I mean, honestly he could’ve rested however long. It was a ticking time bomb. Could’ve rested the off-season, probably still would’ve happened next year.
And as usual, the Knicks' more successful global brand sibling actually gaining momentum for some peak Lakers? *Coaching staff upgraded across the board *Training staff upgraded w/Judy Seto returning *David Griffin gets the job in N.O., willing to deal with LAL *LAL wins the #4 overall pick in the draft *Kyrie leaves Boston, taking them out of the AD chase *Brooklyn trades both of it's 1st round picks, taking them out of the AD chase *Durant injury likely takes the Knicks out of the AD chase *Now a handful of teams want Kyrie a little less because they have reservations about adding him as the lone star, making him an option for LAL that obviously has a star in place
Or the nets trade Jarett Allen, Tauraun Prince, Caris Lavert, and Dangelo Russell + salary filler and whatever picks or prospects they have left for AD , Jrue and Okafor. That is an offer tough to beat. Nets getting AD will try to Kawhi their way into the finals since they have cap space and are now more attractive to Kyrie over Durant and the Knicks. But Kyrie has to agree to the trade first. PG: Dinwiddie SG: Kyrie SF: Jrue PF: Joe Harris C : AD Thats 2 stars with a great shooter in Joe Harris in the 3rd star with Jrue and Dinwiddie as the role players. Just need a cheap veteran big. PG: Elfrid, Dangelo SG: Dangelo, Levert SF: Prince, Levert PF: Zion, Randle C : Allen. Randle NO wants to compete so their new star rookie doesnt grow up with the bad stink of losing as much as AD did. Getting surefire players like Dangelo, Allen and young prospects Levert as well as Prince will be a big help.
If he really wants to screw them over, he opts in, collects his $30M to rehab next year, never plays a game and goes somewhere else next summer.
Solid chance he'd be traded. They haven't been living under a rock. Warriors already know he's looking to finish up elsewhere. That idle money sitting on their cap for a year is unnecessary. Shipping him off at some point to one of the teams that are interested in signing him long term, teams that he's actually interested in finishing up with, and getting pieces to help Steph/Klay/Dray would be wise. Send Durant home to DC for Beal. I don't think Durant is in the position to screw anybody, TBH. He may be 33 years old before he feels right physically on the floor, so the big FAs are rethinking teaming up with him, or at least they should be. Sucks that it has to be that way, but it is what it is. It's like the serengeti out there..the wounded get left behind. Some team would come calling for his rights though and maybe try to convince him to stay.
Paul doing his best. Rich Paul Told Celtics Anthony Davis Would Only Play in BOS Until 2020 If Traded In an interview with S.L. Price of Sports Illustrated, Davis' agent, Rich Paul, said that Davis will not sign an extension and will instead test free agency next offseason if the Celtics trade for him: "They can trade for him, but it'll be for one year. I mean: If the Celtics traded for Anthony Davis, we would go there and we would abide by our contractual [obligations] and we would go into free agency in 2020. I've stated that to them. But in the event that he decides to walk away and you give away assets? Don't blame Rich Paul."
Adrian Wojnarowski@wojespn 3m Celtics and Lakers are engaged in trade talks with New Orleans on All-NBA star Anthony Davis, league sources tell me, @ZachLowe_NBA,@ramonashelburne and @WindhorstESPN. Lakers No. 4 pick has been discussed as trade chip to help Pels acquire high-level player in multi-team deals. Here we go.
I love that the Pelicans came out and basically said all the young players on the Knicks are fucking trash.
Make the trade for AD, and then I think Vogel will bang the table for Jimmy Butler over Kyrie or Kemba in free agency. Vogel being a defensive maven, have to imagine he'll covet a 2-way force like Butler to continue to build the defense up with. And LeBron's already recruited him, anyway. It's almost like adding Pau and Artest in the same offseason. Build the defensive unit around AD and Butler..and then LeBron should be fine defensively when it really matters in the playoffs. So you're basically down to 2 or 3 spots in terms of having a strong enough defensive core. Davis/Wagner/Chandler/Williams Kuzma/Morris LeBron/Korver Butler/Hart/Stauskas Caruso/Lance/Bonga Nobody under 6'5" so switch-ability on the defensive side still intact..Caruso actually came in 2nd place for G-league defensive player of the year, underrated athlete could hold his own on that side. If Hart can stay healthy you have 5 to 6 guys there that do the job on that end, Lance among them. Expect Kuz to take another step forward defensively..Chandler only in spots.
Yep, so here it is..LAL reportedly intends to hang on to Kuz. Cheapest of the top young talent, smallest cap hold by far. Bleacher Report@BleacherReport 19m Potential AD/Lakers trade could “hinge on” Kyle Kuzma. Lakers don’t want to trade Kuz but Pelicans want him in the deal, per @taniaganguli and @BA_Turner Marc Stein@TheSteinLine 41m The Lakers have made Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and the No. 4 pick in the June 20 draft available in trade talks with the Pelicans, league sources say. New Orleans has made it known it hope to assemble a three-teams-or-more deal before surrendering Anthony Davis B/R Betting@br_betting 22m With Anthony Davis rumors swirling, the Lakers now have the 2nd-best odds (5-1) to win the 2020 title
KD confirms ruptured Achilles. Having surgery now. Am I reading into it too much that KD decided to fly to NY and have surgery there.
Plus they were in Toronto which isn't far from NYC as opposed to having him fly here or up there but it sure makes it fun to speculate.
NOP wants an all star type player (D'angelo Russell) and a young on the cusp future star (Brandon Ingram) not draft picks or project prospects. BRK wants to shed salary and get that 4th pick and some cheap young shooters (Hart and Mo Wagner) to support incoming superstar FA (KD and Kyrie). LAL wants AD and a white guy to spot up for LeBron kickout threes (Joe Harris). The rest of the cap space goes to Jimmy Butler and the veterans exception to the Morris brother. PG: Lonzo, Caruso SG: Butler, Harris SF: LeBron, Harris PF: Kuzma, Morris C : AD, Morris Tough team to beat. NOP has an exciting starting lineup. PG: Jrue SG: Dangelo SF : Ingram PF: Zion C : Randle
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson@ScoopB Kuzma, Ball, Hart, 4th overall pick in 2019 NBA Draft and a future unprotected pick is New Orleans Pelicans’ counter offer to Los Angeles Lakers. Feels like it's heading towards my prediction from a couple days back. Lakers offering Zo, Ingram, and the #4 pick..Pels counter with Zo, Ingram, Kuz, #4, and 2021 future 1st. Splitting the difference..maybe LAL will settle on sending out the future 2021 1st rounder in addition to Zo/Ingram/#4, but not Kuz, and we'll have a deal? Just reminded that Griffin actually worked under Danny Ainge in Phoenix. Fuck. Ainge perhaps with another baked in advantage ala McHale/Garnett in '08. Smh
Just realized dude's reported counter-offer from the Pels didn't have Ingram in it, and instead Hart goes to N.O. Hmm. Really not sure how much value Ingram has with that $21M cap hold next offseason + the blood clot, but Griffin was high on him at one point. The fact that Ingram is about to become expensive could make sending Kuz out necessary from a value standpoint. Damn. I imagine LAL would look replace Kuz with Marcus Morris on the full MLE. Gotta have a 4 that can space out next to AD. Or split the MLE between Marcus Morris and Mike Scott, both capable PFs, both tough and tested vets with 3 ball range. Get Jimmy Butler, Marcus Morris and Mike Scott and the competitive toughness of the group would be vastly improved. Just make sure it's not Melo replacing Kuz.
