NBA Draft - Trades - Free Agents

lancerman said:

AD is at worst a borderline top 5 player. If Durant doesn't come back the West will likely come down to Rockets and Lakers now.

I honest to god think we made a MASSIVE mistake not getting Kawhi last year. It's very clear now that we would likely be in the Finals if we got him and with the way things played with Durant injured this was a year we could have won a title

Click to expand...

Hindsight is 20/20 and, in retrospect, it was a mistake. But, at that time with Irving and Hayward set to join the others who nearly made the finals without them it looked like the Cs had plenty. And, they did have plenty. It was just the wrong mix of plenty.

I don’t care what the media says, Kyrie or Kawhi are going to the Lakers now that this trade went down. The next super team is in LA. Kawhi originally wanted to play for the Lakers.

Nobody is going to the Clippers. Living in LA, you’re looked at as a weirdo being a fan of the Clippers.

TheRainMaker said:

I don’t care what the media says, Kyrie or Kawhi are going to the Lakers now that this trade went down. The next super team is in LA. Kawhi originally wanted to play for the Lakers.

Nobody is going to the Clippers. Living in LA, you’re looked at as a weirdo being a fan of the Clippers.

Click to expand...

Counterpoint: The clippers are a more stable franchise than the lakers currently.

Jackson 2 said:

Hindsight is 20/20 and, in retrospect, it was a mistake. But, at that time with Irving and Hayward set to join the others who nearly made the finals without them it looked like the Cs had plenty. And, they did have plenty. It was just the wrong mix of plenty.

Click to expand...

The Kawhi deal is hindsight, but I’ve been extremely vocal from the second the Celtics traded for Kyrie that they see making a huge mistake. The guy is a subtraction by addition player and not someone to build around. That he wanted to have his own diva-like control over the team and couldn’t handle being Pippen to LeBron’s Jordan on the court was a giant red flag.

Ras-IR Dowling said:

Counterpoint: The clippers are a more stable franchise than the lakers currently.

Click to expand...

Both Paul George and Kahwi Leonard wanted to play for the Lakers while they were unstable. Paul George got scared and resigned with OKC because there’s zero pressure there. Kawhi has 2 rings now. If players truly want to play for a franchise like AD, they’ll go there. The media uses the unstable card as the players are truly just scared to sign with historically good franchises such as the Celtics and Lakers in fear of being compared to all-time greats.

Nobody cares if the Clippers ever win anything as they will always be a JV squad to the Lakers.

TheRainMaker said:

I don’t care what the media says, Kyrie or Kawhi are going to the Lakers now that this trade went down. The next super team is in LA. Kawhi originally wanted to play for the Lakers.

Nobody is going to the Clippers. Living in LA, you’re looked at as a weirdo being a fan of the Clippers.

Click to expand...

There is something called a salary cap.

rochrist said:

There is something called a salary cap.

Click to expand...

Lakers can max out another player.

TheRainMaker said:

Both Paul George and Kahwi Leonard wanted to play for the Lakers while they were unstable. Paul George got scared and resigned with OKC because there’s zero pressure there. Kawhi has 2 rings now. If players truly want to play for a franchise like AD, they’ll go there. The media uses the unstable card as the players are truly just scared to sign with historically good franchises such as the Celtics and Lakers in fear of being compared to all-time greats.

Nobody cares if the Clippers ever win anything as they will always be a JV squad to the Lakers.

Click to expand...

Have you seen what those Buss kids have done since Daddy Buss passed away?

I get that the clippers are the clear B team out there but these aren’t the Donald Sterling led clips. Good ownership who’s invested in the team, an ok coach in Doc and a great GM in Jerry west. I’d argue the Clips are better in all 3 levels.

Ras-IR Dowling said:

Have you seen what those Buss kids have done since Daddy Buss passed away?

I get that the clippers are the clear B team out there but these aren’t the Donald Sterling led clips. Good ownership who’s invested in the team, an ok coach in Doc and a great GM in Jerry west. I’d argue the Clips are better in all 3 levels.

Click to expand...

If the Clippers add Kawhi, given they're already significantly better than the Lakers, they'll remain better than the Lakers. Post-trade, the Lakers are going to have to convince almost every vet FA to play for SFA to construct a remotely competitive NBA Playoffs bound roster in the West.

I'm not displeased Boston didn't mortgage the farm for a guy I'm not convinced has championship pedigree but I am concerned the organization doesn't appear to understand what direction it's headed in.

PittPatriot said:

He is a top 2 forward (Antetokounmpo).
Based on his young age and he is still not at his peak, barely entering his prime...I'd say he is a top 5 player easily.

top 5 players: Curry, LeBron, Kawhi, Durant, and ???

Click to expand...

AD has been in the league for 8 years, with little to show for it. How long does it take for someone to reach their prime?

Sfpat said:

AD has been in the league for 8 years, with little to show for it. How long does it take for someone to reach their prime?

Click to expand...

