NBA 2019-2020

RobinLFC said:
People are so quick to write LeBron off just because he had his first season in yonks where he missed more than just a few games. This guy is still one of the, if not the best basketball players in the world and we just brought in another top 5 player. Yes we could miss the playoffs if both of them miss a portion of the season but same could be said for any other team in the league, e.g. Rockets if Paul/Harden are out, Raptors if Leonard/Lowry are out, ... Those teams might be a bit more well-rounded but every team is quite fecked if their superstar, let alone two of them, miss a large amount of games.
Click to expand...
You are losing on rotation as well. Kuzma and Ingram accounted for 20 points per game on average.

AD probably won't waive his fee, so you are looking at another so-so player. Pelicans look better off from that trade, especially if Zion kicks off as per promise.
 
Enigma_87 said:
AD probably won't waive his fee, so you are looking at another so-so player. Pelicans look better off from that trade, especially if Zion kicks off as per promise.
Click to expand...
Don't disagree with that yeah, especially giving up all those picks really irks me.
 
Skills said:
Why? With Golden State's issues the West is open for the Lakers.
Click to expand...
If KD and Klay sign and rehabilitate in the right way they will be ready for the playoffs.

Clippers for one should look better especially if Kawhi goes with another top player.

Houston have always a big promise(and underperform in PO but that's another point) and Denver looked pretty good last season.

It won't be easy and will be a long season.

With Warriors problems the division itself is wide open.
 
Eh, KD will be pushing it to get back on the court next year I think, but Klay should be back maybe even before the All-Star break. I don't think the Warriors will be as bad as people expect, since Steph will get a chance to go out and be the main man and remind everyone how dominant he can be.

Houston, Denver, Portland, OKC and the Clippers (pending free agency) will all be hanging around. Depending on how the Warriors early season goes, Harden might smell blood and get on a roll and finally drag the Rockets to the finals.

I definitely think this will be the most competitive we've seen the West in years, but I honestly don't see (at this point) the Lakers shooting to the top of the pack just because of AD. They're losing a lot without Ingram and Ball and will have to replace them without spending much, which is easier said than done. Also, Lebron is 35 and coming off the fewest games he's ever played in a season. Do we really think he's still guaranteed to play 35-40 minutes every game? Like I said, I just think their best shot at a championship would've been to keep the Ball/Ingram/Hart, make good use of their lottery pick (Culver), and sign AD next season. I just can't see any scenario where they have a stronger team this year than what they could've had next year if they were patient.

On top of that, KD will likely be in the East for the 20/21 season anyway, so the Warriors will be much more vulnerable from here on out.
 
forevrared said:
I get that, but no matter which way you slice it, next year is probably the least likely of the next three years to mount a real challenge. I think had they waited another year, they'd have a much better shot the next two years if they'd kept the picks and players and still ended up with AD. It was obvious from the beginning LA was the only place he wanted to be.
Click to expand...

The risk of not going for AD now is that you don't get him next year because he goes somewhere else, likes it there and stays. It's what happened with Paul George. Also, you can only sign 1-year deals this year because you need to preserve cap space for next season, now they have only $23.7million left but they can sign multi-year contracts with that.

Also, LeBron is 35 this year as pointed out. The minute you signed him you commited to win-now attitude and playing out another season with a team that would probably be 5th - 6th seed (last year they underperformed due to injuries but were actually fairly good at the beginning of season) was not ideal.

Thinking about this, I really wouldn't be shocked if Kyrie signed a 1-year $23million deal with them to get a ring. He's still young enough to get a full max at the end of season. He'd need to pay some insurance out of his own pocket to protect himself in case of injury but that would certainly be an interesting prospect.
 
Sarni said:
Thinking about this, I really wouldn't be shocked if Kyrie signed a 1-year $23million deal with them to get a ring. He's still young enough to get a full max at the end of season. He'd need to pay some insurance out of his own pocket to protect himself in case of injury but that would certainly be an interesting prospect.
Click to expand...

Kyrie would probably be better signing with the Clippers, especially if they get Kawhi. Both of them there it's much more likely to get one IMO.
 
Enigma_87 said:
Kyrie would probably be better signing with the Clippers, especially if they get Kawhi. Both of them there it's much more likely to get one IMO.
Click to expand...

