Kawhi AND Paul George to...Clippers:WOJ(merged threads)

[ChillyWilly]

Glad he's out of the East and his stay here was only a year.

[Silky]

I'm expecting Masai to blow up the Raptors. Anyone there that we can trade for? Any chance of prising Siakam from their soon to be cold, dead hands? 

No chance.


But i would call about ibaka.

[Moranis]

It seems to me that Leonard really wanted to go home and play in LA, but didn't want to play for the Lakers.  He didn't want to be on the Clippers alone so he got Paul George to ask to be traded.  Because OKC held all of the cards they got perhaps the greatest trade haul in history.  I mean Gallinari and SGA alone would have been a decent haul for a player asking out, but to get what might be 7 1st round picks is absolutely astonishing.  Great deal for OKC and because the trade led to Leonard also, the Clippers had to do it, but man or man if PG and Kawhi don't fit, don't work, or get hurt the Clippers will be awful for a decade.

[GreenFaith1819]

Masterful moves by Jerry West...OUTSTANDING job by him. I'm sure ownership is happy, too



Magic is like



LOL - Lakers waited SO LONG to acquire Kawhi and he left them hanging like wet toilet paper from a shoe. Now they have to struggle to get quality talent around AD and LeBron.

SO HAPPY for Doc Rivers, too.....Dude took a talented (but already AGING) team in BOS to their 17 Banner, kept us in contention for 3-4 years and NOW he FINALLY has his ALPHAS in their PRIME.



Congrats, Doc Rivers....STOP THE LAKERS!

[JBcat]

NBA fans won today. Kawhi taking all that time for the Clips to get PG13. Well played and now he has his running mate. 

And well played by OKC to milk as many assets as possible from the Clips.  If I'm OKC, I'd dangle Westbrook in front of the Knicks.  Dolan has got to be desperate to make a move.

Didn't think about the Knicks, but they'd be the team to get themselves stranded with Westbrook's contract. Would be an instant rebuild for OKC

They could send them Galinari too.  The Knicks have the Mavs picks from the Porzingis trade in addition to their own.

How about 34 year old Chris Paul along with a few picks for 30 year old Westbrook?   Harden gets his old running mate still in his prime, and gets rid of a toxic situation with Paul.  OKC is then stuck with Paul for now, but adds to its collection of picks.

[knuckleballer]

[GreenFaith1819]

Lakers - while STILL a DANGEROUS team on paper - are an injury away from being a train wreck.

NOT wishing ANYTHING bad on them but their two stars WILL play HEAVY minutes to keep them in contention...

Not good for the Lakers right now....you can put whip cream on poop all you want to, but guess what...it is STILL poop....

And they have mortgaged their future.....SO MANY draft picks to NOH....just wow.

[Moranis]

I don't think they move on from Westbrook.  In fact, I think the trade might actually help them build a real contender something they weren't.  SGA is a high level prospect.  I don't think he is as good a prospect as Tatum, but there were reports out there that had him in the same tier from a value stand point.  Gallinari is a pretty high level scorer.  Add those 2 to the existing team and frankly I don't think they are that much worse from a record stand point (less a chance of making noise in the playoffs, but as good a regular season team).  Then they have all of those unprotected picks they can use to add players or in trades.  I think they might actually end up as a better contender by making the trade (again not this year). 

They also shaved about 5 million from their cap and tax and by picking up SGA they can move on from Schroder.  Maybe they find a way to get Schroder to the Lakers (depending on all of the contracts they could do this) with JR Smith coming to them (who they then cut).  That would get OKC close enough to the tax line that they could get under during the season.  The Lakers get their PG and the Cavs get a trade exception and some 2nd's for Smith (which also gets them out of the tax this year).

[GreenFaith1819]

[mobilija]

It's crazy that George walked in and forced a trade with OKC just like that.  I'm sure the owners aren't thrilled with all this - the latest chapter in the player empowerment era. 

Consider the Celtics.  They're going to have to likely pay Jaylen ahead of time to keep him from jumping ship to the next team with cap room - and they won't know yet whether he's deserving of a $170 million contract.  Some teams are going to be screwed by this type of scenario when the player doesn't work out.

Players have all the leverage - owners have none.  That's going to have to eventually change.

What says PG forced a trade?

It’s a pretty big trade package. Maybe Jerry West just blew OKC away with a record setting # of picks (unprotected even) and an excellent prospect and an all star.

[Fafnir]

It's crazy that George walked in and forced a trade with OKC just like that.  I'm sure the owners aren't thrilled with all this - the latest chapter in the player empowerment era. 

Consider the Celtics.  They're going to have to likely pay Jaylen ahead of time to keep him from jumping ship to the next team with cap room - and they won't know yet whether he's deserving of a $170 million contract.  Some teams are going to be screwed by this type of scenario when the player doesn't work out.

Players have all the leverage - owners have none.  That's going to have to eventually change.

What says PG forced a trade?

It’s a pretty big trade package. Maybe Jerry West just blew OKC away with a record setting # of picks (unprotected even) and an excellent prospect and an all star.

