Theres no guarantee randle/russell increase their value either, if anything it could decrease as they approach their extension, randle is due for one this off season
No there isn't, but I'd take that chance. With the talent they have, I just can't see them playing worse than they have the last couple of months.
I don't really follow other teams. Could someone explain to me why the Pacers and Bulls are willing to trade their franchise player?
Butler is clearly better than Ingram today in a vacuum. No debate there. However, does it make sense for the Lakers to flip a 19-year old with loads of upside for a 27-year old in his prime now? I don't think it does. Say we flip Clarkson/Ingram/someone else? for Butler. Where does that leave us? With Butler, overpaid Moz & Deng, and a bunch of kids with their best days still years off: Russell, Randle, Zubac, Nance. Does this make us contenders? No. Does it put us in the playoffs? Not certainly. With our odds looking at about a coinflip to keep our top-3 pick in this upcoming loaded draft, I think our best play is still to bite the bullet in the short-term, stay patient, trade Lou for a young player and/or a 1st round pick, continue to play the kids heavy minutes the rest of the year, and see what happens in the Lottery in May. From there, we'll know if we have another elite asset in that pick or not, and can continue to move forward one way or another with that knowledge this offseason.
Paul George has made it clear that he won't sign an extension if the Pacers don't attempt to get him help. If he doesn't get help, he might start demanding a trade and the Pacers might trade him to get assets back. They aren't exactly shopping him right now. Bulls are kind of in the middle of nowhere with no direction. I don't exactly know why try are shopping him but they are. Not rushing to make a deal though.
Nailed it. Paul George is NOT available. The Pacers are trying to go get him a Boogie Cousins like the Pelicans just did for Anthony Davis. They're having a hard time doing so. It's possible Paul comes available this summer if the Pacers fail to get him any sort of help, but he won't be moved this week. Butler is likely available, but what I'm hearing is the Bulls asking price is really, really high.
Said this a couple posts back. Just Butler alone does us no good. And we'd have like 60 million of our cap wrapped up in Butler, Deng and Mozgov. By the time whichever youngsters are left come into their own (if they even do) Butler would be on the downside of his career. Trade Lou for a first rounder. Keep our fingers crossed that we keep ours, then go from there with our kids and a couple picks to either reshape the roster or groom our kids.
To sum up: Butler isn't a long shot as he has been quasi-available since this past summer. The Bulls have been willing to trade him. They just have a very high price tag the Lakers aren't likely to meet. If I had to bet money, Butler eventually ends up on Boston - which IMO should have happened prior to this past draft. The C Bags would have gone into this season with Thomas-Butler-Horford. The Bulls wouldn't have wasted time trying to contend signing Rondo/Wade and would already be deep into rebuilding. George is a long shot simply because he isn't available but could become available this summer. With George being an impending free agent, I think the Lakers have a very real shot at him if he doesn't sign an extension this summer. Contingent obviously on finding an agreeable deal with Indy.
Having Kobe all those years & the Pau trade made a lot of Laker fans used to "quick fixes" being the norm. We're all in the midst of sitting through a genuine bonafide rebuild, everyone. It requires patience, but if you draft well and make the right moves along the way, it'll pay off. So much better to be in our position now than a fringe playoff team fighting for the 7th/8th seeds and then get quickly bounced in the playoffs. Now, we are the Lakers, and that does carry some cache with free agents. Once the kids start showing their talents, we could have a leg-up in free agency that other teams don't have. The problem recently has been, we ONLY had that Lakers brand behind us. Supplement that with an actually solid roster, and we're in great position to land the Boogie's & George's of the FA world in a year.
George and Ingram play the same position. Butler would be a better fit for sure. Also IMO Butler is slightly better than PG. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Dammit Jeanie. I have serious doubts the team can make something happen in the next 2 days now. I know there's some people afraid of Magic trying to make a splash, I'm thinking the opposite. Now they don't have an effing GM, how are they going to make a well thought out and rational move in 2 days? F***.
Yeah... I think this thread may have officially died today. Absolutely horrible timing unless for some crazy reason Jeannie thought Mitch and Jim were gonna make some moves to hurt the franchise on the way out, which I highly doubt.
I may choose to convince myself that the timing was necessary because Mitch and Jim were planning a terrible "save our jobs" move. That way Jeanie and Magic had to do it now... two days before the deadline... to prevent that move... That's what I'll tell myself... Sure...
