Feels like the answer is never someone who already has one so it’s between guys like Tatum/Luka/Embiid/Booker/SGA
Out of that group I’d probably go with Tatum because of how stacked the Celtics are overall and how many near misses they’ve had(could also see Embiid but I don’t think anyone truly sees the Sixers roster as championship caliber or actually expects them to win this year)
It’s gotta either be the Suns crew or Dame
Nikola Jokic
Should be the Celtics underachieving asses.
SGA is under no pressure to win a ring this year wtf lol
Steph, since he still hasn’t earned a real championship somehow
Dame obviously. The younger players still have time.
tatum - make deep playoff runs every year, made 2022 finals, roster got better they should win
booker - got kd and beal after a finals run
I like Tatum as a player/person, but one of the only hot takes I’ve ever made is that Tatum ain’t winning a chip until after 30 when he joins a super team. I still stand by it. I don’t see a killer in him when he needs to be.
i like him too so its no hate but i can very well see that happening. seeing him shoot his team out of games in the finals when he shouldve been taking over, was all i needed to see.
Booker is no #1 in a Championship Team, so the expectation is a bit unfair.
Probably Dame.
I would say Harden but in terms of him throwing a temper tantrum to get his way and go to a winning team that ship sailed a few iterations ago.
Dame wins a chip and he jumps to the next level in terms of legacy, right now he’s kinda in that Clyde Drexler / Dominique Wilkins / Tracy McGrady Tier.
This is an insult to Clyde Drexler
Clyde won a title with Houston in 95 and was 3rd team All NBA that year.
I knew I’d miss something like that! I always forget he was a Rocket.
Played for university of Houston too ❤️
I want to say Tatum, but I’m not 100% sure they are actually better, just different. I love the KP move, but they lost Smart in order to do it. Getting Jrue sounded solid, but they gave up an All-Defense level big (and are now counting on Kornet for those minutes) and the 6MOTY. They also lost Grant Williams for nothing.
The Celtics sure are paying a lot of money for their team, but they might have overthought their moves this offseason.
KP is legit playing like a all NBA player this year love Smart but he don’t come close to the impact Porzingis have offensively. Trading Jrue for Timelord and Brogdon was also easy considering Rob is out for the year and the defense is even better then last year. I don’t know how anybody can still think that the Celtics made the wrong move when so far both Jrue and Porzingis been positives
Shouldn’t the Clippers as a whole be feeling some of this pressure?
When you assemble a team like that surely the expectation has to be ring or bust?
Honestly I don’t think so
It feels like their window closed a while back - they were a genuine contender for a while, but at this point I don’t think anyone should expect them to win after all the injuries and team composition now
No1 really expects anything other than a 2nd round exit from LAC
That’s pretty much been the expectation since kawhi and pg teamed up
I agree. The Clippers low key have a superteam. Their 3 stars should feel the pressure.
All those guys are aging, especially Westbrick and Thick Ross. Everyone putting ‘ring or bust’ on that team is trapped in 2019
How funny would it be if OKC/Clippers squared off in the playoffs and OKC end up with winning.
Tbh not far out of the realm of possibility.
Sign me up.
if you just look at the names in isolation, yep they should feel pressure but there is nothing there below the surface it appears. so far there have been fit issues between the big 4, harden is no longer a scorer and it seems kawhi has kind of lost a step too (too early but he’s been too on and off)
It’s true that I don’t think the Clippers have any kind of realistic title shot (they may not even make the playoffs this year). However, Ballmer is really backed into a corner with this team of his, being way over the 2nd apron, having no picks left to trade this decade, and having all of his “big 4” players being free agents next summer. Is he just going to walk away from all of those players and open the new arena with a shitty team built around Mann, Hyland and Zubac? Ballmer needs to start seeing some returns for all these billions he’s spent on this team, because his alternatives to this team winning are really, really dire.
Why does he need to see returns? Isn’t he like 100 billionaire lol
Why do you think he bought the Clippers? Cause he’s a lifelong Clippers fan? As an investment? No. He bought them as a vanity project. If he spends more money than anyone in the league and his team is dogshit, that’s not doing anything for his ego.
Do you really need to have it explained why a sports team owner wants to see his team win?
Harden was a desperation move.
Like the Lakers bringing in Westbrook… everybody except LeBron knew that made the team worse off from the start.
Clippers are just swinging for the fences now.
Maybe people will not respect a superteam championship
People talk about this, but reality is no one cares but some nerds online.
Fans still celebrate, rings are given, nothing changes.
Yea. I’ve been saying this. With the Nets going down in flames, the Clippers should have been facing the same, or even more, scrutiny l
They should, but between Kawhi’s incurable injury, PG’s podcast, an aging roster and West being a bloodbath, they also need to be realistic.
Lmao I like how u listed PG’s podcast as a reason they’re not playing well haha
It’s funny because he’s the most consistent thing about the team.
Yes this is the answer
i don’t know. I think people call them dark horse contenders just to make the Clippers feel better about the failures of the Kawhi era.
I think they have 0% chance to win it all. No way they can stay healthy all the way through while also managing to avoid playing any teams with legit big men.
Jayson Tatum maybe? Kevin Durant? Maybe Harden and Lillard but both are in their first years at new franchises.
why Durant? He already has a couple of rings.
Everyone knows those rings don’t mean anything lol
0 rings as the main guy for arguably a top 10 player of all time though
Durant
Lillard, with all the stuff in the off season, if they fall short he will be a laughing stock
Tatum
Embiid
Lillard
Harden
Westbrook
100% dame