Scholarship table
The LeBron/Westbrook relationship isn't going to last too much longer. Although I'm not sure if any team would take Westbrook's contract. It's amusing they would have been far better off with Paddy Mills and they could have gotten him and kept their three other starters. Whooops.
I'd be really interested in hearing the unvarnished justification for making that deal. It made no sense at the time, and obviously makes even less sense as each day goes by.
Lebron the GM has always been terrible. He wants to get his buddies and stars without thinking for chemistry or fit, like he’s playing NBA2K. The ones with the Lakers are especially bad. Why Pelinka went forward with it, I have no clue other than probably pressure from Lebron and Rich Paul.
Makes sense. Jordan had a similar failing for sure; fortunately for the Bulls, he wasn't given the same kind of power that LeBron apparently has. IIRC, Kobe did some GM-playing, as did Wade, pretty famously. Probably happened many more times with superstars that we don't know about. But yes, LeBron has been a disaster in this regard.
I think Giannis did this in milwaukee. It was uncertain if he was going to sign an extension to stay in Milwaukee. Shortly after getting Holiday, he signed. I'm guessing he wanted a commitment from the Bucks to acquire better talent to give them a chance to win before he would sign.
There is a difference between “get better talent” or get a second star, and “sign these guys”. Lebron has been picking specific guys he wants to play with since his second run in Cleveland. And it usually doesn’t turn out all that well. AD is the notable exception and that was more Rich Paul than Lebron
JWags has a good point here. I don't think Giannis and LeBron are really comparable as far as player involvement with personnel. I didn't realize Giannis dropped 29 in the 2nd half yesterday after being out a few weeks? People continue to underestimate how good this guy is, especially when you include his defensive prowess. The Bucks in addition to the covid stuff may also be playing a little possum. They absolutely could repeat.
You're right. They could repeat. Not playing possum, though - they have been pretty dominant when the Big 3 are all in the lineup.Giannis may not have named the players he wanted the Bucks to sign, but he made it pretty clear that they needed to sign an All-Star caliber player or he would probably be gone. I believe he had more input/involvement than we thought. The Bucks had to run the Holiday trade through Giannis' camp. They wouldn't have pulled the trigger if he wasn't good with it.So no, he didn't name a particular player and say 'get him or else', but he did say 'get me a star player.'
The Bulls may be for real. I haven't gotten to watch them all that much but their three main guys are way under the radar. Have you seen DeRozan and Lavine's stats? These guys are killing it.
I love that DeRozan is killing it this season. He's the anti-analytics guy -- a lousy 3-point shooter who doesn't even like shooting 'em. Instead, he finds his spots 15-20 feet from the hoop, and he kills opponents with the kind of mid-range jumpers that most players and teams avoid like the plague. It's cool that a guy with his game is a legit MVP candidate as we near the midseason point.
I’ll believe DeRozan is a scary player in the Playoffs when he does it.
I’m not worried about the Bulls…this year. It’s Bucks or Nets.
I wouldn’t worry about the Nets so much either. That team is one more Kyrie Irving implosion away from being the Lakers.
Wouldn’t take it that far. I’m not sure they are a finals threat without Kyrie but they are a top 3 team in the east as long as Harden and KD are healthy