Paul George speaks on the Lakers : “It’s too early for L.A.”

[Illmatic12]

The irony of this all is that the Lakers probably could've just traded D Russell for George and avoided this situation.

Pacers were not interested in Russell so its only irony if you ignore the facts.

Well then the Lakers could've turned Russell + pieces into assets the Pacers WERE interested in, instead of moving him to Brooklyn in a salary dump

[LofJ]

This gives you a glimpse into the state of the league and the complete waste of time the Durant decision has made the league as a whole from a competitive point of view - Paul George, a 3 time All-NBA player and by all appearances a fierce competitor in the playoffs joins a team with the reigning MVP who just averaged a triple double for a season and he says publicly in the offseason before a single game has been played "If we... upset the Warriors or do something crazy".

Superstars normally say things like "We believe we can beat anybody" or "We believe we're the best, that why we play this game - to go out and show we're the number one team" or whatever cliche you care to name - but no, in this league now a team with Paul George and Russell Westbrook would be "doing something crazy" to have a chance at winning the whole thing. One of the better players in the league is basically coming up just short of publicly conceding the season to GSW before it even begins. Good times.

It makes me feel like a bad person, but this is why I want Durant to go down before the playoffs. Nothing career threatening, but bad enough for him to miss the playoffs. It would increase the interest factor by a lot if the Warriors have to adjust to losing Durant while facing the gauntlet that is the Spurs, Thunder, Rockets, Clippers, etc.

[Slava]

The irony of this all is that the Lakers probably could've just traded D Russell for George and avoided this situation.

Pacers were not interested in Russell so its only irony if you ignore the facts.

Well then the Lakers could've turned Russell + pieces into assets the Pacers WERE interested in, instead of moving him to Brooklyn in a salary dump

Lakers explored a ton of deals including trading #2 to Sacramento for #5 and #10, Russell to the Mavs for #9, attaching an unprotected pick to Deng etc to make that trade or a different salary dump happen but could not find something they liked. This was all documented by Ramona Shelburne and Zach Lowe in their columns.

Do you really think Magic and Pelinka picked up the phone, made the first call to Brooklyn and did that deal?

[Illmatic12]

Pacers were not interested in Russell so its only irony if you ignore the facts.

Well then the Lakers could've turned Russell + pieces into assets the Pacers WERE interested in, instead of moving him to Brooklyn in a salary dump

Lakers explored a ton of deals including trading #2 to Sacramento for #5 and #10, Russell to the Mavs for #9, attaching an unprotected pick to Deng etc to make that trade or a different salary dump happen but could not find something they liked. This was all documented by Ramona Shelburne and Zach Lowe in their columns.

Do you really think Magic and Pelinka picked up the phone, made the first call to Brooklyn and did that deal?

Forgive me if I don't exactly see Magic Johnson as an executive of the year candidate..
If George doesn't end up signing with LA he's going to look extremely dumb

[Pillendreher]

Good thing Paulie.

When you get ousted in teh second round by Rockets, warriors, Spurs or Wolves make sure you talk Westie into signing BOTH of you for L.A

Getting to the second round, is better than missing the playoffs (or barely sneaking in) with the Lakers no?

Missing the playoffs as the man in LA >> 2nd round exit in tornado alley.

Talk to your FO then because not too many stars got that memo apparently.

[ISayshowmee]

Reading between the lines....

He wants Lakers to sign Lebron and win a title with the Lakers !!

[Onus]

If we take George at face value in this story, then he did Indiana dirty by letting it out there that he was only re-signing in LA, limiting what type of offers they received. If the story was he just wanted to go to a contender, maybe Indiana gets a better deal.

[Slava]

Well then the Lakers could've turned Russell + pieces into assets the Pacers WERE interested in, instead of moving him to Brooklyn in a salary dump

Lakers explored a ton of deals including trading #2 to Sacramento for #5 and #10, Russell to the Mavs for #9, attaching an unprotected pick to Deng etc to make that trade or a different salary dump happen but could not find something they liked. This was all documented by Ramona Shelburne and Zach Lowe in their columns.

Do you really think Magic and Pelinka picked up the phone, made the first call to Brooklyn and did that deal?

Forgive me if I don't exactly see Magic Johnson as an executive of the year candidate..
If George doesn't end up signing with LA he's going to look extremely dumb

You shouldn't, the GM is Rob Pelinka and he is the one making calls but you are right about one thing, Magic stuck his neck out on 2018 so it would be hard for him to continue if that doesn't come to fruition. However I don't think he'd stick his neck out that far and make high risk deals if he did not know something we don't.

[Slava]

Getting to the second round, is better than missing the playoffs (or barely sneaking in) with the Lakers no?

Missing the playoffs as the man in LA >> 2nd round exit in tornado alley.

Talk to your FO then because not too many stars got that memo apparently.

I do feel sorry for your franchise man. This must be hard doing this twice in 3 seasons.

[Illmatic12]

Lakers explored a ton of deals including trading #2 to Sacramento for #5 and #10, Russell to the Mavs for #9, attaching an unprotected pick to Deng etc to make that trade or a different salary dump happen but could not find something they liked. This was all documented by Ramona Shelburne and Zach Lowe in their columns.

Do you really think Magic and Pelinka picked up the phone, made the first call to Brooklyn and did that deal?

Forgive me if I don't exactly see Magic Johnson as an executive of the year candidate..
If George doesn't end up signing with LA he's going to look extremely dumb

You shouldn't, the GM is Rob Pelinka and he is the one making calls but you are right about one thing, Magic stuck his neck out on 2018 so it would be hard for him to continue if that doesn't come to fruition. However I don't think he'd stick his neck out that far and make high risk deals if he did not know something we don't.

