Windy: Sessions traded to LA

[KI4MVP]

You raise very solid points and argue your case well, but i wouldn't count on it. It's the Lakers.... They are (almost) always pretty good, adept at rebuilding on the fly and never seem to have a problem swinging a decisive trade or especially attracting FAs.

The chances of that pick being in th etop 10 are minuscule, imho. I know they have recently missed the payoffs, not saying it wouldn't ever happen, just that it's less likely than your well lined-up arguments would suggest.

However, you have to hand it to the FO again... same as with the positioning of the Miami picks. The chances are that those won't be great either, but in both cases, they managed to get the picks that are likely to be as favorable as ever from those teams.

They haven't had much luck attracting free agents lately and only have the MLE to offer them at least until Kobe's contract is off the books. This is why they were so desperate at the trade deadline. Had they just included the picks when they tried to trade for CP3 that they ended up moving at the traded deadline, they may have got that trade to go through. But they got got greedy and tried to save enough to get Howard too.

As for collapsing, Kobe is the key there. He has been injury prone, but plays through injuries that would sideline any other player in the league. This year he's playing a condensed season, presumably another extended playoff run, another trip to the olympics and then right back at it with another full season next year where he'll be 34. Eventually his game will start to decline and/or he'll miss some games with an injury he can't play through. In the west it doesn't take many extra losses to fall from a top playoff seed to a low playoff seed, thus drop from a high 20s pick to a low 20s/high teens pick. And not many more from there to fall out of the playoffs all together, thus 14 or better. ANd what do the lakers do when Sessions opts out and looks for more money? Are they going to pay him $9 million+, which really costs them $18 million+? They traded away both of their picks, so they can't improve there. I could easily see the lakers 2013 pick being considerably better than the heat 2013 pick.

 

[wuck]

ANd what do the lakers do when Sessions opts out and looks for more money? Are they going to pay him $9 million+, which really costs them $18 million+?

Wait a second. Weren't you and I arguing a month ago about whether or not Sessions would opt out of his contract with the Cavaliers (because the market would be too soft and he wouldn't make that much more)? Now you have him opting out from the Lakers and making 9M/year? :chuckles:

I agree with the argument that the Lakers aren't guaranteed to have one of the top records next year.

 

[Wine and Gold]

i agree on you with 99% of things W&G, but youre speculating that this pick might be a very good player, maybe it does but chances are against that.

But more to the point the cavs not only gave up sessions, but took on cash, for a low pick. to call this a win for the cavs is a huge stretch. they cavs gave up the best player (by far) in this trade, and they took on a medium sized contract all for a first rounder in the 20s. Now maybe this pick allows the cavs to move up, or ends up becoming an all star, but its impossible to argue against the fact that you hope a pick at 25 becomes a player as good as sessions.

I'm pretty much being repetitive with others comments here, but .... the value of picks, anywhere in this coming draft, have higher value than picks in most any other draft I've been involved in. Of course, you are absolutely right that no pick in any draft, even the very top picks, come with any guarantees of success. But, just as you don't presume any absolutes of success or failure ..as a team executive looking to build a team you have to always try and maximize the value of the assets on hand. We had a coveted asset in Ramon Sessions, but one that came with a pretty solid guarantee that he wasn't going to sign the player option for next year and was going to be gone for nothing at season's end. We knew that, and other teams knew that fact. We are not in a situation as a franchise right now to let an asset like that leave our team and get nothing for it. We need assets on which to build this team into the future. Sometimes, a trade can be a win/win situation for both teams, and in this particular case, both teams had differing priorities and both succeeded in getting what they needed to fulfill those needs. We want and need as much versatility and flexibility as possible for this coming draft where multiple targets will be available throughout not just the first round, but second as well. I was talking to a GM and a few other guys that are involved with player personnel, in terms of being involved with the scouting and evaluations of this coming draft class. It's pretty much a given from year to year that a certain percentage of hits and misses exist from draft to draft and the quality of a draft is ultimately determined by how many, and what percentage of players after four years have found their way onto NBA rosters, and are valued rotational players. Over lunch we proposed a question of, after four years, how many of the players selected in the second round of this coming draft will have solid rotational minutes with teams in the league. We all came in with figures significantly higher than any draft any of us have ever recalled in history. Actually not even close. This draft has the potential to be very very significant for many teams futures and we need to be, as an franchise, in the best position to capitalize as much as we possibly can. That means giving us the flexibility to go after and target players that maximize value and limit risk as much as possible. Hopefully we can come away from this draft with one solid future starter of star quality, and at the very least a solid role play, if not more. Now, the wild card in this trade is what could possibly become of the Laker's 1st in next year's draft. It likely won't be a significant bump up, but any is a positive ...but, looking at the coaching issues on that team, and the risk factors involved with key players health and durability. That team is as fragile as any top team in the league of possible implosion. A chance does exist that that pick could result into something with the highest side of what we got from the pick we got for Baron Davis. Not expecting it, but it offers that level of hope. Anytime you can get something like that as a toss in in a trade it's a worthy risk. Not sure if that trade cntingency is a movable asset in trade, but ...I would guess just the prospective upside value of that option has some very real value. But, I really don't think it does have any movability because so much is based on the teams involved projected success. But, I love that contingency that we got in this trade very very much. One weird aspect is it actually has an evil side effect of making you hope and wish for poor health and injury on other individuals.

