Building a Superteam in Los Angeles - The Time is Now

[milesfides]

Rob Pelinka is our GM. His biggest asset is the network of connections, both direct and indirect, to other agents and players, and front offices. Having that network available will help to do one thing: Build a Superteam.

You need communication, capspace, and assets. In our case, the only reasonable trade we can make is for Paul George. The others we can get via free agency. We can create that opportunity.


1) Communication.

This is huge. To land multiple star free agents, you need an agreed upon framework and trust. From the bottom-up level, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade planned their partnership during their time with Team USA. Players talk. Draymond Green had been recruiting Kevin Durant during the season when they were opponents. This is why Paul George is important.

We know Paul George wants to come to L.A. The importance of that desire can't be overstated. Paul George can help recruit other superstars to join him, and the timing is right, when guys like Gordon Hayward, Chris Paul, Steph Curry, Blake Griffin may be available. Rob Pelinka can leverage his connections to sell Los Angeles to these players, in ways that Mitch and Jim Buss couldn't. Certainly Magic can sell the business side of it.

But even Lebron needed his agents to facilitate the move. They played a huge part in it. We need Pelinka to work those agents and influence their clients.

But even if we were able to communicate, generate interest, and get elite players to buy in, we need the capspace.

2) Capspace + Assets

A) Trade Mozgov,
Ideally to a team that needs him and could just absorb his entire contract. For example, the Timberwolves. Karl Anthony Towns has been dominant at power forward and only good at center. I know Tom Thibodeau would love this move, as would the owner, who is extremely frustrated by how they Wolves can't play defense with such a defensive coach.

Assets to facilitate the move: If it takes a low first round pick (Houston's) or a second round pick(s) to move Mozgov, so be it. We immediately create a max slot available (combined with our projected available capspace).

B) Trading Deng is a much harder case. You have to give up something good to clear his contract. Attaching the 3rd pick might get it done. Is that too much? It depends on our timeline. If we have George on our roster and strong commitments from star free agents, we need to do what it takes to create room for a third star.

Assets to facilitate the move: If we don't have the 3rd pick, then we need to start making our young core available or trade them for first round picks to make it happen. If Paul George pulls Gordon Hayward, and they pull under-appreciated and underpaid Steph Curry...then we need to move whoever we have to. Opportunity cost.

D'Angelo. Ingram. Randle. Clarkson. Nance. Zubac. All good players, but they would have served their purpose if they help us put together a superteam. In the words of Stephen King, to make something great, you have to be willing to kill your darlings. It seems painful, even wasteful to exchange their talent for something like capspace or a pick, but if that's what it takes, it must be done.

*Some think we can wait until next summer to sign Paul George. The downside of that is we immediately lose capspace, as his contract will likely increase by 15m in 2018, and the only star who might be available is Russell Westbrook. If Westbrook signs an extension earlier, then there's no star available, even if we had 100 million in capspace. You got to strike when the iron is hot.


In sum: It starts with Paul George. No random three superstars are going to coincidentally pick L.A. and we're not going to clear the deck based on wishful thinking. Once Paul George is in the fold, Rob Pelinka has to work his relationships with the agents to influence their clients to come to L.A. And Magic will do what he does best, which is to sell the vision, the dream, the magic.

This is the summer. This is our window. We can't wait. The time is now.

[Michael Lucky]

What window? We can't build a team to beat the Cavs or GSW over the next three years.

[milesfides]

Of course you can. One, the Warriors are not going to be able to keep everybody. They're certainly going to lose a player like Iguodala (Finals MVP) this summer. Second, the Warriors are definitely beatable. They won more games last year than this year, yet they lost last year, didn't they? You can only play five at a time, and there's only one basketball. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have been significantly diminished by Kevin Durant's presence. And speaking of which...Steph Curry becomes a free agent this summer. You. Never. Know.

And Lebron is 32. Father Time is undefeated.

Anyways, the Big Four Celtics looked absolutely unbeatable, yet they won only one ring. And the Big Three Heat looked unbeatable, yet they won only two.

Every great team looks unbeatable, until they get beaten, dismantled, and some other team looks unbeatable.

I'm about that other team that's coming up.

Get three two-way ballers in their mid 20s. Cover the three positions of great playmaker, dynamic wing, and defensive big. Get some quality role players. Get a good coach. You can win against anybody.

[andrewww]

I think you're selling this 2017 version of GSW short if you're comparing them to the 2008 Celtics or the big 3 Heat. The Celtics were pushed to a game 7 in every round on their way to the title in 2008, and the big 3 Heat were never as dominant as they had hoped because of fit. This 2017 GSW will be up there with the 2001 Lakers and 2014 Spurs in the discussion for best team post Jordan.

