[X] Wall done (John)
[ ] Wall done (Border)

I think they definitely CAN be a WCF team, TheMVP said they'd be title favoritesin a KDless Warriors' NBA. That says more about the state of the Western Conference having one defacto elite team and then a bunch of teams that would struggle to have a home-court series in the East. AD is awesome, but his team with another really good player and two decent ones is 3 games under .500 with a PD of of a 46ish win one. Prior to the injury the Lakers were a 1.7ish PD team with an average schedule, which is about at a 46 win level. If you add AD and subtract most of Ball/Hart/Kuz/BI for minimum deals, where does that put them? My guess is somewhere in the 52-55 range, and that's before we age Lebron another year. I don't think that puts them above the current teams in the 2-3 spots by much if any, and Denver should theoretically get a lot better next year with health and age-related growth.

I said "this off-season above", which is what I believe. They will almost definitely trade him before the deadline, but I just don't see it happening quickly unless AD's camp forces it.

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1 and 3) My guess would be Jaylen Brown + a good portion of their picks from this year (Memphis, Sacto, Clippers, their own). I could see a bunch of other scenarios that are also valuable..

There are teams that think they can contend with AD and nothing else" What about:

AD for Simmons
AD for Nurk/CJ/1st

And what about teams from top markets that can sign a free agent AND then trade for AD to form a superteam?

AD for Jarrett Allen/Caris Levert/Kurocs and a first after signing KD/Kawhi/Kyrie/Jimmy Butler
AD for Shai/Jerome Robinson and 3 first after signing KD/Kawhi/Kyrie/Jimmy Butler
AD for the #1 pick/THJr and filler after signing KD/Kawhi/Kyrie/Jimmy Butler

Then there are teams that can do both:

AD for Jamal Murray/Gary Harris/1st either all by itself or after making a big splash with a free agent.

That's just off the top of my head, I'm sure every team has some form of asset-pool they'd be willing to trade for a non-committal AD. Most if not all of these offers are better than what the Lakers can offer while still having enough powder to get capable players, but that's not even my point. IMO, they won't even have to beat the Lakers offer because the playing field won't be the same. Yes, I firmly believe that Demps and the Pelicans would take 80cents of another team vs. the Lakers $1.

2) This is where it gets sticky. Tbqh I just don't see this happening even with influence from Klutch. If the Lakers were a sure-fire top destination then maybe yes, but they just simply are not. Getting to be Lebron's sidekick on a non-championship level team and then being in a similar-if-not-worse position than you were with the Pelicans does not seem like an ideal way to spend your prime.

If this were to happen though, my guess is NOP would use other teams as leverage to squeeze as much as they can by having other teams bluff their trade packages ala Prokorov and the Nets did in the Melo deal... It would go down to the wire with the Lakers eventually acquiescing to something like Ball/Ingram/Hart. One other situation that could come to fruition if AD refused to sign with any other team would be Houston offering up the farm plus their crap contracts for AD, which could be more enticing because undrafted players > ones who's weaknesses have been on full display.

The big issue here is that the Lakers don't really have that much leverage because they have a very finite amount of time to do a deal for AD. Let's say they don't get him next year, are they going to sign a bunch of 1 years like they did this last offseason and wait out Lebron's age 35 season in order to pair AD with a 36 year-old Bron? Of course not, and every other team knows this.

Oh forgot to add. I truly believe that Demps is going to subtract value from the BI/Ball/etc because they will almost assuredly be unhappy playing for New Orleans. They went through it with Eric Gordon a few years back, and I don't think they want to have another RFA beg them NOT to match a deal after trading for them. My guess is they're going to value guys who are undrafted, especially over guys who have gotten all this publicity for the last umpteen years and will now be playing on one of the most tepid markets in the league.

I’m going to throw my hat in the ring on the side that Lebron’s age is a pretty significant hindersnce to attracting talent. He is still playing at a super elite level but the floor could fall out at any time which is a pretty daunting prospect for another elite player entering their prime.

Youth movement plus LeBron doesn’t really make sense. A team constructed of guys with experience and perhaps slightly past their prime window makes sense. Expecting top ~five players to join an aging LeBron as a second fiddle is not as enticing as some seem to think. It was a hard sell when LeBron was five years younger.


The lakers are going to have to alter their idea that they will just lure two first and second team all NBA players to play with LeBron. Plus the other half are the yutes who might not be hitting their peak (well maybe two of them will pan out as legitimate pieces) until LeBron is almost forty and certainly a role player.

I feel like the real path for LeBron would be to adjust into being the greatest second banana ever (all props to Scottie pippen). But I don’t think LeBron is ready for that and no top 7 player is willing to risk the prime of their career on it.

