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

I think Kawhi decided a while ago, and is just basking in this once in a lifetime opportunity to be treated like the best player in the NBA, where all the teams beg for your hand in marriage and throw enormous bags of cash at you. He's never had this level of adulation before, or this degree of control. It must feel incredible. And now that all the other quality FAs have been signed, there's really no rush.

 

Huh?

 

The "Rush" is the Lakers needing to fill out their Roster. The longer his decision takes, the fewer options we'll have.
Looks like Curry is going to Dallas, as someone just posted..

 

At the end of the day that's how I see it. Gauging front office and coaching stability means more to a player of his caliber because your legacy goes beyond money since he's always getting the max, and once it gets to that point you're putting your legacy in other people's hands. For lower tier guys their legacy is gonna be the money they make to set their family up for generations, which is largely under their control based on how well they play. Front office and coaching staff take much more of a backseat in their decision making process.

 

Optimistic, based on reports, but... "Basketball Reasons" and all the League collusion that went into stopping Kobe and the Lakers from winning anymore Chips still make me nervous. Bron, Bosh, and Wade were specifically sold by Riley that they must unite to stop Kobe or their legacies would always be in his shadow. And Comic Sans. And Pop always complaining and calling teams. And Bird doing the same. And West now against us for years. And those guys all doing things to spite the Lakers. And the hate now by so many execs and owners against Bron and AD teaming up, against Klutch, against Pelinka, etc.

My fear is that West or Ujiri have convinced Kawhi and his camp to string the Lakers along to make sure Bron and AD don't get better -- Art of War stuff. Think about it from the Clippers' perspective. With Kawhi, their biggest threat would be their co-tenants. So if he is going there, make sure that the Lakers don't get better at the same time. Leak things to make the Lakers optimistic and force them to wait, wait, wait - losing out on Butler, D-Lo, and others -- ensuring that only some misfits are left.

In other words, if Kawhi has known all along that he would not be going to the Lakers, then his best move to keep competitive balance (East or West) and for his own chances would be to wait to prevent the Lakers from building well around Bron and AD. Had he done what KD did - announce early - the Lakers would be stacked right now and likely unbeatable. If Kawhi waits another few days (and the Clips sign him and Danny Green, etc.), it could also impact AD's decision to stay our bounce next summer. Mamba Mentality.

That said, I hope the reports are legit. He comes. We S&T KCP for Danny Green or Seth Curry (thought we could have done that with Bullock??), use the Room on a Morris brother, and get Rondo back. Pau for a last year and to retire his jersey. So nervous right now..

 

But he puts his name on it. That's nothing like an anonymous leak, wish is what some of y'all implying. And that's what I'm clarifying.

Im taking offense to the flip flopping around here.

 

Right, like LeBron did for us.

 

I wish I could write this off as crackpot tinfoil hat nonsense but it's the sort of thing that creeps into my head at 4:00am and keeps me up til dawn. Having said that, by all accounts, Uncle Dennis worships Magic, and Kawhi has a strong relationship with Kobe. I don't think they'd pull something like this in real life. Just my nightmarea.

 

I wonder if we could sign and trade Alex Caruso for Danny Green if Kawhi requested it? Or he takes 8-9M less this year with a 1+1 and gets the supermax next anyway?

 

It would cut into Kawhi's 32m bag to do that.

But maybe he does it for the homie, DG. Who knows.

If he does, he can still go the 1+1 or 2+1 route and get paid on the back end when the 35%max kicks in.

 

Funny I've been more concerned with PG possibilities drying up in FA because they were never realistic in the first place or they have been scooped up, and with Collison retiring .... that someone will offer more to AC than we can give him after waiving and then allegedly resigning him at vet min. Would rather see that done with KCP, but who knows, or I guess rather we probably do know what Klutch wants.

 

Yeah, I was thinking he can just do 1+1 with a discount on the first year for Danny to come, maybe on a 4/32 or something, and then he can just get supermax next year.

 

Who in this situation was implying this was anonymous if it came from Magic? The only question is if their camp is OK with it, considering all the other stuff he did has come back to possibly impact negatively here at the end. I think Magic will fix it but why even talk about it beyond his talk with them went extremely well he felt.

 

Wrong he has to have 10 years of service before he can qualify for the supermax and he only has 8 right now.

 

35% max (ie supermax type money) can't be had by Kawhi next summer. It would be in the summer of '21.

Also if he goes 2+1, we gain his early bird rights so we can offer him 35% of the salary cap but only limit it to 5% annual escalators. If he signs a 1+1 in year 3 here, he can opt out in '22 and we would then have his full bird rights to give him 35% of the salary cap and give him 8% annual escalators.

But I think youre right in that he will go short-term deal, possibly sacrificing further money this coming year so that he can tap into a full 30% max next summer.

 

Did you need to put the "wrong" in there? Why so confrontational? I seriously don't get it.

All you have to do is explain like Vasashi just did. It's really simple.

 

Thanks Vash.