AD is a Laker

Geoff Schwartz@geoffschwartz
Both teams won the trade

Brett Kollmann@BrettKollmann
If the Lakers get Kyrie, and then he helps them win a Championship as part of a big three with Lebron and AD, Celtics fans might literally line up to jump off the Zakim bridge.

trey wingo@wingoz
And The Lakers don’t give up Kuzna

Adrian Wojnarowski@wojespn
Monster haul for David Griffin and the Pelicans. They maximized the AD trade without needing a third team. History of Griffin deals typically include strong pick protections, which could made trade even better. And now, LeBron gets his second star in LA. Here we go.

Bucky Brooks@BuckyBrooks
In the @NFL , execs value draft picks > stars.. The @NBA is different because stars, particularly super stars, are more valuable than draft picks.. There’s a lot of intrigue behind Doors No.1, No.2 &No.3, but I would opt for a known commodity over a possible.

Jason Cole@JasonCole62
Did the Lakers pay too much? In 1975, they gave up four guys who had been first-round picks, including the No. 2 and No. 8 picks in the draft that year, for Kareem. We’ll see on AD. But generally in the NBA, if you get the best player, you win the deal.

Colin Cowherd@ColinCowherd
NBA trade history is pretty clear. Team that gets STAR wins the trade because they compete for the titles, get on TV more, loads of free publicity and become an “it” team, which attracts other players. That said, Pelicans did well too. Fun trade. Both accomplished their goal

Earvin Magic Johnson@MagicJohnson
Great job by Owner Jeanie Buss bringing Anthony Davis to the Lakers! Laker Nation, the Lakers are back in a championship hunt! Congratulations to the entire organization. I know LeBron James has a big smile on his face. I’m loving this!!

time will tell.

but i think the pelicans got a bunch of hot garbage for anthony.

number 4 pick was good, but i don’t think those other first rounders will amount to much unless the lakers just completely screw this up… which is still a possibility.

meanwhile davis is one of the five best players in this game. this isn’t the nfl. one big megastar can make a much bigger impact in the nba compared to the nfl.

but again. lakers could potentially still screw this up cuz right now they have three players and… that’s it. they gotta put a team around them still.

i’d go for shooters and perimeter defenders. danny green would be at the top of my list.

I think the Lakers gave up too much, too. Ingram and Ball are both potential all-stars, and the 4th pick this draft is worth a lot. But Davis puts the Lakers in the playoffs next season, and Ingram and Ball might not. And almost wouldn’t put them in the conference finals. The chemistry wasn’t right…the talent mesh, I mean…from what I read because…I don’t know about that stuff. So they weren’t complementary to LeBron. Davis is, I guess, and so is Kuzma, whom they kept. And the Lakers still have cap space for another star, and they just became a more inviting destination because whoever signs that deal may very well play for a championship. If that happens, the price the Lakers gave up is worth it. If they sign Walker, they have a 2-4 year run at a banner.

i actually don’t think the trade makes much sense for new orleans.

you get a big haul, but how do you distribute the minutes?

there’s only five positions on the court. they have holiday and presumably williamson. that’s three positions left to be filled by players who might or might not be good. i’ll take the great player every time.

that said the lakers still need shooters. and they need a bench. and it’s questionable that they can pull it off. if it was west in control, you have confidence but not pelinka.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by InvaderRam.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by InvaderRam.

Does anyone understand how salaries and the cap work in the NBA?

I’m no cap expert in any sport, but I think I get the basics of the NFL. The NBA confuses me.

Apparently, the Lakers end up with almost ten million more in salary cap room if they delay this trade until late July. If it happens when New Orleans want it to happen — early July — the Lakers lose nearly 10 million. This means they won’t have enough space to sign a “max” free agent like Leonard.

So, I’m wondering: Can LeBron offer up part of his salary to give the Lakers more room? Or is that against their labor agreement? If memory serves, an NFL player can do this. But no pundit is talking about it happening for the Lakers . . .

Thoughts, anyone?

joemad wrote:

Zooey wrote:

I think the Pelicans also had to take on LaVar Ball in the deal.

that’s funny…… that alone makes the trade worthy…..

BTW, who in the hell is AD? I thought that Adrian Dantley already had a stint with the Fakers…

just kidding, I was a big fan of Anthony Davis..until now…… I wonder how long it will take him to get sick of Lebron like Kyrie Irving did.

I don’t know the inside of this because I follow the Lakers, and when they are bad, I don’t follow basketball at all. Total Fair Weather Fan. But…Kyrie was unhappy with Cleveland, and he was unhappy with Boston. So if I’m a GM…is it the situation, or is it the player?

Wade and Bosh didn’t get sick of LeBron. Just sayin’.

I don’t know who AD is, except I keep seeing that he is a Top 5 player in the NBA.

Why now for the blockbuster Anthony Davis-to-Lakers trade? @WindhorstESPN broke it all down and why it was done before Thursday's #NBADraft: pic.twitter.com/M601WDhzSZ

— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) June 17, 2019

maybe karl anthony towns.

