did he use comic sans in that announcement? worst part is he's off the bird rights gravy train because he couldn't even get a trade to work. it's not like he's getting his 100 million next year, either, so he really has probably lost like, 70 million dollars when it's said and done. i can't imagine. btw, i know everyone's tapdancing, but this is a loss for us, too. just completely squandered an asset. feel like i said repeatedly (starting when he demanded to start) that if we couldn't work out an extension, it might be wise to trade him before the deadline.
Good riddance dummkopf. I'll "miss the drama" though, i guess it's time to tune in on the Simmons, Markkanen news
Except he was still good enough to do what we brought him here for, with LeBron wanting him here, at the deadline and we still had big hopes of winning a ring. So that wasn’t really an option. Rob didn’t have a crystal ball to see what was coming later with this guy and the injuries ramping up.
Yes and you don't trade probably your 3rd best player just because it's a trade asset. Our goal is to win a chip, every year. And it's a gamble to do that trade when it's not for a better player which probably wouldn't happen as we were the sellers. We made a gamble, didn't payoff and we move on. So if we don't win chips with Westbrook is a bad move? There's a number reasons why things may not work out but you have to consider the data and info you have at the time of the decision. Schroder was a great move that unfortunately didn't work out. We traded for a 6th man of the year candidate for a guy nobody wanted in LA and a late round pick that doesn't mean much. Westbrook is also a great move that moves the needle for us. Then it's a matter of players, coaching staff and destiny to tell if it ends with gold.
Yeah. This is a tough one as I see the inability to trade Dennis as falling more on Dennis than the front office. Seems like we tried but werent able to get the deal we wanted during the season and were limited now based on his on and off court issues.
Not signing the extension was the turning point for the DS/Laker relationship, but it was the second time in COVID protocols and the donut performance in the playoffs where I think the FO (and us fans) realized their gamble did not payoff. Oh well, like what others have already said, it happens. It also can happen with the Westbrook trade and old roster. Good news is if things blow up in our faces at least the contracts of these players are not long term.
i don't know; feel like if it was obvious to some of us, it had to be crystal clear to them after he refused the extension that things weren't going to work out. the combination of letting caruso walk and then barely making an effort to S&T schroder tells me that adding salary in this manner likely was never the master plan, so they should have cut losses. i suppose they tried to move him for lowry, but toronto got greedy (ended up getting less, imo). i think getting westbrook helps gloss over the fact that we bungled an asset and will be very inflexible this year and next because of it.
That's pretty much how I see it too. He should have took note that the team was willing to trade him at the deadline. For whatever reason, he gambled incorrectly, that we didn't have any better options at PG than him. His moves to me indicated, that he thought that extension offer was the worst he would get, and that maybe he could leverage the Knicks in order to get more from the Lakers. I don't think he ever had any intentions on signing anywhere, but with the Lakers. He misread the tea leaves and got caught flat footed. Lebron James is a ruthless, cold blooded operator. I put zero stock in anything about him personally " liking " someone. He will get you moved, if he sees a better option period, friend or not. Dennis probably totally sealed his fate with the Covid situation as well. Now on the flipside, Rob may have tried to find a way to recoup something from Dennis, and just couldn't come up with anything. There is no way James and AD were meeting up with Russ trying to get him to link up, without Rob being in on it. Perhaps Dennis just fouled up everything sulking about being replaced by Russ. That report about us not having any contact with him after the trade, was a precursor to how it all played out. I hate losing assets for nothing in return, but I suppose we will manage anyway.
yeah, we'll be fine, but it should be a lesson learned for the FO. hopefully the schroder and drummond scenarios won't be repeated under rob's watch.
I am not sure that this is not the new normal?? Facts are: To win rings, you have to take chances. When you take chances, some of them don't work. When they don't work, you MAY NOT be able to move them for any value, let alone equal value due to cap issues. Bottom line is, teams are going to pay for their mistakes. I wonder if this is the way the NBA actually wants it to be going?? Why punish teams for trying to win?? There has to be a better way.
I think the lesson is not to promise roles. Wtf was that? We don't need that, 90% of NBA players want to play for the Lakers, let alone with LeBron in the roster. That was terrible and I'm kind of glad on that end it didn't worked so we won't do it again. If you're good enough, you'll play. This is a championship team, so if you do the job on the court to help us win, you'll get minutes, just look at Caruso
Landing Westbrook definitely smoothed things over. the other off-season moves help too as I think folks would also be more upset about losing AC. I also admit that I think we’re going to make this work. Looking back, I do prefer the thought of paying Westbrook for a couple of seasons over being stuck with Dennis for four if he had signed that extension. We should see all three of our big guns highly motivated and ready to quiet doubters. The guys who took less cash should buy in and I like our odds.
I want to laugh at someone only making 5 milly, but it seems disingenuous lol that being said, he really messed up Just Wow. But the confidence to bet on yourself is a great trait. Hopefully he grows from this and makes teams regret passing on him. Just doesn't quite seem to be the market out there he thought was there, and we ended up with RB instead. I'd say we made out ok.
oh, we're in better shape than we would have been had he signed. my point is that once he didn't sign, it was highly likely he wouldn't be playing here. like i said, i suppose they tried to move him for lowry (right? or am i misremembering?), so maybe that was their best shot. pika's right about role promises. ugh.
We did try to trade him for Lowry but they wanted us to give them THT also. I didn’t want to lose an asset either but I think Rob tried his hardest at both the trade deadline and free agency. Just because there were no takers isn’t Rob’s fault. You can tell how teams value Dennis by his lack of interest on the free market. I’m glad he didn’t give up THT.
