2019 Official NBA Free Agent thread

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Lakers now interested in Korver? Cousins? Kevin Love?

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So the Lakers are morphing into an older version of the Cavs?

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

I wish we had gotten pick swap rights for this season too. Lol dang

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No worries, the collateral damage will last for a long long time...at least 7 years. They have no draft picks ��

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Jalen Rose just said on ESPN he’s “99% sure” Kawhi Leonard will return to Toronto

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) July 3, 2019

I mean, it's Jalen Rose, so take it with a grain of salt

But yeah.

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Buit Chris Broussard is 94% certain he's going to the Lakers, and Woj thinks he "more likely" is going to the Lakers.

Of course all that's before the ESPN idiot jedi mind trick ("go to the Lakers for us Kawhi") machine found out he's meeting with toronto again today.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

The exact quote from Jalen: “What I’m 99% hearing is that Kawhi Leonard will be returning to Toronto and signing a 2-year contract, just completed his 8th season, that will put him at 10 years and put him in position to get largest maximum deal for a player of his tenure."

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) July 3, 2019

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Jalen Rose knows a lot of people in the league. I trust his word much more than that hack Broussard.

Believe it or not, Jalen has been right quite a few times. I remember distinctly he called Kevin Durant going to Golden State, and people called him crazy and there was no way he was leaving OKC. After that season.....

And I may be wrong on this, but I think he said LeBron would go to Miami? Don't quote me on that, the details are fuzzy in my head right now

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Originally Posted by UNO Gracias

I low key like the clipps ( if Kawhi lands there) to win the West. Kawhi is great, Lou Will is great, Landry and Alexander are young and upcoming, they have Beverly and Harrell, they are a really good team.

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What!? You are hopping off the Jazz? I don’t think the Clippers are on the same level as the Jazz with Kawhi.. IMO the Clippers over achieved big time last season and the Jazz underachieved.. The Jazz have made 2 huge additions while the Clippers have done nothing but rely on Alexander to get better..

Josh Hart is basically a bizarro world Eric Gordon. It's hard to not love this dude.

So most likely Iggy ain't going to the Lakers, unless they can find a 3rd team to buy him out.

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The Memphis Grizzlies do not intend to give forward Andre Iguodala a buyout before the season and are actively exploring the trade market for the former Finals MVP, league sources told ESPN.

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https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...arket-iguodala

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Originally Posted by luckyman

So most likely Iggy ain't going to the Lakers, unless they can find a 3rd team to buy him out.



https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...arket-iguodala

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Trade E'Twaun and something else for him.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

So most likely Iggy ain't going to the Lakers, unless they can find a 3rd team to buy him out.



https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...arket-iguodala

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Ha! I love Memphis. Laker fans are imploding on this one as well. They've already written him down on their roster.

Man... if the Lakers don't get Kawhi, their fanbase is going to go nuclear

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Man... if the Lakers don't get Kawhi, their fanbase is going to go nuclear

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With good reason. They've given up everything to get AD. And waited while all the guys who can improve their team around just AD and LeBron were signed up.

Their only real chance to contend is to form a big 3. If Kawhi goes to the Clippers somehow? That would be too perfect. They lose Kawhi AND little brother can start kicking the crap out of them in their own city.

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Originally Posted by Eman5805

With good reason. They've given up everything to get AD. And waited while all the guys who can improve their team around just AD and LeBron were signed up.

Their only real chance to contend is to form a big 3. If Kawhi goes to the Clippers somehow? That would be too perfect. They lose Kawhi AND little brother can start kicking the crap out of them in their own city.

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I get why you'd call it good reason, but I'd also call it unwarranted. Is it fair to say they have good reason to be mad, but that the good reason only exists because they had unwarranted expectations?

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Originally Posted by GuardianAngel25

What!? You are hopping off the Jazz? I don’t think the Clippers are on the same level as the Jazz with Kawhi.. IMO the Clippers over achieved big time last season and the Jazz underachieved.. The Jazz have made 2 huge additions while the Clippers have done nothing but rely on Alexander to get better..

