Discussing Other Teams' Moves - Part 6

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

LeBron is going to end up playing for the Lakers.

Agreed. Exactly why FA should be before the draft. 76ers are a great match for us, but they wont make moves to add salary before Lebron & PG13 make their choice... which will be LAL

Even with the James and PG13, wouldn't the Lakers be projected to be the 3rd seed(at best) in the West? It is a dramatic improvement for the Lakers the gap with the Warriors and even Rockets seems to big.

I think a trade of Lebron is a very real possibility. It would most likely involve James opting into his player option. He can be dealt and then extended or could even play the beginning of the season in Cleveland and see who is looking strongest.

I think Boston or Philly probably make the most sense for Lebron. Both teams have a young core that has done well. They also are in the East, so the road to the finals is a lot clearer, and the regular season less grueling. Houston might be a dark horse if they can make some creative moves.

Could the Wizards be a third team to make things so for LAL, BOS/PHI? That's what I CARE about.

Assume you're right about everything...

THE WIZARDS NEED TO BE FACILITATING..to make it so...AND TO HELP OLD DC on da hoopz cort... We no have King James/CP3/PG13/or Kawhi.

WE DO HAVE good young players, matching talent, hella TALENT among top 3 mebbe 3-5 players. The deals are going to REQUIRE other teams to help provide cap ballast. WASHINGTON NEEDS TO GET UNDER THE TAX (and) (or) ... plus get more talent...

Thx verbal/psb...

[dangermouse]

If Lakers swing a deal for Kawhi, I wonder if it would include Ball.

Can you imagine Ball Senior and Popivich butting heads? You know, if Pop out muscles the Father of the Year and just gets him to f*ck off (and I think he has as good a chance as just about anyone) it could be great for Ball's career.

[pcbothwel]

If Lakers swing a deal for Kawhi, I wonder if it would include Ball.

Can you imagine Ball Senior and Popivich butting heads? You know, if Pop out muscles the Father of the Year and just gets him to f*ck off (and I think he has as good a chance as just about anyone) it could be great for Ball's career.

i think it definitely includes Ball... But he probably goes to a third team

[verbal8]

Other than the hype does Lonzo Ball seem to be a special player at the NBA level?

[I_Like_Dirt]

Other than the hype does Lonzo Ball seem to be a special player at the NBA level?

I actually think Lonzo is a sneaky good player. The problem is that his dad causes so many problems that it actually becomes a bit of a knock on him. The Lakers do better with Lonzo than without. He's better than his numbers - he isn't a superstar, but he's good. But the Spurs already leave town when the rodeo comes to town; I doubt they're anxious to have circus trips like the Bulls, too.

The guy on the Lakers I question is Brandon Ingram. He's had a lot of hype and a lot of Durant 2.0 talk, and he at least looks like he belongs in the league in the sense that he should be on someone's bench at this point, but he really hasn't looked very good thus far at all. He has a lot more in common with Andrew Wiggins than he does with Durant.

[Ruzious]

If Lakers swing a deal for Kawhi, I wonder if it would include Ball.

Can you imagine Ball Senior and Popivich butting heads? You know, if Pop out muscles the Father of the Year and just gets him to f*ck off (and I think he has as good a chance as just about anyone) it could be great for Ball's career.

I think it would be much more likely to include Kuzma and/or Ingram - probably both.

[I_Like_Dirt]

I think it would be much more likely to include Kuzma and/or Ingram - probably both.

I'm sure the Lakers would much prefer that. If the Spurs take Ingram/Kuzma... ugh... Kuzma is okay, but he isn't amazing or anything. And honestly, the same goes for Ingram. Ball is the best defender, passer, ball-handler and has the best feel for the game of those 3 by a pretty significant margin. Yeah, Ball can't shoot, but I'd rather take my chances on Ball figuring out how to be a quality player on a winning team despite his shooting issues, than I would on those other 2. And if Luol Mahinmi comes attached, that's even worse.

If that's all it's going to take for the Spurs to give Leonard exactly what he wants and trade him to their long-time rival, the Wizards should just get involved and offer up Beal and Oubre for Leonard or something like that. Who cares if Leonard walks? Take the risk and dare him to walk to the Lakers after they blow their cap space this offseason. One season of Wall/Leonard/Porter would make for some rather fantastic 2-way ball that would have a very real chance at making the finals in the east. If things come together, they go really great, and if things fall apart, at least the team isn't in tax territory when Leonard walks.

