Lebron + AD + crap isn't remotely close to being title favorites in a KD-less Warriors world, you are smoking crack. Lebron is probably the GOAT, but he'll be THIRTY FREAKING FIVE next year. AD's team with one very good player and 2 good ones can barely reach .500 in their conference, AD+Bron and nobody else isn't going to amount to much more than a possible home-court team.
And afa signing with Klutch is concerned, I'll believe that when I see it. From watching all of the MTAA shows, Rich Paul doesn't strike me as someone who's going to act in anything but his clients' best interests, just as DWade let Lebron act in his best interests when he decided to move to Cleveland. I think we're giving Lebron waaaay too little credit for being a human being here. And as far as the dinner before Christmas was concerned, you're making up what you think they talked about because nobody knows.
Think about it. How many stars have spurned playing with Lebron recently? These guys know that after Lebron starts to decline it will be hard to get better, and Magic/Pelinka/Walton have done very little to aid their case with their crap non-Lebron decisions and questionable player development.
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only way I see them trading to the Lakers for their pupu platter of assets is if AD pulls a Melo and says he's only going to LA, and even then I'd be shocked if the Pels actually traded him there. We have it on record that not only their management but other teams are trying their hardest not to do business with LA, and thus far that's pretty much what we've seen.
The Lakers don't have the leverage that we think they do because I just don't see them running it back with minimums next year and having what little young assets they have lose more value as they get closer to free-agency. This is very different than say the Melo or PG13 situation where they can say "I'll just sign there next year then if you don't trade me." Lakers just don't have the leverage because if they don't sign AD they can't simply wait and keep the books open while wasting another year of Lebron's free-agency.
In short :