It sounds like he wants to be here. Not everybody is motivated by personal glory and the responsibility and pressure that brings. Maybe he has a good community here. Say you live in SF consulting for Google and have a nice group of friends and family in the area. Job pays well and is fairly low key, plus you only work 40-50 hours a week. Now Amazon comes in and offers you a consulting gig in their DC office. Pay is only slightly better but it is a higher profile project and comes with the opportunity to achieve some personal accolades that would look very good on your resume. The work is meaningful and impactful but you will have to work 60-70 hours a week and you don't know anybody in DC. Now many here would take the new gig and try to position themselves better for future opportunities, but not everyone. Maybe some here are okay with what they make and want to be around a community they have established for themselves. They might not want to make their kids transfer schools. They have a good poker and pickup ball group. EG might set up his post NBA career better with a ring (Hi, this is world champion Eric Gordon and I only drive Toyota, the champion's car of choice!), but he may not be motivated by that. I am in the camp that would try to capitalize on personal opportunities, but not everyone is like that nor are they wrong for feeling that way. I have friends that turn down opportunities like the hypothetical above, and are way happier for it. Maybe EG just wants to chill in low stakes basketball while eating all of the good food Houston has to offer. Maybe he does like mentoring the young guns. KPJ sure made it seem that way, and he would have no incentive to lie about that. tldnr maybe EG likes it here
Guys like Tilman run their business a certain way. Another poster commented how much this organization "loves KPJ" and it made me realize that KPJ is exactly the type of player Tilman and Co likes. People with troubled pasts who always feel indebted to you. They always look for people with histories or yes men so that they can just do what they want. It's why Morey, Harden, Brown and D'antoni are no longer here. These were among the best people in the world at their craft. But when you hire people like that, they know their value and can tell you to **** off. Doesn't work for Tilman. Wonder if the Mobley crew were right to stay away from here and make sure that Evan didn't get drafted by this team. If so that was a very apt observation by papa Mobley. All we have left now is a skeleton of a team and even CF has devolved into hate spewing and finger pointing.
It is ironic that you mentioned Morey, Harden, Brown and D'Antoni. They are not quite Buford, Jordan, Ujiri and Phil Jackson. Borderline great but no cigar.
Lol. “Here’s an awful conspiracy theory about people I don’t know. I can’t believe people are spewing hate around here!”
Phil and Jordan are legends. Morey, Harden, Brown and D'antoni are beyond great. Harden is probably a legend at this point. D'antoni as well. The guy was the godfather of the modern NBA offense. It just took Steph Curry existing to actualize it. Unlike Crane who bought a middling franchise and blew it up to fix it (what you're supposed to do), Tilman bought (on credit) the second best basketball franchise on the planet (probably) and literally bulldozed it into ground. 2 years ago we were thinking Championships. Right now we're just hoping Kevin Porter Jr doesn't go nuts and Christian Wood is up for setting real picks.
So I didn't say they were not any good but there are legislators and executors. I see MDA and Morey more as legislators. People that have the greatest ideas, the execution is very good but not great. You are going to remembered by the number of championships, that is the hard truth. Out of those 4 different personalities, MDA is the softest one of them. Morey's 3 and Layup was already implemented by the entire league, he got no advantage at that point. Morey linked his fate to Harden, that would be his final nail....... (I know too little of Tad.....so I am not including him.)
Lakers could’ve traded THT for Lowry last season, re-signed him, and then never have the Russ issue while keeping their role players like Caruso, but no…oh well, I enjoy the shenanigans
If they had offered that 2027 pick unprotected, we might have thrown in a role player with Wall... (choose a minimum contract rotation player that we have - KJ or Garry etc) maybe add THT and some (3?) 2nds as well and get back Gordon too. By not moving Russ they basically said their goal is to maximise ticket sales until LeBron retires. They aren't trying to win
So did this bet ever get taken care of? @harold bingo 2 weeks without logging in. Must be using the alternate lol CC @Reeko
It probably is D ( for Wood); but there is more to the story if it is Houston My understanding is that the 76ers asked Stone/Tilman/Houston to notify them if they were trading Harden. They would like the opportunity to top that deal. Tilman and the Rockets didn't as they traded Harden to the Nets. Tilman doesn't want to help or work with Morey. Probably the whole, I want to spend time with my family and then join the 76ers two weeks later thing. So Houston not taking two first rounders for Wood changes the story if it's Houston in the Morey story and Stone would be acting under the orders of Tilman, I'm guessing. Does it make us Rockets fans happy, well no. Not saying it makes it right. Just that Tilman doesn't want to deal with Philly. Harden still got there. The same way Popovich didn't want to trade Kawhi to a Western Conference team.....still got there.
Yes this is my belief all along. There is a power struggle going on between Palinka and LeBron because Palinka wanted the Buddy Hield deal but LeBron said go with the Westbrook deal. Now Palika is fighting back against the GM LeBron saying no, you made this mess when you wanted Westbrook.....now live with it. LeBron is throwing out there, I may go back to Cleveland? Go where Bronny is drafted? Thunder GM Sam Presti is the "Legend" (shot at Palinka) Fact is LeBron has a history of pushing teams for bad deals. In Cleveland he pushed for Jamario Moon, Jamison and other flunkies before bailing on the Cavs for Mami and then had the nerve to say the Cavs never brought him any talent he wanted. LeBron forced the Cavs to trade for Kevin Love before going back to Cleveland from Miami....which he was trying to cold shoulder Bosh into going to Houston so Melo could join the Heat. Bosh didn't bite so LeBron left for Cleveland. All in all, yes Lakers are tail spinning into oblivion