[closg00]

Wow, with Rudy Gay declining his option and Kwahi about to bail, looks like the Spurs long run as contender/semi-contender is going to be over for a while. OTHO, maybe they’ll get some talent in a sign and trade for Leonard and do well in the draft.

[Ruzious]

I think it would be much more likely to include Kuzma and/or Ingram - probably both.

I'm sure the Lakers would much prefer that. If the Spurs take Ingram/Kuzma... ugh... Kuzma is okay, but he isn't amazing or anything. And honestly, the same goes for Ingram. Ball is the best defender, passer, ball-handler and has the best feel for the game of those 3 by a pretty significant margin. Yeah, Ball can't shoot, but I'd rather take my chances on Ball figuring out how to be a quality player on a winning team despite his shooting issues, than I would on those other 2. And if Luol Mahinmi comes attached, that's even worse.

If that's all it's going to take for the Spurs to give Leonard exactly what he wants and trade him to their long-time rival, the Wizards should just get involved and offer up Beal and Oubre for Leonard or something like that. Who cares if Leonard walks? Take the risk and dare him to walk to the Lakers after they blow their cap space this offseason. One season of Wall/Leonard/Porter would make for some rather fantastic 2-way ball that would have a very real chance at making the finals in the east. If things come together, they go really great, and if things fall apart, at least the team isn't in tax territory when Leonard walks.

I like Ball the best, too, but it's more about him being the hardest to replace. Remember, the Lakers aren't just going after Leonard, they also want James and/or George. And there's still plenty of upside in both Kuzma and Ingram - both 22. Kuzma is supposedly on a mission to build up his body.

[nate33]

Wow, with Rudy Gay declining his option and Kwahi about to bail, looks like the Spurs long run as contender/semi-contender is going to be over for a while. OTHO, maybe they’ll get some talent in a sign and trade for Leonard and do well in the draft.

Pops will smoke-and-mirrors his way to 47 wins somehow.

[pcbothwel]

Wow, with Rudy Gay declining his option and Kwahi about to bail, looks like the Spurs long run as contender/semi-contender is going to be over for a while. OTHO, maybe they’ll get some talent in a sign and trade for Leonard and do well in the draft.

Pops will smoke-and-mirrors his way to 47 wins somehow.

I mean, they won 47 last year and Gay only played in like 50 games. So basically, you take last years team and remove Gay, but add in the 18th pick and whatever assets they get from Leonard.
No reason not to win 45 games or more.

[closg00]

Wow, with Rudy Gay declining his option and Kwahi about to bail, looks like the Spurs long run as contender/semi-contender is going to be over for a while. OTHO, maybe they’ll get some talent in a sign and trade for Leonard and do well in the draft.

Pops will smoke-and-mirrors his way to 47 wins somehow.

I mean, they won 47 last year and Gay only played in like 50 games. So basically, you take last years team and remove Gay, but add in the 18th pick and whatever assets they get from Leonard.
No reason not to win 45 games or more.

Everyone else is getting talent too, but you guys are right, they are the Spurs

[dangermouse]

Ingram isnt even Baby Durant. That title belongs to Tatum (who i was wrong about last draft, happy to admit)

Speaking of the Celtics, they can and should be able to swing a good deal for Kawhi. Cash in on those first round picks. Jaylen Brown and Rozier and good pieces.

If i was Spurs I'd of course ask for Tatum. If i was Celtics, to that I'd say hell no, BUT we will give you multiple firsts, young players and whatever filler we need to make it happen, and we know that it will be the best deal you get, so you can take it now or maybe there will be the lesser picks on offer when you call us back. And you will call us back.

[verbal8]

Ingram isnt even Baby Durant. That title belongs to Tatum (who i was wrong about last draft, happy to admit)

Speaking of the Celtics, they can and should be able to swing a good deal for Kawhi. Cash in on those first round picks. Jaylen Brown and Rozier and good pieces.

