I was wondering the same exact thing in regards to NO. I think they will look for sign and trades. Maybe add a decent piece and take on a slightly bad contract in order to get something for Cousins.
We can give them lopez or kcp in a SnT....best case to me is if pg opts in ala cp3 n gets dealt here, could save us 7-9mill (pg13 opt in co tract is bout 21mill)...maybe pg can make up for that salary difference when we reup him for 5yrs n higher raises come 19-20' off season
We play Denver twice soon and Jazz/Clips to end the season. If I remember correctly Denver has a pretty tough last 20 games.
That would be the best case scenario for us. Not sure what they ask for though in return for the sign and trade. They probably try to pry at least Hart away from us.
NO was playing well before Cousins went down actually...and they're playing even better now because AD is on fire, Holiday is on fire, and they made the Mirotic trade. For them, it makes the most sense to re-sign Cousins to the max. And I think they'll do it cuz they have no choice. If you lose him, you're still capped out.
And yes, I couldn't be more annoyed by Denver, Utah and Clippers all continuing to win during the same stretch that we've gone bananas. And I feel like all of their schedules are so easy...they keep playing tankathon teams or teams that lost their superstars (Twolves, Spurs, etc) recently.
I try not to look at the standing too much. I think for this season, it will take 45 wins to get the 8th spot. If we can get 45Ws, we will get in. If NOT, it's still a GREAT season no mater what.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...-lakers-surging-confidence-winning-streak-nba Lonzo want to make a playoffs
Denver lost AD is injured again.Could be serious Anthony Davis headed to the locker room with an apparent rib injury after colliding with DeAndre Jordan in the second quarter of the Pelicans-Clippers game. So there is a chance
it's been 5 seasons since the lakers made the playoffs. feels like way longer honestly should be 6, did that 12-13 series against the spurs even happen?
Utah is going to make the playoffs, they're peaking at the right time and with Gobert as the rim protector and Crowder on the perimeter knowing Frenchie's got his back, their defense is other level! These 2 games coming up vs Utah and Denver are scary. If we can't come out of it 3-1 at the very least, then I think our opportunity is gone. I think Clips fall out... We got a game against the Clips, Wolves, Pels and SA that need to be must wins, particularly if Butler, AD and Kawhi are still out or hobbled. Again going 3-1 in those games would be fantastic and gives us a punchers chance. We need those teams to drop into the 30+ losses area for us to have a chance of sneaking in, so we're going to need alot of help. SA, NO and Minny are on the bubble but I feel they'll get Kawhi, AD and Butler back to right that ship before its all said and done with. Also I think Utah will find a way in..so that leaves us to tango with the likes of Denver, OKC and the Clips to get that final spot. Here is the remaining strength of schedule data for the Western conference (which doesn't include tankers and the elite, ranked from hardest to easiest): 1) SA 2) OKC 4) NO 5) Portland 6) cLips 7) Lakers 9) Denver 11) Minny 12) Utah
We need a lot of things to go right for us to be sniffing distance from the playoffs but it's still possible. I hate quoting him but... "anything is possible"
i really don't think we're in the conversation. but when i looked at the record today, i was like, hey, not bad... let's just see continued competitive basketball for the rest of the year. starting tonight--denver can run you out of their building. let's be in this one at the end and let the chips fall where they may.
