LeBron James Discussion: Not Returning To The Lakers

That we agree on, I don’t like his nickname at all, and I will never, never refer to him as “King James”, or “the King”. And that like lion with a crown or something ring he was wearing all though the Finals pressers was ridiculous.

 

No. Hart is the kind of player you dream of drafting in the late first round. He’s a glue guy, he’s versatile and can defend positions 1-3, he’s tough as hell, he does all the dirty work, he’s the type of player that makes championship hustle plays. He’s also a player on a cheap contract, and because a lot of the best stuff he does doesn’t show up in the stat sheet (like Zo with his deflections on d), that’s not likely to get such an increase in pay on his 2nd contact that he’ll be hard to keep around. To have a player of his skill set that you can keep around for relatively dirt cheap for 4 seasons, and then 4 or 5 more after that at a likely reasonable amount, so 8 or 9 years as he improves more and more, is invaluable. To waste drafting a player like that in order to clean up Mitch and Jim’s mistakes, no way. I’d rather trade 3 future firsts to dump Deng if that’s what it toon rather than lose Hart, because if the plan works out our goal is titles, and if you’re winning titles your 1st rounders are almost dead last anyway. And yes, I realize Hart was selected dead last in the 1st round, but you don’t often get a player as good as him in that spot, same with Kuz at 27, we hit the jackpot this draft. Our actual history going back say 20 years from picks from spots 19-30 have been..decent at best.

 

Every one of these professional basketball people that says we can't move Deng is full of ****. Remember when experts were laughing at the Lakers trying to dump Clarkson? There were "experts" saying we'd have to ADD a 1st to dump him. We GOT a 1st back for him and Nance as well as the Bird Rights to an interesting veteran. Pelinka will figure out a way to move Deng if we have to, that's all there is to it. If it costs us 4 picks (and it could), but we keep the pieces we want, it'll happen. I have no doubt about that. That being said, I wouldn't be shocked if there were a couple kids moved this summer. It all depends on what the Lakers can do and who is willing to come. If George/LeBron are on board, but need one more high level piece then we're getting one more high level piece come hell or high water.

@ZenMaster that was a terrific write up. Don't forget the real GOAT Kareem went to the Finals 10 times out of 20 years for 50%.

 

I move Hart in a Deng dump, not because I want to, but because Randle is a better player and more important to this team. The only reason we'd be trying to dump Deng is to sign resign Randle. We don't need to dump Deng just to get PG and Lebron. It's not a question of losing Hart just to shed Deng. It would be a question of Hart or Randle.

 

Magic Johnson 9 trips to the Finals in 12 1/2 seasons. Talk about getting it done. Then winning more than half of those Finals.

 

This right here is why I don't automatically give the nod to Jordan as the GOAT. Nike and Gatorade helped create the Jordan narrative.

 

Either way, KAJ is the man for me. Owns the most records, the most accolades, played forever, and was one of the fiercest competitors ever.