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It's about balance. Clearly if including Hill greatly reduces your return on AD, or if you don't have any plans to use that space then don't trade him.
But if you are using the freed cap space or it doesn't really change your offers then you obviously include him.
Solo is a $13 million filler. That's over 10% of the cap that doesn't get minutes. That's not filler. It's a light burden that teams wanted to be compensated to take. Lakers not taking him for free, or Celtics, Washington. Maybe Chicago. He's gonna cost something.Originally Posted by Mythrol
That doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't make a move unless we actually got a Max level FA in our hand.
We don't have the best player relations at the moment. So, don't be surprised that FA isn't so hot.
You say that, and I understand why, but I actually think there's at least a few players in the league who are very much encouraged by our new management.
Good examples would be Kendrick Perkins and Richard Jefferson (I know they're both retired now, but they both wax lyrical about their love for Griff), and Jared Dudley, who hasn't stopped praising NOLA on Twitter since we got Griff.
I think one of the issues we've always had (good vets would never sign here for cheap) might be on the way out due to the new FO.
Basketball.
The Lavine 3 team trade has been debunked. I wasn't talk about exchaning salary. I was talking about sending out salary to clear cap space.
I got a feeling the perception will be changing this coming year.
oh that trade is a hoax ....well then.
It takes more than cleaning out the front office around before free agents buy into the organization. You have to show them. It takes time and we may get lucky on free agent to gamble on us in good faith. . The team being not very attractive at the moment is another thing. You have to get some one in the prime of their career to really buy into NOLA with a lot of other precieved issues like it being called a "Football town", small market lifestyle, and just low marketing out of here.
We can get a some decent hauls in FA, but we aren't going to be in the race for a Leonard, KD, Klay, Butler, and etc. 2nd level stars. We got a chance, but I think we need to see how the AD haul turns out. I would think in our current state. FA aren't coming down to the big easy.
Hearing from an old source that Zion isn’t nearly as fond of RJ Barrett as is represented in the media. Am told the Pelicans are aware of this.
— Joe Gerrity (@GerrityJoe) June 15, 2019
Big name free agents, sure, but how many teams ARE in the running for big name free agents?
Aside from Lebron, who went there for Hollywood related reasons, LA hasn't signed a big name free agent in their prime since 1996. Who goes to Boston in free agency? Kyrie got there by trade. If AD ends up there, it will be by trade. Hayward? I guess, but he's not on this tier.
Nobody goes to Utah, Denver, New York, the Clippers, Sacramento, Memphis, Dallas, etc. The majority of the league can't get big name free agents to sign there. They get stars either through signing or trading, 9 times out of 10. Obviously these could change this summer, but our problem isn't that we haven't been able to lure stars. I mean, sure it would be nice if we could, but almost nowhere can.
Our problem is that we can't even get roleplayers without overpaying drastically. If that changes and we can get some good, solid deals, then our team will become better quickly even without adding any stars.
Zion: ''Oh hey RJ, great playing with you at Duke, love you man, maybe we'll even play together in the NBA!''
*five minutes later*
Zion: *furiously calling Griff on the phone* ''If you get RJ I swear to god I'll retire before playing even a single game. I hate that guy.''
I kind of have that feeling when Knicks trade really fell off a cliff.Zion: ''Oh hey RJ, great playing with you at Duke, love you man, maybe we'll even play together in the NBA!''
*five minutes later*
Zion: *furiously calling Griff on the phone* ''If you get RJ I swear to god I'll retire before playing even a single game. I hate that guy.''
The media was all for it too. Lol
I don't really blame him though. Watching him play with RJ at Duke was so frustrating, because as much as RJ does have the potential to be a very very good player, you could see that he's not used to being the second man, and he wanted his shots, his plays, etc. There's some value in that, but Zion's ability eclipses RJ's by such a huge amount that seeing Zion limited by having to share with RJ was annoying.
