NBA Free Agency and Trade Action

[Akrasian]

Tomorrow starts the movement around the NBA. Even though the action isn't supposed to start until tomorrow late afternoon, there are already reports of players committing.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...g-superstar-viewed-as-true-threat-to-raptors/

Kawhi Leonard free agency rumors: Lakers extremely confident about landing superstar, viewed as 'true threat' to Raptors
LeBron and A.D. will reportedly help pitch Kawhi to the Lakers, who plan to meet with the star along with the Clips and Raps

The Los Angeles Lakers have managed to land LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Could Kawhi Leonard be next?

Although they were once considered long shots -- especially after acquiring Davis and having as little as $23.7 million remaining in cap space for the 2019 free agency period -- the Lakers have reportedly secured a meeting with the reigning NBA Finals MVP after reworking their trade with the Pelicans to include the Washington Wizardsso the Purple and Gold could open enough space to offer a max contract this summer. CBS Sports' Bill Reiter reports that the Lakers are extremely confident about landing Leonard when free agency begins on Sunday.

In addition, Marc Stein of the New York Times is reporting that the Lakers are being viewed as the "true threat" to the Raptors in terms of signing Leonard.


Things change fast in #thisleague: With free agency a day and change away, it's the Lakers who have convinced Las Vegas -- and an increasing number of league insiders -- that they are LA's true threat to limiting Kawhi Leonard's Raptors career to a single season. Not the Clippers

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Leonard and his representation intend to grant meetings to the Lakers and the Clippers, in addition to meeting with the Raptors, once free agency opens on June 30.

Interestingly enough, it was initially reported by Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times that former Lakers president of basketball operations, Magic Johnson, would join Jeanie Buss in pitching Kawhi on joining forces with LeBron and Davis. However, this report is being squashed by Magic himself as he says he's not permitted by NBA rules to participate in official meetings with free agents.


Johnson says “A friend of mine called and says Kawhi wants to meet with you,” Johnson told ESPN. “I said no problem. I’m available if that’s what this man wants.

“But I got a great life. I’m not trying to mess with anybody’s job.”

Sam Amick of The Athletic also reports that LeBron and Davis are planning on being part of the Lakers' recruiting pitch to Kawhi.

In addition to those three meetings, Haynes' initial reporting included that the New York Knicks are working to secure a meeting of their own with the All-Star forward but, at this time, no meeting has been scheduled yet.

Leonard will be a free agent this summer after officially opting out of his deal with the Toronto Raptors. Considering he is coming off the biggest season of his career after leading the Raptors to an NBA championship and winning Finals MVP in his first season with the franchise, Leonard won't have any shortage of suitors. However, it was largely expected that there would be two teams as the front-runners for his services -- none other than the Raptors and hometown Los Angeles Clippers.

It had been reported over the weekend by Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that the Raptors -- not the Clippers -- are the favorites to sign Leonard.


"The appeal of returning home to Southern California is enticing to the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, but with the trust the Raptors built while Leonard led the franchise to its first NBA title by upsetting the Golden State Warriors, rival executives view his current team as the favorite to land him when the free-agent negotiating period begins June 30, sources said."

Considering the Lakers have only three players under contract after reworking this trade (James, Davis and Kyle Kuzma) for the 2019-20 season, Rob Pelinka will have to get creative in attempting to fill out this roster whether Los Angeles adds Leonard or another max contract level free agent to the fold in the coming weeks.

 

[Akrasian]

https://www.nba.com/article/2019/06/30/report-kevin-durant-announce-decision-june-30

Kevin Durant announces move to sign with Brooklyn Nets

NEW YORK (AP) -- Kevin Durant is headed to the Brooklyn Nets, leaving the Golden State Warriors after three seasons.

His decision was announced Sunday at the start of the NBA free agency period on the Instagram page for The Boardroom, an online series looking at sports business produced by Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman.

Durant won titles with Golden State in 2017 and '18 then was injured for much of the postseason this year as the team lost the NBA Finals in six games to the Toronto Raptors.

A ruptured right Achilles tendon could keep him out the entire next season, and whenever he returns it will be in the Brooklyn black.

ESPN first reported Durant's decision, saying he had agreed to a four-year deal worth $164 million. Durant could have gotten five years and about $221 million to remain with the Warriors.

Durant, a 10-time All-Star who just completed his 12th NBA season, was leading all postseason scorers at 34.2 points per game when he strained his right calf on May 8 in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Rockets. He had seven 30-point performances during the recent playoffs.

