NBA Offseason

[pdub]

The Raptors were wise to take advantage of a disgruntled Kawhi.
At the time, they were likely thinking this is going to be a one year rental ( and it probably will be ).
I think the Lakers think they can extend AD.

And again, the Celts were probably offering a very big group of players and picks for AD as well - Lakers needed to beat them to the punch.

Did they give up too much? Probably. But I don't know if waiting another year would have:
A. Secured A.D. the following year
B. Been worth keeping LeBron out of the playoffs for another season

[ousdahl]

On paper, what third star could the lakers use most?

Def a guard - either a floor general pg and/or a shooter?

And how will lebron screw it up?

[twocoach]

Bottom line is that if the Lakers were worrying only about their future then they never would have signed Lebron James in the first place. They would have tanked even harder this year and gone for a top pick in next year's draft and then rolled out a young core and crossed their fingers. But that's never been the Lakers style. They used those top picks they had accumulated to trade for a stud to try to make them more attractive to an elite FA and to take a run at a title.

[pdub]

Get Reddick back in Los Angeles.

[twocoach]

Man, if both Reddick and Butler bolt from Philly, they will be kicking themselves for missing their opportunity in that series vs. Toronto. Their window might have already closed,at least for a while. If Leonard and Irving both bolt their teams then maybe Philly still has a shot to get out of the East. Gonna be a wild offseason.

[jfish26]

GM Bron screws Player Bron again.

Huh? The Lakers just traded for a 26 year old superstar on pace to be a Hall of Famer. This is a good trade of the Lakers. Ingram is nice but he isnt even an all star let alone a Hall of Famer.

Ball is an above average PG but not even an All Star level player. Hart is mediocre. The draft picks are more likely to be mediocre than all stars. When you can get a 26 year old likely Hall of Famer, you do that trade every time.

When all you have to do a year later is pay the man his fucking money?

Getting rid of so many cheap/to-be-cheap rotation players comes back to bite teams all the time. Of course it's "worth it" if you win a title, but Anthony Davis is only slightly more durable than Joel (which is, of course, not a compliment).

Winning with Bron, AD, a third guy, Kuzma and replacement-level spare parts is going to be hard enough when everyone's healthy. And you just can't count on that happening over 10 weeks in April-June.

[CrimsonNBlue]

In general, I don't have any issue with the price it takes to pay a superstar. I thought that was AD's market.

But, the reason the move looks foolish is because AD is definitely going to miss some time with injuries, and probably even playoff time.

Again, both players were on non-playoff teams last year. That's extraordinarily rare for superstars of their caliber. It might mean nothing, but it could mean 1. LeBron is no longer the I-can-take-anyone-and-be-a-relevant-competitor kind of guy, and 2. AD never was and never will be that guy for different reasons.

[pdub]

The players and the no. 4 pick would have been the fair deal.
The Lakers then went out and gave away basically 3 1st rounders until, at the latest, 2025.
There's no building back up after this.

[jfish26]

In general, I don't have any issue with the price it takes to pay a superstar. I thought that was AD's market.

But, the reason the move looks foolish is because AD is definitely going to miss some time with injuries, and probably even playoff time.

Again, both players were on non-playoff teams last year. That's extraordinarily rare for superstars of their caliber. It might mean nothing, but it could mean 1. LeBron is no longer the I-can-take-anyone-and-be-a-relevant-competitor kind of guy, and 2. AD never was and never will be that guy for different reasons.

Obviously the TBD is whether the third guy is an ultra mega-star (like Kawhi) or something less than that (like Kyrie) or something much less than that (like Kemba or Butler). But I guess what annoys me is Bron's ongoing penchant for weird roster construction (and a seeming lack of self-awareness about his own limitations).

What Bron really needs at this stage is a guy who can take the reins for the 20ish games Bron should electively sit during the regular season. The problem is that Davis needs about the same number of healthy scratches, especially as he's never really been tested with a long playoff run.

Obviously it takes two (and sometimes more) to tango, but the much better fits (to me) seem to be the Lillard/George/Westbrook types, or if you're shopping in a different aisle, the Beal/McCollum/Butler types.

[CrimsonNBlue]

What Bron really needs at this stage is a guy who can take the reins for the 20ish games Bron should electively sit during the regular season. The problem is that Davis needs about the same number of healthy scratches, especially as he's never really been tested with a long playoff run.

Obviously it takes two (and sometimes more) to tango, but the much better fits (to me) seem to be the Lillard/George/Westbrook types, or if you're shopping in a different aisle, the Beal/McCollum/Butler types.

