2016 Rumor Mill: Trades and Players to Watch

I've heard we're willing to let any of our vets go for the right price (probably any price), BUT I've also heard they LOVE Lou Williams for that contract. I doubt they find a deal they'd move him for.

 

I'd have no issue seeing any of those guys go. Though I do think Young is still useful off the bench under a better coach, and unless we get a guard back for Lou, trading him means more Huertas *shudder*. Hibbert and Bass, don't care, and Kelly and Sacre I'd trade for cash.

 

Yeah I don't know why you dislike Lou @fabfourlakers . He's awesome. I love Lou. None of whatever our problems are revolve around him.

 

We'd have to trade for Westbrook I bet... Also I wouldn't consider Westbrook a lock to leave. I know a lot of people say Durant is the most likely to stay and Westbrook to leave, but I think it could work out the opposite.

Westbrook has a lot of that Kobe in him where I bet he feels he could do it all by himself over there and keep them relevant.

Hopefully we've got as legit a shot at Durant as people believe, but I have to think it's mostly Durant's advisors (they see the $$$$) pushing that narrative. We just don't have much to offer on the court unfortunately.

 

Interesting..... from 38 min mark to the end.

 

Damn Stephen A getting my hopes up. Durant followed by Westbrook, added to the youth core we already have, shoot we go back to instant contenders. San Antonio is nearing their end as good as they are, Duncan, Parker and Ginobili aren't playing forever. Clippers are never getting over that hump, and the Rockets will get worse as Dwight continues to lose athleticism. It's pretty much GS and then everyone else right now. I really don't think this happens, but damn I'd sure love to see it. Westbrook, Russell, Durant, Randle, Nance Jr, Clarkson, whatever good C you can get, possibly the #1-3 pick this draft, sign me up.

 

Well we'd have to trade for Clarkson so we'd likely give up a part of the youth to get Westbrook. Presti wouldn't give both Durant AND Westbrook without getting something back. I don't know what we'd trade them, but it'd have to be something or Westbrook would go somewhere else in a deal. Then we might have a shot at getting him over the summer still, but definitely we'd have to give up a young piece or two to get Westbrook outright.

This isn't the first time we've heard these rumors, but certainly it's something we'd all love. The problem would be convincing a guy like Durant that he could be competitive here right away. That's been the problem from the start. There's some evidence (namely when Kobe is playing well) that a good SF would make all the difference in the world here. There's some evidence that Durant would fit like a glove and that we'd take off and be an 8 seed almost immediately.

Things would have to look diametrically different than they do now though. Completely different. We'd have to fire Byron, Kobe would have to be 100% out of the roster picture (but still part of the organization), we'd have to probably sign another Top Tier FA (Horford, maybe Whiteside)... Things would have to go perfectly for us after the All-Star break...

I just don't know if I see it happening.

I also can't pretend that Stephen A. knows what he's talking about all the time. He's mostly a moron with a big mouth. I know he's well connected, but I just don't know what to believe from him.

 

I'm lost, Westbrook is a free agent in 2017, why couldn't we just sign him? Even if they traded him to another team next season, he could still walk from that team and come here. I actually think Westbrook is more likely to come here than Durant, and I love Westbrook, Kobe is right when he says he plays like him. If we did have to trade Clarkson for him though, I wouldn't hesitate, hell I'd probably give up Clarkson AND Randle. Westbrook is a superstar, and he was the best player on OKC in their one trip to the Finals. As for Stephen A, yeah, he doesn't know everything, but I believe he did call LeBron to Miami, and that Melo would stay in NY, he does seem to know more when it comes to superstars.

 

Sure he can walk, but more likely OKC would trade him to some other team capable of contending (Hellooooooo Miami!) and there he'd be extremely tempted to stay because of what Riley can do for him. OR we give up Clarkson and Randle and get Westbrook over here. I'm not sure I'd do that, but it might come to that. The only point though is someone said we'd be able to get both of them while keeping all the youth and I don't think that's true.

I think he's well connected, but he always does a good job of covering himself. For instance, he kept repeating in this one that he's NOT predicting it and that it's just a possibility he's heard. I think it's fairly obvious that Durant will give us a shot, but I don't know to what extent we'll be able to appeal to him. I can't imagine he signs here WITHOUT another star signing for instance. I don't know if Horford is enough, but something along those lines makes much more sense than him signing here without those kinds of guarantees. Otherwise he's leaving an extremely competitive team for one that's maybe an 8 seed or so. I doubt he's interested in that.