Steph Curry. And you have to ask the same of LeBron. Would those guys all things said and done make an All-time NBA team?

LeBron with his minutes and assumed longevity at small forward may go down as the best ever at his position and is while probably not yet there well in that discussion and already on current achievements has a case.

Curry at the point I'd also probably push for even over Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson at the point, not that Steph has accomplished nearly as much as either yet, and he probably never does from an overall statistical standpoint, but he may well all things said and done do more for his team towards winning. Curry with the dynamic he brings with his 3 point shooting at that frequency and with the percentages he hits with. Have Wilt and MJ in that same offense, and Curry along those guys would murder teams.

If I'm to theoretically pick a rotation (lets say of 8 for some playoff style realism) that would for a pickup game beat anyone I'd go with:
C: Wilt
PF: Bill Russell
SF: LBJ
SG: MJ
PG: Steph Curry
6th man: Kareem
Role players: Oscar Robertson and Kevin Durant.

I'd from an all-time perspective advocate Elgin Baylor and Larry Bird over Durant given Durant is still young. But in the 3pt shooting era, and with Durant scoring as extremely highly and easily as he does, even with Westbrook taking most of the shots. I'd probably take KD for floor spacing to give Wilt and Kareem off the bench the chance to maximise their damage down low and for MJ to have his driving lanes.

 

[nahnah]

take warriors out of the west and the west have a terrible record

 

[the mighty T]

Thanks mate, I did see that. Not worth risking other sites I guess!

If you haven't already picked up tickets, stubhub is as legit as it gets. Bought tickets for three games when I was going over in 2013, went down perfectly.

 

[wicksy]

take warriors out of the west and the west have a terrible record

Weird start to the season.... Especially for the Houston/LAC fans....

 

[SApies]

If you haven't already picked up tickets, stubhub is as legit as it gets. Bought tickets for three games when I was going over in 2013, went down perfectly.

Nice! Heaps cheaper too. Thanks, will be purchasing from there.

 

[nahnah]

Kyrie is incredibly gifted, as soon as it's the fourth qtr you know he is going to get bucket after bucket

 

[Knightmare]

Kyrie is incredibly gifted, as soon as it's the fourth qtr you know he is going to get bucket after bucket

Kyrie has only played the 7 games and if you look at what he has done in a vacuum to this point it's hard to take anything away from what he is doing and that happens in limited minutes.

His points per 36 are better given he is shooting 5 more shots per 36min. But then his 3pt% is way down at 24% which isn't Kyrie-like at all.

It will be interesting to see how the Cavs go with Irving back over the next month.

Nice 4th quarter by Kyrie though. No question.

 

[nahnah]

Kyrie has only played the 7 games and if you look at what he has done in a vacuum to this point it's hard to take anything away from what he is doing and that happens in limited minutes.

His points per 36 are better given he is shooting 5 more shots per 36min. But then his 3pt% is way down at 24% which isn't Kyrie-like at all.

It will be interesting to see how the Cavs go with Irving back over the next month.

Nice 4th quarter by Kyrie though. No question.

thats the thing, he has torched both Wall and Lowry(his two biggest rivals in the east) in consecutive games and one of his main weapons, his three point shot, has been missing. His 4th qtr stats in both those games have been insane. Hes shot over 60% in both games. At 23 i thought this would be the season he really rockets into elite bracket but the injuries kind of hampered that.. from this albeit small sample i think he is getting closer. Right now he's the number 1 option in the 4th quarter over Lebron.

As a team thing I wonder what exactly the plan for Love is... He's 4th option on offense atm and he provides no help defense and barley any rim protection. I just don't know what they're going to do with him.

 

[Knightmare]

thats the thing, he has torched both Wall and Lowry(his two biggest rivals in the east) in consecutive games and one of his main weapons, his three point shot, has been missing. His 4th qtr stats in both those games have been insane. Hes shot over 60% in both games. At 23 i thought this would be the season he really rockets into elite bracket but the injuries kind of hampered that.. from this albeit small sample i think he is getting closer. Right now he's the number 1 option in the 4th quarter over Lebron.

As a team thing I wonder what exactly the plan for Love is... He's 4th option on offense atm and he provides no help defense and barley any rim protection. I just don't know what they're going to do with him.

Love is the third highest ppg and points per 36min scorer so who is the third option ahead of Love? I would certainly consider Love the third option on offense. He is 5ppg ahead of JR Smith and Mo Williams, also leading them both in PPG PER 36min.

