Russell Westbrick Discussion: Clipper Gonna Clip

but again--that would all ride on lebron taking a huge paycut or just leaving. has lebron shown any indication of doing the former? if he leaves, there's not going to be a FA available next year to fill that void anyway. might as well have hayward's expiring the following year, when the books will be almost completely clean (depending on what comes with hayward).

 

LBJ will likely take a 2 year deal this summer.

That's just my opinion. He would expire the same time as Hayward, right?

If that's the case, taking on Hayward I'll concede probably isn't a big deal in and of itself, but it would require draft compensation on my end, and I'm not taking anyone else on beyond when LBJ expires.

Bare in mind, I would take the depth to compete. I'm just trying to put myself in the Lakers shoes and give their perspective.

I might be totally off; to me, they watch where every penny goes and to whom...

 

hayward expires in 2024, so we'd just be sitting out FA next year. take a gander at the list and ask yourself how many of them will even be available and how many of them you can't live without. weigh that against a mozdeng possibility.

i'll take on hayward if he comes with useful stuff. i'll take on salary past 2024 if the player is starting caliber and on the right side of 30. rozier fits that, barely (just turned 28, 4 years, 24m-ish per). tobias harris is where it gets dicey for me (big money, long-term, close to 30 already).

anyway, let's see who strikes out tonight. i don't expect the lakers to make a russ move until teams have their draft and or FA hopes dashed. then maybe our phone starts ringing.

 

Edited my response.

Yes, I would, too.

I'm with you.

 

maybe i'm just hoping that russ and caruso happening simultaneously was a bucket of cold water dumped right on their prior theory.

 

I would just like to say I still enjoy the title of this thread immensely every time I see it. Thank you.

 

Lebron has two more good seasons left in him, and they will probably come with at least 20 or more, missed games each campaign. This is a huge season for Anthony, the most critical season of his career thus far IMO. You can have bad luck for two seasons in a row, but three? You start losing the benefit of the doubt at that point. This is why I think whatever moves we make should be centered around AD not Lebron. Unfortunately James has been more durable than Davis for two seasons in a row. We need to get some bigs, preferably 2, hopefully young ones. I don't want to see Anthony at the 5 all year, and being the only decent big man on the team period anymore. If we are moving Russ, it has to be for a quality big involved in some fashion. Now or at the trade deadline , besides Turner, I haven't seen any trade proposals involving that.

 

i mean, you can have bad luck three years in a row. if a guy rolls up into AD's ankle or knee again, he's going to miss significant time again. and that's not being made of glass. but it is being unlucky. imagining it's possible for unlikely events to accumulate is the gambler's fallacy.

lebron's injury late last year (the one where his knee just randomly swelled up) is the sort of thing that concerns you re: durability.

 

Naw..Lebron is pushing 40, and a guy rolled into his legs last season and he still played more than AD and again this one. You can live with that. AD is in his prime and 3 years of half seasons is enough for me to start looking at moving on from him. I love the talent but 3 years of " bad luck" can turn into 4 then 5.. If durability is a concern in your prime, that's a serious concern. It's not just him, that applies to any other player in his age range.

 

Lmao, I think I’m just now realizing that the title says “Westbrick”. Every time I’ve seen it, my mind just always filtered it out and was too busy being upset at the reminder that he’s still a Laker

 

AD's big injuries last year were unavoidable. The ones from the previous year, the non contact calf strain, the non contact groin strain were concerning for a guy in his late 20s. Hopefully those ones are behind him. Also sitting out games with a sore left wrist..

 

right; i've been consistent on this. his 2020-21 injuries worried me. his 2021-22 did not. if he comes back and has more like the previous year, we're screwed and he's got problems. if he has more like last year, he's just really unlucky.

 

I like the run him out part

 

So sounds like we’re asking him to opt out

 

As Jalen said in a recent pod, set the expectations early with Russ; if he isn't performing up to standards (likely the case), bench him.

 

True, but if doesn't do it, he can't put the blame on anyone but himself.

Sure hope Nunn is healthy, he may take his starting spot.