Kawhi goes to Clips, now what?

[Landsberger]

This title will be on whether or not Kuzma can take that next step offensively
He will be left wide open

Not sure I follow.... at this early point he looks to be the primary bench player with Cousins. That hardly puts him in a position to be wide open. Conversely it would seem that he will be the focus of the defense when he's on the floor.

Our rotations will be key. We have enough depth is appears to not have to rely on a set group for 8-10 minutes at a stretch which is a good thing. Kuzma will probably be in several line-up types and have opportunities to be who he is. At least I hope that the coaching staff is not going to have him guarding centers again.

[AcecardZ]

If Boogie is decent at all it would be so huge as it would prevent Bron and AD from having to play tons of minutes.

Bron and AD start. One sits and Boogie enters. After a few mins the next starter sits and other returns allowing us to have 2 out of the 3 on the court most of the game.

Having the best record isn’t nearly as important as entering the playoffs healthy. Monitor minutes and keep legs as fresh as possible. Given the team’s depth it shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish.

[lazybatman]

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Personally, I have more respect for Kawhi after this.

I'm happy with the wild Saturday night signings, and figure it's as good as we could've realistically done.

Still hoping we add Korver and Iggy. Trade for Reddick with KCP + Rooks, Rondo, Caruso, etc / Danny Green and one of our picks back.

Don't care much about the rooks on the squad. Send 'em to G-League or trade them 2045 pick, which can be traded again around the deadline. It'll be good for us and them.

Assuming we're done with Kawhi on July 1, where do the Lakers go with their FA strategy. I feel we could have better quality role players.

My preferences order would've been -

1. Malcom Brogdon - 15-17 mil(signed for 20 mil by Pacers) 3 pt game; clutch af; way better defender than Danny Green without the titles or American hype; great secondary ball handler and distributor, who doesn't crave the ball.

2. JJ Reddick - vet min - 8 mil(signed for 12 mil by Pelicans to babysit for them and fill up the Cap Space. His timeline's clearly off for them. Prolly becomes a trade piece around the deadline, unless they make a playoff push)

3. Boogie, Rondo & Korver on vet mins

4. Cook - whatever we signed him for

5. Wait on useful players like Iggy, Vince Carter, Pau and go dumpster diving for good left overs like Jamychal Green, Delon Wright or wait for the trade deadline of organizational failure realizations for Wizards, Thunder, Timberwolves, etc.

Sorry KCP, Caruso, McGee & my favourite make'em dance Lance.. much love & Thanks!

[iamworthy]

Another thread?

[Kilroy]

LeBron/AD/Kawhi/Kuzma would have been a lot better than Kawhi/George/etc... LeBron/AD/Kuz, is still better than Kawhi/George... But now we've had the opportunity to add Green and Cousins, along with McGee KCP, Caruso, Daniels, Dudley...

It was still a shady game they played... Not negotiating in good faith... And I hope Lakers fans don't let Clippers fans forget it... That said, we're fine.

[AcecardZ]

LeBron/AD/Kawhi/Kuzma would have been a lot better than Kawhi/George/etc... LeBron/AD/Kuz, is still better than Kawhi/George... But now we've had the opportunity to add Green and Cousins, along with McGee KCP, Caruso, Daniels, Dudley...

It was still a shady game they played... Not negotiating in good faith... And I hope Lakers fans don't let Clippers fans forget it... That said, we're fine.

The “shady game” was our own fault. We allowed Kawhi to dictate the rules.

It appears we rebounded nicely but only time will dictate the extent to which the delay hurt the team.


Kawhi was worth waiting for if he was legitimately undecided as to where to play. He was NOT worth waiting for if he only wanted to come here because his preferred plan ended up not working out.

[ShazamDaShiznt]

They should have never wasted time on Kawhi interview. His agents impact sports are trump supporting racists who were making anti-Lebron tweets over the past few years.

It's not a coincidence trump congratulates clippers for landing kawhi on twitter. Same dude who hates NBA

[iQon]

The only thing that sucks is that he's in our building, and we're going to be back in the same seat 2 years from now with LeBron, or some other young gun.

Otherwise, we as a franchise, are arguably in a better position without him.

[thebigbird]

The only thing that sucks is that he's in our building, and we're going to be back in the same seat 2 years from now with LeBron, or some other young gun.

Otherwise, we as a franchise, are arguably in a better position without him.

Things could go south for the Clippers if Kawhi needs a lot of load management next season. Can they afford to rest him 20-25 games in the regular season in the West? And if they can't will his body fall apart? I would much rather have a LeBron/Davis duo next year than a Kawhi/George one.

[JVL]

LeBron/AD/Kawhi/Kuzma would have been a lot better than Kawhi/George/etc... LeBron/AD/Kuz, is still better than Kawhi/George... But now we've had the opportunity to add Green and Cousins, along with McGee KCP, Caruso, Daniels, Dudley...

