wiz is that you? Thought we banned you. How'd you get around it? Is there a corgi back door into this site?
I mean, the front office could have been part of the factor into why Kawhi didn't sign here, but I see his actions during the moratorium to be more telling of what his intentions were from the start. The fact that the Kawhi reached out to KD and how Raptors tried to trade for Paul George meant that staying in Toronto may have been Kawhi's first choice, and also not to form a "Big 3". Maybe he didn't want to win that way. Toronto didn't have the assets to do trade for PG, so the other team that had the space and connections (Presti's former associates) were the Clippers. WIth KD choosing to go East, Kawhi met with PG right after the Laker meeting, the signs were there, just the cards were all in Kawhi's hands. I agree, however, that the future plan of the Lakers is a little unclear at the moment, and they probably need to appease AD sooner rather than later with a replacement running mate when Lebron is gone.
How can AEG blame the Lakers management for losing Chris Paul? The teams and deals were done and it took a historic veto to lose out on a generational talent like Chris Paul but that was not on Mitch/Jimmy or even Jeannie for that matter. Because of that veto it destroyed the trade value of Pau and Odom and took us down the hole we ended up being for the last 6 years. Does AEG really think the Clips have a leg up on the Lakers now? Does AEG believe that we should've signed Green to a 4 year deal or anyone else? I just don't get where AEG is coming from and are scared of a Clips team taking over LA when their window is maybe 4 years after trading away almost every single pick of theirs, they have no future now and they are putting their trust in 2 stars whose bodies may not hold up in 4 seasons. They may get a ring or Pelinka may have just put a team together that has enough talent to beat them in a 7 game series in the next 2 seasons. After 2 seasons are we all sure a team led by Kawhi and PG in their 30s can beat a team with AD whose still in his 20s? If any free agents are looking to go to a team maybe AD whose still in his prime can be the recruiter for this team. I still prefer our future over the Clips. Why is AEG blaming management now instead of waiting a few more months until more facts come out and we are really sure that Kawhi was really serious about coming to us? Cause right now it looks like he was asking every FA to go to the Clips with him or he was willing to stay in Toronto. Playing the blame game especially for a billion dollar corporation seems petty and childish at this moment. Maybe wait until the season starts and get a few months of how this team looks before we start calling the Clips the king of LA. For 5 years i would say they had one of the most talented teams in the NBA and doc couldn't even get a division title or get to the 3rd round. Maybe AEG should look at the parity and see that this might work in our favor this season and maybe wait on playing the blame game if we don't make the playoffs again.
I see a lot of people saying we need to just focus on the here and now and not worry about the future. Yes we should enjoy the fact we have AD and Bron, however it is part of the front office's job to also plan for the future at the same time. It was no coincidence that all these teams had a ton of cap space this off season. They project who will be or could be a free agent and line up contracts to be off the books. I know everyone here knows this, but we have to think about what we are going to do in 2 years when Bron opts out. Reading Mr.Rambis last post shows that the Lakers will continue to be run like a Mom and Pop shop until the team is sold or there is wholesale changes to the front office structure. Feel free to look at the front office structure of other teams like the Clippers, Pelicans, Spurs etc. Compare it to the Lakers, it's a joke. Rambis, Pelinka, Jesse Buss, Joey Buss, Ryan West that's it for the most part.
So Mr. Rambis's reportings on the AEG meeting are pretty much confirming what @Weezy, myself and other were talking about. It's not that we don't love our current team, it's that we know how we sort of got here. It wasn't through some master plan. It was one dude (Lebron) wanting to come here to work on his businesses after basketball. He got his buddy (and fellow Klutch guy) to come here. With those two guys, vet ring chasers know they have a shot at rings here so they'll jump on board for two years. But the post Lebron plan? Assuming he will opt out is a weird assumption. It's more money than he can make anywhere else playing basketball since no one is going to sign Lebron to a $40 million a year deal at that age. Does Jeannie think that because other stars opt out to sign longer deals, that Lebron will do the same? Sure....if he was 26 and not 36. @Doc Brown explained it well with his listing of the big free agents available that offseason. Giannis is likely pipe unless the Bucks seriously regress over the next two seasons. Beal will probably be traded to a team that will sign him long term. McCollum and Oladipo are decent fits, but aren't enough with just AD and Kuz (unless Kuz turns out to be an absolute stud). Maybe if for some unknown reason Lebron did decide to opt out, we sign BOTH McCollum and Oladipo, but c'mon. Filling in with good role players works around AD AND Lebron. It won't work filling in around just AD. Star chasing does suck, but it seems like in two seasons, we won't have a choice but to do it again. With this plan, we might as well hope THT turns into a superstar.
Yeah I'm basically at the point where we need to just focus on what we have now. Did we blow the Kawhi Leonard thing? Yes. But it also took an IMPOSSIBLE trade that NOBODY saw coming from the Clippers to land Kawhi. Who did we actually miss out on as far as role players by waiting? Bogdan Bogdanovic? George Hill? If you wanna talk about Kemba and Butler...sure, we missed out..but both are older and I'm not sure I'd wanna be stuck with them for 4 years and see them at 33/34. If there's a chance that someone in 2021 becomes available that is not on the radar right now...we'll have a shot at pairing them with AD. But before we can even think about that, we need to focus on WINNING right NOW and stop worrying so much about later because there won't be a LATER if we don't build a winning team and culture today.
I hate the clippers as much as anyone but they are gonna be a problem let's be real their d will win games while there offense gels
LOL. Good luck with that having chosen to include Roo in there. Sirron was a kidder not a sick a-hole.
Bradley, Green, LeBron, AD & McGee is no slouch of a Defensive Team either.. & Vogel is known for his Defensive schemes. & Clipps still have Zubac as their starting Center.
zubac doesn't have to do much with kawhi/pg/bev look at Harrell last year ......I hear you on green bron ad Bradley but people are saying clippers wont be trouble they will BE......also.vogel is a good.coach but let's not forget they have doc rivers across the hallway
Kawhi, PG & Bev are gonna keep LeBron, AD, Cousins & McGee from getting in the Paint..? I don't think anyone is sleeping on the Clippers. Vegas has them as odds on favorites. If anything, People are sleeping on the Lakers, IMO. Should be fun.
So AEG doesn't take into account the Personal Factor here..? We're seeing more & more players conspiring to Team up together & choose their own Destinations & Teammates. There is the Business side, The Basketball side & then there's just Kawhi's odd personality, unpredictability, his relationships with others players & his willingness to play in a Big 3 under the banners of the Lakers, etc.. Not everything can be entered in a spreadsheet.
Wiz this is your saddest thing yet, man. If you'd been able to keep CL afloat maybe it wouldn't have come to this.
