How Come Buford and Gregg Popovich Get a Pass for Blowing the Kawhi Leonard Trade?

KobeHas5Rings · Post #1 » by **KobeHas5Rings** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 3:45 am

JUNE 28, 2018:

"The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly made the San Antonio Spurs a "Godfather offer" for superstar forward Kawhi Leonard, according to Sam Amick of USA Today.

A "Godfather offer" is generally defined as an offer so good that it can't be refused. Amick added that the offer has other teams wondering if anyone else can compete with the package L.A. has put together for the two-time All-Star.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski later reported that Leonard favored a trade to his hometown of Los Angeles with the Lakers as his top choice."

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2783427-kawhi-leonard-trade-rumors-lakers-present-spurs-with-a-godfather-offer

"The Lakers are willing to include former No. 2 pick Brandon Ingram and a future first-round pick in a package for Leonard"

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23935910/san-antonio-spurs-engaged-los-angeles-lakers-boston-celtics-kawhi-leonard-trade-talks

However, "Gregg Popovich Rule Is Not to Help Teams Like Lakers"

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2771868-kawhi-leonard-trade-rumors-gregg-popovich-rule-is-not-to-help-teams-like-lakers

"Spurs reportedly would not trade Kawhi Leonard to Lakers no matter what"

https://news4sanantonio.com/sports/spurs-zone/spurs-reportedly-would-not-trade-kawhi-leonard-to-lakers-no-matter-what

The Spurs end up trading Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green to the Toronto Raptors for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 first-round pick.

The Lakers ultimately traded Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and multiple unprotected first-round picks and swaps for Anthony Davis.

Shouldn't Popovich and the Spurs be looking to improve their team, instead of looking to spite teams like the Lakers?

Wouldn't the Spurs be a lot better off right now with some variation of Ball, Ingram, Kuzma, and Murray (plus potential lottery pick)?

Popovich had an opportunity to get a great young player in Ingram + other assets. Instead he chose to spite the Lakers and spite Kawhi by not trading him to his desired city.

He should have taken the young Laker players and they probably would have even had a lottery pick in the next draft...

Why doesn't Popovich (or Buford) get more flack for this? This was a terrible basketball move and it damaged his franchise.

(obviously Toronto and the Lakers (ironically) ended up doing well anyways, but the Spurs are now not in a great position)

MoochieNorris · Post #2 » by **MoochieNorris** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 3:50 am

trying to cokblock a conference rival is the easy answer. did you not think of that, private pyle?

toodarkmark · Post #3 » by **toodarkmark** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 3:54 am

The article about not trading to the Lakers says it's a rumor at the top of the page. If you read the article, it says that he doesn't think having one way trades to conference rivals is something he wants to be a part of.

Derozan, at the time, was considered a better player then Ingram, and they wanted some veteran help to continue to compete, not be a part of a rebuild. At the time sending him to an East team, for an All Star and a 1st rounder seemed better then just helping the Lakers reload.

Oh and he won 5 titles and his wife died of cancer, so gets passes foever with me.

LakersSoul · Post #4 » by **LakersSoul** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 3:57 am

Pop was given a hard time for not doing the smart thing. He could have had multiple young players, assets plus FRPs and swaps. He could have use this transaction to add better players fit for SA but ended up trading Kawhi to Canada to spite Lakers and Kawhi.

Now SAS are left missing the playoffs and no further assets as DeRozan is not going to fetch much as a expiring.

It was dumb then and it is dumb now. Good thing the Lakers didn’t make the trade and miss out on Bron and AD.

DoctorX · Post #5 » by **DoctorX** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 3:58 am

They get a pass from me for not trading with the Lakers. Kawhi didn't deserve to be there after tanking his value and sabotaging the Spurs title hopes by sitting out a year and refusing to communicate with them.

Secondly the Lakers were not offering the same deal they were offering the Pelicans for Davis. I will also say I'm not amazed by Ingram. To me he is an empty stat player that can't win you games. There are plenty of them throughout the league. So I don't care about missing out on him.

Spur screwed up in my eyes not trading Kawhi during the trade deadline of 2018 when they could have gotten Tatum and Jaylen Brown for him. I have heard the Celtics offered both for him around January of 2018. That was a mistake by RC and Pop for not pursuing that trade.

Thirdly I don't get why Laker fans continue to complain about the Spurs not trading Kawhi to them. You just won a god damn title and are still complaining about not getting Kawhi. To me that's just ludicrous. What did you want a super team of Davis,Kawhi,Lebron?

NoZoLakers · Post #6 » by **NoZoLakers** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 3:59 am

clippers offeres their 2 lotto picks before n after the draft, 1 pick turned into Alexander....Pop simply didnt want to accommodate Leonard but he also wanted to compete, he just fell for the fake star in DD

baldur · Post #7 » by **baldur** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 3:59 am

jrue holiday gets 5 pick, kawhi leonard gets 1 pick. this is beyond ridiculous.

NoZoLakers · Post #8 » by **NoZoLakers** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:02 am

DoctorX wrote:They get a pass from me for not trading with the Lakers. Kawhi didn't deserve to be there after tanking his value and sabotaging the Spurs title hopes by sitting out a year and refusing to communicate with them.

