All of this is 100% accurate. Nice to know GP is so attuned to our squad. Must be because we picked up his kid.
The end as far as a fair assessment of lonzo. Plenty of ceiling to go. With all-stars hell look even better and will improve in a lil more scoring as well imo.
i wonder how true it is that the spurs don't want him. but yeah, the media circus, his injuries, and his bad shooting are deterrents that could offset all the positives in the eyes of some.
If a Kawhi trade requires us to give up one of Lonzo/BI/Kuzma, think most of us would prefer to keep either BI/Kuzma over Lonzo. I wouldn't be surprised if the front office rates BI/Kuzma higher than Lonzo on "untouchability" too. Lonzo's baggage has become more and more irritating for everyone. He's less durable than BI, doesn't sound like he took last summer too seriously in regards to offseason training, the obvious loudmouth dad problems, and now just dumb teenage "diss track" stuff that come out unprovoked. With the rumors that the Spurs have no interest in Lonzo in any Kawhi deal (which I don't blame them. Lavar alone doesn't fit the Spurs culture, and he's not even on the team. BI and Kuzma would fit into the Spurs culture just fine).... there's always the possibility we can trade Lonzo+Deng to a third team in need for a young point guard, and they have the cap space to absorb the Deng deal to make this three-way trade happen. In exchange, the third team would also need some young assets that fit the Spurs mold to get the Spurs to agree. I looked over the cap situations and there really are only 3 teams (in no particular order) that meet the criteria of having cap space, needing a young PG, and having a decent young piece to send back to the Spurs. Those trade partners would be Atlanta, Suns, Chicago. Dallas could be a partner if you can convince them that Lonzo plus a Deng dump is more valuable than Dennis Smith Jr. I don't think that one is likely. ATLANTA GETS: Lonzo, Deng (we would probably have to add sweetner i.e. Zubac and a 2nd rounder). LAKERS GET: Kawhi SPURS GET: Taureen Prince, Dennis Shroder + 25th pick SUNS GET: Lonzo, Deng LAKERS GET: Kawhi SPURS GET: TJ Warren, Marquese Chriss, + 25th pick CHICAGO GETS: Lonzo, Deng LAKERS GET: Kawhi SPURS GET: Denzel Valentine, Bobby Portis, 25th pick In any of these scenerios, it's essentially Lonzo, Deng + 25th so we can get Kawhi while having enough cap space to also get Lebron and PG13.....while we retain Ingram and Kuzma.
One thing to consider in a Deng dump is that before the draft begins and the draft picks start applying towards team cap, Dallas leads the league in cap space with 14M, while Chicago is second with about 9M in cap space. Trade Deng/TB/25/future draft considerations for Barea/Matthews. This trade would be a lead up into creating a Dallas TPE to absorb Jules S&T into (see Nash to LA trade using Odom TPE). The trade would essentially be Deng/TB for Barea. Dallas would absorb most of the incoming salary using their 14M in cap space. Then they essentially would be trading Wes for the 25th pick and a TPE in the amount of 18.6M. You would need Jules to consent that starting amount in year 1 of his contract for it to fit into the 18.6M TPE that Dallas creates (via Matthews). With Matthews, Barea on the books with Zo, BI, Kuz and Hart, we're looking at roughly 38M in total team salary. Armed with 63M in cap...go shopping. Follow it with Matthews and kids for Kawhi?
The Lakers were aware of the baggage before drafting Zo. I'm not saying Zo is untouchable, but the Laker's aren't going to trade away "the face of the franchise" because of a few yellow flags that are easily fixable for a 1st year player who has a solid foundation and enormous ceiling. While I think the deal would be favorable for us, the Spurs get shafted in any of those deals when they can easily go out and get a better package for Kawhi through Boston or Philly. Even Portland could dangle McCollum + draft picks to San Antonio which would be better than any of those. Yes Kawhi is a rental, but San Antonio isn't going to let him go for peanuts.
Lonzo with the good ol lighting lol. I see a decent flash of his frame doe... you can tell it's there and he will continue to fill out his frame. People were straight trippin on his body's mass his rookie year.
He's giving them a little flex, but that's okay. Still got some real solid weight gain it looks like, but not irresponsible weight gain. Anyone going to back off the kid about not working enough? Eh. Probably not.
For comparisons sake, Zo one year ago. His mid-section was quite a bit skinnier and his shoulders/traps were not that wide/big. I’m sure it’s partially the flexing/angle, but it’s clear he’s still gotten bigger, which is very encouraging. Just watch it on mute, it’s cringy and awful otherwise.
