I'm still in line with the thinking Pelicans will not trade AD to us under any circumstances....so why not try the opposite and give them James to appease AD. Klutch gets to basically run the pelican as they see fit from top to bottom, we get #1 and #4 with a cleared deck of any drama queens, accelerated time line, etc. Maybe it becomes more appealing for Leonard to come as he'll be the de-facto star with a whole bunch of cost controlled talents. Just something to for debate, not that it'll happen but would still be a good future for us. Discuss.....
Getting Lebron and AD playing together is only half the equation. Getting the two of them playing together on the Lakers is the ultimate goal. And the Pelicans would be idiots to trade a 19 year old Zion for a 35 year old Lebron.
no, its not trading a 19yr old for Lebron, its trading a ? 19yr old for a Lebron AND to keep AD for rest of his career and they get to dumb Hill salary as well (he would be the salary filler)
Can’t see James or anyone else seriously wanting to be a Pelican. Also think this would be a mistake on a few levels. James still has plenty in the tank and more than enough to help a team win a championship now. Zion is a talented unknown. And let’s not kid ourselves, with everything else going on with the team, free agents are considering us because of LeBron. If he’s not here all you don’t have much to lure players in.
Would they be keeping him though? Is AD going to sign a long term deal to stay with the Pelicans with Lebron probably only playing as Lebron for another 2 years? Then It's AD vs the world again.
as per my post, this is assuming Pelicans will not trade AD to us under any circumstances and while its only a rumor there is credability that Leonard would not want Lakers now since James is here.
how would that be any different with us when James is gone and we pretty much gutted the team of our youths in an Ad trade?
and with our FO/mgmt? lol....this reminds me alot of the KG trade, Minn pretty much wouldn't deal with us even though we at the time did offer better talents than Bos.
We're not the Clippers. We're not in the business of giving someone the keys to the city, then trading them to another. It just looks bad. Look what they did to Blake. If I go into any meeting with Free Agents, I'll pull that card on the Clippers every single time. They'll give you max, but don't expect them to keep you after a season anyway. We take care of our star players, it's how we got Lebron in the first place. Moving one of the biggest names ever in basketball is just bad PR.
Difference is Griffin seems to be level-headed. Griffin isn't an ex C bag either (McHale). I have to imagine Griffin has complete authority in New Orleans, otherwise he doesn't take the job. Now that he got Zion, he's almost playing with house money when it comes to the AD trade. Darius Garland, Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram with a future first is better than anyone can realistically offer.
what if he's no longer enamored with our FO and our direction as we'll miss out on the big name FA this off-season?
Then do it when the time comes and when he makes that known. Just not out of the blue or without his knowledge.
I know that it'll take Ingram. I have heard David Griffin praise him more than once well before he was hired by the Pelicans. Griffin really likes him. Obviously I'd ove to keep Ingram to play with AD and Kawhi for the next 7 years, but Griffin will want to pair Ingram with Zion for the next 10.
It's not a crazy idea but will never happen. Purely in terms of setting the franchise up for the next 10 years, the single best move we could make is to trade LBJ for young talent/ picks. Zion + the Vandy guard Garland would be a great start. Trade Lonzo to the Suns for a pick, build around: Garland/ Rondo Hart/ High end FA Ingram/ FA shooter Kuzma/ Zion Serviceable C FA That would be an amazing roster in about 3 years and would coincide with a GSW decline.
It’s not unthinkable, but no way the pelicans do it. Cost controlled Zion for maybe 8-9 years vs 2-3 years of maxed LeBron, no way.
