And who would take Schroder?It could, but it's not clear who would take Westbrook's contract (or Adams' either). Maybe OKC trades Schroder?
And who would take Schroder?It could, but it's not clear who would take Westbrook's contract (or Adams' either). Maybe OKC trades Schroder?
Those nights, when AD takes off, that Laker defense will be porous.I'd be surprised if Morris doesn't end up with the Lakers
What a day this is.
Kawhi stones the Lakers and brings PG with him.
The Lakers instead of getting Kawhi end up using their space on Danny Green, KCP, Quinn Cook and probably Marcus Morris
And OKC gets a haul for PG.
Having control of the Clippers picks for 5 straight years going out 7 years, plus two Heat 1sts, SGA and Gallo? That's a whopping return. I'd bet on at least a couple lottery picks in there.
Wonder if the Clippers were holding the line on the picks, the earthquake hit, and they just said screw it we could die tonight! All the first rounders and swaps you want!
Only has two years left on his contract, ($15,500,000 a year). It's not great but he's got a smaller deal than Adams and Westbrook.And who would take Schroder?
Isn't he a notorious locker room cancer?Only has two years left on his contract, ($15,500,000 a year). It's not great but he's got a smaller deal than Adams and Westbrook.
Not that I'm aware of. He's been fine in OKC.Isn't he a notorious locker room cancer?
To be fair, he didn’t say that. In fact, he said the opposite of that.Calling Gianni a tier 2 player immediately invalidates anything Coop says now and forever.
Jerami's a solid player; very long and active defensively -- he'd fit well on the Celtics.Jerami Grant, 25, who started hitting 3s at 39% last season is on the last year of his deal ($9MM this season) would be interesting for the Celtics.
He said it verbatim:To be fair, he didn’t say that. In fact, he said the opposite of that.
I decided to just use the ignore button. Should have just done it back when he was pumping out the “Kuzma is as good as Tatum” zingers.He said it verbatim:
“KD is out for the year. The other guys you named are tier 2 superstars as far as most fans are concerned.”
Damn, I could have sworn that post said “MOST of the other guys...” when I read it. Mea culpa. Time for my coffee I guess.He said it verbatim:
“KD is out for the year. The other guys you named are tier 2 superstars as far as most fans are concerned.”
I missed Giannis when I read the first post, he's certainly a tier one star.Calling Gianni a tier 2 player immediately invalidates anything Coop says now and forever.
Toronto, Knicks, for starters.It could, but it's not clear who would take Westbrook's contract (or Adams' either). Maybe OKC trades Schroder?
It doesn’t hurt that the most NBA players from a single state come from California. New York is number two but it’s a distant second and their rank is declining.The NBA is, was, and always will be red hot in LA and the Bay Area. In LA, I'd argue it's the #1 sport.
And also that LA went 20 years without NFL Football.It doesn’t hurt that the most NBA players from a single state come from California. New York is number two but it’s a distant second and their rank is declining.
Toronto didn't want Westbrook's contract when Presti offered it (+ Paul George). If Westbrook wants to go to the Knicks, I'm sure Presti would oblige.Toronto, Knicks, for starters.
They could in theory grab a bunch of first round picks from someone (is that Dolan on line 1?) to go with their own high picks and the various Clippers and Heat picks and basically own the draft for the next 5-7 years. Question is how economically sustainable would a 20 win team be in a smaller market like OKC?Toronto didn't want Westbrook's contract when Presti offered it (+ Paul George). If Westbrook wants to go to the Knicks, I'm sure Presti would oblige.
More sustainable than a team in OKC paying the luxury tax.They could in theory grab a bunch of first round picks from someone (is that Dolan on line 1?) to go with their own high picks and the various Clippers and Heat picks and basically own the draft for the next 5-7 years. Question is how economically sustainable would a 20 win team be in a smaller market like OKC?