Also, Iguodala at this point in his career is unlikely to leave GSW in the summer. If anyone will leave them, my money is on Livingston because he hasnt been paid yet in his career and his younger than Iguodala. They will be able to keep KD/Curry/Klay/Green because they have thei bird rights for all 4 of them, and they as a core will be looking to form a dynasty. Also if you watched game 3 at Utah, that was the exact type of game the 2016 GSW team would have lost because they didnt have an elite shot creator who could get to the line last year.

In terms of the Lakers, yes absolutely Paul George is someone you make a move for. Dont be like Danny Ainge and overvalue your assets to the point where you sell past their best before date.

[yanuary]

Assets to facilitate the move: If we don't have the 3rd pick, then we need to start making our young core available or trade them for first round picks to make it happen. If Paul George pulls Gordon Hayward, and they pull under-appreciated and underpaid Steph Curry...then we need to move whoever we have to. Opportunity cost.

D'Angelo. Ingram. Randle. Clarkson. Nance. Zubac. All good players, but they would have served their purpose if they help us put together a superteam. In the words of Stephen King, to make something great, you have to be willing to kill your darlings. It seems painful, even wasteful to exchange their talent for something like capspace or a pick, but if that's what it takes, it must be done.

This is the summer. This is our window. We can't wait. The time is now.

No offense, but your post reminds me more of Billy King (Nets version) not S.King words.
Or 2012 Lakers summer.

[milesfides]

Where in my plan do you see trading for aging players on huge contracts?

[Penberthy]

If all the backroom conspiring among the supers is set in stone behind the scenes then:

Hit the lotto, hype Ball as the second coming of Magic

Ball+Russell+Clarkson+Randle+Deng for Rondo+Butler

Moz+28 to Minn

2017

Rondo
Butler
Ingram
Nance
Zubac

8 seed. Let the young guys grow with the aid of old guys.

2018, Rondo expires, let him walk or sign him for the vet min.
Sign Westbrook and PGeorge
Fill out with ring chasers

2018

Westbrook Rondo
Butler
George
Nance/Ingram
Zubac

[xSABOx]

#3, Ingram, Deng, Mozgov

For

Butler, Rondo, #16

Was offered by a couple bulls fans. I pull the trigger there.

Followed up by

Russel, Randle, #16, #28

For

George

Not sure if Pacers fan agree but it's decent all things considered.

Decline team option on Tarik Black and Rondo. Try my best to convince Blake Griffin to move down the hall. Fill rest of roster with veteran minimums like

Brandon Rush, Aaron Afflalo or Thabo Sefelosha Andrew Bogut or Festus Ezekiel
Brian Roberts or Brandon Jennings

Clarkson/Roberts
Butler/Afflalo
George/Selosha/Brewer
Griffin/Nance
Zubac/Ezeli

Get 3 all stars heading in to their primes. Become a 2nd round team, beyond that is contingent on how Clarkson/Nance/Zubac develop and role players perform.


Otherwise, we roll with the youth movement for at least two more seasons and see what Russell/Ingram/Ball can become. Question is, will their primes bring more potential than a trio of Butler/George/Griffin?

[iQon]

What window? We can't build a team to beat the Cavs or GSW over the next three years.

You play games on the court, not paper.

How many of us expected to get punched in the mouth by Detroit? Or to have our 3-peat end in a sweep to Dallas? How about that year with Nash, Kobe, Artest, Gasol, and Howard? Looked grim for the NBA, huh?

We have some solid pieces to compliment a franchise player.

[Michael Lucky]

What window? We can't build a team to beat the Cavs or GSW over the next three years.

You play games on the court, not paper.

How many of us expected to get punched in the mouth by Detroit? Or to have our 3-peat end in a sweep to Dallas? How about that year with Nash, Kobe, Artest, Gasol, and Howard? Looked grim for the NBA, huh?

We have some solid pieces to compliment a franchise player.

What paper? GSW and the Cavs are destroying teams around the league. Neither have yet to lose even a single playoff game. GSW is projected by all advanced metrics to be the best team of all time and their win/loss percentage including the eye test all point to the same thing. How in the world are we supposed to make a team that is going to beat that? lol Paul George might be the 4 or 5th best player on that team.

[Penberthy]

What window? We can't build a team to beat the Cavs or GSW over the next three years.

You play games on the court, not paper.

How many of us expected to get punched in the mouth by Detroit? Or to have our 3-peat end in a sweep to Dallas? How about that year with Nash, Kobe, Artest, Gasol, and Howard? Looked grim for the NBA, huh?

We have some solid pieces to compliment a franchise player.

