LeBron James?

[esqtvd]

It really sucks that through doc’s incompetence, bad luck, injuries, and choking that the clippers couldn’t accomplish anything in the past 6 years. Cp3 would probably still be here and Lebron would have joined him

Or not. I think it was an organization decision to not move heaven and earth to keep him.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/la-sp-chris-paul-trade-20170628-story.html

The Clippers still were interested in re-signing Paul, but not for the maximum five years and $205 million, one team executive said. The prospect of paying Paul more than $46 million in the final year of such a deal, when he would be 38, wasn't attractive. And the Clippers were not interested in granting him a no-trade clause.

Houston pretty much did. You go where you're wanted.

Plus, there was a chance to play with The Beard, who's CP's pal, instead of Blake, who's not nearly as good and was far from CP's BFF. And to play with Capela, who does mostly everything DJ does without hogging 1/4 of the salary cap or being poison at the FT line when it counts in the 4th quarter. Aziza provided great value too. And I love Jamal but I'd rather play with Eric Gordon.

Certainly Doc Rivers was no reason to stay, but Mike D'Antoni was no real magnet either. And if Daryl Morey is a magnet, well, so is Jerry West.

I think the problem was more Blake and DJ, how much of the cap they ate, and that they made things harder on the court for Chris, not easier. Plus Blake had had an injury-free playoffs in only 2 of the previous 5 years.There's a case to be made for blaming Doc, but there are so many other factors that justified CP pulling the plug here.

[Ranma]

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[wco81]

It really sucks that through doc’s incompetence, bad luck, injuries, and choking that the clippers couldn’t accomplish anything in the past 6 years. Cp3 would probably still be here and Lebron would have joined him

Or not. I think it was an organization decision to not move heaven and earth to keep him.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/la-sp-chris-paul-trade-20170628-story.html

The Clippers still were interested in re-signing Paul, but not for the maximum five years and $205 million, one team executive said. The prospect of paying Paul more than $46 million in the final year of such a deal, when he would be 38, wasn't attractive. And the Clippers were not interested in granting him a no-trade clause.

Houston pretty much did. You go where you're wanted.

Plus, there was a chance to play with The Beard, who's CP's pal, instead of Blake, who's not nearly as good and was far from CP's BFF. And to play with Capela, who does mostly everything DJ does without hogging 1/4 of the salary cap or being poison at the FT line when it counts in the 4th quarter. Aziza provided great value too. And I love Jamal but I'd rather play with Eric Gordon.

Certainly Doc Rivers was no reason to stay, but Mike D'Antoni was no real magnet either. And if Daryl Morey is a magnet, well, so is Jerry West.

I think the problem was more Blake and DJ, how much of the cap they ate, and that they made things harder on the court for Chris, not easier. Plus Blake had had an injury-free playoffs in only 2 of the previous 5 years.There's a case to be made for blaming Doc, but there are so many other factors that justified CP pulling the plug here.

That's kind of what everyone was wondering during the 2016-17 season, whether the Clippers would max out CP3 for 5 years.

Publicly, they didn't express any hesitancy about giving him a super Max, though with his age and injury history, most people wondered.

But I'm not surprised if in actual negotiations, the Clippers balked.

And Houston didn't give him 5-years either (could they have?). As it is, the last year of that deal probably can't be justified. In fact, it remains to be seen how many minutes he could or should play in the regular season and the playoffs.

Seems anything over 30 minutes is just risking injury.

[Roscoe Sheed]

It really sucks that through doc’s incompetence, bad luck, injuries, and choking that the clippers couldn’t accomplish anything in the past 6 years. Cp3 would probably still be here and Lebron would have joined him

Or not. I think it was an organization decision to not move heaven and earth to keep him.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/la-sp-chris-paul-trade-20170628-story.html

The Clippers still were interested in re-signing Paul, but not for the maximum five years and $205 million, one team executive said. The prospect of paying Paul more than $46 million in the final year of such a deal, when he would be 38, wasn't attractive. And the Clippers were not interested in granting him a no-trade clause.

