Some of the above comments seem to conflict. If OKC is not likely to re-sign both Westbrook and George due to payroll, then it seems more likely that George goes to the Lakers. Which could also attract/cement Lebron. All of which is opposite of lol Lakers (although there have been tons of reasons to lol them in the past several years).

I could use $233 milly right about now, how about you?

Remember when Dood basically guaranteed Russ wasn't signing an extension in OKC?

LEAD PIPE LOCKS ITT

good for russ and OKC

Ummm, you could at least post the whole conversation prior gloating right? This was posted AFTER that, you dolt.

Did Russ sign for the DPE?

Russ signing seems like a massive win for the Lakers because it all but ensures PG is leaving unless OKC can move off Melo, which isn't out of the question given the fact that he could opt out next year.

It does now seem like the Melo trade is bad for OKC long-term, but I get it because you might not get RUSS to extend without it.

Nice job announcing it on KD’s birthday. Apparently this was done for a while.

Not sure how it's possible not to love Russ

Say that OKC goes to the conf finals and takes GSW to 7, and PG decides that he wants to stay. OKC can't straight up re-sign him for the max, due to lack of Bird rights, and Melo putting them over the cap - right?

But if PG decides to exercise his player option, he can stay for another year, through 2019. And then the year after that, in 19-20, Melo is off the books, and PG would be able to sign a max then. Right?

So if all of that happens, how much would it cost PG to do that? Is it the difference between his 2019 max and his $20.7 PO? Which would be like 10 mil or so?

George is a lead pipe lock to leave. You heard it hear first.

They have George's Bird Rights

Went to check out the Lakers board to see how they're handling losing the guy they were all sure was a lead pipe lock to sign with them ASAP, saw posts like this:

LakerFan is doing just fine.

So then OKC can sign George no problem, it's solely a matter of payroll?

Looks like about 11M with PG being in the 7-9 year experience bracket, so about 10-11M. I think their best bet would be to convince Melo to decline and sign him to a lesser deal, but that still puts them in a pickle with the repeater tax.

I think they retain PGs bird right because they go along with the trade, as long as said player has played under their former contract for like 3 years...I think.

Correct, they can sign him to up to the max, it's just a matter of luxury-tax dollars. This year and next will be interesting for them because if they can't get under the tax line by the end of season they are guaranteed to either pay repeater-tax for a long long time or start jettisoning off players. They paid in 2013-14 and 2015-16, meaning if they can get under it now they reset that clock somewhat. They are currently 14M over it as we speak, but have the season to get under..

14M is a lot to unload, but it sets them up to pay a lot less next year if they can.. Part of the reason why I didn't understand the Melo trade. The problem is they sort of need to keep those guys to stay competitive enough for PG/Melo to want to stay...

If they keep the roster as is, Melo keeps his option, and PG gets maxed, they're looking at approximately 240M in total salaries next year... and that's prior to filling out their 15 man roster and with a bench consisting of Christian, Abrines, PatPat, Singler, Huestis, Ferguson, and Dakari Johnson. That's over a $100M luxury tax bill, to a team who's payed 3M and 14M in previous years, and traded Harden to avoid it prior to that. And this was for teams that were more talented without a Golden State to make the point moot.

At this point i don't see Lakers getting anybody next year, their core too young & OKC did everything possible to put a superteam on the floor & with the crowd being so amazing & the fact they are locks to do well i don't think PG13 leaves(unless the chemistry is just so off). Love Westbrook decision to extend on KD's birthday as well .

Speaking for lakerfan here, I'm happy that a hometown kid is getting PAID. I don't mind losing out on age 29-34 RUSS at a supermax.

And they tell you not to eat sushi in Oklahoma 🤣🤣🤣.

Suck it KD. I would give my middle nut for the Thunder to knock out the Warriors in the playoffs.

I think PG13 is def >50% to stay. Russ signing is pretty huge as it signals to PG13 that he's willing to sign on the bottom line to really build something there.

Thx Seadood & JayTee.

Except that this "lock to do well" could very well be a 4-seed and getting swept in the 2nd round.

I don't see it, Spurs is such a wierd team though, on paper they look pretty meh but always performs well, Rudy Gay maybe a underrated pickup for them as well if Pop can get the best outa him. With all that said, OKC two starting lineups they can put on the floor is just so elite i would be disappointed with anything but conference finals for them.

If healthy what team this year you guys think have more potential, Timerwolves or 76ers?

Twolves= Teague-Butler-Wiggins-KAT-Dieng
vs
76ers= Fultz-reddick-simmons-saric-Embid

That's the problem with both the imbalance of conferences and the DPE. Good teams doing what I think are the right thing are almost penalized short-term (less playoff success) but make out better long-term (better draft picks), further widening the gap between East and West. It's gotten pretty comical, and we're not even talking about close to the worst year for it (2007-8 say hi).

As far as the DPE, I think it hurts the small-market teams looking to keep those players because it all but forces them to throw out cap-crippling long-term contracts just to keep their guy, and if the decision is close they're probably going to end up trading them (Sacto). If they wanted to accomplish parity or an advantage for teams who draft their star, I think they should allow them to pay a lot more to said player but the extra money they can pay does not hurt their cap number.

Saric is not starting, it's fultz- redick- Covington- simmons- embiid

And sixers have more potential if only because they are in the East. What's the twolves ceiling... A first round exit?

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Seadood, that makes sense (not counting the extra towards the cap), good solution.

Nobody's getting past the Warriors if they're healthy. So to make the conf finals, you have to be the 2 or 3 seed and win that series. The 4 seed is just gonna lose to the Warriors in the 2nd round.

Could OKC be the 2 or 3 seed? Sure. Could Hou and SAS win more regular season games than OKC? Sure. The 2-4 seeds are close enough that anything could happen there. As of now, though, Pinny is saying 2.Hou, 3.SAS, 4.OKC.

Twolves are the better team. 76ers too young, even without injury risk. Twolves will win more regular season games, and even have a better chance of going farther in the playoffs (although unlikely that either make it out of the first round).

For SirO:

CJ McCollum on Meyers Leonard: "This is my 5th training camp and this is best he has looked. He's aggressive, playing strong, making shots"