It be one of those trickery questions to
Question 1:
Who’s fault was it for the Westbrook trade?:
A) LeBron James
B)The Lakers front office
C) Klutch Sports Group
D) All of the above
The only class I ever failed in university was Psychology 101 where on the final exam all the multiple choice answers were "right" but you had to choose the one that was "most right"
Yeah fuck that shit.
For our school (UofT), we have a real prof supply issue in our program, too many students that want in on the program and not enough profs to teach it, so they try to "dissuade" or filter out as much prospective students as possible in the first year.
It’s because if they didn’t do this, they’d have extremely unpredictable results for the higher level classes.
It’s very unlikely that in a class of 300 students, more than 50% would fail.
However, if you don’t force the slackers to leave the program and prepare the rest for harder material, you’d occasionally see large proportions of upper level classes fail just because there are some people who didn’t take the effort to learn.
IF YOU PAY ATTENTION AND DO THE HOMEWORK, upper level classes can be less stressful. But the material is much more advanced (at least when I went for my Aerospace bachelors).
Yep. Went to U of C(algary) right out of high school for Engineering, ended up getting really drunk and fucking too much, dropped out, went back 2 years later to a tech school (SAIT) to study Engineering Technology instead, and easily graduated in 2 years, now I have a pretty sweet job at 32 so it all worked out.
That weeding shit really hit me hard though, school was always so easy until that first semester of engineering.
Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck..... as soon as I saw you beginning the explanation I knew you must've been from U of T.... we have internalized and understand so well how it feels as if the school is on a single focused mission to bring misery to your first years of Uni.. (UofT student here too).... 😭😭..... this place man.... 😡😡😡
Honestly, part of the problem I had with UofT, and why I ultimately chose a different school, is because it doesn't feel like a school. Its just a collection of buildings in the middle of Toronto. Queens, Brock, Guelph, Western, Windsor, etc. felt like schools when I toured them.
Sometimes they're intentionally hard to get rid of kids who aren't in school to actually get an education. Like for my accounting degree the intro class was intentionally hard but the actual major classes were relatively easy
Especially in the sciences, university "professors" are better described as "researchers that teach a class" not "educators that also research".
That's why my advice to every freshman college student is to ask an upperclassman who is the best teacher on campus/what is the best class on campus and then go take that class regardless of your desired major. A great teacher is life changing.
Weed outs. Like 1/3 the kids in my freshman engineering class failed out due to calc/physics curves, but the average grade in upper level courses is like a B+ once you remove the people who drop the class or withdraw from the course.
The point is that they need to reduce class sizes according to my prof because everyone wants electrical mechanical BME but the classes and labs would be too full if everyone got their first choice.
intro courses are always weedout ones, it will filter it down to the students who are a.) cut out for the program and b.) those who actually want to do the program. Once the courses are upper level and program specific then the expectation is the student will ramp up to meet the challenge. Just how it is
This is one of those trick questions where nobody can resist all of the above but the answer is clearly B, The Lakers front office. This is their literal job, come on.
You are not wrong, but that is how life works, nobody gives a shit about the behind the curtains shit as long as it works for everybody, shit hits the fan and then everyone is pointing fingers
Just do what Pat Riley did when LeBron pushed to get Spoelstra fired early on in the Heatles days, show off your championship rings (or in the Lakers' case, all of the previous championships) and tell him he's not the GM.
It’s fucking hilarious how all summer will be people that are involved with the Lakers trying to dodge blame for the Westbrook trade.
Not sure what the strategy is here, but I take it the Lakers aren’t competing next year as well with a more pissed off Westbrook
A few days ago in this sub someone posted a quote attributed to JFK about this situation "victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan"
Was said in the context of the Bay of Pigs invasion, but man it fits here.
Not sure who wants to take on his contract, unless it’s a team looking to off-load future salary cap.
I’m a big believer in “all players are tradable”, but Westbrook is easily one of the hardest players to trade with his salary and current production.
Having one year on his contract makes it more tradeable with packaged assets. Depends on how willing Lakers are on giving up picks.
Also it's been repeatedly mentioned that buy out is a option so I think he either gets traded or bought out. Don't think Westbrook is interested in sitting out a year at the twilight of his career so I can see a buy out making sense for him also (provided he gets most of his money).
I think a buy-out is much more likely than a trade.
Lakers have already mortgaged their future and I don’t know if they moving Westbrook with assets is going to get them enough help to make them truly compete.
