****2018-2019 Official NBA Regular season thread****

[dirk digler]

Didn't see anybody starting this thread so I guess I will.

Anti climatic season starts tonight and my prediction is GS vs Boston in the NBA Finals.




First 2 Games tonight on TNT with Philly vs Boston and OKC vs GS. Westbrook is out tonight so that game will be a blowout most likely.

[Jerm]

The salt and hot takes because the Lakers are on the verge of being great again...hilarious...

Still time for Jeannie and Pelinka to **** it up but I'm getting excited...

[Al Bundy]

Originally Posted by Jerm

The salt and hot takes because the Lakers are on the verge of being great again...hilarious...

Still time for Jeannie and Pelinka to **** it up but I'm getting excited...

Nahh just giving Lebitch fans a taste of their own super team medicine.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Al Bundy

Nahh just giving Lebitch fans a taste of their own super team medicine.

You do you, boo.

But ultimately I'm not a Lebron fan and my record 'round these parts is pretty clear on that. But he's a Laker so I deal with it. And ultimately the Lakers wouldn't have Anthony Davis or be in the conversation for Leonard without Lebron signing first.

Without Lebron I'd be looking at another year of hoping Lonzo can manage a slightly below average effective FG% instead of his usual abysmal while listening to people chirp about how he does things that don't show up on the stat sheet.

The Lakers would've continued down the road to irrelevance without Lebron so in the end, it's 'medicine' the Lakers fans will gladly take.

[MAHOMO 4 LIFE!]

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

What does the depth situation on that potential “greatest triumvirate in history” team look like?

Literally a bunch of players with minimums. They have no money for anyone

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Al Bundy

Nahh just giving Lebitch fans a taste of their own super team medicine.

Interesting how LeBron haters have moved the goalposts from "LeBron is an overrated statpadder who went to LA to make movies and turn teammates into spot up shooters" to "OMG THE LAKERS HAVE TOO MUCH TALENT IT'S NOT FAIR" hahahhhahhaa

— Barry McCockiner (@Dr_McCockiner) July 2, 2019

[BigCatDaddy]

Sounds like he is staying in Toronto on a 1 year deal and defending the championship. I can't help but respect the hell out of this guy. A competitor of the likes the NBA hasnt seen since MJ.

[Hoopsdoc]

Originally Posted by SithCeNtZ

Why? We would just take another white PF/C.

Being a Pacers fan is the worst. They are the Chiefs of the NFL before Mahomes. Consistently mediocre.

True enough, although sometimes they shake it up by drafting a superstar and trading him for George Freakin Hill.

[Coochie liquor]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

Sounds like he is staying in Toronto on a 1 year deal and defending the championship. I can't help but respect the hell out of this guy. A competitor of the likes the NBA hasnt seen since MJ.

A 1 year deal would be monumentally stupid. The risk of getting hurt and not being under contract would be a no go.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Coochie liquor

A 1 year deal would be monumentally stupid. The risk of getting hurt and not being under contract would be a no go.

And it would effectively take the Lakers off the table.

They can do this deal RIGHT NOW because Davis isn't on a new Max deal yet. He will be next season. They can exceed the cap to retain him next season if they already have Kawhi under contract, but they can't go into FA and bring Kawhi in.

And the Clippers path to glory has fallen apart, by and large.

So he really only has 2 sensible choices - commit to Toronto long-term and the more money they can offer him by virtue of him already being there (I believe he could do 5-190). Or commit to LA short term (1 year with an option for a 2nd?) so they can get him under their cap NOW and he can get the 35% max extension for 2021 that allows him 35% of a team's cap.

I guess alternatively he could do the 1+1 deal with Toronto and get that same max with them. But if he did that, he'd be committing to Toronto for the remainder of his career. The 1+1 structure there would be strictly a money play. It would allow him to snag near $70 million over those two years and then get that 35% max probably worth something like 5/$240 (total guess based on projecting the cap). So he'd be looking at getting something like 7 years, $300+ million from Toronto by doing that.

But If his plan is to re-sign in Toronto to make a run at defending the title and then take off to LA so he can play at home (and not be in Canada from November through March), he has to do it this year. By next season, the LAL option is incredibly unlikely to be there for him.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by Coochie liquor

A 1 year deal would be monumentally stupid. The risk of getting hurt and not being under contract would be a no go.