Royce Young one of the most plugged in OKC local guys.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27130385/thunder-blindsided-focused-rebuild

[jambr380]

It seems to me that Leonard really wanted to go home and play in LA, but didn't want to play for the Lakers.  He didn't want to be on the Clippers alone so he got Paul George to ask to be traded.  Because OKC held all of the cards they got perhaps the greatest trade haul in history.  I mean Gallinari and SGA alone would have been a decent haul for a player asking out, but to get what might be 7 1st round picks is absolutely astonishing.  Great deal for OKC and because the trade led to Leonard also, the Clippers had to do it, but man or man if PG and Kawhi don't fit, don't work, or get hurt the Clippers will be awful for a decade.

First, so happy he chose the Clippers - that is the most ideal situation as a Cs fan. But, OMG, that package the most insane thing I have ever seen. There were articles before the AD trade comparing other team's assets where SGA was ranked just behind Tatum (and ahead of Brown). Imagine if we just gave up Hayward, Brown, 3 BOS 1sts, MEM 1st, and MIL 1st, along with two pick swaps for Paul George. People would be freaking out!

Now, I get it, it seems that part of getting Kawhi was acquiring PG (would Kawhi have definitely gone to LAL or TOR if they didn't get PG, though?). I absolutely see the reasoning behind LAC going all in, but between this deal and the AD deal, the future landscape of acquiring stars may have shifted.

[JBcat]

I don't think they move on from Westbrook.  In fact, I think the trade might actually help them build a real contender something they weren't.  SGA is a high level prospect.  I don't think he is as good a prospect as Tatum, but there were reports out there that had him in the same tier from a value stand point.  Gallinari is a pretty high level scorer.  Add those 2 to the existing team and frankly I don't think they are that much worse from a record stand point (less a chance of making noise in the playoffs, but as good a regular season team).  Then they have all of those unprotected picks they can use to add players or in trades.  I think they might actually end up as a better contender by making the trade (again not this year). 

They also shaved about 5 million from their cap and tax and by picking up SGA they can move on from Schroder.  Maybe they find a way to get Schroder to the Lakers (depending on all of the contracts they could do this) with JR Smith coming to them (who they then cut).  That would get OKC close enough to the tax line that they could get under during the season.  The Lakers get their PG and the Cavs get a trade exception and some 2nd's for Smith (which also gets them out of the tax this year).

I don’t know. If you think it will take 2 years to end up better Westbrook will be 32 by then, and I don’t think his game will age particularly well.   I would just reboot it now while Westbrook still has really good value, instead of possibly being good but never good enough.

Edit.

I’m saying this realizing OKC could screw up a young core again with Ibaka, Durant, Harden, and Westbrook, but maybe they will learn from it. Lol

[mobilija]

It's crazy that George walked in and forced a trade with OKC just like that.  I'm sure the owners aren't thrilled with all this - the latest chapter in the player empowerment era. 

Consider the Celtics.  They're going to have to likely pay Jaylen ahead of time to keep him from jumping ship to the next team with cap room - and they won't know yet whether he's deserving of a $170 million contract.  Some teams are going to be screwed by this type of scenario when the player doesn't work out.

Players have all the leverage - owners have none.  That's going to have to eventually change.

What says PG forced a trade?

It’s a pretty big trade package. Maybe Jerry West just blew OKC away with a record setting # of picks (unprotected even) and an excellent prospect and an all star.

Royce Young one of the most plugged in OKC local guys.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27130385/thunder-blindsided-focused-rebuild

TP. Just getting to the rest of the thread and reading some of the links

Was about to edit my post....

[Fafnir]

It seems to me that Leonard really wanted to go home and play in LA, but didn't want to play for the Lakers.  He didn't want to be on the Clippers alone so he got Paul George to ask to be traded.  Because OKC held all of the cards they got perhaps the greatest trade haul in history.  I mean Gallinari and SGA alone would have been a decent haul for a player asking out, but to get what might be 7 1st round picks is absolutely astonishing.  Great deal for OKC and because the trade led to Leonard also, the Clippers had to do it, but man or man if PG and Kawhi don't fit, don't work, or get hurt the Clippers will be awful for a decade.

First, so happy he chose the Clippers - that is the most ideal situation as a Cs fan. But, OMG, that package the most insane thing I have ever seen. There were articles before the AD trade comparing other team's assets where SGA was ranked just behind Tatum (and ahead of Brown). Imagine if we just gave up Hayward, Brown, 3 BOS 1sts, MEM 1st, and MIL 1st, along with two pick swaps for Paul George. People would be freaking out!

Now, I get it, it seems that part of getting Kawhi was acquiring PG (would Kawhi have definitely gone to LAL or TOR if they didn't get PG, though?). I absolutely see the reasoning behind LAC going all in, but between this deal and the AD deal, the future landscape of acquiring stars may have shifted.

Yeah its a nuts package but getting Kawhi and PG younger than 30 is worth it.

I think we've now fully seen Danny be justified in how acquiring stars is risky. Look at the guys who were traded for who bailed this FA (one after re-signing!) Kyrie, Kawhi, George, Butler.