Solid haul for the Pelicans. If they let more time pass, the haul would have gotten worse since he is becoming a free agent next season.
Honestly Lavar has been right about everything except Lonzo. He was right about Magic, right about Luke and right about Jeanie, he was even right about FVV that makes me feel like Lonzo will explode soon. Would love for him to end up here, he's a grinder and a hard worker, even if he's never an allstar he's going to be very good
AD (even with health risk), is a steal. Ainge and Celtics, is the girl David Griffin & AD didn't choose to go to the Prom. Lakers got much better from this deal. Lonzo and Ingram aren't bad starters per se. But I cringe when some of the main stream media say these guys are 'guaranteed' future all stars. No one knows what they'll be. Role players or bench players, players in general are lucky if they last more than 5 years in the league. They have potential but it's not a sure thing. Out of everything pelicans got, the 4th pick is the most interesting and probably valuable asset. Trading 'hope' is a powerful thing, some teams give up proven commodity for them. If Griffin can get someone good, he can even throw in Ball, Hart or Ingram in another deal with another team.
I highly doubt Ainge thought he had a shot at keeping AD long term. Ainge is many things but stupid isn’t one of them. I would bet money that all his talk about convincing AD to stay in Boston was little more than a tactic to force Lakers to give up more assets. Ainge knows that Boston’s shot at a title in the near future is all but gone. Ceding the next few years to the Lakers by depleting them of future assets is as good as it gets for them.
http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=26982931 BW: Celtics have now "passed" on Paul George, Kawhi, Anthony Davis BW: Cannot get pick details. There is one pick swap included. Several have said there is a deferment. If Pelicans don't want to take a pick in a year, they can defer it back a year or maybe multiple years. Not necessarily a swap. BW: Loss for the Celtics. Could be a rough year for them. Al Horford has an option pick up date next week. No discussion of that whatsoever. Possible he can opt out & sign long term but he's at the end of his prime. Wonder if he opts out & looks at other options. Pelicans, we have to wait & see. They were shopping the #4 pick. Not sure they're in love with a player they can get at 4. Probably best deal they could make under the circumstances. Market was narrow on them. Ideally you get multiple bidders but small market in the end. Heard one pick is totally unprotected & again that there is a deferment, they can defer it back if they don't like where the Lakers are picking up to 7 years. BW: (Lakers keeping Kuzma) Reminds me of when Celtics traded for Garnett & Allen and were able to keep Rondo. Kuzma ends up being an important piece here. He has to be a good player for them. That has to be a win for the Lakers. BW: (Kawhi/Lakers?) I don't see Kawhi as the guy who wants to join a super team. He just won without needing a super team but I can't sit here and tell you I know how he thinks. Name that's interesting is Kemba Walker. BW: Kyrie appears headed to Brooklyn. With the caveat Kyrie's mind can change, it's my understanding while Kyrie & LeBron have rekindled their relationship, as of an hour ago, Kyrie did not intend to play with LeBron. That was a few hours ago. My gosh would he fit in beautifully. BW: Hornets already faced huge pressure (New York was a real option), Charlotte has to realize they have to offer the 5th year. I think Kemba would fit in pretty damn well (in LA). BW: Can't get past the details of this trade. I think there's a possibility here the Lakers gave, in addition to 3 firsts, a deferment & a swap and one of those firsts is unprotected. I apologize if I'm not focusing. The Pelicans found a team desperate to make a trade & took advantage of that desperation. Lakers get an in-his-prime superstar. I'm digesting this in real time. BW: (Any top tier free agents considering taking less?) According to Bobby Marks, Lakers can have up to $32M in space. They really can't clear any more space. BW: Lakers will have the $32M in cap space, room exception ($4.5M) BW: (Carmelo?) No way. He can't play in the league right now. BW: (DWade?) No, I don't think so. Don't think that helps them. An interesting name would be D'Angelo Russell. Is the bridge too burned? BW: Some names they could look at who are not max players: Brook Lopez Goldsberry: Think they're looking at LeBron/AD at their 4/5 if not their 3/5. Not a good