2018 NBA Catch-All - LeBron Fallout Edition

Does Paul George staying in OKC hurt the chances of LeBron to LA any? Does it help give Philly a shot at him?

The NBA connected people are saying he's 60% to L.A. regardless of PG, 20% to Cleveland, 20% to the field. Who knows where that's coming from though.

Pretty surprised at George too. Apparently he did not even talk to other teams.

I hope he goes back to South Beach so that Dan LeBatard and Stu Gotz can freak out and we all benefit from the greatest entertainment!

Top_Shelf wrote:

I hope he goes back to South Beach so that Dan LeBatard and Stu Gotz can freak out and we all benefit from the greatest entertainment!

But will Papi forgive him? He still calls Dwayne Wade one of the Snake Brothers.

All will be forgiven!

Just have LeBron on and have him get fooled by Pappi on the handshake.

Lebron to the Lakers for 4 years, $154 million.

But who the hell is going with him? He's enough to get the Lakers in the playoffs but not to win the west.

Maybe Boogie, or they pay the very high price for Kawhi. Or they just wait a year for Kawhi, which is a luxury they can afford with LeBron inked for 4 years. I think that's the best bet for them. No need to empty the cupboard for a guy you already know is coming in FA, like the Knicks and Melo.

They have a pretty decent collection of young talent. Ingram has all star potential. Kuzma is already a solid stretch 4. Josh Hart is already a better combo guard than Jordan Clarkson. Lonzo is the big question mark, and Julius Randle's future.

Honestly I admire this more than either of his other moves.

I admire the move back to Cleveland for the stated goal of winning them a championship. He might have gotten more in a world without the Warriors. Otherwise I agree. Especially since he didn’t force a trade and straight-up signed with them.

He took Cleveland to four finals, I hope the fans are grateful for a while.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the whole Ball family circus and Lebron. I am surprised he signed three years (4th is player option), I guess he is timing it for one last big contract after the third year.

It is hilarious James and Lance Stephenson are on the same team now.

If I'm the Ball family, it might be time to latch on to another team. I won't be surprised if by the time the season starts, Lonzo is somewhere else. It's what I would have demanded to sign, if I was LeBron.

Has he said anything publicly about the Balls?

Now Lebron can’t coast through the regular season/early rounds of the playoffs and the Eastern conference is interesting again. I guarantee you won’t see Lebron in the next four finals like he was the last bazillion in the east. Win win really.

He got pretty testy when Lavar started talking about James' kids last year.

Javale McGee and Lance Stephenson also to the Lakers. I guess the animosity between Lance and Lebron just blew over.

Stele wrote:

But who the hell is going with him? He's enough to get the Lakers in the playoffs but not to win the west.

The actual, non-speculative answer: Lance Stephenson!

Lance and Javale are both 1 year deals, as is the returning KCP. Sure seems like the Lakers are keeping their powder dry for next year as I suggested above.

I don't think the Ball family is a concern for LeBron other than how Lonzo plays.

People are clowning the Lakers now for signing Rondo to a 1 year deal. I think this is a better path than signing some middling players to long contracts.

Aren’t they also clowning them for waiving Randle? That makes it look they essentially swapped Randle for Rondo.

Can't say I blame LA for it. Randle doesn't suit the modern game, particularly not with Lebron, and was going to get a multi-year offer in the $10m+ range.

And apparently the Warriors are going to try to turn Boogie Cousins into the next Javale.

Rat Boy wrote:

And apparently the Warriors are going to try to turn Boogie Cousins into the next Javale.

Besides him being infinitely better.

Not sure if it makes sense from Cousins perspective. Yes you get a ring but if he struggles or gets injured again he might be losing allot of money.

Rat Boy wrote:

And apparently the Warriors are going to try to turn Boogie Cousins into the next Javale.

I thought you were goofing. What a crazy starting 5.

That said, Zach Lowe points out on Twitter that it's unclear how much Boogie will play next year. More importantly, the Warriors don't get any meaningful Bird rights to him.

My real takeaway is that GSW is going to be an unbeatable NBA 2k19 team if injuries are turned off.

jowner wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

And apparently the Warriors are going to try to turn Boogie Cousins into the next Javale.

Besides him being infinitely better.

Not sure if it makes sense from Cousins perspective. Yes you get a ring but if he struggles or gets injured again he might be losing allot of money.

Between the catastrophic injury and lack of cap space I'd guess Cousins wasn't getting any big money deals. If New Orleans wasn't going to offer multiple years would he have any of those type of deals on the table?

Roke wrote:
jowner wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

And apparently the Warriors are going to try to turn Boogie Cousins into the next Javale.

Besides him being infinitely better.

Not sure if it makes sense from Cousins perspective. Yes you get a ring but if he struggles or gets injured again he might be losing allot of money.

Between the catastrophic injury and lack of cap space I'd guess Cousins wasn't getting any big money deals. If New Orleans wasn't going to offer multiple years would he have any of those type of deals on the table?

I assume thats what happened also.

That said every other contender is looking at that deal and are swearing up a storm.

Off hand I'm not sure what other teams would of been a better 1 year fit but i'm sure some other teams could of offered more in a 1 year prove it deal.

Cousins and Draymond on the same team? Drama for sure.

I think anyone who would have given Cousins a large contract would have regretted it. He's got 8-10 years of on/off court nonsense to back up the fact that he isn't a great player.

So, I fully expect him to be a Knick in 2019. Sigh.

On the second day of free agency...

He could have held out for a better deal, but no one was going to sign him for the max with his injury. He had to sign a one year deal somewhere to re-build his value. Probably could've gotten $10 million from someone, but why not grab a free ring and worry about cash next year.

Isaiah Thomas is reportedly signing with Denver for the veteran's minimum, presumably to backup Jamal Murray like Jameer Nelson before him. 12 months ago Thomas was finishing 5th in the friggin MVP race.

Gotta be the most on the nose application of the Life Comes at You Fast meme.

Also one of the best examples I've ever seen of selling high. I feel really bad for Isaiah, though. Just bad luck as far as I can tell.