2018 NBA Season

[scratchswinger]

John Collins is officially too good for the Hawks to be bad.

 

I don't really buy that he wouldn't resign in Boston. LeBron runs Klutch everyone knows that, the omission of Boston on the list is a power play to get him to the Lakers by LeBron.

 

It changes nothing to say that other than give the Lakers more leverage. After the deadline he can just say Boston is ok. They can't make an offer now anyway. It's borderline comical how transparent it is

 

That being said, the Lakers offer is still good

 

Does LeBron run ADs father as well? Their has to be something to him not wanting to play in Boston.

[MtlJeff]

John Collins is officially too good for the Hawks to be bad.

 

I don't really buy that he wouldn't resign in Boston. LeBron runs Klutch everyone knows that, the omission of Boston on the list is a power play to get him to the Lakers by LeBron.

 

It changes nothing to say that other than give the Lakers more leverage. After the deadline he can just say Boston is ok. They can't make an offer now anyway. It's borderline comical how transparent it is

 

That being said, the Lakers offer is still good

 

Does LeBron run ADs father as well? Their has to be something to him not wanting to play in Boston.

 

If he gets traded ASAP he gets a postseason run this season, which is in his interest (and who would blame him). If the bluff doesn't work, he can just say after the deadline "actually Boston is ok"

 

It costs him nothing, Boston would still trade for him. There's literally no downside. Upside is a postseason run this year.

 

I just can't believe that he wouldn't sign in Boston with their assets. As you even said, the teams on the "list" all don't have the assets to trade for him, except one

 

There was no Philly, Toronto, Houston , Boston etc on the list, you don't find that weird?

 

[scratchswinger]

I think he wants to play for the Lakers, he likely trusts Magic to build a team, likes the market, wants to play with LeBron, sees the value in playing for a storied franchise, etc.... I could be wrong but maybe he truly doesn’t want to live in Boston.

 

Or Philly or Houston, no offense to those places but they aren’t LA.

[MtlJeff]

I totally get a 25yr old wanting to live in LA, and i'm not a hater or anything, if he ends up there i'll be happy to watch him with Lebron. I'm just excited for anyone to give the Warriors a run.

 

I just think the story is complete utter BS that's all. I've been to Milwaukee multiple times haha, i get that Giannis is there but that is definitely not LA.

 

And Philadelphia is a nice city! He'd go to Milwaukee but not Philly, where there is an MVP candidate and another top 15 player? And it just so happens that the prime trade piece you'd need to get him is another klutch sports client who probably doesn't want to be in New Orleans where there are only like a couple of media dudes covering the team.

 

I'm just not buying it. I buy that he'd love to be in LA. But i just think the Boston omission is a tactic because it loses them nothing at the moment until they know Kyrie's situation anyway

[MtlJeff]

I just think the convo probably went like this: "let us try to get you to LA before the deadline....after that we can re-evaluate but the other top destinations probably won't trade for you now anyway so you lose nothing"

 

The list of teams is just for the league office to make the tampering less obvious. He might as well have listed the Raptors 905 G-league team

 

The teams provided are not threats. Clippers and Bucks don't have the assets, Knicks can't know if they do until the draft order is revealed. So Davis looks like a good guy with a generous list of teams, and the Lakers get to try to bully the Pelicans into a deal before the deadline when Boston isn't a player. Lebron (who runs Klutch) obviously knows Boston has assets galore, maybe even more than LA. Boston is definitely sweating, but the Lakers best chance of getting Davis is before the deadline so they have to force the issue

[raynorfan1]

Or Philly or Houston, no offense to those places but they aren't LA.

 

It's true. In Boston we win Championships.

 

Too soon?

[MtlJeff]

I wanted the Rams to win yesterday LOL....i was a huge fan of the Kurt Warner teams back in St-Louis. Always liked the Rams.

 

I like LA folk too.

 

I liked Boston folk until Ben Affleck made 76 straight movies about how you couldn't understand brotherhood unless you were from southie

[raynorfan1]

I liked Boston folk until Ben Affleck made 76 straight movies about how you couldn't understand brotherhood unless you were from southie

 

This annoys us too...at least they didn't spend your tax dollars making them...

 

(though I suppose a good chunk of them were filmed in Toronto)

[MtlJeff]

I liked Boston folk until Ben Affleck made 76 straight movies about how you couldn't understand brotherhood unless you were from southie

 

This annoys us too...at least they didn't spend your tax dollars making them...

 

We spent all of ours on "death race" with Jason Statham I believe

 

And 300 with Gerard Butler.

 

I have friends who worked on both movies. Montreal is an awesome place to film if you just gotta throw a blue screen up!

 

[scratchswinger]

Kuz, Ball, Ingram, Rondo, Beasley, 4 firsts, 2 seconds. Just insane and I think the Lakers are going to take it. Hopefully they can keep Ball or Ingram and get some protections on the picks.

[pinhigh27]

4 firsts?

[pinhigh27]

Starting to sound like herschel walker trade. I'll trade prime LeBron for 4 firsts, 2 seconds and all those players.

