Lakers get Davis

[nelsonmuntz]

Kemba should do the following, in order:

1) Re-sign with Charlotte for less than Super-Max ONLY IF Batum and Williams agree to restructure their deals too. If Batum and Williams are not willing to step back financially, than Kemba should not step back.

2) Go to the Knicks IF the Knicks can get some other talent.

3) get the biggest payday he can get.

 

[nomar]

Former Nets exec

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Celtics will be a better team without Kyrie. Tatum and Brown can step up for most of Kyrie's scoring, and Hayward will be better next year than he was this year. No one comes back from a major injury like his in just one season. Paul George was a lot better his second season back from his broken leg.

 

[superjohn]

You'd run your team into the ground in 2 seasons if you were a GM in an ill-fated attempt to win now during the height of the Warriors dynasty. Yes, Raptors were successful. They needed insane injury luck to do it (4 of top 6 Warriors got hurt). And they're going to be hot garbage in 2 years. It's fine they're going to be bad, because they won the title. And even more, it was the right move for them, because of where their franchise was. That's not the position the Celtics were/are in.

Gordon was free from an asset perspective and there was basically no cap opportunity cost because they went over the cap with the Kyrie trade and re-signings after that (so Kyrie would have eaten the cap space if they didn't sign someone that summer). Kawhi and AD cost 6-8 years of prime Tatum/Brown plus several 1st round picks for 1 year of play. And Ainge still might have made the Davis trade if Kyrie didn't announce his intention to leave. Remember, they couldn't do the trade until the summer because of the designated player rule, and by that point Kyrie already indicated he was out. Tatum just turned 21 and you have his rights for another 8 years (3 of which are on rookie scale).

They still own 3 first round picks from other teams (plus all their own) over the next 3 years. They still can choose to trade someone. The opportunity to acquire a star has not past, and Tatum himself still has a good chance to become one.

I'll say it again, Ainge wouldn't part with Jaylen Brown or Tatum to get Kawhi and he wouldn't part with Tatum to get Anthony Davis. You win in the NBA with stars and despite being positioned the best to get a couple of stars the Celtics don't have one.
He's been great at accumulating good but unspectacular wings who do the same things though.

 

[djct1999]

I'll say it again, Ainge wouldn't part with Jaylen Brown or Tatum to get Kawhi and he wouldn't part with Tatum to get Anthony Davis. You win in the NBA with stars and despite being positioned the best to get a couple of stars the Celtics don't have one.
He's been great at accumulating good but unspectacular wings who do the same things though.

For a franchise like the Celtics, you don’t mortgage the future for a one year rental. The goal for the Celtics is not to chase one title but sustained excellence. You don’t give away Tatum knowing in advance that Kawhi and AD won’t sign long term deals to stay.

 

[djct1999]

Kemba should do the following, in order:

1) Re-sign with Charlotte for less than Super-Max ONLY IF Batum and Williams agree to restructure their deals too. If Batum and Williams are not willing to step back financially, than Kemba should not step back.

2) Go to the Knicks IF the Knicks can get some other talent.

3) get the biggest payday he can get.

1 and 3 go hand and hand. Kemba’s only priority should be locking in the best deal possible, which is in Charlotte. It’s simply too much money to pass on and the difference would never be made up at age 33 or 34 and his next deal.

 

[superjohn]

For a franchise like the Celtics, you don’t mortgage the future for a one year rental. The goal for the Celtics is not to chase one title but sustained excellence. You don’t give away Tatum knowing in advance that Kawhi and AD won’t sign long term deals to stay.

If you have no interest in winning titles you do what Ainge did.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

The Lakers are holding a clinic in franchise destruction.

Ironically, I thought signing Lebron was a great move with the team the Lakers had at the end of 2018 season. That team had won 35 games despite playing Lopez and Randle nominal minutes, and had a good young core that just needed to plug in a superstar. Fourteen months later, they have mortgaged their future for a one year rental and a superstar that is going to turn 35 next season. Lebron is not in his prime, and his injuries are going to keep coming, especially if the Lakers don't have a bench to keep Lebron's minutes down.

While LA is an attractive destination for free agents, I think some top tier free agents are going to be reluctant to commit to a long term deal with the Lakers when they could be by themselves in LA 2 years from now on a franchise that has no potential to get better. Utah and Indiana may not be sexy destinations, but those are good teams that have a lot of runway ahead of them.

The Lakers need to convince a top tier free agent to take a huge risk. Good luck with that.

