The "everyone to the Lakers" offseason jokes apply now more than ever, but it really does feel like a Bron-Kawhi-PG big 3 is in the works. Kawhi will try to force his way there via trade, but can Pop/Buford find a better return of young assets+picks than the haul Magic/Pelinka will offer? Gotta believe they'd want to send him East.
Most definitely. Ainge can churn out a package better than what LA can offer. Jalen Brown is better than Lonzo, Kuzma or Ingram at this point.
Lol did I see something about ariza making 15 m’s? In this market after that game 7? Lmaooo. Trev is my guy but no
First, Ariza at 3 years $40 is $13 million per and 4 years $50 is $12.5 million. Second, OKC gets Gordon + Ariza or nothing. George would probably walk to Philly or the Lakers as a backup plan. Finally, OKC has no ability to sign any free agents above the MLE if George leaves, and they certainly cannot go into tank mode with so much committed to Westbrook. It's not conceding...it's acting in their best interests. I don't buy the idea at all the PG is staying in OKC. AT. ALL.
Mike C. Wright http://www.espn.com/espnradio/losangeles/play?id=23795875 Why is Kawhi having a meeting with Popovich & their camps can't attend? They need to iron out a bunch of things. You think about this: say you own the Spurs. The owners are in the middle of a divorce. I never had a divorce but if it were me, I'm thinking about half my stuff is about to be gone. You want me to invest $219M in a player who played 9 games & there's no guarantee once you sign him & get into February/March that they don't pull that same stuff they did this last time around. That's why they have to have these conversations. I talked to some high ranking officials in the organization and was like what combination of words can Kawhi Leonard use that would convince you everything would be great if you put that super max in front of his face? He was like frankly, nothing. But it's not me he's gotta convince, it's Pop. It's gonna be a tough sell. Pop has to sell it to ownership. Like I said, they're in a middle of divorce. There's a lot to be talked about before they make any decisions. Spurs haven't made a decision on offering that super max. Does Kawhi want to be there regardless or does Kawhi want to be there because they can offer the super max? I think his preference is to stay in San Antonio. I say this because Ramona Shelburne & I worked on a big story awhile back. We talked to a bunch of people close to the Spurs & Kawhi. All the people close to Kawhi said he'd rather stay in San Antonio. It's not a matter of the super max. San Antonio is where he is comfortable. He doesn't have to deal with the media. They protect him in San Antonio. He's a low key guy. San Antonio fits him. {cuts out] was on one of our morning shows on ESPN and he said Kawhi told him directly he'd prefer to stay in San Antonio. The Spurs would like him to finish his career in San Antonio. I think they can fix this. Pop is out of town. I'm not sure Kawhi is [in town] either. At some point, they will sit down & hash this thing out. I think he wants to be in San Antonio. He could be the good cop. Uncle Dennis could be the bad cop & talk to Kawhi about marketing and why you don't have the lucrative shoe deal. How much is that a ploy to get him to LA? It wouldn't matter. If he went to LA, it's not like Jordan is gonna pay him. I worked on that story about his Jordan negotiations falling through. Westbrook is making the most money as the Jordan athlete. Kawhi is not Westbrook. He's not marketable that way, moving products off the shelf. I don't think Nike is looking at San Antonio vs. Los Angeles. It's just how Kawhi is. I don't think it's about endorsements. If Kawhi really wanted to endorse products, he's a recognizable name to endorse all the products he wants. That's not him. He's low key. He just wants to play basketball. Kawhi only wants to play basketball. That's his thing. Who needs to make this right? Does one side need to fix it more than the other? Both sides have to talk this thing out. Both sides were at fault. From Kawhi's perspective, one of his beefs is they feel like the Spurs misdiagnosed his injury. This is not just his quad. It goes back to a hand & wrist injury years ago he feels they misdiagnosed. "I thought you guys were among the best? Doesn't seem that way." From the Spurs perspective, they were resistant when he wanted to go seek his own medical opinion. We have a 20 year track record of being one of the best. We'll put our team up against any team in the NBA. From the Spurs perspective, we need Kawhi to communicate. I need you to call me. I don't want to talk you and say "Hey, what's going on?" and he say "I'm not coming to the game." OK Cool, don't come to the game Kawhi. Then he's like "I'm coming to the game." OK come to the game Kawhi. Then 