[scratchswinger]

With decisions like this their is no wonder why Demps could never build a team around Davis.

[MtlJeff]

Any offer the Lakers make now will still be available in the summer. Why not ask for the farm?

[pinhigh27]

Meh 2 firsts and 3 kids is the farm as far as I'm concerned. Or you can have the guy sit on your bench and black cloud around your team.

[MtlJeff]

This is a lost season regardless, they can't integrate 2-3 new players into their system in 20-30 games and achieve anything anyway. It's a pretty good tactic I think, the Pelicans have some leverage too, I mean the Lakers are also desperate. LeBron is not young, and there is competition...they HAVE to get him and everyone knows that. Getting past the trade deadline makes that less likely so why not ask for the entire team and see if you can get it. If they don't they'll get the same offer this summer.

 

What happens with Kyrie and who gets the #1 pick will drastically change the landscape. The Lakers have to be terrified of this

[F171615]

Meh 2 firsts and 3 kids is the farm as far as I'm concerned. Or you can have the guy sit on your bench and black cloud around your team.

 

That's the farm from a Laker perspective. The thing is Boston has a much better farm - it's not even close.

[scratchswinger]

This is a lost season regardless, they can't integrate 2-3 new players into their system in 20-30 games and achieve anything anyway. It's a pretty good tactic I think, the Pelicans have some leverage too, I mean the Lakers are also desperate. LeBron is not young, and there is competition...they HAVE to get him and everyone knows that. Getting past the trade deadline makes that less likely so why not ask for the entire team and see if you can get it. If they don't they'll get the same offer this summer.

 

What happens with Kyrie and who gets the #1 pick will drastically change the landscape. The Lakers have to be terrified of this

 

What happens if Kyrie comes to LA and anyone other than NY gets the first pick? Both are very reasonable and at that point the Lakers have all the leverage. A lot of things can happen between now and the season end that can up the value of AD or at the same time up the value of the assets being offered for him, thus decreasing his value. What happens if Tatum gets hurt? What if Brandon Ingram continues his progression and has a good playoff run? I mean what they are getting offered now is very good and their is no guarantee they get a better offer later.

[F171615]

This is a lost season regardless, they can't integrate 2-3 new players into their system in 20-30 games and achieve anything anyway. It's a pretty good tactic I think, the Pelicans have some leverage too, I mean the Lakers are also desperate. LeBron is not young, and there is competition...they HAVE to get him and everyone knows that. Getting past the trade deadline makes that less likely so why not ask for the entire team and see if you can get it. If they don't they'll get the same offer this summer.

 

What happens with Kyrie and who gets the #1 pick will drastically change the landscape. The Lakers have to be terrified of this

 

What happens if Kyrie comes to LA and anyone other than NY gets the first pick? Both are very reasonable and at that point the Lakers have all the leverage. A lot of things can happen between now and the season end that can up the value of AD or at the same time up the value of the assets being offered for him, thus decreasing his value. What happens if Tatum gets hurt? What if Brandon Ingram continues his progression and has a good playoff run? I mean what they are getting offered now is very good and their is no guarantee they get a better offer later.

 

 

There's never any guarantees, but any reasonable person can see that there's a 99% chance they get a better offer later. That's a risk worth taking.

[MtlJeff]

This is a lost season regardless, they can't integrate 2-3 new players into their system in 20-30 games and achieve anything anyway. It's a pretty good tactic I think, the Pelicans have some leverage too, I mean the Lakers are also desperate. LeBron is not young, and there is competition...they HAVE to get him and everyone knows that. Getting past the trade deadline makes that less likely so why not ask for the entire team and see if you can get it. If they don't they'll get the same offer this summer.

 

What happens with Kyrie and who gets the #1 pick will drastically change the landscape. The Lakers have to be terrified of this

 

What happens if Kyrie comes to LA and anyone other than NY gets the first pick? Both are very reasonable and at that point the Lakers have all the leverage. A lot of things can happen between now and the season end that can up the value of AD or at the same time up the value of the assets being offered for him, thus decreasing his value. What happens if Tatum gets hurt? What if Brandon Ingram continues his progression and has a good playoff run? I mean what they are getting offered now is very good and their is no guarantee they get a better offer later.

 

Sure a lot can happen, nothing is ever 100%. But if you look at the most likely outcomes , I'm sure if you ran this through some kind of simulation, the results would be that the best trade is likely this summer.

 

At that point the Pelicans still have the opportunity to play hardball again too, and refuse to trade him as they have threatened, and just start hoarding cap space and draft picks like the nets did

 

If the Pelicans refuse to trade him, the Lakers can't get him until LeBron is 35.

 

They have pointed this out , so are aware of it, obviously

[MtlJeff]

BTW the Raptors trying to trade Lowry today is just awful.

 

Basically would be trading the two guys who made you relevant for the first time in years for a bunch of mercenaries....ughhh

 

There's still some value in having a team you can really get behind isn't there?

