2022-23 Team Developments: News / Trades / Free Agents / Rumors

lol, ok, so not even a series, but one play (which if you watch, imo, his decision was defensible given what he could see).

i really can't get over how fans have interpreted simmons. we'll see. maybe he's chuck knoblach or whatever. but i don't think so. i think he's a top-10 defensive player who also has useful offensive skills but needs a specific roster to suit him. sort of the anti-harden.

 

As opposed to the rest of the upper echelon stars and franchise players that chose not to do the same the past two years? Beard not even in that conversation, plus he's got some promise from Morey under the table. It was pointed out here if LeBron had taken half that salary we were still over the cap.

 

i was on the other side of that conversation, and yes, harden definitely got an under-the-table deal. which we could have worked out, too. to me, again, this means that everyone agreed that such a deal wouldn't actually get us closer to contention.

i'll reserve judgment on that. if we can't move russ and end up with space next year (or if this forces us into a worse russ deal than those we've seen floated), this is a big fail. i'm doubting that's how this plays out.

 

I know you were and we could have hoped. But none of the other stars since Dirk (aside from Dirty Haren) have done that, and then yes someone did point out at that much of a discount we still would be operating over the cap.

 

And I happen to think that the Nets ARE that specific roster that suits him.

With Kyrie and KD, they have enough spacing and scoring so Simmons lack of scoring/unwillingness to shoot isn’t a big deal. Offensively he can sit in the dunker’s spot without worrying about clogging up the paint the way he did when playing with Embiid. Defensively, he’s always been elite and the Nets absolutely need his versatility on that end.

 

yeah, it's kind of a shame nets management basically reneged on their kyrie/kd gambit like the frog shocked by the scorpion or something.

they may have actually stumbled into a title formula against their prior judgment!

i mean...just extend kyrie at that max and this is all averted. but you had to have a measuring contest, and now this...

 

The 76ers are being investigated over the Harden deal. While they may get a slap on the wrist, we know the league would hammer us so that’s another reason we can’t go that route.

 

Well the problem with the Harden thing wasn’t necessarily just him taking the paycut. It was the fact that multiple other players were essentially already reported to have agreed with Philly, before free agency started and using money that Philly would only have after a Harden paycut (before they had actually come to terms with Harden on said paycut).

In theory I think Lebron could have signed a cheaper extension right now, and the NBA wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. But why does he do that when he won’t know what the Lakers could even utilize that extra space for until next year?

Alternatively, he could have decided not to take the extension so that he could become a free agent next summer with the intention of possibly taking a paycut depending on what the Lakers could do with the space. As long as the Lakers sequenced things correctly and the players they were signing with that extra room didn’t leak their agreements to the media so early, the league still wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. But by not taking an extension, Lebron would be crucified in the media because the optics would be that he’s trying to control the Lakers via the threat of his imminent free agency.

So in theory, I think there are ways Lebron could have legally ended up taking a paycut to give the team more flexibility … but emphasis on “theory”. It’s just a thought exercise.

In actuality, I don’t think anything other than this outcome would have made sense for either party. I didn’t think there was any real chance the Lakers wouldn’t offer the 1+1 max. And I didn’t think there was any real chance that Lebron would turn down that extension or voluntarily seek a paycut.

 

I’m slightly surprised the extension came this early, especially after all the weirdness at the trade deadline when LeBron wanted to make significant changes but Pelinka said him and AD we’re on board with not making moves.

The front office needs to go out and hold up their end of the bargain now. This can’t end like Kobe’s career did. They have the pieces to have another real run.

 

Dude.. nunn is a better player than clarkson lol. i dont get the hate for Nunn. When he plays this season, he'll be our third best player (unless kyrie comes, then nunn will be our 4th best).

 

When it comes to “insider information” on the Lakers, WOJ doesn’t have any. He can type all he wants.

 

Like he was last season? 3rd best? He was 15th best. As I recall Clarkson played 79 of 82 games last season.There goes your "hate" and it's not hate, it's concern that he's not exactly battle-hardened. He is still healing as it is. You don't hear anyone doubting the young man's abilities but he IS young and only has 2 seasons, so there is some guesswork involved with young Mr Kendrick. There is great promise so far for sure. I'm not that keen on just trading him off either without a substantial return but when you are working with players with a championship window, you can't wait on people.

 

You need to play to be better than someone else. At this point, he is as useful as you or I.

 

I wouldn't give up multiple picks to Indiana either.

I feel like the Kyrie deal is going to happen.

 

Agreed. I'm still curious about the other reports that floated around claiming that we had other deals outside of these. I think if at least one of the KD/Donovan Mitchell trades happens it will open things up and other deals will finally start happening.

August is speeding by though and training camp is going to be here before we know it. I do think we need to resolve this by then.

 

Nah, I am more useful as a fan.

 

I like that we are establishing boundaries. This and the selection of Ham + the autonomy given to him are great indicators of underlying things that we are improving and will lead the franchise forward.

Were we still fully run by LeGM, we wouldn't have those picks now