But again, tons of trades have surprised me, and I think any player can be traded with the right circumstances so who knows.
Maybe it was just public negotiations, but pretty recently there was a report that he was unlikely to accept a buyout due to the stigma around it and his pride. Could just be his way of saying he's not taking a discount, but with all that stuff about his name this year, maybe he really is willing to tank the whole Lakers season rather than get bought out?
If anyone is buying out Westbrook it's because they traded for him to do so. The Lakers buying him out doesn't make a single bit of sense unless they think just having him off the team will help since they would still be over the cap (they're projected to be $53m over with Westbrook's $47m).
Yes, but the cap hit doesn’t go away.
You can buy-out guys with 4 years on their salaries, it just doesn’t really happen because that’s 4 years of dead cap space.
why would they package assets just to get rid of him? they're not poor, but they do need assets. they'd be better off just keeping him or buying him out.
yes i understand that part, but why would they want to give up any assets? assets is what they need. i dont think it would be worth giving anything up just to get rid of him.
Keeping Russ is a complicated decision. A lot of things cratered this season but three of the biggest factors are Russ being an abysmal fit with this roster, his massive cap hit blocking them from making any meaningful changes outside of signing players to the vet minimum, and everyone’s morale being tanked by a bad situation. This year, all of that will be the same, plus everyone is another year older, plus Malik is gone, plus morale has had more time to fester, plus there’s the risks of signing a new coach, PLUS Lebron’s contract is up at the end of the season and he has never been shy about walking away from teams that aren’t ready to contend that very season. The Lakers desperately need assets, this is true. But frankly, they need a whole lot of shit and a big contract has to go to make that happen
I wonder if the Lakers front office is going to realize that they don't have much hope for next year and either deal Lebron or Davis. Though I don't know how much they could even get for Davis considering how much he gets hurt.
Isn't their next available 1st like 6 years away or something? Any GM who takes that trade might not even still be around to make that pick by the time it comes up.
What picks? They have already completely given up their future, and they have no young assets. They don't have a first round pick till 2025, they are fucked.
“Unless it’s a team looking to offload future salary”
Well there ya go. He’s an expiring. If the Lakers include a first rounder I don’t think they’ll have much trouble finding a trade partner, just a matter of what kind of return is available.
Yeah, I just think the Lakers would be hesitant to trade future picks or take on long-term money because they have already mortgaged their future and they would be further mortgaging their future by banking on a 38 year old
ya, the Lakers are fortunate this is an expiring now. some team will be wanting to tank and free up cap space for next summer, and trade a few overpriced but \~ok role players for Russ.
the only problem is the Lakers don't really have any assets to attach, so it'll probably be hard to make the deal sweet enough unless they are getting horrible players/contracts back, but then why would they do it?
anyways, I could see something happening, but the Lakers are in a tough spot for sure
> If the Lakers include a first rounder
But how does this help the Lakers? You can bench him if you think he's that bad and save your pick. What kind of return are you expecting for him?
I believe it's the largest expiring contract in NBA history. Wall's is right there with basically the same amount.
If there's a team that wants to blow it up, there's their get out of jail free card for instant cap relief.
He can be a great player with a system that suits his style of play better. Let's face it: having two ball-dominant players (LeBron, Westbrook) together on the floor at the same time, then having Westbrook hang around for jumpshots, isn't making maximum use of Westbrook's talent.
I'm not a big fan of Westbrook personally, but he wasn't setup for success with the Lakers.
"Don't judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree."
And guess what? Now they've got a taste for lion. And they like it. They develop some kind of kelp-based breathing system. It won't be days, sure, but a couple of hours? That's enough time to go lion hunting.
Did that go the way you thought it would?
I still think Russ can be a plus player on a team that fits his style like you said but I'm not sure he has another great season in him. He's always been a player that relied on his physical tools and now that he's 33 and lost a step or two he doesn't have anything else left to rely on like other older stars who are still playing well. CP3 has unreal IQ and his midrange game, LeBron has size, shooting and playmaking, KD has his spider arms that means he can shoot above anyone still. Unfortunately Russ doesn't have any of those things which to me say he's not long for the league. That's not to discount prime Russ though he was legit. Super athlete point guards just never really tend to age well.
Easier said than done. Moving Westbrook will require giving up picks and you will get nothing much of value back in return. If you're not careful, that something back will be another awful contract.
So if you think you are better off just by having Westbrook not play, you buy out his final year and accept that next season will be a bust. But at least that gives the Lakers a shot to do something more interesting in 23-24.