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I think it's fair for people to question the Jazz being real contenders right now. They may have made two huge additions but they lost several key players as well and a lot of depth. It's really going to come down to how well the new roster compliments each other and of course injuries.

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Originally Posted by bradael

I think it's fair for people to question the Jazz being real contenders right now. They may have made two huge additions but they lost several key players as well and a lot of depth. It's really going to come down to how well the new roster compliments each other and of course injuries.

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Have they really lost a lot of depth though? I know they've lost some (Favors being an obvious example) but their roster still looks fairly deep to me. The only real hole is at power forward, on my knowledge.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Man... if the Lakers don't get Kawhi, their fanbase is going to go nuclear

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Some of them are even saying the Lakers should just wait until Kawhi decides before they execute the trade. They think with so many teams involved, no ones going to back out of the deal if they wait a couple more days. Totally oblivious to the ramifications throughout the league if they arbitrarily chose to do this.

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Originally Posted by RobertM320

Some of them are even saying the Lakers should just wait until Kawhi decides before they execute the trade. They think with so many teams involved, no ones going to back out of the deal if they wait a couple more days. Totally oblivious to the ramifications throughout the league if they arbitrarily chose to do this.

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There's absolutely no way the trade is getting delayed. I've seen a few guys on twitter bandy this around, and like you're saying, they're oblivious to the reality of the situation.

Delaying the trade means that we wouldn't get to play Hayes, Silva, or NAW in Summer League. Atlanta has already agreed to trade Solomon Hill, but they need to execute it as a separate trade after the multi-team deal involving LA. They think Atlanta are just going to wait to get Hunter and to do their completely unrelated Hill trade for the Laker's sake?

Not only that, but we've traded for Favors. We can only do the Favors trade because we're doing it before his contract gets guaranteed with the Jazz. His guarantee date? The 6th! If we push the date back after the 6th, we can't get Favors and that also means the Jazz can't complete their Bogdanovic signing.

There is no way on this planet that New Orleans, Utah, Atlanta, and Memphis are all going to just shrug their shoulders, allow their trade deals to fall through, just so LA can wait another few days before not even getting Kawhi anyway.

LA fans are delusional.

everything becomes official tomorrow so the longer he waits the better

Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk

Just wondering how it effects Lakers if Kawhi waits?

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Originally Posted by bustah

Just wondering how it effects Lakers if Kawhi waits?

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mostly it means players who've already given verbal agreements can't back out once everything goes official

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Originally Posted by bahmamamba

mostly it means players who've already given verbal agreements can't back out once everything goes official

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Of course! Thanks

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Originally Posted by bahmamamba

everything becomes official tomorrow so the longer he waits the better

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July 6th is the official date for transactions but yes, the longer this goes on the better. If Kawhi waits until after the 6th then the Lakers lose their max slot. They would only have like 28m to offer him.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

July 6th is the official date for transactions but yes, the longer this goes on the better. If Kawhi waits until after the 6th then the Lakers lose their max slot. They would only have like 28m to offer him.

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ehh same difference lol but anyways it be hilarious looking like he might make the decision tomorrow though

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Leonard could get $68.1 million for a one-year deal with one option year; a two-plus-one deal would max out at about $106 million.

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https://www.nba.com/article/2019/07/...agency-raptors

Kawhi is gonna end up doing the smart thing and resigning with the Raptors. They have a much better team surrounding him and he would be the king of the city where he’s just another celebrity in LA.

C: Gasol
PF: Siakam, Ibaka
SF: Kawhi, Anunoby
SG: Green(probably resigns with Kawhi)
PG: Lowry, VanVleet

or

C: AD
PF: Kuzma, Dudley
SF: Kawhi, Horton-Tucker
SG: Daniels
PG: Lebron

Looks pretty easy to tell which team is the better team

Dont kid yourself, LA is the better team. He would be joking 2 future HOF'ers, and arguably one the best player of all time. That being said I hope he stays in Toronto.

