Originally Posted by KC_Connection:
Kyrie is better than Kemba, but he just signed with Roc Nation rather than Rich Paul. Brooklyn incoming.
Yeah, that seems to be the consensus. Just seems like a really bad basketball fit for him.
He will not play well with Russell and Russell doesn't respond to adversity for shit. So are the Nets just going to walk away from Russell at that point to free up a max slot for someone who's probably not as good as him but can play alongside Kyrie better? Maybe Jimmy Butler (who's his own set of problems).
I know it's a longshot but it just seems like a better scenario for LAL than many are willing to admit. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I don't care if Anthony Davis blows out both knees in his first practice with LA.
Getting that motherfucker out of LA is enough to get me interested in that team again. I enjoyed rooting for the bad 'baby Lakers' a hell of a lot more than the LeBron/Ball sideshow Lakers, even earlier in the season when they were solid.
I was gonna go looking for a life raft until Ball was gone (knowing that Lebron is a short timer anyway) but fortunately the Lakers did me a favor and got rid of the guy.
As for what they should do next - I still don't understand why more people don't want Kyrie. I get it - he wasn't a good fit as an alpha in Boston. But y'know what? He knows that as well now. His interviews have made it pretty clear that he was kinda miserable trying to be the head dog on that squad and that's not what he wants.
Meanwhile he can shoot, he can create, he's solid without the ball in his hands and he's a plus perimeter defender.
Davis, Lebron and Kyrie are probably good for about 33 wins between them. Wanna round down due to 'maintenance days' and you're looking at 30. A replacement level team wins about 15 on its own. Kuzma is probably worth about 4. Now you've not built a great team here, but you're at 49 there and firmly in the playoffs.
Now if you're able to bring in a couple of depth pieces on exceptions or reduced contracts (someone like McGee) you could easily add another 6-7 wins to that calculus. Any additional development out of Wagner would help as well. 60 wins isn't likely with that trio, but it's not impossible either. Those 3 with a couple of veteran ring-chasers in tow gets you a legitimate crack at the 1 seed in the West.
Is it just assumed he's going to Brooklyn at this point? He sure seems like a poor fit alongside Russell. Everything I'm reading has him as something of an afterthought but I just don't get that. The shine came off him a bit in Boston but he's still a young, dynamic, athletic player with good vision and good shooting range. People are all gung-ho about a guy like Kemba Walker who is both older than Kyrie and worse in pretty much every conceivable manner. More critically, Kyrie is on the same competitive timeline as Davis; those guys will be great alongside each other for the next 5 years even after Lebron is gone. Walker's window is just a bit shorter than Kyries and his ceiling nowhere near as high, IMO.
Gimme Kyrie and I'll be happy as a pig in shit.
Kyrie said all the expected, remorseful shit mid-late season in Boston and less than two weeks later was still a surly dickhead again. You're setting yourself up for disappointment if you think he's going to change, and the guy has two major knee injuries already in the bank. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Not straight up, no. But he's no harder than any of the other guys people are talking about (Jimmy Butler ain't takin' a paycut and Walker's made far less in his career with less of a track record to justify 'betting on himself').
It's possible that some of those 'pick swaps' were sweeteners the Lakers added into the deal to convince the Pelicans to let it run until July 30th before finalizing the trade so they could free up that necessary cap, though. They would become an 'over the cap' team at that point and they can absorb some of the trade kickers and stuff differently. It would free up another $8 million or so in cap space, IIRC, if they wait until the official opening of FA to finalize.
If that's the case and the Pelicans are willing to wait until then to finalize the deal, then suddenly the price (in picks and swaps) makes a lot of sense all around. And at that point they could get Kyrie.
The major question would be whether or not he'd be willing to sign a 1-year deal with LA first but it starts to get a little over my head at that point. I thiiiiiink the Lakers could sign him to a 1-year deal and then get Bird Rights to both him and Davis and sign them both to max extensions in 2020, but there are some new rules on the Bird rights that I just don't understand as well as I used to. If Kyrie would be willing to do that, then all bets are off.
Oh, and my FAVORITE theory of all of this - Lebron using Space Jam to circumvent the salary cap. That's right, kiddos - there's a branch of NBA Twitter that believes Lebron is going to use Space Jam salary to funnel additional wealth to players he can convince to come play for him. He's just gonna cast 'em in Space Jam and slide them some extra chedder through the movie to avoid it falling on the cap.
I mean...it's not that crazy...is it?
You cannot sign someone to a one-year deal in FA and keep their Bird rights. You must have had them for three straight years, unless acquiring them via trade. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy:
Leonard to the Clippers make them the new favorite?
In that scenario, I'd rank them higher in the West than Portland and Denver, on the same level as Houston (although CP3 and Harden hate each other and CP3 has asked out so who knows what they'll be), and behind the Warriors if Klay is able to return by the spring. The Clippers don't have the depth/talent the Raptors did around Kawhi.
I don't know that they beat Bucks or 76ers either although there are offseason question marks with those teams too.
Seems like the minimal signs out there are pointing towards Kawhi staying right now, though. [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
I doubt he goes there but i'm guessing it's a non zero chance. How high who knows.
Raptors get the last meeting with him so that usually is where they end up.
Why would he go play behind Lebron’s shadow when he just won one on his own and is the king of Canada? If he just wants to go to LA he will go to the Clippers. This is out of respect for Lebron since he was reportedly much more interested in the Lakers before he went there.
Originally Posted by staylor26:
Why would he go play behind Lebron’s shadow when he just won one on his own and is the king of Canada?
0% chance.
Go live in LA, get a max deal or stay in Canada?
If he wants to be in Cali that bad, i'd rather him go to the Clippers but i'd like to see him go to the Lakers just for the reactions. They'd be fun. [Reply]