Kurt Rambis and Rob Pelinka are bouncing the worst ideas you ever heard off each other

Been disappointed almost his whole career except for 2 runs. One he and Brunson dragged the rest of the team, one was a legitimate contender with 6 weeks time to gel

One of us! One of us!

That man is so gone in two years!

Fuckin FOR REAL

I agree, except Anthony Davis ended up on the Wizards which in any reality, even with a good looking future and #1 pick has to be worse.

Source: am wizards fan

Yes. Unless some supreme Lakers bullshit happens and they’re able to somehow build a contender overnight, they’re wasting Luka’s prime MVP caliber years in a rebuild after sacrificing assets to try and win with LeBron and AD.

I think so. The Lakers were already dropping off. Lebron is way past his prime. Reaves has a hard ceiling on his performance and Pelinka has not been a good GM.

These are Luka’s best years being wasted

theres a world the Lakers could end up the biggest loser still.

Luka can opt out 2 years from now and sign the same 35% cap supermax with any team in the NBA, with 10 years of experience

the only benefit the Lakers would offer is a 5th year and 8% annual raises (vs 5%).

for that reason, he’s essentially on an expiring contract 1 year from now. and the Luka trade saga could ultimately end up in him deciding his ideal trade locations and tanking his trade value.

Other than mavs fans and maybe Klay Thompson he really was. Lost a team that proved it could beat OKC and make the finals and went to one that is years away, closed on a house in Dallas weeks before the trade, and then everything that happened with his kids since. Now, the team they beat promptly waltz its way to the NBA finals and then the next year his former #2 wins a ring as a #1 and everyone is calling him fat and he won’t ever win a ring.

The mavs got so lucky getting cooper Flagg. Incredibly lucky. Very very lucky. Not often do you see a team make a historically awful trade then get bailed out months later by sheer luck, assuming that’s all it was

This is absolutely true. Just look at trying to replicate some of the rotation pieces:

Lively, drafted: Lob threat rookie with potential (prior to injuries). Made an instant impact. Lakers getting talent like that in the draft is unlikely.

Gafford, traded: Mavs had assets to trade for a shot blocker/rebounder off a meddling team. Closest thing would be trading for Claxton (but then your assets for trading for another semi-starter level player are depleted).

PJ Washington, traded: Another guy on a lottery team that made an impact on the Luka system.

So you need to nail the draft, then trade for 2 guys off lottery teams who’ll fit right away. And that’s not even talking about a Kyrie level playoff performer.

That trade was lose-lose for everyone involved, teams, players, fans, unless you believe the conspiracy that the Mavs got Flagg as part of it.  

Yeah, but largely because of how lucky the Mavs got with Flagg. Imagine if Dallas ended up with Yang Hansen or something instead of Flagg. Next year’s Mavs team would be one inevitable Kyrie injury away from seriously chasing the Bobcats fewest wins record.

I don’t feel particularly bailed out. I followed the Mavs for like 25 years and haven’t watched a game since except for the return game, which I went in person.

Trades. Free agency is kinda dead and has been for a bit. Trades are not.

I really hope they don’t but they should clearly try to poach Mitch Robinson right? The “elite” center Luka wants isn’t out there, but he’s a proven winner who matches up against Wemby and every other center very well on the defensive end

S&T Reaves could potentially yield something

Well that’s kinda the point though, cause the lakers now have a shit ton of cap space to work with, that’s probably the idea

5 first round picks for Rudy. Who says no 😂

Expensive ass Kessler

Just wait till we sign 38 year old Kevin love

Knicks and Spurs also didnt have a roster better than OKC at the start of the season. Lakers just need to add 2-3 rotation pieces to have a good summer

If they managed to outbid Detroit for duren and Denver for Watson they’d be looking pretty damn good tbh

Building from a starting point of reaves-Luka-Watson-duren would be nasty

It’s not just free agents, they can use that cap space to absorb salary. I don’t think the bulls or nets would give up a pick to get a guy like Jarret Allen.

I think Kessler is the only guy who can get us close to OKC and the Spurs, but it’s unlikely. I have a feeling he’s just using the Lakers to get a better contract with the Jazz.

Ehh maybe not any obvious moves but we really need to adjust expectation in this new second arpon era. As far as im concerned any semi-contending team is just a small push away from winning it all. Nobody on earth was picking the Knicks this time last year. Im not gonna crown OKC or the Spurs.

Agreed. But did anyone think the Knicks were ahead of OKC and Spurs either? 

It honestly feels like Nico built up the perfect roster around him just to make the pain of trading him to a badly fit roster hurt even more.

That man is a villain

Pelinka can’t build teams. It’s just that simple. He gets players that doesn’t fit together and this is for years now. He wasted lebrons years on the Lakers.

Getting traded to the Lakers has been real bad for Luka winning.

The Lakers won 53 games this year, which is more than Luka ever won with the Mavs.

They got to the second round of the playoffs despite Doncic being out.

He’s won 50+ games in back to back years with the lakers. Am I taking crazy pills? There was never a guarantee the Mavs would work either. 

Pain

Lakers have been a 50 win every season and a top four seed with Luka. Luka was the one that was injured for this offseason. Not his fault, but the Lakers have not been bad for Luka winning.

Luck like getting Luka in a trade for a ham sandwich? If anybody can get a lot of luck it’s the Lakers

I agree, if he’s smart he doesn’t sign an extension and explored free agency

I mean it’s the Lakers they will have a top 10 player sign with them out of nowhere like they always do.

Every nba champion has luck on their side

I mean given the lakers history, we’ll see an insanely lopsided trade that catapults them into one of the top two teams.

Giannis doesnt want live in LA and Jokic wants to be Nuggets forever

Luka and Jokic on the same team would be wild. Games would be ending 170-169

They aren’t hitting free agency.

Giannis would be the ticket, but that man does not want to go to LA. I think the only Cali team he like would be teaming with Steph. 

I wish they at least got mileage out of their gap seasons by tanking and getting a top pick.

But the Lakers sit in this weird limbo where they are unwilling to sacrifice the future, while also being unwilling to sacrifice the present.

“No he doesn’t play defense, and neither do you, but that’s ok!”

AR’s cap hold is around 20 mil, literally doesn’t matter what they pay him for the flexibility this offseason.

team literally goes nowhere if they do that

“Don’t worry Luka. We got our eyes on a dude in Utah.” *wink*

Its not that easy when you have almost no assets and only a handful of valuable players that you cant give up.

They have more cap space than almost anyone in the league, and one of the cleanest sheets.

There’s a not small chance that Oklahoma City has to let Hartenstein go this month, and he’s the difference between them being just good and what they’ve been. And he might wind up a Laker, too.

And that is what their signed a short contract so he can leave in two years

He played more games than both AR and LeBron last year btw