If i was Spurs I'd of course ask for Tatum. If i was Celtics, to that I'd say hell no, BUT we will give you multiple firsts, young players and whatever filler we need to make it happen, and we know that it will be the best deal you get, so you can take it now or maybe there will be the lesser picks on offer when you call us back. And you will call us back.

The Celtics would make a ton of sense from a basketball perspective. However it would also have to be somewhere that Kawhi wants to go. It would imbalance their roster a bit, but Irving for Leonard straight up works from a salary and value perspective.

[Dark Faze]

Looks like the Lakers will be forced to hold onto Lonzo in a deal for Kawhi, which is probably a good thing. They'll need the extra playmaking. All Lonzo will need to do in order to be a good contributer to the team is hit threes at 35%+.

Lonzo
Kawhi
George
LeBron
Thomas Bryant???

Lakers have some decent PG options available in the draft with their late first

[nate33]

Ingram isnt even Baby Durant. That title belongs to Tatum (who i was wrong about last draft, happy to admit)

Speaking of the Celtics, they can and should be able to swing a good deal for Kawhi. Cash in on those first round picks. Jaylen Brown and Rozier and good pieces.

If i was Spurs I'd of course ask for Tatum. If i was Celtics, to that I'd say hell no, BUT we will give you multiple firsts, young players and whatever filler we need to make it happen, and we know that it will be the best deal you get, so you can take it now or maybe there will be the lesser picks on offer when you call us back. And you will call us back.

I don't particularly like the Kawhi to Boston scenario. Boston has only so much cap room and a lot of people to pay. They already have a baby Kawhi on the roster in Jalen Brown, only Brown is dirt cheap for 2 more years and he's healthy. Besides, Boston is already loaded with wings who can defend. What they need is an alpha scorer. They might already have that guy in Kyrie (if he can stay healthy), but if not, then the move to make is to trade Kyrie for the ultimate alpha scorer: Lebron.

[LyricalRico]

Huh?

The Charlotte Hornets have agreed to send Dwight Howard to the Brooklyn Nets for center Timofey Mozgov, two second-round picks and cash, league sources told ESPN.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23851151/dwight-howard-headed-charlotte-hornets-brooklyn-nets

Charlotte just bailed New Jersey out of the last year of Mosgov's deal...for...not much. We couldn't have beat that offer to unload Mahinmi?

[closg00]

Huh?

The Charlotte Hornets have agreed to send Dwight Howard to the Brooklyn Nets for center Timofey Mozgov, two second-round picks and cash, league sources told ESPN.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23851151/dwight-howard-headed-charlotte-hornets-brooklyn-nets

Charlotte just bailed New Jersey out of the last year of Mosgov's deal...for...not much. We couldn't have beat that offer to unload Mahinmi?

Walker is getting traded for sure, this could shake-up the draft board. Do they take Williams to get a red shirt year while Moz finishes his last two years? or do they take best PG available? Dang, Moz is making what Mahinmi is making and Howard is an expiring, Nice start to the re-set for Charlotte.
Ernie's anxiety level just shot-up as he desperately seeks a trade to dump salary.

[I_Like_Dirt]

I don't know if Walker is getting traded or not, but there is clearly more than meets the eye with Dwight. Rumor has it a more than few Hawks players cheered when they found out he was traded. A lot of it seems to be centered around how he talks a big game/team game, and then goes out and plays soft and doesn't do any of the work that doesn't show up on the stats sheet. I suspect the Hornets were the same deal. He's not very good and he's not well-liked by his teammates. Everybody wants to get rid of him. There's a reason the Hawks dumped him so cheap and why the Rockets let him walk so easily.

[nate33]

I don't know if Walker is getting traded or not, but there is clearly more than meets the eye with Dwight. Rumor has it a more than few Hawks players cheered when they found out he was traded. A lot of it seems to be centered around how he talks a big game/team game, and then goes out and plays soft and doesn't do any of the work that doesn't show up on the stats sheet. I suspect the Hornets were the same deal. He's not very good and he's not well-liked by his teammates. Everybody wants to get rid of him. There's a reason the Hawks dumped him so cheap and why the Rockets let him walk so easily.

Yeah, there seems to be a universal dislike of Dwight Howard. Coaches hate him. Players hate him. The media hates him. He must be awful in a locker room.