LAKERS LAKERS Thread

there is no such thing as a long term deal in the NBA. Can't offer more than 4, Lebron likely would take 2 at most.

 

@TheKnockdown, remember when we talked about GoZ remaking the Rockets' siege of the Clips' locker room?
This episode was well done :clap:
All of the secret passages in Staples built when Kobe and Shaq were warring Lol

 

Umm no. LBJ is more like a full size Silverado 2500 or F150. Shaq would've been the Ford F350 diesel duelly but LBJ is bigger than a Nissan Hard Body or a Hi-Lux.

Just saying

 

Shaq knows something. If he had just said LeBron and George would be joining LAL I'd probably feel different. Obviously, everybody's throwing those names out, but he said another big name would be joining LeBron/George and I believe I know who he's referring to. The return of Chris Bosh.

 

Wow it got quiet in New Orleans just now

 

you must wearing them 'horse trader' glasses again ehh Rube?

Ain't no one in Laker land free wheeling like that anytime soon. Personally watching Anthony Davis play in the postseason I'd rather have him than Paul George.

Also sounds like you're getting a bit loose with handing out scarce Lakers assets.

 

Wow Raptors. They really had me fooled. They should be in wait and see mode this offseason..if LeBron stays in the east, blow it up. If LeBron heads west, keep it together Lol

Jayson Tatum with six 20+ point playoff games in a row. Man, they have a couple excellent, young wings in Boston

 

Raptors have talent, but no Alphas. That doesn’t work in the post season.

 

Yeah they had me going with their regular season
But TBT, at the beginning if the playoffs both Derozan and Lowry were sending mixed messages and you could see them cracking..one wanting to play Game 1 of the playoffs like Game 7 and the other trying to play it cool

 

https://www.silverscreenandroll.com...rs-la-lakers-sign-spurs-forward-kawhi-leonard

NBA Free Agent Rumors: Lakers ‘know’ they can sign Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard in 2019


Well, here they go again. Guess I'll take a run at explaining what's happening. Obviously, last year LAL tried to get a trade done for George, and now recent reports suggest LAL is going for Kawhi this time around. They were handed some leverage last year because of George's comments about preferring LAL in 2018 FA, and so today it was leaked that LAL believes they have Kawhi lined up for 2019 FA. And the motivation behind the leak - already deciphered by a few in the know - attempting to pressure the Spurs into trading Kawhi to LAL this summer. The same sort of play from last year, but for a better player.

Anyway, so Woj dropped some scenarios earlier today. One of them, he says if LAL is 100% committed to a LeBron chase, that they could actually be forced to trade for Kawhi. Why? Because Kawhi's other potential trade destinations are Philly and CLE, and obviously, Kawhi landing in either of those spots would have a huge ramifications in regards to LeBron. Philly could trade pieces not named Simmons/Embiid for Kawhi and then have room to sign LeBron, creating a hell of a team in the east while also nabbing LAL's #1 target and maybe their #2 target as well. And that shit must not happen for all sorts of reasons. Personally, I'm not trying to see Philly gang up like that, that would be awful for the LAL's title hopes in the future. And CLE could offer the Spurs their lottery pick and a couple of the new, young guys they traded for at the deadline - maybe even Clarkson/Nance. Fucked up scenarios for LAL, but totally realistic. Could Kawhi play hardball in trade discussions with Philly/CLE/etc. and tell these teams that he won't re-sign in a year " so buzz off "..he could, but that wouldn't necessarily stop these teams from dealing for him. Multiple teams are already lining up for Kawhi regardless of his preferences behind the scenes and we saw the same with George. A Philly could easily say, " fuck the uncle " and trade for him anyway, feeling they could persuade him to stay - and actually do so. Same with CLE if LeBron wants Kawhi in CLE. So this could all come down to the trade package and what Pop really likes as the return for Kawhi.

However, Woj did say that he thinks an Brandon Ingram offer for Kawhi would put LAL out front for him in trade talks. Ingram a potential superstar with a great make up that's very similar to Duncan's. I imagine LAL's 2019 1st round pick would have to go as well, and to make the money work Deng would have to go as the cap filler. So Ingram + Deng + 2019 1st round pick for Kawhi. That really sucks, TBH. But I guess if LAL did that, and then circled back around to re-sign Julius it'd feel a little better. At least LAL would still hold potential stars Kuz, Zo and Julius. Woj also said LAL could trade for Kawhi and then try to sign and trade Julius for George..while still having the cap space to sign LeBron. How that would work is George would be in a similar situation as Chris Paul last offseason..tell his current team that he's leaving for sure, but that he'll opt into the final year of his contract if they agree to trade him to the team of his choosing, allowing OKC to get a return. Now, OKC could say, " no thanks " not wanting to muck up their payroll any further or help LAL, so there's that. And then George may not want to opt into his final year..he may want his 30M+ AAV right now. He's " only " made 60M thus far in his career, so he's looking for his payday and to catch up to his peers. So a couple factors could be standing in the way of that.

