If you want to see a player experiencing adversity, watch Duke vs. Louisville. He's 3-9 shooting, with 8 TOs.
Louisville finished on a 30-12 run. I don't know if Duke hit a FG in the last eight minutes of that game.
I don't see why KD and Westbrook would wanna come to the Lakers and get paid LESS when they can have the exact same team (or similar mold) in OKC and get paid more? I don't see Horford as being that much better than Ibaka....and ok Randle is nice but he's only a second year player at this point....i dunno i just don't see that as being a significantly better situation than what they're in right now....
Durant and Westbrook would definitely earn more in LA, but they're both pretty big brands as it is domestically. The big difference would be pushing their popularity world wide (hello Chinese markets). The key is that OKC does NOT have a similar team in LA compared to OKC. Oklahoma has a bunch of stiffs on their team. I mean Dion Waiters still gets minutes over there doesn't he? Steven Adams? Enes Kanter? The only other player worth a damn in OKC is Ibaka. The other key point is: Oklahoma has NOT made the necessary moves to be great. They've cut corners to avoid costs and the Lakers have about as proven a track record as you can get that they will pay whatever penalties they have to so that they can be competitive. We would never have traded away Harden to save money for example.
Exactly. If Westbrook and Durant could orchestrate a scenario where they both switched teams and came to the Lakers, they would be in a MUCH better situation. But things have to fall right for that to happen. We would have to get the #1 pick and OKC would have to see reason that Ben Simmons plus Clarkson for Westbrook (who would undoubtedly walk if Durant did), is actually a great package to start rebuilding with. The Thunder have nothing outside of Ibaka. We'd have potentially Horford (who is better than Ibaka) as well as Randle and Russell. And make no mistake, OKC would never go over the cap. If Russell and Randle end up being studs like a lot of us think they might, the Lakers will max them both out. In that same scenario in OKC, they would get flipped the year their deals expired ala James Harden. Durant and Westbrook lead us for 3-4 years and when their talents begin to slide, Russell and Randle step up. Also, Westbrook is under contract for another season. If we traded for him THIS offseason, we would retain his bird rights. So Westbrook actually would get the same amount of money. I also threw out Harden. If Dwight bolts, and Houston has nothing cooking, Simmons and Clarkson is a good starting point for that team. As much as I hate Harden, teaming him with Durant and, let's say Horford, puts us right into title contention as long as Randle and Russell take steps in the right direction.
I don't think I would be able to watch Harden's march to the freethrow line all game. Then again, our players never get love from the referees so who knows.
It's all completely theoretical. But I think if Houston loses Dwight, the #1 pick and Clarkson is a nice return for Harden if Houston decides it needs to rebuild. Harden plus Randle plus Russell in LA with possibly Thibs as coach? Durant would definitely listen.
You know thinking about it today, I don't care much if we lose the pick. I'd love Ingram or Simmons, sure, but if we land 4th or 5th in the draft the player we would have gotten there will be incredibly average and cost us a lot of money. Heck if we land at #3, the best we'd likely do is Jaylen Brown and he'd probably come off the bench (and might always come off the bench). I'm not sure what kind of trade value the pick will have in what is basically a two person draft. Even Ingram and Simmons have some significant issues. Losing the pick this year means getting it 100% next season. That means we have no incentive to tank so desperately like we've had to this year. We might actually see the team trying to win games. Plus losing the pick means an extra 5 million at least AND greater incentive (if they even needed it) to go out and spend all that money on talented players.