For Lakers, I’d get JJ Redick and Patrick Beverley.

That’s affordable, and they’re done. Depth after that.

NBA Fans During Free Agency 2019 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/HhFCvKxO3C

— Cameron Magruder (@ScooterMagruder) July 6, 2019

I noticed the interest in the Lakers by some guys here, so since I ran across this, thought it would fit.

==

After Saturday spending spree, Lakers have players, not answers

https://theathletic.com/1065411/

Here is what the Lakers had on June 30, at the dawn of free agency: Two of the greatest forwards in the modern NBA and a whole lot of uncertainty about the team that would surround them.

Now, here is what they have on July 6, after a flurry of free-agent additions: pretty much the same thing.

Kawhi Leonard? A Clipper.

Big three? Still two.

Betting favorites for the title? No more.

Spurned by Leonard in prime Las Vegas gambling hours, Rob Pelinka was forced to Plan B and quickly went to work locking up commitments from Danny Green, Quinn Cook, JaVale McGee and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. On Saturday, he added Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins, who will soon be two years removed from a torn Achilles. Alex Caruso, who spent the past two years on a two-way contract, was also brought back.

The question oft asked about the Lakers and their hard-earned $32 million in salary-cap space before free agency was answered for them: spend it all on one player or split it up? The Lakers tried for the former and were forced into the latter in a picked-over market. Players such as Seth Curry and Patrick Beverley were gone. Reggie Bullock, Wayne Ellington and Taj Gibson were Knicks.

Anything was going to feel like a letdown if the Lakers missed on Leonard. But at the same time, the Lakers went into July with a core of James, Davis and Kyle Kuzma and the cap space to assemble a roster that would contend for a championship.

Did they do that here? Or did waiting for Kawhi cost them that opportunity? And if so, would they have been better off never clearing the cap space that allowed them to pursue a max free agent? Or, rather than chasing a third MVP-caliber star, should they have simply pursued a third All-Star in Jimmy Butler or Kemba Walker?

These are questions that will be asked. But as I wrote Friday night, the Lakers knew the game they were playing and they knew that there was a risk they wouldn’t land Leonard. They bet on themselves, on the lure of forming an all-time great Big Three, on the brand of the Lakers. They lost.

Pelinka likely salvaged the best offseason he could once Leonard finally came off the board, but it is far from a finished product.

Green, who signed for a reported $15 million a year for two years, was the most important piece. He is among the best 3-and-D wings in the league. He shot a career-best 45.5 percent from 3 and won a title in a contract year with the Raptors. Even if he regresses to his career average of 40.4 percent, that would be better than the Lakers’ best 3-point shooter from a season ago — when Lance Stephenson made 37.1 percent.

Green has been a key member of title teams in San Antonio and Toronto. The only criticism of Green is a great indictment of the Lakers’ depth. He was, generously, the fifth best player on those championship teams.

With the Lakers, he’s arguably third.

A year ago, the Warriors were lauded for attracting Cousins. Even coming off the most devastating injury a basketball player can suffer, Cousins was viewed as the fifth member in a quintent of All-Stars. The Lakers are receiving no such plaudits in the immediate aftermath, and it’s fair to wonder if that has more to do with Cousins’ injury in the playoffs or a general negativity toward the Lakers. Sometimes, it seems like it’s an organization that can’t win for losing.

Another reason this feels like a bigger risk for the Lakers than it did for the Warriors: In Golden State, Cousins was absorbed into an organization with a strong culture and clearly delineated hierarchy. There was no room for Cousins to rock the boat with Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. He served at their pleasure.

With the Lakers amid a full organizational reboot, from the front office to the coaching staff to the roster overhaul, there is no such structure. It will be up to coach Frank Vogel to make sure the pieces work on the floor, and up to James and Davis to set the tone for the culture.

The history between Cousins and Davis is encouraging. The Pelicans were +5.3 with Cousins and Davis on the floor in 2017-18.

But …

That number plummeted to -1.3 when Rondo was on the floor.

On a value contract, Cousins will have the opportunity to show he is still the player he was with Davis in New Orleans. That high ceiling could be the X-factor to a deep playoff run for the Lakers.

After the Lakers ranked 29th in 3-point percentage, it was clear the team had two key areas in which it needed to improve in the offseason — from the perimeter and defensively.

Did the Lakers get better from 3? With Green, Troy Daniels (career 40 percent), Jared Dudley (39.2 percent) the answer is unquestionably yes. The roster boasts shooting at all five positions.

And defense? Vogel is a defensive coach, for starters, and Davis and Green should anchor a much stronger unit on that side of the ball.

In general, you can talk yourself into all of the Lakers’ signings in a vacuum, especially as consolation prizes. The question remains how it will all come together on the court and whether it will be good enough to remove the sting of losing out on Leonard and everyone else who came off the board while they waited.