Quote:
Originally Posted by Banzai-
What if Pels have said "we do it right away or deal's off" ?
Like, it's almost certainly a bluff (if it's even been said), but if you're Pelinka can you really take that chance? Imagine if he calls the bluff and they really do trade him to someone else. His head is insta on a spike if this deal somehow falls through. He I agree he still probably should just call them on it and wait, giving up the freedom for a max FA is too much of a cost, but I can at least understand just wanting to get the deal locked in if Pels are making threats.
For having experience as an agent, Pelinka did a horrendous job negotiating this deal. What was the Pelicans BATNA (best alternative to not accepting the Lakers offer)? It was probably a ****ty offer from the Celtics or keeping AD on the team going into this year. The Pelicans did not want to have AD going into this year when they are trying to have positive momentum with Zion. This Lakers offer that was accepted was far and away the best offer the Pelicans had when they also had the leverage because AD didn't want to play on any other team.
This is the Lakers last summer to build a team. They need depth because AD and Lebron need to take it easy in the regular season. Part of trading for AD should be dependent on maximizing the cap space to actually build a legit contender starting next year. An $8 million difference in cap space is huge. That's an extra legit starter. For a team with three players on the roster who could even play in the playoffs that is enormous.
The timing of the trade matters so much more to the Lakers than the Pelicans. The fact that it wasn't part of the deal means Pelinka & even Griffin are pretty stupid and don't understand how to maximize the pie in a negotiation. Also, Hart going to the Pelicans makes me think that, too. (He's worth so much more to the Lakers than the Pelicans.)
In any negotiation you have to understand what is this worth to me and what is this worth to the other party. You give what is worth more to them than you (Ingram and the 4th pick) and you get what is worth more to you than them (waiting to complete the trade to maximize cap space).
That is slightly simplistic but it's how you create as much collective value as possible. There was additional collective value on the table that they weren't able to figure out.
Last edited by jwd; 06-17-2019 at 09:35 AM.