Clippers have a good prospect in SGA, not sure whether they'd be interested.
 
If only Lakers knew that they had to sign LiAngelo Ball and LaMelo Ball and they would be fine.
 
Sarni said:
The risk of not going for AD now is that you don't get him next year because he goes somewhere else, likes it there and stays. It's what happened with Paul George. Also, you can only sign 1-year deals this year because you need to preserve cap space for next season, now they have only $23.7million left but they can sign multi-year contracts with that.

Also, LeBron is 35 this year as pointed out. The minute you signed him you commited to win-now attitude and playing out another season with a team that would probably be 5th - 6th seed (last year they underperformed due to injuries but were actually fairly good at the beginning of season) was not ideal.

Thinking about this, I really wouldn't be shocked if Kyrie signed a 1-year $23million deal with them to get a ring. He's still young enough to get a full max at the end of season. He'd need to pay some insurance out of his own pocket to protect himself in case of injury but that would certainly be an interesting prospect.
Click to expand...
AD signed with Rich Paul for a reason. Only reason Lakers traded for him was because LeBron didn't want to waste another year doing jackshit.
 
There are so many people out in Toronto. It's crazy! Nathan Phillips Square is already filled up!
 
The Lakers won't miss the playoffs, though you could see them forestall problems from their lack of depth with "load management" and not pushing hard for the top seed.
 
mazhar13 said:
There are so many people out in Toronto. It's crazy! Nathan Phillips Square is already filled up!
Click to expand...

Just popped over from work. Waited 45 minutes and the bus seemed to still be nowhere near so I'm back at my desk now. Fun atmosphere though. Some bloke somehow got a moped in.
 
Couple of photos I took ...well, first one is from Thursday night around 1:30 am ,

second one a couple of hours ago. The team bus is yet to reach the square.

9ZtHYHD.jpg





ChxOZ0Q.jpg




Had a walk in the crowd. Lots of of day-drinking and wake and bake joints on the streets. The greatest monday morning this city has ever seen :angel:
 
I haven't read anything about Luka Doncic in months. Has his form dropped off? I'm not an NBA follower by the way.
 
VorZakone said:
I haven't read anything about Luka Doncic in months. Has his form dropped off? I'm not an NBA follower by the way.
Click to expand...

His team the Dallas Mavericks didn't make the playoffs (they finished second last in their conference), so that probably explains it.
 
Kaos said:
His team the Dallas Mavericks didn't make the playoffs (they finished second last in their conference), so that probably explains it.
Click to expand...
That does bring something up, as someone who doesn't follow the NBA as closely as other leagues: why isn't Dallas rumored to be in this free agent free for all? Don't they have 2 good starting pieces after the Porzingis trade?

And while we're on cities in my stomping grounds starting with D, what about Denver...? Neither team gets much mention, other than Denver perhaps being sneaky good.
 
Organic Potatoes said:
That does bring something up, as someone who doesn't follow the NBA as closely as other leagues: why isn't Dallas rumored to be in this free agent free for all? Don't they have 2 good starting pieces after the Porzingis trade?

And while we're on cities in my stomping grounds starting with D, what about Denver...? Neither team gets much mention, other than Denver perhaps being sneaky good.
Click to expand...

Cap space. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.
 
I’m seeing vids of people running away from NPS on insta? Saying someone got shot? Just about to leave work and I walk right by there.
 
Solius said:
I’m seeing vids of people running away from NPS on insta? Saying someone got shot? Just about to leave work and I walk right by there.
Click to expand...
Reports of several gunshots, two (not life-threateningly) injured and two others in custody at the moment. There was a stampede as well following the gunshots, as there was a lot of panic apperently. Feck sake, why can't these things just go well and in peace for a change.

Also unconfirmed reports of a shooting at Eaton Centre.
 
RobinLFC said:
Reports of several gunshots, two (not life-threateningly) injured and two others in custody at the moment. There was a stampede as well following the gunshots, as there was a lot of panic apperently. Feck sake, why can't these things just go well and in peace for a change.