I agree with this, but LA is going to LA.

At least they'll be easy to root against. I like the move for the league. Makes it interesting.

[pdub]

Lillard or George sure.
Certainly not Westbrook though - not with LeBron.
If the Lakers can somehow get Kemba, that's pretty damn good right there -- Kemba isn't all that much a step down from Kyrie.

Khris Middleton would be a great get too -- I think Milwaukee will convince him to stay though because they have just as good a shot as anyone to get a title next year.

[twocoach]

Anthony Davis has had zero major injuries. All of his have been silly bumps, sprains, etc.. and the NBA regular season has proven to be the most meaningless of all professional sports. Home court means very little, the road team won 5 of the 6 games in the NBA finals.

The Pelicans made the playoffs twice with Anthony Davis and he was available both times. In 2015, he averaged 31.5pts, 11 boards and 3 blocks a game in 4 games vs. GS and in 2018 he averaged 30.1, 13.4 boards and 2.3 blocks a game in 9 games vs. the Blazers and GS.

[twocoach]

In general, I don't have any issue with the price it takes to pay a superstar. I thought that was AD's market.

But, the reason the move looks foolish is because AD is definitely going to miss some time with injuries, and probably even playoff time.

Again, both players were on non-playoff teams last year. That's extraordinarily rare for superstars of their caliber. It might mean nothing, but it could mean 1. LeBron is no longer the I-can-take-anyone-and-be-a-relevant-competitor kind of guy, and 2. AD never was and never will be that guy for different reasons.

Obviously the TBD is whether the third guy is an ultra mega-star (like Kawhi) or something less than that (like Kyrie) or something much less than that (like Kemba or Butler). But I guess what annoys me is Bron's ongoing penchant for weird roster construction (and a seeming lack of self-awareness about his own limitations).

What Bron really needs at this stage is a guy who can take the reins for the 20ish games Bron should electively sit during the regular season. The problem is that Davis needs about the same number of healthy scratches, especially as he's never really been tested with a long playoff run.

Obviously it takes two (and sometimes more) to tango, but the much better fits (to me) seem to be the Lillard/George/Westbrook types, or if you're shopping in a different aisle, the Beal/McCollum/Butler types.

James played all 82 in 2018. 74 in 2017. 76 in 2016. What's with the notion that he's going to be taking healthy scratches 20 times a year?

[twocoach]

Highest career playoff PERs:
1) Michael Jordan 27.9
2) Lebron James 27.6
3) Anthony Davis 27.4

[jfish26]

In general, I don't have any issue with the price it takes to pay a superstar. I thought that was AD's market.

But, the reason the move looks foolish is because AD is definitely going to miss some time with injuries, and probably even playoff time.

Again, both players were on non-playoff teams last year. That's extraordinarily rare for superstars of their caliber. It might mean nothing, but it could mean 1. LeBron is no longer the I-can-take-anyone-and-be-a-relevant-competitor kind of guy, and 2. AD never was and never will be that guy for different reasons.

Obviously the TBD is whether the third guy is an ultra mega-star (like Kawhi) or something less than that (like Kyrie) or something much less than that (like Kemba or Butler). But I guess what annoys me is Bron's ongoing penchant for weird roster construction (and a seeming lack of self-awareness about his own limitations).

What Bron really needs at this stage is a guy who can take the reins for the 20ish games Bron should electively sit during the regular season. The problem is that Davis needs about the same number of healthy scratches, especially as he's never really been tested with a long playoff run.

Obviously it takes two (and sometimes more) to tango, but the much better fits (to me) seem to be the Lillard/George/Westbrook types, or if you're shopping in a different aisle, the Beal/McCollum/Butler types.

James played all 82 in 2018. 74 in 2017. 76 in 2016. What's with the notion that he's going to be taking healthy scratches 20 times a year?

Well you left out that he played 55 games in 2019, the most recent data available.

Age is undefeated. There's not a better way to keep his window open as long as possible than to subject himself to the least stress possible during the regular season.

[pdub]

I think Bron could have played more this season -- he just didn't see the reason to.

[jfish26]

I think Bron could have played more this season -- he just didn't see the reason to.

But that's the point - his goal should be to not have to play a full load.

[Sparko]

The Lakers should pick up Graham. Not many guards that have his potential IMHO.

[Deleted User 104]

I'm just so glad Ball family is gone. I never thought the day would come.

[pdub]

The Lakers should pick up Graham. Not many guards that have his potential IMHO.

Lakers shoulda just kept Svi.