In saying that. Love hasn't fit well with the Cavs overall, and that has come as a surprise to many as the assumption was that LeBron would play best with floor spacers allowing him to drive to the rim or kick it out to the 3pt shooters on offense. The problem with having LeBron and Love is, with LeBron, bigs don't get the ball (see Bosh in Miami). So having a volume shooting/scoring big becomes redundant.

The optimal power forward to pair with LeBron not that the Cavs can get him, but Anthony Davis stylistically is the more ideal fit as someone who runs the floor, plays excellent defence and plays without the ball and doesn't need many touches on offense to be effective. Kenneth Faried and Tristian Thompson also are other suitable power forwards to pair with LeBron given this relative style of play as guys who on offense just finish on lobs at the rim and make their living on the offensive boards.

Love I break down as having the inside/outside scoring ability. Excellent rebounder and maybe after Drummond has the case of being the next best rebounder in the game, or being amongst that top group certainly. Excellent passer for a big. But then on the flipside as you identified he is poor on defence given his lack of length or athleticism. The key with Love to be effective is to give him a lot of touches on offense and while LeBron is doing better to adjust to Love this year and give him more touches. Simply playing with LeBron he still won't ever get as many touches as he needs. So overall he would be better suited on a team with less scorers so that he can get his touches, as well as a defensive Centre such as a Ruby Gobert, Hassan Whiteside or a similarly high level long defensive big to make up for Love's inadequacies.

What interests me with the Cavs is who the Haywood $10.5 trade exception and M.Miller 2.8m exception can be used on. And then if anyone gets bought out whether the Cavs can get in on that action.
Jeff Green would be a good candidate for that Haywood trade exception if Memphis are willing to trade him for future picks and similarly a Trevor Ariza from Houston or Corey Brewer in a similar kind of deal, depending on where their records are at, at the trade deadline. Maybe Varajao, Kaun and J.Harris can be moved for Tyson Chandler to pair Love with someone who fits more suitably alongside both he and LeBron for some better rim defence and high % shots at the rim. Then maybe a Joe Johnson is bought out and maybe the Cavs have a shot at him.

I see the Cavs even with Kyrie back as still clearly worse than Golden State and San Antonio so it will be interesting to see whether that ground can be made up with a few moves such as these. It's less a talent gap and more a chemistry gap, so the hope would be that more talent could overcome that really natural chemistry Golden State and San Antonio both have.

 

[wicksy]

Knightmare I'd like to renew a debate we had last year RE: JJ Redick being good enough to be a starter.

Currently averaging 16 points a game going at .490 FG% (.492 2P% and .488 3P%) and has won the Clippers at least 3-4 games by himself during the Blake Griffin injury period.

Just on a side note, what do you think the Clippers will do with Lance and J-Smoove? I have loved Lance's energy so far but Doc just doesn't seem to trust him. Smith has been a disaster. Disgusting, pig of a man who cannot play the game of basketball to save himself.

On another side note, Cole Aldrich.... Impressed!!

 

[Knightmare]

Knightmare I'd like to renew a debate we had last year RE: JJ Redick being good enough to be a starter.

Currently averaging 16 points a game going at .490 FG% (.492 2P% and .488 3P%) and has won the Clippers at least 3-4 games by himself during the Blake Griffin injury period.

Just on a side note, what do you think the Clippers will do with Lance and J-Smoove? I have loved Lance's energy so far but Doc just doesn't seem to trust him. Smith has been a disaster. Disgusting, pig of a man who cannot play the game of basketball to save himself.

On another side note, Cole Aldrich.... Impressed!!

This season with Redick I am willing to concede that he is playing like a starter. It helps having CP3, Griffen who is a great passer by position then Griffen and Jordan both are threats at the rim, so there is plenty of space for Redick and easy opportunities. But with his percentages and making a high enough total number of 3s I'll this year consider Redick to be of starting quality.

As for Stephenson and Smith. There are several things that could be done, and I expect it will depend on the teams record by the trade deadline and whether the team thing that they can contend.

If the Clippers feel they're out of contention and just want to salary dump both, seeing them as distractions, or just not being able to move either in a suitable deal. It would be pretty easy for Cleveland to offer the trade exceptions for Haywood and Miller to take both of your hands.

For an actual trade getting something back. Maybe Indiana given they're the only team to have had any success with Stephenson. They have so many combo guards that maybe they consider a trade of Monta Ellis for Stephenson and Smith. Ellis's scoring numbers are down this year, and it seems mostly due to just not being a good fit, so he may be someone who could be had if a pick is added. Otherwise of the two it's just Smith I see as being pretty movable with an OKC, Cleveland, Miami or Houston some teams I could see as willing to trade for him in exchange for one of their reserves on a minimum contract. Amare Stoudemire, Jason Terry, Gerald Green or Marcus Thornton would be about as good as I could see the Clippers doing with Smith in the situation that one of these teams has a particular interest in Smith.