Secondly the Lakers were not offering the same deal they were offering the Pelicans for Davis. I will also say I'm not amazed by Ingram. To me he is an empty stat player that can't win you games. There are plenty of them throughout the league. So I don't care about missing out on him.

Spur screwed up in my eyes not trading Kawhi during the trade deadline of 2018 when they could have gotten Tatum and Jaylen Brown for him. I have heard the Celtics offered both for him around January of 2018. That was a mistake by RC and Pop for not pursuing that trade.

Thirdly I don't get why Laker fans continue to complain about the Spurs not trading Kawhi to them. You just won a god damn title and are still complaining about not getting Kawhi. To me that's just ludicrous. What did you want a super team of Davis,Kawhi,Lebron?

even if you think that of Ingram, DD has proven he doesn't add to winning either and Ingram is exact type of player pop would've loved, goes bout his business with no drama or complaints, just a quite baller....end of the day Leonard n tor won a chip and Leonard still ends up in LA while pop/spurs get stuck with overrated fake star Derozan

Pelon chingon · Post #9 » by **Pelon chingon** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:02 am

N.O should have held out too. No way LAL keeps their powder dry.

playoffs · Post #10 » by **playoffs** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:02 am

Ingram and one future first rounder is not even close to a "Godfather offer".

DoctorX · Post #11 » by **DoctorX** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:02 am

LakersSoul wrote:Pop was given a hard time for not doing the smart thing. He could have had multiple young players, assets plus FRPs and swaps. He could have use this transaction to add better players fit for SA but ended up trading Kawhi to Canada to spite Lakers and Kawhi.

Now SAS are left missing the playoffs and no further assets as DeRozan is not going to fetch much as a expiring.

It was dumb then and it is dumb now. Good thing the Lakers didn’t make the trade and miss out on Bron and AD.

What is a dumb is people like you making up garbage. The Lakers never offered the Spurs the same package they offered the Pelicans. Grey who is a regular poster on here has debunked this 100 times. Good thing the Spurs didn't send Kawhi to the Lakers. It would have been insufferable to see Kawh win titles with you guys. So I can say it worked out well for both teams.

KobeHas5Rings · Post #12 » by **KobeHas5Rings** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:03 am

toodarkmark wrote:The article about not trading to the Lakers says it's a rumor at the top of the page. If you read the article, it says that he doesn't think having one way trades to conference rivals is something he wants to be a part of.

Derozan, at the time, was considered a better player then Ingram, and they wanted some veteran help to continue to compete, not be a part of a rebuild. At the time sending him to an East team, for an All Star and a 1st rounder seemed better then just helping the Lakers reload.

Oh and he won 5 titles and his wife died of cancer, so gets passes foever with me.

There are lots of stories suggesting Popovich has an attitude of not wanting to deal with the Lakers. Here's another one:

"Stephen A.: Gregg Popovich Told Dell Demps 'Don't Cave' to Anthony Davis, Lakers"
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2818208-stephen-a-gregg-popovich-told-dell-demps-dont-cave-to-anthony-davis-lakers

It's not just a rumor. And how would it have been a one way trade?

No one actually believed the Spurs would contend with Derozan.

This was Popovich being stubborn instead of playing it smart. Smart would have been to strip the Lakers of all of the young players and draft assets.

Because obviously the Spurs are not in any position to contend until they do re-build.

And as far as passes, Phil Jackson has 11 rings and no one gave him a pass in New York.

No one gives Michael Jordan a pass for his ownership moves either...

Alonzo_Morning · Post #13 » by **Alonzo_Morning** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:03 am

baldur wrote:jrue holiday gets 5 pick, kawhi leonard gets 1 pick. this is beyond ridiculous.

DoctorX · Post #14 » by **DoctorX** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:04 am

NoZoLakers wrote:
DoctorX wrote:They get a pass from me for not trading with the Lakers. Kawhi didn't deserve to be there after tanking his value and sabotaging the Spurs title hopes by sitting out a year and refusing to communicate with them.

Secondly the Lakers were not offering the same deal they were offering the Pelicans for Davis. I will also say I'm not amazed by Ingram. To me he is an empty stat player that can't win you games. There are plenty of them throughout the league. So I don't care about missing out on him.

Spur screwed up in my eyes not trading Kawhi during the trade deadline of 2018 when they could have gotten Tatum and Jaylen Brown for him. I have heard the Celtics offered both for him around January of 2018. That was a mistake by RC and Pop for not pursuing that trade.

Thirdly I don't get why Laker fans continue to complain about the Spurs not trading Kawhi to them. You just won a god damn title and are still complaining about not getting Kawhi. To me that's just ludicrous. What did you want a super team of Davis,Kawhi,Lebron?

even if you think that of Ingram, DD has proven he doesn't add to winning either and Ingram is exact type of player pop would've loved, goes bout his business with no drama or complaints, just a quite baller....

Ingram is an empy stat player in which the Spurs would have had the same results which is barely making the playoffs or being a lottery team. Let's see they could have had an empty stat Derozan and help the Raptors win a title or have empty stat Ingram and help the Lakers win a title. I still go for option A as painful as it was.

