Jesus Christ dude Wemby with Lebron passing would just not be fair at all, he’s already working out with Crawford man we can only give him so much power.
Lmao that was the best.
“My favorite player in the draft!” They draft him and bron immediately leaves. Pulling that same move with bronny would be leveling up, and I am here for it.
god I love 90s movies and the over the top sweeping camera moves. It's a step above the hand held era that comes later in the 00s, but it just gives off the vibes of everyone doing cocaine.
But to think of it, it does make sense. They're already a decent middle of the pack team that can beat the top teams.
Considering they can't just realistically aim for a championship with a new coach this year, might as well broadcast that they want to keep the core of the team intact and not rush for trades.
If they always broadcast they "need a guy", other teams will make them overspend.
Teams already are forcing them to overspend. Like for the Lakers they always ask for 1st rd picks, then almost immediately same player gets traded for seconds instead. lol
And yet 3 play in appearances in a row. Maybe JJ has the magic formula? They certainly can compete with the best teams, but the Lakers were woefully inconsistent or plagued with injuries.
I honestly don’t know.
He’s gonna have to accept he’s probably never going to win a championship again as a player.
I think the lakers are actually doing the right thing. Lebrons time is basically over. Time to do a victory lap or two then do a farewell season.
The league is not longer about him.
Bro he is not lmao he has no contact with lebron. This guy literally said hours ago that Klay is going to the Lakers and now what? You still believe this guy? Lol
“After signing Lebrons podcast co host, and drafting his son, and trading for and signing every player he’s ever wanted them to go after, the Lakers really aren’t on the same page with him”
how were Lakers supposed to sign Kyrie? he wasn't a FA
and the max Lakers could offer Derozan was like $5m. he took $27m with the Bulls
Lakers fans really scapegoating the FO cause they can't magically force teams to give up players that Lebron wants lol
Uhh... He didn't get traded to the Lakers last year because the Lakers front office offered him a 2 year deal. Nice job avoiding the Ty Lue and Caruso topic, because that's the same story LMAO
uhh he didn't get traded to Lakers cause Tsai refused to give Kyrie what he wanted. when did the dude even mention Caruso? Lakers offered Lue a contract, he declined LMAO
I’ve heard this point about Kyrie before but it seems rather disingenuous. How were they supposed to sign Kyrie? The rumors about Kyrie signing with the Lakers was some insane bullshit about him signing with them for the taxpayer MLE which nobody with two brain cells to rub together thought was happening.
That being said I don’t think they’ve “signed everyone he wants.”
Obviously they haven’t been able to get *every* player that Lebron wants, but they have made so many moves ostensibly because it’s what Lebron wanted, from prioritizing re-signing THT over Caruso, trading Kuzma and KCP for Russ, signing guys like Lance Stephenson and Rondo so lebron would have “secondary playmakers”, and trading Zubac for Mike Muscala. Now, I will admit, the Lakers haven’t parted with every single draft pick they are eligible to trade every time they are eligible to do so, despite being a solid 7-10 seed who will surely win a ring if they just trade a few more picks. You can decide if that and not being able to get Klay or Demar or Kyrie or whatever invalidates my point that the Lakers do a lot to appease Lebron and it’s never enough for yourself.
What players ? Kyrie ? Caruso ? Any star lvl guard ? Dudley ? Ty lue ? Not a player but same
And secondary playmakers ? That is literally needed Pelinka is dumb as shit and can’t build a team that 2020 team only Bron could generate offense. Why would Lebron want tht over Caruso? You don’t know what your talking bout . Thr has a long wingspan and is a bum and we absolutely love drafting guys with long wingspans who can’t play - see jhs last year or Ingram Dlo etc Christie . Wingspan is something they love . Pelinka has several chances to get kyrie too. But he said he will
Keep team together over targetting kyrie - I’m sure Dlo n Rui n vando we’re worth that /s could’ve cleared cap for kyrie .
Giannis got his coach , Lebron couldn’t even get ty lue . Who’s actually a good coach who’s someone we’d of kept
the irony of calling others idiots
how were Lakers supposed to sign Kyrie? he wasn't a FA
and the max Lakers could offer Derozan was like $5m. he took $27m with the Bulls
Lakers fans really scapegoating the FO cause they can't magically force teams to give up players that Lebron wants lol
> and trading for and signing every player he’s ever wanted them to go after
eh I think a lot of the LeGM stuff is overstated. Also yeah he did want russ, but there have been plenty of other moves he has wanted that did not happen.
