Donovan still doesn't know what the word " staggering" means , playing 5 bench players together to start the 4th .
I agree. My point is that Brewer is not going to be any sort of factor in Paul's decision. Westbrook will be a massive factor, but I've been told before that Westbrook doesn't matter and that our situation is much better. I think it's still probably close to 50/50 that he comes here or stays in OKC. Let's see how their playoffs go and let's see if we can get creative with our cap space.
I just don't see why in the world PG would even consider OKC at this point. We are better without him over the 2nd half of the season than OKC is with him. Take him off OKC and add him alone to our roster and the difference becomes dramatic. That's not even factoring in the additional flexibility we have beyond signing him. Nor even considering the factors of lifestyle comparisons, franchise comparisons, etc. I'll for true be shocked if he signs with OKC.
I won't be only because the Thunder are still 10.5 games back from OKC in the standings with them hanging out at 4th in the West and us not even close to the playoffs. The second half the season matters, but so does the first half. We're still behind them and we still don't have a Westbrook level player. Think back to what Durant just did to us. Sure his numbers didn't blow off the stat sheet, but he controlled the game single-handledly in a way that none of our guys could. We don't have that caliber player. Coming here means taking a step back in terms of top shelf talent. I find the trade-off understandable given all the other factors, but I can't guarantee George agrees with our naturally biases. If we got LeBron though, it's a damn no-brainer with no contest. It's why I'm still captaining that ship despite @sirronstuff 's best efforts.
Of course, LeBron makes his choice easy. But the 2nd half of the season has to weigh more than the 1st half in his consideration. Both Lonzo and Kuz are rookies. BI is second year. Randle was not starting. PG is not stupid. It's OBVIOUS that this young team started to hit its stride after the break. Right now we are a better team than OKC with all our players on the floor. Subtract PG from them and add him here, and the difference is huge. That's not my "natural bias". That's the reality of how good these two rosters are in a real world comparison.
I thought PG is the first domino? Got some more bad news. OKC have hit some sort of stride lately. Brewer has covered the defensive blackholes left by Dre quite impressively and he's a way better offensive player than Dre's best in his entire career. Melo kept reducing his role further from 3rd now to 4th option which is making them a better team. I can see OKC holding on to that 4th seed and I'm not really sold on Houston's chances as they go deep into the playoffs, bad thing because they're #1 and could possibly face OKC in the 2nd round. Sent from my E6533 using Tapatalk
Even if I agree with you, I don't think it's fair to assume that George agrees. Besides, we actually haven't been better than OKC in the second half. Since January the Thunder are 23-12 and we are 20-14. Since the All-Star break the Thunder are 10-3 and we're 8-4. In our last 10 games, OKC is 8-2 and we're 6-4. There's not a ton of evidence that we're far better than them in any statistical way actually. Even after January, our Ortg is 15th and our Drtg is 10th, but OKC is 6th and 14th respectively with a net rating of 3.6 compared to our net rating of 1.1 overall. We play at a higher pace and a slightly better efficiency, but with only marginally better success. I'd love for George to see our obvious strengths ahead of OKC's, but I don't think it's simple reality that we are head and shoulders over his current situation. I wish we were.
Is anybody the least concerned about this? Yes Robertson went down and Melo is a chucker but you added Paul George and your record is not any better then last year. I’m not saying I don’t want PG but if he we think he’s going to make us a PO team why hasn’t OKC record improved?
Bron is not coming without PG... PG is not coming without Bron. We'll lose Randle due to all this BS and im stepping away from my beloved Lakers for "some time".
I think it's a fair question, but I also think a lot of it has to do with his mind not being all the way there. I think the same of LeBron in Cleveland. To me it seems pretty clear that both of them have a foot out the door and that can hurt your production, quality of play, etc. That being said, that could change this summer quickly and both could re-sign or both could leave for somewhere not LA, but I think that's a large part of what's happening there.
1. Fit 2. Westbrook 3. Coach 4. Bench 1. It just doesn't fit at least in the beginning and by beginning, I mean 1st 2-3 months of the season. Even now, at times their game is not designed to accommodate a couple of alphas let alone 3 STARS. 2. Westbrook hasn't changed a bit. Or maybe he did bit for the worse. His midrange is on and off and have cost them a ton of games making his shot selection prime suspect every time. His 3pt shooting has been very streaky. 1 game 3/5 then 5 games follow with bricks everywhere and he never stops taking them. 3. The coach have made not one significant adjustment to address their terrible brand of basketball. Westbrook drive, to the hoop, kick-out to a shooter, Adams sliding down with him for an alley, or Melo iso, PG dribbling/iso. Same old same play all throughout with nothing really about overall team chemistry. 4. Atrocious bench. Terrible. Probably the worst in the league. Even Phoenix and Atlanta have deeper bench. Well, maybe not but you get my point. And when you mentioned Dre, let's put an additional premium on how big of an impact his injury had to their defense with no half as decent replacement. They weren't beating teams by overwhelming them with offense, they're winning it on defense. Their defense was dramatically flushed just when they were starting to steamroll. --- And there's your OKC situation. Reporting live from Oklahoma City, land of flying cows, I'm PGinLA. Sent from my E6533 using Tapatalk
Not much because hes a 2nd option in okc. He would be the first option here and the system Luke runs will fit PG a lot better. He will also have a team that is taking pride in playing defense, even in their early 20s. I think this lakers team can get a lot more out PG. Hopefully he sees that too.
PG is a two stroke player. Playoff George is a bad bad man! He can go toe to toe with anyone in the league for 5 games in a series with 1 or 2 decent to average games. Regular Season George is a good player but slightly disappointing in that you know he has more in the tank. He averages an even split of one great game, one good game and one average game per 3. The other thing is, he isn’t a closer and not very clutch. But he does play both sides of the ball (most games). If all we are getting is PG on his lonesome we improve to the 8th seed.
If I'm PG and I see that the success of OKC's season hinged on the acquisition of Corey Brewer... I would not be excited. Before Roberson went down they weren't exactly setting the world on fire either. As a spectator I admire Westbrook, he is entertaining as hell. I'll steal a point from Bill Simmons and ask if playing with Russ is actually enjoyable. Is he? Just a couple of reasons why PG might be looking out the front door.
All bets are off until we see how OKC does in the playoffs. I think that's the big deal maker or breaker.
