Kolek planning to go pro
I think the point being missed by many is the severe lack of protections in place. If all these picks were protected, that’d be different.
No disrespect to Kemba, but I don’t see that and don’t think he’s a good fit. He’s a ball dominant PG who isn’t a great defender and his best skill is scoring. He will be the 3rd option there. And you take a guy who scores a ton leading the offense and want to put him on the wing for catch and shoot? Just doesn’t makes sense to me. Honestly someone like Tobias Harris fits better IMO.And I was talking to another friend of mine, who is a Lakers fan, and he’s not totally convinced Lebron and AD coexist as perfectly as people think. AD is versatile, but he’s still a C, and Lebron has not had great success getting the best out of skilled big men in his career. If you’re a Lakers hater or NO fan, the not impossible dream scenario is AD picking up another injury (he’s the Gronk of the NBA in that regard) and Lebron mailing it in afterwards. Also, if you’re the Pels, you don’t trade Jrue. Jrue and Lonzo are likely a top 2 defensive backcourt in the league
Agreed. With this trade, the Lakers really should be AD's team, not Lebron's. AD is young, entering his prime, and at least last year was the better player. No reason Lebron retiring should make the Lakers suddenly a lottery team.
BS. If they want the freedom to play where they want to, they can sign 1-year contracts. Just like everything in life, you can't have everything you want, you have to make sacrifices. Whining about how "unfair" free agency is in the NBA is ridiculous.
Most businesses are made to be profitable. How do you know what an employee “is worth,” and if you pay every single employee what they’re “worth” are you still going to have a business? If LeBron James and Michael Jordan never existed do David Robinson (or pick the 2nd best player from that era) and Kevin Durant become “worth” what those 2 were/are?Personally, I think anybody making $25M+/year in base salary and hundreds of millions more (total, not yearly) in endorsements is compensated more than “fairly.”
I'm not missing that point, I'm just not convinced protection will be necessary. I see no reason anyone would be confident that the 2023-2025 Lakers will be among the league's worst teams. And as the Ringer story illustrates, lottery picks outside the top 5 are rarely all stars and only become NBA starters about 50 percent of the time. So, the "good" bet here by the Pelicans is that a) the Lakers will be very bad in 4-5 years and b) they'll hit on their picks.I'm not knocking the Pelicans' return. I think they probably did the best they could. But it's far from a sure thing that these future draft picks are as valuable as some seem to believe.
I don’t think your opinion has anything to do with it. The market does. James would undoubtedly make much more money without the CBA restrictions in place. Michael Jordan made $33 million in his last year because the cap was more flexible then. And that was 20 years ago.
Exactly. It's OK to say "NBA players make a sh*tload of money and should feel blessed" while also recognizing they play under a system that artificially depresses the compensation of the best players.These two concepts are not mutually exclusive.
Right. I'm not saying anyone should feel sorry for them either. I just find it odd that Leonard gets criticized for using his leverage to get himself a better deal, but owners like Lasry and Edens are praised for their ownership when much of it is based on how they blackmailed taxpayers to get them to fund a new arena.
Kawhi is on the same deal he was on with the Spurs.
Yeah no kidding. It’s about his next deal.
Of course you are assuming he wants to play for the Spurs. Which he didn't seem to want to any longer for whatever reason.
The owner bought the franchise with the contingency that a new stadium would be built.
What? No he didn't. The Bucks were purchased in early 2014 and the new arena financing wasn't approved until the Summer and Fall of 2015.
What ya'll think about the Bucks selling their first rounder to Detroit to get rid of Snell's contract? I thought it was interesting they only save $4M this year, and the real savings is just getting out of his $12M player option for 2020-2021. I think late first rounders tend to be the cost of doing business to get out of these overpriced midlevel contracts, but a little more immediate salary relief to go with it would have been nice. Also, is this officially the end of this run of the Celtics? Whereas a guy like Morey sees all of his contracts as assets and liabilities, and never seems to lose an asset for free, Ainge is going to watch Kyrie and Horford walk, and are now left with just a package of middling picks they probably can't combine to move up even a handful of spots.
What ya'll think about the Bucks selling their first rounder to Detroit to get rid of Snell's contract? I thought it was interesting they only save $4M this year, and the real savings is just getting out of his $12M player option for 2020-2021. I think late first rounders tend to be the cost of doing business to get out of these overpriced midlevel contracts, but a little more immediate salary relief to go with it would have been nice.
They can stretch Leuer over 3 years to free up $6.5M more. Or flip his expiring in another deal.I'm in no hurry to deal Ersan at this point. He plays his role well and is on a reasonable deal.