NBA Draft - Trades - Free Agents

PittPatriot said:

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

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His teams have made the playoffs twice in 8 years, last year only because of Cousins, and winning only one series when Portland disappeared. For such a perennial first team All-NBA player, he has had little impact on overall team results. Nice numbers, looks good on ESPN highlights, NOP lost with him, lost without him. That said, he'll might win a championship if Lebron carries the team.

Sfpat said:

His teams have made the playoffs twice in 8 years, last year only because of Cousins, and winning only one series when Portland disappeared. For such a perennial first team All-NBA player, he has had little impact on overall team results. Nice numbers, looks good on ESPN highlights, NOP lost with him, lost without him. That said, he'll might win a championship if Lebron carries the team.

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Easier said than done.

Lebron's not only 35, he's coming off an achilles issue, and will be going into his 18th season, not to mention the endless playoff games. We'll see if there's any tread left on those tires, but I think he's rocking a bald donut at this point.

Say it with me:

Kawhi was never an option the Celtics had

Well of course he has something to say:

IcyPatriot said:

Well of course he has something to say:

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For once I hope he’s right!

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.

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Dude he had his first major injury in years last year

Don’t really care about what’s happening in the West
Most important is:
Does Leonard remain in Toronto?
Will Butler remain in Philly?
Will Middleton resign with the Bucks?

Philly might be in similar boat as C’s if Butler takes his talents west. One has to question this guy’s composition. His teams don’t win and he travels the NBA like a gypsy.

Leonard May think like Lebrun. “I got Toronto a title, now I can move on without guilt”

Middleton will stay in Milwaukee IMO.

The C’s May take a step backwards but East competition might too

Sounds like Kyrie is interested in joining a new big 3 in LA.

lancerman said:

Dude he had his first major injury in years last year

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Yes, at age 35. Never had an injury until then. What are the chances of him getting an injury now? More, or less?

TommyD4207 said:

Yes, at age 35. Never had an injury until then. What are the chances of him getting an injury now? More, or less?

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Obviously more, but he's still Lebron James. It's just as likely he heals up and since they have AD he doesn't have to carry the load every night he can rest a bit and be back in form. This wasn't a crippling injury like Hayward's. He still played this year afterwards despite there being nothing to play for.

Yeah he's older, there could be a decline sooner than later. But nobody involved in the NBA would be surprised to see him ball out next year and have it be business as usual.

It kinda just feels like we are hoping that this is when he starts to decline so we can be somewhat vindicated and that it doesn't work out how the Lakers want.

Oh and by the way, Kyrie and AD are friends and it wasn't a secret that he wanted to play with him for awhile and now him and his agent are following everyone associated with the Lakers and Rich Paul. So don't be surprised to see the AD/Kyrie team up in LA with Lebron. That's a title team by the way.

I hate this ****. Lesson should be learned, we wasted a multi year rebuild holding onto assets too long

Ras-IR Dowling said:

Sounds like Kyrie is interested in joining a new big 3 in LA.

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AD and Kyrie are really good friends. The rumor was they were both going to try to go to New York. Now that LA landed AD, that's an attractive location for Kyrie. Not surprising.

It's almost like we should have played hardball and just got AD while his friend could have been forced to either sign with us longterm or he has to wait in purgatory for a year. Wasn't the best situation, but it was a worthwhile risk considering that next year we are not contending.

Not trading for Kawhi was a much worse decision than not trading for a injury prone diva.

James, Davis AND Irving!!! TRIPLE sh##show!! TRIPLE the popcorn!!! I can't wait for October. This is gonna be FUN! Imagine those 3 insufferable egos together. Talent in abundance, no question. Winning formula? We'll see, but I seriously doubt it. There won't be enough basketballs west of the Rockies...

Jackson 2 said:

James, Davis AND Irving!!! TRIPLE sh##show!! TRIPLE the popcorn!!! I can't wait for October. This is gonna be FUN! Imagine those 3 insufferable egos together. Talent in abundance, no question. Winning formula? We'll see, but I seriously doubt it. There won't be enough basketballs west of the Rockies...

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The Lakeshow will be overhyped. You still need depth.

The part I can’t get past is this: Davis made it public that he would sign with the Lakers next year, in 2020. They gave up three first round picks including #4 overall, Ingram, and Ball just to get him one year earlier. With all the free agents, they/LeBron couldn’t find one big name to recruit and then either sign Davis next year or wait for a mid-season trade when the Pelicans have even less leverage? The Pelicans already had very little leverage. No other team wanted to trade much for AD because he was going to the LAL next year regardless.

We all know who really made this move. The 35-year old desperate guy who always acts as the de facto GM, until his team goes down in flames, at which point everyone cries for him due to his sad supporting cast.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

The part I can’t get past is this: Davis made it public that he would sign with the Lakers next year, in 2020. They gave up three first round picks including #4 overall, Ingram, and Ball just to get him one year earlier. With all the free agents, they/LeBron couldn’t find one big name to recruit and then either sign Davis next year or wait for a mid-season trade when the Pelicans have even less leverage? The Pelicans already had very little leverage. No other team wanted to trade much for AD because he was going to the LAL next year regardless.

We all know who really made this move. The 35-year old desperate guy who always acts as the de facto GM, until his team goes down in flames, at which point everyone cries for him due to his sad supporting cast.

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Your final paragraph is worthy of a Pulitzer Prize.

While AD going to the Lakers SUCKS.....the upsides:

- Lakers gave up A LOT.....and AD/LeBron will need to play MAJOR minutes this year to make up for the lack of depth...even with 23M in cap space remaining to use.

- We did not trade Tatum....thank god!!!

Now I PRAY that Kyrie goes to the Lakers.....

Would be sweet to meet the Lakers in the Finals for title #18 with Kyrie on the other side...

Looks like the Lakers can’t get another max free agent because Davis won’t exercise his $4 million trade bonus.

Davis is already being a team player! Lol.

In cryptic Instagram like news, Kawhi Leonard’s sister liked a photo of him, LeBron and AD in Lakers jerseys.

Hyped said:

Now I PRAY that Kyrie goes to the Lakers.....

Would be sweet to meet the Lakers in the Finals for title #18 with Kyrie on the other side...

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Lakers won’t make the finals if they can’t play defense and shoot 3’s.

If the East stays the same, Celtics will have no shot getting out of there.