 

[Kouki]

I'll forgive you for that massive wall of text, W&G, since it was a quality post. :chuckles:

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

I'm not sure how anyone can be against the Sessions deal...

Right now the only goal Grant has is maximize his assets to stockpile talent.

The only long-term pieces that are in place are Kyrie/Gee/TT/AV, and you might be able to just pencil in Boobie as our fourth guard for a long time. Sessions is not a long-term asset, so you have to get the most value you can for him. From the rumors, this was the best deal Grant could have made. Calling this anything less than successful is a joke.

Furthermore, our cap room next year (the last year of Walton's deal) is of little to no value to us. We are not in the right place to blow money on overpaid free agents. We need to continue adding young assets. Hell, Luke's expiring might be able to help us secure another young asset next year.

 

[supermario21]

Luke is apparently enthusiastic about joining the Cavs.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Luke Walton active at Cavs practice today, said no back issues, ready to play. Said he and Lakers coach Mike Brown "weren't on same page."</p>&mdash; Sam The Bullshit Whisperer (@SamAmicoFSO) <a href="https://twitter.com/SamAmicoFSO/status/181089250773712897" data-datetime="2012-03-17T18:46:56+00:00">March 17, 2012</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Walton said he was surprised by trade. "First thing I did was get on the laptop &amp; see if we can make the playoffs. We’re only 2 games out."</p>&mdash; Sam The Bullshit Whisperer (@SamAmicoFSO) <a href="https://twitter.com/SamAmicoFSO/status/181089573336657922" data-datetime="2012-03-17T18:48:13+00:00">March 17, 2012</a></blockquote>
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Good to see.

 

[Kouki]

Hasn't played meaningful minutes in five years, is 32 years old in a few weeks, and has chronic injuries.

That said, he should play over Assfingers.

 

[KI4MVP]

I like Walton's attitude, lets see if that translates to the court. Like I said earlier, we got a pick upgrade for taking walton, maybe we can have him do enough to get something of value for him next year.

 

[Zone]

So a lot people hammerred CG for not being able to take a dead corpse along with pick(s) for the TPE. Now we're complaining about him taking on a bad contract for a pick

 

[Adam]

The one thing walton does well is pass the ball, that might make him rare within the current cavs squad, and a good fit at the high post for the offense. Shame he cant really do anything else. Anyone going on sunday willing to put on the eyeliner and make a sign for him?

 

[Pavlovic3Ball]

Nobody does... it's just a little bonus like that 2.8% chance we had to win the lottery with the Clipper's pick. Keep pulling the handle, and eventually you win the jackpot.

That is a great way of putting it. Good stuff Jon.

 

[Pavlovic3Ball]

I like Walton's attitude, lets see if that translates to the court. Like I said earlier, we got a pick upgrade for taking walton, maybe we can have him do enough to get something of value for him next year.

I wouldn't count on that, but I agree about everything else. Cleveland gets a bad rap for no one wanting to be here, but you really don't hear the players complain about it. They seem like they enjoy their time here for the most part. Unless its the Browns of course.

 

[FlatulenciaRoar]

NBA 2012 trade deadline: winners and losers

By Marc J. Spears, Yahoo! Sports

What strikes me about this article is that the Cavs don't even get mentioned except as Session's old team. Not one word about the Cavs end of the trade.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised given it's ESPN, but among the 10 winner/loser teams Orlando got 3 short paragraphs and they didn't even make a trade!

Maybe the Cavs weren't winners orlosers with the trade and so didn't qualify for the article.

 

[Triumph36]

Luke is apparently enthusiastic about joining the Cavs.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Luke Walton active at Cavs practice today, said no back issues, ready to play. Said he and Lakers coach Mike Brown "weren't on same page."</p>&mdash; Sam The Bullshit Whisperer (@SamAmicoFSO) <a href="https://twitter.com/SamAmicoFSO/status/181089250773712897" data-datetime="2012-03-17T18:46:56+00:00">March 17, 2012</a></blockquote>
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Mike Brown isn't a good coach but Walton and the HC haven't "been on the same page" in years if that's his excuse for being cemented to the bench.

Hasn't played meaningful minutes in five years, is 32 years old in a few weeks, and has chronic injuries.

That said, he should play over Assfingers.

his age really surprised me for some reason. i know he's been around awhile but 32 already? yikes.

 

[Man Called X]

FUCKING LUKE!!!!!

Finally, I can attend a game and scream LUUUUUKE and not look like a fucking crazy man.

Luke is a champion, and a beautiful soul. HE WAS DESTINED TO WIN RINGS. He's already got 2, he's got at least 2 more in him.