The Biggest Losers of a (likely) Nixed NBA Season

[trojanfan12]

Yes. But this is LeBron. He is literally on the Mount Rushmore of the NBA’s greatest players.

If he has worn your uniform, he is in the all time starting 5.

I don't care who he is. He's not in my Lakers starting 5. He hasn't accomplished a thing as a Laker.

 

[HurricaneDij39]

First of all, whoever wins the title, will have earned it. There is no "asterisk" unless someone other than the Lakers wins it.

^There, I had just done you a favor by translating your words into their truest of meaning/intent.

The fact that single elimination and best-of-three have even been discussed should be indicative in itself that any title won this year will have an asterisk next to it, and further proof of how dire of shape our current season is in.

Truthfully, I hadn't planned on posting here for quite awhile if not for the idiocy I've noticed taking place in my own thread. The fact that most on here view @Shaqdaddy11 as an "elite poster" only illustrates my point for this board being nothing more than a third class hub.

Also, there really isn't any denying that LeBron will be the NBA's cash cow until the day he retires, and moreso than absolutely any other player (Steph, KD, AD, Giannis, Zion, Harden, etc...). Anyone that fails to see this is naive as fuck. Plain and simple.

My ultimate question I pose for yourself, @tlance , or anyone else:

Do you think that anyone in the NBA corporate offices really gives a shit if the Clippers aren't able to win a title? Do you think they really care whether or not the Bucks can snap their drought?

The reality is that there's only one guy in particular the league has massive concerns for if unable to complete the season (Hint: His name resides in my current sig...), because this particular individual has been a spoiled narcissist since the day he turned 18.

 

[trojanfan12]

Truthfully, I hadn't planned on posting here for quite awhile

Now you don't have to worry about posting in here at all.

You're welcome.

I can make it so you don't have to post on the site at all if you want.

 

[tlance]

^There, I had just done you a favor by translating your words into their truest of meaning/intent.

The fact that single elimination and best-of-three have even been discussed should be indicative in itself that any title won this year will have an asterisk next to it, and further proof of how dire of shape our current season is in.

Truthfully, I hadn't planned on posting here for quite awhile if not for the idiocy I've noticed taking place in my own thread. The fact that most on here view @Shaqdaddy11 as an "elite poster" only illustrates my point for this board being nothing more than a third class hub.

Also, there really isn't any denying that LeBron will be the NBA's cash cow until the day he retires, and moreso than absolutely any other player (Steph, KD, AD, Giannis, Zion, Harden, etc...). Anyone that fails to see this is naive as fuck. Plain and simple.

My ultimate question I pose for yourself, @tlance , or anyone else:

Do you think that anyone in the NBA corporate offices really gives a shit if the Clippers aren't able to win a title? Do you think they really care whether or not the Bucks can snap their drought?

The reality is that there's only one guy in particular the league has massive concerns for if unable to complete the season (Hint: His name resides in my current sig...), because this particular individual has been a spoiled narcissist since the day he turned 18.

Again, this is an incredibly stupid take.

Yes, LeBron is aging and he is a cash cow for the league playing in its premier market. I am sure NBA people would be good with LeBron winning a ring this year.

But, he is NOT the reason they are discussing reopening. As has been pointed out by everyone, literally every team and every player in the league loses if the season is cancelled. They lose hundreds of millions in revenue which will trickle down to player contracts and cap numbers in future seasons. And most of all, a lost season leaves a lot of unanswered questions in the minds of fans.

For you to be naive enough to actually believe LeBron is the “main reason” the league wants to reopen just makes you look like the hater we all know you are.

Nobody, I repeat nobody wins from a lost season. But you go ahead and believe what you want.

 

[Wamu]

I totally understood what you meant. And it is a valid point.

I just disagree about the importance of longevity in these things.

Obviously Worthy had a lot more time


Yes. But this is LeBron. He is literally on the Mount Rushmore of the NBA’s greatest players.

If he has worn your uniform, he is in the all time starting 5.

We're gonna have to agree to disagree on this topic. But when putting together a starting 5 for any team it's all a matter of opinion. There's no right or wrong answer.

Here's another question about the Lakers. Which coach you going with- Riley, Phil or Luke Walton?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

@ChiefsLakers67 @trojanfan12 @Shaqdaddy11

 

[msgkings322]

We're gonna have to agree to disagree on this topic. But when putting together a starting 5 for any team it's all a matter of opinion. There's no right or wrong answer.

