2019 Offseason Thread

[ojandpizza]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

I've been seeing a lot of "average" NBA fans and NBA "experts" talking about the Anthony Davis trade and I just wanna give my take

People keep saying the Pelicans won this trade

1. They have the #1 pick and it's a 100% they're taking Zion but let's actually be logical we DON'T know how he is going to pan out in the NBA it's all just based HYPE

2. All I see is AD is injury prone but nobody is talking about how Lonzo and Ingram are pretty much injury prone themselves.

3. Yes, the Pelicans have all those picks but we Don't who those picks will be or how they will pan out.

4. I also see everybody saying that the Pelicans won this trade Long-term but to me the Lakers won this trade long term and here's why.. They traded for AD who is 26 or 27 and in his Prime and arguable a Top 5 player when healthy . They can sign 1-2 Max Players who are young and in their prime and who have PROVEN themselves in the league even after Bron retires and not guys they "Hope" work out. So IMO the Lakers are the ones better setup long term.

Just my thoughts!!

I agree with your points, but:

I think most peoples take on how well the Pelican's did is in comparison to what teams usually get back in a one player super star trade. Especially since he wanted to leave, was going to leave, and was telling everyone that regardless of where he goes he's a free agent. This means the Pelicans had diminished leverage to an extent, but still ended up with tremendous value instead of pennies on the dollar.

I think Zion, or any rookie, being a question mark just makes them landing 3 guys in Zo, BI, Hart, and control of the Lakers draft history for basically the next 7 years a really big plus. The likelihood of every single option not working out is pretty slim.

Lakers got the big name, will be a contender immediately and possibly after LeBron as well, but the moves the Pelicans made set them up really nice long term as well as short term. Would be a lot different if the Pelicans had lost a piece that was getting them to conference finals every year, but they weren't winning with him, often missing the playoffs altogether.

[ojandpizza]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

AD went from a top 5ish guy to a glorified Al Jefferson by just switching zip codes. Crazy world that we live in.

How's he a glorified Al Jefferson? lol

[Majingir]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

Lowry getting fans into a "5 more years" chant infront of Kawhi and Kawhis loving it. Uncle Dennis joined in on chants too

He staying?

[Caveman24]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

How's he a glorified Al Jefferson? lol

Just all the narrative switching people are doing because he's a Laker. People was literally bashing every young Laker player 45 days ago but now it's "LA gave up too much". Ingram, blood clot issue, Zo health, shooting etc. All those problems just magically went away when they got traded. AD is magically not a MVP generational player now all of a sudden. People just love to hate the Lakers, I get it.

[cima]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

And the Pelicans as constructed look to be very athletic and a great defensive team but they are going to be a spacing nightmare. Jrue hasn't been a good 3 point shooter in awhile and neither Ingram, Zo, Zion, or Hart are exactly three point snipers.

Of course we still have free agency so things can change

[jeremym480]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

I've been seeing a lot of "average" NBA fans and NBA "experts" talking about the Anthony Davis trade and I just wanna give my take

People keep saying the Pelicans won this trade

1. They have the #1 pick and it's a 100% they're taking Zion but let's actually be logical we DON'T know how he is going to pan out in the NBA it's all just based HYPE

2. All I see is AD is injury prone but nobody is talking about how Lonzo and Ingram are pretty much injury prone themselves.

3. Yes, the Pelicans have all those picks but we Don't who those picks will be or how they will pan out.

4. I also see everybody saying that the Pelicans won this trade Long-term but to me the Lakers won this trade long term and here's why.. They traded for AD who is 26 or 27 and in his Prime and arguable a Top 5 player when healthy . They can sign 1-2 Max Players who are young and in their prime and who have PROVEN themselves in the league even after Bron retires and not guys they "Hope" work out. So IMO the Lakers are the ones better setup long term.

Just my thoughts!!

This is a Magic Johnson (ie Captain Obvious") post.... but we won't know who won this trade until we see where those future draft picks fall. It's too far away to predict but swaps aren't worth anything if the Pelicans are worse then the Lakers and if the picks in the 20's, then L.A. will be looking good. If the Lakers fall apart because Lebron is getting older and AD is fragile and those picks all end up like Brooklyn's to Boston, then NOLA wins.

Plus, like you said the new Pel's guys have injury concerns of their own. If those guys don't progress or if BI gets another blood clot that ends his career then LA is going to come out better. Ultimately, they both win if the Lakers get a title then fall apart. It will be really interesting to follow for the next decade or so...

[goledensilence]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

So glad the basketball gawds blessed my NOLA Pelicans. Couldn't have imagined our team looking the way it does now. Can only get better from here. bring on the draft.

#CresentCityBasketball
#TakeFlight

[jeremym480]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

Just all the narrative switching people are doing because he's a Laker. People was literally bashing every young Laker player 45 days ago but now it's "LA gave up too much". Ingram, blood clot issue, Zo health, shooting etc. All those problems just magically went away when they got traded. AD is magically not a MVP generational player now all of a sudden. People just love to hate the Lakers, I get it.

Personally, I think (if healthy) Lebron and AD are going to be the most physically talented and most diverse duo that we've seen in the NBA.

I can't say if L.A. gave up to much or not... it kind of seems like it, mainly because I think that they were bidding against themselves. If I'm a Lakers fan, I wouldn't care though.

[Majingir]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

Lowry getting fans into a "5 more years" chant infront of Kawhi and Kawhis loving it. Uncle Dennis joined in on chants too

He staying?

The fantasy scenario being suggested by TV people here. Sign 5 year deal, with promise from management they'll deal him wherever he wants (almost like a No trade clause in hockey where you have 100% control where you go) if he wants to go in a year or two.

Job security incase of anything, and can still go wherever.