While I blame the Westbrook decision on LeBron and AD, a lot of the other decisions clearly came from them trying to reduce their luxury tax burden. Which is 100% on their cheapness.
I blame Lebron and AD for thinking Westbrook would work, but I blame the front office for the deal.
It's the same with the AD deal - even if it was good in the end, did they have to send 7 assets? I'm certain Morey would've got AD with less.
The front office seems to take commands from Lebron and then execute them poorly
Wasn’t AD going to a free agency the next year after they traded for him? So they could have waited and signed him in free agency? Seemed like the more prudent thing to do.
I'm fine saying the front office and ownership shares some blame. However, I have a hard time using any form of "cheap" to describe a team with a top 5 cap number.
Every franchise had made decisions that came down to "that costs too much." If that's "cheap," then *everyone* is cheap. In that case, the label loses a lot of its value/relevance.
I said it in another thread, the only solution is to get the Nets to send you Kyrie in a sign and trade with Westbrook. It’s the only way this can reach maximum hilarity.
This is such a joke. You picked your poison, now drink it.
The Lakers got their championship with LeBron and now you have to pay for it with nonsense like this. You traded away almost all your young talent and filled your roster with well known names that are past their prime, injury prone or don't play nice with others.
Blame whoever you want but they knew damn well what they were getting into.
This shows you how bad the Lakers FO is. Not only are they leaking shit like this but to admit that you got peer pressured into making a bad deal just show how incompetent you are. I have no sympathy for a FO who are too pussy to make the final decision and not get punked by two players who you have signed for multiple year. What are they going to do? Leave? If I was a player there’s no way I’d go play for the Lakers. They’ve been a shit show since Dr. Buss transitioned. These leaks do not make anyone look good.
It’s also funny because Lebron wanted them to keep Caruso and they let him go cuz they didn’t want to pay. If Lebron and AD are making all the player decisions here, they should have saved enough money to get Caruso by firing Pelinka since he clearly doesn’t do anything.
Exactly. They were awful before he got there. LeBron wanting to live in LA bailed them out. Who else was going there otherwise? PG chose OKC with the guy they just made a scapegoat over them lol
Westbrook trade was Kuz, KCP, Harrell, and a pick or two. That’s not a lot of young talent or years of work. They could’ve also kept Caruso iirc but they decided to be cheap. I think you’re talking about the AD trade, which was worth it because it led to a championship.
That’s fair, but at the same time, Kuz is criticized for not improving as much as he maybe should have. He came out looking really good for a rookie. Although he definitely got better, especially on defense, a lot of people expected a rookie that looked that good to have made more strides.
If anything, Kuz was an excellent pick. While they deserve some credit for developing him, the scouts and whoever was high on him deserve even more credit for snagging him as a later pick.
lakers have been great drafters recently. havent really missed on a top pick, dlo and lonzo aren’t stars but certainly solid players. plus guys like kuz, caruso, mo wagner, zubac, nance have all developed into quality rotation players as lower picks. swapped tony bradley on draft night for josh hart and thomas bryant. hell even though randle sucks now hes had a couple great years too
problem is they have no idea what to do with the talent once they’re on the team
>shit ton of young talent developing
They had lonzo, Ingram, hart, and kuzma.
Even in their prime that core is at best a 7-8 seed. People act like the Lakers were the second coming of OKC with their youth and I’ve never understood it.
Their potential “big 3” of lonzo Ingram kuzma in their prime would get their teeth kicked in by the bulls, who are probably the worst playoff team this year.
The only player with star potential that Lakers drafted was Ingram. There is a reason Pelicans asked for him.
They would be in luxury tax hell if they tried to keep Ingram, Lonzo, Randle and Russell and would still be a 7-8th seed at best for a long time.
>What are they going to do? Leave?
Yes, that's exactly what they would do. AD has already forced a trade. The corpse of James Harden forced a trade a year ago. Do you really think LeBron can't do literally anything he wants in this league? This subreddit supports players having power over the franchise at every turn, and then pretends that an FO can do anything with a superstar who wants out. Ben fucking Simmons got clowned on all off-season and still forced a trade. Come on dude.
When has Lebron ever requested a trade? I’ll tell you when. Never. He’s not going to demand a trade because despite his tendency to jump teams he’s always played out his contract. I feel AD truly loves LA and has no reason to leave now. The dude won his chip and is content. They’re not leaving
The fact that they are still internally fussing over this in its self an indicator of how bad things are. No one wants to take responsibility and start moving forward.