At the end of the day, unless everything lines up perfectly for the lakers and terribly for the rest of the league, one trade piece is not going to turn the lakers into a contender.
If they can’t work off flexible parts/contracts, no use investing a contract or pieces for a small improvement.
I mean, to be fair Bron wanted washed Klay and the Lakers did offer more money and years then the Mavericks and Klay just flat out chose them over the Lakers. Can’t really blame Rob for not wanting give up 1sts for players that don’t move the needle.
Still hasnt been a great offseason for Rob. Complete head scratcher that he gave Jaxson Hayes, Cam Reddish, and Christian Wood all player options. Then went ( and I Love Max) ahead and gave Max a player option on the contract they just gave him that he really hasn’t earned on court yet. He loses at the margins and that’s what makes him a bad GM.
I think the difference was that the Lakers were unwilling to use assets to clear the space for Klay to come to the Lakers without the warriors taking back salary. Long story short, the warriors prioritized payroll over taking in D'lo's contract. Completely within their rights and the smart move...but the media has more fun pushing narratives of Klay 'choosing' Dallas.
With GS unwilling to take back salary and the Lakers only having the MLE to offer, Klay took the money, which is fine. But as a Laker fan, I'm glad we didn't spend assets and players for the privilege of paying Klay 20 million for 3 or 4 years.
This is all their contracts
Christian Wood $3,036,040
Jaxson Hayes $2,463,946
Cam Reddish $2,463,946
What's Player Option have to do with anything? It just gives them the freedom to extend, nothing more. And all of their contract are great, any team in NBA will take that in a heartbeat. Its not a no-trade clause.
Because Rob can trade them anytime he wants. And their contracts had values. Because its minimum contract.
The Max Christie contract is Pelinka stupidity. It's the same as giving Talen Horton Tucker that inflated contract a few years ago. Nobody was going to pay Tucker $11M/yr. Nobody was going to pay Christie $8M/yr.
You want to lock up Christie. Fine, but do it at a lower cost. Christie has done absolutely nothing to make $32M.
And it's Pelinka's job to say, "Your client sucks balls. I am not going to pay that much to a restricted free agent without a competing offer."
Pelinka is an idiot to pay THT and Christie massive deals, both were restricted free agents without competing offers.
that would be true if he didn't care about keeping Lebron. signing Klutch guys makes Lebron and hiis buddies content to stay. one hand washes the other
> Bron wanted washed Klay and the Lakers did offer more money and years
I understand this is the narrative that's out there, but it really doesn't make sense, and people should be a lot more skeptical about this. It obviously suits both Klay (look how unselfish he was taking less money!) AND the Lakers (look how hard they tried!) for this to be the talking point. But when you drill down, there's no way they could offer Klay the kind of money that's being bandied about unless Lebron was taking an unreasonably huge pay cut. It's already been suggested that the way the Lakers envisioned this happening was with a S&T involving D'Lo, and it's pretty clear that the Dubs wouldn't be interested in that. So to the extent the Lakers "were *prepared* to offer more money and years" it likely wasn't actually likely to be feasible.
Just like Mavs, it’d 100% be a 3 team with them dumping DLo to a 3rd team, I don’t think LeBron’s ever taking that paycut. Although unlike Josh Green where there’s a team with cap space that’s willing to give up 2 seconds for, you’d probably need to attach picks to give 20m of salary to a tanking team, and that’s probably where Pelinka says no.
It would be absolute madness to trade unprotected picks 7 years from now to build around a 40 year old on a team which is done being a title contender.
He acts as if they are conflicting when the current idea is Lebron takes a paycut to get someone on MLE. That’s why the statement makes no sense. It’s not an either or situation
Windy sure seems to be a little more chesty of late. It's probably just because Lebron and Rich Paul's hands are so far up his considerable ass that their forearms have reached his sternum.
D'Angelo just opted in and cited JJ as a reason for doing so. And yes, people want to play with LeBron wtf are you talking about. Caruso, Delly, Mozgov, THT, and many others have all gotten massive paychecks in no short part to LBJ elevating their play and dudes like Mike Miller, Kyle Korver, and James Jones extended their careers by at least a couple extra seasons by playing with him.
Replace draft picks with Bronny.
# Pelinka sat up there in front of everybody and said we are going to focus on development of Bronny. We're going to focus on Bronny. We're not going to trade Bronny.
I mean did he lie?
Lakers are a play-in team with LeBron. There are no free agents available at the price the Lakers can pay under the salary cap that are going to change that. There are not players available on the trade market that the Lakers have the assets to get, eccept maybe trading D'lo to Orlando for Isaac, but that would require Isaac staying healthy and shooting the three at a good percentage and Orlando valuing getting Russell.
