Thank you @MambaMentality ! The information shocked the Lakers as much as you and me. While they were initially worried about the Clippers, they knew Kawhi would never go there without a much stronger chance to contend. What nobody foresaw, is that Sam Presti would cave and send Paul George off. They knew he always wanted to go to LA, especially after being denied the chance last summer, but never figured it would happen quite like this...
@OX1947 It's more that they spent a lot of time in this endeavor. Though admittedly, the New Balance stuff was beyond the scope of Kawhi. Like most things right now, there's a significant reactionary component to their demand. At this point, their grievance is this. Kawhi definitely did not choose the Clippers due to business, so it must have been basketball. They are upset that the Lakers couldn't sell themselves as a better basketball situation to Kawhi. They're also questioning management, especially after they hired Magic, who proceeded to create a mess that AEG was tasked with cleaning up.
Sit and wait, hmmmm. I have be honest, I think sitting and waiting is over from here on out. If I am running the Lakers, I NEVER do this again. Players league or not, it's time they be the aggressor. Passive and waiting for the 3rd time in as many years has blown up in their face. Lebron worked because they had inside info that he wanted to come anyways. Lakers need to start being lethal in their dealings. No more sitting back and hoping. You rip their throats out and that's it. Lakers need to go into this next task of finding a star guard with that focus. No other way.
I support the FO in this case. This was unexpected and besides, they had to wait. Kawhi actually chose PG over Bron and AD. Come on now. That’s weak.
@Mr. Rambis you think getting a earful from aeg will finally push jeanie to hire a PBO at least? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk
No one is going to buy New Balance shoes except my next door neighbor who has zero taste in shoes. In a Laker uniform, a Clippers uniform or a cheerleader uniform, wouldn't matter. And it is quite obvious why Kawhi didn't choose the Lakers and how it was ALWAYS a non-choice and that was Lebron James. Blaming management for not convincing Kawhi to come is a waste of time. Anthony Davis and Lebron James wanted to come to the Lakers in back to back off seasons. What exactly is management doing wrong when arguably 2 of the top 3 players in the world have arrived to play in Laker uniforms? Are you gonna tell me next that the Ty Lue incident made management look bad again? A guy who needed therapy to coach a game refusing to accept a fair contract? I am tired of listening to media, pundits, fans, and nimrods who have no clue how this all works. It's just emotion and reaction with zero common sense thinking. Lakers went big, lost big. NOW, it's time to stop with the stupid commentary and media driven trash. Their focus needs to no longer be about waiting for ANYONE. GO AFTER IT! Go get star guard by the deadline and finish this year off with a title. Other than that, all this BS means nothing. Does nothing.
@SeaDodgLakers23 Honestly probably not. Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak got lambasted in 2011, and it took several years for them to lose their jobs. I'm told their first question is going to be, why didn't we bring in the guy across the hall, who wanted to be here and just closed this deal, instead of Magic Johnson? And I was told, if she answers Phil Jackson, they will let her hear it.
Yes. I posted somewhere that I’m glad we did that instead of waiting to try and sign him next year. I won’t rehash all those posts but basically 1. We took a swing here and missed. It is what it is. I don’t fault them for trying. You get a shot at putting together that kind of trio and you do it. 2. BUT, I’ve honestly had about enough of this. Maybe it’s just in the moment but I’d really rather not do another round of this with another free agent.
I don’t think we have the assets to trade for a 3rd star, we gave away all our draft picks through like 2025 for AD and only have Kuz left as a valuable asset because he’s cheap. I agree with you in principle though, THIS is the season to go all in, LeBron’s only going to decline from here and we have AD, Durant is out the year, Klay is out most of it, and there’s more league parity than there has been in 5 years. There’s probably at least 4 teams from each conference with a shot to make the finals.
Alright guys I'm going to sign off for the night. Most of the folks at AEG and in the Lakers have gone offline for now anyways, so not much is going to happen. Tomorrow morning I'm going to be in and out of some phone calls, but I'll keep you posted if anything changes. I have shared everything I know on the Lakers' current pursuit of free agents, so check out some of my previous posts if you haven't already. Ultimately, while I know tonight's news was extremely shocking and disappointing, let's not forget that we have two of the best players in the NBA right now - one of whom is only 26 and still getting better! Also, we've seen many playoff situations this past season show us how important depth and load management is, and now is our chance to go ahead and acquire some great supporting players that will help our stars get some rest. We have excellent veterans such as Danny Green, Javale McGee, Jared Dudley, and more hopefully coming like Marcus Morris and Avery Bradley. And, lets not forget one of the brightest young stars in the NBA in Kyle Kuzma! Plus at the same time, we've solved some of our biggest issues from this past year - shooting and defense! This upcoming season in the Western Conference is going to be a dogfight. Games during the regular season will matter more than ever for playoff seeding, and that's where having a strong supporting cast is going to be crucial. In the playoffs, allowing the rest of the roster to step up will let LeBron and AD do what they do best in the 4th quarter - close out games! As Kobe said - you shouldn't need to be recruited to be a Laker. With the history of this franchise, championships, and legends, it's a privilege to wear the Purple and Gold. Now, we know who exactly is up for the challenge - who can handle the spotlight - and most importantly... who can bring us banner #17!!!
If Woj and Windhorst knew Kawhi was all in on the Floppers , Lakers management was supposed to know too and not waste its time on Kawhi and focus on building the best roster possible around Bron and A.D The FO got BADLY played
Might have been intentional though, I do think Kawhi knew he was going to the Clippers the entire time.
Yeah Kawhi and the Clippers knew . I guess they were expected to quickly sign KD or Butler but it didn't happen so Kawhi waited for them to trade for another star ( maybe he gave him a deadline to do so , the haul the Clippers gave up for PG13 makes me think this )
@Mr. Rambis So it seems Kawhi and NB had this all planned out with his press photo and Clipper shoes already out. Was this something AEG could have known or was NB keeping this secret?
f*** a new balance trash a** shoe will be nothing IN LA nike/Jordan/under armor in that order new balance is below kswiss
