winforlose wrote:shrink wrote:Did you notice before the second quarter started, Laker coach Darvin Ham was chatting it up with Ant, then they both hugged?
I’m not liking any on court recruiting! Hopefully the media doesn’t run with this.
Ant is under contract for 5 years. Ham is gonna be gone in 2. Lakers might well miss the playoffs and that is hard to explain in Lebron’s final years.
I don’t want to feed any rumors, but this is not as locked up as you think. At a certain level of stardom (which Ant is approaching), they reach a level of player empowerment where they can almost choose any team they want, regardless of their contract. It might be even easier for Ant because the world loves him, so if he publicly demanded a trade, there would be a lot of pressure on the Wolves to make him happy. And Ant fits the profile, since it is generally American superstars that demand trades. However, Edwards got a max extension, so he isn’t even eligible to be traded for 18 months.
Also, even if the Lakers miss the playoff, they can still draw star free agents, because of their legacy, and the desire for players to go there. For example, LeBron joined the Lakers after they had missed the playoffs for several straight years. Jeannie Buss convinced him that if he came, she could get another superstar to join him, and they made it happen with Anthony Davis and won a title.
Now, this stuff I’m saying might not mean anything to Ant. He seems very happy right where he is, with a winning Minnesota team and several good friends. I’ve never heard him say anything about any particular desire to go to the Lakers. That said, it is easier to reach his goal of being publicly perceived as the “Greatest Shooting Guard Ever,” if he gets the Lakers fandom behind him, driving that message to surpass “you know who.” I’m sure I’ve seen too many teams lose their top talent to the Lakers, and that’s made me ravingly paranoid, but I did not like seeing our Ant embracing Darvin Ham.