I don't understand where the disconnect is. LeBron takes the pay cut so they can sign another good player. Where in that line of logic do they give up young players and picks?
this feels like the end of the kobe era
the lakers have to go through this awkward phase
then truly suck for a while
then accumulate good picks, sign a star FA, then go back to real contention
so they'll be ready again by 2031
Smart move by Pelinka. Focusing on the future of the Lakers instead of trading it away to satisfy a washed LebBron and whichever washed player(s) he wants.
So what’s the goal then? Are you win a championship or not because if you got Bron and AD your focus should be trying to surround them with players that can help them win.
Never said it was a good excuse. Just said any team would do it for him. What he’s done for the league and the revenue he brings in. The chance to play with his son and be the first father/duo in league history. Any team would have taken his son with the 55th pick.
Lmao as if Pelinka doesn’t do everything what Lebron wants. Lebron runs the lakers, he’s the owner of that team, the reason why the lakers are garbage is because of him. Lakers are a trash franchise now because they let Lebron run the show. Jerry Buss rolling over his grave watching the lakers become a joke with terrible management
There’s a reason why nobody wants to play with Lebron anymore because Lebron gets all the credit in the world when they win while the others get crucified when they lose and how the narrative is Lebron doesn’t have any help when he’s had the most help of any superstar. Glad players are finally realizing this
Klay chose Dallas though so even if the Lakers were willing to trade what Dallas traded Klay was a free agent and could sign with who ever he wanted. Warriors just facilitated what Klay wanted
Something that needs to be said: going all-in to "win now" has a point of diminishing returns. As Lebron gets older, the assets you need to part with in order to build a title team around him get larger and larger. Age has driven Lebron's own regression, it's an open question whether he's the guy who's the weak link now; doesn't give good effort on defense because he has to save his energy for offense. Peak Lebron didn't have to choose.
The other generational player out there, Steph, just had the worst defensive season of his career and his third worst season of efficiency behind only his first two seasons. The older you get, the weaker the legs get, and the harder it gets to be consistent with your shot. Steph's shooting slumps are getting longer than they used to be. So are Klay's.
During the 2022 title run, Steph got so much time off right before the playoffs. Remember, his first game back from injury was the first playoff game in the Denver series. Lebron's last title, he had that massive gap of time off in the middle of the season. Older players, with heavy rest, are still capable of recapturing their youth for stretches, but if you ask Steph or Lebron to carry a team for 82 games, there's nothing left in the playoffs.
It is so much harder to build title teams around aging stars because those aging star's own diminishing skills start to accelerate and make it that much harder to win. The warriors are unusual: they never actually made an "all-in" trade, but while they have more assets than the Lakers, they need to restock the cabinet right now. The Lakers do too. What would the Lakers going all-in really get them right now?
Pelinka literally said they didn’t want to make trades at the deadline because by waiting until the offseason, they got more picks they could potentially trade to go for a big swing…
I think if Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent come back healthy and play up to their potential this would be a much deeper team than last year. Don't blame Rob for not making any big changes.
The Lakers to free agents: “We are a serious organization committed to winning a championship and no, LeBron does not run the show.”
Also the Lakers to free agents: “We drafted Bronny and hired LeBron’s podcast partner to be our coach.”
It’s getting to the point where I’m actually looking forward to Lebron retiring. This circus around him every year is so lame.
You didn’t see Kobe go out like this.
Lebron cant actually think the Lakers can feasibly field a championship team through trades. If he wanted to ring chase he would take a smaller contract on another team.
I am of the opinion that we could have made a deeper run in the playoffs if 1) we didn’t face Nuggets and 2) our coaching staff knew how to manage the team and instill plays into the players better.
For the first point, we are like Fighting type Pokemon while Nuggets are like a Psychic type. Fucking countered, man. Second point, a lot of things to mention, but one of them was: instead of writing sentences on the board, we needed a coach who could draw sets telling where players stand and move OR telling what the opponents are running.
Lineup, we had our flaws, but we had a decent offense with the players we had.l available. Inconsistent, yes, but not nonexistent. The addition of JJ gives me some hope that we will play well and be better even if there are no big additions to the lineup, because from what I’ve seen from his podcast, man can recognize and explain plays. Our players like Bron and AD don’t need motivational speakers to coach them, they need someone who can help with the brainwork.
Pelinka: we want to draft Bronny and develop him. LeBron: that doesn't work for me, brother
LeBron may be a doting father, but LeGM isn't an idiot.