Houston pretty much did. You go where you're wanted.

Plus, there was a chance to play with The Beard, who's CP's pal, instead of Blake, who's not nearly as good and was far from CP's BFF. And to play with Capela, who does mostly everything DJ does without hogging 1/4 of the salary cap or being poison at the FT line when it counts in the 4th quarter. Aziza provided great value too. And I love Jamal but I'd rather play with Eric Gordon.

Certainly Doc Rivers was no reason to stay, but Mike D'Antoni was no real magnet either. And if Daryl Morey is a magnet, well, so is Jerry West.

I think the problem was more Blake and DJ, how much of the cap they ate, and that they made things harder on the court for Chris, not easier. Plus Blake had had an injury-free playoffs in only 2 of the previous 5 years.There's a case to be made for blaming Doc, but there are so many other factors that justified CP pulling the plug here.

When I say doc’s incompetence I mean signing washed up guys or guys that he couldn’t make fit. That’s his fault. I can somewhat understand why the franchise would be reluctant to give cp3 five years, but there have been conflicting reports on that. I’m conflicted- I can see why they wouldn’t want to because of age and injury history but they also are now irrelevant for a while it seems. It depends on what they accomplish in the next few years player development wise and free agency

[Roscoe Sheed]

It’s weird because lebron was one of my favorite non-clipper players but now I’m going to have to cheer against him. Seems unjust actually- that one of the fan bases that despises him the most gets him

[Quake Griffin]

oh lord.

[MartinToVaught]

I can somewhat understand why the franchise would be reluctant to give cp3 five years, but there have been conflicting reports on that. I’m conflicted- I can see why they wouldn’t want to because of age and injury history but they also are now irrelevant for a while it seems.

The moment the Warriors won their first ring in the Curry era, we became irrelevant with CP3. It's not like we'd be any more relevant right now with a capped-out aging team that was never getting past the second round.

[Clemenza]

It really sucks that through doc’s incompetence, bad luck, injuries, and choking that the clippers couldn’t accomplish anything in the past 6 years. Cp3 would probably still be here and Lebron would have joined him

It was shocking that no changes were made after the Houston choke job. Props to the Lakers and I'm trusting the Jerry West process but Ballmer waited too long leaving Doc in charge of things and this is the result. We were never agressive and pro active enough with Doc as the GM. But Bron had to end up somewhere and LA was on his radar for some time now so it is what it is. But it isn't just us feeling the squeeze. Everyone is feeling this one. This news is trumping everything.. The Warriors, the NFL, MLB, etc. We just have to suck it up and trust our current process. We'll get there.

[esqtvd]

It really sucks that through doc’s incompetence, bad luck, injuries, and choking that the clippers couldn’t accomplish anything in the past 6 years. Cp3 would probably still be here and Lebron would have joined him

Or not. I think it was an organization decision to not move heaven and earth to keep him.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/la-sp-chris-paul-trade-20170628-story.html

The Clippers still were interested in re-signing Paul, but not for the maximum five years and $205 million, one team executive said. The prospect of paying Paul more than $46 million in the final year of such a deal, when he would be 38, wasn't attractive. And the Clippers were not interested in granting him a no-trade clause.

Houston pretty much did. You go where you're wanted.

Plus, there was a chance to play with The Beard, who's CP's pal, instead of Blake, who's not nearly as good and was far from CP's BFF. And to play with Capela, who does mostly everything DJ does without hogging 1/4 of the salary cap or being poison at the FT line when it counts in the 4th quarter. Aziza provided great value too. And I love Jamal but I'd rather play with Eric Gordon.

Certainly Doc Rivers was no reason to stay, but Mike D'Antoni was no real magnet either. And if Daryl Morey is a magnet, well, so is Jerry West.

I think the problem was more Blake and DJ, how much of the cap they ate, and that they made things harder on the court for Chris, not easier. Plus Blake had had an injury-free playoffs in only 2 of the previous 5 years.There's a case to be made for blaming Doc, but there are so many other factors that justified CP pulling the plug here.

