2018-19 NBA Thread

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MAGA
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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

Post by MAGA »

It was probably some combination of not being allowed to openly tamper and realizing the position takes a lot of work and seeing that LeBron’s cartel assumes control of an organization and leaves executives powerless.

I’m also thinking the NBA was getting sick of keeping him in check. Rumor has it they seized a phone and found explicit tampering.

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33anda3rd
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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

Post by 33anda3rd »

Magic is a quitter. He was the head coach, he made it 16 games, they lost five in a row and he was like 'eh, this is no fun' and quit. He was on ESPN with Wilbon and Simmons. The Dodgers made a run. He wanted to go do Dodgers stuff and quit ESPN on a day they had a show. Just, I'm out. He reportedly never worked very hard on his talk show. NBA GMS work. They go to Lithuania to put eyes on a kid. They make relationships in places with people they've never had relationships. Magic did not do any of that work, was rarely around, and no big surprise that he'd rather tweet admiration at Brow and work out with Simba than scout Euro kids.

That said, the Lakers have been a fantastic trainwreck ever since they gave Kobe a 2/$50MM extension when his body was over. Jeannie Buss said at the time "as long as we have Kobe, we'll compete for titles." No. Kup as GM, reportedly was the only GM who waited til 12:01 July 1 to start making free agent calls, he was so lost and disconnected. When they fired him and Buss's brother, did she try to get Sam Presti or Morey or RC Buford or Bob Myers? Nah. Did she send Masai Ujiri a blank check and go "Just fill it in and hop a plane to LA, we need you to rebuild our culture."? Nah. Did she cast a net and interview people who had been successful at running teams? Nah. So caught up in the hubris and ego of the Lakers Land, so enamored with the legend of her multi-billion dollar corporation, she hired Magic and then Kobe's freaking agent! On the same day! Without interviewing any real candidates with experience. And what did Magic do? He carried on that Lakers sense of entitlement as a Prez, thinking that Anthony Davis would just come to the Lakers because that's how the world works, then saying that the young guys on his team need to suck it up and learn to be trade bait. All while D'Angelo Russell was having a great year in BK and Julius Randle was having a great year in NOLA.

In a league of toxic environments, like Phoenix where losing is the way of life or Chicago and New York where there's no sense of urgency or a long-term plan to repair once-great teams, the Lakers take the cake as the most toxic, worst-run franchise. They've eclipsed the Orioles.

And absolutely none of that is LeBron's fault. You can blame some of the Brow stuff on his agent, who is Brow's agent, because that whole mess cost us 1 year of Anthony Davis in his prime. But as far as the Lakers? He's stuck, man. He got hurt. He's getting older. Ingram isn't that good and has that blood clot thing. Ball isn't that good and is going through that horrible personal stuff with the family friend stealing 1.5 million from him. Russell is in Brooklyn, Randle is in NOLA, all the vets on that team were on one-year deals. They're not brining Rondo or Lance back. LeBron works best with four guys who can shoot and defend. Whoever is next needs to find those guys. It's going to be HILARIOUS if the next hire is someone who is also part of the Lakers inner circle. If it's like ok you guys James Worthy is running things now!

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Transmogrified Tiger
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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

Post by Transmogrified Tiger »

It still boggles the mind how their plan for optimizing LeBron was to fill the team with players that can't shoot. LeBron is such a huge head start in building a team that you don't even need to have a bunch of dynamic players, just make sure there are people who can punish teams for collapsing the lane on him. And they decided, nah, Rajon Rondo's fine, Lance Stephenson, why not, Lonzo Ball will surely learn to shoot right?

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thrill
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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

Post by thrill »

They. Employed. Michael. Beasley.


In the NBA.

Socnorb11
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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

Post by Socnorb11 »

33anda3rd wrote:Magic is a quitter. He was the head coach, he made it 16 games, they lost five in a row and he was like 'eh, this is no fun' and quit. He was on ESPN with Wilbon and Simmons. The Dodgers made a run. He wanted to go do Dodgers stuff and quit ESPN on a day they had a show. Just, I'm out. He reportedly never worked very hard on his talk show. NBA GMS work. They go to Lithuania to put eyes on a kid. They make relationships in places with people they've never had relationships. Magic did not do any of that work, was rarely around, and no big surprise that he'd rather tweet admiration at Brow and work out with Simba than scout Euro kids.

That said, the Lakers have been a fantastic trainwreck ever since they gave Kobe a 2/$50MM extension when his body was over. Jeannie Buss said at the time "as long as we have Kobe, we'll compete for titles." No. Kup as GM, reportedly was the only GM who waited til 12:01 July 1 to start making free agent calls, he was so lost and disconnected. When they fired him and Buss's brother, did she try to get Sam Presti or Morey or RC Buford or Bob Myers? Nah. Did she send Masai Ujiri a blank check and go "Just fill it in and hop a plane to LA, we need you to rebuild our culture."? Nah. Did she cast a net and interview people who had been successful at running teams? Nah. So caught up in the hubris and ego of the Lakers Land, so enamored with the legend of her multi-billion dollar corporation, she hired Magic and then Kobe's freaking agent! On the same day! Without interviewing any real candidates with experience. And what did Magic do? He carried on that Lakers sense of entitlement as a Prez, thinking that Anthony Davis would just come to the Lakers because that's how the world works, then saying that the young guys on his team need to suck it up and learn to be trade bait. All while D'Angelo Russell was having a great year in BK and Julius Randle was having a great year in NOLA.

