Literally no team gives a shit about the regular season though. It has never mattered less.
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Nah, you're seeing 2 stars on teams because nobody has been able to swing 3 just yet. Why do you think the Warriors did the sign and trade - they think they can sit back for a year, hope Russell continues to develop and then attack with 3 max players again in 2021.

They're not banking space and looking to spread it out - they're dumping role players like Iguodala to make room for the higher ceiling guy. Because they can.

Depth is overrated. Besides, 'hope they're healthy in the playoffs' is what everyone needs, including teams that lack star power. There's not a contender out there that can lose 2 of their top 3 players, regardless of how 'top end' those players are, and function at a high level.
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It's what happens when you put a cap on the top player salaries and require a sending floor. The money HAS to get spent per league rules and there just aren't enough truly great players to spend it on, so it trickles down to B and C level options.

It's a HUGE boost for middling players and a big time damper on superstars. Guys like Kawhi, Davis, Giannis, Lebron, etc... are supplementing the salaries of these stars by having their earning potential limited.

But your alternative is just as unsavory (unrestricted salary escalation for superstars by big market teams w/ larger revenues) and serves to work against more members of the NBA Players Union. For every superstar that's hurt by this, 3 role players are helped. So the rank and file players have the votes and this system benefits them.
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I can't even imagine being a Knicks fan right now....woof.

Hoping Pelinka and co. seal the deal today or tomorrow, I'm confident but not celebrating until it's 100% done.
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"De'Angelo Russell does not fit there whatsoever. They just did not want to see Kevin Durant walk out the door with no compensation. ... They will trade him. It's just a matter of when." - @TheSteinLine on @dpshow

— Andrew Perloff (@andrewperloff) July 1, 2019

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Also a strong possibility.

Because of the way their cap was structured, if Durant walks and they don't make this move, there's really nobody worth a shit they could fit into his salary 'hole', especially with the Klay move.

So you do this deal as a salaries matching trade, get the asset and then flip him later.

The problem for the Lakers is that they'll be an over the cap team so they'll have to do the salary match in their own right. Now it's possible they could go out and get some of those depth pieces that total an amount equal to what Russell makes and still get a deal done there that gives the Warriors some depth in exchange for Russell, but even that deal won't get done this year. So if the Lakers are looking at that as a Plan B (unlikely that the Warriors would want to help them), I don't think they can make the timing work.

Because I disagree with the idea that Russell doesn't fit now. With Klay down, I think he does. And he could be a big part of them staying afloat until the playoffs when Klay could be ready to play. For the 2020 season, Russell is a nice asset for them and if they decide that there aren't enough shots to go around in 2021, they could move him.

But with KD gone, they could slot Thompson into his role offensively and put Russell in Thompsons more stationary shooter role and make that work as well if they wanted to.
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Never underestimate the Lakers front office and their ability to fuck up a wet dream. They're really a shitshow out there. Getting Davis may have put a fresh coat of paint on that shanty house, but the foundation is still full of cracks.
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Yeah that would make far more sense than keeping him with their roster construction.
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Russel on Lakers would be sick
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Yeah that's why I'm still nervous lol....
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Yeah, I get it. It's the opposite in the NFL because those mid tier guys don't get big deals, they get replaced with draft picks.

But the NFL cap is just exploding and IIRC, the NBA cap is pretty much been the same for a while. I dunno.
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The NBA cap has exploded too. It's gone up around 40million the last 5 years.
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Yeah somehow I doubt the warriors will trade Russell to the Lakers. Just a hunch
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I know that Kawhi is a better player and would make the Lakers damn near unbeateable.

But if there were a scenario where the Lakers could've just locked down Russell on the 25% max vs. waiting out the notoriously mercurial Kawhi, I'd have almost certainly done the former.

I just don't know that it was a real possibility. If the Warriors came to the table on a sign/trade and Russell/Durant preferred that route (I'm sure there are salary implications for both guys), then the Lakers could've never gotten meaningfully involved anyway.

In a way I'm almost glad it went this way because had the Nets just renounced Russell and he hit the FA market then signed elsewhere why the Lakers were waiting on Kawhi (and eventually didn't get him), I'd have just been mad at hell at the Lakers for getting greedy and missing on a player that could really help them.

But as it stands, they really couldn't have been players for him. All they could've done was tamper, tell him they'll max him if he doesn't agree to extend w/ the Warriors (which he needed to do for the sign and trade to work) and hope he agreed and kept his mouth shut. But it would've been blatant tampering and a MASSIVE punishment would've been coming due to their previous violations. Combine that risk with the opportunity cost of not pursuing Leonard at that point and you've got a pretty bad mix.
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For the top teams it didn't matter but it did for Seeds 5-8. It will really matter this season in the WC because it is fucking stacked. The Jazz may have the best starting 5, the fucking Jazz...
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