But there you have it. That's how LAL ends up with LeBron, Kawhi and George. However, at the end of that road, I wonder how much wing/star power they could add before negatively impacting Kuzma's progression? Chemistry and " team make up " wise, it's one thing to have Kuzma sharing with LeBron/George/Ingram, but when you drop Kawhi into Ingram's spot that's more guaranteed shots/touches/expectations taken away from Kuz. And Kuz, to me, is a wing with star potential. He can play the 4 spot..he will play the 4 spot, stretch 4, but he's not a 4 in nature. Kuz isn't who you want matching up with Draymond, setting a gang of screens and trying to set a physical tone in the game. He's just not a dirty work guy or anyone you want defending the paint. It's not in him. In a scenario where LAL trades for Kawhi and then signs LeBron, I imagine there would be a ton of fans clamoring for them to go ahead and try and sign and trade Julius for George to create a " Big 3 ", but I'm just not certain that'd be best for the team's overall functionality. I mean, on one hand, I don't believe Julius is worth the max right now..but on the other hand, there's the aforementioned effects on Kuz and my own questions about George being a 30M+ a year max guy that come into play, at least for me. In a scenario like this, not sure that they shouldn't just give Julius the max and have that high end role playing/skilled/dirty work/defensive muscle locked in over adding George to Kawhi/LeBron. Julius could eventually give them that Draymondish quality if continues to grow and embrace the role. Just depends, I guess. How would they go about replacing Julius if they went the other way? He's less replaceable than most dirty work guys because of his dynamic skillset as a ballhandler/scorer and newfound ability to defend 1-5. Not to mention Julius now handling duties at center means LAL has a 72% career free throw shooter at that 5 spot, pretty damn ideal. But then there's a ton of variables just getting to the point of approaching OKC with a sign/trade offer, so that's probably a long shot anyway.

All in all, if we're in a position where Kawhi is truly the pivotal piece this summer in terms of landing LeBron - thanks to Philly/CLE having interest in trading for him - maybe LAL will pull the trigger and swap Ingram for Kawhi if they're all in on LeBron? LAL would have around 20M in cap space left over after trading for Kawhi and adding LeBron, so they could then re-sign Lopez and KCP for continuity in the rotation, or go another route in building it up around Kawhi/LeBron/Kuz/Zo before re-signing/matching for Julius. They actually could maybe sign 3 additional rotation pieces and clean up a bit. It would suck to see Ingram getting the Wiggins treatment for sure, but I'm not 100% sure it'd be the end of the world. Of course, there's always the option of kicking the can down the road to next offseason and using their cap space then, but we know that doesn't hold any guarantees either. Anything can happen over a year..two more of LAL's FA targets could go out like Cousins did this year and then what? One of the kids could get hurt and make the team less attractive, etc. And ultimately, Magic said he cleared the cap space at the deadline this year because he's confident that he's landing guys this summer, so I just have to imagine something is going down this summer. Woj said the other day that the plan to strike this summer hasn't changed. So today, if I had to, I think I'd place my bet on LAL offering Ingram/Deng/2019 1st round pick for Kawhi sometime over the next 1-2 months. Of course, the Spurs could offer Kawhi the supermax and kill all this speculation, but it's been reported that the Spurs are tired of dealing with Kawhi's uncle, tired of all the leaks and shots at their med-department, and that they're just ready to move on..that Pop didn't really want Kawhi around practices. Also recently reported that Kawhi wouldn't necessarily accept the supermax offer. Time will obviously tell, but news is picking up again. George trade watch last year..Kawhi trade watch this year. We'll see if Magic/Pelinka get it done this time. Won't be easy.

 

Oh and George underwent knee surgery yesterday

 

And now this

https://www.silverscreenandroll.com...-rumors-paul-george-re-sign-thunder-la-lakers

NBA Free Agent Rumors: Paul George might still re-sign with Thunder instead of leaving for Lakers

“They don’t want to hear this around this neck of the woods… Somebody recently close with Paul were telling me they wouldn’t be surprised if he re-signed.”

- @ChrisBHaynes on Paul George potentially coming to LA

 

I just saw this. Was even better than I could of dreamed, there were so many subtle references throughout the whole episode.

 

Shit like this comes out all the time. It's all about leverage.

 

Was pretty well done
The bitch slap at the end Haha

I get leverage plays..again, that's probably what this new LAL leak in regards to Kawhi is about.
But a leverage play from George and his camp? What would they be looking for? They're free.

 

So Kawhi was at the LAD/Cincy game last night, media all over it
Had to be an ulterior motive behind it, as shitty as both of those teams are currently