Official NBA General Discussion 2018

[UneducatedFan86]

I'm pretty sure LeBron is staying in Cleveland. He went through the pain of being hated by most people in his state, he knows what that's like and doesn't want to feel that way again. He probably only went back to Cleveland so that he could return to Akron and his home state. Now he seems to have moved his family to LA so it is possible he is just going to leave home and never come back. They will likely burn his jersey and the likes as they did last time. It's tough only because he wants to be able to go home, but he also doesn't want to be metaphorically held hostage in Ohio.

I think Cleveland needs to upgrade the talent around him for him to stay there. It can't just be Lebron and Love.

But with that said, I can't see him leaving the East.

[hankscorpioLA]

I get the allure of LA... but I don't see how Lebron goes there and gets enough talent around him to be competitive in the West. The Lakers would have to gut all their young assets to trade for another player or two, and then they would have to hope to sign guys to decent deals to round out the rest of the roster.

If he stays in the East and goes to a team that has established talent already, then he'll be in better shape to at least make it to the Finals instead of running into the WCF wall that the Warriors have become.

The Lakers can sign LeBron and another max player without trading anyone. If they could unload the Deng contract, which they could probably do after this season without giving up much else, they have room to sign one more.

Not sure how that equates to "gutting the roster".

It got a little tougher with signals that Paul George is going to stay in OKC, but certainly not impossible.

Same. I just don't see why LeBron wants to potentially lose in the 2nd round or WCF going against the Rockets and Warriors both instead of staying in the East. I guess if he thinks Philly and Boston both grow and he's not on either of them it would look worse? But IMO if he goes Philly he's probably got the best team in the East again.

Lets say the Lakers sign LeBron and no one else this year. I agree with you that they are not going to win anything this year But lets say they unload the Deng contract before next offseason. They will have room to sign two max free agents.

One of those could be Klay Thompson.

That would not only immediately improve the Lakers dramatically, it would also hurt the Warriors, making the West more competitive overall.

[BigShaq34]

i called stephen a smith radio show today to call him out on his dumb reporting about how lebron texted kd such nonsense

when its up ill share. we talked for like 5 mins i was going right at him

[Mr.Raptorsingh]

i called stephen a smith radio show today to call him out on his dumb reporting about how lebron texted kd such nonsense

when its up ill share. we talked for like 5 mins i was going right at him

Did you tell him to put some 'spect on the Raptors name?

[BigShaq34]

i called stephen a smith radio show today to call him out on his dumb reporting about how lebron texted kd such nonsense

when its up ill share. we talked for like 5 mins i was going right at him

Did you tell him to put some 'spect on the Raptors name?

i called him right before the playoffs started and i was telling him we were coming and we were legit

i started mentioning our bench mob he didn't know anyone except miles

all he knows on our team other than miles is demar, kyle, ibaka, and he knows jv a little

after we got swept i can't talk about the raptors on national radio again i will just be laughed at

[XxIronChainzxX]

I get the allure of LA... but I don't see how Lebron goes there and gets enough talent around him to be competitive in the West. The Lakers would have to gut all their young assets to trade for another player or two, and then they would have to hope to sign guys to decent deals to round out the rest of the roster.

If he stays in the East and goes to a team that has established talent already, then he'll be in better shape to at least make it to the Finals instead of running into the WCF wall that the Warriors have become.

The Lakers can sign LeBron and another max player without trading anyone. If they could unload the Deng contract, which they could probably do after this season without giving up much else, they have room to sign one more.

Not sure how that equates to "gutting the roster".

It got a little tougher with signals that Paul George is going to stay in OKC, but certainly not impossible.

Same. I just don't see why LeBron wants to potentially lose in the 2nd round or WCF going against the Rockets and Warriors both instead of staying in the East. I guess if he thinks Philly and Boston both grow and he's not on either of them it would look worse? But IMO if he goes Philly he's probably got the best team in the East again.

Lets say the Lakers sign LeBron and no one else this year. I agree with you that they are not going to win anything this year But lets say they unload the Deng contract before next offseason. They will have room to sign two max free agents.

One of those could be Klay Thompson.

