2019/20 Players' Transactions: Breaking News , Trades, Free Agents, And Rumors

Via the Woj pod:

An expiring Deng or re-upped Jules, our 2019 pick and one of our youngn's to join George and LaBron...#2019Plan?

 

Yeah, my bad in not specifying. If LaBron and George shave a bit off top and come on board and we retain Jules @ 13-15M, then Jules/LA 19 1st rounder and one of our young'ns works.

If we let Jules walk for nothing (and I would hate that!) then Deng at 18M along with our guaranteed contracts leads to around 40M (including the Cavs 1st rounder) in team salary and roughly 61M in cap space for George and LaBron.

Heck, LaBron and George can even do 1+1 deals this summer and that allows, LaBron, George and Kawhi to all be able to divvy up during the summer '19 accordingly.

And still, folks give this FO flack for trying to correct the wrongs of Jim/Mitch....we have an endless amount of possibilities now!

 

Is everyone done with Boogie? Is he never going to be the same? Or will someone give him max anyway? What if he could be had for low $20s mil if lebron stays? Would that lure PG?

 

Wouldn't mind Boogie for that price with a short term "prove it" deal. 1-3 years with team options to give us an out if his recovery doesn't go well.

Meanwhile, AD decided to add Cousin's stats to his own:



Legit MVP candidate. Skip Bayless lit the fire: In the 3 games since Skip Bayless said Anthony Davis was the most overrated player in basketball, AD has averaged 41 points, 15.6 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 2 steals on 50.5 FG%.

I'd rather trade for AD than Kawhi now based on the latter's injury.

 

Kawai and AD both seem like guys that would be really easy to root for.

Boogie? Not as much. I think most may wait on his health before committing, but a wildcard like Dallas may step up and take a risk like that

I can’t see us making that offer. We need a sure thing, not a maybe.

 

I was on the Boogie bandwagon but after post ACL Kobe's "shell of himself experience" and the fact that Cuz carries 100 lbs more...NO MAS

 

yeah, cousins does NOT have the profile of someone who recovers well from a torn achilles. his weight concerned me before; how is several months off going to help? is he the type that will take rehab seriously. guys like kobe and wes matthews are workhorses, and they represent about the best you can expect in terms of recovery from an achilles injury with respect to regaining former physical abilities. cousins doesn't have that rep.

i'd almost say that i wouldn't want him on my team in 2018-19 at any price. if he can't get a big (like max-ish) deal, he'd probably want to sign a big one-year deal, which really serves no one but him.

 

I feel that PG13 and Lebron are longshots now. I was really wanting Boogie this summer, and go get Kawhi in 2019. But that type of injury as we’ve seen firsthand from Kobe is so tough to recover from.

Boogie
Randle
Ingram
Kawhi
Lonzo

Would’ve been nice going forward.

 

they're longshots, to be sure. all the lakers can do is keep winning and trying to demonstrate that this is a franchise ready to return to contention. someone will eventually bite on that, if not in FA, then in a trade demand like kyrie's.

but if they strike out this year, they shouldn't just roll everything over again. invest in young-but-experienced players (like an avery bradley type) who fit the culture and scheme, who can be moved if need be (read: not mozdeng) but can also help you win now.

i'm ok with trying to preserve a max slot each year when possible, but rolling over gobs of cap space every year can be really counterproductive.

btw, if the lakers strike out again in FA, they really need to be thinking about creatively structuring a randle offer such that they can capitalize on cap space this year and reduce his hit later. say he wants a 4 year, 80 million dollar deal--what if we can get close but offer as much as possible this year (i think the cba allows this--at least it used to). so, give him his max for year one, then divide the rest evenly across years 2-4. you could then round out with budget deals and one-years, retaining flexibility for the future without losing an asset.

 

i think philly's more realistic than people have thought and a legit threat to la's pitch, as they pretty much beat us in all basketball-related selling points.

never underestimate pat riley. getting wade back may have been a pre-emptive move.

finally, i still think houston or gs (if houston beats gs, which looks almost likely at this point) are the most likely destinations, given lebron's age and FA decision making history and recent league history.

the lakers winning ballgames has made me feel a little better about the paul-george-by-himself possibility, but not enough to put odds above about 25%. he's still got a superstar in place in okc.

i'm bracing for the FA strike out and hoping management has some creative ideas to capitalize on all the space.