If the Lakers can't get enough cap space to sign a max then if don't sign any more long term contracts they will have 30M next offseason due to the cap increase. AD can take in his full trade kicker this year. Lakers can spread the money on 3 good veterans on 1 year deals. Danny Green, Darren Collison, and Seth Curry. And add Boban Marjanovic as the MLE and Ariza's old ass for the veterans minimum. PG: Collison, Caruso, Bonga SG: Green, Curry SF: LeBron, Jemmario PF: Kuzma, Ariza C: AD, Boban, Wagner Next season they give the max to Ben Simmons or Joe Harris or whomever is worthy to take over for LeBron eventually. Then match whatever Kuzma gets offered as a RFA and you are set.
good to hear i'm not the only one here that just lost interest more or less something i don't hear much is how there really isn't any back to the basket type of players for the most part sure there's a couple of guys that still have moves but nothing like the Worthy's or Erving's of the past those spin moves down low were insane and you had a lot more blocked shots i think w so many guys able to hit 3's now the 2 pt shot is just not worth the effort pretty sure it comes down to the math just like launch angles but it makes the game boring and the fouling at the end of games until there is zero chance of coming back, yeah that's so awesome definitely need to do something to change it from 3 pt drive and dish malaise i mean do you ever see a guy hit a 3 and say "WOW that was amazing?" ok sometimes but not very often
Sometimes. But I'm pretty sure no one in their right mind has ever said, "Wow, James Harden made another free throw. That was amazing!"
But that is Houston’s game, which is why Houston is the team everyone loves to hate. If the Lakers can solidify the roster around AD and Lebron, that team will play much differently than GS and Houston. In fact, remove Draymond and Klay, and GS does become a defensive liability. It’s something that the Lakers can now exploit with Klay down a year (and depending how he recovers from his ACL).
I must be getting old, because dont i dont even want Kawhi or another superstar. Something about the "superteam era" just rubs me the wrong way. I'd rather just spread the money around and do it the harder way. It would make it much more satisfying. Maybe I'm just crazy:crazy:
You have to realize that at least in the era I watched BB ball, there were significantly less teams. Each team was a “super team”. The Lakers had Jerry West, Chamberlin, Baylor....Kareem, Magic, Worthy....McHale, Parrish, Bird....Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Kerr....these were all super teams too, but because talent was concentrated into a smaller number of teams, you didn’t have 5 year finals runs. This is the definition of recency bias. Strategy changes, the game changes, the league changes, the teams change. That’s what it’s all about. Right now, you need 3 stars minimum to have a chance. That’s just reality, but 3 years from now you may have a Bucks dynasty. That’s just how sports evolve and change.
Doing it with homegrown talent/picks would have been most satisfying. But can't say that I blame them for trading for AD.
If they don't change how the game is officiated, you may only need one really good 1-on-1 player and a couple shooters.
Crazy it is. Lol You're not alone though. Because if Jerry West had landed AD and Kawhi for the Clippers there would be a long, loooooooong line of disappointed LAL fans complaining about West not making power moves for the Lakers. None of this stuff actually matters. Draft the team, trade the team, etc. The parade is going to be the same either way. LAL's now 1 title behind Boston. Time to leave those suckers in the dust. No 30 year title wait on Figueroa
Lakers Nation@LakersNation Lakers reportedly interested in Derrick Favors if Jazz do decline team option. @fsudog21 your frontcourt energy guy Favors would make some sense, solid defensive/energy big similar to Tristan Thompson, could help keep AD fresh and fill in for big minutes when AD inevitably misses a few games.
Rondo wants to return, probably because nobody else will take him. Beverley will meet with the Lakers and a handful of other teams before meeting with the Clippers
Toronto won this year with 1 star Also there will be no 3 star teams next year so with Durant probably ly leaving, there will be no 3 superstar teams in the near future. I guess that could be a good reason to get Kawhi though.
Klay is returning next season. And when he does..Curry-Klay-Dray. 1-2-3. And if they re-sign Cousins, potentially 4 depending on what kind of shape he's in. Philly's also potentially bringing Jimmy back, so they'd have 3 stars. And obviously, Toronto barely got past Philly in that Game 7. Can make the argument that Embiid being sick half the series is why Toronto eventually advanced. And Toronto loses in the Finals if Klay is healthy..loses in 5 if Durant and Klay are both healthy. Can't let this year's circumstances blind you. If I'm the Warriors I still feel like we're undefeated in the Finals when healthy and guys aren't getting suspended for stupidity ( Draymond/2016). There's really no reality in which the Lakers should not try to land Kawhi to go with LeBron/AD. They just lost LeBron for 17 games and saw that reality + AD has had his battles with health. They need every big gun in order to do what they're known to do historically, which is win titles in clusters. This is no tea party, where everyone at the table is trying to play nice and romanticizing about organic team building. Glad Jeanie didn't stand in the way, and that she let this happen. She wants to be like her dad, well, he would've been all over AD. No extra points given for building organically..no asterisk on the championship banner, none of that. You build with the tools afforded to you and take advantage when the opportunity presents itself. Novel concept. No different than the Warriors having won a championship before winning 73 games, and yet still deciding to recruit the hell out of Durant to join them anyway. The Warriors capitalized on their situation. Just like Dr. Buss capitalized when guys like Bob McAdoo and Mychal Thompson were available to bolster his superteam. Overwhelming majority of LAL fans are hoping for a Big 3 that can show GSW how to complete a 3peat. Somebody has to win championships for the city of Los Angeles..it's usually the Lakers..damn sure won't be the Dodgers, who consistently fail to take advantage when great opportunities arise in the offseason. The Dodgers' drought hasn't happened by chance..Justin Verlander was right there..practically begging to be a Dodger, but nope. Dodger fans get to live out their dreams rooting for the Lakers, TBH. Staples is where the magic happens. Facts.
Favors is a good defender, just think if you only have 24 million to spend he’s not worth 40% of that when he won’t be on the court in big moments
Moe was trending last night. They found a racist tweet that he liked. He may be gone anyway. If the trade is completed on the 6th and AD decides to waive his trade bonus, they'll be a Wagner/Bonga trade away from $31M in space regardless..close enough to the max figure that Kawhi starts at. Even if they only have $24M in cap space ( still not a certainty), even if he takes 40% of that $24M, the fact that AD deals with the injury bug and isn't really a true banger inside is likely why they continue to covet Favors. They'd still have another $12-14M to spend + the room exception @ $4M to continue to add the solid/experienced role players. And of course, infinite vet minimum candidates. Shouldn't be that hard this time around with AD aboard.
So 1 day after Cris Carter ( same agent as Kawhi) reports that Kawhi will meet with the Lakers, here comes analyst Adrian " ESPN Don King " Wojnarowski saying Kawhi may not even sit down with the Lakers. Woj really has been shit since joining ESPN and taking on the analyst role, at least when it comes to Laker business. " LeBron is a long shot to join the Lakers " *LeBron signs with the Lakers* " Lakers don't have the pieces to get a Davis trade done. " *Lakers trade for Anthony Davis* Anthony F. Irwin@AnthonyIrwinLA 25m A few things: - Woj doesn’t mention sourcing. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t have it, but it threw up a red flag to me - Instead he goes into reasoning for his stance, which usually signals analysis not reporting - By meeting with LeBron, Kawhi’s already technically met with the Lakers