Also unconfirmed reports of a shooting at Eaton Centre.
Click to expand...
Regarding the stampede, there were no further injuries from that. People lost their shoes and stuff, but beyond that, no one was hurt. At the Eaton Centre, I read that there were stabbings instead of shootings. The shootings were at Hudson Bay on Queen & Bay.

Overall, given what happened, the city handled the situation very well. There was some panic, but beyond that, there wasn't anything worse that came out of it.
 
Organic Potatoes said:
The Lakers won't miss the playoffs, though you could see them forestall problems from their lack of depth with "load management" and not pushing hard for the top seed.
Click to expand...

Lakers still need another two perimeter shooters to play along with LBJ and AD. Kemba potentially and someone else even like a JJ Redick would work. And they need a defensive identity, just can't rely on AD being a beast. Not sure if they currently have a wing/perimeter defender(s). Then there's the coaching staff led by Frank Vogel, who has never been in a situation like this before players, city, expectations, egos, etc...and his assistant seems to be his waiting in the wings head coach of the Lakers, Jason Kidd. Just too many unknowns to give the Lakers the benefit of the doubt that they won't miss the playoffs.

The NBA is going under a major shift due to the Warriors injuries (Klay and KD), Kawhi going/staying, aging of LBJ and other free agents. This year's draft class is pretty weak outside of Zion (still not sure if he can shoot well enough).
 
Redick won’t move back to LA.

Beverley, Green, Bogdanovic are my favorite suggestions so far. On a minimum I would maybe try for Matthews, Hill and Ariza. Seth Curry is a good option.
 
edcunited1878 said:
Lakers still need another two perimeter shooters to play along with LBJ and AD. Kemba potentially and someone else even like a JJ Redick would work. And they need a defensive identity, just can't rely on AD being a beast. Not sure if they currently have a wing/perimeter defender(s). Then there's the coaching staff led by Frank Vogel, who has never been in a situation like this before players, city, expectations, egos, etc...and his assistant seems to be his waiting in the wings head coach of the Lakers, Jason Kidd. Just too many unknowns to give the Lakers the benefit of the doubt that they won't miss the playoffs.

The NBA is going under a major shift due to the Warriors injuries (Klay and KD), Kawhi going/staying, aging of LBJ and other free agents. This year's draft class is pretty weak outside of Zion (still not sure if he can shoot well enough).
Click to expand...

Zion will be amazing even if he never learns to shoot better than 30% from three. He will at least be a minor threat from there so will not be neglected like Simmons.

Ja Morant is another player who has a significant chance to be amazing. Other than that you have Barrett and Reddish who have big star potential but also significant bust potential, a few players who are almost certain to be good but unlikely to hit All-Star level (Hunter, Culver, Clarke), a guy with hype that we don’t much about but who will probably be good (Garland) and a few guys who could be anything depending on how they develop (Hayes, White, Hachimura, Langford). I don’t think it’s a terrible draft, there will probably be 2-3 stars coming out of it so less than usual but there will be plenty of solid rotation players.
 
Last edited:
edcunited1878 said:
This year's draft class is pretty weak outside of Zion (still not sure if he can shoot well enough).
Click to expand...
I’m still bearish on Zion being a truly transcendent player in the NBA. He looks to me like the next Blake Griffin... not that that’s a poor thing at all. Just not the LeBron-level game changing talent he’s hyped up to be.
 
Organic Potatoes said:
I’m still bearish on Zion being a truly transcendent player in the NBA. He looks to me like the next Blake Griffin... not that that’s a poor thing at all. Just not the LeBron-level game changing talent he’s hyped up to be.
Click to expand...

I am interested in how his body will translate and change/adapt to the NBA. If he's going to be more of a traditional power forward like Giannis, then he'll need to trim down and work on his agility and footwork, plus on-ball skills/face up game against quicker, but smaller defenders. I do like the early comparison to Blake, although I think Zion should be a more impactful defender early on than Blake.
 
im trying to think of how the lakers roster could look next year. @Sarni will correct me if im wrong but i believe they have 23 million in cap space plus a 9 million exception and a 3 million exception. Could you get Brogdon + Barea? Brogdon + Beverley? Mirotic + Bogdanovic? Middleton + Curry?

Who are the midlevel exception options? Wes Matthews? KCP again? Marcus Morris?
 