Here's another question about the Lakers. Which coach you going with- Riley, Phil or Luke Walton?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

@ChiefsLakers67 @trojanfan12 @Shaqdaddy11

Magic Johnson!

 

[trojanfan12]

Here's another question about the Lakers. Which coach you going with- Riley, Phil or Luke Walton?

Obviously not Luke.

That's a tough one. Riley and Phil have completely opposite styles.

I'm a bit more old school...I'm going with Riley.

 

[Wamu]

Obviously not Luke.

That's a tough one. Riley and Phil have completely opposite styles.

I'm a bit more old school...I'm going with Riley.

That's what I was thinking as well. Did you know Riley lost his fastball years ago? I don't know why the Heat keep him around. Must have incriminating photos of the owner or something.

 

[ericd7633]

1. Lakers - been a while since they were relevant and won a playoff game
2. Clippers - knocks a year off their championship window
3. Bucks - see above, one year closer to Giannis potentially leaving(don't think he will but you never know)
4. Heat - I don't think they would have made the finals, but I was genuinely curious what they would have done in the playoffs.
5. Sixers - first round loss would have sealed Browns fate.

 

[trojanfan12]

1. Lakers - been a while since they were relevant and won a playoff game
2. Clippers - knocks a year off their championship window
3. Bucks - see above, one year closer to Giannis potentially leaving(don't think he will but you never know)
4. Heat - I don't think they would have made the finals, but I was genuinely curious what they would have done in the playoffs.
5. Sixers - first round loss would have sealed Browns fate.

I'd switch the Lakers and Clippers.

Even during the recent down years, most knew that the Lakers would eventually be back. Even if by accident. lol

This is the first time in the Clippers have been relevant in their history and the first time that top FA's chose them over anybody, let alone the Lakers.

If they don't get a title while they have Kawhi and PG...I don't think they'll return to being the same ol' Clippers, Ballmer is a far better owner than Sterling. But they'll lose any chance of making up ground on the Lakers and Dodgers in terms of popularity in LA.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

I'd switch the Lakers and Clippers.

Even during the recent down years, most knew that the Lakers would eventually be back. Even if by accident. lol

This is the first time in the Clippers have been relevant in their history and the first time that top FA's chose them over anybody, let alone the Lakers.

If they don't get a title while they have Kawhi and PG...I don't think they'll return to being the same ol' Clippers, Ballmer is a far better owner than Sterling. But they'll lose any chance of making up ground on the Lakers and Dodgers in terms of popularity in LA.

I don't think anything the Clippers do will ever overtake the Lakers in popularity in LA or anywhere else. LAL has too much history.

What LAC does have is a very smart ovwner with deep pockets, who just bought the Forum, so he could build a brand new state of the art home court for the Clippers. So I think you will see the Clippers being competitive for many, many years.

Same goes for NY with the Knicks/Nets. Knicks will always be more popular locally because of the history involved, but Brooklyn is the one who signed the big FA and is viewed as the up and comer.

Lastly -- I read someone say they are trying to save the season for Lebron and I don't think I have heard anything more foolish. They are trying to save the season so the league doesn't lose their ass and franchise don't lose their ass. That's why they are trying to save the season. Not because of any singular player.

 

[ericd7633]

I'd switch the Lakers and Clippers.

Even during the recent down years, most knew that the Lakers would eventually be back. Even if by accident. lol

This is the first time in the Clippers have been relevant in their history and the first time that top FA's chose them over anybody, let alone the Lakers.

If they don't get a title while they have Kawhi and PG...I don't think they'll return to being the same ol' Clippers, Ballmer is a far better owner than Sterling. But they'll lose any chance of making up ground on the Lakers and Dodgers in terms of popularity in LA.

I'd put more faith in the Clippers management/front office than the Lakers. You even said yourself it was by accident.

 

[trojanfan12]

I don't think anything the Clippers do will ever overtake the Lakers in popularity in LA or anywhere else. LAL has too much history.

No doubt. I don't think they can even catch the Dodgers in terms of popularity in LA.

But they can make some ground up, kind of carve out their own base and become a solid 3rd in terms of popularity. Building the new arena will help a lot.

Just the newness of it will attract some fans and probably help them attract better players, especially if they can get a title or 2 with Kawhi and PG.

It'll be interesting to see if the Lakers and Staples Center start doing upgrades.

Lastly -- I read someone say they are trying to save the season for Lebron and I don't think I have heard anything more foolish. They are trying to save the season so the league doesn't lose their ass and franchise don't lose their ass. That's why they are trying to save the season. Not because of any singular player.

