NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread

[Yoki_IsTheName]

ESPN speculating that LeBron leaves if he loses this Finals (which is very likely now).

But seriously, where would he go?

Lakers

They have huge money to throw around

Lebron, PG13 and Paul join forces

Huh? There’s no way they can get all three. Without trading Deng they technically can’t even max out both Bron and George, let alone Paul who has let it be known that he isn’t taking anything less than the max.

I think Houston is still the most likely option, but LA is probably next in line. I can see both Bron and George going there, but that’s still probably just the third or fourth best team in the West. That LA team isn’t beating GS or Houston, let alone both.

Trading Deng is not difficult. Throw in a future 1st

Lakers could throw near max to all 3.

A) Except they have no attractive draft compensation if they sign some big name free agents;

B) None of them will take less than the max, as they shouldn’t, and this has been thoroughly reported on for all three players; and

C) Even letting all their cap holds and free agents go and only keeping Ball, Ingram, Kuzma, and Hart, they still won’t come close to be able to offer all three max contracts, as the three of them combined will take up the entire cap themselves (I believe - James > $35M; Paul > $35M; George > $30M with an estimated $101M salary cap).

It’s simply not happening.

They can shed Lonzo, Ingram if it comes down to it

Paul wants max? Well i think its about time he wants to win a championship before his career is over

Its a balance/sacrifice all three can make. Lebron again can take a pay cut

Why would he want to take max but to lose to the warriors again?

I cant see him money chasing at this point of his career

Because he's 33 and knows he only has a few good years left in him? No way he doesn't take the max. Absolutely no way.

Lets see take 30 million but have a legit chance to dethrone the warriors

Or make 35 and get swept again

Tell me...with your legacy on the line , which option would you choose?
...

I don't have to tell you anything, LeBron said he WON'T take a paycut.

You're trying to fit a square peg in a round hole here.

[Tr1boy]

ESPN speculating that LeBron leaves if he loses this Finals (which is very likely now).

But seriously, where would he go?

Lakers

They have huge money to throw around

Lebron, PG13 and Paul join forces

Huh? There’s no way they can get all three. Without trading Deng they technically can’t even max out both Bron and George, let alone Paul who has let it be known that he isn’t taking anything less than the max.

I think Houston is still the most likely option, but LA is probably next in line. I can see both Bron and George going there, but that’s still probably just the third or fourth best team in the West. That LA team isn’t beating GS or Houston, let alone both.

Trading Deng is not difficult. Throw in a future 1st

Lakers could throw near max to all 3.

A) Except they have no attractive draft compensation if they sign some big name free agents;

B) None of them will take less than the max, as they shouldn’t, and this has been thoroughly reported on for all three players; and

C) Even letting all their cap holds and free agents go and only keeping Ball, Ingram, Kuzma, and Hart, they still won’t come close to be able to offer all three max contracts, as the three of them combined will take up the entire cap themselves (I believe - James > $35M; Paul > $35M; George > $30M with an estimated $101M salary cap).

It’s simply not happening.

They can shed Lonzo, Ingram if it comes down to it

Paul wants max? Well i think its about time he wants to win a championship before his career is over

Its a balance/sacrifice all three can make. Lebron again can take a pay cut

Why would he want to take max but to lose to the warriors again?

I cant see him money chasing at this point of his career

https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/l/report-chris-paul-will-not-take-a-pay-cut-to-re-sign-with-rockets/vp-AAyj2Il

https://nba.nbcsports.com/2017/12/15/report-lebron-james-wont-take-discount-from-max-salary/

It’s not happening. I can see Lebron and George and then making other trades for role players, but getting all three is virtually impossible.

We will see who is right

Durant took a paycut when nobody thought he would

[Yoki_IsTheName]

ESPN speculating that LeBron leaves if he loses this Finals (which is very likely now).

But seriously, where would he go?

Lakers

They have huge money to throw around

Lebron, PG13 and Paul join forces

Huh? There’s no way they can get all three. Without trading Deng they technically can’t even max out both Bron and George, let alone Paul who has let it be known that he isn’t taking anything less than the max.

I think Houston is still the most likely option, but LA is probably next in line. I can see both Bron and George going there, but that’s still probably just the third or fourth best team in the West. That LA team isn’t beating GS or Houston, let alone both.

Trading Deng is not difficult. Throw in a future 1st

Lakers could throw near max to all 3.

A) Except they have no attractive draft compensation if they sign some big name free agents;

B) None of them will take less than the max, as they shouldn’t, and this has been thoroughly reported on for all three players; and

C) Even letting all their cap holds and free agents go and only keeping Ball, Ingram, Kuzma, and Hart, they still won’t come close to be able to offer all three max contracts, as the three of them combined will take up the entire cap themselves (I believe - James > $35M; Paul > $35M; George > $30M with an estimated $101M salary cap).

It’s simply not happening.

They can shed Lonzo, Ingram if it comes down to it

Paul wants max? Well i think its about time he wants to win a championship before his career is over

Its a balance/sacrifice all three can make. Lebron again can take a pay cut

Why would he want to take max but to lose to the warriors again?

I cant see him money chasing at this point of his career

https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/l/report-chris-paul-will-not-take-a-pay-cut-to-re-sign-with-rockets/vp-AAyj2Il

https://nba.nbcsports.com/2017/12/15/report-lebron-james-wont-take-discount-from-max-salary/

It’s not happening. I can see Lebron and George and then making other trades for role players, but getting all three is virtually impossible.

We will see who is right

Durant took a paycut when nobody thought he would

To be able to resign their Bird Rights free agent. Totally different case here.

[Tr1boy]

ESPN speculating that LeBron leaves if he loses this Finals (which is very likely now).