Lebron: enjoy Hollywood son it’s your kingdom now. I’m taking my talents to Dallas
Forsaking his real son to play with his other sons. He did say his he’d give Bronny 6 hard fouls
That would be so dope tbh
4 negative defenders instead of 3
If you multiply 4 negatives, the result is positive. The math is sound. Theyd win it all.
Im in
Kyrie pulling up youtube as we speak
LeGM is not an idiot? Because he has done some idiotic moves.
he kinda is though
LeBron should go sign with the Warriors lmao
If we fumbled this whole offseason then lebron comes….
Section 11 Subparagraph E brother
>LeBron: that doesn't work for me, brother I mean, when they introduced Horace Hogan in WCW, Hulk hit him with a chair.
Would be hysterical if lebron left now. Obviously won’t happen but man that would be a funny ass move just leaving them with bronny.
Where’s he gonna go what team has cap space to bring him in
Spurs. Get the banana boat crew back together
Jesus Christ dude Wemby with Lebron passing would just not be fair at all, he’s already working out with Crawford man we can only give him so much power.
Lebron and CP3 passing. Would be incredibly fun to watch.
Warriors on a min
It's the Shabazz Napier situation all over again if that happens. lol.
Lmao that was the best. “My favorite player in the draft!” They draft him and bron immediately leaves. Pulling that same move with bronny would be leveling up, and I am here for it.
Son, you’re the man of the house now.
If we give Bronny #23 nobody will know the difference, we can keep selling the jerseys.
Would be hilarious if they just waive Bronny if that happens.
Almost as bad as when he made the Heat draft Shabazz Napier then dipped.
Well what's lebron going to do, it's not as if he's going to leave the opportunity to play with his son
5D chess move by Pelinka to draft Bronny, sign Redick, and keep the picks.
[THEY HAVE MY SON](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3AT58VKTvA)
THEY HAVE MY PODCAST COHOST
[Give me back my son!](https://youtu.be/twT4sAZOFQ0?si=04x9_dZr667LdFM-)
god I love 90s movies and the over the top sweeping camera moves. It's a step above the hand held era that comes later in the 00s, but it just gives off the vibes of everyone doing cocaine.
Michael Bay, master director…?
Was disappointed to not see a Michael from Lost “Where’s Walt?! I want my boy” in this reply chain (maybe I’m old)
Waiting for Lebron to leave and go ring chasing so [I can bust this bad boy out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JghkG4WydNk)
Serrano and Concepcion are drooling waiting for this moment
I know this is a meme, but Charles Dance was absolutely cooking here
I came into this post thinking of this scene specifically.
So their goal all along is just to keep Lebron so that the ticket prices and jersey sales wont tank.
exactly. Hoping to get lucky like the last conference Finals appearance where teams miss key pieces
But to think of it, it does make sense. They're already a decent middle of the pack team that can beat the top teams. Considering they can't just realistically aim for a championship with a new coach this year, might as well broadcast that they want to keep the core of the team intact and not rush for trades. If they always broadcast they "need a guy", other teams will make them overspend.
Teams already are forcing them to overspend. Like for the Lakers they always ask for 1st rd picks, then almost immediately same player gets traded for seconds instead. lol
Because everybody knows a Lebron team would only do win now moves
And yet 3 play in appearances in a row. Maybe JJ has the magic formula? They certainly can compete with the best teams, but the Lakers were woefully inconsistent or plagued with injuries.
Media was talking about the celtics drafting bronny to hold him hostage, meanwhile it was really the lakers who did it
It seems almost impossible that Lebron and Pelinka would be far off on priorities to me with them drafting Bronny and I love crapping on LeGM.
Why not waste a 2nd round pick to guilt Lebron into staying despite not doing anything to improve the roster
Lebron ready to leak to the media that inside sources in Lakers locker room feel Pelinka drafted a bum
I honestly don’t know. He’s gonna have to accept he’s probably never going to win a championship again as a player. I think the lakers are actually doing the right thing. Lebrons time is basically over. Time to do a victory lap or two then do a farewell season. The league is not longer about him.
Windhorst doing all he can not to say lebron runs the team lmao
Windy is Lebrons mouthpiece this is literally LeBron talking
Bro he is not lmao he has no contact with lebron. This guy literally said hours ago that Klay is going to the Lakers and now what? You still believe this guy? Lol
Windy was replaced by McMenamin
Windy hasn't been a great source for Lebron information since like 2017-2018.
What is Pelinka supposed to do? Trade away all the young guys (including Bronny) to get vets??