Why so extremely down on Smith? His FG% is poor and he jacks up 3s he shouldn't but is there a problem further to this with Smith this year? His blocks, steals and rebounds per 36min are all strong and without having watched much of the Clippers this year I would have considered him to be underutilised (feel free to educate me no what Smith is doing/not doing as I just haven't been watching the Clippers this year given the teams poor record).

 

[nahnah]

Love is the third highest ppg and points per 36min scorer so who is the third option ahead of Love? I would certainly consider Love the third option on offense. He is 5ppg ahead of JR Smith and Mo Williams, also leading them both in PPG PER 36min.

In saying that. Love hasn't fit well with the Cavs overall, and that has come as a surprise to many as the assumption was that LeBron would play best with floor spacers allowing him to drive to the rim or kick it out to the 3pt shooters on offense. The problem with having LeBron and Love is, with LeBron, bigs don't get the ball (see Bosh in Miami). So having a volume shooting/scoring big becomes redundant.

The optimal power forward to pair with LeBron not that the Cavs can get him, but Anthony Davis stylistically is the more ideal fit as someone who runs the floor, plays excellent defence and plays without the ball and doesn't need many touches on offense to be effective. Kenneth Faried and Tristian Thompson also are other suitable power forwards to pair with LeBron given this relative style of play as guys who on offense just finish on lobs at the rim and make their living on the offensive boards.

Love I break down as having the inside/outside scoring ability. Excellent rebounder and maybe after Drummond has the case of being the next best rebounder in the game, or being amongst that top group certainly. Excellent passer for a big. But then on the flipside as you identified he is poor on defence given his lack of length or athleticism. The key with Love to be effective is to give him a lot of touches on offense and while LeBron is doing better to adjust to Love this year and give him more touches. Simply playing with LeBron he still won't ever get as many touches as he needs. So overall he would be better suited on a team with less scorers so that he can get his touches, as well as a defensive Centre such as a Ruby Gobert, Hassan Whiteside or a similarly high level long defensive big to make up for Love's inadequacies.

What interests me with the Cavs is who the Haywood $10.5 trade exception and M.Miller 2.8m exception can be used on. And then if anyone gets bought out whether the Cavs can get in on that action.
Jeff Green would be a good candidate for that Haywood trade exception if Memphis are willing to trade him for future picks and similarly a Trevor Ariza from Houston or Corey Brewer in a similar kind of deal, depending on where their records are at, at the trade deadline. Maybe Varajao, Kaun and J.Harris can be moved for Tyson Chandler to pair Love with someone who fits more suitably alongside both he and LeBron for some better rim defence and high % shots at the rim. Then maybe a Joe Johnson is bought out and maybe the Cavs have a shot at him.

I see the Cavs even with Kyrie back as still clearly worse than Golden State and San Antonio so it will be interesting to see whether that ground can be made up with a few moves such as these. It's less a talent gap and more a chemistry gap, so the hope would be that more talent could overcome that really natural chemistry Golden State and San Antonio both have.

Do you have the stats on love vs JR since Kyrie has been back? Just seems like JR seems to take a lot more shots with Kyrie out there as his man gets sucked into helping which leaves JR free.
I'm not sure about San Antonio being better than the cavs, the match up is next week so we will see how it goes.
Does Varejao have a no trade Claus? I feel he would for some reason. J Harris is done for the season so he might he very hard to move now.
This obsession with small ball (and bad play, inability to catch the ball) has made Mozgov redundant so I'm not sure trading for Chandler would help much.

 

[nahnah]

This season with Redick I am willing to concede that he is playing like a starter. It helps having CP3, Griffen who is a great passer by position then Griffen and Jordan both are threats at the rim, so there is plenty of space for Redick and easy opportunities. But with his percentages and making a high enough total number of 3s I'll this year consider Redick to be of starting quality.

As for Stephenson and Smith. There are several things that could be done, and I expect it will depend on the teams record by the trade deadline and whether the team thing that they can contend.

If the Clippers feel they're out of contention and just want to salary dump both, seeing them as distractions, or just not being able to move either in a suitable deal. It would be pretty easy for Cleveland to offer the trade exceptions for Haywood and Miller to take both of your hands.

