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NBA Free Agency 2018: Independence day, unless you're in San Antonio


Red Tiger

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1 hour ago, briantw said:

Reports dropping that Kawhi might prefer the Clippers rather than teaming up with LeBron. 

Looking like people just don't want to play with him any more.

Those reports are old and they're lacking substance.

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19 minutes ago, Red Tiger said:

Those reports are old and they're lacking substance.

If you say so.

I still think Durant is a more likely teammate for LeBron than Kawhi right now (obviously not until next summer).  Kobe is apparently working Durant behind the scenes the same way he worked LeBron.  Kawhi supposedly wants to go somewhere and be the guy, but if he goes to the Lakers he'll be stuck in LeBron's shadow.

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2 hours ago, briantw said:

If you say so.

I still think Durant is a more likely teammate for LeBron than Kawhi right now (obviously not until next summer).  Kobe is apparently working Durant behind the scenes the same way he worked LeBron.  Kawhi supposedly wants to go somewhere and be the guy, but if he goes to the Lakers he'll be stuck in LeBron's shadow.

You also thought LeBron would stay in Cleveland, despite there being no upside to staying there. Your Kawhi stuck in shadow argument is not good. Kawhi is 27, LeBron will be 34 this year. Even if Kawhi would be in LeBron's shadow, he would be there for 2 years at the most.

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26 minutes ago, Red Tiger said:

You also thought LeBron would stay in Cleveland, despite there being no upside to staying there. Your Kawhi stuck in shadow argument is not good. Kawhi is 27, LeBron will be 34 this year. Even if Kawhi would be in LeBron's shadow, he would be there for 2 years at the most.

Yeah, I guess that's what I get for taking LeBron at his word that he wasn't leaving again.  

I also didn't think he'd go to the Lakers by himself.

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6 hours ago, Red Tiger said:

That tweet, and its responses, are pure gold.

As for Leonard, I agree with others that the Lakers waiting until next year would be a mistake.  The uncertainty and lost year of LeBron's precious few remaining as an elite player clearly outweighs the requisite cost of young talent in my book.  And while I agree the Clippers chatter is probably outdated, to be fair to Brian when I googled Kawhi Leonard I got this article, which was posted 5 hours ago.

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1 hour ago, briantw said:

Yeah, I guess that's what I get for taking LeBron at his word that he wasn't leaving again.  

I also didn't think he'd go to the Lakers by himself.

Where did he explicitly say this off-season that he wasn't leaving?

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1 minute ago, Red Tiger said:

Where did he explicitly say this off-season that he wasn't leaving?

He didn't say it this offseason as far as I know, but he's said a dozen times the past four years that he wasn't leaving again, and his return letter certainly implied he was there for the long haul.

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58 minutes ago, briantw said:

He didn't say it this offseason as far as I know, but he's said a dozen times the past four years that he wasn't leaving again, and his return letter certainly implied he was there for the long haul.

I don't recall him saying over the last 4 years that he wasn't leaving, I only recall him saying he was gonna work to get Cleveland a title and that it wasn't gonna happen instantly but it would take time.

Going by that, he did exactly what he told the city he'd do. Also, for a guy who's been in the league over 10 years, 4 years can be a long haul.

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1 hour ago, DMC said:

That tweet, and its responses, are pure gold.

As for Leonard, I agree with others that the Lakers waiting until next year would be a mistake.  The uncertainty and lost year of LeBron's precious few remaining as an elite player clearly outweighs the requisite cost of young talent in my book.  And while I agree the Clippers chatter is probably outdated, to be fair to Brian when I googled Kawhi Leonard I got this article, which was posted 5 hours ago.

Yeah, that article has....flaws to say the least.

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3 minutes ago, Red Tiger said:

Yeah, that article has....flaws to say the least.

Certainly does.

Thinking about it, if the trade is indeed Ingram/Kuzma/Hart/picks, the Lakers would be the most equipped to defend the Warriors - by far even, if not counting the Celtics (and that's only if they retain Smart).  Still couldn't score enough though.

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58 minutes ago, DMC said:

Certainly does.

Thinking about it, if the trade is indeed Ingram/Kuzma/Hart/picks, the Lakers would be the most equipped to defend the Warriors - by far even, if not counting the Celtics (and that's only if they retain Smart).  Still couldn't score enough though.