I still like Utah coming out of the West, but if the Clippers land Kawhi they are the same team as last year with the best player in the league, and while the Jazz have several players better than what the clippers currently have, they won’t have a Kawhi, and that is a major difference maker.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

July 6th is the official date for transactions but yes, the longer this goes on the better. If Kawhi waits until after the 6th then the Lakers lose their max slot. They would only have like 28m to offer him.

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Only if the Lakers don't try and leverage their ''you aren't going to get a better offer for AD'' thing to try and push back the deadline for the rest of us.

If they successfully do that, then our Favors trade falls apart.

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Originally Posted by PeliKhan

Dont kid yourself, LA is the better team. He would be joking 2 future HOF'ers, and arguably one the best player of all time. That being said I hope he stays in Toronto.

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I don't agree with that at all.

He'd be joining 2 future HOF'ers, sure, but one of them is AD. As we've seen, AD being on your team is absolutely no guarantee of playoff runs or playoff success, especially with a bad surrounding roster. And Lebron just missed the playoffs with a better, deeper team than they'll have this year, and will turn 35 in December.

We just saw what happens when you roll out the team with star power with no depth against a team which has fewer stars but just has more depth and quality minutes-getters. It was the 2019 NBA finals. The deep team that lacked star power absolutely flattened the team with three all-stars/HOF'ers but no depth.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Only if the Lakers don't try and leverage their ''you aren't going to get a better offer for AD'' thing to try and push back the deadline for the rest of us.

If they successfully do that, then our Favors trade falls apart.

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Why does the Derrick Favors trade fall through?

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Originally Posted by AUSSIE_PELICAN

Why does the Derrick Favors trade fall through?

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We don't have the cap to just absorb Favors unless the LA trade goes first, because moving Solomon Hill to Atlanta is part of the Lakers deal and we need Hills cash to take Favors in.

Equally, Favors' contract becomes guaranteed on the 6th, meaning that Utah would not have the space to sign Bogdanovic anymore either.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

We don't have the cap to just absorb Favors unless the LA trade goes first, because moving Solomon Hill to Atlanta is part of the Lakers deal and we need Hills cash to take Favors in.

Equally, Favors' contract becomes guaranteed on the 6th, meaning that Utah would not have the space to sign Bogdanovic anymore either.

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I'm pretty sure Favors can extend that guaranteed date of the 6th. Other players have done it. I wouldn't stress.

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Originally Posted by AUSSIE_PELICAN

I'm pretty sure Favors can extend that guaranteed date of the 6th. Other players have done it. I wouldn't stress.

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Why would he? And even if he did, that would only help the Utah aspect of the trade: we still wouldn't be able to take him until Solomon Hill was officially off the books, and given that Atlanta has already moved him to Memphis for Parsons, their off-season would be further delayed, and also since Memphis is taking in Iguodala, it would impact their off-season too.

If LA really tried to push for this, it would completely alienate the executives of basically half a dozen different teams, as well as tick off a lot of agents (Bogdanovic being forced to wait to sign his guaranteed money contract so that... Los Angeles can get Kawhi Leonard? What?).

This isn't me ''stressing''. If I had any belief the Lakers could actually persuade Utah, Memphis, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Golden State to ALL halt their off-season plans to help LA, then sure, I'd be stressing. But I don't think that's going to even come close to happening.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Only if the Lakers don't try and leverage their ''you aren't going to get a better offer for AD'' thing to try and push back the deadline for the rest of us.

If they successfully do that, then our Favors trade falls apart.

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Lol. We don't live in Laker fantasy land.

The Davis trade has repercussions for multiple teams at this point. if the lakers try to pull a fast one, no one will ever trade with them again

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

Lol. We don't live in Laker fantasy land.

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I know. I was just giving an example of a reason that we WOULDN'T accept that push back. Why? Because if we did, then X bad thing would happen. Since we don't have to accept that pushback, there's no reason for us to do it.

Edit: I can see LA trying it though. Just can't imagine all other involved teams owuld allow it.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I know. I was just giving an example of a reason that we WOULDN'T accept that push back. Why? Because if we did, then X bad thing would happen. Since we don't have to accept that pushback, there's no reason for us to do it.

