Kolek planning to go pro
How do we know he quit and was faking? There was speculation Durant was milking it and we saw what happened when he was actually rushed back. The guy’s doctors said not to play. His knee injury in the playoffs was from overcompensating for the quad.
Anthony Davis to the Lakers
Why would he do that now? He has all the leverage in the world and Rich Paul just said he’s going into free agency next year.Probable he re-signs there, but zero guarantee. If LBJ tears his Achilles, why stay?Nothing to argue over, but this is a forgone conclusion. He will be a laker for a long long time.
The Pels Get:2019 1st (4th)2021 top 8 protected, otherwise unprotected 2022 (LBJ up)2023 unprotected swap2024 unprotected first2025 unprotected swapHoly hell.
People keep saying Kawhi ended two dynasties in the Warriors and the Heat. Quit selling the guy short. He also ended the Spurs dynasty by quitting on them and faking a season long injury.
If that's true, he was using really the only leverage that super stars have to get max deals where they want to play. Free agency is very much inequitable in the NBA and not very "free."
Now all the Pelicans need is coaching and general management.
And people ripping the Pelicans and saying they made a huge mistake by not accepting the sub-par offer at the deadline this year Glad Pelicans management knew what leverage they had with AD. Good for them.
Sounds like a lot.... but Lakers are going to win or not based on FAs that they sign - not draft picks.
The key is the bulk of these picks are with a retired LBJ. If Davis gets hurt in any year these swaps/picks come up, these are really nice lotto tickets. Also the one and done rule will be either gone or significantly different by the time these picks come up. Ton of value to either keep or trade these.
Even when LeBron retires, if the Lakers add another good player now (Kemb, Kyrie, etc.) to go with Davis, that keeps them out of the lottery barring injury or a drastic drop off in play from one of those stars.And when LeBron retires, the Lakers will still be a premiere destination for free agents, so it's seems just as likely none of those picks ever sees the lottery.The Ringer did a pretty good analysis of this when Porzingis was dealt, and found future first-round draft picks aren't as valuable as we think.https://www.theringer.com/nba/2019/2/5/18211132/trade-future-first-round-pick-value-kristaps-porzingis-new-york-knicks
Pair a team-first PG who will do whatever a team needs like Kemba, with LeBron, Davis and Kuzma and you certainly have the makings of a championship team -- especially with the Warriors not a factor next season.If they don't get a guy like Kemba, the Lakers will still need one more very good to great backcourt player.