In a league of toxic environments, like Phoenix where losing is the way of life or Chicago and New York where there's no sense of urgency or a long-term plan to repair once-great teams, the Lakers take the cake as the most toxic, worst-run franchise. They've eclipsed the Orioles.

And absolutely none of that is LeBron's fault. You can blame some of the Brow stuff on his agent, who is Brow's agent, because that whole mess cost us 1 year of Anthony Davis in his prime. But as far as the Lakers? He's stuck, man. He got hurt. He's getting older. Ingram isn't that good and has that blood clot thing. Ball isn't that good and is going through that horrible personal stuff with the family friend stealing 1.5 million from him. Russell is in Brooklyn, Randle is in NOLA, all the vets on that team were on one-year deals. They're not brining Rondo or Lance back. LeBron works best with four guys who can shoot and defend. Whoever is next needs to find those guys. It's going to be HILARIOUS if the next hire is someone who is also part of the Lakers inner circle. If it's like ok you guys James Worthy is running things now!
I don't disagree with that, but didn't Lebron get burned by the same sense of entitlement that Magic has? Didn't he go to LA thinking "they'll get me exactly what I want, when I want it, and I'll be a hero in LA, just like I was in Miami and Cleveland"?

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33anda3rd
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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

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Transmogrified Tiger wrote:It still boggles the mind how their plan for optimizing LeBron was to fill the team with players that can't shoot. LeBron is such a huge head start in building a team that you don't even need to have a bunch of dynamic players, just make sure there are people who can punish teams for collapsing the lane on him. And they decided, nah, Rajon Rondo's fine, Lance Stephenson, why not, Lonzo Ball will surely learn to shoot right?
Right. Right. RIGHT! This!!!! Look at Milwaukee. Giannis does virtually everything, so every other player on that team just has to do the 1-3 things that he does well. Lopez, you stand on the wing and hit open threes, on the other end you protect the rim and clean the glass. Middleton, you stand in the corner and you get an iso opportunity once every 9-10 possessions and you guard the other team's second best wing player. PG on the floor with Giannis: you run inverse pick plays so Giannis can get both feet in the lane and finish. And so on.

LeBron is best in 4- or 5-out scenarios. He has the ball, can create, and there are guys standing around who can shoot when he kicks it out to them. Those guys need to be able to play D on the other end, not at a Kawhi level but at least at a B level. They need a bunch of 3-and-D guys. Danny Green, Jae Crowder, Avery Bradley--these are not guys who are hard to come by. LeBron does NOT need a young PG who can't shoot and who needs to be ball-dominant to drive and pass to be valuable. LeBron does NOT need a veteran PG who needs to handle the ball and pass to be valuable. LeBron does NOT need a C who is a rim protector but can't shoot outside the restricted area.

Broncos, I think LeBron knew that his best chance this year was a 6-7 seed in the West. I don't think he went in thinking that he was going to win this year. I also think LeBron's biggest crime as a Laker (to that org and their fans) is that he's not the Next Kobe or a guy taking up the Legend Of Kareem. He's not A Laker. He's LeBron. He's not trying to be the next piece in someone else's legacy, he's looking for a place to continue his own. Lakers fans HATE that.

LeBron was hurt this year and didn't accomplish anything he wanted to accomplish. The Lakers 100% for sure are not getting Davis unless they defy the odds and win the rights to Zion and then trade Zion for Davis--a bad trade but a very Lakers trade. Next year will write the lion's share of the story of the final years of LeBron in the NBA. In the past, he's turned adversity into an incredible drive. In 2011, his first in MIA, Dallas beat them in the Finals. The next year he came back better on D and added the 3P shot to his game and Miami won two straight. After the second loss to the Dubs he came out in 2018 and played all 82 games for the first time in his career, leading the league in minutes/game and pulled that pile of mediocrity to the Finals. This year has been a lot more adversity than he's faced in the past, I'm interested to see how he responds next year.

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BottenFieldofDreams
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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

Post by BottenFieldofDreams »

It is pretty crazy that the top pick in some time is a combination of Westbrook's athleticism and Duckworth's ass.

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Mary1966
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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

Post by Mary1966 »

I hope Justin Trudeau gives the Raptors something better than fast food.

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33anda3rd
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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

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Mary1966 wrote:I hope Justin Trudeau gives the Raptors something better than fast food.
Zing! Good one Mary!

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Tim
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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

Post by Tim »

33anda3rd wrote: LeBron was hurt this year and didn't accomplish anything he wanted to accomplish. The Lakers 100% for sure are not getting Davis unless they defy the odds and win the rights to Zion and then trade Zion for Davis--a bad trade but a very Lakers trade. Next year will write the lion's share of the story of the final years of LeBron in the NBA. In the past, he's turned adversity into an incredible drive. In 2011, his first in MIA, Dallas beat them in the Finals. The next year he came back better on D and added the 3P shot to his game and Miami won two straight. After the second loss to the Dubs he came out in 2018 and played all 82 games for the first time in his career, leading the league in minutes/game and pulled that pile of mediocrity to the Finals. This year has been a lot more adversity than he's faced in the past, I'm interested to see how he responds next year.

Headed to Vegas soon 33. What else you got for me?

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