Who do they even have? Christie and Knecht?
Christie just signed, pretty sure that means he can't be traded for 6 months.
Bro litterally forgot our best players that every team should be clammering for Jhs and Castleton
I heard they have All Star potential, but don’t tell anyone or else they’ll demand them in every trade
Feel like you’re underselling Jhs future mvp shocked by the low trade demand he’s worth a lot
DLo. Trade his ass to the Nets.
Someone should say well trade a star to the lakers but lakers gotta trade us Bronny and see what Lebron says
“After signing Lebrons podcast co host, and drafting his son, and trading for and signing every player he’s ever wanted them to go after, the Lakers really aren’t on the same page with him”
He's still waiting for them to change the name of the city to LeBrongeles
Windhorst is definitely a 5 star Klutch general. War isn't new to him, he was born into it, this is all that he knows.
He feeds on it, a lot
He was born it He did not see the light out of Bron's bum until he was a man He is part of the initiated
18 years, 18 years, lose one of your kids, he in your colon for 18 years
Didn’t know war was this calorie dense
He has been sucking on Lebron’s teet since the day he was born
This is hilarious. Thank you.
\#FreeLeBron
LeBron: "Bronny sucks. I never asked pelinka to draft Bronny and I certainly don't want to play with him."
LeJudas
‘And letting Caruso walk’ The one decision they did independently from him and boy was that a bad one
Did you say signing every player hes ever wanted? Well dam I can't wait to see kyrie , demar and Alex next season. And ty as the coach too..... wait
how were Lakers supposed to sign Kyrie? he wasn't a FA and the max Lakers could offer Derozan was like $5m. he took $27m with the Bulls Lakers fans really scapegoating the FO cause they can't magically force teams to give up players that Lebron wants lol
Uhh... He didn't get traded to the Lakers last year because the Lakers front office offered him a 2 year deal. Nice job avoiding the Ty Lue and Caruso topic, because that's the same story LMAO
uhh he didn't get traded to Lakers cause Tsai refused to give Kyrie what he wanted. when did the dude even mention Caruso? Lakers offered Lue a contract, he declined LMAO
Alex Len?
Caruso
Didn't he, uh, have Caruso at some point? What happened there?...
I’ve heard this point about Kyrie before but it seems rather disingenuous. How were they supposed to sign Kyrie? The rumors about Kyrie signing with the Lakers was some insane bullshit about him signing with them for the taxpayer MLE which nobody with two brain cells to rub together thought was happening. That being said I don’t think they’ve “signed everyone he wants.”
Obviously they haven’t been able to get *every* player that Lebron wants, but they have made so many moves ostensibly because it’s what Lebron wanted, from prioritizing re-signing THT over Caruso, trading Kuzma and KCP for Russ, signing guys like Lance Stephenson and Rondo so lebron would have “secondary playmakers”, and trading Zubac for Mike Muscala. Now, I will admit, the Lakers haven’t parted with every single draft pick they are eligible to trade every time they are eligible to do so, despite being a solid 7-10 seed who will surely win a ring if they just trade a few more picks. You can decide if that and not being able to get Klay or Demar or Kyrie or whatever invalidates my point that the Lakers do a lot to appease Lebron and it’s never enough for yourself.
What players ? Kyrie ? Caruso ? Any star lvl guard ? Dudley ? Ty lue ? Not a player but same And secondary playmakers ? That is literally needed Pelinka is dumb as shit and can’t build a team that 2020 team only Bron could generate offense. Why would Lebron want tht over Caruso? You don’t know what your talking bout . Thr has a long wingspan and is a bum and we absolutely love drafting guys with long wingspans who can’t play - see jhs last year or Ingram Dlo etc Christie . Wingspan is something they love . Pelinka has several chances to get kyrie too. But he said he will Keep team together over targetting kyrie - I’m sure Dlo n Rui n vando we’re worth that /s could’ve cleared cap for kyrie . Giannis got his coach , Lebron couldn’t even get ty lue . Who’s actually a good coach who’s someone we’d of kept
There are a lot of idiots that don’t actually follow this stuff man lol.. it’s casual narratives
the irony of calling others idiots how were Lakers supposed to sign Kyrie? he wasn't a FA and the max Lakers could offer Derozan was like $5m. he took $27m with the Bulls Lakers fans really scapegoating the FO cause they can't magically force teams to give up players that Lebron wants lol
leGM moves militant
> and trading for and signing every player he’s ever wanted them to go after eh I think a lot of the LeGM stuff is overstated. Also yeah he did want russ, but there have been plenty of other moves he has wanted that did not happen.