[georgiafan]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

I dont like this trade from the Pelicans side of things either plus history shows the team getting the star player almost always gets the better. It seems like they made that gave them the most assets without thinking how they fit with Zion.

Ingram has a injury history and nobody really knows what he is. You will also have to give him the max next summer. He cant shoot yet and I don't like the fit with Zion long term.

Lonzo has upside but averaged 9 points and 5 assist last year in 30 minutes. He is also due to be paid this time in 2 years and again has injury concerns and also cant shoot. The other issue is his dad who had been quiet lately is now going to be in the news all the time. If he doesn't make silly comments people aren't going to pay attention to him so he is going to keep on talking. That's going to be a real problem going forward and its going to become a sideshow. He may never be more then Rubio for his career.

They are going to need to find a C somewhere this summer and I think they likely overpay someone to fill that void. Josh Hart is just a guy and who knows what's going to happen with the draft picks years down the line.

[Caveman24]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

Lonzo, usage rate is super low and that hurts his overall counting stats. I think his rookie year he was 172nd in usage which is crazy for a guy with his passing ability.

[ojandpizza]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

Lonzo to me was always the best piece. He's got a long ways to go, and all of his short comings may give him the lowest ceiling.. But I like the way he impacts games.. Even comparing him to other passing guards isn't always accurate because he doesn't have to use his dribble. Often makes reads and gets rid of the ball immediately, full court passes, I just think he can end up being special.. Though shooting is a main concern, more so from the free throw line than lack of a jumper.

Lakers basically had to keep Kuz to improve the rest of the roster post trade, but from a personnel standpoint keeping Lonzo always felt like the best decision IMO.

[TMagic]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

I think there are advantages and disadvantages to all the moves.. obviously I think Kawhi or Klay is the biggest haul, no brainer options.. but I’m giving those about 2% chances. Klay is hurt, and Gs giving him the max, and he wants to stay. Kawhi I just don’t think takes the pay cut to join the Lakers.

DLo to me has concerns. 1 would be are the numbers he got last year a possible “good stats” on not a bad team but a team that didn’t really have other threats to go create shots consistently. He had a good year, but he had the ball a lot too. You also wonder does he have the ability to scale back and be that 3rd option type. He flourished as a high volume #1, but that’s a big difference to what he would likely be asked to do. For the Lakers I would think they love his size, ability to create shots that little guards can’t, possibly add more defensive value just because he can switch, and he’s young so pairing him with Davis sets them up post LeBron. He’s without a doubt the best question mark though because nobody knows if he can scale his game back or even sustain what he did last season.

For Kemba he’s a winner. Has been since college. Makes all the right plays. My concerns with him would be I think he’s a slightly below max guy that isn’t reaching some untapped potential we’ve yet to see. He’s small, not greatly improving the defense, and isn’t a great enough shooter to really make me feel confident that playing off James and Brow would solve shooting issues.. he would be the best fit of the guards IMO, but only assuming he signed for cheap enough that they added a great shooter next to him. And he’s likely getting max deals, wants to stay in Charlotte, etc..

Jimmy is enticing because he makes big plays, plays hard, wants to win, etc.. my concerns with Jimmy are also the 3rd role thing. I know he can coexist with other good players, but I think he cares way too much about his shots and money. His defense has declined a bit, and he’s not an automatic outside shooter.. meaning that if you were going the 3rd All-Star route I’m not sure that he’s a better option than signing a point guard because it’s likely a bigger need since scoring shouldn’t be hard to come by with Bron, Kuz, Davis.. if he was Kawhi, or had Klay’s off ball game, that’s a different story. But just enough lacking behind them in certain areas that I feel point guard > Jimmy.

With Kyrie you get arguably the most pure talent, he’s clutch, the best shooter, played with Bron in the past and won, etc.. my issues with Kyrie are that he’s not scaling his game back. Which really hurts when you have a player like AD, or even Bron, sacrificing instead of a player like Kyrie.. he also is the biggest health risk, and is still yet proven to really make guys around him better. He over dribbles a lot, which I don’t have a problem with if you’re the type of player who off-sets that with elite playmaking.. but that’s not him. He’s also shown to be reluctant to buy in to coaches game-plans, which hurt the Cavs to an extent when he wouldn’t play at Lue’s pace which would have benefited LeBron, JR, Love, even a guy like Thompson beating bigs up the floor.

Biggest red flag for Kyrie is that he showed with the Cavs that when LeBron went to the bench he couldn’t maintain their level of play for short stretches. Even against opponents benches. Similar results with Boston, as their guys were never really better overall with him on the floor than with Rozier on the floor. If Kyrie himself is going he’s Steph/Dame dangerous. But when he’s not I feel like his impact is very minimal.

Kyrie would be my last choice of the 3rd star bunch, and would be well behind spreading the money on 3-4 guys as well. But I’m nobody’s GM lol.


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I view things a little differently.

Call me crazy, but I think and would prefer that we not run our offense through LeBron. Last year we actually started off the year trying to run our offense through Ingram a lot of the time with Bron more in a facilitator/spectator role.

And I think that would work with DLo and Davis. Let those two run the show more. Then let LeBron pick his spots because the Lakers shouldn't NEED him to be great to win on most nights. Those two should be enough to get the job done. Then for the postseason, LeBron can "activate playoff mode" or whatever.

And one of the reasons I like DLo over Walker is his ability to hit catch and shoot jumpers. He's better than Kemba in that area and I think he could really take advantage of those opportunities much better than Kemba would.

[jeebs9]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

I wish the Lakers would have kept Luke. I like his system. Just like Gentry.

[georgiafan]

Re: 2019 Offseason Thread

More rumors Pelicans will try and trade for Beal (per shams). I still fail to see why they would once again try and make moves to win now instead of being patient.