It's why I kind of feel pairing Zion with a Garland is simply the better draft duo in this draft at 1& 4 vs. 1 & 3. I heard leaks of Laker picking Garland at 4th BTW.. Drop dimes, shoot threes, and give Zion some room to freaking breathe. I'm not initially high on Garland small sample size, but I've grown on to his potential. It makes sense from a Gentry pick, too.
Yeah i watched some of Duke vs Gonzaga the other night and RJ was trying too hard and wasn’t even looking to pass. Yeah he got to the line but he was just charging the paint at Brandon Clarke who blocked him several times. I mean he also blocked Zion but at least Zion was passing.
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Zion as The Rock? RJ as Statham?
— ESPN (@espn) June 15, 2019
Time to go behind the scenes with @HobbsAndShaw for Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett’s first commercial ever. pic.twitter.com/b7fogJ37dF
In case you were wondering (you weren't, I know) this is why I detest Barrett as a prospect
FWIW - the Pels are tied with POR/OKC/DAL/SAS/UTA for the 6 best odds in the West to win the NBA championship. It’ll be interesting after free agency when O/U’s get posted, but I think Vegas is expecting the Pels to be competitive next year.
Kuzma and Ingram have odds posted on whether or not they’ll be Lakers. The odds favor both being traded.
I don't really take Gentry into account too much because, in a perfect world, Gentry isn't our coach past next season. Tailoring the AD trade to fit a mediocre coach when he shouldn't be in your long term plans is a weird idea.
Garland is obviously still a small sample size, like you said, but he actually presents mixed issues. On one hand, yeah, he does project well as a shooter, and that spacing would be valuable if he's able to make the transition to the NBA. His form is a bit suspect, but his touch is good enough that it will probably work out.
The problem is that Garland isn't a particularly good passer. He has acceptable vision, but his feel isn't great, and he's extremely turnover prone. He averaged 2.6 assists per game, and 3.0 turnovers in college. Of course, that could just be a product of the small sample, sure, but it's not that encouraging, and given that his handle isn't particularly impressive for a lead guard either there's a lot to worry about there.
It's part of why I'm so hesitant to take Garland highly. Yeah, the shot will probably work out, but literally every other part of his game, from passing to handling to defending to rebounding, isn't there. It could develop, sure, but it also could easily not, and the small sample size didn't give him chance to show many flashes of that potential.
RJ has a very limited set of moves in the paint. Again, it comes from him being used to being the biggest, strongest, and fastest guy on the court for most of his life. In college he was coming up against players his sort of size more often, or bigger, and he clearly had trouble dealing with it for the majority of the season. Sometimes he would just run into traffic and, lacking the passing feel to escape it, he'd resort to one of his 4 or 5 only moves and throw up a wild one. They went in a fair amount of the time but it wasn't a masterclass of finesse or shot-creation. When matched up against someone like Clarke, who is a very smart defender with crazy vertical bounce, RJ was always destined to have trouble.
I probably prefer Culver to him, tbh. Probably a lower ceiling but higher floor, and he seems like the smarter player.
Garland has a promise at 4.
It may just be that if the Lakers keep the pick they'll take him, but it could also be that Griff has agreed to take him at 4 if the Pelicans acquire and keep the pick.
If Rich Paul were smart he would call out the Lakers for offering us weak offers. Tell Kurt Rambis and Kobe’s friend to quit dragging feet. Magic would have given us what we wanted.
Worth a try
To be faaaaaaaaaaihr. The Lakers can't sweeten their offer too much without a 3rd team helping. Not much more they can do.
Have we assessed the Lakers prospects, today? The day is almost over. We have to get that segment in quick!
BI, Zion, and CJ had a net rating of +3 when on the court together. BI and Zion had a +13.4, BI and CJ had a +13.2, Zion and CJ was just +5.4.
BI and Zion worked. BI and CJ worked. It was CJ and Zion and all three together that didn't work.
...Don't tempt me.
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