Wmc 15/16: We are finally at the END! BYE BYRON!!!

Or perhaps, a Queen's ransom?

 

Yeah. I actually wouldn't trade any two of our assets for Cousins at this point. If we keep our pick, I MIGHT consider Clarkson and the pick for Cousins. But certainly not two of our guys. I also would think twice about even one of them if the trade didn't come with an assurance from Durant and one other FA. Cousins puts up some good numbers, but at some point we have to look at his team's track record. Rondo is playing like near-prime Rondo and they are still sitting there with 7 wins. He may just be one of those players that throws up completely empty stats on a bad team.

 

This guy is still alive?

That's because Rondo just flat out sucks. Rondo didn't just magically become crappy last year. He has always sucked. He was the same guy he has always been except he wasn't allowed to dominate the ball 99% of the time with the Mavs. Carlisle knows that Rondo's style of play isn't conducive to a championship environment.

 

I didn't say ball-dominance is bad. I said Rondo's ball-dominating way is bad and pretty much deceiving.

If you take a look at the C Bags a bit more in-depth, you'd come to realize that the more Rondo dominated the ball, the worse they were offensively. Every time Rondo missed time, the C Bags didn't skip a beat. They, however, did get worse when any of the big 3 missed time, especially KG. Does the 4th best player on non-championship teams deserve to be on the all-star team? The C Bags were a better team when Rondo picked and choose his spot while focusing on defense, where he could really excel. The more he wanted to dominate the ball, the worse things got and the less he focused on defense. He looks better, but the team as a whole look worse.

Kobe also didn't have to shut Rondo down. His defensive strategy was to literally not guard Rondo and clog the paint. If anything, it was sad to witness a player stand 10 feet away from the person he is defending at the NBA level.

Great PGs generate a lot of assists at the 3pt line and inside the paint because those are the most efficient shots. Relative to other great point guards, Rondo has a lot more assists at the midrange area and less so at the 3pt/painted area.

This year, Rondo is leading the league in touches per game at 98.5 per game. Empty stats once again by dominating the ball a ton. If you look at my previous posts on Rondo, there is a lot more information regarding this subject.

 

There is not the slightest chance in hell that the Thunder would GIVE us Westbrook if Durant chose to sign here. Not the slightest chance in hell.

 

No. There is no deal they would take from us that would happen after we essentially steal Durant from them. "Fairness" be damned, it's not going to happen.

If you have two pots of gold and someone takes one from you, even if they offered you two pots of silver would you trade with them for your last pot of gold? Probably not because they stole from you before. It becomes about principle.

Besides, if Westbrook wanted out they'd trade him East so they wouldn't have to see him anymore.

 

You go get another offer from someone else obviously. What do you think the trade market is for Westbrook? He's a walking explosion with triple-double potential every single night and is proving capable of almost single-handedly willing his team to the playoffs Kobe style. You could get a King's ransom back for Westbrook.

 

Cleveland just did a year ago.

It's not going to happen. There's dream scenarios and then there's ideas like this. There's absolutely no chance Oklahoma gives up Westbrook to LA in a trade after Durant leaves them FOR LA. It will not happen. 1000%.

If Westbrook goes to LA it's as a FA. There's no chance in hell that OKC helps us get both of the best players their franchise has ever had in a year.

 

I think we would serously regret trading Russell in a couple years. His passing is now starting to come out, and his defense continues to improve. I KNOW we'd regret trading Randle. Might regret trading JC depending on who it was for. Personally I'd rather wait it out and see who we can get in FA, with a better coach we aren't this bad and waiting isn't as hard. I do also think Westbrook would consider is more than Durant would and that he is a possibility, he'd be the man here.

 

But if he came, we'd almost have to trade either Russell or Clarkson. None of those 3 are big enough to play small forward.

 

I think it's option the FO has in case they want to use it. For instance, if Durant comes here but wants to play with "x" player the Lakers probably should at least consider moving one of the young group depending on that player. Or say Durant desperately wants to play with Conley for some reason, well then we can look into trading one of the young players to bring in another position of need.

I find it incredibly doubtful that it would happen that way, but it's possible and it's just another tool at our disposal. I find it far more likely we add a 2nd tier guy like Phoenix did with Tyson Chandler and then try to use that as leverage to attract a bigger name. If not, that's cool. We've got plenty of options.