The lakers are between a proverbial rock and a hard place. Even if they magically got AD there are a host of issues that potentially inhibit their success.

The NBA is hard enough when everything is perfectly aligned. The lakers alignment and LeBron’s going forward is out of whack. Is there a chance they could catch lightning in a bottle, get a few short term pieces and make a run fior one year? Sure. But there is no LeBron laker dynasty coming.

Why have we settled upon the narrative that superstars don't want to play with Lebron?

DSJ might be the nerlens Noel of basketball.

It was pretty noticeable when he came back from first injury that they were struggling getting him into a rotation that works. With Barea out seems like plenty of room for him now but I agree i think he has different expectations and does not really like playing off the ball.

Don’t feel like he would get much in return at all so I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to work on it a bit longer. He could run the offense on the second unit but I suspect he does not want that.

Most top tier superstars are super alpha personalities. LeBron has never presented a vibe of working or sharing the load. In every situation he has taken total control. That is just not the make up of the majority of the very best atheletes.

And the reality is as he ages into his final chapter he has to change this.

The only reason GS works is because Curry and KD neither have that need and desire. But they are exceptions. And players will take a step back for the betterment of the marriage but LeBron has never put across that mentality ever. He has always had to be the guy.

And again he is 35. If you are in you mid 20s, LeBron is not your future. Bottom line is the LeBron lakers is not all lollipops and rainbows like some expected. So it isn’t a matter if other stars not wanting to play with LeBron. It is a matter of other stars doing what is best for their next 10-15 years.

Lebron is still easily the best player in the league. We went through this every year with the Cavs and the reality is he brings an extra gear in the playoffs, he only needs to make it. Yes this is the first time he's been injured but it's not chronic, just a fluke injury.

He also doesn't need a star, someone like Middleton and good defenders/shooters will work. Lonzo and Kuzma aren't going to cut it unless they improve a lot.

Possibly a new GM as well. It's a joke how their team is constructed

Something to consider in regards to AD leaving is how that will impact Jrue Holiday. Trading AD should be done with a complete rebuild in mind. Jrue is signed through the 21-22 season and will be averaging around 27M . He is 28.

Jrue is an All-Defense player with a huge motor and plays with strength. Very good passer and penetrator. 3pt% is down this season but is not something that can be exploited. One of my favorite players to watch, he is always involved on offense and defense.

The Pels should trade AD first then trade Jrue. Teams that fail to land AD would be forced to give up a little extra value for Jrue. He'd be pretty good for all teams except GSW. Would love to see him on the Suns but he may be a little old for their timeline.

AD's decision will shape the NBA landscape more than any other free agent decision in NBA history. Soooo many different pieces in play.

Pel's top priority needs to be finding a competent GM. They need someone who will make the decisions now with a goal in mind for the future. Demps is trash.

Laker's young core isn't going to develop into championship caliber players in LeBron's timeline. They will not be there for long.

Hey guys, I know you all have lives and stuff and no one should want to do this, but we don't get many Nationally Televised games, so if you could watch some of this PHI/IND game tonight on TNT and enjoy Nate's offense, I'd really appriciate it.

I don't want to have to suffer through this alone.

And suffering it was. Yeesh

RAPS so clutch without the cancer known as kiwi lenard

The biggest problem with the Lakers young core is that they all suck except for the oldest one and even he's seemed to regress a bit this year.

But he's been very generous about educating/sharing his experience on how to be a super-alpha with next-gen top tier superstars.

E.g., Seems like he managed to teach Kyrie to make whiney ***** moves via cacophonous meeja "leaks" pretty well.

Denver’s young core is probably something like, in order of potential,

Joker
Murray
MPjr
Gary Harris
Malik Beasley
Juancho hernangomez
Monte Morris

You can make arguments that the best of the Laker core is on Malik Beasley’s level.. not great bob.

The kid needs to swallow his pride and stop listening to his inner circle. Carlisle isn't going to let his ass continue to make dumb decision after dumb decision with the basketball and not hold him accountable. Mavs are in a tough spot. DSJ is basically holding out at the moment and teams are likely not offering anything worth a damn trying to buy low. Sounds like Dallas is going to try and make it work but if the kid doesn't want to be a team player good riddance.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BswpeXFh...=1hfsnuur65t15

https://www.instagram.com/p/BswtGcuB...d=7fzkzqkn5m6z

lolzo punted this game for the lolkers

lonzo made a good play, refs got it wrong

Ingram is 0/7 from the field.

RUSS is 2/18 from 2.

Brandon Ingram is a total scrub

russ is next level bad - like basically unplayable at this stage