Kuetsar Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 Even with one more star, I'm not sure the Lebron formula works in the west. The West, even with the Warriors diminished is much tougher than the East ever was in the Lebron era. They may not all be title favorites, but the grind is going to wear an aging Lebron down. Is it possible this works? Sure, but its far more likely that this is opening of a 30 for 30. . . . . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted June 16, 2019 Author Share Posted June 16, 2019 My absolute favorite part of last season was Lonzo Ball saying he refused to play for New Orleans. LOL STFU Big BabyCake Brand. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 The NBA is the best. In the past two weeks: 1) Toronto wins. 2) KD and Klay go down in the friggin’ Finals and, as a result, a free agency class that could change the next half decade of the NBA is tossed out the window. 3) A minority owner of the Golden State Warriors shoved Kyle Lowry during a game (which we forgot about entirely). 4) A friggin’ Sherrif’s Officer tries to card Masai Ujiri in the seconds after he watches his work win a chip over one of the best dynasties of all-time. It is alleged that Ujiri smacked him in the face during the deal. I wish “allegation” was true and followed by “knocked out teeth of a glorified security guard.” 5) AD forcing his way to LA... which is also one of the biggest dumpster fires in ownership, and they just traded away 900 draft picks and a bunch of decent young talent. Watch tomorrow Kawhi signs with like Sacramento. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydneybrown Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 11 minutes ago, Greggulator said: The NBA is the best. In the past two weeks: 5) AD forcing his way to LA... which is also one of the biggest dumpster fires in ownership, and they just traded away 900 draft picks and a bunch of decent young talent. Considering how much better Randle and Russell were after leaving LA, Lakers have never had a clue what to do with young talent. I would be fine if the Lakers never had a draft pick again. Every major star they have had since the early 90s was a trade or FA signing. That includes Kobe. Seriously, the last legit Laker draft pick that amounted to anything as a LAKER was Andrew Bynum. Josh Hart was one guy too many. Take him out and it would have been an even trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 If LeBron ages gracefully, and AD re-signs next summer, it's probably a good trade for L.A. If LeBron breaks down and AD bolts... Well, New Orleans future looks bright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 AD has gotten a pass because it was New Orleans. That's it. If the Lakers fail AD will no longer receive a pass for anything. LeBron will take most of the heat but AD will catch his fair share. I love this trade for both teams. Lakers are in win now mode. They definitely need to land another star or 2-3 great role players so there is work to be done. Pelicans will have: Zion, Jrue, Ball, Ingram, maybe Randle? and the #4 pick plus additional picks down the road. They could be scary good in a couple years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 Culver maybe? Although Woj says they want to move the #4 if they can. If nothing else, they should be fun to watch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 6 hours ago, Lawful Metal said: Why does Anthony Davis get such a pass for extreme lack of team success? Everyone always considers him one of the best players in the league but his teams have a remarkable lack of success despite his “great” individual play. I don’t think a lot of his teams were completely bereft of talent, either. one great player is supposed to make a world of difference on team success but that’s never really translated for the Pelicans. I agree 100% here. Some guys are just winners. Others are great individual players who aren't winners. We have seen it in the past where guys like Chris Bosh and Kevin Garnett had to join a super group in order to compete because they weren't winners on their own. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 *coughDavidRobinsoncough* ... And now that Will is going to ban me 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hassan80636 Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 1 hour ago, Brian Fowler said: *coughDavidRobinsoncough* ... And now that Will is going to ban me Isn‘t it consensus that David Robinson was not a winner? Dennis Rodman said as much in his first book and Hakeem showed the whole world. Both of these occurences happening before Timmy even arrived. KG on the other hand got dealt the worst card with Minnesota‘s management. I would not put the blame on him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomAct Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 The smart thing wold be for the Lakers to take that remaining cap and get as many B-B+ players as possible. But, since it's the Lakers, they are going to do everything they can to blow it on one guy and have zero depth. That management, nor their fanbase give a shit about role players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jrag Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 (edited) Great trade for both. I assume the Lakers do in fact land another big name now. Kemba fits. Kyrie would be better. I would be even more impressed if they landed another wing like Butler or Kawhi. NO has maybe the best defensive backcourt in the league now with Jrue and Lonzo. Ultimate league pass team. I really do think they could be a playoff team next year, especially if Griff moves that 4th pick for a legit guy who can shoot. Those later year picks being unprotected is interesting. Have to assume the Lakers are rebuilding around AD by ‘24. Edited June 16, 2019 by Jrag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawful Metal Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 6 hours ago, hassan80636 said: Isn‘t it consensus that David Robinson was not a winner? Dennis Rodman said as much in his first book and Hakeem showed the whole world. Both of these occurences happening before Timmy even arrived. KG on the other hand got dealt the worst card with Minnesota‘s management. I would not put the blame on him. At least David Robinson had regular season success. And a scoring title. What the fuck has Anthony Davis done? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorceressKnight Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 43 minutes ago, Jrag said: Those later year picks being unprotected is interesting. Have to assume the Lakers are rebuilding around AD by ‘24. It's also more interesting when you consider how fucked the Lakers are in the Lebron situation by this trade: Lebron has said about his late-career plans that his ultimate goal is that he wants to play one year alongside his son, then retire. Assuming there is no change to the high schooler situation in the next CBA, Lebron James Jr. can be projected to enter the 2024 Draft...which the Lakers just traded their pick outright for. (If there is a change, then he'd be projected to enter the 2023 Draft, and even then the Pelicans can swap picks with the Lakers...and looking at both teams, it seems likely the Pelicans will be better in 2023.