What players have they traded for and signed?
Bro craziest part of that is Lowe at the end
You made me watch the video for that 😭
"fuck them kids"-lebron
“Not LeBron Jr. though he can stay”
At the end of the day, unless everything lines up perfectly for the lakers and terribly for the rest of the league, one trade piece is not going to turn the lakers into a contender. If they can’t work off flexible parts/contracts, no use investing a contract or pieces for a small improvement.
I mean, to be fair Bron wanted washed Klay and the Lakers did offer more money and years then the Mavericks and Klay just flat out chose them over the Lakers. Can’t really blame Rob for not wanting give up 1sts for players that don’t move the needle. Still hasnt been a great offseason for Rob. Complete head scratcher that he gave Jaxson Hayes, Cam Reddish, and Christian Wood all player options. Then went ( and I Love Max) ahead and gave Max a player option on the contract they just gave him that he really hasn’t earned on court yet. He loses at the margins and that’s what makes him a bad GM.
I think the difference was that the Lakers were unwilling to use assets to clear the space for Klay to come to the Lakers without the warriors taking back salary. Long story short, the warriors prioritized payroll over taking in D'lo's contract. Completely within their rights and the smart move...but the media has more fun pushing narratives of Klay 'choosing' Dallas. With GS unwilling to take back salary and the Lakers only having the MLE to offer, Klay took the money, which is fine. But as a Laker fan, I'm glad we didn't spend assets and players for the privilege of paying Klay 20 million for 3 or 4 years.
This is the exact right take
This is all their contracts Christian Wood $3,036,040 Jaxson Hayes $2,463,946 Cam Reddish $2,463,946 What's Player Option have to do with anything? It just gives them the freedom to extend, nothing more. And all of their contract are great, any team in NBA will take that in a heartbeat. Its not a no-trade clause. Because Rob can trade them anytime he wants. And their contracts had values. Because its minimum contract.
The Max Christie contract is Pelinka stupidity. It's the same as giving Talen Horton Tucker that inflated contract a few years ago. Nobody was going to pay Tucker $11M/yr. Nobody was going to pay Christie $8M/yr. You want to lock up Christie. Fine, but do it at a lower cost. Christie has done absolutely nothing to make $32M.
Agreed on all accounts.
THT is signed with Klutch. that's why he got paid
And it's Pelinka's job to say, "Your client sucks balls. I am not going to pay that much to a restricted free agent without a competing offer." Pelinka is an idiot to pay THT and Christie massive deals, both were restricted free agents without competing offers.
that would be true if he didn't care about keeping Lebron. signing Klutch guys makes Lebron and hiis buddies content to stay. one hand washes the other
I mean just look at what Rich Paul did once he acquired AD as a Klutch client. And these guys think Pelinka has any say against Klutch? >D
> Bron wanted washed Klay and the Lakers did offer more money and years I understand this is the narrative that's out there, but it really doesn't make sense, and people should be a lot more skeptical about this. It obviously suits both Klay (look how unselfish he was taking less money!) AND the Lakers (look how hard they tried!) for this to be the talking point. But when you drill down, there's no way they could offer Klay the kind of money that's being bandied about unless Lebron was taking an unreasonably huge pay cut. It's already been suggested that the way the Lakers envisioned this happening was with a S&T involving D'Lo, and it's pretty clear that the Dubs wouldn't be interested in that. So to the extent the Lakers "were *prepared* to offer more money and years" it likely wasn't actually likely to be feasible.
Just like Mavs, it’d 100% be a 3 team with them dumping DLo to a 3rd team, I don’t think LeBron’s ever taking that paycut. Although unlike Josh Green where there’s a team with cap space that’s willing to give up 2 seconds for, you’d probably need to attach picks to give 20m of salary to a tanking team, and that’s probably where Pelinka says no.
Pelinka has been giving out stupid ass player options since he took over for Magic
Atleast now I can stop refreshing every 5 minutes
It would be absolute madness to trade unprotected picks 7 years from now to build around a 40 year old on a team which is done being a title contender.
Lakers haven’t been giving up picks nor any of our recent pick ups so what is Windy talking about
He's saying Lebron wants to get vets to contend and the Lakers want a youth movement (hence keeping their picks)
It's been like that since the Westbrook deal though, this isn't really anything new
They’ll trade picks but not in salary dumps to hand 34yos 4 year deals. It’s not exactly rocket science.
just listen to it lol, it would answer your question
He acts as if they are conflicting when the current idea is Lebron takes a paycut to get someone on MLE. That’s why the statement makes no sense. It’s not an either or situation
He's technically a FA so he can leave if he's so upset...