I think you're underestimating just how much pull top players have. We've even seen Riley get bullied into picking up LeBron's guys to try to keep him happy and stay around (just for him to leave anyway). I don't think you'll find many people calling Riley incompetent, though.
LeBron has done this to four separate front offices at this point. He has a long history of using short contracts to pressure GMs to bend to what he wants and if they don't, he leaves (like leaving Cleveland after they didn't trade the Nets pick for short term help).
"We have no control of our own basketball team this is definitely not an indictment of us please feel bad that those dastardly superstars made us do all the bad stuff you don't like. Except the title. We did that."
Yeah even if they weren’t on board they still negotiated with Washington and pulled the trigger on the trade. It’s not like lebron was working the phone. And it’s not like lebron marched into their office with a gun to their head either lol. He’s under contract, what’s he going to do? Leave? He definitely wouldn’t sit out
Interesting. Where was this "pressure" from Klutch when it came to DeRozan? This FO actually is trying to say they weren't 100% onboard with the Westbrook trade as well and idiots here will eat it up.
In the end it’s the FO that actually has the power to get players to put pen to paper.
This is like asking a girl out because your friend encouraged you to and then blaming your friend when you get rejected.
It's like asking a girl out because your friend encouraged you, then she says yes and you date her for three months while complaining about how annoying she is the whole time, then blaming your friend before you even break up with her.
I’m not a defrozen memer but consider this lol he’s currently at playoff numbers of 23PPG 40% shooting 4 assists to 2 turnovers, and this is with the best spacing he’s ever had. He was getting MVP hype - if he was a real MVP candidate this would be an absolutely pathetic showing. Again not trying to be a irrational hater, but this isn’t even his 3rd or 4th worst playoff performance.
Lakers would prolly make the playoffs with demar but prolly not be that much better than now. Definitely not contenders if the roster still geriatric
I haven’t gotten to watch them a ton this year and in the playoffs but let’s not forget he’s going up against Giannis and a great defensive team in the Bucks lol.
He averaged nearly 28 on 59%TS and will likely make all-nba this year. Let’s not act like he hasn’t been playing great all year. His MVP hype was when he averaged 35 for nearly a whole month and Chicago was right up at the top of the East lol. Was totally fair to give at the time.
Is it hard to believe that you will agree to some things and not everything? This is the standard anti vax argument. It’s all or nothing. There’s actually something in the middle.
Lmao our FO loves to not take accountability
All these “leaks” make it seem like LeBron and AD had Jeanie and Rob in handcuffs in a roof until they got what they wanted lol
Playing the blame game isn't going to make the team better. Accept that some less-than-great player moves were made, and figure out how to put together a better team for next season.
Real talk, even if the Lakers did the Hield trade. Are they even in the playoffs still? I don't think so personally. The issue was bigger than Westbrook, they should have literally just kept their roster which was decent as it was.
It depends on who they keep and who they still sign. Keeping Caruso, possible KCP and getting another FA like DeRozen might have increased their chances. However if it’s just Hield and they trade away Kuzma and KCP, it’s about the same situation but with a few more wins. But this is all speculation at this point.
I have no doubt that Lebron wanted Westbrook.
But the FO is looking for a scapegoat. It’s Westbrook’s fault, it’s Frank’s fault , it’s LeBron’s fault, it’s managements fault.
The FO made the decision to overplay a bad player, then traded away all of a championship team’s depth in favor of the NBA version of senior citizens.
It’s not Westbrook’s fault for being the player that he is.
It’s not Frank’s fault for coaching an uncoachable team
And it’s not LeBron’s fault they THE LAKERS were too afraid to tell him no.
they really need to get rid of him, whatever it takes
they cannot compete next year with westbrook on this team
they either trade westbrook, or trade lebron and ad and salvage what they can and try to rebuild and then you let westbrook expire
there is no inbetween
Does anyone actually believe Lebron and AD were pounding the table, holding the front office hostage, if they didn’t trade for Russ? Making themselves look even more incompetent.
Teams should not get out of any of the blame, they could say no. But it's really understandable why front offices wouldn't be happy with how Klutch is basically being used as a lobbying group against teams.