What paper? GSW and the Cavs are destroying teams around the league. Neither have yet to lose even a single playoff game. GSW is projected by all advanced metrics to be the best team of all time and their win/loss percentage including the eye test all point to the same thing. How in the world are we supposed to make a team that is going to beat that? lol Paul George might be the 4 or 5th best player on that team.

If you are going to entertain this thread, you might as well entertain the ENTIRE original post. Which had us taking Steph. That's how we get better than GS.

[aaron_gray]

Man Miles you probably have the strongest opinions on all of RealGM, often coming to conclusions based on a lot of assumptions with varying degrees of likelihood. When others have offered contrarian views based on evidence, you've stuck with your original conclusions and defended them to death. As such, instead of talking more about Paul George, trading Mozgov without attaching Ingram + 3rd and all that other good stuff, let me just finish my condescending post with this lovely quote I found from an article about Daryl Morey a while back:

The consulting firm that eventually hired him was forever asking him to exhibit confidence when, in his view, confidence was a sign of fraudulence. They’d asked him to forecast the price of oil for clients, for instance. “And then we would go to our clients and tell them we could predict the price of oil. No one can predict the price of oil. It was basically nonsense.”

[Michael Lucky]

You play games on the court, not paper.

How many of us expected to get punched in the mouth by Detroit? Or to have our 3-peat end in a sweep to Dallas? How about that year with Nash, Kobe, Artest, Gasol, and Howard? Looked grim for the NBA, huh?

We have some solid pieces to compliment a franchise player.

What paper? GSW and the Cavs are destroying teams around the league. Neither have yet to lose even a single playoff game. GSW is projected by all advanced metrics to be the best team of all time and their win/loss percentage including the eye test all point to the same thing. How in the world are we supposed to make a team that is going to beat that? lol Paul George might be the 4 or 5th best player on that team.

If you are going to entertain this thread, you might as well entertain the ENTIRE original post. Which had us taking Steph. That's how we get better than GS.

why in the world would i do that, when the whole premise is underpaid Curry, who is just about to get a $220 million contract from GSW and is the original person to take less money to provide cap flexibility to pay Klay. Curry is the literal orchestrator of what GSW is today, more than anyone else both on and off the court.

[Wavy Q]

I'm at a loss for words...

This is just nothing but conjecture, we're assuming Paul George wants to be here because of random reports, we're assuming Steph is gonna leave because he's been underpaid his whole career (he's about to get 220 million, he'll be fine) and underappreciated (he's one of the most popular players in the league? GSW fans love him.) We're assuming Paul George is this recruiting magnet that all these players are going to want to play with.

If your guessing is as valid as mine is, then the Warriors can most definitely hold almost all of their roster except for Livingston. They can keep all 4 of their main starting roster, and Iguodala has been reported to have been willing to take a big paycut to stay with the Warriors. (again, this is the exact same reporting that Paul George has gotten, no actual words from either player, but a lot of "sources" from columnists).

And lol at Steph and Klay being diminished, Steph's numbers have dipped as predicted but not something you wouldnt expect from adding KD and losing Harrison **** Barnes. But Klay is basically averaging what he has his whole career, his averages have not changed significantly in any statistic from last year to this year.

There's just too much dreaming here, it's not happening in any world.

[Penberthy]

Look at the title of the thread people. It's about going from the worst team in the nba to a superteam in one summer. But you are expecting people to be "realistic". lolz

[The Skyhook]

I still say it's best to wait out Golden State's championship window especially if we keep our pick. When our young guys are getting ready to hit their primes, Golden State should be leaving their prime. Thanks to those Mozgov and Deng contracts we'd have go give up some young guys we could use in trades for other stars. Even if we are able to amass three stars, what are the odds that the rest of the team isn't gutted leaving us with no depth?

[iQon]

What window? We can't build a team to beat the Cavs or GSW over the next three years.

You play games on the court, not paper.

How many of us expected to get punched in the mouth by Detroit? Or to have our 3-peat end in a sweep to Dallas? How about that year with Nash, Kobe, Artest, Gasol, and Howard? Looked grim for the NBA, huh?

We have some solid pieces to compliment a franchise player.

What paper? GSW and the Cavs are destroying teams around the league. Neither have yet to lose even a single playoff game. GSW is projected by all advanced metrics to be the best team of all time and their win/loss percentage including the eye test all point to the same thing. How in the world are we supposed to make a team that is going to beat that? lol Paul George might be the 4 or 5th best player on that team.

...What's your point? We had multiple individual players better than every team that beat our super teams.

You must be wealthy gambling on sure things every year.

[stan francisco]

#3, Ingram, Deng, Mozgov

For

Butler, Rondo, #16

Was offered by a couple bulls fans. I pull the trigger there.

Followed up by

Russel, Randle, #16, #28

For

George

Not sure if Pacers fan agree but it's decent all things considered.

