NBA free agency/LeBronapalooza 2018

[longislandcuse]

I like Capela.

And I want to snatch Klay in a couple years to hurt the Warriors and he’d be the ideal two guard that doesn’t need the ball in his hands unless he’s open for a jumper.

Ball, Klay, Ingram, Kuzma, Capela make a run starting in ‘21 and contend for years.

That’s my dream.

I feel you.. In the meantime..

 

[OrangeDW]

I feel you.. In the meantime..

Lol. I shut it off as soon as I heard his flow. I don’t listen to rappers who rap like that.

I have a pretty strict policy of not listening to any rappers that are under 30.

I damn sure ain’t listening to Lonzo for more than a bar or two.

 

[jncuse]

I have read that without moving Leonard back, San Antonio really can';t work anything out to get Lebron.

 

[Melancer46]

I have read that without moving Leonard back, San Antonio really can';t work anything out to get Lebron.

It’ll take a lot of moving parts, but it is definitely possible to get Lebron while keeping Kawhi

 

[Newhouser]

I can get his thinking.

He's got three rings.

He already took a pay cut once.

I'm not sure he's really worth that. It's not totally fair, but how good is he, versus how much did he fit perfectly with what the Warriors became?

If he leaves that team he just becomes another good player on a worse team who we never hear from again. I l understand his role on that team and they need him but he needs that team to thrive IMHO.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I say Houston would have to trade Gordon and Tucker to get Lebron. I think he goes to LA with George and Paul.

I think LA only has room for 2 max free agents, and that would include dumping Julius Randle. Hard to think they could swing 3 max free agents.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I think LA only has room for 2 max free agents, and that would include dumping Julius Randle. Hard to think they could swing 3 max free agents.

It's been discussed. Dumping Deng or someone(CP3?) taking a pay cut.

 

[Melancer46]

I think LA only has room for 2 max free agents, and that would include dumping Julius Randle. Hard to think they could swing 3 max free agents.

They could do it via a sign-and-trade scenario or having LeBron pick up his player option and then acquire him in a trade. Basically just requires LeBron or Paul George to tell their respective teams that they want to go to the Lakers and then LA can drive a hard bargain of basically just matching salaries to acquire one of them while signing the other two guys.

I personally don't think CP3 will leave Houston, but we'll see about that.

 

[IthacaMatt]

If he leaves that team he just becomes another good player on a worse team who we never hear from again. I l understand his role on that team and they need him but he needs that team to thrive IMHO.

Clearly not a LeBron fan, I see.

 

[Knicks411]

They could do it via a sign-and-trade scenario or having LeBron pick up his player option and then acquire him in a trade. Basically just requires LeBron or Paul George to tell their respective teams that they want to go to the Lakers and then LA can drive a hard bargain of basically just matching salaries to acquire one of them while signing the other two guys.

I personally don't think CP3 will leave Houston, but we'll see about that.

I wonder if at some point a team is just going to tell the player they aren't going to facilitate a sign and trade. I could see it with Lebron, they really don't want to pay the tax if Lebron leaves.

 

[Melancer46]

I wonder if at some point a team is just going to tell the player they aren't going to facilitate a sign and trade. I could see it with Lebron, they really don't want to pay the tax if Lebron leaves.

Obviously nobody wants to take Deng's contract, but I think either team would eventually accept doing so if it means getting one or both of Kuzma/Ingram. It'll definitely be interesting though; it would be a lot easier to get it done if Paul George was willing to pick up his player option (I believe it's only around $20 million).

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Here are the teams that LeBron could join that I think he makes into a new contender via a sign and trade, and makes the team a lot more interesting -

Portland - Lillard and LeBron would create Kyrie/LeBron in a lot of ways. This would be a totally unanticipated move and inject some energy in the league. Portland has die hard fans. This would be cool for them. Could they get into a sign and trade to ship McCollum and matching contracts/picks to Cleveland?

Denver - The best team to not make the playoffs in a long time and a victim of Western Conference depth. Jokic and LeBron would be the most intriguing big men passing combo in NBA history. Denver has a strong mix of vets and young guys. You would think they could put some type of package together for Cleveland.

Utah - Mitchell + Gobert's competitive intensity + LeBron would just be fun. LeBron loses when he plays in Utah though, so not sure what's up with that. Hard to see the Jazz and Cavs making a deal work though. But man, if they did?

Indiana - They have some cap room to start with and have a LOT of roster flexibility in the future. Oladipo + Turner + LeBron is a core that could compete. Do they have anything Cleveland would bite on in terms of contracts and assets?

Milwaukee - The idea of two freaks like Greek Freak and LeBron on the same team is worthy of drool. The Bucks would have to ship out Middleton and some other valuable players, but LeBron and Freak are so versatile you could fill out the roster with all kinds of misfit toys and it feels like it would work.

None of this is going to happen. If the objective is to move the needle and disrupt the obvious future contenders, these are the 5 franchises that go over the top with LeBron in my eyes.

 

[Alsacs]

Danny Ainge made an offer for Kwahi at the trade deadline.
Spurs declined.

Reading this Woj article Kwahi is done in San Antonio IMO and will end up with Lakers and LeBron.

 

[Knicks411]

Obviously nobody wants to take Deng's contract, but I think either team would eventually accept doing so if it means getting one or both of Kuzma/Ingram. It'll definitely be interesting though; it would be a lot easier to get it done if Paul George was willing to pick up his player option (I believe it's only around $20 million).