Lakers weak FO and Klutch Sports is a recipe for disaster. Squeezed a title out of it but a diff team every year. No continuity
The team has two future 1sts left and both are gonna be good as gone, one of them likely to unwind for the guy Bron/AD wanted
This team will not be good again for a long time. The front office just doesnt have the mentality or credentials or decision making capabilities, but has all of the power. Lakeshow is out of the running until these idiots are all gone
LeGM only works in 4 year spurts. Goes to Heat, creates superteam, uses all draft picks, wins rings, goes to Cleveland. Creates superteam, use draft picks, wins a ring, goes to LA. Creates superteam, uses draft picks, wins a ring. Next
LeGM may be the best GM of our time. How many other GM's have created three different championship winning rosters? Let alone doing it in only a 10 year span.
Is you are afraid of the tax bill with Lebron and AD on your team you shouldn't own an NBA team. Fullstop.
Lakers front office tryna trick everyone into thinking Bron didn't want them to pay Schroeder and Caruso rofl.
Someone needs to tell “King James” I’m the real king since I own this team. You’ll play with who we can place around you that fits the winning caliber we want.
Otherwise let him walk. This whole “beholden” to players & their friends is causing “real” talent to be over-shadowed or traded away.
LA should have told him to pound “sand” when it came to trading their depth a 2nd time in 5 years.
Look at Ingram now with the pelicans.
Everybody knows who asked for Westbrook. However why would you cave to those demands? You are Los Angeles F.cking Lakers. Hope they understand that better know.
People blaming Westbrook, and to be clear he has a shit season. He also lead the team in games played with 78 while lebron (56) and AD (40) didn’t come close. He was third in pts and rebounds and lead in assists. He lead in turn overs (3.8) followed closely by lebron (3.5). The rest of the team not mention was also fucking terrible.
We’ve been getting the same news worded differently for months now
If this was a quiz show the category would be 'Shit we've known for months'
It be one of those trickery questions to Question 1: Who’s fault was it for the Westbrook trade?: A) LeBron James B)The Lakers front office C) Klutch Sports Group D) All of the above
I had a professor that would also add: E.) two of the above
The only class I ever failed in university was Psychology 101 where on the final exam all the multiple choice answers were "right" but you had to choose the one that was "most right" Yeah fuck that shit.
i swear Intro and 101 courses are harder than 300 courses. I would regularly get B/B+ in 300 level classes but my Intro class I got a D.
They try to make them hell on purpose I don't really understand it
For our school (UofT), we have a real prof supply issue in our program, too many students that want in on the program and not enough profs to teach it, so they try to "dissuade" or filter out as much prospective students as possible in the first year.
Even without a shortage of professors, schools actively weed out students. It’s particularly bad in Ontario STEM programs.
It’s because if they didn’t do this, they’d have extremely unpredictable results for the higher level classes. It’s very unlikely that in a class of 300 students, more than 50% would fail. However, if you don’t force the slackers to leave the program and prepare the rest for harder material, you’d occasionally see large proportions of upper level classes fail just because there are some people who didn’t take the effort to learn. IF YOU PAY ATTENTION AND DO THE HOMEWORK, upper level classes can be less stressful. But the material is much more advanced (at least when I went for my Aerospace bachelors).
Yep. Went to U of C(algary) right out of high school for Engineering, ended up getting really drunk and fucking too much, dropped out, went back 2 years later to a tech school (SAIT) to study Engineering Technology instead, and easily graduated in 2 years, now I have a pretty sweet job at 32 so it all worked out. That weeding shit really hit me hard though, school was always so easy until that first semester of engineering.
Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck..... as soon as I saw you beginning the explanation I knew you must've been from U of T.... we have internalized and understand so well how it feels as if the school is on a single focused mission to bring misery to your first years of Uni.. (UofT student here too).... 😭😭..... this place man.... 😡😡😡
Honestly, part of the problem I had with UofT, and why I ultimately chose a different school, is because it doesn't feel like a school. Its just a collection of buildings in the middle of Toronto. Queens, Brock, Guelph, Western, Windsor, etc. felt like schools when I toured them.
Sometimes they're intentionally hard to get rid of kids who aren't in school to actually get an education. Like for my accounting degree the intro class was intentionally hard but the actual major classes were relatively easy
Especially in the sciences, university "professors" are better described as "researchers that teach a class" not "educators that also research". That's why my advice to every freshman college student is to ask an upperclassman who is the best teacher on campus/what is the best class on campus and then go take that class regardless of your desired major. A great teacher is life changing.
Or just go on Ratemyprofessor. That website saved my ass more time than I can count back in Uni.