The Thunder are the only major league professional team in town. There's the Thunder and....college football. (OKC does have the Dodgers' triple-A team, but no one gets excited about that unless an LA Dodgers player is rehabbing in town.) The Thunder have sold out the arena for years. Also, the team has worked hard to be a good citizen, and has built excellent relations with the fanbase/citizenry of OKC. The fans would understand if Westbrook requested a trade and OKC obliged. But, they wouldn't be too thrilled if OKC abruptly sent Westbrook to a team without much notice.They could in theory grab a bunch of first round picks from someone (is that Dolan on line 1?) to go with their own high picks and the various Clippers and Heat picks and basically own the draft for the next 5-7 years. Question is how economically sustainable would a 20 win team be in a smaller market like OKC?
Thanks. I think the last thought is the key one. Management has to spin the story right (also noted by lovegtm above). It's going to be a little different now as compared to 2008 since there is no KD type in hand for the rebuild - at least not yet.The Thunder are the only major league professional team in town. There's the Thunder and....college football. (OKC does have the Dodgers' triple-A team, but no one gets excited about that unless an LA Dodgers player is rehabbing in town.) The Thunder have sold out the arena for years. Also, the team has worked hard to be a good citizen, and has built excellent relations with the fanbase/citizenry of OKC. The fans would understand if Westbrook requested a trade and OKC obliged. But, they wouldn't be too thrilled if OKC abruptly sent Westbrook to a team without much notice.
Ray Ratto.In thinking of, driving, and then benefiting from the deal that put him in Los Angeles, Leonard carefully planned and kept secret from the often-cited-but-rarely-correct Sources Who Say a deal so eye-watering that it shames the ones already provided us in this maniacal offseason. Indeed, he almost managed to derail one of the others by reaching out to Kevin Durant days before he honored his word to Kyrie Irving to see if he’d like to be a Los Angeles Clipper instead of a Brooklyn Net.
This would suggest that Leonard had decided on the Clippers before he was sure to go to the Lakers or sure to stay with the Toronto Raptors according to Sources Who Say. But for the man who keeps his cards nailgunned to his chest at all times, secrecy prevailed. It helped that Durant is not a chatterbox either, but we’re still talking at least a week of radio silence, which shows yet again that the player who knows how to keep quiet when all around him are firing out specubombs wins the day.
The only Tier 1 star that moved West was Kawhi. My own imperfect rankings has Giannis in the same tier as AD, LeBron, Kawhi, Curry, Harden, KD. That's 5 of 7 top tier players in the West. I don't think your take is necessarily hot, but I would probably group Embiid and Lillard together as the next 2 players on the boundary of being in this tier. Adding these 2 means 6 of 9 top players are in the West, but still 3 in the east (2 of whom will be playing).I missed Giannis when I read the first post, he's certainly a tier one star.
It should be a fairly non-controversial point that this puts almost all the league's star power in the West, but Mr. Hot Take feels differently.
I'm very upset he won't be reading my posts anymore. I'll miss his pleasant personality.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27130335/how-kawhi-pulled-paul-george-away-okcReally feels like Leonard trolled the Lakers. And West outgunning LAL has to really sting that fan base.
Leonard's camp was essentially trying to buy time, asking the Lakers as late as 9 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday night to delay the consummation of the Anthony Davis trade until "as late as Sunday," according to sources close to the situation. No reason was given for that delay by Leonard's camp, except that they should do it if they still wanted Leonard to consider them.
I love the part where everyone has to pretend that Sam Presti really didn't want to get thrown into the briar patch of a Paul George trade request. That team was stuck, and the trade request gave him perfect cover to tear it down.https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27130335/how-kawhi-pulled-paul-george-away-okc
good article from Ramona Shelbourne, relevant quote to the quoted post below...
Yup, Simmons already agreed to his extension. In general, star RFAs don't really "count" as part of an FA class, since they're getting extended or matched (which just reinforces your point about 2020 being weak).Trading for Westbrook would be the most Knicks-iest thing ever. I would not be surprised if that happened. They just struck out in free agency in a loaded year with tons of cap space, and next year's FA class is extremely weak and only getting worse with players like Ben Simmons possibly signing extensions this year. I can see them making a move out of desperation.