fit. McMenamin: Talking to people in the Lakers organization, that was a name that came up (days before this trade went down). BW: AD prefers to play 4 and LeBron prefers the 3. You can bring in Brook. Bojan Bogdanovic? Goldsberry: Terrific fit. Would thrive. LeBron is the best 3pt shot creator in the league. BW: J.J. Redick? Goldsberry: Same. BW: Hard to know how much the Sixers will spend. Watching the Raptors, Sixers gotta be thinking we gotta run it back. Danny Green? Goldsberry: Perfect fit. 3&D wings. Players like that are perfect. BW: One or both Morris brothers? McMenamin: Absolutely & Klutch connection there. Another name, Terrence Ross. BW: Hearing these names, breaking up the money sounds good to me. If Jimmy & Kemba stay put, obviously you're calling Kawhi but assume he doesn't go there & Jimmy/Kemba stay put, there's good names to use that money on. Goldsberry: Do you think LeBron's teams in the last 10 years have been prudent when it comes to free agent/trade maneuvers? BW: Haven't been many free agent signings. It's almost been all trades. The one time was this time last year with the Lakers. ... One thing LeBron's teams have done is mortgage the future for the present. Dave is right. LeBron's window is now. Cavs were like we'll go after this Nets pick. Lakers are like we'll do the opposite. I guess I respect it. Goldsberry: They're not mortgaging the future with Davis (if he's about to sign a long-term deal). BW: Lakers were most desperate but that desperation was warranted. ... You could argue trading away your draft control for the next half decade is not a smart organizational move. BW: What if they call Kevin Durant? Andrew Han: Doesn't make any sense Brian. BW: Why? AH: He'll be out for next season & you just said their window is now. More you guys talk about it, if they don't use that max slot on very specifically Butler or Middleton (3&D wings), then they should break it up. BW: Do you call Kevin Durant. Goldsberry: Of course. He's one of the best player's in the world. And why not Klay Thompson while we're at it? BW: I think Klay is staying put. McMenamin: Why call him(KD)? You need every single player who can help next year. BW: Because if you land him, you have 3 of the top 7 players in the league in two years. McMenamin: LeBron will be in year 18 in two years and KD coming off an achilles at age 32. BW: I call him. They also don't have enough for his full max. It's an interesting concept. I now feel like they should break it up. Goldsberry: You need to go deep. Raptors team taught us with Gasol, Ibaka, VanVleet, Green, those guys are important come April, May & June. As of now, Lakers don't have those guys. I think you break it up. BW: Some people believe Darius Garland is the 4th pick. Would the Pelicans pick Garland if he's represented by Rich Paul? McMenamin: There are other teams that have a lot of interest in DG beyond the Pelicans and perhaps that was the main attraction to get that pick. I would imagine the pick is moved & Garland is the pick at four. BW: Pelicans came to the realization only team they could make a deal with was the Lakers & extracted as much as they could from the Lakers. Would they have preferred if Lakers could have gotten other pieces, preferred Ingram didn't have this blood clot, preferred it if Lonzo had 2 great seasons instead of 2 disappointing seasons? Yeah. ... Lakers will be a major center piece of the league. It'll be a good for the league. The league had a rough week with Durant & Thompson going down. Lakers are back to relevance.
Those picks will most likely suck It will be funny in 2025 when LeBron retires and Zion goes to the Lakers as a free agent.
There are a few teams willing to give solid assets for Ball. The Bulls have made calls about Ball and Holiday as well as to the Heat and Rockets.
Still not convinced the Lakers are going to be a contender. Let me see who they bring in as the third star. Pelicans definitely got a lot of flexibility and options to build their team for the future.
Worth the risk. They were able to hold on to Kuzma who fills a starting spot for the Lakers. They will have AD and James starting, plus whoever else they spend their max cap space on. So off the bat they will have 4 spots in their line up filled. They then have the MLE to use. They will try hard to get Ariza to sign for the minimum and will target a few others.
Which one has more value, Kuzma or 2 first rounders? I take 2 firsts. Deal that 2 firsts and one more own first to Suns for 6th pick. Win now.
Lakers still need perimeter shooting and backcourt improvement. Not sure it was worth what was traded
