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Let's see those offers!
The Lakers offer seems like garbage to me. Ball is terrible, Kuzma is just..a guy, a good one..but a guy..and no way in hell the Pels agree to any kind of pick protection.
If that's the best offer teams like Philly, Boston, and Chicago could beat it. Hell, the Nets could too. Obviously BRON is in LA but is that a thing for AD?
The Lakers seem to value Kuzma much higher than other organizations. I think they know if they want their offer to be taken seriously, it'll come down to them including Ingram because his improvement is much more recognizable and he's the only one in that group that seems to inching towards All-Star potential.
Lonzo's situation is a bit more interesting. Firstly, the Jason Kidd comps (just because neither could shoot early in their careers) is just careless. Lonzo is a real liability if he's not trying to get to the basket. His percentages are up a bit from last year, but the problem with injuries and an inability to get any continuity with LeBron is troubling. Stylistically, he fits well with LeBron because his first instinct is to be a facilitator. He's also shown some defensive chops and has elite size for the position. I always felt that he'd end up being a "change of scenery" guy because of his lunatic dad over-hyping him out of the gate and the spotlight was never going away if he stays in LA.
Davis is represented by Rich Paul (who represents LeBron, Ben Simmons, etc) so there's that piece of low-hanging fruit as well. Davis appears tired of losing, which is kind of unfortunate because this Pels team is pretty interesting and fun on paper. They just never seem to have all the cylinders firing at once. Holiday or Davis always seems to get nicked up. They can't find that third true All-Star level guy to come in there (because nobody wants to play in New Orleans).
It comes down to the small-market teams never having enough clout to keep their own guys unless all that player cares about is money. Davis has had his foot out the door for almost a year. The longer they wait to trade him, the less leverage they have. Try and nab 80 cents on the dollar and move on.
Agree on all of the above. Ball is broken..then again he always kind of has been.
Talking with some other people and I'd agree the Pels will likely want a star/headliner coming back so you have: NYK, Bos, Philly.
I've been saying forever that a trade involving Ben Simmons and Davis would give me a gnarly boner. Matching salaries would be tough unless you involved a third team. Ditto with Boston. Boston's package would be more well rounded (that's what she said) as far as young, cheap assets with high ceilings and unprotected picks, but I'm still flabbergasted at Ainge's unwillingness to dip into the pool yet. I have no idea what he's waiting for.
The prospect of Davis in New York is cool because he and Porzingis would be absolutely ridiculous and impossible to defend. They could make salaries work, but I'm not sure the level of prospects they would offer is enough to entice the Pelicans, even if they threw in this year's pick which is almost certain to be Top 3.
Knox, Mudiay, Kanter's expiring deal plus this year's unprotected first? Ehh....
I'd think the Pels would want Porzingis back in the deal, just IMO. I think beyond the first tier with STARS to offer we could make the best package.
Put our top 5 guys(Lauri, LaVine, Carter, Dunn, and Portis) on a piece of paper and our next few draft picks and tell the Pels to choose any combination of 4 guys they want.
Don't forget the HOMETOWN pitch!I just think there's zero merit Davis even wants to be here. There's such an open dialogue between players in regards to management and ownership. These guys talk all year, they spill the beans on things that bother them, about in ability to spend money, etc. Davis knows the Buss family will spend money to build a winner and Magic Johnson has the clout to recruit anyone.
As we've seen with the Bulls, they continually have to settle for cast-offs and guys that are a step below great (Boozer, Parker, overpaying guys like Deng, LaVinee). Plus, with how GarPax handled the situations with Parker and Lopez and the entire coaching debacle, who on Earth would come here (again, unless it's strictly a money decision).
Don't forget the HOMETOWN pitch!
Bulls are basically the Kings with terrible weather.
No one wants to come here.
The Bulls could put together arguably the best package for him. Solid young player with high upside(Lauri) and a top 3 pick. Issue is he won’t want to come here.
He can’t go to Boston yet unless they get rid of Kyrie due to the Rose rule. It would have to wait until summer. If I’m the Pelicans and I’m in talks with the Lakers, I demand Ball, Kuzma and one of: Hart, Zubac or Ingram along with a pick. If they aren’t budging, I’d just wait until the summer and get Tatum along with some other pieces.