For an actual trade getting something back. Maybe Indiana given they're the only team to have had any success with Stephenson. They have so many combo guards that maybe they consider a trade of Monta Ellis for Stephenson and Smith. Ellis's scoring numbers are down this year, and it seems mostly due to just not being a good fit, so he may be someone who could be had if a pick is added. Otherwise of the two it's just Smith I see as being pretty movable with an OKC, Cleveland, Miami or Houston some teams I could see as willing to trade for him in exchange for one of their reserves on a minimum contract. Amare Stoudemire, Jason Terry, Gerald Green or Marcus Thornton would be about as good as I could see the Clippers doing with Smith in the situation that one of these teams has a particular interest in Smith.

Why so extremely down on Smith? His FG% is poor and he jacks up 3s he shouldn't but is there a problem further to this with Smith this year? His blocks, steals and rebounds per 36min are all strong and without having watched much of the Clippers this year I would have considered him to be underutilised (feel free to educate me no what Smith is doing/not doing as I just haven't been watching the Clippers this year given the teams poor record).

Lance and Lebron on the same team??
Pls no Josh Smith, it's taken me this long to warm to JR..
Blatts got a rotation he likes, I don't see any real need for the cavs to trade unless it is purely to dump Harris contract now that they've guarenteed Cunninghams

 

[Knightmare]

Do you have the stats on love vs JR since Kyrie has been back? Just seems like JR seems to take a lot more shots with Kyrie out there as his man gets sucked into helping which leaves JR free.
I'm not sure about San Antonio being better than the cavs, the match up is next week so we will see how it goes.
Does Varejao have a no trade Claus? I feel he would for some reason. J Harris is done for the season so he might he very hard to move now.
This obsession with small ball (and bad play, inability to catch the ball) has made Mozgov redundant so I'm not sure trading for Chandler would help much.

I've only looked at the stats on the season but given Kyrie has not played full minutes it's probably too early to break down that small segment of the season at this stage.

San Antonio are playing great basketball and as a neutral fan they look like the only team at this stage I see contending with Golden State and on their level. Both are not just finals quality teams but championship quality teams who would beat most champions most years. San Antonio's defense is otherworldly this year. They've got two of the best bigs in the game and Aldridge is actually playing good defense. Kawhi Leonard is hitting nearly 50% of his 3pt attempts and is scoring overall while efficiently also at a high volume which is incredible for such an elite defensive player. Manu is better than last season, Parker is efficient in the limited shots he takes. David West was a good addition. Boban Marjanovic I've loved in the limited minutes he has received and Jonathan Simmons as a spark plug off the bench also has been seriously good. About the only guy who isn't impressing me for the Spurs is Danny Green who is in a scoring slump and not hitting his 3pt shots efficiently as he has these past four seasons, but given what he has done in the past if he improves the Spurs may be able to knock Golden State off with their 3pt defence the best in the NBA.

I'm not aware of Varejao having a no trade clause and I don't see why he would as he is not a super max player as say Kobe is or KG was.

Mozgov could be pretty easily moved with the demand seemingly there from teams.

I can't say with Chandler specifically that he would be a liability in a small ball game, he or someone of equal or better ability by position is in my view a need if the Cavs want to win the chip. If everyone plays small ball Golden State will beat anyone anyway as they early season when I checked about 50 points per possession better than their opponents last time I looked when they have Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Barnes and Green on the court together.

The keys with Chandler are on defence he covers for guys and makes you better as a team. Excellent rim protector as a guy who puts his hands up and makes shots hard without fouling, proves help defence as required and is one of the rare coordinators of a defence which just to accommodate Love is necessary anyway. Excellent rebounder. So on the defensive end he makes any team significantly better as still probably a best five in the NBA defensive center. Then on offense he doesn't need his touches (which with Kyrie and LeBron who are so ball dominant and will only pass it to perimeter players) and Love needing touches, Chandler is that optimal fit as someone who will get his points from offensive rebounds, put backs and off lob passes or other junk shots at the rim. He could easily start ahead of Tristian Thompson as an upgrade to that starting group and Thompson can be that 6th man as that big who gets the backup minutes at PF/C whenever Chandler/Love need a breather.

The Cavs overall have a feel a lot like the Thunder where there are too many volume scorers who need the volume of shots in LeBron, Kyrie and Love. Then JR Smith needs his shots. And it's the same at the Thunder with Durant and Westbrook firstly not an ideal fit with both needing more shots than they can get from one another, then they've got Kanter, Ibaka, Waiters, Morrow etc who need there shots, so the chemistry is in both situations so hard to build because there just isn't that natural flow/unselfishness on offense with guys not getting the right number of shots to get into that optimal rhythm based on what they need to be effective. On both teams offensively there are so many players I like, but just not in combination, so ideally both teams have their rosters shaken up, as it's too much iso and hero ball stuff with those teams in contrast to the Warriors and Spurs who share the ball masterfully. But with stars it seldom do these big trades happen.