Generally they present a unified front to the media. Magic is higher on players who have championship experience, so he wanted Hart for that reason. Regarding Zo, it wasn't a cut and dry situation. But the media/marketability component was the biggest reason he was picked. The article wasn't about any individually flagrant incidents, but just a lot of stuff collectively adding up over a period of time. It was written in a very charged manner.
@Mr. Rambis glad to have you here. Your idea are intriguing to me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Anyway, what is your opinion on Uncle Dennis? Is he actually a crazy character, or are those exaggerated Spurs leaks?
So Zo wasn't Magic's pick? Yes I know you said rumor, but really? The narrative all along was Magic saw Zo as Showtime renewed. A bit of marketing spiel there, I understand, but now I'm curious as to who Magic's pick would have been?
I’ve seen this said elsewhere as well, was never sure what to make of it. That Zo was Jeanie’s (or at least higher ups than Magic) decision, that it was a marketing thing, local kid from UCLA, the fast break style of play, the whole deal. I’ve heard Magic liked a few players, but that Fox was probably who he was highest on.
I have a question Mr. Rambis, Who’s idea was it for AD to ask for a trade 2 weeks before the trade deadline? Was it Paul’s? Was the Laker front office in on it? Was the whole thing supposed to go public? To me the whole trade demand went terribly wrong, so I’m wondering who is really responsible for the debacle.
@Mr. Rambis what pathways (if any) can the lakers realistically take to remedy the front office? Any realistic options in sight? Do you think Ty lue will come back to the table if the lakers tuck their tale and come back with 5 years and his choice of staff?
Great stuff on this thread. My question is if you had heard about the rumor of the other Buss kids being fed up with all this nonsense and willing to vote Jeanie out and or possibly selling the team.
Either best thing that could happen during this s***ty times or vivid imagination... either way, great thread and nice read
Great question! I spoke about this earlier, but it's hard given how the Buss family trust is set up. It would likely take a significant loss of revenues to create any serious instability. If you are very keen on it, you would have to get a large group of people to stop viewing games, buying Lakers merchandise, and going to games. Even then it might not be enough. Revenue wise, the team did fine even when they were tanking. AEG had some nice tricks to keep the media side of the business buzzing.
Anthony Davis trade talks is an incredibly deep situation. I don't have the time right now to get into it. But in short, I will say that Rich Paul, LeBron, and Anthony Davis facilitated the talks at the very start. It was all planned. The Lakers front office was not as involved as they would have wanted to be. Rich Paul is not as good of an agent as he thinks he is, and he thought he had more power than he did. He is, however, the most vocal in advocating specifically for player interests, which is why he is popular among players. The deal had some major roadblocks to overcome. Most notably, Demps was out the door at that point anyways. And the Saints guys wanted the new GM to handle the rebuild by starting off with controlling the Anthony Davis trade. It all should have waited until the summer, but Rich Paul was too scared Anthony Davis would get traded to Boston (he is scared of Ainge) and thought he would be smart by creating a fuss right before the deadline. It backfired. More to come, but any specific questions you have go ahead and ask them.
Not sure why Paul would be scared of AD being traded to the C Bags, AD is unrestricted in 12 months, he can go to LA then and not be scared of anything. AD can be honest and tell everyone i am leaving no matter what happens in the next year to the Lakers and all this back and forth would stop.
Rich Paul is scared of Ainge because Ainge is a ruthless a***** who Rich cannot control. If he tries to pull any stunts, he will pay. Rich is a small fry when compared to other agents. Also, Anthony Davis does not want to play in Boston. Rich promised him that he would get him to a preferred destination. If he doesn't do that, he loses credibility among the players.
AD doesnt need Rich Paul to go where he wants. AD has full power in a year. Rich Paul's job as an agent, if you can call him that, is to work in the best interest of his client. Make sure he has opportunities to make money and succeed. Rich Paul has more control over the situation because AD, his client, controls is destiny in a year. So, if I'm Rich Paul, God help me, I would advise my client that if he does in fact want to come to LA, he will need to Express that to every GM who asks to trade for his services in the next free agent period. Regardless if they ignore him or not, AD will need to stick to his guns in a year and head west to the Lakers and all the stuff before it wont mean anything. It's not that difficult.
