Im probably biased as I would never live in LA... Even as a billionaire. As far as Though I guess none of the NBA cities really excite me, so I guess of that bunch, bein super rich, LA is better than most. That said, you have to factor in Howard's legacy. It's already on shaky ground. Without a championship I don't think he really has a legacy. Best center during a 15 year stretch when there was literally no other competition at the position. Impactful defender but limited offensively? He needs that championship. Consider his temperament. Is it suited for LA? I don't think so. If he stays in LA it's because of the pressure of the media, etc saying how can leave. Now, if he goes to Houston and doesn't win a championship... That's not good either. But in a vacuum, Howard doesn't fit in LA. Houston is the better situation for a bazillion reasons. Would you be willing to live in Houston 8 months a year for the next 4-8 years to cement a legacy? Of course.
It's tough to know what Dwight cares about. Dude doesn't talk much about it. Do you think Houston has a better history of building legacies than Los Angeles? No team has won more in the last half century than the lakers. 5 in the last 13 years. The Rockets won their only 2 championships almost 20 years ago. The other thing is that I feel like Rocket fans spend a lot of time talking about how Hakeem doesn't get the credit he deserves outside of Houston. Being great in LA carries across countries and decades. If I cared about my legacy, I would try to win in a big market.
The problem with talking about the Lakers history is that the guy who built it died last year and passed it on to his idiot son, Jimmy Buss. At least Houston's owner Les Alexander hasn't died yet, and even if he does die, his son is not Jimmy Buss.
Uh....no You're living in fairy tale land Rick. How can we have an above average backup pg when our starting pg is average. Secondly, Lin is not a top 15 pg. Once again, in no order: Tony Parker Russell Westbrook CP3 Damien Lilard Kyrie Irving Steph Curry Rajon Rondo Mike Conley Ricky Rubio Jrue Holiday John Wall Ty Lawson Brandon Jennings Derrick Rose Deron Williams And you can argue Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragic, and an aged Steve Nash. But with that being said, if there are only 29 starting players at a position and the guy on your team is barely in the top 20 and you can swap him for a guy in the top 3, you make that move EVERY SINGLE DAY.
The other problem is that its somewhat of a self fulfilling prophecy. At less the last 5. If Shaq doesn't go there, they probably have zero. It's and buts... I know. But the idea is that you HAVE to go to LA because its LA.. So Shaq goes there. They win. Kobe almost didn't stay even with that. And it's easy to say the Lakers always have something fall into their lap... They seem to for sure. But dont discount luck. The Celtics used to be the equivalent of the Lakers, too. Some bad luck later and it's two decades before their good again. I'm not a luck guy generally... but consider the Lakers seemed to "luck" into their current situation last offseason, only to realize its bad luck in a sense. I can almost argue they're better off not signing Dwight. Nash is old as dirt and the current Lakers don't play to his strengths. Kobe... Who knows. Pau only plays interested half the time. If you really believed in the Lakers luck I'd say not signing Dwight, tanking in 2014, picking up the next Kobe (which they'd for sure do in the draft) is a better course of action. In any case, the team turning out so bad, Dr. Bus dying, Jimmy taking over and immediately proving his idiocy by hiring MDA, Kobe's achilles... Seems like a strong of bad luck to me...
I agree 10000% percent. I think Dwight's legacy is not looking good, BUT if he does stay in LA there's absolutely no way they can make him a championship contender until after next season. And even then, they can't do it unless LeBron decides to sign there. So if he were to stay in LA he doesn't know when they're going to be a contender or (more importantly) who's going to be on his team when he does. As opposed to here where we can tell him right now who's going to be on his team (His buddies JH and Chandler) and who he's going to be able to celebrate a championship with.
I suggest you have that $100 ready to go. The Lakers aren't trading him to their city rival to have him beat them in the arena they share. And Dwight is tight with Parsons and Harden. The odds are at least 50/50 he's a Rocket next season.
