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By Liam Day
The NBA has been growing quickly in popularity surpassing the NFL. The one problem fans see with the NBA is the Stacked, Golden State Warriors. After finishing an NBA record, 73-win season, the long-time underdog signed a top five player in Kevin Durant. While some fans at first were interested to see how the team would play, the pure dominance of the team over everyone in the NBA has turned them into a villain. Now, on Wednesday January 31st, LeBron James announced that he is opened to contract negotiations with this rival team this coming off season. I unlike most every basketball fan in the world, am not taking this seriously at all. One of the most obvious reasons that this deal will NEVER happen is money, is because of money. If the Golden State Warriors decided to try and sign LeBron James, they would have to offer him a max contract which they have already invested in Steph Curry. NBA fan at GHS Mohith Konduru said, “LeBron needs to go to 76ers, no one in the East could compete. “As Curry has just signed his 200 million dollar contract, his cannot be negotiated, but Kevin Durant’s can. To afford LeBron, the Warriors would have to release All-Star Klay Thompson to save cap space, also they would have to ask Durant to take ANOTHER pay cut after taking a huge one last season to give Steph Curry his max contract. The NBA does not allow any team to exceed a $129 million tax limit. Without the signing of LeBron, Golden State’s projected tax is $123 million dollars. This shows that the Warriors have no room for the King in Golden State. They would be selfish to ask the former MVP Kevin Durant to take another pay cut after he took one for the team in 2017. LeBron James has imprinted his name on the list of all-time NBA greats already. Taking the easy way out to win titles known as the “Kevin Durant road” would ruin his legacy forever. James has experience with taking backlash from fans when he left Cleveland originally to go the Miami Heat to join Dwyane Wade. ESPN reporter Stephen A. Smith went off, “If you even THINK of going to the Golden State Warriors, your legacy is tarnished forever.” Some people are curious to see how this absolute super-squad would play. Could they go 82-0? Sophomore at Glenelg, Ryan Cauley said, “If LeBron goes to Golden State I’m going be a Warriors fan.” The NBA would basically lose all interest because there would be no competition. All NBA fans and people at GHS have erupted at LeBron for even announcing this not even thinking about how it would be possible. Although it seems like every single player in the NBA is out for money and an easy ring, LeBron James would never go to Golden State. Without a doubt, the Warriors would become an absolute All-Star team with LeBron. However, purely being able to afford him, and losing the respect of the NBA keeps the Warriors from even wanted to add the “King of Basketball” to their squad. LeBron James is on the path of chasing Jordan and taking a road like this would simply ruin his career. By Reagan Ahlquist & Garrett Athey
Over the past decade, the Washington Redskins have been in search for a franchise quarterback to lead the team. At times, the organization had all the parts of a good team filled, except for a defining quarterback. The franchise thought they had their leader in Robert Griffin III, the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner. The team drafted him in the first round and Griffin led the team to the playoffs in his first year, but never repeated the success in the following years. After Griffin, the team thought another draft pick, Kirk Cousins, was destined to lead the team to victory. Cousins led the Redskins to the playoffs in 2015, but could never do it again. Many fans questioned whether the team should move on from Cousins or keep him and see if he could repeat the success of that 2015 season. But now, the Redskins think they have their missing puzzle piece after entering a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Redskins recieve Pro Bowl quarterback Alex Smith from the Chiefs in exchange for a third round draft pick and cornerback Kendall Fuller. Smith is coming off the best season of his career and is getting a four year contract from the Redskins with $71 million guaranteed. Washington fans have mixed feelings about the trade. Some are thrilled with the addition of an experienced quarterback who is a proven winner. Others were satisfied with Kirk Cousins and hate to see star cornerback Kendall Fuller leave the team. As a Redskins fans we find the trade to be a poor decision. When we had first heard of the trade we was all for it; we thought that Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen had a plan for once. We thought we would trade a late pick for Alex Smith and then draft a rookie quarterback and let him sit the bench for a year as he developed. Then Alex Smith would retire or leave and then the Redskins have their quarterback of the future. But having a logical plan for the future is not the Redskins way, instead we give Smith an extension until he is 38 years old. Not only does Washington have Smith until he is an old man, but they traded away a third round pick and Kendall Fuller. We could live with a third round pick, but trading away Kendall Fuller was idiotic. Kendall Fuller was rated the top slot corner in the league by Bleacher Report, and he led the league in least amount of yards allowed per reception. Fuller was arguably the best defender for the Redskins this season, and now he is on the Kansas City Chiefs. We am not the only person that shares this opinion about the trade. Glenelg students, like Senior Glenn Brown, who said, “It was an awful trade because Alex Smith is getting old and they paid him for the next four years and let go of one of the top slot corners in the league.” Brown has the same opinion about the trade as me and for the right reasons because the Redskins are not thinking about their future. Other people have different opinions of this trade though. Glenelg Senior, Andrew Considine, said, “It was a good trade because the Redskins would have had to franchise tag Cousins and it would have been worth over thirty million a year and nobody is worth that”. We do agree that paying Cousins that much money would be unwise and damaging to the franchise. Cousins will most likely get the biggest offseason deal in NFL history, and the Redskins do not have to break the bank to get him anymore. But to replace him with a quarterback who will be with the team until he is thirty-eight is not the right plan. And to trade away a valuable defensive player was not worth it. The Redskins would of been better off signing a cheap veteran, or using Colt McCoy, the backup quarterback, for the year and draft a rookie and let him sit and develop for the future. As fans, we only hope this trade does not damage the franchise too bad. |
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December 2024
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