So he is definitely interested, but won't say is he definitely coming (obviously). He mentions that it would be different if another player joins LA as well, which has been everything Magic and Pelinka have talked about, they want 2 superstars. So the narrative of both sides reinforces the other.
The line everyone is running with is "overstated", but I'm with you. Sounds to me like he still left that door wide open. The pressure is on right now for the Lakers to prove they're NOT too early and of course to open that second spot by shedding Deng. Game on. I like our chances.
In an interview with Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated, George expressed his belief that his perceived desire to play for the Lakers has been blown out of proportion: "I grew up a Lakers and a Clippers fan. I idolized Kobe [Bryant]. There will always be a tie here, a connection here. People saying I want to come here, who doesn't want to play for their hometown? That's a dream come true, if you're a kid growing up on the outskirts of L.A., to be the man in your city. But it's definitely been overstated. For me, it's all about winning. I want to be in a good system, a good team. I want a shot to win it. I'm not a stats guy. I'm playing this game to win and build a legacy of winning. I've yet to do that. I'm searching for it. If we get a killer season in Oklahoma, we make the conference finals or upset the Warriors or do something crazy, I'd be dumb to want to leave that."
Well the common theme was "He wants to go to the Lakers and no where else". For him to at least look like he would entertain the idea of staying in OKC (considering he has to play there all year) he has to say it was overstated. He even went on to describe what seems to be a very high interest in us, he would love being the guy on a team he grew up idolizing.
I'd say our chances are 80% based on if OKC upsets the warriors, which is like 10% and another 10% if they make the conference finals. However they would have to beat the Spurs, Rockets and ultimately upset the warriors. Are chances are great, he's just saying the right things to Kickstart Magic's vision of us building his dream contender. Get rid of deng and continue to create more cap space for next year.
To think about it I'm glad he went out west and not east to the C Bags or cavs they could have convinced him to stay with winning in the Leastern conference
LOL. Can't wait to see Magic's and Rob's faces when their little plan goes to s***. Trading DAR for an illusion...
Spurs play great team defense and use their bench, the thunder doesn't have a bench and their defense won't be on the Spurs level. I like our chances. My dream scenario is theirs beef between pg and Russ so they trade anything to us for PG before the deadline (pipe dream)
Lol. I hope it does (im a Lakers fan first) but still hate the DAR trade. We couldn't sign jack ish for the past what, 5-6 years? Now we'll sign two superstars just like that?
Let's give Magic, Rob, Luke and even possibly Kobe be in a room with any free agent see how that ends. Remember we used to have Jimmy and Mitch in a room... ZzZzzZ....
I don't wish injury on any player, I do wish for drama though! I have feeling they'll bump heads him and George
yea as great as KD was, all that story about him not actually liking playing with Russ was accurate the whole time, nobody wanted to believe it and it showed once they played each other.
hope for a solid season, followed by a second round playoff loss. too bad of a season, and okc might move george to a different contender who might keep him (boston). too good of a season, and he stays there. anyway, i think our management was overconfident here. full year before we really know.
