Paul George Discussion

^^^ I don't think they're really comparable, George is not a franchise killer. Pacers might not be in the playoffs but he's still a franchise player and a lot of teams would take him. The last month or six weeks he's averaged like 28ppg up from 21 or so the rest of the season, he's back in form finally after that awful injury. Also that double OT game vs the Cavs, he went head to head with LeBron and really held his own, he's a special player.

 

You should also feel this way because what we really don't want to have happen is to trade a few of our young players for an all-star but only be good enough to be in the 1st or 2nd rounds of the playoffs basically wasting away that all-stars good years because the GSW and other teams in the west probably have another good 3-4 year stretch before their stars start to get older and drift away.

Like you said, we're better off keeping our young talent and trade or signing for good, competent pieces to make the holes we need. It's not a popular approve but we'd be growing out team organically and waiting for the right time. It's an unpopular perspective because it requires us to wait and be more patient for a couple more years but its the smart approach as I see it today.

Doesn't mean I don't want PG13 but I don't think it would be the best thing to trade away a lot of young talent for him. How old is PG13? 27-29 years old. Even if we got him I don't think we're instant contenders even if we still have Russell, Ingram, & Zubac. Which means the next couple years of PG13's career we're wasting the prime of his game.

 

The means of us getting George would mean an accelerated timeline for us. Meaning if we traded for George, we'd use our cap space to get another high level piece. I'm sure of that. That way we're at least a playoff team and we continue to develop from there with whatever kids we have left.

I still would pull the trigger on a trade where we send maybe Randle/Clarkson/Hou 1st for George. To me, that's fair (assuming George demands a trade only here). But I'm starting to believe that if we roll into next season without making that move (or any major moves) it won't be the end of the world. The only desperate need for me is that we shed Deng. I was happy when we signed him and he's been the most astounding disappointment.

 

I don't think we're going to be able to shed Deng's contract in a trade and I'm not sure if we would have enough cap space to sign anyone if we got George on our team after making that deal because of the contracts of Deng and Mozgov.

To be fair I haven't crunched any salary numbers to actually see if this is true or not but imagining it I don't think its possible. For the record I would be fine with that trade for PG13 but don't think that's enough to get it done even though Larry doesn't have a lot of leverage. The leverage he does have with us is saying if you don't up the trade value on a package for George I can find another team like Boston who definitely has the assets we want.

 

We will have, if we trim off guys like Nick Young and Tarik Black, a max contract to offer this summer that includes Deng and Mozgov on the roster. We can make a splash in FA still. If we trade for George and include Clarkson, we'll still be able to offer a max contract to someone. Paul George is at about 19 million. If we trade Clarkson and Randle we're at 15 million or so. Throw in Tarik Black and we match salaries just fine. That'd still preserve a max slot we can offer in FA.

 

Yes but not the kind of max contract for someone of 8-10+ years of service. For example I'm fairly confident we do not have enough money to offer Blake Griffin the Max and still have Moz & Deng on the roster even if we don't pick up the team option on Black and don't resign Young.

 

True. Is there a 10+ veteran you have in mind?

In the instance that a 10+ year veteran would want to come here we could still find ways to get to the max salary allowed. If for some reason Chris Paul wanted to sign here (not that I want him), we could stretch Deng and waive our rights to all our non-guaranteed contracts. I'm also confident we could unload Clarkson if necessary. There's ways to make it work.

 

He's a seven year, but it's still 28. something.

 

Ireland on the radio this morning said he gets the impression the Lakers are going to do whatever they have to for a star this summer. Could mean overpaying.

I would be upset. I trust Rob not to screw us over, but I don't want to overpay at this stage. We're not there yet.

 

^^^Hmm, I'm not in favor of doing whatever we have to do to land a star. I want to get back to winning, but it would be silly to throw everything we have collected away for one star when it won't lead to a title. The Warriors will rule the West for a few more years, and LeBron is still in the East. We need a star, but we also need to keep developing the key young guys so they'll be ready in a few years when things start to open up again. Plus, there's the reports that PG doesn't want us to gut the team for him, because if we do he's worse off than he was in Indiana (where he's at least in the playoffs), and if he didn't re-sign in the offseason we'd be screwed. I guess if we really don't want to give up too much in a trade, that top 3 pick is crucial.

 

After listening to Rob's exit interview I didn't get the impression he was willing to "sell the farm" to get an all star. He was asked about Jennie's comment saying it would break her heart to not have an all star next year for the all star game on LA. I don't remember his exact answer but it was something along the lines of we would like an all star but we have to look at the big picture/long term.

 

I remember that, but he was also adamant that he wasn't going to wait around either. I hope he doesn't take a huge shot.

 

My idea takes longer and requires us fans to be more patient but I think we should continue to grow organically. What I mean by this is keep most of our young players if we can and have them grow for the next 2-3 years improving the team by signing quality role players to fit our holes and creating a competitive team that way that lasts for 4-5+ years and more. Yes we need stars to be contenders but GSW and CLE's window will closing in 3-4 years and by that time if we grow with our young players and don't trade them away as quickly we will be right in the hunt with our guys still real young and on the top of their games by that time to compete for a title.

Now, maybe we can do both. Trade JC, Randle, & Picks for PG13 and grow with Russell, Ingram, Zubac, Nance, and Nwaba. If we can do something by improving the team but not sacrificing our future so quickly where we are only a 1st or best 2nd round playoff team each year for the next 2-3 years and then are stars get so old and out of there prime that we're back to where we started.

Let's not give up on all our young players, this is my hope and wish.

 

My heart is with you, but my head says we need at least one star like PG to show the youngsters like Ingram how to get it done.

The maturation process for our young core will be a lot more painful if they don't have that leader voice telling them how to win and taking the big shots until they are ready in a few years.