I still think George will end up in Philly.
Lakers will need to trade Lonzo because that's a circus you don't need when you're contending.
I'd be interested to see if they can get Portland to consider trading Dame for Lonzo+Kuzma.
I am pretty surprised by this take. George says he wants to go to LA years ago, they actually get good and will have a max slot and he moves the furthest possible spot from his hometown?
That would be a head scratcher.
If he really doesn't care about basketball and just wants to be in LA then cool. If the Lakers already have Kawhi and LeBron, what role is there for George? He'd be the 3rd option.
He could go to Philly and make a huge difference for them. Also, with LeBron out of the conference he would have a great shot at making the Finals.
In the West, even if the Lakers have Kawhi, Bron, and PG, they'd be one of three superteams out there.
Philly makes a lot more sense for PG from a basketball standpoint. I guess it depends how much he just wants a fun LA lifestyle and doesn't care if he's the 3rd option with a lower chance of actually making the Finals.
Why would George be the third option? I think he would be the second option and Leonard would be the third. Also why would George be a better option in Philly? Embiid took 17 shots per 30 minutes last year and Simmons obviously has the ball a ton.
Considering he said he wanted to go LA when they were horrible and didn't have any contract space, it obviously is pretty important to him.
You may be right about his priorities.
As for the third option thing, to me he's less talented offensively than LeBron (obviously) or Kawhi. Both of those guys have shown an ability to carry a team offensively individually. George has not.
In Philly, I think George would be ahead of Ben Simmons in the offensive hierarchy, and it would depend on the matchup as to whether he or Embiid got more shots. Simmons would be a facilitator, especially in the halfcourt.
Disagree.
It was reported months ago that Kawhi was upset that lesser players get bigger shoe deals than he does. So, he wants exposure.
Under those circumstances, LA and NYK make sense, even if I'd argue that winning is the best exposure.
It has nothing to do with city with Leonard, it is him. He is just a boring quiet player. Sure, he probably gets a bigger deal in NY or LA, but he still won't get as big as he could because of his personality. Westbrook has done just fine in Oklahoma City. James did just fine in Cleveland. etc.
LOL
.
Unbelievable, and yet Leonard hasn't talked to Pops yet.
Ugh.
I hate how the Lakers can just get anyone they want..
We'll see, but if they end up with LeBron, George, and Leonard... That's a very scary team that can definitely give GSW up to 7 games. Real question is how will their team look like?
Same - TP.
I think many people have independently looked at the Sixers roster and came up with the same no-brainer trade: Covington + Fultz + #10 for Kawhi. Gonna be tough to beat that.
Naturally, this depends on as to how the Spurs feel about Doncic, but if he really is available when it comes time to make the 4th overall selection, Memphis has stated that they want to at least try to remain competitive and in the playoff picture, so why not trade Parsons and #4, well, for Leonard and Rudy Gay?
I know that the latter would have to agree to opt into the final year of his deal, but think about this possible starting lineup -
C - Marc Gasol
PF - JaMychal Green
SF - Kawhi Leonard
SG - Honestly not sure on this one. Perhaps they could go after Danny Green if they're unsure about Wayne Selden's knee, for example.
PG - Mike Conley
Add to that a bench consisting of Tyreke Evans (re-signed), Selden, Dillon Brooks, and Gay (whose career would essentially come full circle and give the Grizzlies another great reserve offensive spark plug), and all that they'd be missing would be a backup big guy, but still, that team could very well win it all, imo.