30 minutes later leave a voicemail "No, I can't come to the game." Those were the type of things happening. Kawhi has to be better communicating. The biggest thing was communication & that falls on Kawhi. Kawhi just doesn't say a lot. That's been an issue for the Spurs. Pop has to sit down with Kawhi. I don't know how you connect with him. I don't know what it is Kawhi digs. Some guys, you can take them out & get some great wine, go to a restaurant & talk everything out. I don't know if that's what you do with Kawhi. Maybe you get out on the court & shoot hoops & talk. Pop has to find a way to reach Kawhi to where Kawhi understands he needs to be a better communicator. Kawhi has become more vocal. When you're about to become the face of the franchise & they give you this super max, I need you in lock step with me. That's what they gotta figure out. It falls on both sides. Nobody is blameless. I think it's something they can work out. Pop has a track record of making it work. I think it's something they can fix. There are conversations that Kawhi can walk into that same meeting, say "I demand a trade to the Lakers. If not, you'll get nothing for me next year because I'll opt out, I won't sign long term so give me what I want right now." Likelihood of that happening & the result? The likelihood I'd say 50/50 of him asking for that. It wouldn't surprise me. The likelihood of it actually happening is non-existent. When LaMarcus asked for a trade, Pop said have to work this out. They found a way. That's different. Lakers can give him stuff. It's intriguing. I was thinking of the LeBron sweepstakes. The Lakers & Sixers are the only teams that can move right now if they wanted to. It wouldn't surprise me. I've heard rumblings Magic is interested in Kawhi. It would shock me if the Spurs let that happen. It would not shock me if Kawhi went in there & asked but that's just not Kawhi. He'd have Uncle Dennis do it or something. It wouldn't be Kawhi asking.
So crazy for Kawhi to have his own desires and for people to actually consider what he may like. He should want LA because that's what Stephen A. wants.
This whole beef was over the Spurs being cheap? Trade him here if you don’t wanna pay him smh If it’s really over money.. Kawhi will be signing that deal soon. No way they don’t offer it
I hate the idea of Ariza playing for OKC. I know you have to give in order to get, and Eric+picks would be the key part of this particular deal, which I've fine with doing, but seeing Ariza play with Westbrook? Argh. It bugs me. While the deal is unlikely (as is most of our speculation - plus, most attempted deals simply don't come to fruition), it does seem a fair return for a guy who's leaving you anyway, with George essentially taking a similar deal to CP3's. I just seriously doubt if that organization will make another large trade with us, not anytime soon. Harden has to still sting for them, especially after Durant flew off to Oakland, with multiple Finals appearances almost guaranteed (the *******). And we're in their division. Still, it's Presti. Like Morey, unpredictable. Just wish we could keep Trevor. I think he's more valuable to our success than he's given credit for, in my opinion, and I'd rather toss someone else in there. Having said that, I'd do it in a New York minute.
I hope Paul George stays in OKC, unless of course he plans on coming here. Keeps him out of teaming up with Lebron on the lakers and makes one more team irrelevant in championship contention. I have no idea why George would stay in OKC though. Even if Lebron doesn’t for go LA, PG would be better off getting away from Westbrook.
I always assumed that if we did have to give up Eric Gordon then we would most definitely pick up Jamal Crawford on the cheap. Him and CP did butt heads in the first round but hopefully it was nothing.
When have the Spurs ever lost a franchise player to free agency or trade in the Pop era? They’ll more than likely mend the fences with Kawhi, and if they don’t, he’s not getting traded to LA. Boston can offer a better package and if Philly were to get a commitment from LeBron, the Sixers could get Kawhi for Simmons if they want.
Disregarding whether either team would do that deal, it's not legal. A team is not allowed to receive a player in a sign and trade if at the completion of the deal they would be over the apron. That would be the case with OKC, so they wouldn't be able to receive a player in a sign and trade.
Heard a report yesterday that Westbrook is great as an endorser for all the companies he works with. Makes sense as he is pretty ecclectic and zany and most likely enjoys doing those things. But we also saw PG get a marginally bigger push endorsement wise this year. It probably helped seeing how Westbrook handles those types of things and just being talked about more than in Indy.