They couldn't score a ton, that is true, but you could do a mighty fine job of stopping the other side from scoring, you'll have good passing and good rebounding. More importantly you'd have a very strong foundation to build on, even if LeBron is aging.

*Drools*

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2 minutes ago, Red Tiger said:

They couldn't score a ton, that is true, but you could do a mighty fine job of stopping the other side from scoring, you'll have good passing and good rebounding. More importantly you'd have a very strong foundation to build on, even if LeBron is aging.

*Drools*

Yeah plus if they stretched Deng pretty sure they'd have enough to sign another max guy next offseason based on my quick head-math.

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57 minutes ago, DMC said:

Yeah plus if they stretched Deng pretty sure they'd have enough to sign another max guy next offseason based on my quick head-math.

Anthony Davis is gonna want to bail next year. I don't see him staying in NOLA.

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Cavs beat writers doing a round table today and dropping a ton of interesting info:

  • Kyrie's trade demand had a lot to do with him being convinced LeBron was leaving in a year.  
  • Savannah spent more time in LA this year than any other season and became accustomed to the lifestyle.
  • Cavs caught wind of LeBron going to Lakers shortly after the championship win, as apparently that was the first time the idea started being floated.
  • LeBron did nothing to try to keep Kyrie with the Cavs until it was too late, and apparently their relationship was almost like LeBron was hazing him.
  • Wade was a total cancer in the locker room and did a lot of awful things.  Suspicion is that he was acting on behalf of LeBron.  LeBron didn't do anything to stop him.
  • Kyrie hated how much power LeBron had, and hated the whole "son" thing.  Not exactly new, as I've mentioned this several times.
  • Cavs explored a trade of Kyrie for Bledsoe and Paul George.  This is probably the trade rumor that got back to Kyrie, which resulted in his trade demand.  The Cavs fired a couple of assistant coaches and one of them was the guy they suspect leaked that trade to Kyrie.
  • When Dan Gilbert met LeBron in Miami four years ago, the deal was Dan would spend whatever it took to build a winner.  He fulfilled that.
  • Kyrie never wanted LeBron to come back in the first place.  Said LeBron mentioned to Kyrie during a game against Miami that if he kept doing what he was doing, LeBron might come back.  Kyrie said we don't need him.  :lol:
  • LeBron and his team questioned Kyrie's toughness and called him soft for dealing with injuries. 
  • Kyrie shares an agent with Larry Hughes, who hated Mike Brown, so Kyrie never gave Brown a chance.
  • Kyrie hated Ty Lue as well.  Apparently Lue took shots at both Kyrie and Love privately.
  • The police brutality t-shirts were Kyrie's idea.  LeBron stole the idea and took credit for it.
  • Kyrie's dad hated Randy Mims.
  • Someone within the Cavs mentioned that Embiid was the one transcendent talent in the 2014 draft, but the medical team red-flagged him so they had to pass.  
  • Cavs medical team also red-flagged Porter in this draft.
  • Several teams have told Lloyd that the Cavs are shopping Love.

Still like ten minutes left in this thing, but I think the bulk of the best stuff has been said.

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I stand corrected...few more tidbits:

  • Lue is at least somewhat happy LeBron is gone.
  • He's looking forward to actually getting a say in how the team plays.  He was a glorified assistant to James the past few years.
  • Lloyd says Lue is a much better coach than he's given credit for.
  • LeBron didn't play defense and Lue got blamed.
  • Lue is working with Sexton and Clarkson on footwork and point guard skills at Summer League.

 

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Interesting stuff.

My feeling when reading all of this is is that it is a sad state of affairs for the Cavs, mostly.

No one needs to feel sorry for LeBron who got exactly what he wanted. Kyrie got what he wanted ( except for the injury) and is in a better situation to win next year than LeBron is, assuming LA doesn't trade for Kahwe ( and even then I wonder).

But the Cavs, well, they've had their run but ultimately the fact that they were just not good enough last season surely factored into LeBron's decision, the signs and frustration were just too visible. So now they are left there, with Love, for whom w ehave seen reports a few days ago that the Cavs are shopping him because with him they will be an 8th seed type team. If I were a Cavs fan paying for tickets I'd probably want them to keep him though, otherwise you're really watching a race to the gutter, which I just don't enjoy in any way. Will be interesting to see what happens to Love though. Trade him to the Lakers for Ingram :D

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