Toronto, San Antonio talking Kawhi-DeRozan Swap (UPDATE: Done deal)

They are the 6th ranked media market according to Nielsen of NBA teams. (Houston is 10th)

 

Not a Laker fan, just know talent when I see it. Lakers didn't want to give up Ingram/Hart because 1) they don't have to 2) they have star potential. I fail to see how its a good trade when you're getting a player who got humiliated by the same player several years in a row who is now your conference buddy again. Like I've said before, the only upside of this deal is that they can say "they got something back". But this "something" is fake gold, so once again is meaningless.

 

He got all that garbage from Leonard’s people. They have tried to bad mouth the Spurs through the media to force a trade to the Lakers.

 

Yeah that is what the Leonard camp leaked. I was told the Spurs we’re willing to give him the max.

 

Plus they're not competing with as many other sports. Being a big fish in Toronto is highly lucrative I imagine. That's a whole country's worth of potential endorsement deals.

 

Double-talk from the Leonard circle to make it seem like Kawhi is the wronged party. They've been playing the "leak to the media that the spurs are disrespecting kawhi" game since day 1 so Kawhi won't seem like a b**** for wanting to leave SA. End results of that play have been mixed. It helps that the media pundits have been putting a velvet glove over the whole situation by calling it "bizarre" and "strange" instead of "shady" and "two-faced".

 

DeRozan is a 3rd star at best. And paid max money. Spurs shlda gone with prospects and rebuild instead of a 2nd round appearance at best. Need to know when your window is over

 

I've been saying for a while now, don't underestimate the negative value of creating another super-team. In your own conference is a bigger problem too. Spurs may have had better offers elsewhere who knows, but NOT trading him to another superstar has as much value as a first round pick I would say.

This doesn't guarantee Kawhi won't end up on the Lakers, but it shorterns the Lakers window by a year and will cost Kawhi a lot of money. A lot. Good deal.

 

Right he's clearly talking to Kawhi's people and Kawhi's people have been trying to using the media to kill all Spurs leverage and force the Spurs to trade him to the Lakers for peanuts.

I just have to say that I HATE this type of player movement. It's one thing for a player to want out. It's another thing for him to really only want to go to one place. It's a WHOLE OTHER thing for that player to basically work with the team he wants to go to in order to sabotage his current team entirely.

Likely that Kawhi has told the Lakers he would come there (given them some sort of unofficial commitment) and they've refused to up their offer to San Antonio. Kawhi has then worked the media to help hurt San Antonio so he could get traded to LA for scraps. It's just ridiculous all around.

You don't see crap like this in baseball. Sure they have their own issues, but at least when a team decides to rebuild in baseball they can move their player and get prospects. This NBA star stuff is getting more out of control every year.

 

that's just what you would do. not all teams want to just suck with prospects for years and even then that comes with risks

Hou didn't do it and Im sure glad they didn't

 

The Lakers are foolish playing the, “We will sign him as a free agent” game.

How well did that turn out with Paul George?

A year is a long time and a lot of things can change.

 

Yeah Toronto is a huge media market because ALL of the Raptors games are broadcast throughout Canada (which has about 40M people). Even taking the Toronto market by itself is the same size as the Houston market.

 

Call a spade a spade, it's a cultural thing not a star thing. Very bad for competition, parity.

 

Assuming Kawhi is himself ...
Is there a better pair of DEF forwards anywhere?
I'm talking 2 clear starters, not guys on bench in crunch time

IMO, OG is second coming if Kawhi, who already has 2 DPoY awards
Two 6'7" 235lb beasts that can switch & smother anybody outside

Dray + KD - pretty comparable
MKG + Batum - not really
PG13 + Grant - nah

JoshJ + Ariza + Bridges is a nice trio

Am I missing an obvious duo Challenger?

 

The TRUTH is, DeRozan is mediocre AF.

 

I agree 100% and I would add that if Leonard wasn’t a fool, he would be pissed at the Lakers right now. He now has to spend a year on a team he has no interest in and will make $40,000,00 less all because the Lakers wouldn’t increase their offer.

The Lakers counting on super flake to still want to go to LA in 12 months is a real risk.

 

Not of you do it right. See OKC , Philly , Astros etc. That creates the foundation for long term interest.

Rockets hurt themselves by getting a 8th seed at best for 5 years in a row. It always helps to have high ceiling prospects if trading. You have to be decisive in a league of super teams.

 

Yeah its pretty dicey to try to and wait a year, never know when an injury will appear. Barring that however, they are relying on their relationship with Kawhi's uncle to ensure Kawhi ends up with them later, if not sooner. I don't see that relationship souring any time soon. If they have to wait, they will wait.

 

I hope it blows up in the Lakers face and he stays in Toronto. I doubt it will though. This doesn't seem like a PG situation. Honestly I wish the league would come down hard on the Lakers for tampering.

Regardless though I hate the way player movement works in the NBA. It's nuts that two years before he would be a free agent Kawhi began tanking his organization to force his way somewhere for a better shoe deal.

 

Why would Pop go on a rebuild??

Spurs won 61 games just one season ago. And then almost won 50 WITHOUT Leonard this season.

Pop has NEVER never been in "rebuild" mode