Decline team option on Tarik Black and Rondo. Try my best to convince Blake Griffin to move down the hall. Fill rest of roster with veteran minimums like

Brandon Rush, Aaron Afflalo or Thabo Sefelosha Andrew Bogut or Festus Ezekiel
Brian Roberts or Brandon Jennings

Clarkson/Roberts
Butler/Afflalo
George/Selosha/Brewer
Griffin/Nance
Zubac/Ezeli

Get 3 all stars heading in to their primes. Become a 2nd round team, beyond that is contingent on how Clarkson/Nance/Zubac develop and role players perform.


Otherwise, we roll with the youth movement for at least two more seasons and see what Russell/Ingram/Ball can become. Question is, will their primes bring more potential than a trio of Butler/George/Griffin?

Why do we need all them other good players if we're gonna play JC at the point? He only plays 1 on 5 . They will become expensive ball watchers.

[stan francisco]

I think miles as usual makes many terrific points. Personally, I'd like to keep Ingram and Zubac. All others can be moved.

In order to get that inside track in the players' community I'd also consider respected locker room guys like Iguodala and Livingston, let them recruit for us

[MrWaffles]

Rob Pelinka is our GM. His biggest asset is the network of connections, both direct and indirect, to other agents and players, and front offices. Having that network available will help to do one thing: Build a Superteam.

You need communication, capspace, and assets. In our case, the only reasonable trade we can make is for Paul George. The others we can get via free agency. We can create that opportunity.


1) Communication.

This is huge. To land multiple star free agents, you need an agreed upon framework and trust. From the bottom-up level, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade planned their partnership during their time with Team USA. Players talk. Draymond Green had been recruiting Kevin Durant during the season when they were opponents. This is why Paul George is important.

We know Paul George wants to come to L.A. The importance of that desire can't be overstated. Paul George can help recruit other superstars to join him, and the timing is right, when guys like Gordon Hayward, Chris Paul, Steph Curry, Blake Griffin may be available. Rob Pelinka can leverage his connections to sell Los Angeles to these players, in ways that Mitch and Jim Buss couldn't. Certainly Magic can sell the business side of it.

But even Lebron needed his agents to facilitate the move. They played a huge part in it. We need Pelinka to work those agents and influence their clients.

But even if we were able to communicate, generate interest, and get elite players to buy in, we need the capspace.

2) Capspace + Assets

A) Trade Mozgov,
Ideally to a team that needs him and could just absorb his entire contract. For example, the Timberwolves. Karl Anthony Towns has been dominant at power forward and only good at center. I know Tom Thibodeau would love this move, as would the owner, who is extremely frustrated by how they Wolves can't play defense with such a defensive coach.

Assets to facilitate the move: If it takes a low first round pick (Houston's) or a second round pick(s) to move Mozgov, so be it. We immediately create a max slot available (combined with our projected available capspace).

B) Trading Deng is a much harder case. You have to give up something good to clear his contract. Attaching the 3rd pick might get it done. Is that too much? It depends on our timeline. If we have George on our roster and strong commitments from star free agents, we need to do what it takes to create room for a third star.

Assets to facilitate the move: If we don't have the 3rd pick, then we need to start making our young core available or trade them for first round picks to make it happen. If Paul George pulls Gordon Hayward, and they pull under-appreciated and underpaid Steph Curry...then we need to move whoever we have to. Opportunity cost.

D'Angelo. Ingram. Randle. Clarkson. Nance. Zubac. All good players, but they would have served their purpose if they help us put together a superteam. In the words of Stephen King, to make something great, you have to be willing to kill your darlings. It seems painful, even wasteful to exchange their talent for something like capspace or a pick, but if that's what it takes, it must be done.

*Some think we can wait until next summer to sign Paul George. The downside of that is we immediately lose capspace, as his contract will likely increase by 15m in 2018, and the only star who might be available is Russell Westbrook. If Westbrook signs an extension earlier, then there's no star available, even if we had 100 million in capspace. You got to strike when the iron is hot.


In sum: It starts with Paul George. No random three superstars are going to coincidentally pick L.A. and we're not going to clear the deck based on wishful thinking. Once Paul George is in the fold, Rob Pelinka has to work his relationships with the agents to influence their clients to come to L.A. And Magic will do what he does best, which is to sell the vision, the dream, the magic.

This is the summer. This is our window. We can't wait. The time is now.

Our best bet is to wait until next summer to sign PG. Our first move is to get rid of Deng and Mozgov. If we're going trade for PG while getting rid of assets, he's going to realize there's nothing in LA to help him win a ring.

Move everyone but Russell and Ingram in order to get rid of Mozgov and Deng and then hope for Cousins and PG in 2018.