It's interesting, those guys are definitely intriguing prospects. But it would save Gilbert a TON of money if they ducked the tax for a year. Push comes to shove, they might take it if they really liked the young Laker they got back though.

I like the Lebron in Portland idea; Lillard is basically the western conf version of Kyrie, isn't he?

 

[Melancer46]

Here are the teams that LeBron could join that I think he makes into a new contender via a sign and trade, and makes the team a lot more interesting -

Portland - Lillard and LeBron would create Kyrie/LeBron in a lot of ways. This would be a totally unanticipated move and inject some energy in the league. Portland has die hard fans. This would be cool for them. Could they get into a sign and trade to ship McCollum and matching contracts/picks to Cleveland?

Denver - The best team to not make the playoffs in a long time and a victim of Western Conference depth. Jokic and LeBron would be the most intriguing big men passing combo in NBA history. Denver has a strong mix of vets and young guys. You would think they could put some type of package together for Cleveland.

Utah - Mitchell + Gobert's competitive intensity + LeBron would just be fun. LeBron loses when he plays in Utah though, so not sure what's up with that. Hard to see the Jazz and Cavs making a deal work though. But man, if they did?

Indiana - They have some cap room to start with and have a LOT of roster flexibility in the future. Oladipo + Turner + LeBron is a core that could compete. Do they have anything Cleveland would bite on in terms of contracts and assets?

Milwaukee - The idea of two freaks like Greek Freak and LeBron on the same team is worthy of drool. The Bucks would have to ship out Middleton and some other valuable players, but LeBron and Freak are so versatile you could fill out the roster with all kinds of misfit toys and it feels like it would work.

None of this is going to happen. If the objective is to move the needle and disrupt the obvious future contenders, these are the 5 franchises that go over the top with LeBron in my eyes.

Theoretically the sign and trade is only going to happen if LeBron tells Cleveland "Send me to _____" in which case I doubt Milwaukee would send Middleton, Portland McCollum, etc. Those two teams could match salaries in other ways and just offer enough young assets/picks to make it worthwhile for them. For example, Portland could send Evan Turner, Mo Harkless, Zach Collins, Caleb Swanigan, and picks if they want. Milwaukee could send Eric Bledsoe, John Henson, DJ Wilson, Sterling Brown, and picks or something like that.

But as you said, these options seem like they're simply not going to happen.

I think Washington is a really intriguing option that LeBron probably won't seriously consider too. They could send Otto Porter, Jason Smith, Tomas Satoransky, and future picks and end up with a core of Wall, Beal, LeBron, Markieff, and Oubre.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Theoretically the sign and trade is only going to happen if LeBron tells Cleveland "Send me to _____" in which case I doubt Milwaukee would send Middleton, Portland McCollum, etc. Those two teams could match salaries in other ways and just offer enough young assets/picks to make it worthwhile for them.

It depends on what Cleveland would want. I'm assuming they'd want a player that keeps them semi-competitive. Can you make the playoffs with Love and McCollum in the East? I think they could. They want to get under the tax, but a great way to mitigate that is to get additional playoff home game revenue.

Of course, maybe the Cavs say the tank is on. Trade proposals with that objective in mind would look a lot different.

 

[Knicks411]

There were stories from around the trade deadline that Gilbert didn't want to pay the tax if they didn't have Lebron. They're paying the repeater tax too, it's really punitive. They were about $15 million over this year, due to the repeater tax that costs them nearly $44 million in tax. You'd have to get something really good to make that worthwhile. I think more likely, if Lebron leaves, they look to trade Love and bottom out again

 

[OttoinGrotto]

There were stories from around the trade deadline that Gilbert didn't want to pay the tax if they didn't have Lebron. They're paying the repeater tax too, it's really punitive. They were about $15 million over this year, due to the repeater tax that costs them nearly $44 million in tax. You'd have to get something really good to make that worthwhile. I think more likely, if Lebron leaves, they look to trade Love and bottom out again

They're hosed.

Kyrie saw it coming.

LeBron didn't care.

Love might hold the bag.

Kinda hilarious.

 

[NineOneSeven]

So this is all wrapped up by July right?

 

[Cusefan0307]

So this is all wrapped up by July right?

Will have to be. He holds all the dominoes.

 

[Knicks411]

So this is all wrapped up by July right?

2010 it was July 8, 2014 it was July 11. I said this before, but I love that about the NBA off-season. No dragging things out

 

[OrangeDW]

2010 it was July 8, 2014 it was July 11. I said this before, but I love that about the NBA off-season. No dragging things out

2010 was legendary. I remember the first day of free agency just doing no work whatsoever, on twitter all day reading all the news and rumors...it was so much fun, lol.

 

[Alsacs]

2010 was legendary. I remember the first day of free agency just doing no work whatsoever, on twitter all day reading all the news and rumors...it was so much fun, lol.

I remember in 2010 LeBron having the meetings with 6 teams.
Nets, Knicks, Clippers, Cavs, Bulls, Heat.

I remember the night before the decision MSG stock went way up and people thought he was going to the Knicks.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

2010 was legendary. I remember the first day of free agency just doing no work whatsoever, on twitter all day reading all the news and rumors...it was so much fun, lol.

The best was the strike shortened season. The off-season was nuts because there was no time to waste. Crazy trades all over.

 

[Melancer46]

Probably doesn’t mean anything, but the odds on LeBron not playing in the regular season have increased from 100/1 to 50/1 in the past 5 hours.