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

Conceptually it's a good idea. BUT there are too many teams that won't approve that because of missed revenue. Not only sponsors and TV contracts, but ticket sales.

Suns playing two expansion teams and a rebuilding Portland, no one is showing up to see those games. No one is tuning in to that on a national level, maybe not even on a local level of you're a casual fan. That also gives the Suns an easy 25 wins minimum just from their own division. Also that leaves those two expansion teams playing 10 games against each other... woof!

Teams will complain the Lakers are getting an unfair advantage of getting 20 guaranteed nationally televised games from their own division against the Clipps and GS.

Bucks lose out because the Pistons and Pacers aren't going to bring them much revenue. Who's watching that?

10 games of Washington vs. Charlotte? That's pretty ugly itself.

Changes need to happen, but I'm not sure what ground both sides are going to be willing to concede. I don't think they'll drop games for $ reasons. I think we need to do away with back to backs all together. I like the mini-regional tourneys they're adding and knocking out both games that team x plays team y in whatever city in a matter of a few days.

 

yeah, money is always the issue, but fewer games is probably the answer.

i do worry that 4-team divisions might be problematic, though. if you went back to two divisions:

Western Conference

Pacific

LA Lakers
LA Clippers
Sacramento
Golden St.
Portland
Phoenix
Seattle
Las Vegas

Midwest

Oklahoma City
Minnesota
Denver
Utah
Houston
San Antonio
Dallas
New Orleans

Eastern Conference

Central

Milwaukee
Detroit
Chicago
Indiana
Cleveland
Memphis
Atlanta
Toronto

Atlantic

Boston
New York
Brooklyn
Philadelphia
Washington
Charlotte
Orlando
Miami

4 games in division (28), 2 opposite conference (32), the other 22 games split among non-division conference rivals, playing all but two of them 3 times?

 

if LV and Seattle to end up getting teams, Memphis and NO should move east

 

I forget how the expansion draft works. I believe teams are allowed to protect 8 players on their roster?

 

Makes sense..Tennessee and Louisiana aren't really thought of as being West geographically.

 

Not surprised at all. Lavar did the agency his son is repped by a favor and got the ball rolling on this and it picked up from there.

 

I mean Lavine told TMZ cameras “I’ve always been a fan of the Lakers”. He had to know that would get people talking.

Does that mean he actually wants to manipulate his way to the Lakers? Probably not. But Lavine has some agency in these rumors starting to spread.

It’s a pet peeve of mine when people try to portray Klutch as this evil empire that manipulates these situations for their own benefit (not trying to imply that this is what you’re saying, but this is how people often perceive the types of articles in that tweet).

All these things happen, including the player initially joining Klutch, because the player wants it.

Like I recall hearing some takes about how Klutch was manipulating AD to LA to get Lebron help… ignoring the fact that AD himself clearly wanted to be a Laker and play with Lebron. Klutch didn’t hold AD’s dad hostage and force him to talk crap on Boston, that’s how AD and his family legitimately felt.

 

well, klutch had a vested interest in joining two of its biggest stars in a huge market, so it definitely facilitated the deal. if we had a different star who wasn't repped by the same agency, i wonder if it works. also, the working relationship we had established (largely via kcp) with klutch laid the groundwork for lebron and AD. this is what rob's good at due to his experience as an agent, imo.

on the other hand, i think his experience as an agent (and lack thereof as a gm) hurt him when he tried to get paul george here and ended up tanking all chances of doing so (or ever dealing with indy again).

 

Sure, Klutch definitely had mutual interest in getting AD here. And the relationships we built plus the way Klutch managed the situation helped it all come together.

But the point is that the first step that triggered all of that, was AD wanting it to happen.

Same with Lavine. I’m sure in an ideal world he would love the opportunity to come to LA, and sure he probably knows that’s unrealistic right now but is fine with generating that buzz to give him more leverage in negotiations with Chicago.

Maybe Klutch planted that strategy… but so what? A top free agent leaking interest to other destinations to increase their leverage is a very common tactic.

When other agencies do that, nobody is writing an article about how “X agency is to blame for the drama”

 

but would he have picked the lakers without the klutch connection? could have forced himself to a more stacked team like lots of guys do.

i agree with the rest. klutch pumping lavine's value/intrigue is their job and something other agencies do all the time.

 

Klutch is probably no different than any other agency except he's attached to LeGM, so he'll naturally be scrutinized a little bit more. Guerilla marketing is fair game. Tens of millions are at stake for people with limited shelf life in their careers, sorry. They will do all they can to maximize their earning dollars, and I can't fault them for that.

that being said, anyone attached to LeGM is by proxy pure evil at their core and deserves all the hate they get

 

If we're desperate

 

Crazy trade idea that popped up on my Google home page that I’m sure has no credibility, but it’s intriguing:
AD+Russ for Lavine+Lonzo+Caruso+Williams+2 firsts

 

then trade Lebron, and you could have a revamped squad pretty quickly. Nice.

 

lol, if we traded AD for less healthy, less talented players including the guy we just let walk for nothing, i'm out. out.

 

That wouldn’t be a good look haha. Trade for younger more injury prone players

 

aka "im broke"

 

if u trade ad, u trade bron too and start over....those 4 bulls wont take us far

 

but can't be worse than this year right?