So Long Jordan Clarkson ( aka Chucky McJumperson)

[Futuredome]

Repeating as Champ has become more difficult after the officiating scandal in 2010. Only the Lebron era Heat(barely) have done it. That is one factor in the Cavs favor. You can already see it in the Warriors faces, they don't have the drive they have had in the past.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

The Lakers don't really want to rebuild. They want to buy a team.

They can’t seem to actually hit on a top 3 pick so free agency is their only hope. They have done well at finding late firsts and second round talents but have struck out badly on the lottery guys. The one who still MIGHT turn out to be worthy of his draft position is Ingram but he’s still years and years away and who knows if he can ever get there.

Not giving up on Ball yet but He went #2 and as of right now I think it’s clear that at a minimum, Tatum, Markannen, and Mitchell are all gonna be better than him. Smith Jr too, to be honest.

So they’re gonna try to buy their elite talent and surround them with the right supporting cast. Just glad we got two of their best complimentary pieces in Cleveland now

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

The Lakers have been involved in a very quiet war with the NBA this season. As soon as Magic became President of Basketball Operations, he began manipulating every grey area of the collective bargaining agreement around tampering. He uses third parties to communicate with pending free agents in 2018, he uses prominent media to push stories about unhappy locker rooms. The league threw a $50,000 fine at Magic over a compliment towards Gianni's, but in reality that was just the NBA saying, "We know exactly what you are doing, stop."

I'd like nothing more than for Magic to strike out this summer, but that won't happen. He's been in communication with dozens of players under contract elsewhere.

I was thinking about this...exactly who do you think is most likely to end up in L.A. as their two max free agents? I think LBJ is a huge long shot to go there, especially after these deals. The max targets I can see would be Durant, George, Paul, and DAJ. I'd have put Cousins in there, but I can't see magic blowing it all on a guy who just blew out his Achilles.

The only combination I think actually makes them any kind of a threat in the West is Durant and George. Paul is great, but the Lakers lack role players to put around them, and I don't think they want to give up on Ball. Nor do I think many teams would give them much in trade for Lonzo and his dad. And I think DAJ is fools' gold as a max player.

But damn, it's an awfully big risk to build your future around something as dicey as getting both of those guys to commit. Not sure why they just wouldn't have waited to see who they could sign before getting rid of Nance and Clarkson.

 

[Randolphkeys]

I was thinking about this...exactly who do you think is most likely to end up in L.A. as their two max free agents? I think LBJ is a huge long shot to go there, especially after these deals. The max targets I can see would be Durant, George, Paul, and DAJ. I'd have put Cousins in there, but I can't see magic blowing it all on a guy who just blew out his Achilles.

The only combination I think actually makes them any kind of a threat in the West is Durant and George. Paul is great, but the Lakers lack role players to put around them, and I don't think they want to give up on Ball. Nor do I think many teams would give them much in trade for Lonzo and his dad. And I think DAJ is fools' gold as a max player.

But damn, it's an awfully big risk to build your future around something as dicey as getting both of those guys to commit. Not sure why they just wouldn't have waited to see who they could sign before getting rid of Nance and Clarkson.

Oh it's easy to figure out what the Lakers want to say or spin in the media. Ramona Shelburne is Magic's mouthpiece for what he wants to say but might be prohibited to say. He was all in on LBJ and George and he is still hoping the Cavaliers fall apart to make that happen.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Oh it's easy to figure out what the Lakers want to say or spin in the media. Ramona Shelburne is Magic's mouthpiece for what he wants to say but might be prohibited to say. He was all in on LBJ and George and he is still hoping the Cavaliers fall apart to make that happen.

Okay, fine. But am I wrong in thinking that LBJ going to the Lakers this summer is...unlikely? Even if they managed George and LBJ, I don't think that team is good enough. Just very thin on two-way role players, and the Lonzo/Lavar combo....

Anyway, my point is that it doesn't sound like Magic actually has a reliable master plan -- more like a wink and a prayer that players will fall into his lap simply because he's Magic, and his team is the Lakers. And by ditching Clarkson and Nance before actually knowing who was available, it was kind of like he went all-in long before he had to do so.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Anyway, my point is that it doesn't sound like Magic actually has a reliable master plan -- more like a wink and a prayer that players will fall into his lap simply because he's Magic, and his team is the Lakers. And by ditching Clarkson and Nance before actually knowing who was available, it was kind of like he went all-in long before he had to do so.

