2017 NBA Offseason Thread

[bksballer89]

 

[Black Adam]

Seriously?

SERIOUSLY...

 

[Black Adam]

You don't want Lebron next summer?

HELL to da NO...!!!

 

[Vyle203]

HELL to da NO...!!!

Can't wrap my brain around it, but if that's how ya feel..

 

[Black Adam]

Can't wrap my brain around it, but if that's how ya feel..

all i'll say is the Dubs already proved you can win titles without LeClown...

 

[tlance]

all i'll say is the Dubs already proved you can win titles without LeClown...

Well, that is true.

But, the ONLY teams to win championships since 2010 have either had LeBron or been a special group. Spurs and Warriors are both great franchises. It takes true greatness to beat him.

 

[Black Adam]

Well, that is true.

But, the ONLY teams to win championships since 2010 have either had LeBron or been a special group. Spurs and Warriors are both great franchises. It takes true greatness to beat him.

k, i'll concede that part. thing is this isn't the Miami Heat version of LeClown anymore. dude's heading into his mid-30's with a quickness now. not only do I NOT want him on the Lakers for the fact that he's an arrogant, self-centered clown, but also who needs Kobe tour 2? sorry, but i'd rather NOT see my team help that guy's "legacy"...

 

[shopson67]

Exactly. If you can get Lebron for 3 for 4 years and make the finals every year during that time period and win 1 or 2 titles then you could careless about him being an attention whore.

Is that still the case in his mid-thirties though? How many moves will he try to force through once he gets there by taking only 1 and 1 contracts for maximum leverage? If Lebron was just a player that joined a team it could be that simple, but he joins a team and forces them to redesign the team around his style to his whims.

Winning is great, but also unlikely for the next 2 years or so while the Warriors are at their peak. The Lakers may be smarter to continue to build with younger players that fit their system. Re-signing KCP may be a better move than pursuing Paul George to play SG. Does Lebron even want to play PF (where he would essentially fit in LA)? The ideal signing for the Lakers next year would be a modern C more than SFs like George or Lebron, especially if Ingram continues to build as hinted at in his brief summer league appearance.

 

[shopson67]

Well, that is true.

But, the ONLY teams to win championships since 2010 have either had LeBron or been a special group. Spurs and Warriors are both great franchises. It takes true greatness to beat him.

Dallas Mavericks?

Really though, isn't that almost always the case? It should take a special group or dominant player to win a title in any given year.

 

[shopson67]

The one to the far right is Glenn Robinson III

Have no idea who #15 is

Had to check the roster lol; #15 is Ike Anigbogu, rookie PF/C from UCLA.

 

[DJ Fieri]

....ice cream and symphonies too.

I like ice cream.....symphonies can go fuck themselves.

 

[trojanfan12]

Is that still the case in his mid-thirties though?

Unless he suffers a major injury, then it's probably still the case. It's certainly a better gamble than when they traded for Nash who, even though he was coming off of an all star caliber season, had a history of injuries. Lebron has literally zero history of injuries. Even Kobe had more of a history of injuries at 32 than Lebron does.

How many moves will he try to force through once he gets there by taking only 1 and 1 contracts for maximum leverage? If Lebron was just a player that joined a team it could be that simple, but he joins a team and forces them to redesign the team around his style to his whims.

It depends. The Lakers current plan and why they were so careful to sign guys to only 1 year deals, is to create enough cap space to sign 2 max FA's next summer. So, the Lakers plan is to add 2 max guys to the young core anyway.

Lebron may see the writing on the wall and he may be willing to come to the Lakers pretty much as is, especially if they bring in another max level player. If he wants to give some input as to who that other player might/should be, I have no issue with that. However, if he starts wanting to remake the roster like he did in Cleveland...I would hope that the Lakers would be smart enough to walk away.

Imo, if the Lakers were to sign him, I'd want it to be on short term deals anyway because of his age. Easier to cut him loose/move him if/when the wheels come off. I'm a bit of a believer in the New England Patriots philosophy that it's better to move a guy 1 year too early than 1 year too late.

I also don't think Lebron will have the power that he had going to Miami and nowhere near that he has in Cleveland ever again. One, as you point out, he's getting old. Everyone knows that sooner or later Father Time will catch up and no one wants to be stuck long term paying huge money for who he used to be.