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 9 hours ago, Brian Fowler said: *coughDavidRobinsoncough* ... And now that Will is going to ban me Not quite what I was going for. David Robinson made the playoffs every year and made it out of the 1st round multiple times. He was a playoff choke artist. Garnett was a playoff "never was" except in 2004. Garnett made the Wolves better... but were considered contenders for only one year. He missed the playoffs his last 3 seasons in Minnesota. Robinson never missed the playoffs until he was injured. It is cool how close Robinson's 94-95 campaign parallels Garnett's 03-04 run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 Why in the fuck is the NBA Awards show so late in June? Remember when they used to just give them out during the playoffs (see above re: Hakeem and Robinson)? Why did we abandon that for an award show a week and a half after the finals when no one can possibly still care? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jrag Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 (edited) Davis is still only 26! We can’t judge a guy as playoff winner or loser this early in his career. Two seasons ago there was a legit argument he was the best player in the league. He carried a thin team to the playoffs after Boogie went down and then capitalized on a few late season additions to SWEEP the third seeded Blazers. A team that was much deeper than the one that just made the WCF. Those Robinson/Garnett playoff runs mentioned above would have been a hell of a lot shorter if they were playing GS in an early round. A few of these Pelicans teams have been ok, but some have been absolute dogshit. Y’all remember the Asik years, right? Im not gonna ding the guy for missing the playoffs early in his career in a historically stacked conference with varying levels of dogshit to mediocre surrounding him. That being said, it’s time to prove it. If they get a 3rd guy in there the Lakers will no doubt be the preseason favorites. No more excuses here. Edited June 16, 2019 by Jrag 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 1 minute ago, Jrag said: Davis is still only 26! We can’t judge a guy as playoff winner or loser this early in his career. Two seasons ago there was a legit argument he was the best player in the league. He carried a thin team to the playoffs after Boogie went down and then capitalized on a few late season additions to SWEEP the third seeded Blazers. A team that was much deeper than the one that just made the WCF. Those Robinson/Garnett playoff runs mentioned above would have been a hell of a lot shorter if they were playing GS in an early round. A few of these Pelicans teams have been ok, but some have been absolute dogshit. Y’all remember the Asik years, right? Im not gonna ding the guy for missing the playoffs early in his career in a historically stacked conference with varying levels of dogshit to mediocre surrounding him. We absolutely can judge Davis this early in his career. He has 7 years to judge from. 2 playoff runs. No seasons above 50 games. Only played more than 70 games twice. Led the league in blocks once. Never averaged more than 3 blocks a game. If you want to call him the best big man in an era of weak big men... sure, why not. But he's not a winner. Robinson had an MVP to his name in his first 7 years. He instantly improved his team from a 20+ win team to a 56 win team in his first year. Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Scoring Champion... all within his first 7 years. Led the league in blocks once with 4.5 blocks per game. Never averaged less than 3 blocks per game. Robinson had some help (basically Elliott and Rodman) but during his biggest run, his backcourt was Vinny Del Negro and Avery Johnson. He only played less than 80 games once in those 1st 7 years. Garnett carried some mediocre/dogshit teams to the playoffs 6 out of the first 7 years of his career. He got bounced in the 1st round every time but he made it. In his 8th year, he was MVP of the league. He only played less than 80 games once once in his first 7 full seasons (and that was 77 games). Led the league in rebounds in years 9-12. On your other point, guys like Garnett and Robinson would feast in today's NBA. Robinson was such an amazing athlete who would thrive in a score happy, run and gun league. Same with Garnett. Also, Robinson was competing against the Hakeem Rockets, Drexler Blazers, Stockton/Malone Jazz, and Chuck Suns. It wasn't like he was competing against weak ass Eastern Conference teams that LeBron plowed through. Garnett had to contend with peak Duncan Spurs, Dirk's Mavericks and Shaq/Kobe Lakers. Same point. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 Robinson's first 7 years were also his age 24-30 seasons, which makes a huge difference. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 Robinson also spent 2 years completely away from competitive basketball before he played a game. Garnett entered straight from high school. The point stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niners Fan in CT Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 Let's be honest about one thing. The Pelicans only became winners (if you can call them that) with Rajon Rondo leading the way. He is a proven winner. If he doesn't get hurt on Chicago a couple years back he probably would have eliminated the Celtics in the first round. When Rondo is on the right team he makes magic happen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 Rondo has had one of the weirdest careers ever. Since his knee injury in Boston, he varies between unstoppable force of nature and completely useless and washed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuetsar Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 LOL Rockets: https://deadspin.com/report-the-rockets-are-all-fed-up-with-each-other-1835583363 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomAct Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 It be like that sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawful Metal Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 I think that's every offseason they say there's turmoil with the Rockets, and every year it's not true. Funniest rumor I heard today is that Blake Griffin is coming to the Rockets to reunite with Chris Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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