Ranma wrote:I appreciate the heads up but I was unfamiliar with Vardon until this season and he primarily covers the Cavaliers and Browns (of the NFL), I believe. Plus, if you know anything about our front office, it's that it already has contingency plans, so it's not like the Clippers all of sudden drew up designs to pursue someone else when Kevin Durant was previously reported to be on our radar as well albeit in a secondary manner.
I'm sure the Clippers are still going to make Kawhi the primary target of our free-agency plans and if they feel there is an increased likelihood that he'll stay, that should be obvious given the circumstances. Whether or not there is cause to panic is another story, in my opinion.
The only concern is whether we'll overpay for secondary stars if we strike out on worthy premier free agents, but recent comments from the front office indicate otherwise. Now paying max dollars for a secondary star after acquiring a max-worthy free agent with no other alternatives provides a more vexing quandary.
In any case, I do agree with you that Masai Ujiri did beat us to the punch given that the Spurs rebuffed our attempts to acquire him calling our assets trash. but it's funny to think how such so-called "trash" as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (or rather the draft pick used to acquire him) is already considered a cornerstone player while San Antonio is purportedly trying to deal away DeMar DeRozan a year after acquiring him.[/color]
Ramna is mostly right here, although the difference between a #12 pick in the abstract and the high-end prospect Shai has turned out to be is huge. It also cost us two 2nd-rounders to trade up to #11 to get him, and the actual #12 pick, Miles Bridges, didn't even make any of the 3 all-Rookie teams.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2837421-hornets-miles-bridges-on-nba-all-rookie-snub-i-played-like-ass-all-yearThe draft illusion once again. In the mid-teens, sometimes it's a Kawhi, but most times it's a Miles Bridges. And 2019 looks even thinner. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That the Clippers made Kawhi their primary FA target just speaks to how they have their s#1+ together, although at only 26 with a Finals MVP already on his mantel, it wasn't entirely genius. It would have been moronic not to have him at #1.
I must say the improbable unfolding of these Finals makes me change my guess about Kawhi bailing--If the Raptors win, Kawhi sort of owes it to his teammates to come back and defend their title. This is beyond what he owes to Toronto the city and Toronto the org [which is nothing]. I don't know how max contracts work, but if I'm Kawhi now, the way my mates have followed my leadership and never questioned my days off or my sphinxlike weirdness, I sign the 5-year deal with an opt-out in a year or two, with the expectation that we won't repeat, and I can still go spend the rest of my career at home in Southern California come 2022.
And re KD, if the Dubs lose because of my absence, I'm vindicated. They need me, and now the whole world knows it. I can stay here now and go for another ring with no Stephen A Smith up my butt. There's really no reason to leave now.
I think Ramna's right here too about what the Clippers do if KL and KD are off the board. Holding the cap space open for godknowswho for another year is unseemly and so is overpaying a nice but complementary talent like Middleton or even an almost-great like Kemba.
Come to think of it, Kemba is a REALLY nice player. 25 ppg, 6 apg and 4 rpg, even when you double-team him and let the rest try to beat you. The leader Tobias just isn't. Kemba's a #1. Not a championship #1, but a real #1 that Tobias just wasn't.
OTOH, Kemba is the best player on a crap team, and couldn't even get them to the playoffs in the weak East. I'm always afraid of the best player on a bad team. But Kemba's got my serious respect. He's only just 29, has got better every year as a pro, and we could do worse. Keeping Gallo and resigning Pat Bev and most of last year's crew, and 50 wins looks quite doable.