Eboue said:
im trying to think of how the lakers roster could look next year. @Sarni will correct me if im wrong but i believe they have 23 million in cap space plus a 9 million exception and a 3 million exception. Could you get Brogdon + Barea? Brogdon + Beverley? Mirotic + Bogdanovic? Middleton + Curry?

Who are the midlevel exception options? Wes Matthews? KCP again? Marcus Morris?
Click to expand...

That’s correct but they have to use $23million before they can use the $9million (mid level exception) and the $3.3million (bi-annual exception).

Brogdon and Bogdanovic will be around $20million by themselves, so you will have no space to add anyone else under the cap and will have to use MLE already.

I think in the $9million range the best fits for them are Pat Beverley, Marcus Morris, Danny Green. All of them would probably take a long term $9million per year deals. Rodney Hood is a good candidate too IMO. And you can probably get Ellington for much less than that.

Bullock has a $4.8million cap hold and they own his Bird rights, wouldn’t be a stupid idea to keep him and extend him when all is said and done. He’s a good fit. That’d leave them with $18.5million cap space but wouldn’t affect the exceptions.

Also you don’t have to use MLE on one player. You can split it.

Ideal scenario for them would IMO be:

Sign Beverley for $9milion and Morris for $9million under the cap, sign Green for part of MLE $5million and Curry for $4.2million of remaining MLE, then use $3.2million of bi-annual exception on Ellington and extend Bullock. Sign Robin Lopez as a back up center.

Beverley / Curry
Green / Ellington
James / Bullock
Kuzma / Morris
Davis / Lopez

Is probably the best depth chart they could get under circumstances.
 
Last edited:
So there's no chance we can add Kawhi/Kyrie/Kemba unless AD waives his signing fee or whatever it was? It's all over Twitter that the Lakers will aggressively pursue Walker or Leonard in free agency this summer, but it appears that's not even possible?
 
RobinLFC said:
So there's no chance we can add Kawhi/Kyrie/Kemba unless AD waives his signing fee or whatever it was? It's all over Twitter that the Lakers will aggressively pursue Walker or Leonard in free agency this summer, but it appears that's not even possible?
Click to expand...

Even if he waives it there’s no chance. Trade would need to be completed at the end of July and Pelicans do not want it, they want it done in early July which gives Lakers maximum of $28.3million of cap if AD waives $4.5million (which would be dumb).

Fun guy they couldn’t get if they had $70million.
 
Sarni said:
Even if he waives it there’s no chance. Trade would need to be completed at the end of July and Pelicans do not want it, they want it done in early July which gives Lakers maximum of $28.3million of cap if AD waives $4.5million (which would be dumb).

Fun guy they couldn’t get if they had $70million.
Click to expand...
Cheers. No ideal situation for sure, I would've thought they knew they're in win-now mode with AD on board and it gets a lot more complicated if you can't add a high profile free agent anymore.

The depth chart you mentioned a couple of posts ago looks solid and probably the best we can achieve for next season, yeah. Although knowing Pelinka and Buss, they'll find a way to feck it up.
 
RobinLFC said:
Cheers. No ideal situation for sure, I would've thought they knew they're in win-now mode with AD on board and it gets a lot more complicated if you can't add a high profile free agent anymore.

The depth chart you mentioned a couple of posts ago looks solid and probably the best we can achieve for next season, yeah. Although knowing Pelinka and Buss, they'll find a way to feck it up.
Click to expand...

The issue with signing someone like Kemba and Butler is that at 29 they are going to start declining and if you give him 4 years, the last years of that contract could be pretty awful and the team would have zero flexibility.

I think multiple $5million to $10million deals work much better. Tricky thing is a lot of teams will have space this year and next year and could offer some of those guys more + a more prominent role.
 
Sarni said:
The issue with signing someone like Kemba and Butler is that at 29 they are going to start declining and if you give him 4 years, the last years of that contract could be pretty awful and the team would have zero flexibility.

I think multiple $5million to $10million deals work much better. Tricky thing is a lot of teams will have space this year and next year and could offer some of those guys more + a more prominent role.
Click to expand...
Maybe playing with LeBron and a chance at a ring might appeal?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.