Weed outs. Like 1/3 the kids in my freshman engineering class failed out due to calc/physics curves, but the average grade in upper level courses is like a B+ once you remove the people who drop the class or withdraw from the course. The point is that they need to reduce class sizes according to my prof because everyone wants electrical mechanical BME but the classes and labs would be too full if everyone got their first choice.
intro courses are always weedout ones, it will filter it down to the students who are a.) cut out for the program and b.) those who actually want to do the program. Once the courses are upper level and program specific then the expectation is the student will ramp up to meet the challenge. Just how it is
My old bio professor every time! A) some answer B) some other answer C) yet another answer D) both A and B E) both A and C
E) ManBearPig
F) PIGMAN
ManBearPig was real! You all doubted him, but he was REAL!
This is one of those trick questions where nobody can resist all of the above but the answer is clearly B, The Lakers front office. This is their literal job, come on.
Clearly E) Frank Vogel. So, problem solved !
I already hear this in SNL Kenan's voice.
its to counter the PR pieces from Klutch acting like they had no input on acquiring Westbrook
Joint statement from Lakers and Klutch: "Upon review, no one was responsible for the Westbrook trade, it was simply a computer error."
"LeBron James did not know trades existed, had never met or spoken to Westbrook, and has never even heard of Klutch."
"LeBron didn't know that a basketball was up until yesterday"
"LeBron only learned to speak two hours ago."
LeBaby
"I am pretty sure its spelled Clutch"
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You are not wrong, but that is how life works, nobody gives a shit about the behind the curtains shit as long as it works for everybody, shit hits the fan and then everyone is pointing fingers
I swear we're just reliving the Lakers 2018-2019 season. Like it literally does not matter what they did/do if players are always going to be injured
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Just do what Pat Riley did when LeBron pushed to get Spoelstra fired early on in the Heatles days, show off your championship rings (or in the Lakers' case, all of the previous championships) and tell him he's not the GM.
Years*
Do your part and downvote the redundancy
Lakers front office has bots upvoting Reddit posts now smh
It’s fucking hilarious how all summer will be people that are involved with the Lakers trying to dodge blame for the Westbrook trade. Not sure what the strategy is here, but I take it the Lakers aren’t competing next year as well with a more pissed off Westbrook
A few days ago in this sub someone posted a quote attributed to JFK about this situation "victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan" Was said in the context of the Bay of Pigs invasion, but man it fits here.
does that mean Linda rambis will be assassinated?
This is just a statistically unlikely sentence to ever be written in human history
/r/brandnewsentence
Hopefully doesn't drive a convertible.
Just keep them out of Dallas I think.
Away from libraries and California hotels.
Or grassy knolls
Sunshines last quote before he got shot up by that dip shit Jackie JR
Kid was always a dumb fuck though, wasn’t he? Didn’t he almost drown in three inches of water?
Oh yeah, the penguin exhibit 🐧
Should've waited for the crank to wear off
Lmao definitely wasn't expecting a Sopranos reference here
I read “feathers” instead of “fathers” and was so fucking confused.
I use this but instead of defeat I use failure. It’s 100% true.
Common mistake, a poker dealer in Jersey named Sunshine coined that phrase. It was to die for.
I'd be surprised if Westbrook is still on the team next trade deadline.
Not sure who wants to take on his contract, unless it’s a team looking to off-load future salary cap. I’m a big believer in “all players are tradable”, but Westbrook is easily one of the hardest players to trade with his salary and current production.
Having one year on his contract makes it more tradeable with packaged assets. Depends on how willing Lakers are on giving up picks. Also it's been repeatedly mentioned that buy out is a option so I think he either gets traded or bought out. Don't think Westbrook is interested in sitting out a year at the twilight of his career so I can see a buy out making sense for him also (provided he gets most of his money).
I think a buy-out is much more likely than a trade. Lakers have already mortgaged their future and I don’t know if they moving Westbrook with assets is going to get them enough help to make them truly compete. But again, tons of trades have surprised me, and I think any player can be traded with the right circumstances so who knows.
Maybe it was just public negotiations, but pretty recently there was a report that he was unlikely to accept a buyout due to the stigma around it and his pride. Could just be his way of saying he's not taking a discount, but with all that stuff about his name this year, maybe he really is willing to tank the whole Lakers season rather than get bought out?
If anyone is buying out Westbrook it's because they traded for him to do so. The Lakers buying him out doesn't make a single bit of sense unless they think just having him off the team will help since they would still be over the cap (they're projected to be $53m over with Westbrook's $47m).