DoctorX · Post #15 » by **DoctorX** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:05 am

DoctorX wrote:
NoZoLakers wrote:
DoctorX wrote:They get a pass from me for not trading with the Lakers. Kawhi didn't deserve to be there after tanking his value and sabotaging the Spurs title hopes by sitting out a year and refusing to communicate with them.

Secondly the Lakers were not offering the same deal they were offering the Pelicans for Davis. I will also say I'm not amazed by Ingram. To me he is an empty stat player that can't win you games. There are plenty of them throughout the league. So I don't care about missing out on him.

Spur screwed up in my eyes not trading Kawhi during the trade deadline of 2018 when they could have gotten Tatum and Jaylen Brown for him. I have heard the Celtics offered both for him around January of 2018. That was a mistake by RC and Pop for not pursuing that trade.

Thirdly I don't get why Laker fans continue to complain about the Spurs not trading Kawhi to them. You just won a god damn title and are still complaining about not getting Kawhi. To me that's just ludicrous. What did you want a super team of Davis,Kawhi,Lebron?

even if you think that of Ingram, DD has proven he doesn't add to winning either and Ingram is exact type of player pop would've loved, goes bout his business with no drama or complaints, just a quite baller....

Ingram is an empty stat player in which the Spurs would have had the same results with which is barely making the playoffs or being a lottery team. Let's see they could have had an empty stat Derozan and help the Raptors win a title or have empty stat Ingram and help the Lakers win a title. I still go for option A as painful as it was.

NoZoLakers · Post #16 » by **NoZoLakers** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:05 am

DoctorX wrote:
LakersSoul wrote:Pop was given a hard time for not doing the smart thing. He could have had multiple young players, assets plus FRPs and swaps. He could have use this transaction to add better players fit for SA but ended up trading Kawhi to Canada to spite Lakers and Kawhi.

Now SAS are left missing the playoffs and no further assets as DeRozan is not going to fetch much as a expiring.

It was dumb then and it is dumb now. Good thing the Lakers didn’t make the trade and miss out on Bron and AD.

What is a dumb is people like you making up garbage. The Lakers never offered the Spurs the same package they offered the Pelicans. Grey who is regular poster on here as debunked this 100 times. Good thing the Spurs didn't send Kawhi to the Lakers. It would have been insufferable to see Kawh win titles with you guys. So I can say it worked out well for both teams.

hows it working out for the spurs? a bottom end treadmill team with a broken "star" that. they probably don't want to extend after this season? i guess getting a career journeyman big like Potel is a win?

KobeHas5Rings · Post #17 » by **KobeHas5Rings** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:06 am

DoctorX wrote:They get a pass from me for not trading with the Lakers. Kawhi didn't deserve to be there after tanking his value and sabotaging the Spurs title hopes by sitting out a year and refusing to communicate with them.

Secondly the Lakers were not offering the same deal they were offering the Pelicans for Davis. I will also say I'm not amazed by Ingram. To me he is an empty stat player that can't win you games. There are plenty of them throughout the league. So I don't care about missing out on him.

Spur screwed up in my eyes not trading Kawhi during the trade deadline of 2018 when they could have gotten Tatum and Jaylen Brown for him. I have heard the Celtics offered both for him around January of 2018. That was a mistake by RC and Pop for not pursuing that trade.

Thirdly I don't get why Laker fans continue to complain about the Spurs not trading Kawhi to them. You just won a god damn title and are still complaining about not getting Kawhi. To me that's just ludicrous. What did you want a super team of Davis,Kawhi,Lebron?

It has nothing to do with that. Obviously I'm elated the Lakers didn't get Kawhi because they ended up getting AD.

This is more about exposing bias and just wondering why Popovich gets a pass.

Even Phil Jackson didn't get a pass for his failures with the Knicks.

Just calling a spade a spade. Pop should be focused on making the best move possible for the Spurs, period. Not trying to not help the Lakers or not help Kawhi.

Dr Aki · Post #18 » by **Dr Aki** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:06 am

5 rings

DoctorX · Post #19 » by **DoctorX** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:06 am

baldur wrote:jrue holiday gets 5 pick, kawhi leonard gets 1 pick. this is beyond ridiculous.

Kawhi intentionally sabotaged his value by playing up his injury and also threatening every team in the league that he wouldn't sign an extension with them. He made it clear that he was destined to in LA.

NoZoLakers · Post #20 » by **NoZoLakers** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:07 am

DoctorX wrote:
DoctorX wrote:
NoZoLakers wrote:even if you think that of Ingram, DD has proven he doesn't add to winning either and Ingram is exact type of player pop would've loved, goes bout his business with no drama or complaints, just a quite baller....

Ingram is an empty stat player in which the Spurs would have had the same results with which is barely making the playoffs or being a lottery team. Let's see they could have had an empty stat Derozan and help the Raptors win a title or have empty stat Ingram and help the Lakers win a title. I still go for option A as painful as it was.

yea im sure you're more happy that tor got a ring lol, every one knew Derozen wasnt a real star, even their own fan base knew this