i'm rooting for them to keep hayward. they've made some good moves over the past few years, deserve some reward.
Hayward will stay. Utah has a better roster than Boston IMO when healthy. Unless George is dealt there and signs an extension I just don't see the appeal for him leaving a good situation in Utah. They have an excellent young squad there.
Utah is Hayward's team... He is the current face of the franchise. Hayward wouldn't go to another team to share top billing or be second fiddle with someone like Thomas. Keeps the Jazz relevant as well.
i think they're better than boston, too. when hill's healthy. i think that's the issue for them. hill's also in line for a big contract--the kind that can kill a small market team if he doesn't produce at the right level. liked their donovan mitchell pickup.
Utah has a better roster, but that's with Hayward. Put him on Boston and they have the better roster. By far. IMO, he goes to Boston or Miami.
Do you guys think West would prefer to have all the money from Paul and Griffin's salaries to work his magic (pun intended) with ..... or retain Paul or Griffin or both? If both they're kind of broke aren't they, with Jordan's money too?
I think he'd rather keep Paul and lose Griffin and Jordan. If he can't get rid of Jordan, keep Griffin. He may have some trade value.
if i were them; i'd line up trades to clear the roster and put out feelers to lebron. in theory, they could probably trade for george, keep paul, and sign lebron this summer. it's a longshot, but it would be jerry west-ian. their only bad contracts are rivers and crawford, and i think they could find takers for either (maybe one with jordan attached). this would be a nightmare scenario for the lakers.
It's been reported a lot that Paul and Griffin do not get along. I know he'd be giving up a lot of money, but I can see Griffin moving on. I honestly don't think the Clippers would be that bummed either, that's a LOT of money for a player that gets injured every season. The only hitch I see in all this is that this is such an awful free agent pool, and Chris Paul isn't getting any younger. As I heard someone on ESPN say today, if not Griffin, who? Nobody like Hayward is rumored to be interested in them. If I were Paul and I wanted to win I'd walk too, go to the Spurs if they can create the space.
I think they let Griffin go too and try to clear up cap space to make a run at LeBron next year with one of his best buddies Chris Paul on the roster. I genuinely believe Jerry West was brought in there to get LeBron and they're going to try to sell him on his banana boat buddies.
I actually hope this happens. That way LeBron doesn't come here, and when his game falls off a cliff in a few years when his athleticism goes it won't be with us while paying him 35 million dollars. Plus even LeBron, Paul, Melo, etc don't beat the Warriors, so the Clippers still don't make the Finals. It's a win on so many levels.
From what I read, it was "can you guarantee you'll stay past this year" and he wouldn't commit. They aren't gonna trade Kyrie if Bron and PG gonna leave. Someone gotta fill those seats.