That's kind of what everyone was wondering during the 2016-17 season, whether the Clippers would max out CP3 for 5 years.

Publicly, they didn't express any hesitancy about giving him a super Max, though with his age and injury history, most people wondered.

But I'm not surprised if in actual negotiations, the Clippers balked.

And Houston didn't give him 5-years either (could they have?). As it is, the last year of that deal probably can't be justified. In fact, it remains to be seen how many minutes he could or should play in the regular season and the playoffs.

Seems anything over 30 minutes is just risking injury.

You're correct. Only the Clips could offer a 5th year, and only in 2017. As it turned out, by not opting-out then signing a 5-year deal with the Clips, Chris Paul didn't take advantage of what would undoubtedly have been called the Chris Paul Rule

Another fun detail in the new CBA is the move from the “Over-36 rule” to the “Over-38 rule”. Previously, players couldn’t sign five-year contracts (a rule designed to protect bad management and dumb ownership) that extended past their age 36 season. Chris Paul is the president of the Players’ Union, and helped negotiate to move that cut-off age to 38.

which as we see, was suspected at the time as CP feathering his own nest as Prez of the Players' Association.

But since he's 33 now, Houston cannot give him a 5th year because it would violate the "Over-38 Rule".


FTR: In the end, Chris could have made $205M or so by opting out and re-signing with LAC. With HOU, he made $25M under his old Clipper contract and will now make $160M more with the new 4-year deal, for a total of ~$185M. Since Texas has no income tax, he should come out about even. But I also think he showed a lot of guts and good faith risking 2017-18 with no guarantees against injury--and also trusting Daryl Morey's nod-and-a-wink that the max was coming.

CP was unhappy here, and it just wasn't going to work with Blake [and I think DJ too, eating too much of the salary cap]. I think CP woke up one morning and it all seemed clear.


Of course, the high point of his HOU career may have been the 4th quarter of Game 5 vs GSW.

https://deadspin.com/rockets-retain-chris-paul-get-worse-1827269581

Rockets Retain Chris Paul, Get Worse


It could be all downhill from here, and the Clipper org's decision to gently let him walk could prove out.

[esqtvd]

It really sucks that through doc’s incompetence, bad luck, injuries, and choking that the clippers couldn’t accomplish anything in the past 6 years. Cp3 would probably still be here and Lebron would have joined him

It was shocking that no changes were made after the Houston choke job. Props to the Lakers and I'm trusting the Jerry West process but Ballmer waited too long leaving Doc in charge of things and this is the result. We were never agressive and pro active enough with Doc as the GM. But Bron had to end up somewhere and LA was on his radar for some time now so it is what it is. But it isn't just us feeling the squeeze. Everyone is feeling this one. This news is trumping everything.. The Warriors, the NFL, MLB, etc. We just have to suck it up and trust our current process. We'll get there.

If you use Donald Sterling as the starting point, it's not hard to imagine why things went down as they did.

Ballmer knew nothing of the NBA, Doc was not an experienced GM, and indeed it was Doc, not Ballmer, who refashioned the Front Office from scratch. A handful of underpaid scouts, no development staff. No analytics. No nothing. The entire scouting staff was replaced in September 2016.

Look it up.

How do you be "proactive" without the proper information? Doc did the right thing. Mostly nothing. The Clippers franchise is committed to no bad contracts. Signing Gallo and re-signing Blake were both post-Doc moves. So was letting Chris go without much of a fight.

So it's hilarious if it all comes down to the Jeff Green trade, which was made to keep CP and BG believing that the Clippers were "all-in" on winning, on keeping them and getting them not opting out.

It's a lottery-protected 1st-rounder = 15th or worse. I mean, really, people. The #15 or worse? Doc is trashed for all time for that?


For the record--let me once again do the obligatory tap dance--I'm glad Doc is no longer GM or President of Basketball Operations. Doc was in the trenches, looking for reinforcements, took over the Clippers franchise when Sterling fell, and rebuilt the organization while Ballmer got his **** together as owner.