That would not only immediately improve the Lakers dramatically, it would also hurt the Warriors, making the West more competitive overall.

Dumping Deng for nothing is a fantasy. A team will want assets for taking that **** sandwich. And in your scenario, LeBron wastes another year of his career to get punted in the 2nd round. By 2020 he might not have enough in the tank to even lead a team to the WCF with Klay. I just don't see how any of this works for LBJ.

[Zeno]

Maybe the Raptors can help the Lakers get their "superteam" if they can't get PG or Kwahi to play with Lebron. Demar, Ibaka for resigned Randle, Kuzma and Deng. lol.

[raptorstime]

i called stephen a smith radio show today to call him out on his dumb reporting about how lebron texted kd such nonsense

when its up ill share. we talked for like 5 mins i was going right at him

Lmaoooo

[WuTang_OG]

Bron either staying in Cleveland or going to Lakers. Clippers dark horse for me.

[howlin mad axer]

It was mentioned on PTI today that LeBron text Kevin Durant and asked him if he would team up with him on the Lakers. Durant allegedly said he wasn't interested.

[gerrit4]

Maybe the Raptors can help the Lakers get their "superteam" if they can't get PG or Kwahi to play with Lebron. Demar, Ibaka for resigned Randle, Kuzma and Deng. lol.

If I'm theLakers, and I do get two of those guys, I'd use remaining assets to go after Kyle Lowry. He' be fantastic on that roster.

[HeadtopChunes]

Im not sure how i feel about this team if Lebron leaves the East. I think we can beat Philly if they dont add another max guy we would probably lose to Boston anyway tho.

[HiMyNameIsTrey]

I feel certain Lebron going to LA. He went back to Cleveland and delivered a championship. He can finish his career living like a movie star in LA while trying to win another ring with a different team.

[hsb]

I don't know what's going to happen, but I thought Mitch Kupchak being let go by the Lakers was because LeBron's team didn't want him there if he were to consider them and it was their way to acquiesce to him for the future. He's probably done with the old NBA generation in Kupchak, Riley and Phil Jackson types.

[lebron stopper]

Im not sure how i feel about this team if Lebron leaves the East. I think we can beat Philly if they dont add another max guy we would probably lose to Boston anyway tho.

Victor Oladipo trashes the Celtics. (38 points on 23 shots; 35 points on 29 shots; and 27 points on 20 shots; so 33.3 PPG on 24 shots per game.) Too quick and explosive for any Celtics defenders to bother guarding tightly, but also too good of a shooter for any Celtics defenders to sag back and play him for the drive.

In comparison, DeMar DeRozan isn't quick and explosive, and he's not a great shooter. So Celtics defenders such as Jaylen Brown can make his life hell and make him inefficient. (24 points on 22 shots including missed game winner; 15 points on 17 shots, 32 points on 19 shots, but 4 points on 4 shots in the 4th quarter; 16 points on 17 shots; so 21.75 PPG on 18.75 shots per game.)

So basically we need a more explosive player who can also shoot the three. Closest player we have to that right now is Powell, and his shooting is utterly terrible and so is his offense in general...

[HeadtopChunes]

Im not sure how i feel about this team if Lebron leaves the East. I think we can beat Philly if they dont add another max guy we would probably lose to Boston anyway tho.

Victor Oladipo trashes the Celtics. (38 points on 23 shots; 35 points on 29 shots; and 27 points on 20 shots; so 33.3 PPG on 24 shots per game.) Too quick and explosive for any Celtics defenders to bother guarding tightly, but also too good of a shooter for any Celtics defenders to sag back and play him for the drive.

In comparison, DeMar DeRozan isn't quick and explosive, and he's not a great shooter. So Celtics defenders such as Jaylen Brown can make his life hell and make him inefficient. (24 points on 22 shots including missed game winner; 15 points on 17 shots, 32 points on 19 shots, but 4 points on 4 shots in the 4th quarter; 16 points on 17 shots; so 21.75 PPG on 18.75 shots per game.)

So basically we need a more explosive player who can also shoot the three. Closest player we have to that right now is Powell, and his shooting is utterly terrible and so is his offense in general...