But Shaq did sign there... isn't that the point? Free Agents are attracted to the city and that is an indication they will attract more stars. The team that won 2 a few years ago wasn't the same team that Shaq led. The added Gasol and Odom and then Artest for the 2nd run. They built another champion. That is really really impressive. Do you think the Rockets are a championship contender next season with Dwight? I'm not sure he will be back to 100% by then. Harden needs more development as does the rest of the team. That being said, the Rockets are in a much better position today than the Lakers when looking at the future. LA still has Kobe who is still an elite player. By no means as great or at the top of the game as he once was. Look at his stats though, still really good. If he had to pick between winning a championship I think he goes with houston but I think faith in the Lakers ability to build a winner along with the perks of LA keep him on the west coast. No way man. At best I would say %20.
I think they're definitely a much improved team. But knowing Daryl Morey, if he were to swing a roster that included James Harden and Dwight Howard, I can't imagine that he wouldn't find a way to upgrade the other spots. Whether that be a trade for a guy like LaMarcus Aldridge or Kevin Love, or somebody, I just can't imagine him not making any more moves.
I respectfully disagree. We've already seen reports saying the odds of Dwight ending up a Rocket are over 50%. Ex NBA players covering the league are predicting him in Houston. Sorry, but 20% is incredibly pessimistic. Howard has been talking to Rocket players more than his Laker teammates, what does that tell you? Oh, and notice how the Lakers haven't fired D'antoni and all Kobe says is Dwight should stay to the press. They certainly aren't acting like a team that wants Dwight back that bad. And Dwight craves love and attention, ie being wanted.
Those "small" moves would make a huge difference. Miami barely won without a lot of role-players. They have some talent but were plagued with inconsistency. Normal teams need those guys as the history of NBA champions has told us. Lamarcus Aldridge would be an amazing pickup but I don't know how we could do that. Would be amazing. I'm so beat down between the Rockets, Astros and Texans failures. At least the Astros have been gracious enough the last few years to not let us get our hopes up. A lot of reasons to be hopeful about the new rockets team but we've been burned time and time again. Guess that is the price you pay to be a real fan. How do you know how much he has been talking to other lakers?
Let's not forget Les Alexander essentially inherited a championship squad, winning titles in his first two seasons. The Rockets haven't achieved anything similar in magnitude during the 18-odd seasons since. One of the best decisions Alexander ever made was hiring Morey and letting his team go to work though.
Yeah it would be nice if we could have the confidence that our respective teams would make the necessary moves to overcome the proverbial "hump" in their way (Rocket's landing a 2nd guy, Texans getting past 2nd round) But with that being said, I do have that kind of confidence in Daryl Morey to bring in a 3rd guy to give us our own "Big 3" (assuming of course we already would have D12 in tow)
When the Lakers best player tells the press that he hasn't even spoken to Dwight, yet we get reports Dwight is texting and twittering with Parsons constantly. Or see them hanging out in a commercial shoot together. Then, remember the lead recruiter for the Lakers is Darius Morris, a 2nd year guy that got little playing time last year(this was reported weeks ago). It's fairly obvious which team is putting on a full court press and which team is sitting back and resting on its tradition and cache to sway Dwight.
Well listen here, bob. I think lin is around top 15, you don't that's your opinion. The reason why we can have an above average BACKUP point guard and a average STARTING point guard...is just because we can. Lastly in reply to your point that i quoted....no ****. What part of what i said went against that?
With their current roster (including Howard) and injury issues (Kobe), there is no way the Lakers will be a serious contender next year. If they kept everyone (but that probably won't happen), including Howard, their average age per player would be about 32.0 years by the time of next year's playoffs. The only team in the last 30 years to win an NBA title that was as old was the 2011 Mavericks. And that was against Miami in Year One of the Big 3. Kobe will not be the same player next year. There's his age (35), of course. But the main issue is that players who come back from Achilles tears are diminished in the first year back. There was a medical study done on this which was released recently, specifically about NBA players returning from Achilles tears. An old Lakers squad with a diminished Kobe isn't a realistic contender. So, Dwight would have to be thinking about 2014-15 and beyond if he stays with the Lakers, at least in terms of actual chances to win a title. As has been pointed out previously in this thread, as attractive as LA is for free agents, we still don't know what the Jim Buss Lakers will look like. We knew what the Jerry Buss Lakers would look like, but it might be a different product with the inheritance tax issue coming into play for the Buss children.
...you realize you completely destroy your credibility by including Brandon Jennings in that list, right? If you think that selfish chucker is a better PG than Lin, you're an idiot.