That was probably hurricane...no one takes anything he says seriously. He probably blames Lebron for the coronavirus.

Lebron is likely a consideration for continuing the season (at least at the NBA offices level) because the NBA does a great job of promoting it's biggest stars and they know Lebron is much closer to the end of his career than the beginning. But it's a very small consideration.

But as for the overwhelmingly biggest reason...you're 100% correct. They want to try to salvage as much money as they possibly can from this.

And that's the entire league from the Commissioners office all the way through the players (who just agreed to a 25% pay reduction for the season).

 

[trojanfan12]

I'd put more faith in the Clippers management/front office than the Lakers. You even said yourself it was by accident.

That famous Domer reading comprehension...lol

Where did I say they did it by accident?

I said that most believed they'd be back even if by accident.

As for more faith in the Clippers front office....as of right now, I'd agree. They have Jerry West in an advisory capacity overseeing their moves and Lawrence Frank is a very good President of Basketball Operations. That's as good as any FO in the league.

As for the Lakers FO...they had some early missteps and the Magic debacle, but they have recovered nicely, were able to finally land AD and put together a roster that has performed better than most thought it could.

So far, it looks like Pelinka knows what he's doing and will be fine, but he also remains largely unproven, especially compared to West and Frank.

He could be facing 3 big tests pretty soon.

Whether they win a title or not, he will need to show that he can make moves to win another one, or make the moves to get them over the top if they don't

He also needs to re-sign AD.

Assuming he can re-sign AD, then his next test will be in a couple of seasons or so when Lebron retires and he has to show that he can put a contending roster around him.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

No doubt. I don't think they can even catch the Dodgers in terms of popularity in LA.

But they can make some ground up, kind of carve out their own base and become a solid 3rd in terms of popularity. Building the new arena will help a lot.

Just the newness of it will attract some fans and probably help them attract better players, especially if they can get a title or 2 with Kawhi and PG.

It'll be interesting to see if the Lakers and Staples Center start doing upgrades.



That was probably hurricane...no one takes anything he says seriously. He probably blames Lebron for the coronavirus.

Lebron is likely a consideration for continuing the season (at least at the NBA offices level) because the NBA does a great job of promoting it's biggest stars and they know Lebron is much closer to the end of his career than the beginning. But it's a very small consideration.

But as for the overwhelmingly biggest reason...you're 100% correct. They want to try to salvage as much money as they possibly can from this.

And that's the entire league from the Commissioners office all the way through the players (who just agreed to a 25% pay reduction for the season).

Yeah -- teams like the Lakers, Dodgers, USC -- no other team or school will pass them in popularity in Cali based solely on their history and the huge fan base of people who grew up rooting for them.

Other teams in Cali can gain popularity if they have success, but the popular teams will always be the same.

I give the Clips owner huge props though from making them relevant again. That isn't an easy task.

 

[ericd7633]

That famous Domer reading comprehension...lol

Where did I say they did it by accident?

I said that most believed they'd be back even if by accident.

As for more faith in the Clippers front office....as of right now, I'd agree. They have Jerry West in an advisory capacity overseeing their moves and Lawrence Frank is a very good President of Basketball Operations. That's as good as any FO in the league.

As for the Lakers FO...they had some early missteps and the Magic debacle, but they have recovered nicely, were able to finally land AD and put together a roster that has performed better than most thought it could.

So far, it looks like Pelinka knows what he's doing and will be fine, but he also remains largely unproven, especially compared to West and Frank.

He could be facing 3 big tests pretty soon.

Whether they win a title or not, he will need to show that he can make moves to win another one, or make the moves to get them over the top if they don't

He also needs to re-sign AD.

Assuming he can re-sign AD, then his next test will be in a couple of seasons or so when Lebron retires and he has to show that he can put a contending roster around him.

When you said "even by accident" I meant it to mean just that. IMO the Lakers got lucky, meaning LeBron and AD fell into their lap(or even by accident) that LeBron wanted to live in LA and AD basically wanted to go there as well. Nothing the organization did persuaded them to go to the Lakers, it's just where they wanted to play/live. So that's where I was coming from. I thought you were admitting as such is all, because that's my frame of view on the topic.

The roster is older(outside of AD) that's why they are the biggest losers in all this. Pelinka, admittedly did a better job this season filling out the roster, but next year everyone will be a year older.

 

[dtgold88]

That famous Domer reading comprehension...lol

Where did I say they did it by accident?

I said that most believed they'd be back even if by accident.