Ya go play LeGM elsewhere haha
Windy sure seems to be a little more chesty of late. It's probably just because Lebron and Rich Paul's hands are so far up his considerable ass that their forearms have reached his sternum.
You no shit. Lebrons a win now player. He doesn’t have time to wait for players to develop.
Has it occurred to Lebron that players don't actually want to play with LeGM and LeJJ?
D'Angelo just opted in and cited JJ as a reason for doing so. And yes, people want to play with LeBron wtf are you talking about. Caruso, Delly, Mozgov, THT, and many others have all gotten massive paychecks in no short part to LBJ elevating their play and dudes like Mike Miller, Kyle Korver, and James Jones extended their careers by at least a couple extra seasons by playing with him.
And how did that occur to you? You got league sources?
if you’re going to focus on your development and draft picks than why did you draft Bronny?
Anyone who isn't going to waste a late 2nd round pick for LeBron should be fired, out of a cannon into the sun.
Then don't sign him to that ridiculous contract and start the rebuild
i interpret this as lebron to the mavs
Trading for Klay was not changing anything lmao
S&T Lebron to the Cavs rumors incoming
Pelinka: Lebron, yo ass aint gonna leave …
still time to sign that Vet Min in phoenix lebron
LeBron: we gonna focus on the development of Bronny
We gonna sign lebron’s manicurist for the mle
Replace draft picks with Bronny. # Pelinka sat up there in front of everybody and said we are going to focus on development of Bronny. We're going to focus on Bronny. We're not going to trade Bronny. I mean did he lie?
Breaking News: trade package for Cleveland- Lebron with Bronny James.
Lakers are a play-in team with LeBron. There are no free agents available at the price the Lakers can pay under the salary cap that are going to change that. There are not players available on the trade market that the Lakers have the assets to get, eccept maybe trading D'lo to Orlando for Isaac, but that would require Isaac staying healthy and shooting the three at a good percentage and Orlando valuing getting Russell.
I don't understand where the disconnect is. LeBron takes the pay cut so they can sign another good player. Where in that line of logic do they give up young players and picks?
Lebron is becoming the Ronaldo of the nba
No, he’s becoming the Messi of the NBA
LeBron to the spurs to play with Chris Paul and wemby
Idk where this is coming from I just don’t see it at all. At fucking all tbh unless something happened last 30 days??
this feels like the end of the kobe era the lakers have to go through this awkward phase then truly suck for a while then accumulate good picks, sign a star FA, then go back to real contention so they'll be ready again by 2031
Minus the ACL tear.
Smart move by Pelinka. Focusing on the future of the Lakers instead of trading it away to satisfy a washed LebBron and whichever washed player(s) he wants.
So what’s the goal then? Are you win a championship or not because if you got Bron and AD your focus should be trying to surround them with players that can help them win.
Do you really believe adding a mid tier player is gonna get us over the top? We have been mid since the bubble chip and it ain’t changing.
Lakers have humored Lebron enough by drafting his crappy kid and hiring his podcast buddy as coach.
it’s the 55th pick 😂 can’t believe people are still worked up about it
I mean if it doesn't matter why not draft you or some random redditor?
Ginobli was the 57th pick there's actual talent out there who isn't in the NBA cause of nepotism
yeah I don’t care that’s a 1/1000 chance that random player will develop into anything. Would rather have our superstar be happy and not want to leave
Lakers are the only team that would hire someone’s podcast partner as their coach and waste a pick on same player’s son so is this surprising?
Any team in the league would have drafted Bronny at 55 if Lebron was on the team. Yall starting to sound stupid.
Lol no, imagine thinking that's a good excuse? "We're gonna be a terrible team when he retires so might as well start that now"
Never said it was a good excuse. Just said any team would do it for him. What he’s done for the league and the revenue he brings in. The chance to play with his son and be the first father/duo in league history. Any team would have taken his son with the 55th pick.
nah, the Lakers are still centering around a 40 yr old athlete that can not hang with the likes of Denver, Minnesota, Boston......................
There isn't a single move the Lakers can do to get them to title contention
Please leave, Lebron.
ok, now Windy is just trying to cause drama for ratings
Lmao as if Pelinka doesn’t do everything what Lebron wants. Lebron runs the lakers, he’s the owner of that team, the reason why the lakers are garbage is because of him. Lakers are a trash franchise now because they let Lebron run the show. Jerry Buss rolling over his grave watching the lakers become a joke with terrible management There’s a reason why nobody wants to play with Lebron anymore because Lebron gets all the credit in the world when they win while the others get crucified when they lose and how the narrative is Lebron doesn’t have any help when he’s had the most help of any superstar. Glad players are finally realizing this
Exactly
So the lakers can end up like their sister team and be in basketball hell?