But seriously, where would he go?

Lakers

They have huge money to throw around

Lebron, PG13 and Paul join forces

Huh? There’s no way they can get all three. Without trading Deng they technically can’t even max out both Bron and George, let alone Paul who has let it be known that he isn’t taking anything less than the max.

I think Houston is still the most likely option, but LA is probably next in line. I can see both Bron and George going there, but that’s still probably just the third or fourth best team in the West. That LA team isn’t beating GS or Houston, let alone both.

Trading Deng is not difficult. Throw in a future 1st

Lakers could throw near max to all 3.

A) Except they have no attractive draft compensation if they sign some big name free agents;

B) None of them will take less than the max, as they shouldn’t, and this has been thoroughly reported on for all three players; and

C) Even letting all their cap holds and free agents go and only keeping Ball, Ingram, Kuzma, and Hart, they still won’t come close to be able to offer all three max contracts, as the three of them combined will take up the entire cap themselves (I believe - James > $35M; Paul > $35M; George > $30M with an estimated $101M salary cap).

It’s simply not happening.

They can shed Lonzo, Ingram if it comes down to it

Paul wants max? Well i think its about time he wants to win a championship before his career is over

Its a balance/sacrifice all three can make. Lebron again can take a pay cut

Why would he want to take max but to lose to the warriors again?

I cant see him money chasing at this point of his career

https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/l/report-chris-paul-will-not-take-a-pay-cut-to-re-sign-with-rockets/vp-AAyj2Il

https://nba.nbcsports.com/2017/12/15/report-lebron-james-wont-take-discount-from-max-salary/

It’s not happening. I can see Lebron and George and then making other trades for role players, but getting all three is virtually impossible.

We will see who is right

Durant took a paycut when nobody thought he would

To be able to resign their Bird Rights free agent. Totally different case here.

Again...doubt Lebron joins the Lakers to get swept again by GSW

Does this makes sense to you?

[hwangjini_1]

Yeah I can't believe the Celtics lost to these Cavaliers lol 

They just couldn't throw the ball in the ocean in game 7. I keep telling myself 15% from 3. That's the game. If you have Kryie and Hayward there is no way that happens...

agree ,  if our two stars are chealthy next year ,  we go all the way to finals.  Straight through Phily like a knife though hot butter.

Nice try. 

[celticsclay]

Does this end Friday?

[SparzWizard]

ESPN speculating that LeBron leaves if he loses this Finals (which is very likely now).

But seriously, where would he go?

Lakers

They have huge money to throw around

Lebron, PG13 and Paul join forces

Huh? There’s no way they can get all three. Without trading Deng they technically can’t even max out both Bron and George, let alone Paul who has let it be known that he isn’t taking anything less than the max.

I think Houston is still the most likely option, but LA is probably next in line. I can see both Bron and George going there, but that’s still probably just the third or fourth best team in the West. That LA team isn’t beating GS or Houston, let alone both.

But see, the problem here is if he goes to Houston, they'd have to gut that team to accommodate him. They'd have to give up Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson to accommodate his salary. Anderson might not be important, but Gordon is a key guy for that team. And even then, with the cap holds, those salaries might not be enough (I have not done the numbers yet, but CP3's cap hold alone would be massive).

Is it really worth going to Houston if you won't have a bench? Yeah, your starting 5 would be massive, but who would they have off the bench there?

You got the best player in the world, playing alongside with two superstars and a 5x All-Star Paul George. Just pick up some bums off the streets and that team will absolutely challenge Golden State.

[SparzWizard]

Does this end Friday?

Yeah. My friend whose a Warriors fan (ya I know, "fan") isn't counting LeBron out just yet. They are getting swept lol.

[rondofan1255]

Does this end Friday?

Should be over then. Hopefully the Warriors don't mess around.

[Big333223]

I'm rooting for another Durant FMVP. Nothing against Curry but I think since moving to GS Durant has become underrated and this would be validation that he is, indeed, the Warriors' best player. That and I think it would be hilarious if Curry won 2 MVP's and 3 championships but never wins a FMVP.

[Surferdad]

Does this end Friday?

Yeah. My friend whose a Warriors fan (ya I know, "fan") isn't counting LeBron out just yet. They are getting swept lol.

A sweep would be no surprise, but I've felt since the beginning that Cavs would win one game in Cleveland, and I bet it's on Friday.

The larger point is that a 5-game series is no different than a sweep in terms of how LBJ feels about his future.

[SparzWizard]

Anyone saw The Miz on First Take? "I don't care what happened in Games 1 or 2, but Game 4 we take it. Game 5 we take it. Game 6 we take it. Game 7...we take it!"

DON'T DO DRUGS KIDS! 

At least I'll credit him for tryna hype up the Cavs more than Ty Lue does.

[Monkhouse]

I'm rooting for another Durant FMVP. Nothing against Curry but I think since moving to GS Durant has become underrated and this would be validation that he is, indeed, the Warriors' best player. That and I think it would be hilarious if Curry won 2 MVP's and 3 championships but never wins a FMVP.

Thing is as great of a shooter/scorer Curry is... There is no doubt in my mind KD has always been the best player on that team.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

BYE BYE LEBRON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

3-0!

3-0!

3-0!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAH

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Yeah I can't believe the Celtics lost to these Cavaliers lol 

They just couldn't throw the ball in the ocean in game 7. I keep telling myself 15% from 3. That's the game. If you have Kryie and Hayward there is no way that happens...

agree ,  if our two stars are chealthy next year ,  we go all the way to finals.  Straight through Phily like a knife though hot butter.

Nice try. 

LOL  hot knife thru butter