Hasn't that basically been the Lakers' strategy for years now since Buss died? Open up the cap space and pray someone will take it? Thus far, they haven't really been able to even give money away to anything other than marginal players.

 

[dark2332]

Hasn't that basically been the Lakers' strategy for years now since Buss died? Open up the cap space and pray someone will take it? Thus far, they haven't really been able to even give money away to anything other than marginal players.

Somewhere, Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng are flattered that you even called them marginal.

 

[Futuredome]

3 straight years of having the number 2 overall pick for the Lakers. KAT and Simmons went overall number 1 2/3 years. Maybe the Lakers are unlucky. But taking Ball over Tatum was beyond dumb.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Hasn't that basically been the Lakers' strategy for years now since Buss died? Open up the cap space and pray someone will take it? Thus far, they haven't really been able to even give money away to anything other than marginal players.

Agreed. It's just that losing Clarkson and Nance to get cap space they may not even use on a star player seems like such a needless gamble. It's just surprising to see that level of strategic incompetence.

No wonder Koby jumped on that deal.

 

[Green Lantern]

Oh it's easy to figure out what the Lakers want to say or spin in the media. Ramona Shelburne is Magic's mouthpiece for what he wants to say but might be prohibited to say. He was all in on LBJ and George and he is still hoping the Cavaliers fall apart to make that happen.

KEEP HOPE ALIVE!!!

 

[dark2332]

Agreed. It's just that losing Clarkson and Nance to get cap space they may not even use on a star player seems like such a needless gamble.

No wonder Koby jumped on it.

Yes. They absolutely just gave away two promising 25 year-old players--one with a fairly reasonable but long-term contract--so they can probably pay some random 28 year old this summer a bigger, longer, shittier contract.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Agreed. It's just that losing Clarkson and Nance to get cap space they may not even use on a star player seems like such a needless gamble.

No wonder Koby jumped on it.

Yeah, I think the trade made sense for both teams, as I've said before. We got what we wanted in the form of two useful role-players and the Lakers got cap space and a first rounder that they can either use themselves (their scouting for late picks has been really good for years now) or package in a trade.

I think it's important to remember that, while Nance and Clarkson are both looking really good here, they're ultimately just role-players, and teams should never get too attached to role-players. They're two guys who are much more valuable to the Cavs than the Lakers as well, because we're a good team that needed role-players who were willing to buy in. They weren't helping the Lakers win a ton of games, but they can help us do so because we've already got a winning core in place and just needed non-assholes to fill out the roster.

 

[JMoneyYourHoney]

Anyway, my point is that it doesn't sound like Magic actually has a reliable master plan -- more like a wink and a prayer that players will fall into his lap simply because he's Magic, and his team is the Lakers. And by ditching Clarkson and Nance before actually knowing who was available, it was kind of like he went all-in long before he had to do so.

He'll end up paying IT and DJ max contracts and the "Crying Jordan Magic" meme will be the hit of the 2018/19 season.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Yeah, I think the trade made sense for both teams, as I've said before. We got what we wanted in the form of two useful role-players and the Lakers got cap space and a first rounder that they can either use themselves (their scouting for late picks has been really good for years now) or package in a trade.

I think it's important to remember that, while Nance and Clarkson are both looking really good here, they're ultimately just role-players, and teams should never get too attached to role-players. They're two guys who are much more valuable to the Cavs than the Lakers as well, because we're a good team that needed role-players who were willing to buy in. They weren't helping the Lakers win a ton of games, but they can help us do so because we've already got a winning core in place and just needed non-assholes to fill out the roster.

But why now? Why not wait to see how the playoffs and lottery go before pulling the trigger? They could have cleared cap space at any time. Instead, they helped us out of a huge jam, gave us two useful players, and helped make it less likely LBJ would leave.

 

[Jack Brickman]

But why now? Why not wait to see how the playoffs and lottery go before pulling the trigger? They could have cleared cap space at any time. Instead, they helped us out of a huge jam, gave us two useful players, and helped make it less likely LBJ would leave.

I'm guessing they probably assumed that LeBron wasn't going to make a decision to stay in Cleveland based on Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. No idea if that ends up being right or wrong, but I don't think it was an awful assumption. Further, I don't think anyone, even the most optimistic Cavs fan, could have predicted that all the new guys would gel immediately. Most of us assumed the game last night and the Celtics game were going to end up schedule losses, just bad timing with the trade. Instead, our team looks like they've been playing together for years and just blew out the Celtics and beat the Thunder pretty handily.

No one expected this type of turnaround this quickly. I'm sure the Lakers are as baffled by it as we are.