http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23832829/rudy-gay-opting-contract-san-antonio-spurs Not a huge splash, but if current players don't even want to use their player option to stay there, SA is going to have a hell of a time attracting FAs. EDIT: aaaand someone already ninja'd me to this. Regardless, though, I'm not sure Gay will get > 8.8 million elsewhere.
If spurs get both Tatum and brown for Kawhi, they are not going to miss a beat, still very good team, if i am boston i would do it, Kawhi, Kyrie, Hayward is good enough to beat all teams in east, some tweak here and there, they can dethrone the GS as well
No way Boston or Ainge does it. Tatum just posted perhaps the best youngest playoff performance of all time. As games got harder, he took on more responsibility and performed. He's not close to Kawhi yet but he's 6 years younger. Offer one, and if forced to, I guess offer Tatum and Rozier... but I think even Ainge won't really want to do that. Their window is like a decade right now.
Who knew Kawhi & his uncle was full of so much b****assness. Jeff McDonald(SAEN): Became a snowball rolling downhill that people didn't realize was rolling until it was rolling. When you realized it, it was an avalanche. Disagreement is his rehab from a quad injury dating back to season before last. He wasn't happy or satisfied with treatment from the team medical staff. They took it into their own hands in August of last year. It never got better. Led to frustration on the team side because they weren't getting information...basically out of the loop on their franchise player. Been distrust on both sides & nothing to close the gap and in fact seems to be widening. As recently as March, he was still telling people he was planning on playing last season, even his camp giving specific dates. Those dates would come & go, teammates were getting flummoxed because "Hey, he said he was gonna play this game, now he's not playing, where he is?" He's in New York, not even in San Antonio. There was distrust on each side. Spurs grew suspicious this isn't about a quad at all but a way for his camp to get him out of San Antonio, into a bigger market, which is where we are today, asking to be shipped out of San Antonio. Who has the leverage here? Both have a little when talking about a trade. He can opt out next season. If a team will trade for him & give up assets, they'll want assurances he'll sign long term. Kawhi has a little leverage that way. If he wants to go to LA, Spurs are under no obligation to trade him to LA. Both sides have a little leverage. Why gift wrap him to the Lakers? I'm not sure LA can give the best package. If you're gonna trade him, you aren't getting a top 5 player for him but probably a package of guy(s) who could be considered future all-stars plus a lottery pick. Lakers current pick is worse than the Spurs #18 pick and don't believe they have a pick next year. If they're looking for picks, Lakers won't be able to put together a package. If there is no other market for him, you gotta trade him to where you can get the best players. If it makes the Lakers better for awhile, it makes them better for awhile. If you trade Kawhi, you're not a title contender anymore so what real difference does it make? You have to do the best you can do to get the most you can get back. I don't believe the Lakers will be that team. How long would Pop last with Lonzo/LaVar? If that trade were made on Monday, I think Pop would retire on Tuesday. They have been dealing with Kawhi & his uncle/business adviser, Dennis Robertson. There's definitely a disconnect between him & Pop/RC. He's like LaVar Ball without the publicity. Behind the scenes, he's that kind of demanding character. That relationship hasn't worked out well. How long will Pop do this? Excellent question. Wildcard into everything is the personal tragedy he went through. We don't know where he is right now in terms of next season. I've heard he's recently started to re-engage in the day to day business of the Spurs, the normal offseason stuff. I believe they're expecting him to continue. This is me guessing but I don't see him being coach of the Spurs & coach of the Olympics at the same time. Seems natural to me that would be the transition point. He'll be 70. He's getting to that age you have to think about it. I think the end is near but not sure it's this season. Kawhi is where in October? I don't think he's on the Spurs but I couldn't guess where. We could know before Thursday before the draft happens. If you're gonna trade him, you'll want to get into this draft. Don't think they'll rush anything but that's one point you might want to look at hitting.
Boston just got to the ECF and to a game 7 at that with Brown and Tatum (no Heyward or Kyrie) with the #1 seed, so they are not pressed to make a lot of changes.
Lowe: (Kings) Can't imagine them trading #2 for Kawhi. As of 2:19pm ET on Monday, no team has gotten close to getting permission to talk to Kawhi's agent & any team not in LA should want to do that before they throw anything like the #2 pick to San Antonio.
Trade two major pieces of the young core that pushed the Cavs to 7 games to have a trio that all didn’t play in the playoff because of injuries. Seems legit
As I see it, LAL’s top priority is to sign FA LeBron & PG. Then they have all the time to work out a trade to get Leonard/dump Deng’s contract Since Leonard has already indicated that he wants to play for LAL, don’t think other teams will offer much for a rental. That said, the Spurs, Being a well-run org, will trade w the team that will offer the most assets; indications are that LAL will be the one
Kawhi is 100% healthy to join another team. If he is still on the Spurs....that quad issue will flair up again. It is chronic, remember? Got it.
