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

[No Nickname]

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.

This maybe his last superhuman year his body can produce the old results, take over for a few plays in row. Then when he hits  35-36 years old he is gonna need LOTS of help .   Lebron already plays little defense , not that he can t ,  he just coasts and saves everything to make an offensively play .  But SOMEBODY is going to have to play defense or the other teams will run wild scoring on them.

Sooner he is out of the NBA   the better for overall fan base and stability.  he wants a one team league ...the one he is on.....every year.

LeBron could downshift into Karl Malone mode and play for another eight years.

I don’t think we can just pencil in LeBron as staying healthy anymore. All that mileage has to take a toll sooner or later. Last year kinda felt like the early signs that it is taking place. They’ll be good but not scary good with a prime LeBron

[Roy H.]

Wild. Woj said Toronto was given a chance to trade for PG13 as well, maybe even including Westbrook. Toronto refuses to give up Siakim.

[celticinorlando]

What is Toronto doing? They could have offloaded several UFAs in Lowery and company and pulled in George, Westbrook and kept Leonard?

WTH?

[GreenFaith1819]

YESSS!! THANK GOD!

What amazing news to wake up to! 

SCREW THE LAKERS. And the East is wide open as well!

Won't be a cakewalk for us but it's become more unpredictable out East...gotta take into consideration Embiid's health...MIL's lost Brogdon...Indy's got tougher...

As Fafnir alluded to - Danny Ainge didn't mortgage our future for a rental. This is perhaps the best thing to come out of this all.

The Sixers also lost some pieces in the trade for Butler, plus Butler himself, and Redick.  And then added an aging Al Horford.  The team that just lost to the Raptors in the 2nd round is definitely weaker.

Milwaukee loses Brogdon but adds another twin big man. They’re a tad weaker than before.

Toronto is going to be a shell of their former selves.

Indiana definitely improved with Brogdon and no major losses.

The Celts are similiar to the Sixers. Lost two key starters, replaced only one with a comparable replacement. If we had been able to access the MLE I would have been pleased. But we’ve still got a lot of assets for a trade. One move and we could be the beasts of the East.

Maybe we can pry THIS guy from OKC



Especially since Presti could NOW be more willing to sell off assets.

[SHAQATTACK]

Wild. Woj said Toronto was given a chance to trade for PG13 as well, maybe even including Westbrook. Toronto refuses to give up Siakim.

oh man .....i think Id had to trade with OKC ,siakim and all to keep Kawhi and land PG .  Hi risk is what got Uri his title ,  to bad he went away from that daring approach.

[JBcat]

Wild. Woj said Toronto was given a chance to trade for PG13 as well, maybe even including Westbrook. Toronto refuses to give up Siakim.

Crazy if you’re Toronto you have to do that, or you just lose Kawhi for nothing.

[SHAQATTACK]

West just got bigger balls than Uri or Ainge .  Fact .

[Fafnir]

Wild. Woj said Toronto was given a chance to trade for PG13 as well, maybe even including Westbrook. Toronto refuses to give up Siakim.

If Kawhi was willing to give them a 3 year commitment why wouldn't they do that? Too many picks for Massai?

[Roy H.]

West just got bigger balls than Uri or Ainge .  Fact .

Yeah, sometimes you need to be willing to “overpay” to get something you really want.  Success if measured in titles, not in “winning” trades.

[Roy H.]

Wild. Woj said Toronto was given a chance to trade for PG13 as well, maybe even including Westbrook. Toronto refuses to give up Siakim.

If Kawhi was willing to give them a 3 year commitment why wouldn't they do that? Too many picks for Massai?

He didn’t get into it, other than that Siakim was a sticking point.

[Fafnir]

Wild. Woj said Toronto was given a chance to trade for PG13 as well, maybe even including Westbrook. Toronto refuses to give up Siakim.

If Kawhi was willing to give them a 3 year commitment why wouldn't they do that? Too many picks for Massai?

He didn’t get into it, other than that Siakim was a sticking point.

If you're swapping PG for Siakim and PG has 2 years left and you keep Kawhi I think you have to do that....

[celticinorlando]

I think the sticking point was including Westbrook. Nobody wants that contract.

[Roy H.]

Wild. Woj said Toronto was given a chance to trade for PG13 as well, maybe even including Westbrook. Toronto refuses to give up Siakim.

If Kawhi was willing to give them a 3 year commitment why wouldn't they do that? Too many picks for Massai?

He didn’t get into it, other than that Siakim was a sticking point.

If you're swapping PG for Siakim and PG has 2 years left and you keep Kawhi I think you have to do that....

Agreed.

Woj just made a clarifying tweet that he thinks the Raptors didn’t have the assets, even if Siakim was included, to close the deal. It was about using leverage to get the Clips to give up as much as they did.

[Rich]

YESSS!! THANK GOD!

What amazing news to wake up to! 

SCREW THE LAKERS. And the East is wide open as well!

Won't be a cakewalk for us but it's become more unpredictable out East...gotta take into consideration Embiid's health...MIL's lost Brogdon...Indy's got tougher...

As Fafnir alluded to - Danny Ainge didn't mortgage our future for a rental. This is perhaps the best thing to come out of this all.

The Sixers also lost some pieces in the trade for Butler, plus Butler himself, and Redick.  And then added an aging Al Horford.  The team that just lost to the Raptors in the 2nd round is definitely weaker.

Milwaukee loses Brogdon but adds another twin big man. They’re a tad weaker than before.

Toronto is going to be a shell of their former selves.

Indiana definitely improved with Brogdon and no major losses.

The Celts are similiar to the Sixers. Lost two key starters, replaced only one with a comparable replacement. If we had been able to access the MLE I would have been pleased. But we’ve still got a lot of assets for a trade. One move and we could be the beasts of the East.

Pacers lost Bogdanovic which is pretty significant...but getting VO back + Brogdon is solid also.

[GreenFaith1819]

Hats off the the Clips for blocking the craziness in Lakerville

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27131637/sources-fear-lakers-dynasty-drove-clips-deal

As fears mounted that the Los Angeles Lakers had pushed to the cusp of creating an unprecedented Big Three, the LA Clippers made a blockbuster trade for Oklahoma City's Paul George -- and cleared the path for free agent Kawhi Leonard to sign a four-year, $141 million contract with the Clippers, league sources told ESPN.

The Clippers became the last line of defense for the balance of power in the NBA -- never mind the franchise's own future. The Clippers had come to believe that, without a deal for George, Leonard was prepared to sign with the Lakers and create a Staples Center partnership of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Leonard, sources said.

Good on Jerry West, Lawrence Frank AND Steve Ballmer for blocking the Lakers.