All the while, while coaching the team. The more I make Doc's case ["apologist"], the more I'm convinced he's a hero of the franchise, perhaps the biggest hero [aside from CP himself].


And if Ballmer fires Doc tomorrow, I'm cool too. That's the part the h8ers don't get about me around here. I just think the criticisms don't hold up when tested.

[donemilio21]

LMAO. So far Lakers signed KCP, Rondo, Lance Stepehenson and JAvale McGee. do you think Lebron would bail before inking a deal ?

[Ranma]

As a die-hard Clippers fan, I've always hated this poser and am certainly glad that he's jumping off the Clippers' ship to join the Lakers' bandwagon.

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[Ranma]

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[esqtvd]

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Gotta be more to this, like he asked Bron or the Lakers for free tix and got punked.

And I don't know what

"Loyal to the Soil" / "Where Fans Should Agree to Disagree without Fighting!!!"

means, but it sounds like he's going to try to play both sides. Now THAT'S punk.

[esqtvd]

LMAO. So far Lakers signed KCP, Rondo, Lance Stepehenson and JAvale McGee. do you think Lebron would bail before inking a deal ?

Embiid tried to play that on LeBron, out-DJing DJ, even out-Eltoning Elton. LOL

Esp with Knucklehead Lance involved--and as a dedicated Laker h8er--I'm definitely hoping for a fustercluck in Lakerland. I was a Bron fan there for about 20 minutes vs. GSW, but some hates go deeper than others.

Half the fun this year is gonna be rooting for whoever the fLakers are playing.

[donemilio21]

I've never liked Darrell.

To me our only super fan is the Clipper Stripper.

[Neddy]

Billy Crystal?

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I thought all this by Darrell was just for publicity. He's really been annoying for at least the last 5 years for me.

[mkwest]

Go West, Big Man: The Logo on LeBron James and the Allure of Los Angeles

"Los Angeles has everything you want except bad traffic and an incredibly high income-tax rate," says West. "I'll tell you one group that's just as excited about LeBron coming as Lakers fans—the government." After the California Democratic Party tweeted out an invitation for LeBron to register to vote in the state, conservative Rep. Devin Nunes countered with a tweet that said LeBron "should have held out for more just to afford the Moonbeam weather tax," a reference to Gov. Jerry Brown.

"All due respect to the Lakers, who handled everything well," said West, "but, as these things go, LeBron was not a tough free-agent signing. LeBron wanted to come to L.A. and he wanted to come to the Lakers. Period. He has a family he's thinking about. He has a home here. [Actually two homes.] He has a son [13-year-old "Bronny" Jr.] whom he wants to keep in one school in Los Angeles. He will be a celebrity out here, sure, but it's a place where, once in a while, he can get lost, be himself. You can't do that everywhere.

Jack McCallum, Sports Illustrated

[Clemenza]

Go West, Big Man: The Logo on LeBron James and the Allure of Los Angeles

"Los Angeles has everything you want except bad traffic and an incredibly high income-tax rate," says West. "I'll tell you one group that's just as excited about LeBron coming as Lakers fans—the government." After the California Democratic Party tweeted out an invitation for LeBron to register to vote in the state, conservative Rep. Devin Nunes countered with a tweet that said LeBron "should have held out for more just to afford the Moonbeam weather tax," a reference to Gov. Jerry Brown.

"All due respect to the Lakers, who handled everything well," said West, "but, as these things go, LeBron was not a tough free-agent signing. LeBron wanted to come to L.A. and he wanted to come to the Lakers. Period. He has a family he's thinking about. He has a home here. [Actually two homes.] He has a son [13-year-old "Bronny" Jr.] whom he wants to keep in one school in Los Angeles. He will be a celebrity out here, sure, but it's a place where, once in a while, he can get lost, be himself. You can't do that everywhere.

Jack McCallum, Sports Illustrated

Bron to the Lakers was a done deal years ago they just had to be patient and wait it out. Jerry said nothing wrong here. All Magic did was sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the dish but he didn't cook the meal.