Another rumor. Cavs radically reboot the team. Get rid of the 2 guys causing the most issues. First team is all offense, second team all defense. PG: Wade, Rivers (Rivers getting more PT) SG: Lou Will, Bradley SF: LeBron, Green, Smith PF: Gallinari, Crowder C : Lopez, Tristan Next year Doc Rivers becomes their head coach and is happy with all those ex celtics/clippers on the team. LeBron stays. Clippers get their local star in Love to team with Deandre Jordan and Tobais Harris who are pretty perfect for each other. PG: Teodosic, Beverly SG: Wallace, Korver SF: Harris, Decker, Deng PF: Love, Harrel C: Jordan, Marjanovic New 3 year window for the team to entertain the fans while they try and compete. Lakers shred lots of salary (including Deng) for next years run at Paul George while picking up the lottery pick the Cavs are holding. PG: Lonzo, Hart SG: KCP, Clarkson SF: Ingram, Brewer PF: Kuzma, Nance C : Randle, Bryant, Zubac Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye all become expiring contracts that can be flipped right before the deadline for late first round/second round picks or young players on the rise. This includes KCP who could be valuable to a team looking to shore up defense. Randle can be resigned at a locked in rate that does not break the bank sorta like how Clarkson was signed. And that leaves enough for two big contracts. I take the risk on Cousins but have Magic try to convince Embiid to opt out and come to be the next great Laker center. Then try to get either Paul George or if he stays in OKC go get Rodney Hood. PG: Lonzo, Clarkson SG: Hood, Hart SF: Ingram, Kuzma PF: Randle, Nance CF: Cousins, Bryant By rumor I mean bullshit I make up.
The more complicated the transaction, the less likely it happens. There is 0% chance anything complex happens this year.
Hart was going to have to have an all time rookie year to get any headlines with this class thanks to the hype surrounding ZoBBB and Kuzmamba Nice young all around player though and seems to have a level head
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ers-recalibrating-focus-2019-free-agent-class Lakers recalibrating focus to 2019 free agent class Ramona Shelburne, Adrian Wojnarowski As the Los Angeles Lakers become more realistic about the franchise's chances of snaring superstars in the free agent class of 2018, the front office is increasingly looking through a longer lens in its team building process, league sources told ESPN. The Lakers aren't abandoning a summer pursuit of stars, but rather recalibrating on the possibility of a 2019 class that could include San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard, Golden State's Klay Thompson and Minnesota's Jimmy Butler, league sources told ESPN. Now, I know who's been leaking the Kawhi stuff
The belief has been that the Lakers were cutting an unapologetic path to salary cap freedom for two maximum contract slots this July, clearing the way toward a pursuit of superstars like Cleveland's LeBron James, Oklahoma City's Paul George and New Orleans' DeMarcus Cousins. Now, Cousins has torn his Achilles tendon, George has suggested to ESPN's Rachel Nichols that the Thunder have an advantage in re-signing him, and James is believed to have a reluctance toward signing with the Lakers without an established star immediately joining him. Pushing back a year on big game hunting free agency could serve two purposes: Alleviate the urgency to unload contracts at Thursday's trade deadline and around the June NBA Draft that could require the Lakers to attach future draft assets as incentives, and allow the Lakers' talented young core -- including Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart -- to further develop and become more attractive for veteran stars to join. Without Ball, lost to a knee injury the past 10 games, that group has won 10 of its last 14 games -- the team's best stretch since 2013 -- including a rousing 108-104 win over the Thunder at the end of five-game, 11-day road trip. While the team's mid-season surge isn't the main reason for the Lakers recalibration on free agency, it has played a part in that new line of thinking as two of the players most often discussed in trade discussions, former lottery pick Julius Randle and reserve guard Jordan Clarkson, have played key roles of late. Both had their best months of the season in January, with Clarkson averaging 15.9 points on 46 percent shooting from the field, while Randle averaged 15.3 points and nine rebounds after moving back into the starting lineup. Randle will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Clarkson is owed $25.9 million over the next two seasons. The Lakers have listened to offers or explored trades for both players that included first or second round picks, but sources indicate that none of those deals would save significant cap space for the future, thereby negating the initial reason for exploring trades for those players. While the Lakers could still move either or both players before Thursday's trade deadline, one league source put the chances of a meaningful trade at "50-50 at best." If the Lakers were to move Clarkson or Randle either now or at the draft, and find a resolution to the $36.8 million remaining on Luol Deng's albatross contract -- likely via the waive-and-stretch provision -- the Lakers could create $60 million in salary cap space in July of 2019. Nevertheless, if the Lakers sit out free agency this summer, they'll try to use their salary cap space to accommodate teams looking to dump bad contracts -- and willing to send draft picks to sweeten the deal, sources said.