Edit: I can see LA trying it though. Just can't imagine all other involved teams owuld allow it.

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No. They wouldn't even attempt it. There's too many teams involved. That would be a certain way for Pelinka to get black balled.

Are they going to risk losing AD too? Because if they try and play that game then Griff should burn the whole world down and refuse to trade AD to them. Let them have their fun with no team around Lebron.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

If I had any belief the Lakers could actually persuade Utah, Memphis, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Golden State to ALL halt their off-season plans to help LA, then sure, I'd be stressing. But I don't think that's going to even come close to happening.

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Especially since all of these except for GSW are small market teams. I would think they're going to be less likely to want to give LA what it wants BECAUSE of who they are, than maybe another major market team like a Chicago, NYK, BKN or Houston.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

No. They wouldn't even attempt it. There's too many teams involved. That would be a certain way for Pelinka to get black balled.

Are they going to risk losing AD too? Because if they try and play that game then Griff should burn the whole world down and refuse to trade AD to them. Let them have their fun with no team around Lebron.

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You're implying that Pelinka wouldn't try and do something because it would be stupid for him to do so. Since when has something being absurd, stupid, pointless, and counter-productive ever stopped Pelinka from doing it?

I agree that they also have a lot to lose, which is why I don't imagine they'd go too hard after it, but you ahve to understand that while yes, they're screwed if we completely revoke the AD trade, they're also kinda screwed if Kawhi doesn't make his decision today. Cause they lose their max slot if he doesn't, and there's no way they're getting him to take a pay cut, and with so few players left on the market what choice do they have? We've been talking about how they're questionable as a playoff team with AD/Lebron/Kawhi + G Leaguers, what are they going to do with just Lebron/AD + G Leaguers, with Kawhi in a Clippers uniform?

Again, I don't think it will actually end up making a difference. I'm pretty sure that if Pelinka picks up the phone to ask Griff to delay the trade, Griff just says no and hangs up, and any attempt for Pelinka to change that will not help him further. But I just wouldn't be surprised if we got a leak in a week or two saying that Pelinka did make that call, or at least seriously contemplate it.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

You're implying that Pelinka wouldn't try and do something because it would be stupid for him to do so. Since when has something being absurd, stupid, pointless, and counter-productive ever stopped Pelinka from doing it?

I agree that they also have a lot to lose, which is why I don't imagine they'd go too hard after it, but you ahve to understand that while yes, they're screwed if we completely revoke the AD trade, they're also kinda screwed if Kawhi doesn't make his decision today. Cause they lose their max slot if he doesn't, and there's no way they're getting him to take a pay cut, and with so few players left on the market what choice do they have? We've been talking about how they're questionable as a playoff team with AD/Lebron/Kawhi + G Leaguers, what are they going to do with just Lebron/AD + G Leaguers, with Kawhi in a Clippers uniform?

Again, I don't think it will actually end up making a difference. I'm pretty sure that if Pelinka picks up the phone to ask Griff to delay the trade, Griff just says no and hangs up, and any attempt for Pelinka to change that will not help him further. But I just wouldn't be surprised if we got a leak in a week or two saying that Pelinka did make that call, or at least seriously contemplate it.

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You don't risk losing a sure thing for the chance of possibly getting a player. It just won't happen. He won't go back on Griff and try and push the date. Not when it's been agreed upon this long and other deals have been made with the assurance that the trade was going through on the 6th.

If Kawhi doesn't make a decision today then that's the Lakers answer. Kawhi knows all this information. If he is serious about the Lakers then he will make the call today.

The Lakers / Pels trade will 100% happen on the 6th and Pelinka won't even be stupid enough to ask for a date push back.

The real question should be, if Kawhi doesn't make a decision today do the Lakers still do the Washington trade. I could actually see them having a contengency with the Wizards that if they strike out on a big free agent then they can back out of the trade. Even that though might be low odds.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

You don't risk losing a sure thing for the chance of possibly getting a player. It just won't happen. He won't go back on Griff and try and push the date. Not when it's been agreed upon this long and other deals have been made with the assurance that the trade was going through on the 6th.