It's unclear how he will play whenever he can return, but the Nets were willing to take a chance with a team on the rise.

Brooklyn finished 42-40 this season and lost in the first round of the playoffs, then got a huge victory Sunday when it beat out the Warriors, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers for Durant.

Durant, who grew up in the Washington area and spent one college season at Texas, played his first year with the Seattle SuperSonics before they departed for Oklahoma City, where Durant played eight seasons with the Thunder before joining the Warriors in 2016.

He was heavily criticized for that move, seen as taking an easy route by joining a team that had just won an NBA-record 73 games. But it worked out for Durant and the Warriors, as he was the NBA Finals MVP in their championships in both 2017 and 2018.

This season was filled with talk of his future -- sometimes to Durant's annoyance -- though for much of the season it was focused on the Knicks if he decided to leave. But the Nets became a more attractive option with young talent that should help them be competitive next season even while Durant recovers.

The Warriors will have to move on without Durant, who had three games with 45 or more points in the postseason before getting hurt. They still have Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and were expected to re-sign Klay Thompson, though he will miss much or all of next season after tearing an ACL in the NBA Finals.

The bigger disappointment may be for the Knicks, who had cleared enough money to sign two maximum salary free agents when they traded Kristaps Porzingis during the season. The hope was that Durant would be one of them, but instead he will end up a few miles across the river with a team that could be poised to be the dominant team in the city for years.

 

[Selassie I]

So.... Durant basically just retired.

 

[dieterbrock]

Man, it’s hard to follow all these moves. Being an NBA fan isn’t easy. Just have to root for a uniform because the players change teams all the time

 

[OldSchool]

NBA news? Shouldn’t this be in the make us laugh thread?

 

[Akrasian]

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

Sources: Fear of 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 with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, sources said.

Had Leonard joined the Lakers, they would have been overwhelming title favorites, and it perhaps would have thrust the Clippers back into the franchise's dark ages. Now the Clippers are in Western Conference contention, shoulder-to-shoulder with the Lakers -- as well as the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz.

Has a Kawhi and Paul George team-up tilted the title balance?
George and Leonard wanted to play together, and George and his agent, CAA's Aaron Mintz, approached Thunder general manager Sam Presti in recent days and requested a trade, league sources said. Leonard's message to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was essentially this: Get George, and you'll get me.

Before free agency started, the Clippers knew they needed a second star to lure Leonard but had no idea whom he wanted. The Clippers inquired on deals for Washington's Bradley Beal and New Orleans' Jrue Holiday, but those guards weren't available in trades. Eventually, Leonard made his intentions known to the Clippers: Paul George.

To Leonard, the cost was immaterial. He wanted to walk into a championship contender and believed George represented the co-star he needed to combat James and Davis, sources said. Leonard wanted to play for Doc Rivers, a coach with whom he could feel a kinship he felt was similar to his relationship with Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, sources said.

In the end, Presti made the best of an impossible situation: Despite two years left on George's deal, he didn't want a trade demand hanging over his franchise. Still, he'd never have more leverage to trade George than he did late Friday night, when there were no limits to the Clippers' desperation to land George and Leonard in one dramatic swoop.

In a wild night of negotiations, Presti leveraged the Clippers and Raptors off each other, preying on the uncertainties of what the other might be willing to give Oklahoma City for the chance to secure Leonard and George -- and perhaps the inside track on a championship.

Clippers leadership -- Ballmer, Frank and general manager Michael Winger -- harbored fears that Presti was close to striking a deal with Toronto that would have delivered George to the NBA champions, sources said.

Had Presti been able to strike a deal for George with the Raptors -- and Leonard was willing to stay -- George was believed to be willing to join the Raptors too, sources said. Presti had been willing to pursue a package of Russell Westbrookand George to the Raptors, but no talks ever gained traction, sources said. Ujiri and Raptors GM Bobby Webster had no ability, nor inclination, to counter the Clippers' offer with a multitude of first-round picks into the middle of next decade, league sources said.

The Raptors could have been looking at adding Westbrook, with four years and $171 million left on his deal, and George to a team that Leonard still might have parted ways with. Toronto extended itself as far as it could for Leonard, but Ujiri could never be sure that the Thunder even wanted to do a deal with them -- and perhaps were just using the Raptors to squeeze more out of the Clippers.

How the Lakers can build their roster after missing on Kawhi
Bobby Marks analyzes the Lakers' addition of Danny Green after losing out on Kawhi Leonard and looks at other free agents they could add to their roster.