Also, given what the Warriors have, teams know that simply adding Lebron is no longer a guaranteed trip to the finals, maybe not even in the East. Therefore, he may very well find that teams aren't so willing to meet his demands. As Lakers fans, we saw this with Kobe. As soon as he was no longer a guaranteed deep playoff run, no one wanted to come to the Lakers anymore.

Winning is great, but also unlikely for the next 2 years or so while the Warriors are at their peak. The Lakers may be smarter to continue to build with younger players that fit their system.

This is where his decision will be interesting. There really is no way for him to jump to a team that will be ready to take down the Warriors simply by adding him to the roster with the exception of the Spurs, who wouldn't be able to do it because of cap space.

However, he could set himself up for another ring or 2 by going to a team like the Lakers or Sixers that will have good young core players and the cap space to bring in another, younger max FA along with him. A team like that could be ready to take down the Warriors in a couple of seasons allowing Lebron to collect another ring or 2 while still being a big part of things, but having to do less of the heavy lifting that he's been doing for the past 7-8 years.

 

[bksballer89]

Was SportsHoopla only messing up for me or everyone?

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

 

[Vyle203]

Was SportsHoopla only messing up for me or everyone?

Me too. Thought shaggy wasn't paying his bills.

 

[trojanfan12]

sorry, but i'd rather NOT see my team help that guy's "legacy"...

See, this is where we differ. I'm far more interested in seeing more banners go up in Staples (and catching the fucking Celtics in overall titles lol) than I am in who gets the credit for it.

Last I checked, those banners just say Los Angeles Lakers, not Los Angeles Lakers led by...

Plus, I think pretty much all superstar players are arrogant, self centered clowns (except for Timmy and Dirk).

 

[bksballer89]

Me too. Thought shaggy wasn't paying his bills.

Same. I was ready to put hands on him

 

[tlance]

Dallas Mavericks?

Really though, isn't that almost always the case? It should take a special group or dominant player to win a title in any given year.

Dallas won in 2010. Since it has been LeBron, SA and GS.

And no, I don't think every team to win a title has been special. We are now in the super team era though. Unless something changes NBA culture drastically, it will take a truly special team to win moving forward.

LeBron moving to Miami has changed the way every star thinks when entering free agency. It used to be that really good teams had a chance. Now you have to be great.

 

[tlance]

Is that still the case in his mid-thirties though? How many moves will he try to force through once he gets there by taking only 1 and 1 contracts for maximum leverage? If Lebron was just a player that joined a team it could be that simple, but he joins a team and forces them to redesign the team around his style to his whims.

Winning is great, but also unlikely for the next 2 years or so while the Warriors are at their peak. The Lakers may be smarter to continue to build with younger players that fit their system. Re-signing KCP may be a better move than pursuing Paul George to play SG. Does Lebron even want to play PF (where he would essentially fit in LA)? The ideal signing for the Lakers next year would be a modern C more than SFs like George or Lebron, especially if Ingram continues to build as hinted at in his brief summer league appearance.

I couldn't disagree more. Versatile wings are where it is at. LeBron, George and Ingram could all start together and it would work great. There are very few post up 4s anymore, and George can guard any perimeter player, either 1 or 2. Against teams with dynamic point guards, you put George on the point and let Lonzo guard the 2. They are all big enough to be almost interchangeable defensively.

As for the modern center, who is it that you are getting? cousins? Good luck with that.

 

[trojanfan12]

LeBron moving to Miami has changed the way every star thinks when entering free agency. It used to be that really good teams had a chance. Now you have to be great.

Agree. It used to be that players would wait until they were older before they started moving to other teams to chase rings (Barkley, The Mailman, The Glove, Shaq, KG, etc.).

Nowadays, players seem like they want to start doing that earlier in their careers. To me, it just shows that a lot more emphasis is being placed on titles and what they do for a players "brand/legacy" than before.

I can't really decide if I like that trend or not. On the one hand, I like the idea of a guy who toils for the same franchise season after season trying to get them a title. There's something honorable, imo, about guys like Reggie Miller, for example, who played his entire career in Indiana and only even made the finals once. Or KG who stayed a long time and then moved on with the blessing and thanks of the organization and it's fanbase.

On the other hand, guys going to teams with other top players to chase rings while still in their prime, brings a lot of excitement to the league and to the teams that they decide to join giving more teams a chance than we're used to seeing. It's kind of fun going into each off season knowing that teams can go from the lottery to being a contender in literally one summer.