In two years a free agent would get to join the end of Lebron and prime AD. You think that won't be attractive..........

 

[djct1999]

If you have no interest in winning titles you do what Ainge did.

Title, singular. Ainge absolutely made the right decision. Even then, the one year rental only worked because of the Durant and Thompson injuries. If they stayed healthy, no one was beating them.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I'll say it again, Ainge wouldn't part with Jaylen Brown or Tatum to get Kawhi and he wouldn't part with Tatum to get Anthony Davis. You win in the NBA with stars and despite being positioned the best to get a couple of stars the Celtics don't have one.
He's been great at accumulating good but unspectacular wings who do the same things though.

You are wrong on this. The Raptors had a good team, but they were a crazy Kawhi shot away from elimination in the second round, and a massive Bucks choke away from elimination in the Conference Finals. The one year rental was an insanely risky strategy, and if it didn't pay off, the Raptors would have surrendered their franchise for a single season. The Spurs are going to win 50+ games next year and have a shot to win the West if they make a couple of moves. If Kawhi leaves, the Raptors may not make the playoffs next season.

 

[husky429]

In two years a free agent would get to join the end of Lebron and prime AD. You think that won't be attractive.....

The lakers will be in a weird spot again, like with kobe.

You don't force a figure like lebron out. And he could be a decent player.. but his age won't really be conducive to winning.

What do you do with that contract?

 

[superjohn]

You are wrong on this. The Raptors had a good team, but they were a crazy Kawhi shot away from elimination in the second round, and a massive Bucks choke away from elimination in the Conference Finals. The one year rental was an insanely risky strategy, and if it didn't pay off, the Raptors would have surrendered their franchise for a single season. The Spurs are going to win 50+ games next year and have a shot to win the West if they make a couple of moves. If Kawhi leaves, the Raptors may not make the playoffs next season.

Surrendered their franchise? The Raptors weren't going anywhere with Lowry and Derozan, they stopped being conservative and dared to be great and it brought them a championship. The Celtics had more assets than basically anyone to bring them superstars and they are left with a bunch of small forwards, no superstars, and no chance at winning it all.

 

[HuskyFich]

Kemba should do the following, in order:

1) Re-sign with Charlotte for less than Super-Max ONLY IF Batum and Williams agree to restructure their deals too. If Batum and Williams are not willing to step back financially, than Kemba should not step back.

2) Go to the Knicks IF the Knicks can get some other talent.

3) get the biggest payday he can get.

Williams just opted into a 19 Mil player option...that’s not happening. Batum isn’t worth 10 million a year, let alone the 25.5 mil he’s getting. Michael Kidd Gilchrest is getting 13 million. Etc. etc. etc.

If CHA fixes everything I just said, who do they go for....Vucevic? Klay(lol)?, Tobias Harris?, Khris Middleton?

Kemba is my idol, I live in Charlotte....

He better f’in leave for LA

 

[nelsonmuntz]

In two years a free agent would get to join the end of Lebron and prime AD. You think that won't be attractive.....

AD is a free agent at the end of next season at which point he may walk. Lebron will turn 36 in 2020-2021 season. He is not a picnic to be a teammate with now. Does anyone think he will mellow as his body breaks down and ability deteriorates?

If the Lakers were smart, they wouldn't burn the leftover cap space on Kyrie, but would instead fill in a lot of holes and build depth. The Lakers are not generally smart though.

 

[djct1999]

Williams just opted into a 19 Mil player option...that’s not happening. Batum isn’t worth 10 million a year, let alone the 25.5 mil he’s getting. Michael Kidd Gilchrest is getting 13 million. Etc. etc. etc.

If CHA fixes everything I just said, who do they go for....Vucevic? Klay(lol)?, Tobias Harris?, Khris Middleton?

Kemba is my idol, I live in Charlotte....

He better f’in leave for LA

Sorry but playing one or two years with an aging Lebron is not worth 100 mil. AD isn’t waiving his trade bonus so Kemba would earn even less. You are right about the salary cap mess in Charlotte, but no way should any of this come at Kemba’s expense. His accepting that 4 year 48 mil deal so prematurely really hurts his current options. My guess is he will sign a five year 200 mil deal w Charlotte.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Surrendered their franchise? The Raptors weren't going anywhere with Lowry and Derozan, they stopped being conservative and dared to be great and it brought them a championship. The Celtics had more assets than basically anyone to bring them superstars and they are left with a bunch of small forwards, no superstars, and no chance at winning it all.

