Gives the Lakers a legit star to pair with LeBron.
Good for the Pelicans too with #1(Zion), #4, Ingram and Ball to build around.

"Que the butt hurt Laker haters hahahaha"

que?

Kemba will be announced soon

Bit of talk that NOP might trade the #4. Could get interesting. They will have some solid young talent. Not bad given that Davis was looking to leave anyway.

r/NBA:
"This hurts the Celtics chances at an AD trade"

Haha.

Also, great timing for Lavar for US Father's Day.

What a true knob Lavar Ball is.
Quoted in an article after Lonzo's trade to Pelicans

"The Lakers have made the biggest mistake ever trading Lonzo away they will never win another championship, guarantee it"

Nice trade for the Pelicans I think. Some interesting guys available at #4 (or move the pick) and Ball is a solid defender. Ingram is still just 21 and although I've been out on him since I watched his first summer league if he turns into a reliable spot up shooter he will at worst give them solid depth at the 2/3 spots. If Zion lives up to the hype, this team is deep enough that the core should be winning more games than the Pelicans managed while AD was in town.

Lakers still need some pieces, and it remains to be seen how much the latest Lakers controversy stuff impacts their ability to attract solid rotation players to surround AD/LeBron.

Lebron and Rich Paul get their way. If the Lakers can also get Kemba or Kyrie, I think they just became favourites for the next title. It's disappointing for the league that Durant and Thompson are out next season. If they were fit and Durant stayed with the Warriors, that would be an epic Western Finals matchup!

For the Pels, everything depends on Zion living up to the hype. If he does, Ingram and the #4 pick this year could form a decent supporting cast. Will be interesting to see if Holiday wants to stick around. He'd be a good mentor for the young players.

It's disappointing from a Celtics point of view as Davis would have really put them in contention. But the writing has been on the wall for some time that AD had his heart set on the Lakers, so I think Ainge did the right thing in limiting his offer.

The Celtics are still well placed with the 'Jay Team', Hayward, Al and Smart, plus potentially a very good Grizzlies pick next season. They just need some more help at center to take the physical load off Horford. It'd be interesting to see if Vucevic would take a 3-4 year deal for $20-22 mill. As a FA, Boston wouldn't have to give up any assets and he is a very good rebounder and decent outside shooter who would fit Stevens' offence.

It was really Kyrie Irving that made this trade happen. AD was only ever going to be a one year rental in Boston if Irving wasn't there and by Kyrie deciding to leave Boston Ainge then took Tatum out of the AD trade offer in case AD were to leave in 12 months time the Celtics would still have Tatum to fall back on.

Conversely once the Lakers knew Tatum had been pulled from Boston's offer they knew they had the leverage so pulled Kuzma from the offer for AD and the Pels realised things were starting to go south so pulled the trigger now before the Lakers offer got worse.

I don't think Kyrie leaving Boston was the primary reason the Celtics lost out. I think AD preferred the Lakers from the moment they got Lebron.

It appears the Lakers didn't know what Boston was willing to offer though, as they gave up a lot to the Pels in the end. Its basically only Lebron and Kuzma they've got left!

I think it had a fair bit to do with it from what I've read but the Lakers knew they had to give up a certain amount to get AD now rather than sign him as a FA in 12 months time because they didn't want to waste another year of what LeBron's got left.

They currently don't have enough cap room to sign a max free agent unless a Kemba or Kyrie would be willing to take a discount but who knows they might be able to unload some more contracts to clear space before July 1. I think they currently have around 5 players under contract for next season.

Yeah, the Lakers had no choice. They are on a tight time-frame to get the most out of Lebron. According to Hoopshype Lakers have:

LeBron $37m
Deng $5m
Wagner $2m
Kuzma $2m
Bonga $1.4m

That's $47.4m plus AD $28-32m (depending on if trade kicker is waived) plus capholds for 9 players.

I would think they will find enough wiggle room to make Kemba or Kyrie happen. After that they will be filling out the roster with cheap vets.

"The problem for the Lakers is they need cheap vets who can play D and shoot."

I think that's been the historical way to do it.

But guys like Siakam, Van Vleet and even N.Powell are showing/have shown that undrafted/2nd round picks/D-Leaguers can make that step up.

I suspect the input those guys (mainly Siakam and VanVleet) had on the Finals will change the ways teams look at assembling rosters (if it hasn't already).