Ujiri had delivered Leonard everything he wanted in a franchise: leadership, trust, championship talent and a medical partnership that preserved and prepared his body. What Ujiri couldn't give Leonard was out of his control: geography, weather and a chance to return to his Southern California roots.

In the end, the Clippers' reservoir of draft picks and young players -- cultivated in the Blake Griffin trade and built on in the flipping of Tobias Harris to Philadelphia -- gave the Thunder a return that the Raptors couldn't match in trade talks, league sources said.

Toronto's pressure was unmistakable: Allow George to get traded to the Clippers and risk Leonard walking into Staples Center arm-and-arm with George to take on James and Davis. This was a high-stakes game playing out across the league Friday night, with the future balance of power hanging.

From the time that Leonard demanded his trade in San Antonioin 2018, the Clippers believed that they had to get him. Here was a top-five player with Southern California roots whose personality maybe didn't fit with the bright lights and scrutiny that comes with life as a Laker. The Clippers withstood several significant obstacles on the way to a free-agent commitment, including Leonard's title with the Raptors and the Lakers' acquisition of Davis.

When it was time to make a decision on sacrificing the franchise's long-term future with a historic haul of draft picks, Ballmer felt he had no choice. Leonard wanted George, and the Clippers paid an unprecedented price in assets. In the minds of the Clippers' decision makers, they were delivering a massive return of assets to Oklahoma City for George and Leonard. Without George, they were losing Leonard to the Lakers, sources said.

Now Staples Center is the NBA's epicenter, and the Clippers can walk Leonard and George into downtown Los Angeles to stand shoulder to shoulder with James and Davis. The wildest story on the wildest night of free agency.

___________________________________________________________________


FIVE firsts plus some potential swaps of other firsts for George. WOW. If they win a title, fine - if not, they've crippled their franchise (again) for years to come. If Kawaii gets hurt (again) they'll be ruing this. Meanwhile, if OKC drafts well, they could very easily become a powerhouse.

 

[snackdaddy]

Lakers lost out on the Kawhi Leonard sweepstakes. This will make the two LA teams the favorites with Leonard and Paul George going to the Clippers. Lakers will be rounding out their roster with some veteran role players. They signed Danny Green and Jared Dudley. Green is a likely starter with a lot of playoff experience. Not a big scorer but can play defense and should know his role in the offense. Dudley's strictly a bench guy who can shoot 3's.

Lakers also resigned Javale McGee and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. More role players who should know their roles. We'll see who else they will sign now that the money they had set aside for Leonard is available. As it stands it looks like a starting 5 with Davis, James, Kuzma, Lebron and Green. McGee, Pope and Dudley will be bench guys.

The problem I see with that lineup is point guard in the sense of running the offense and distributing. Although plenty of teams have done well without that in the past. The Bulls never had a true point guard in the Jordan/Pippen days. Derek Fisher was never a ball dominant distributor type during the Kobe/Shaq and Kobe/Gasol eras. I imagine the offense will run through Lebron anyway.

 

[Akrasian]

They'll find some nominal point guard, although LeBron teams don't need one as much anyway, as you pointed out.

 

[FaulkSF]

Cook, Green, Kuz, James, AD
Caruso, KCP, Duds, Cousins
McGee

Lakers could use another 3 and 4

 

[Akrasian]

Lakers signing Cousins
https://www.nba.com/article/2019/07/06/report-demarcus-cousins-lakers

Free agent center DeMarcus Cousins has agreed to a one-year deal to join the Lakers, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Free agent center DeMarcus Cousins has agreed to a one-year deal with the Lakers, agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports tells ESPN.

According to reports, the Miami Heat were interested in Cousins, but Anthony Davis and other players helped persuade Cousins to join them in L.A.

Cousins averaged 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds in 30 regular-season games for the Warriors last season after returning from an Achilles injury. Cousins later suffered a torn left quadriceps in the first round of the playoffs, but returned to action in the NBA Finals.

_____________________________________________________________________

IF he can stay healthy, he's a good addition. Hopefully not too expensive, so the Lakers can keep on adding players.

 

[TSFH Fan]

People complain about the lack of attention the Rams get on local LA sports talk radio & media.

With arguably 4 of the top 10 basketball players in the galaxy playing in the area, I'm pretty sure Rams coverage is not going to be better this upcoming season.

