Kawhi Leonard Discussion: “I’m A Snake Clipper Guy.”

Not gonna lie, while I remain hopeful, at this point I don’t think I’d be surprised at any of the 3 outcomes.

Definitely starting to feel like all the buzz we’ve heard in our favor hasn’t had the most substance behind it.

 

It's an easy decision, even from an objective standpoint. Anthony Davis is on the team and they are practically the same age. They are both egoless and the best at their positions. The Lakers have been a lot of things the last 6 years, one thing that they have NEVER been is losers when it comes to title contending. Lakers would fill the roster and keep it filled for them as long as they are playing. That should be the decision maker.

 

If the Clippers are to beat the Lakers at a big time FA who grew up locally, the guy would have to been in HS/College during the Lob City Era. Otherwise the Clippers are toast. No one whose Kawhi’s age or older, remembers a time before LOB City where the Clippers were consistently making the playoffs and the Lakers were trapped in Lottery/Cap Purgatory.

 

That is to say when the Clippers come knocking a FA’s way, their first reaction, is not “Hahahahahahaha, the EFFING CLIPPERS?!?! Hahahahahahahahaha” or something to that effect.

 

it's easier said then done, but i'm going to try and kick-back. Enjoy this beer and let all this play out.

 

The only other scenario where I see the Clippers winning a star free agent signing over the Lakers, is when it’s a joker like Barron Davis who is more about the benefits of living and playing in LA without the expectations of what comes with being a Laker. That is to say the Clippers have a branding/image problem that goes way beyond their former owner, Donald Sterling’s slumlord racist ways.

 

And realize Lob City is a small notch above the LaMar Odom Q-Richardson Darius Miles circus act from the early 00s but with better marketing and social media behind it.

 

I think Baron actually wanted to come to the Lakers but we didn't offer him a contract.

 

No one thought the little brother in New York would get KD and Kyrie either....just sayin

 

We'll take it with a grain of salt & hope you're correct.. Welcome to LB

 

10 minutes later:

Has he signed yet!!!????!!!!!

 

He's like Sheldon Cooper deciding between Xbox and Playstation

 

Like Bol Bol deciding on his favorite Sponge Bob episode SMH

 

why he'd choose the 3 teams

Raptors-he's forever loved in the city of toronto. just led the team to a title. same core returning next season with some young talent like siakam, VV, and anunoby

Lakers-he's from socal. chance to grow his brand and further his legacy playing on a historic franchise. oh, and they give him the best chance at winning a title playing alongside two of the best players in the world

Clippers-he's from socal. he's weird as **** and would prefer to play on a team no one cares about with some decent young talent and that would need to rely on him being on the floor as much as possible despite them having absolutely no chance at winning a title

 

The little brother in NY has arbitrarily been kept down by the Knicks since joining the NBA. People forget as a condition of the NY Nets joining the NBA, they were not able to keep Dr. J and they had to pay an exorbatent entry fee. The Knicks have always legitimately felt threatened by the Nets franchise knowing full well that they could easily lose market share and fans should the Nets ever reach sustained success while the Knicks flounder. Hell, by the time the Nets entered the NBA, the Knicks were already in the dumps.

 

I disagree with the Claps having no chance at a title with Kawhi on it. That would definitely put them in the mix no doubt

 

That may have been true years ago but it's not their story now or has it been for over 4 decades..

 

There’s also video of a taped Kawhi interview showing between action during a Knicks Spurs game at MSG where Kawhi tells interviewer he grew up watching Shaq and Kobe Lakers, and how watching them got him to fall in love with basketball. The interview ends with him saying he tried to emulate them in his game, and then the broadcast cuts away to a play in game where Kawhi executes a Kobe move.

 

Kawhi to the Clippers still from his standpoint doesn't make a lot of sense to me. He's been big on load management and we know this. The Clippers were great last year and made the playoffs, can they repeat it again? The West is going all out with the fall of the Warriors and the East continues to go stronger, I'm not sure how many games Kawhi could take off due to load management if he joined them.

With the Raptors we saw what happened this season, Kawhi played 60 games and they were dominant. Even though the East is getting stronger, Kawhi could still take games off with them and make the playoffs, and just go off in the playoffs like this year. But how long does that last with the top teams getting stronger, and most of the Raptors are FA's after next season. HE might be able to repeat with them this year, but any longer I don't see it.

With us, we have LeBron and Davis. Obviously, our team isn't set in stone yet but the core is there, Bron/AD/Kuz with new additions of Dudley and Daniels. With two other stars on the team it checks Kawhi's load management box. With Magic out of FO, I don't think you'll see any crazy stories, but we are the Lakers, we're always under a microscope. We want a long term play with Kawhi and AD after LeBron is gone. WE can also expand his brand the most. I really do think its a two way race between us and the Raps. It would really surprise me if he went to the Clippers, it just doesn't make sense to me. If he goes to the Raps it might be 1+1 deal.