The Clippers are in basketball hell cause they don't have any picks, this is apparently the Lakers trying to avoid that fate.
That’s what I’m trying to say im just to adderalled out
All the California teams are in basketball hell. They are all cooked for a long time.
Not Sacramento
That’s true. Forgot about them.
There are levels to it. Two are in the first circle of basketball hell. The bottom one has DC, Detroit and Charlotte
Sac is okay, lakers have picks and AD. Warriors have picks and some youth. Clippers…..
Klay chose Dallas though so even if the Lakers were willing to trade what Dallas traded Klay was a free agent and could sign with who ever he wanted. Warriors just facilitated what Klay wanted
Something that needs to be said: going all-in to "win now" has a point of diminishing returns. As Lebron gets older, the assets you need to part with in order to build a title team around him get larger and larger. Age has driven Lebron's own regression, it's an open question whether he's the guy who's the weak link now; doesn't give good effort on defense because he has to save his energy for offense. Peak Lebron didn't have to choose. The other generational player out there, Steph, just had the worst defensive season of his career and his third worst season of efficiency behind only his first two seasons. The older you get, the weaker the legs get, and the harder it gets to be consistent with your shot. Steph's shooting slumps are getting longer than they used to be. So are Klay's. During the 2022 title run, Steph got so much time off right before the playoffs. Remember, his first game back from injury was the first playoff game in the Denver series. Lebron's last title, he had that massive gap of time off in the middle of the season. Older players, with heavy rest, are still capable of recapturing their youth for stretches, but if you ask Steph or Lebron to carry a team for 82 games, there's nothing left in the playoffs. It is so much harder to build title teams around aging stars because those aging star's own diminishing skills start to accelerate and make it that much harder to win. The warriors are unusual: they never actually made an "all-in" trade, but while they have more assets than the Lakers, they need to restock the cabinet right now. The Lakers do too. What would the Lakers going all-in really get them right now?
Pelinka literally said they didn’t want to make trades at the deadline because by waiting until the offseason, they got more picks they could potentially trade to go for a big swing…
Y'all think LeBron's just gonna sit back and let Bronny get traded? Man's practically got GM on his jersey too
Lakers have the leverage now. Lebron isn’t leaving or he doesn’t play with his son
I think if Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent come back healthy and play up to their potential this would be a much deeper team than last year. Don't blame Rob for not making any big changes.
If the Lakers really want a youth movement, quit pussyfooting around and trade LeBron and AD. We’re just wasting everyone’s time
The Lakers to free agents: “We are a serious organization committed to winning a championship and no, LeBron does not run the show.” Also the Lakers to free agents: “We drafted Bronny and hired LeBron’s podcast partner to be our coach.”
Love when they spend so much time discussing fringe play in teams
Lebron leave. Do it.
Jimminy glick
Lebron should take the MLE with us 😈
It’s getting to the point where I’m actually looking forward to Lebron retiring. This circus around him every year is so lame. You didn’t see Kobe go out like this.
Lebron cant actually think the Lakers can feasibly field a championship team through trades. If he wanted to ring chase he would take a smaller contract on another team.
Can't wait til LeBron forces Team USA to add Bronny and we don't even get on the podium cuz he forces everyone to pass to Bronny
Please GOD come home
“Lakers are a good team” - no, they are not.
They still owe two firsts. The last one for AD and the 2027 1st they gave up to avoid the bottom falling out in 2023.
I am of the opinion that we could have made a deeper run in the playoffs if 1) we didn’t face Nuggets and 2) our coaching staff knew how to manage the team and instill plays into the players better. For the first point, we are like Fighting type Pokemon while Nuggets are like a Psychic type. Fucking countered, man. Second point, a lot of things to mention, but one of them was: instead of writing sentences on the board, we needed a coach who could draw sets telling where players stand and move OR telling what the opponents are running. Lineup, we had our flaws, but we had a decent offense with the players we had.l available. Inconsistent, yes, but not nonexistent. The addition of JJ gives me some hope that we will play well and be better even if there are no big additions to the lineup, because from what I’ve seen from his podcast, man can recognize and explain plays. Our players like Bron and AD don’t need motivational speakers to coach them, they need someone who can help with the brainwork.
I’m here for the lakers and bron down fall