DeRozan cant shoot from 3. He would be useless playing next to harden and cp3. Defenders could just sag off derozan and double harden or cp3. DeRozan is so much worse when lowry is on the floor. He is good when he is by himself. Ball dominant players dont work together when they cant space the floor or help in other ways like distribute and run the offense. With Harden CP3 always on the floor derozan is really mitigated. We would actually be better just keeping eric gordon since he fits so much better.
Nope but: 1) Lillard isn’t close to the same level (He’s overrated) 2) I, and presumably others on this board, don’t know how the Portland brass feels about Lillard’s value 3) I don’t know if Portland is looking to rebuild or reload but after a 4-0 sweep its clears they need changes.
Lillard is their absolute franchise palyer though and if they took LA's garbage in return for him, the fans would burn the building down. If you are going to move Dame, you better get someone REALLY good back or at least several amazing picks. Portland deciding to give the Lakers Lillard would just be a favor, there's no basketball reason why they'd ever agree to that deal.
“Garbage” is a matter of opinion and it’s impossible to know theirs. But I get it, I want LeBron to see us as the best option too
So lebron tells the cavs that he wants to do an opt-in and then trade to Houston(sending EG , Ryno, 2 1st rd picks) and the Cavs say no, could he just say in that case, i will opt out and just sign with Rockets for MLE?
No he'd say "Okay, then I'm opting out and signing with the Lakers and you get nothing"....then the Cavs would want to do the trade.
He could but he won’t, we would have to send out a lot of salary but we could still clear a lot of space where cp3 and lebron both get around 30m instead of 35. The problem is we would lose a lot of the core, but it’s still doable. Essentially anyone not names harden becomes expendable, we renounce all RFA other then Capela. Not an ideal way to go, but it’s last resort.
LeBron doesn't want to play 33 minutes a game and average 21 ppg with the Rockets, he'd rather have a worse chance but better in stats in LA.
Clearly that's what you say right before signing on to what could be MAYBE the 3rd best team in the West best case scenario.
unless lebron is willing to play 40mins/game in the regular season on a probable 5th seed team in the west, i don't see how having just him and paul george would work. the cavs barely got the 4th seed in the east even with lebron playing nearly 40mins/game. they really do need a 3rd star for the lakers scenario to be viable - and getting that 3rd star is gonna be just as difficult, if not more so, than the rockets unloading ryno onto someone. even with lebron and pg together on the lakers, they still have to get over the spurs, pelicans, jazz, portland (they were still the 3rd seed), okc, nuggets, and twolves (assuming KAT and butler stay). if patbev returns healthy and jerry west works his usual offseason magic thru the draft, then that clippers team is on the rise too. That's considerably more competition than what lebron had to face in the east and even then he struggled to get his team decent playoff position. imagine if that lakers team had to face gsw or houston in the first round.. is lebron really willing to lose in the first round of the playoffs for the first time in his career?
https://www.theringer.com/2018/6/13...arade-lebron-offseason-kawhi-meeting-with-pop Kevin O'Connor: Do you buy the odds order? (LA, Philly, Houston, Cleveland) Those are good odds. Lakers, it's the easiest path & can add other pieces. Path for the Lakers is not difficult to build a contending team. Sixers, it's easy as well. Question is the fit. Can Embiid stay healthy? What stage is Simmons at? Houston is difficult to make happen. Houston third is fair because of the salary cap hurdles Daryl Morey will have to leap over. Cavs will have to overhaul their roster. Spurs are interesting. I don't think they'll get him but you can never count them out. I still think the Lakers are the team. With the Lakers, one draft rumor I mentioned is I heard the Lakers are looking to add a pick in the middle of the first or trade up from 25 to draft a player they're targeting (Zhaire Smith is a player I heard they're high on). If that's true, that means adding salary, a willingness to add salary this summer. Ramona Shelburne has reported before they'd be willing to add salary this summer & pursue free agents in 2019. Ramona reported that before & I heard that again this week. If that's true, they can still create max space for LeBron, not add another guy unless they were trading other salary, like dumping Ball or Ingram in a bigger trade. It's all very complicated. Everything is on the table for the Lakers. There's no guarantee it's LA. I still think the Lakers are the favorites because they already live here & have immense flexibility to create a team. You're not joining something that already exists like Houston or Philadelphia. LeBron has always shaped his own team when he goes to a new place. If he wants to play with a young PG in Lonzo Ball, he can. If he doesn't want to deal with the circus, they'll trade him that brings in another player.
I listened to that podcast this morning and, yup, the ability for Pelinka and Magic to move young players out to bring in a legit 3rd option that LeBron wants made me move on from this LBJ to Houston fantasy.
I've said this here and got ignored. People like Bobby keep acting like it will be Lebron, Paul George and scrubs. They'll be able to make moves. Hell, if OKC buys out Melo he'd probably sign in LA with Lebron in a heartbeat. I'm willing to guarantee that if Lebron goes to the Lakers they will end up winning more than 50 games and that they'll win a title before Lebron retires. If Lebron goes to the Lakers the dream of another Houston title in the next handful of years is dead as far as I'm concerned.
I'm going to spam this theory until it's proven otherwise lol but if the Lakers can trade Deng/Ingram/picks for a player like McCollum (scorer, ball handler, elite 3 point shooting) to start at the 2 it'll be game over for Houston.
With all this LA talk, it seems there's real possibility of there being 3 true contenders in the WC. You would think this would be a factor as it relates to an easier path to the Finals out in the West. Even if Houston is the least of the 3 teams with GSW being #1 and LAL's 3-stack being the #2 favorite, not being the 1st seed would mean for Lebron 2 probable 7-game series in the West. If he came here to HOU, there would only be 2 presumptive favorites. Take the easier route! Even with all the momentum and chatter going in LAL's favor, it's all to create a path that is similar to what the Rockets already have. Right now, the talk is centered on LAL using their assets to pick up a 3rd star. Whoopdiedoo... We have CP3 and Harden who are proven to carry the load and spell him rest during the regular season, and hungry enough in the postseason. With luck on our side, health notwithstanding, Lebron would be wise to not set his sights solely on LAL before DMorey can make his moves. I still think there's a good chance he waits it out for Morey to prove he's able to move pieces, then weigh his options, and finally make a decision.