Sofia wrote:Wouldn’t be mad if they kicked the tyres on Buddy
Ballmer--I'm convinced it's Ballmer--doesn't want to part with anybody. If you examine his l̸e̸a̸d̸e̸r̸s̸h̸i̸p̸ stewardship at Microsoft, where he became one of the richest men in the world, he took zero chances. Apple kicked Microsoft's ass by going all-in on the iPhone. Microsoft just swept up the rest with the PC market because Apple kept a [fascist] control of their code, and third parties couldn't get in.
Ballmer's embrace of "open code" made the PC the most popular computer but not the best. And as a basketball owner, Ballmer is in turns sentimental [hugging Kawhi as everything turned to s*hit in the playoffs last year], ruthless [declaring Blake a "Clipper For Life" and comparing him to Martin Luther King, then dumping him in NBA Siberia (Detroit) 3 months later], and indifferent [4 great Clippers-Bev and Lou and Trezz and Reggie kicked to the curb without a word].
I believe it was Ballmer who chickened out on the Brogdon deal, yes? If Ballmer wanted it done it was DONE.
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“[The Clippers] were ready to trade [Marcus] Morris, [Amir] Coffey and the draft pick that was later used on [Kobe] Brown to complete the deal,” Murray wrote.
But it wasn’t meant to be. Per Marc Stein, the Clippers grew concerned over Brogdon’s uncertain injury condition, likely in regards to a partial tendon tear in his elbow. They soon changed their minds and nixed the deal. The Celtics and Wizards still wanted a similar trade to go through and eventually made one, but without the Clippers.
“But after expressing misgivings with Brogdon’s injury history,” Murray wrote, “The Clippers ran out of time to complete the deal before the Celtics moved on to a three-team trade in which they kept Brogdon and traded Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies instead.”
All fingers point to Ballmer. Just reminding y'all. We could have dumped Mook [poison] and his contract [bigger poison]. For Brogdon, who can actually play. Even if he can't play this year. The elbow will come around. It's not a knee.
As for Buddy Hield, I don't think he's a fit unless the Pacers want to swap SGs with no D, Powell for Hield. But they can do better, I think. I'm not a huge T-Mann booster but he's a solid bits-and-pieces guy who will be much more effective off the bench than a Hield or Powell, ball-intensive SGs who don't shoot particularly well. I would probably do Hield for Powell/Mann, but if Ballmer were to put Mann on the trading block, Daryl Morey is getting desperate over there.
Harden has his negatives, but let's not EVEN put Hield in the same tier. IND is looking for a package that Morey would probably settle for.