As for more faith in the Clippers front office....as of right now, I'd agree. They have Jerry West in an advisory capacity overseeing their moves and Lawrence Frank is a very good President of Basketball Operations. That's as good as any FO in the league.

As for the Lakers FO...they had some early missteps and the Magic debacle, but they have recovered nicely, were able to finally land AD and put together a roster that has performed better than most thought it could.

So far, it looks like Pelinka knows what he's doing and will be fine, but he also remains largely unproven, especially compared to West and Frank.

He could be facing 3 big tests pretty soon.

Whether they win a title or not, he will need to show that he can make moves to win another one, or make the moves to get them over the top if they don't

He also needs to re-sign AD.

Assuming he can re-sign AD, then his next test will be in a couple of seasons or so when Lebron retires and he has to show that he can put a contending roster around him.

Hmmmm...agree with some but not all. Pelinka knows what he is doing? Debatable. would he have known if AD did not insist on joining the Lakers (and I don't think Pelinka was the attraction)? and, sure, he was able to make a deal to get him but not like he didn't give up a ton to do and maybe cave to demands.

For the second year in a row he still couldn't convince the 3rd star to come.

Will say Ball and Ingram picks have looked better than they once did and if that was him then good on him. My guess is this was the doing of maybe Magic more than Pelinka, but you'd know better than I would.

 

[trojanfan12]

When you said "even by accident" I meant it to mean just that.

Yeah, I could have phrased it a little better.

IMO the Lakers got lucky, meaning LeBron and AD fell into their lap(or even by accident) that LeBron wanted to live in LA and AD basically wanted to go there as well. Nothing the organization did persuaded them to go to the Lakers, it's just where they wanted to play/live.

I disagree here. The Lakers actually did a lot of work in order to get both of them.

When Magic and Pelinka took over, the Lakers weren't in good shape as far as contracts because they were saddled with a couple of bad contracts (Mozgov and Deng) that seriously hindered their ability to go after top FA's.

They were able to get rid of 1 of those contracts and stretch the other a long with a couple of other contracts. That opened up 2 max slots.

I agree that Lebron wanted to come to LA and so did AD, you can't claim that the Lakers "got lucky" or "didn't have to do anything" to get them. After all, they hadn't been able to land any top FA's prior to Lebron.

The NBA has a salary cap and the cap doesn't care where a player wants to play, they can't go there if they can't get the money to work. It's not like Lebron gave them a discount.

The roster is older(outside of AD) that's why they are the biggest losers in all this. Pelinka, admittedly did a better job this season filling out the roster, but next year everyone will be a year older.

And the older players, for the most part, are on shorter term deals. Lebron even has a player option after next season. So, Pelinka has them set up to be able to make some moves, it's just a question of whether or not he makes the right moves.

 

[trojanfan12]

Hmmmm...agree with some but not all. Pelinka knows what he is doing?

At what point did I say he know what he's doing.

I clearly stated that he looks like he knows what he's doing and that he remains largely unproven.

I even laid out 3 tests that he needs to pass to show that he knows what he's doing. We are likely 2-3 years away before truly being able to say that he knows what he's doing.

Heck, Magic looked like he knew what he was doing until he started fucking up.

and, sure, he was able to make a deal to get him but not like he didn't give up a ton to do and maybe cave to demands.

When was the last time a team didn't have to give up a ton and cave to demands to trade for a superstar player? Especially when there was so much bad blood built up.

Will say Ball and Ingram picks have looked better than they once did and if that was him then good on him. My guess is this was the doing of maybe Magic more than Pelinka, but you'd know better than I would.

If memory serves, Ball was Magic's guy and Ingram was Pelinka's. I believe that Hart and Kuzma were also Pelinka.

Magic was the main reason they got Lebron. I believe that Lebron was the reason AD wanted to come, but Pelinka (with an assist from Rich Paul) was the one who was able to salvage the deal that Magic looked to have killed during the season.

To be completely fair, it also helped that the Pels hired David Griffin who wasn't involved in the debacle during the season. He didn't have the animosity towards the Lakers that the GM he replaced and the owner did. I think that, if not for him, the Pels were likely willing to cut off their nose to spite their face.

 

[Black Adam]

We're gonna have to agree to disagree on this topic. But when putting together a starting 5 for any team it's all a matter of opinion. There's no right or wrong answer.

Here's another question about the Lakers. Which coach you going with- Riley, Phil or Luke Walton?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

@ChiefsLakers67 @trojanfan12 @Shaqdaddy11

Phil. Good question, though...