Why? He just screws the switching defense up so much. Friction with LeBron if he comes? Maybe just being kind to him publicly now and showing support?
If IT and Randle are our big free agent signings this summer I might lose it. I’d rather sign KCP to a 1 year 30 million dollar deal than have Thomas on this team for another season. This dude is the exact opposite of everything we’re trying to do here. We like to move the ball and play fast, he likes to dribble the ball, walk it up court, and run pick n roll over and over and over. And then there’s the defensive side of the ball, where he is such a liability that he leaves every other player scrambling and having to play twice as hard to cover for him. It’s not that he doesn’t play defense or try, it’s that he literally can’t. He can body up a fellow PG, hold his arms up, and he will get easil backed down to the rim and shot over like a father messsing with his kid. We saw Rondo do this to him repeatedly just because he could. If I have to watch another year of that I don’t know if I’ll make it.
We all knew he was going to be an option this summer. He's a contigency plan...nothing more, nothing less. He would get a one year balloon payment to bridge his free agent candidacy for the summer of 2019. With his health, dude is stuck and probably can't receive a long term commitment from another team, so we're all he's got. We can hold onto his rights and only renounce them if George/LaBron commit. If not, we can make his one year deal richer than any other team and he essentially becomes a hefty expiring deal. We can do so many things with that type of contact. So its a great option/asset to have. As for the limited window we saw of him this year, dude was clearly not right health-wise and it showed. He had to learn 2 playbooks and that's probably why we asked him to heavily rely on the pick n roll. With a summer's worth of rehab and working with the guys and a proper training camp, dude will show out next year...I have no doubt. Don't freak out fam... This is an awesone plan B to have at our disposal.
It doesn’t matter if he’s not right or not. Dude literally cannot play defense. He is too short. He can only stand his ground and put his hands up, and there’s almost not a player in the league that can’t simply shoot over him. No, no thank you, no. I’d sign Lopez and KCP to huge 1 year deals again before I signed IT. I’d trade for JC back before I signed IT, because all these players are physically capable of playing defense. Boston and their system and players like Bradley/Crowder/Smart were able to make up for how bad IT is, while our players and our system of “switch everything” are not. No, no thank you, goodbye, there’s the door, good luck.
I mean if we completely strike out on everyone and have a boatload of cash to spend, I GUESS I’d take IT back on a one year deal if the choice is between him and Ennis. But if we’re in that situation, we’ve already failed miserably and yes I’d much rather bring back KCP if that was the choice. Seems like that will be the last of IT in a Laker jersey though. I’m gonna try to forget the games he lost for us with ill-advised shots and turnovers after trapping himself into terrible position. Thanks for the few games that you won for us with hot shooting and good P&R chemistry with Randle and Zubac. Also, I don’t think the compliments to IT coming from our coaching staff and players are just hot air. I really do think he’s had a good impact on these guys off the court. Our youngins could use some of Isaiah’s ego and drive for greatness, even if Isaiah wasn’t able to physically back that up.
Would take him over Ennis any time, on a 1-year deal... but in any case, he's not getting any great offer now. Sucks for him but it's true.
Damn you Kyrie. If not for you the C-Bags would be stuck with IT and probably have just reupped him. I feel for IT and I think he did us alright but don't take him back unless he's fully healthy come July and then only on a room exception or split the mid-level with another player or even better a vet min to prove he can make it through a year. That would be awesome but I wonder if Brook takes the Exception even with the 2 big FAs. Would be huge for us. Don't we have his right and could pay him more later on?
IT on a one year deal...I'd sign him immidiately if we can't land anybody. IT gives the team a new dimension that we don't have from the bench. He plays a similar style to Clarkson but he is a good shooter and an amazing FT shooter and he is also microwave offense from the bench, coming in and scoring in bunches. He is also for the most part an OK playmaker. I don't get the hate at all....as a bench player on a one year deal IT is the ideal solution. I hope he recovers well and is ready to go coming training camp time. With that said, I would rather spend the cash on 2 other stars logically. But if push comes to shove and we strike out, then thats a deal I can live with. Maybe he will sign for the vet min. with us after we sign 2 stars to show case himself for next year.
1. You’re assuming he comes off the bench for an entire season, I don’t agree. Next year would be his LAST shot to prove he’s worth big money, he’ll want to start and play a lot. 2. I don’t consider the points I brought up about him to be hate. I think they are completely rational reasons to not want him. Can’t play defense to save his life, inefficient and ball stopper (ball pounder, whatever) on offense, very prone to bad turnovers. Of course he can get hot and score in bunches, of course he can be a very good playmaker, but I don’t see him signing cheap, and I don’t see him taking a bench role. I think there are and will be better ways to spend our money, even if we strike out on big names. Again, I’d rather go the Lopez/KCP route again over IT.
like i've said before, only way i take him back if i'm rob and magic is on a cheap 1 year deal where he agrees to come off the bench (which he will not agree to) but if lebron is seriously considering LA they'd be stupid to bring IT back given the history between those two he's not coming back
Weezy you are assuming IT is going to have options to earn good money and to start...point is, at this point it isn't likely he will get a promise to start for any team coming off his injury...and teams with cash won't be interested in him because they are rebuilding. At the end of the day, I believe the market for him has dried out and that even though he wants to start and get big bucks, he probably won't and then reality settles in and he will take what he can get. Your critics are valid and reasonable. But if he could play D and not be a ball stopper, he would be a max player and a franchise player. He is a bench player (for us) so thats the sort of standard he has to live up to...Caruso, Ennis, Yogi, Shaun Livingston, JJ Barea, Ish Smith, Patty Mills, TJ McConnell, etc.......compared to them, he is a hell of a lot better. If you can get him for like 5 mio. for a year, who (outside of their rookie contracts) can beat that?
wow, 4 months is a long time for something that was just dubbed the other day as a "minimally invasive procedure"
Sounds like he got bad medical advice last year and should have had that done just as soon as he stopped playing. If not sooner (with hindsight).
So IT seems to have found his new agent....its the same guy that got Biff his new lucrative deal. We all now know that that particular contract didn't have a no-trade clause. This is the same agency firm that employs Schwartz who used to rep LO and now reps BI. He also reps Kemba, DeAndre, Love, Aldridge and Chandler. Other agents within the Excel firm represent Whiteside and Drummond, as well. Interesting little wrinkle is that IT's new agent also got Patrick Patterson that OKC deal. Let the speculating begin.