It was still a shady game they played... Not negotiating in good faith... And I hope Lakers fans don't let Clippers fans forget it... That said, we're fine.

The “shady game” was our own fault. We allowed Kawhi to dictate the rules.

Every team would've. Top FA have real power in the NBA today and the Lakers FO was desperate to add Kawhi.

Even in hindsight it was the right decision. You really don't know whether Kawhi is stringing you along, using you as a bargaining chip against the Clippers/PG13.

Was Kawhi a shady mf? Sure was, meeting with PG13 in secret, asking the Lakers to delay trades to give the Clippers more time to come up big, changing meeting locations on the fly to keep his other meetings secret. The only thing that stings to me is that he's been meeting with a competitor under contract trying to convince him to force a trade.

In the end, Kawhi played it smart, got what he seemingly wanted and it allowed us to build for depth. We'll be alright. We got played and that will continue to happen until the NBA steps in and enforces its own rules (tampering) or expands the rules to take away some of the power from FA and give it back to the teams.

The Clippers don't impress me that much. Obviously a core of a healthy Kawhi/PG13 is going to be dominant. Obviously their backcourt is defensively elite. But they lack size and don't have a bench. Kawhi isn't giving you 3000 minutes per season and I don't see him giving you consecutive deep post-season runs in the gritty West. If Bron/AD/Boogie can stay healthy we'll take their scalps. Boogie and AD will feast on them.

Lots of ifs but that's how it goes in the NBA. You take risks and try your best to contain them.

[Sedale Threatt]

They’re a 48-win team that replaced Gallinari and SGA with Kawhi and George. They’re going to be absolute monsters.

At any rate, we didn’t make Zach Lowe’s list of postseason losers! Didn’t make the winners either, but after missing out on Kawhi, that kind of feels like one.

[Spanish_Laker]

Then Kawhi is a bigger snake than KD, the biggest one until now.

[Kobeallday]

We negotiated with him in good faith. We deserved the same courtesy with him in return.

... and truthfully I think we got it for the most part. We were his second choice all along and once the Clippers got the player Kawhi wanted the rest is history. I do think he will ultimately regret his decision but maybe not. In the meantime Lakerfan has nothing to be upset about. The team is great and if they stay healthy they should be able to contend for a championship.

We were not his 2nd choice, we were his last option, both the raptors and clippers were trying to trade for PG13 and whoever got him would get the snake as well....if neither were able to trade for him then he comes to us.

From the reports, that I read, the Lakers were indeed his 2nd choice. Raptors trying to trade for PG was nothing more than Kawhi using them for leverage against the Clippers. Apparently Raptors brass knew he was never gonna sign and the clippers pulled the trigger because of their fear of him coming to the lakers and building a dynasty in their own building

Honestly, as a raptors fan, I'm cool that he left but the way he manipulated and trick multiple organizations leaves a bad taste in my mouth

I mean Raptors refused to give up siakim for PG is the reason why he didn't stay, cause the Thunder would have taken the Raptors package over what the clippers offered if they were willing to include siakim. And if Raptors got PG then the snake would have stayed, simple as that, Lakers were just his last option when neither team were able to trade for PG.

[karkinos]

I've said it before and i'll say it again... it made little to no sense why 3 teams were "still being considered" after several days of deliberation. He could've easily eliminated 1 team so said team can move on. I can accept the outcome, but i'm not a fan of how Kawhi and his team handled things.

...
kawhi can't make trades for the teams. it's up to the teams to get them done.

[Ball so hard]

I've said it before and i'll say it again... it made little to no sense why 3 teams were "still being considered" after several days of deliberation. He could've easily eliminated 1 team so said team can move on. I can accept the outcome, but i'm not a fan of how Kawhi and his team handled things.

...
kawhi can't make trades for the teams. it's up to the teams to get them done.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

[karkinos]

I've said it before and i'll say it again... it made little to no sense why 3 teams were "still being considered" after several days of deliberation. He could've easily eliminated 1 team so said team can move on. I can accept the outcome, but i'm not a fan of how Kawhi and his team handled things.

...
kawhi can't make trades for the teams. it's up to the teams to get them done.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

3 teams were being considered because two of them had the resources to make the trade he wanted
lakers were the team of preference if neither team could get the trade done
so technically the lakers were the first choice until either team could get a better hand.

if you're in kawhi's shoes, why eliminate a team when they have the means to get what you want?
there's nothing sneaky about it. lakers fans acting like all teams are supposed to not make their team more appealing just because all the leaks are saying lakers are the front runners....like other teams are just supposed to stop trying to get kawhi? makes no sense.

kawhi recruiting and telling teams what he wants is not equivalent to actually making the trade package, talking to other teams, and orchestrating it from start to finish. kawhi isn't who signs the trade. it's the team. y'all blame kawhi for a lot of stuff he didn't do. all he did was be honest with what he wanted.