It would be a 1+1 deal. I think that would be a good deal for him. 2 year security and he gets to try to run it back at least once.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by -King-

It would be a 1+1 deal. I think that would be a good deal for him. 2 year security and he gets to try to run it back at least once.

"security"

Dude's made $84 million in his career. Security is somewhere WELL in his rearview.

The 1+1 deal is ego more than anything. It's guys wanting to say they were the highest paid player in league history. It's him wanting to see if he can get to some target mark ($400 million in career earnings is on the table if he does the 1+1 structure; $500 million would require he remain elite into his 37-38ish seasons).

None of these guys are looking for security at this point - they're laughably wealthy. Most of them have some motivation beyond "man, how will I pay bills if I get hurt...."

Look no further than KD. Guy just had the worst injury a basketball player can have and still had several teams looking to offer him a max deal. "Security" is a myth for that level of player.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

"security"

Dude's made $84 million in his career. Security is somewhere WELL in his rearview.

The 1+1 deal is ego more than anything. It's guys wanting to say they were the highest paid player in league history. It's him wanting to see if he can get to some target mark ($400 million in career earnings is on the table if he does the 1+1 structure; $500 million would require he remain elite into his 37-38ish seasons).

None of these guys are looking for security at this point - they're laughably wealthy. Most of them have some motivation beyond "man, how will I pay bills if I get hurt...."

Look no further than KD. Guy just had the worst injury a basketball player can have and still had several teams looking to offer him a max deal. "Security" is a myth for that level of player.

I agree...the security part was moreso responding to his post pointing out injury risk on a 1 year deal.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

And it would effectively take the Lakers off the table.

They can do this deal RIGHT NOW because Davis isn't on a new Max deal yet. He will be next season. They can exceed the cap to retain him next season if they already have Kawhi under contract, but they can't go into FA and bring Kawhi in.

And the Clippers path to glory has fallen apart, by and large.

So he really only has 2 sensible choices - commit to Toronto long-term and the more money they can offer him by virtue of him already being there (I believe he could do 5-190). Or commit to LA short term (1 year with an option for a 2nd?) so they can get him under their cap NOW and he can get the 35% max extension for 2021 that allows him 35% of a team's cap.

I guess alternatively he could do the 1+1 deal with Toronto and get that same max with them. But if he did that, he'd be committing to Toronto for the remainder of his career. The 1+1 structure there would be strictly a money play. It would allow him to snag near $70 million over those two years and then get that 35% max probably worth something like 5/$240 (total guess based on projecting the cap). So he'd be looking at getting something like 7 years, $300+ million from Toronto by doing that.

But If his plan is to re-sign in Toronto to make a run at defending the title and then take off to LA so he can play at home (and not be in Canada from November through March), he has to do it this year. By next season, the LAL option is incredibly unlikely to be there for him.

If he goes to LA now he has to sign at least a three year deal for him to have Bird Rights

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by Coochie liquor

A 1 year deal would be monumentally stupid. The risk of getting hurt and not being under contract would be a no go.

No team is going to care. Toronto would offer him the max the next day, if he wanted it.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

If he goes to LA now he has to sign at least a three year deal for him to have Bird Rights

The Bird rights wouldn't be relevant as to him, but rather Davis.

And as a trade acquisition, don't the Lakers already have Bird rights as to Davis? They get Leonard under contract now while they have the max space, then they use the Bird rights on Davis to pass the cap in 2020 and they have all 3 guys long-term (and they would have to pay up for Kuzma next year as well if they wanted to keep him).

That's why I'm saying the deal would need to happen this year for him to go to LAL or it won't happen at all. There's just not a good way to fit him in after Davis inks a max deal.

Or are you saying that he can't do the 1+1 structure and get his mega-max in 2021? I wasn't aware of that wrinkle but ultimately if he wanted to, he could do a 2+1 and then still be eligible for the same mega max deal a year later (and at that point in his career, the extra max year on the back end is likely to be more than he'd have gotten via a new deal AFTER the expiration of the 5 year term).

Is it the 'full' Bird rights that are up for discussion here? The ability to give the extra year? Or is it simply the Lakers ability to go over the cap and retain him. So if they got him on a 1+1, could the Lakers still go over the cap on a 4 year deal at 35% rather than the full Bird exception 5 year deal?

I was unaware of any stipulations requiring that he be on the team for 3 years before the Lakers could exceed the cap to retain him. I would've just thought it applied to his ability to get that 5th year only.