 

[dieterbrock]

They'll find some nominal point guard, although LeBron teams don't need one as much anyway, as you pointed out.

They re-signed Rondo

 

[Akrasian]

They re-signed Rondo

He's not great at this stage, but he should be very useful with a good team around him. Boogie likely relegates Kuzma to the bench, but he should be an excellent 6th man. They've gone from 4 players - one a late 2nd rounder rookie - to having okay depth, with some signings to come.

Every talking head was handing the Clippers the role of favorite - but I haven't seen any commentary since Boogie committed. If he's healthy, that gives the Lakers a dominating top three.

 

[den-the-coach]

First off Being a Laker fan I'm a tad biased and IMO, the Lakers did all they could to acquire Kawhi Leonard, but in the end, Leonard did want to be a Laker. He didn't want the pressure or have to answer if they lost.

What I find amazing is the Thunder instead of shopping Paul George for the best deal, just traded him for five draft choices and a couple of castoffs. If the Lakers tried to make this move, the Thunder would have went to every team in the NBA TWICE before pulling the trigger.

Steve Balmer is done a great job of building his organization and obviously has a huge edge over the Buss children and most people are just glad that Kawhi did not choose the Lakers because they did not want another super team and of course the pundits applauding how he did it, but IMO, it was gutless.

That is how I feel, now if the Clippers didn't make the deal apparently he would have signed with the Lakers, but he purposely delayed his decision, which somewhat handcuffed the Lakers although I applaud how quickly they pivoted...Moving forward for me Kawhi Leonard is Public Enemy Number One in the NBA and I wish him nothing but a bunch of second place finishes, but again nothing personal.

 

[Akrasian]

I applaud how quickly they pivoted

Yeah, getting Cousins is a good consolation prize. He's not Leonard, which is mostly bad but some good. It's meant they had a little extra money to fill in the depth, with more to come, and IF he stays healthy he can be dominating. Obviously they were keeping in touch with players they wanted, not trusting Leonard - rightly so. I have to think that Leonard's value for ads in LA has been reduced by his waffling.

 

[den-the-coach]

I have to think that Leonard's value for ads in LA has been reduced by his waffling.

Agreed and if I was a fan of another team, I would be pleased that Leonard signed with the Clippers because I would not want another super team, but what this showcases to me is Kawhi was nto going back to Toronto and I can't believe anyone believed otherwise and he would have signed with the Lakers if the Clippers did not add another star, but he purposely delayed doing so and the Lakers could have forced his hand, but Rob Pelinka did a nice job of having a plan B.

With Davis and Cousins and McGee, the Lakers have the big's and I believe they have rounded out the roster well. Point Guard will be a combo as Rondo distributes the ball well and having Davis & Cousins back, might take him back a few years with the Pelicans. Alex Caruso is underrated and a great defender with this length add in Quinn Cook's shooting ability and that triumphant should be able to hold that position down and I look forward to playing the Clippers making their two head monster wishing they donned the Purple & Gold.

 

[Akrasian]

Looks like the Lakers are signing Avery Bradley too. Not crazy about him, but he does add guard depth, and can hit the occasional 3, and not bad defensively.

 

[FaulkSF]

What are the Lakers going to do with 4 PGs on their roster? They honestly need depth at the 3 and 4 positions. Dudley ain't going to cut it.

 

[snackdaddy]

Cook, Green, Kuz, James, AD
Caruso, KCP, Duds, Cousins
McGee

Lakers could use another 3 and 4

Green is definitely a starter. And he's a pretty good defender. I don't see Rondo as a starter but he'll get some minutes off the bench. Funny how I'm hearing he's a defensive liability. I remember a time when he was considered a very good defender. Not sure what's changed.

So if Lebron is basically the point guard, I imagine they would need more wing players than anything else. Davis, McGee and Cousins provide some size up front. McGee can run the floor pretty well for a big man. Not the shooter Davis and Cousins are but he can guard the rim.

I'm also hearing they really like Caruso. He's a good defender and can play back up point guard. Honestly, I think the current Lakers bench is pretty deep with perimeter shooters. The only question is how the new coach can make it all fit together. Phil Jackson was a master at that.

 

[FaulkSF]

@snackdaddy Rondo only goes for the highlight defensive plays similar to James now and Kobe before he retired. His man on and switching D have slipped due to effort.

KCP is another guy who has consistent defensive lapses if he's having a bad shooting game. He needs the mentality of if I can't get it done offensively, I better contribute defensively. Lakers will miss that from Ball and Hart.