Little to show?
Seriously? The guy is a perennial first team All-NBA

Jackson 2 said:

Hindsight is 20/20 and, in retrospect, it was a mistake. But, at that time with Irving and Hayward set to join the others who nearly made the finals without them it looked like the Cs had plenty. And, they did have plenty. It was just the wrong mix of plenty.

Click to expand...

All I'm going to say is last year I was very adamant at the time that we should get Kawhi and that I was afraid he could cause major issues for us if he landed somewhere else in the East. And I was told I didn't know anything about basketabll.

Granted I thought it would be a Milwaukee or Philly and not Toronto, and granted turns out we really weren't as good as we thought last year and didn't even get a chance to lose to him.

But this should be a wake up call for how this league really is. We just had our big rebuild and now we have to go through another one.

PittPatriot said:

Little to show?
Seriously? The guy is a perennial first team All-NBA

Click to expand...

Some of the takes on this board are kind of ridiculous. AD is almost universally recognized as a top 10 talent and either the best or second best big man in the league and it's not particularly debateable.

And now he's paired with the best player in the league. The idea that they won't be good is kind of insane. Maybe they will be too depleted everywhere else to make that final title push, but they should at a minimum be favorites to make a deep playoff run and anything less than a WCF appearance will be dissapointing for them this year.

lancerman said:

Some of the takes on this board are kind of ridiculous. AD is almost universally recognized as a top 10 talent and either the best or second best big man in the league and it's not particularly debateable.

And now he's paired with the best player in the league. The idea that they won't be good is kind of insane. Maybe they will be too depleted everywhere else to make that final title push, but they should at a minimum be favorites to make a deep playoff run and anything less than a WCF appearance will be dissapointing for them this year.

Click to expand...

Lebron is not the best player in the league. Not even close. This isn't 2014 anymore. He's going to be 35 at the beginning of the season. He's a complete liability on defense and he's going to become worse and worse, the older and the slower he gets.

Lebron is at a point where Gronk was last year. Still capable of great plays and contributing to a good team but the days he could carry a team are over. The Lakers couldn't the sniff the playoffs this year, lost a couple of starters, Lebron will be a year older and added AD. That doesn't make them contenders. If they add a third piece like Kemba or Butler, the picture changes. As of right now, they're not.

lancerman said:

they should at a minimum be favorites to make a deep playoff run and anything less than a WCF appearance will be dissapointing for them this year.

Click to expand...

They immediately went to the top of the board in terms of being the odds-on favorites to win the title at 7-2 (+350).

Good move for the Lakers. You always trade 4 quarters for 1 dollar, that's a winning deal.

On the other hand, it's not a sure ring. Shaq/Wilt/Kareem carried nonLaker teams to finals before going to LA. Anthony Davis hasn't shown any ability to elevate a franchise in 8 years. He's more a rich man's Chris Bosh than a transendent big man who has shown he can single handedly create a winner.

Grew up loving the NBA, particularly the Celtics, but now have difficulty with the way players are manipulating the system to load up some teams..

Guys like Lebron, Kyrie and to a lesser extent AD have all taken away from the game I used to really enjoy..

If Leonard goes to LA what will be the sense of even watching the NBA next year... The NBA has become more and more of a "star power" league at the expense of a team sport..

lancerman said:

Some of the takes on this board are kind of ridiculous. AD is almost universally recognized as a top 10 talent and either the best or second best big man in the league and it's not particularly debateable.

And now he's paired with the best player in the league. The idea that they won't be good is kind of insane. Maybe they will be too depleted everywhere else to make that final title push, but they should at a minimum be favorites to make a deep playoff run and anything less than a WCF appearance will be dissapointing for them this year.

Click to expand...

No one who looks honestly at Davis can see anything other than a top-level talent. But an honest look also reveals traits that indicate he's atypically immature, self-centered and narcissistic. He's certainly not alone among NBA and other professional athletes in having those characteristics, but, to me, there are warning signs all over this guy. Wearing a "that's all folks" t-shirt during his last days in NO, dogging it at times because he didn't like being in NO and general douche baggery were just some that were on display. For me, I got fooled by K. Irving and his terrific physical ability once and embracing Davis would have been Kyrie II.

Kargetina said:

Lebron is not the best player in the league. Not even close. This isn't 2014 anymore. He's going to be 35 at the beginning of the season. He's a complete liability on defense and he's going to become worse and worse, the older and the slower he gets.

Lebron is at a point where Gronk was last year. Still capable of great plays and contributing to a good team but the days he could carry a team are over. The Lakers couldn't the sniff the playoffs this year, lost a couple of starters, Lebron will be a year older and added AD. That doesn't make them contenders. If they add a third piece like Kemba or Butler, the picture changes. As of right now, they're not.

Click to expand...

They’ll add a 3rd piece.
Their cap space is pretty deep...sadly, they are back.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

Celtics blew it with multiple bad moves. Couldn’t predict the Hayward injury, but the Kyrie deal and overvaluing these two = blown opportunity.

Click to expand...

I hate this 2nd guess

Jae Crowder and Brittle Isaiah Thomas weren't going to take this team anywhere.