If Kawhi doesn't make a decision today then that's the Lakers answer. Kawhi knows all this information. If he is serious about the Lakers then he will make the call today.

The Lakers / Pels trade will 100% happen on the 6th and Pelinka won't even be stupid enough to ask for a date push back.

The real question should be, if Kawhi doesn't make a decision today do the Lakers still do the Washington trade. I could actually see them having a contengency with the Wizards that if they strike out on a big free agent then they can back out of the trade. Even that though might be low odds.

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You don't do a lot of things that Pelinka has been more than happy to do when you have a functioning brain. Pelinka doesn't.

But that's fine because even if he does ask, it won't change anything, so we can put that aside. It doesn't really matter.

For me, when it comes to the Wizards deal, I don't think it matters too much. That doesn't impact any of our return to my knowledge and even if LA does get guys like Mo Wagner back, it's not going to make them a much better team. They might actually be better off just signing vet minimums off the trash heap or pulling up G League stars, because even if you're high on Wagner (which I'm not), Isaac Bonga is worth only very slightly more than me in terms of NBA calibre players at this point in time.

Toronto aviation correspondent is reporting here that a Raptors private plane has just landed in San Diego on the 5th of Kawhi … but with NO confirmation of who is or isn't on board https://t.co/baw6xIgA3w

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 5, 2019

Love Kawhi just doing laps of the country instead of making a decision

26 players had 150 unguarded catch-and-shoot jumpers or more last season.

Kyle Kuzma was 26th in FG% among those players.

He was 90th out of 92 minimum 100.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) July 5, 2019

Lakers better be praying they get Kawhi. If they don't, this is their third best player.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

26 players had 150 unguarded catch-and-shoot jumpers or more last season.

Kyle Kuzma was 26th in FG% among those players.

He was 90th out of 92 minimum 100.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) July 5, 2019

Lakers better be praying they get Kawhi. If they don't, this is their third best player.

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3rd Best is such mislead word. More like 5th worst.

Okay so, according to Bobby Marks, these are the best free agents left. I haven't included restricted free agents like Oubre, who we know will have their offers matched (that's why Phoenix cleared up space).

1) Kawhi Leonard
2) Demarcus Cousins
3) Danny Green
4) Marcus Morris
5) Delon Wright
6) JaMychal Green
7) Trey Lyles
8) Carmelo Anthony
9) Rajon Rondo
10) Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
11) Iman Shumpert
12) KCP
13) Javale McGee
14) Kenneth Faried
15) Nene
16) Joakim Noah

So, assuming they miss out on Kawhi Leonard, the best team I can assemble for LA out of those guys and what they already have is this:

PG: Rondo/Wright
SG: KCP/Shumpert
SF: Lebron/Kuzma
PF: AD/Morris/JaMychal
C: Boogie/McGee

...That's not a confident playoff team in the West. It could make it, depending on chemistry and other teams and stuff, but it's not a lock at all. That is a team of 11 men, and only 3 of them shot better than league average from 3 last season. There's the potential there for a solid defensive team, but it would require Lebron to commit on that end of the floor, which he wouldn't. There are no playmakers for others off the bench. It's a bad team.

When the Lakers lose max space because the trade goes in tomorrow >>> https://t.co/q7RynVRifZ

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) July 5, 2019

it make sense for kawhi to sign a long deal because only he knows what his health is.....secure that long term contract because he know his body is breaking down i guess...

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

When the Lakers lose max space because the trade goes in tomorrow >>> https://t.co/q7RynVRifZ

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) July 5, 2019

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So at midnight tonight all they can give an unsigned Kawhi is 28 mil right?

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Originally Posted by Silver Nail

So at midnight tonight all they can give an unsigned Kawhi is 28 mil right?

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I think its 12pm noon EDT. Lakers fans on Twitter are rationalizing everything now. "Does it have to be done by noon? Doesn't Kawhi have until 11:59pm on the 6th? Can't the Lakers just wait? Pels won't pull out, it would look bad for them. Just wait it out. etc, etc."

Its too funny.