 

Like if Toronto had won with Conley, gasol and Leonard....it's like who cares, they aren't the Raptors

[scratchswinger]

This is a lost season regardless, they can't integrate 2-3 new players into their system in 20-30 games and achieve anything anyway. It's a pretty good tactic I think, the Pelicans have some leverage too, I mean the Lakers are also desperate. LeBron is not young, and there is competition...they HAVE to get him and everyone knows that. Getting past the trade deadline makes that less likely so why not ask for the entire team and see if you can get it. If they don't they'll get the same offer this summer.

 

What happens with Kyrie and who gets the #1 pick will drastically change the landscape. The Lakers have to be terrified of this

 

What happens if Kyrie comes to LA and anyone other than NY gets the first pick? Both are very reasonable and at that point the Lakers have all the leverage. A lot of things can happen between now and the season end that can up the value of AD or at the same time up the value of the assets being offered for him, thus decreasing his value. What happens if Tatum gets hurt? What if Brandon Ingram continues his progression and has a good playoff run? I mean what they are getting offered now is very good and their is no guarantee they get a better offer later.

 

 

There's never any guarantees, but any reasonable person can see that there's a 99% chance they get a better offer later. That's a risk worth taking.

 

Do you really think the Celtics are going to offer more? If so what is that offer?

[MtlJeff]

The Celtics have better pics to offer, besides Tatum who people like, they have a Memphis pick and another one. I think unprotected too

 

They have a draft pick from every team in the league somehow. I think they have one from the Carolina Panthers in the NFL and New Delhi cricket team too.

 

No one really knows how many picks they have

[scratchswinger]

It’s basically three mid round picks unless they get really lucky with Memphis.

 

From the reports I read the Celtics haven’t even said Tatum would be included. Even if Tatum is included what else would Boston offer? Do you think they give up all three of those picks, Tatum and Brown? Isn’t that what it would take to top the Lakers offer? Let’s say the Lakers truly walk away, why would Boston even offer that?

 

This could get ugly, I could see Davis planting his feet in the ground and making it very well known that he won’t sign with Boston. Simply out of spite and to out petty the Pelicans.

 

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2017/06/20/celtics-future-draft-picks-list

[MtlJeff]

But that probably wouldnt hurt the Pelicans, they'd most likely still have the Lakers offer. Or LA would risk a full other season where a million things could happen. You're a fan of the Lakers, if you could make the same trade in July that's being offered now (even if Davis says he despises Boston) wouldn't you still do it?

 

Do you want to go another full season hoping nothing happens in the league to change his mind? Teams like NY, Miami etc might all be able to shake up cap space

 

The Pelicans aren't being bitter this is just the strategy that likely favors them. LA would most likely offer in July anything they are now regardless of what Davis says. He's a human who might change his mind over a full year like Paul George did

[MtlJeff]

Remember at this point in Kevin Durant's decision making process, the two teams were the Thunder and Wizards

[scratchswinger]

But that probably wouldnt hurt the Pelicans, they'd most likely still have the Lakers offer. Or LA would risk a full other season where a million things could happen. You're a fan of the Lakers, if you could make the same trade in July that's being offered now (even if Davis says he despises Boston) wouldn't you still do it?

 

Do you want to go another full season hoping nothing happens in the league to change his mind? Teams like NY, Miami etc might all be able to shake up cap space

 

The Pelicans aren't being bitter this is just the strategy that likely favors them. LA would most likely offer in July anything they are now regardless of what Davis says. He's a human who might change his mind over a full year like Paul George did

 

They are willing to overpay now so they can get him now. Look at what SA got for Kawhi, it’s not anything near what LAL offered. This idea that the Lakers will overpay in July humors me.

[MtlJeff]

Zach Lowe said that the San Antonio deal with Leonard was simply that they refused to trade him to the Lakers under any circumstances (this apparently came out afterwards). That was basically out of spite.

 

Overpay is a relative term. Maybe LA gets him at the deadline or maybe not. But if you don't trade for him in July and new Orleans is serious about playing hardball, it does two things:

 

1) the Lakers have to hope no other situations arise in the league that change his mind in 2019/2020

2) the Lakers can't take on any new contracts that would prohibit them from signing Davis in summer 2020, and that hurts their flexibility a bit

 

It's not an overpay necessarily to offer the same thing in July

 

 

[pinhigh27]

Tatum brown and 3 firsts is so much value lol. I'll trade ad for that all day. Tatum probably has top 20 player value in whole league I feel like. Plus 3 mid 1sts? I'd say pack your bags ad

[scratchswinger]

Zach Lowe said that the San Antonio deal with Leonard was simply that they refused to trade him to the Lakers under any circumstances (this apparently came out afterwards). That was basically out of spite.

 

Overpay is a relative term. Maybe LA gets him at the deadline or maybe not. But if you don't trade for him in July and new Orleans is serious about playing hardball, it does two things:

 

1) the Lakers have to hope no other situations arise in the league that change his mind in 2019/2020

2) the Lakers can't take on any new contracts that would prohibit them from signing Davis in summer 2020, and that hurts their flexibility a bit

 

It's not an overpay necessarily to offer the same thing in July

 

New Orleans has the same spite and is being petty. They are getting 4 starters all on rookie contracts and big upside and 2 first round picks. I just have a hard time seeing a better offer coming.