Well, you really should remove KD from the discussion for now. So that's 5 of 6 and 7 of 10, respectively. It's not a hot take at all.The only Tier 1 star that moved West was Kawhi. My own imperfect rankings has Giannis in the same tier as AD, LeBron, Kawhi, Curry, Harden, KD. That's 5 of 7 top tier players in the West. I don't think your take is necessarily hot, but I would probably group Embiid and Lillard together as the next 2 players on the boundary of being in this tier. Adding these 2 means 6 of 9 top players are in the West, but still 3 in the east (2 of whom will be playing).
The next tier (in random order):
Jokic
Gobert
Paul George
Kyrie
Jimmy Butler
KAT
Westbrook (maybe)
Kemba (if you include Westbrook)
Aldridge
Klay Thompson (maybe)
Drummond
There's probably sub-tiers within that group, but of that group, 7 of the 11 play in the West, or 13 of the top 20 players are currently in the West. Please feel free to add any I may have forgotten in my haste.
I did say 3 of 9, 2 of whom will be playing.Well, you really should remove KD from the discussion for now. So that's 5 of 6 and 7 of 10, respectively. It's not a hot take at all.
Sounds like salary filler for a tradeAlso Zubac is back per Woj:
Restricted free agent center Ivaca Zubac has agreed to a four-year, $28M deal to stay with the Los Angeles Clippers, Excel Sports agents Jeff Schwartz and Mike Lindeman tell ESPN.
Yeah the Lakers took an L here but lets be real. They secured Anthony Davis to pair with one of, if not the, greatest basketball players of all time. As a Celtics fan, its fun to watch them lose out on guys like Leonard and George but then I remember that the Lakers are demonstrably better than they were at the end of this past season while the Celtics are demonstrably worse (mainly from the loss of Horford). As such, I am refraining from taking victory laps around my Lakers-fan friends.The whining from my laker friends and family this morning is amazing.
Guess you assholes will just have to settle for lebron james and Anthony Davis. Gtfoh
I think the victory lap, from a Celtics fan perspective, is that Kawhi was the Lakers’ best chance to get better for awhile. They have great top end talent now, but also have more ways to get worse than they do to get better.Yeah the Lakers took an L here but lets be real. They secured Anthony Davis to pair with one of, if not the, greatest basketball players of all time. As a Celtics fan, its fun to watch them lose out on guys like Leonard and George but then I remember that the Lakers are demonstrably better than they were at the end of this past season while the Celtics are demonstrably worse (mainly from the loss of Horford). As such, I am refraining from taking victory laps around my Lakers-fan friends.
That was my first thought as well. Surprised the contract is 4 years, given that.Sounds like salary filler for a trade
"knicks"NBA fans aren't dumb. They don't like endless Knicks-ing, but they get excited about properly done rebuilds and young guys they can dream on.
The Celtics don't really have filler to offer.Jerami Grant, 25, who started hitting 3s at 39% last season is on the last year of his deal ($9MM this season) would be interesting for the Celtics.
Yabu & filler & '20 Milwaukee late 1st rounder
~Dec.15th will be very busy in the NBA, jockeying by tankers/contenders, recent deals, filler all around the NBA
Washington is on line one offering John Wall for him.It could, but it's not clear who would take Westbrook's contract (or Adams' either). Maybe OKC trades Schroder?
The Celtics can start trading new guys on Dec 15th, correct?The Celtics don't really have filler to offer.
They'd have to send out around 5.3M to make that trade work.
It would have to be Yabusele+Robert Williams+Semi.
Washington is on line one offering John Wall for him.
yea, I was thinking around ~ Dec.15 window. Whichever Kanter, Poirier, Theis doesn't work out as the additional filler.The Celtics don't really have filler to offer.
They'd have to send out around 5.3M to make that trade work.
It would have to be Yabusele+Robert Williams+Semi.
Washington is on line one offering John Wall for him.