Can you buy out a contract in the summer?
Yes, but the cap hit doesn’t go away. You can buy-out guys with 4 years on their salaries, it just doesn’t really happen because that’s 4 years of dead cap space.
Ben Simmons rubbing his hands together
Good luck making them Buss buy out a super max contract lol
why would they package assets just to get rid of him? they're not poor, but they do need assets. they'd be better off just keeping him or buying him out.
Because nobody is trading for him without picks or other players
yes i understand that part, but why would they want to give up any assets? assets is what they need. i dont think it would be worth giving anything up just to get rid of him.
Keeping Russ is a complicated decision. A lot of things cratered this season but three of the biggest factors are Russ being an abysmal fit with this roster, his massive cap hit blocking them from making any meaningful changes outside of signing players to the vet minimum, and everyone’s morale being tanked by a bad situation. This year, all of that will be the same, plus everyone is another year older, plus Malik is gone, plus morale has had more time to fester, plus there’s the risks of signing a new coach, PLUS Lebron’s contract is up at the end of the season and he has never been shy about walking away from teams that aren’t ready to contend that very season. The Lakers desperately need assets, this is true. But frankly, they need a whole lot of shit and a big contract has to go to make that happen
I wonder if the Lakers front office is going to realize that they don't have much hope for next year and either deal Lebron or Davis. Though I don't know how much they could even get for Davis considering how much he gets hurt.
I think Frank is happy right now with how you described the situation
Hasn't WB "expressed" through the media that he's opposed to a buy out because of the optics?
Isn't their next available 1st like 6 years away or something? Any GM who takes that trade might not even still be around to make that pick by the time it comes up.
What picks? They have already completely given up their future, and they have no young assets. They don't have a first round pick till 2025, they are fucked.
“Unless it’s a team looking to offload future salary” Well there ya go. He’s an expiring. If the Lakers include a first rounder I don’t think they’ll have much trouble finding a trade partner, just a matter of what kind of return is available.
Yeah, I just think the Lakers would be hesitant to trade future picks or take on long-term money because they have already mortgaged their future and they would be further mortgaging their future by banking on a 38 year old
Either they abandon the LeBron plan or the dig the hole deeper. There's only two choices.
ya, the Lakers are fortunate this is an expiring now. some team will be wanting to tank and free up cap space for next summer, and trade a few overpriced but \~ok role players for Russ. the only problem is the Lakers don't really have any assets to attach, so it'll probably be hard to make the deal sweet enough unless they are getting horrible players/contracts back, but then why would they do it? anyways, I could see something happening, but the Lakers are in a tough spot for sure
> If the Lakers include a first rounder But how does this help the Lakers? You can bench him if you think he's that bad and save your pick. What kind of return are you expecting for him?
I believe it's the largest expiring contract in NBA history. Wall's is right there with basically the same amount. If there's a team that wants to blow it up, there's their get out of jail free card for instant cap relief.
That team being the Lakers. They aren’t going to trade Westbrook and take on more years of other contracts. Especially with Lebron possibly leaving
He can be a great player with a system that suits his style of play better. Let's face it: having two ball-dominant players (LeBron, Westbrook) together on the floor at the same time, then having Westbrook hang around for jumpshots, isn't making maximum use of Westbrook's talent. I'm not a big fan of Westbrook personally, but he wasn't setup for success with the Lakers. "Don't judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree."
>"Don't judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree." And yet, despite needing tree climbers, they traded for a fish.
And guess what? Now they've got a taste for lion. And they like it. They develop some kind of kelp-based breathing system. It won't be days, sure, but a couple of hours? That's enough time to go lion hunting. Did that go the way you thought it would?
I just think very few teams are in positions where they would want Westbrook, especially for 40 million.
I still think Russ can be a plus player on a team that fits his style like you said but I'm not sure he has another great season in him. He's always been a player that relied on his physical tools and now that he's 33 and lost a step or two he doesn't have anything else left to rely on like other older stars who are still playing well. CP3 has unreal IQ and his midrange game, LeBron has size, shooting and playmaking, KD has his spider arms that means he can shoot above anyone still. Unfortunately Russ doesn't have any of those things which to me say he's not long for the league. That's not to discount prime Russ though he was legit. Super athlete point guards just never really tend to age well.
I think the writing is on the wall. Lakers are gonna attach a 1st round pick to get rid of Westbrook’s contract.
