Russell Westbrick Discussion: Clipper Gonna Clip

i actually don't think anyone here is really a westbrook stan, anyway. we have a handful of folks who push back against the idea that he was a large part of the problem this year, which is fine and sort of the purpose of these places, as slick indicated.

i was one of the few who, at midseason, was dreaming up ways of restructuring russ's contract to try and salvage value and move forward, so i can obviously see some of their points. i just soured as time went on.

 

I don’t love Oubre or Hayward and would definitely prefer we get a point or big in any Russ trade. But when I consider how much better we looked with guys who were probably on their way to playing in Europe like Gabriel and Stan, I honestly feel pretty confident the team will improve just by adding some true NBA caliber players. I’d want Rozier from the Hornets but I’m fully on the addition by subtraction train especially after Russ press conference yesterday.

Our championship hopes will continue to rest on LeBron and AD’s shoulders but if we can get guys like Hayward or Brogdon for 50 to 60 games and a playoff run we wouldn’t be in bad shape. Or, like others are saying, I could at least have some hope. We’ve got all the evidence we need that Russ doesn’t work on or off the court.

And the reason The board is more unified on this than maybe anything else I can recall since joining here is because it’s just the truth. Eyeball test, stats, press conferences, etc. Russ just didn’t check a box and shows no signs of changing. Plenty of us gave him a fair chance until it was just painfully obvious this wasn’t going to work back in December.

Add to all of this the fact that I honestly think we’ve only got one more good run out of LeBron next season. I think he will still put up solid numbers beyond that but you can see the end coming at this point. Retool the team around him and Davis and make another serious run in the playoffs.

 

These shows typically annoy me but I nodded in agreement with the vast majority of Shannon’s yelling in that segment.

 

Dude doesn't get it.

Whatever.

I'm not celebrating anything until he's gone officially and we nail the coaching hire.

Get those done, and I'll be good.

If not, I'll be a casual fan next season.

 

Here's a fun factoid mentioned on the SS&R pod today: two teams have never paid the luxury tax. 1) Pelicans. 2) Hornets.

MJ doesn't like to spend when he's trying to save up to pay Ball and Bridges. We're giving him an exit ramp. That might be enough of a gift from heaven to get the best available package for Russ.

 

they only have 109 committed next year (that's with bridges's cap hold). let's say bridges gets 20 per from them. and they've got some guys coming off next year already, so i'm not sure they're really in danger of hitting the luxury tax, tbh.

in fact, after looking at their books, i'm wondering where all this is coming from.

 

yeah the word used was “soft” lol I quit so early in the season I forgot

 

Can't wait for this to be in the NBA section...

 

Watching the lowlights you have to think he can’t be this bad, so was it intentional?

 

Pincus lays out options involving OKC, Rockets, Charlotte, Indy, NYK, DET, and stretch option.

 

not interested in the stretch waive unless russ is giving back a ton of cash. deng already cost us caruso. what will double or triple deng cost us in a couple years? reaves? ick.

interesting that pincus thinks hayward is such an albatross that rozier would have to be included for the lakers to consider. i hope charlotte thinks that. hayward/rozier is my ideal russ trade. rozier is way better than russ, and hayward, at worst, is just dead money (that can be traded next year). at best, he'll give you 40-60 games of competent play at the wing. i love pj washington, too. if there was a way to nab all three...

anyway, i refer to my earlier statement that i think charlotte's financial concerns are being overplayed. luxury tax is at 149 next year. their payroll is at 109. bridges extension won't get close, and lamelo's extension isn't until after hayward's deal is up. they don't have to do anything they don't want to do.

 

I think the notes from up top instruct them not to have unnecessary money on the books. They're a fringe playoff team currently and they want to add money on the books with these extensions (even if they don't both overlap with current salaries). They're a small market team and their revenue isn't spiking until they're kids hit their stride. The roster will be light on talent as some of these other contracts fall off, so they have to account for over paying vets on short deals to keep them competitive.

I think Bridges gets more than $20m a year. He turned down $15m a year last summer. He's eligible for $29.5m in the first year of the extension. He'll probably get $25m-ish.

 

yeah, but that just takes them to 125 or so, right? they can spend the full mle and still be comfortably under the tax. i don't know. i hope everyone's right. they're the team i want to trade with, assuming rozier is on the table. he's what we wanted schroder to be, imo.

 

Bridges is averaging 20 points, 7 rebs and nearly 4 assists, hes going to command more than $20 mil a year

 

We should throw a damn parade once this man leaves our beloved team.


This man’s a grade A narcissist

 

Utterly non self aware grade A narcissist. A career of self confirmation that he is never the problem with how he plays … especially now in his declining athleticism years.

 

20/7/4 as the third-best player on a 9th place team gets you the max? yipes.

anyway, it doesn't change my math too much. still under lux tax, still have hayward coming off before they have to pay lamelo.

 

Last summer Michael Porter Jr got 5 years $173 mil after a 19/7/1 season and Shai Gilgeous Alexander got 5 years $172 mil after a 24/5/6 season. These small town teams have to overpay like crazy to keep their good players.

But you're right they want to have flexibility to pay Bridges and Ball and they save serious money by offloading Hayward and Rozier. Can the Lakers pull it off without giving a first rounder?

 

ugh. charlotte minus rozier hurts.

but hayward/plumlee/washington would get me to bite, too. again, can't see why charlotte does it.

i actually have no interest in oubre.