Kawhi Leonard Discussion: “I’m A Snake Clipper Guy.”

Thank you Cookie and reminds me that I hope Kobe is involved clandestinely with the recruiting until hopefully he would be invited into the room along with LeBron and AD when they are talking to Kawhi at the Lakers facility. Kobe tutored him on court for crissakes.

 

Guys, this is really simple if you think about it.

Everyone loves to hate the Lakers
+ Everyone loves to hate LeBron
---------------------------------------------
Everyone loves to hate the Lakers and LeBron

The entire narrative of "No one wants to play for the Lakers" is the same b******* narrative that has followed LeBron post-Miami; "No one wants to play with LeBron". The media is just ramming it down people's throats, when neither are actually true.

There are very clear reasons as to why the Lakers and LeBron (prior to LA) struggled to attract talent.

• An injured and aged Kobe took up a large part of the salary, which led to limited people wanting to come here.
• Following Kobe retiring, the front office fell apart and was a mess under Magic, which led to limited people wanting to come here.
• As for LeBron, he played in Cleveland, Ohio. NO ONE on Earth wants to move their family to Cleveland and be around Dan Gilbert.

As far as Kawhi goes, do I think he comes here? Probably not.
Do I think he would heavily consider it? Of course he would. There are two Top 5 players on the Lakers. We are the favorite to win the title now and have no team lol.

 

Possible domino for running it back... although it would be hard for Gasol to get a larger bag this summer with so many bigs on the market had he opted out.

 

Well IF this is a domino...it's a big fat L for the Clippers and it keeps Kawhi in the East so I'll be OK with this outcome.

Then again...could mean nothing...the Raptors were pretty damn good without Kawhi last year (17-5 record)...and could also be that Gasol probably doesn't get as much on the open market (then again, lots of teams with cap space).

 

He had to do that because I don't think he was getting that kind of lettuce in free agency.

 

This morning on the 710 Morning show, the crew spent a whole segment talking about the clippers. Granted, the conversation was about Kawhi and whether he'd prefer to go to the Lakers versus going to the clippers and making them relevant. Still, the fact that there was that much time devoted to this conversation by probably the most Laker friendly show on the station really irrigated me because it's playing right into what the clippers, which is the exposure.

Clearly, a lot of the talk is about reporters either losing or not getting access to the Lakers and that possibly causing some to issue payback, but I'm wondering how exactly someone like Ballz would be able to get hacks like Woj and to talk with such disregard for our Lakers. Cash under the table? Directives from way up top? I'm not saying it's hard to believe. I absolutely do believe ESPN is messing with us but I'm curious how they're able to be so blatant about it.

 

Welcome to LB!

I don't know if you missed it, but our insider here definitely tipped off that Ballmer was spending cash to push the Clipper agenda and downplay the Laker situation, which I'm sure ESPN (and Woj) were more than happy to oblige. Couple that with the fact that the Front Office has been even more tight lipped than ever, probably because of last years debacle with at the deadline with the trade details leaking and tampering concerns. So what does the media do with no information? Assume the worse and trash the Lakers as much as possible.

First it was that the Lakers package was not enough, then when the trade hit, it became we gave up too much. The media thought that was it, ran with it, when all it was just an agreement. So out came the stories about not being able to create the 3rd max slot to dissuade suitors like Kawhi and Kyrie from coming. Come Draft night, the Pelicans moved the 4th to the Hawks opening up the smaller details about the trade that could lead to the Lakers getting the max, which was to trade Wagner, Bonga, and Jones with AD forgoing his kicker. Once the media got a hold of that, then the fireworks started coming in saying Kawhi prefers Toronto and the Clippers than Lakers. Slowly in the past recent days, guys like Woj and Ramona are backtracking their stories about the Lakers ability to get max and Kawhi's preference on teams. They now know something, whether they like it or not, and now have to report it.

 

If Gasol is a piece that makes Kawhi resign (1+1) if he's smart, so be it and good luck. I don't like Marc AT ALL, so im glad there's zero chance for him to wear P&G.

 

What's wrong with Marc? He's one of the few centers that impact a defense as a whole, and not just shot blocking. He's a smart anchor without all the athletic ability. There's a reason he won DPOY.

 

Don't like his face, he's fat and some time ago he basicly said "f*** the Lakers".

 

Thank you for the welcome. I've gotten myself up to date on this ballmer bs thanks to this forum. Sort of wondering if there's anything that we as fans and consumers can do to show that we disapprove of this charade being played on us by ballmer, espn and its reporters. I don't usually have a lot of time on my hands, but this is a worthwhile endeavor. These guys have to pay for what they've been doing.

 

cLips "scrambling" for a Kawhi contingency. Btw, why not just pair them with their ability to get two max via a Gallo stretch or trade? Hmmm.... maybe cLips getting a lil gun-shy in big game hunting.

 

Well IF they do get Tobias back...they will have robbed Philly of a lot while getting him back...basically what we would do if we get D-Lo back from the Nets...

But yeah, pretty funny to see that the Clippers may be looking at contingency plans...ppl will still praise them if they get Tobias back...ZOMG THE CLIPPERS SHAFTED THE SIXERS ONLY TO GET THEIR BEST PLAYER BACK LOLOLOLOLOLZ CLIPPERSE R SO SMART

 

Do any of you here have any confidence in Kuzma starting at the shooting guard spot so that he can stay in the starting rotation along with AD, lebron, possibly Russell, and Javale? He was practicing with a shooting coach this summer right? It would give us size at the 2 guard and another scorer in the starting lineup.

EDIT: Always been a fan of height mismatches and advantages like zo being a tall point guard like Magic and BI starting at shooting guard. Height and wingspan are two advantages you can't teach. I figure Kuzma being 6'9" would counter (even slightly) lengthy and skilled 2 guards like Thompson, McCollum, Derozan, and others.

Russell - 6'5"
Kuzma - 6'9"
James - 6'8"
Davis - 6'11"
McGee - 7'0"

 

As @vasashi17 says a number here had their spidey senses start tingling when Jenkins was hired away from S.I. to the Clippers. But it was @Mr. Rambis that 1st said this literally. He's vanished. The Asian trip could have been a cover to lay low until things cool down?

 

Kuzma guarding shooting guards?

 

Haha alright. I got the point. Love that gif.

 

Kuz coming with faster feet now though after dropping 10 pounds probably by switching to vegan or is it veg only? Too fat before.