Pelinka works under Magic though, at the end of the day he is a subordinate to his boss's whims. And with Magic already running around doing late night TV interviews and making tweets implying how happy he is for PG to join the Lakers, he sure as hell better have a personal verbal commitment from George himself.

[EAS Law]

And that's why the Lakers needed to trade for him this offseason if they wanted him. It sure doesn't sound like he's interested in leaving a playoff team with the reigning MVP to go play for a lottery team.

I think the luster of "The Los Angeles Lakers" has faded a bit.

Ultimately, who would have thought that OKC was a hot spot a few years ago before it happened? Same with Oakland, Utah, Cleveland--if the team is in a position to win, it becomes an attractive destination.

The Knicks haven't really enjoyed the benefit of being "The New York Knicks" for a while.

I think a lot of the bandwagon Laker fans and casuals need to figure out that they're a lotto team until they're not.

[otwok]

Feels like he said what he is supposed to say. Considering he just got traded to a new team

Actually quite the opposite. What he was supposed to say is "Not thinking about the offseason. Excited to play with Westbrook and the Thunder team in front of these great fans and great city."

[Slava]

Forgive me if I don't exactly see Magic Johnson as an executive of the year candidate..
If George doesn't end up signing with LA he's going to look extremely dumb

You shouldn't, the GM is Rob Pelinka and he is the one making calls but you are right about one thing, Magic stuck his neck out on 2018 so it would be hard for him to continue if that doesn't come to fruition. However I don't think he'd stick his neck out that far and make high risk deals if he did not know something we don't.

Pelinka works under Magic though, at the end of the day he is a subordinate to his boss's whims. And with Magic already running around doing late night TV interviews and making tweets implying how happy he is for PG to join the Lakers, he sure as hell better have a personal verbal commitment from George himself.

Magic is not nearly half as stupid as he wants to make himself look. That's all I can say and the man has been blessed with incredible luck in nearly everything he touched in his life.

[Pillendreher]

Missing the playoffs as the man in LA >> 2nd round exit in tornado alley.

Talk to your FO then because not too many stars got that memo apparently.

I do feel sorry for your franchise man. This must be hard doing this twice in 3 seasons.

Doing what? We have two Top 15 players on this team (one of whom is the reigning MVP) with the potential to go far this season.

What are 'you' gonna do besides deciding which Ball to please, wondering wether Ingram is another couple of years away from being years away and clinging to the same hope you've clung to since forever?

Sure, the whole league might come to LA on minimum contracts. Or we might just have a very good season, retain both our MVP and George with the possibility to even add additional talent next year. We'll see. I do contend we have a realistic chance at going forward with this core, but alas, I'm not gonna change your mind about that.

[MadNESS]

He said what he had to say, to end the questions.

He is coming to LA, super team or not.

"To be the man of their city".

[Slava]

Talk to your FO then because not too many stars got that memo apparently.

I do feel sorry for your franchise man. This must be hard doing this twice in 3 seasons.

Doing what? We have two Top 15 players on this team (one of whom is the reigning MVP) with the potential to go far this season.

What are 'you' gonna do besides deciding which Ball to please, wondering wether Ingram is another couple of years away from being years away and clinging to the same hope you've clung to since forever?

Sure, the whole league might come to LA on minimum contracts. Or we might just have a very good season, retain both our MVP and George with the possibility to even add additional talent next year. We'll see. I do contend we have a realistic chance at going forward with this core, but alas, I'm not gonna change your mind about that.

This whole thing is going to get twice as hilarious as soon as Westbrook declines an extension offer.

[Slava]

hahaha at anyone thinking the Rockets will beat OKC in the 2nd round. Better pray OKC plays SAS or GSW in the 2nd round. And really, they would beat the spurs in the 2nd round too.

Rockets over Warriors in 7 in WCFs bandwagon

[MartinToVaught]

I like how when George says he only wants to play in LA, we're all supposed to take his word at face value. But when he says otherwise, every word is parsed and spun to fit the narrative that he's really still coming to the Lakers and bringing Westbrook and LeBron with him. Then, if he decides to stay in OKC or sign with a different team that's closer to winning than the Lakers are, we'll have to hear that he's overrated and not worth the money the Lakers were going to pay him anyway.

[Pillendreher]

I do feel sorry for your franchise man. This must be hard doing this twice in 3 seasons.

Doing what? We have two Top 15 players on this team (one of whom is the reigning MVP) with the potential to go far this season.

What are 'you' gonna do besides deciding which Ball to please, wondering wether Ingram is another couple of years away from being years away and clinging to the same hope you've clung to since forever?

Sure, the whole league might come to LA on minimum contracts. Or we might just have a very good season, retain both our MVP and George with the possibility to even add additional talent next year. We'll see. I do contend we have a realistic chance at going forward with this core, but alas, I'm not gonna change your mind about that.

This whole thing is going to get twice as hilarious as soon as Westbrook declines an extension offer.

Let's talk again in a year when you're looking at 2019 Free Agents and us Thunder Fans are wondering if Presti is willing to get a 3rd star to OKC.

Cheers.

[OkcSinceSGA]

I like how when George says he only wants to play in LA, we're all supposed to take his word at face value. But when he says otherwise, every word is parsed and spun to fit the narrative that he's really still coming to the Lakers and bringing Westbrook and LeBron with him. Then, if he decides to stay in OKC or sign with a different team that's closer to winning than the Lakers are, we'll have to hear that he's overrated and not worth the money the Lakers were going to pay him anyway.

Everyone is scratching and clawing to get to the Lakers right now. You weren't aware? A dynasty led by Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball.