Nah cuz that’s Kawhi aspiration money

LMAO you triggered my PTSD

Luka gonna hit the most unmakeable shot in the world and it’s gonna set kuz off into air balling some turnaround 40 footer

Nah you got it all wrong.

Yeah i’m dumb that makes sense.

Which is also around 6 mil. I’m just wondering how that guy got the non-taxpayer mle. Nevermind. Above cap but below tax.

I think people benefit from hindsight when evaluating Nunn or Gabe, they were both coveted FAs at the time. Nobody could’ve predicted them to fall apart the minute they signed. That Westbrook trade pretty much shut the window down for any contention and every move since has been to fix those mistakes. A lot of people are responsible for that off season but Pelinka has done as good as anyone possibly could to get out of that situation over the years.

He also should have put his foot down on the Westbrook trade

He did, didn’t he? That’s why they made the trade? Or do you think he lost any agency in that specific instance of LeBron and AD pushing for something?

Yep def not the worst GM and is also def buoyed by his big trades (Luka) to offset some really bad choices

Hard to do nuance here. But I like the roster - just need a starting wing to finish the job. I just hate the price he paid.

He’s been put in really bad spots by his stars and the Lakers brand/image, but also hasnt done a great job with the things he can control. I agree he’s just an okay gm. Most of the worst things that happened weren’t his fault, and most of the best things also weren’t his fault.

How much were some of the moves LeBron klutch strongarming their way

Most of his bad moves can be attributed to outside influences, he usually delivers when he is allowed to cook.

Don’t forget AD and Luka. And the 2023 rebuild at the deadline when we finally got off Westbrook is severely underrated. Lakers had a real shot at a title that year is Darvin Ham wasn’t the coach.

I didn’t realize two FRPs is considered a war chest these days

Imagine laughing at getting a young center that fits your franchise player pretty well.

If you think this is an overpay, just watch what he looks like this coming year. He’s going to surprise you

Given with what is available, he had to do that.

Lakers needed that center that works well with Luka and that is a perfect fit.

I wouldn’t go that far. I’m still not convinced he knows what a trade exception is.

Somehow r/NBA has more reasoned takes on the incoming roster, while a certain contingent of our own fans have the most negative outlook

Yeah I’m really not getting why some people don’t like the moves this offseason. Other than not resigning Smart, I think this has been a pretty good offseason.

I like Kessler but it’s more about depleting your assets for anyone where you just have no flexibility moving forward, now I think you can recoup some by trading Reaves in the next couple years, like you essentially went all in on a team that still might not be as good as the one you had with LeBron last year 

Not that I’m wishing for it, there’s a chance that he doesn’t make the 65 game threshold.

Also, since he didn’t sign on for the escalators, there’s no incentive (other than overall wins) to push for getting to 65 if he’s banged up. They’ll let him fully heal and won’t risk additional issues. So it could be a self-fulfilling prophesy.

I mean, it’s not a guarantee he meets the game requirement.

Of course if he does, I can’t imagine he wouldn’t qualify.

There is a pretty decent chance wemby misses more than 18 games. He is no ironman

Wemby won’t qualify for the supermax if he doesn’t make the games played threshold.

I’m excited to see Kessler vs Wemby.

If he doesn’t qualify for the escalators, which is quite possible, then he hasn’t given up any money at all.

Nope. DPOY and AllNBA requires reaching them in both years 2 and 3 OR doing it in year 4. There are no provisions for getting DPOY and allNBA to change the timing of when.

My pleasure!!😇

It really isn’t though and never really has been. Harden and CP3 were elite, Luka and Brunson worked, Luka and Kyrie, Lebron and Kyrie, and Luka and AR have already been proven to be great too. IMO it’s ideal to have a pretty ball dominant or at least a guy that is comfortable with the ball next to a one man engine like Luka. It makes it very hard on defenses because they have to deal with a 4v3 with a good decision maker in Reaves.

Lakers made it work very well with Luka and Reaves last year. The problem was when the trio of LeBron, Luka, and Reaves were all healthy. Then it was too many ball handlers.
But when it was just Luka and Reaves with no LeBron, they were playing excellent basketball off each other.

They created the arbitrary apron system. But what seems to be happening is they know they can get away with cap circumvention now so they’ll try different ways to create added value. It basically means you have a shadow cap existing somewhere that is untracked.

Because his 185 is not spread evenly. He takes less overall and structures the deal so that it’s backloaded allowing for more flexibility now.

Not when ur hard capped and closer to the first apron than a vet min costs