Yeah. Just brain games to help remove the midday fog at work. Other days i have a coffee instead. But coffee is a frienemy.
Lol This fuckery, the league fines LAL again. Only 50K this time http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...c-johnson-violates-league-anti-tampering-rule
i don't get it he's a commentator and an observer of bb sooooo what? he can't make any comment without having it be fineable?
Fuck these clowns. Magic needs to go full on tampering now. Get word to Embiid that he needs to opt out and become the next MVP here in LA. Then bring in Klay next year. Sell him on the fact that in GS he will always be the third wheel sacrificing his game for curry and durant. Here he becomes the number 1 option. Or at worse 1A. JOEL is SHAQ KLAY is KOBE Everyone else are role players. Pg. Ball, Hart Sg. Klay, Clarkson Sf. Ingram. Kuzma Pf. Randle. Nance C . Embiid, Bryant, Zubac Randle wil have very tough competition in this loaded FA offseason. Best to stay with luke and be a Horace Grant type solid complimentary player on a friendly deal like Clarkson. Either way they should not let him walk. Even if you gotta pay him a 4 year deal. Man y teams would trade the Lakers a solid asset for him next year. So instead fo going for the moon the Lakers should sign one of the FA avalaible this offseason. Even a Rodney Hood. Next year they can clear space needed for another star if needed.
So that's 7 straight wins at Staples for LAL, after smacking PHX last night Julius has been terrific, getting stronger as the season goes on, what happens when you take your conditioning seriously, he's a man out there now Now 22-31..can LAL ride this wave to .500? Kuzmania is hitting that rookie wall, but Ingram looks like he's powering through Ingram settling in nicely at 35% from the 3pt line
Oh, also.. Point guard Ingram >>> point guard D'angelo, Slenderman orchestration is a beautiful thing Porzingis tore his ACL yesterday..fuck that whole 2015 draft outside of top overall pick Towns, officially.
That makes no sense??? 6'10", 233LB??? He is basically a less talented Larry Nance Jr. The only way a trade like that works is if MGT is sheding salary by sending Clarkson and getting back Chriss and Len and possibly a 2nd round pick.
Nance is a bum. An efficient highlight making bum, but still a bum. All Nance offers offensively is filling a lane in transition, setting a screen, and rolling to the basket for the occasional highlight dunk. Chriss is hitting around 32% of his 3pt shots thus far in his career and has over a 100 makes in a year and a half..and he's just 20 years old, was 1 and done at UW. Nance is 25 years old, went to college all 4 years and is still trash offensively. He is a sure fire role player for the rest of his career, and in that way I suppose he does fit with this LAL group..that's maybe his only real edge on Chriss, that and a slight edge defensively. Chriss maybe wouldn't embrace being the long time role player because he has potential to be better than that..similar to Julius' situation and how it's taken him a while to embrace being a role guy. But talent-wise, it's not even a contest between Chriss and Nance. Chriss can score in the post, create offense for himself, run the floor and finish athletically and shoot from the outside..should only get better being that he's so young. And the slight edge that Nance has defensively..he should have that. He's older and has played on a higher level longer than Chriss has. Chriss should improve defensively, has already improved from last year to this year. All that said, not sure if the report had any real legs to it in the 1st place. PHX's GM said he will not be trading Chriss to the Lakers..which is smart. LAL has been unearthing young talent like hotcakes under this new regime. You can't go adding another talented, young player to LAL's group of Kuzma/Hart/Ingram/Zo and potentially Thomas Bryant and Caruso. If I'm LAL, I'm offering Nance for Chriss..hell, wish I had 2 Larry Nance Jr.'s to offer for Chriss, maybe 3.
Help me understand why Chriss is so much better than Nance? Chriss - 7.1ppg/5.2rpg/403FG%/290 3PT%/21mpg Nance - 8.6ppg/6.8rpg/601GF%/250 3PT%/22mpg Yeah, Chriss is much younger than Nance, and I will agree that his 3pt shooting is better, but career FG% and and RPG are in favor of Nance, which IMO does not tip the scale to Chriss.
Not about stats. Nance is a role player, he has always had role player written all over him and he has proven to live up to his potential of being a good solid role player. IMO teams like ours need guys like that off the bench. Sooner or later though some team in need will sign him to a larger offer sheet than the Lakers will be willing to match. Chriss has full-time starter potential. He is weaker defensively and much weaker on the boards but other than that his game is far superior talent wise than Nance. He needs to refine his skills to match his great talent. With Nance, his skills can only improve incrementally because his talent is not that high. Neither player is a blockhead which is why Nance is getting the most out of his lesser talent and folks believe Chriss will similarly eventually get the most out of his larger talent. Plus Pelinka was his agent.