Im not sure who we can even trade for that fits that description. Jabari and Wiggins are guys we can get but they aren't really great shooters. We did blow out the Celtics in the regular season but that was more of a product of hot shooting on our end iirc. It's hard to punish Boston and their truckload of versatile wings. Kyrie makes it that using JV is probably not gonna work. Although a heavy ball movement offence can throw a switching defence of kilter. Really makes you appreciate just how great a job Ainge has done in assembling that roster.

[lebron stopper]

Im not sure how i feel about this team if Lebron leaves the East. I think we can beat Philly if they dont add another max guy we would probably lose to Boston anyway tho.

Victor Oladipo trashes the Celtics. (38 points on 23 shots; 35 points on 29 shots; and 27 points on 20 shots; so 33.3 PPG on 24 shots per game.) Too quick and explosive for any Celtics defenders to bother guarding tightly, but also too good of a shooter for any Celtics defenders to sag back and play him for the drive.

In comparison, DeMar DeRozan isn't quick and explosive, and he's not a great shooter. So Celtics defenders such as Jaylen Brown can make his life hell and make him inefficient. (24 points on 22 shots including missed game winner; 15 points on 17 shots, 32 points on 19 shots, but 4 points on 4 shots in the 4th quarter; 16 points on 17 shots; so 21.75 PPG on 18.75 shots per game.)

So basically we need a more explosive player who can also shoot the three. Closest player we have to that right now is Powell, and his shooting is utterly terrible and so is his offense in general...

Im not sure who we can even trade for that fits that description. Jabari and Wiggins are guys we can get but they aren't really great shooters. We did blow out the Celtics in the regular season but that was more of a product of hot shooting on our end iirc. It's hard to punish Boston and their truckload of versatile wings. Kyrie makes it that using JV is probably not gonna work. Although a heavy ball movement offence can throw a switching defence of kilter. Really makes you appreciate just how great a job Ainge has done in assembling that roster.

Wiggins and Parker are meh, they aren't great shooters like you mentioned so that's not going to fly. Honestly there is really no one you can trade for using the Raptors shallow pool of trade pieces that fits that description. Kyrie Irving and Victor Oladipo are really the only two guys out there who fit that description neatly off the top of my head, and they're literally untouchable in trades anyway. (It's super rare to find quick guys who can really shoot it.)

Lowry usually kills the Celtics with his combination of shooting and quickness, but he's lost a lot of his quickness now because he's older. He could still be effective...

VanVleet is nice but he won't ever be as quick as prime Lowry was.

If Powell can fix his shooting and improve his offensive game drastically, he can have that combination of shooting and quickness that's needed to really score on Boston's army of switchy tweeners.

[OAKLEY_2]

i called stephen a smith radio show today to call him out on his dumb reporting about how lebron texted kd such nonsense

when its up ill share. we talked for like 5 mins i was going right at him

Did you tell him to put some 'spect on the Raptors name?

i called him right before the playoffs started and i was telling him we were coming and we were legit

i started mentioning our bench mob he didn't know anyone except miles

all he knows on our team other than miles is demar, kyle, ibaka, and he knows jv a little

after we got swept i can't talk about the raptors on national radio again i will just be laughed at

That's hilarious. How do you like your DeLowry now?

[Dalek]

Andrew Wiggins poison pill provision expires June 30 so he is eligible to be traded without restriction at some point today. His salary is now about $25.6 million per year for trade purposes. I expect Minnesota is moving on from him since there were rumblings about him and Butler not working well together.

He is still young and if a team comes up with a good offer like a Kyle Lowry, it would be hard for Minnesota to say no. Thibs likes his vets and KAT or Butler aren't going anywhere.

[Topher]

Andrew Wiggins poison pill provision expires June 30 so he is eligible to be traded without restriction at some point today. His salary is now about $25.6 million per year for trade purposes. I expect Minnesota is moving on from him since there were rumblings about him and Butler not working well together.

He is still young and if a team comes up with a good offer like a Kyle Lowry, it would be hard for Minnesota to say no. Thibs likes his vets and KAT or Butler aren't going anywhere.

I’m all for that as long as Derozan and Ibaka are traded as well. No point in doing a half rebuild.