Teams will look at giving those types of players a go more so now; rather than just recycling cheap vets simply because that's the way to do it.

They've got some talent, but I'm not sure it's enough to play 4-on-5.

LA's offseason is going to be fascinating with their cap space ($32m projected if the trade happens July 30 - most likely so).

Preferred Option: Kemba Walker signs, use the Room Exception (approx $4.5m) to sign a starting 2-guard (Wes Matthews?), re-sign KCP, Bullock and Muscala with Bird Rights, and grab a couple of vet minimums which would look like this:

Davis / McGee
LeBron / Muscala / Wagner
Bullock / Kuzma
Matthews / Caldwell-Pope
Kemba / J.Robinson (Undrafted Rookie, VTech)

Option 2: Look to three FAs to fill that max slot and a fourth at the Room Exception. I'd be looking to D-Rose, Terrence Ross and Kevon Looney (with Cory Joseph at the Room Exc). Do the Bullock/Muscala thing and get KCP back on Bird as well.

Davis / Looney
LeBron / Muscala / Wagner
Bullock / Kuzma
Ross / Caldwell-Pope
Rose / Joseph

Clearly option one makes the most sense - a lot of luxury tax money invested here and quite thin up front (not great front court options at the vet min). Option two would be quite interesting though, and Looney would be great big man insurance based on the Finals (and playing on whatever state his collarbone's in).

(Note Kuzma's my sixth man in both scenarios playing 28-30 - Bullock's just a better fit next to LBJ/Davis. Three subpar outside shooters in the same front court is a disaster)

4th pick and Holiday for Brown? That'd be very tempting for the Celtics! I don't think the Pels would do that though. Holiday is better than Brown at this moment in time.

I think I'm the only one who thinks Ingram still has a good chance to be a great player.
The Pels did really well out of this deal and have the chance to build a very good team in the coming years with plenty of picks and some good pieces.

Getting the #1 pick made Griffin's job a whole lot easier, because it meant dealing Davis didn't hurt the bottom line - they're still gonna sell a lot of tickets this season.

Kemba has already come out and said his first choice is to stick with the Hornets and doesnt mind not taking the max in order to do so. I think Lakers are better chanced at getting Kyrie if its true that the Nets are no longer a sure thing to sign him.

Kyrie to the Lakers would almost have to be a lock now wouldn't it? (assuming they can make it work $ wise).

Makes both short-term and long-term sense. Short-term he competes for a title. Long-term, if he stays there he has the chance for continued success with Davis (Irving will be 30 and Davis 29 odd when Lebron is done probably). Both will still be at the peak of their powers then.

Kyrie's stint with Celtics has I think opened his eyes to the difficulty of 'leading a team' and I reckon he is conscious now that if he goes to NY or Nets and has to try to lead them, and fails (which is a possibility if Durant isn't with him or even if he is with him, he is out for the first year anyway), it will take a big hit on his reputation.

Yeah definitely makes sense to team up again with LeBron & then continue the legacy with AD after LeBron retires. With Golden State losing Klay & Durant to injuries next season (this being if they stay with the Dubs) then the West is wide open for the Lakers to to take over... I dont think Portland would beat them in a 7 game series, nor do I think Denver could either.

In the East the Raptors may lose Kawhi, Sixers are a mess either way you look at it, Bucks I still dont think have the pieces to get it done... so it really is a good position for the Lakers to load up and go for it.

People seem to forget that AD has always complained and pushed back at having to play the 5 spot - well in this team he isn't going to have a choice - LeBron can't play the 3 anymore and so defensively AD is still going to have to defend the opposing 5's.

Adam & Craig Malamut (Game of Zones) being provided with plenty of material to work with.

I don't know anyone who'd want to play AD anywhere but C in the modern NBA except for perhaps spot minutes.

If you want to play him at PF, you need to have a C who won't get torched on the pick and roll and has some kind of jump shot. Unless you have another elite C to pair him with, he's gonna play mostly C everywhere he goes.

I don't know anyone who'd want to play AD anywhere but C in the modern NBA except for perhaps spot minutes.

If you want to play him at PF, you need to have a C who won't get torched on the pick and roll and has some kind of jump shot. Unless you have another elite C to pair him with, he's gonna play mostly C everywhere he goes.

What would be really funny if Davis doesn't like playing with LeBron and leaves in free agency next year. Unlikely but hilarious.

Dwight Howard saga 2.0... it would be nice to see but doubtful especially if Kyrie joins them.