Ujiri's moves to get Green added to the trade and then get Gasol from Memphis, along with the development of Siakum, were pretty important for the Raptors too.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Williams just opted into a 19 Mil player option...that’s not happening. Batum isn’t worth 10 million a year, let alone the 25.5 mil he’s getting. Michael Kidd Gilchrest is getting 13 million. Etc. etc. etc.

If CHA fixes everything I just said, who do they go for....Vucevic? Klay(lol)?, Tobias Harris?, Khris Middleton?

Kemba is my idol, I live in Charlotte....

He better f’in leave for LA

Kemba likes Charlotte, but I agree that Jordan has made a mess of that franchise and it is not salvageable in a time frame that works for Kemba. I would definitely not go to LA if I was him though, at least not if he wants to win a title.

 

[djct1999]

Kemba likes Charlotte, but I agree that Jordan has made a mess of that franchise and it is not salvageable in a time frame that works for Kemba. I would definitely not go to LA if I was him though, at least not if he wants to win a title.

I find this hype that the Lakers are the favorites now to win a title hilarious. More realistic is the fact that they still remain a sustained injury from Lebron or AD away from not being a top 8 seed in the West. They have five guys under contract, two of which aren’t capable of meaningful minutes.

 

[superjohn]

The Lakers are smart enough to know you win with stars. Every time it's looking like they're going to start sucking they make bold moves to get superstars and they win championships.

Back in the day they knew they had a bunch of good but unspectacular players who couldn't win it all so they cleared everything out to get Shaq and boldly took high schooler Kobe in the draft. Later on they had nothing surrounding Kobe so they went out and got Gasol and won 2 more championships. They had good but unspectacular young players and 1st round picks (cr@p shoot) and instead went bold and got Anthony Davis, while still having the space to bring in another star free agent.

Lakers will be a contender for the championship, the Celtics won't.

 

[djct1999]

The Lakers are smart enough to know you win with stars. Every time it's looking like they're going to start sucking they make bold moves to get superstars and they win championships.

Back in the day they knew they had a bunch of good but unspectacular players who couldn't win it all so they cleared everything out to get Shaq and boldly took high schooler Kobe in the draft. Later on they had nothing surrounding Kobe so they went out and got Gasol and won 2 more championships. They had good but unspectacular young players and 1st round picks (cr@p shoot) and instead went bold and got Anthony Davis, while still having the space to bring in another star free agent.

Lakers will be a contender for the championship, the Celtics won't.

Since when have the Lakers been considered smart?

 

[superjohn]

[/QUOTE]

Since when have the Lakers been considered smart?

Seriously?

This board sometimes.

 

[Walker11]

Seriously?

This board sometimes.
[/QUOTE]

To play devil's advocate, they haven't been considered a smart franchise since Dr. Buss died. But there is a reason why every smart person in basketball media likes this trade for the Lakers

 

[Walker11]

You are wrong on this. The Raptors had a good team, but they were a crazy Kawhi shot away from elimination in the second round, and a massive Bucks choke away from elimination in the Conference Finals. The one year rental was an insanely risky strategy, and if it didn't pay off, the Raptors would have surrendered their franchise for a single season. The Spurs are going to win 50+ games next year and have a shot to win the West if they make a couple of moves. If Kawhi leaves, the Raptors may not make the playoffs next season.

It has been widely reported that the Raptors were o.k. with blowing it up. They wanted to get off DeRozan by any means and were primed to get off Lowry and Ibaka. It wasn't a risk as the move had no downside in their view. If Kawhi leaves and they flame out, they are positioned to rebuild immediately.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Seriously?

This board sometimes.

This is a no brainer for the Lakers that came together mostly through Klutch, but the Lakers have been a disaster since Buss died. A league-wide laughingstock.

 

[superjohn]

This is a no brainer for the Lakers that came together mostly through Klutch, but the Lakers have been a disaster since Buss died. A league-wide laughingstock.

Yep but they basically never really go much more than a decade between championships and they will be positioned as well as anyone to win it all next year.

Don't understand how people in this thread are praising Ainge and ripping on the Lakers. The Lakers are supposed to be this big laughingstock and a year ago they had nothing, now they have Lebron, AD, and will most likely be adding another star. Just a year or so ago people were talking about the Celtics being on the brink of a dynasty.

Who is better positioned to win a championship now?