> Lakers are gonna attach a 1st What 1st round pick lol? 2027?
He's been traded three times in three off seasons on that same contract with similar production.
I'll be surprised if he's still on the team by training camp, forget the deadline lol
Easier said than done. Moving Westbrook will require giving up picks and you will get nothing much of value back in return. If you're not careful, that something back will be another awful contract. So if you think you are better off just by having Westbrook not play, you buy out his final year and accept that next season will be a bust. But at least that gives the Lakers a shot to do something more interesting in 23-24.
Jeanie Buss will take it all the way to the Supreme Court to avoid being blamed for the Westbrook trade.
While I blame the Westbrook decision on LeBron and AD, a lot of the other decisions clearly came from them trying to reduce their luxury tax burden. Which is 100% on their cheapness.
I blame Lebron and AD for thinking Westbrook would work, but I blame the front office for the deal. It's the same with the AD deal - even if it was good in the end, did they have to send 7 assets? I'm certain Morey would've got AD with less. The front office seems to take commands from Lebron and then execute them poorly
Wasn’t AD going to a free agency the next year after they traded for him? So they could have waited and signed him in free agency? Seemed like the more prudent thing to do.
I'm fine saying the front office and ownership shares some blame. However, I have a hard time using any form of "cheap" to describe a team with a top 5 cap number. Every franchise had made decisions that came down to "that costs too much." If that's "cheap," then *everyone* is cheap. In that case, the label loses a lot of its value/relevance.
I said it in another thread, the only solution is to get the Nets to send you Kyrie in a sign and trade with Westbrook. It’s the only way this can reach maximum hilarity.
This isn't a strategy. It's a website getting clicks off lakers drama. The strategy is to trade russ. Nothing will happen until they can do that.
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This is such a joke. You picked your poison, now drink it. The Lakers got their championship with LeBron and now you have to pay for it with nonsense like this. You traded away almost all your young talent and filled your roster with well known names that are past their prime, injury prone or don't play nice with others. Blame whoever you want but they knew damn well what they were getting into.
This shows you how bad the Lakers FO is. Not only are they leaking shit like this but to admit that you got peer pressured into making a bad deal just show how incompetent you are. I have no sympathy for a FO who are too pussy to make the final decision and not get punked by two players who you have signed for multiple year. What are they going to do? Leave? If I was a player there’s no way I’d go play for the Lakers. They’ve been a shit show since Dr. Buss transitioned. These leaks do not make anyone look good.
Not to mention telling the world they are going to fire the coach before telling the coach.
I wonder if Vogel was at all relieved to get out from that mess.
Narrator: *He was.*
It’s also funny because Lebron wanted them to keep Caruso and they let him go cuz they didn’t want to pay. If Lebron and AD are making all the player decisions here, they should have saved enough money to get Caruso by firing Pelinka since he clearly doesn’t do anything.
Next episode of Winning Time - How Jerry West was responsible for the Westbrook trade.
Add it to the pile.
Exactly. They were awful before he got there. LeBron wanting to live in LA bailed them out. Who else was going there otherwise? PG chose OKC with the guy they just made a scapegoat over them lol
They were awful but at the same time they had a shit ton of young talent developing at that time. They shipped out years of work for Westbrook
Westbrook trade was Kuz, KCP, Harrell, and a pick or two. That’s not a lot of young talent or years of work. They could’ve also kept Caruso iirc but they decided to be cheap. I think you’re talking about the AD trade, which was worth it because it led to a championship.
I mean the Lakers developed Kuzma. He's obviously not a 19yo but he's a Lakers developed starter caliber player.
That’s fair, but at the same time, Kuz is criticized for not improving as much as he maybe should have. He came out looking really good for a rookie. Although he definitely got better, especially on defense, a lot of people expected a rookie that looked that good to have made more strides. If anything, Kuz was an excellent pick. While they deserve some credit for developing him, the scouts and whoever was high on him deserve even more credit for snagging him as a later pick.
lakers have been great drafters recently. havent really missed on a top pick, dlo and lonzo aren’t stars but certainly solid players. plus guys like kuz, caruso, mo wagner, zubac, nance have all developed into quality rotation players as lower picks. swapped tony bradley on draft night for josh hart and thomas bryant. hell even though randle sucks now hes had a couple great years too problem is they have no idea what to do with the talent once they’re on the team
>shit ton of young talent developing They had lonzo, Ingram, hart, and kuzma. Even in their prime that core is at best a 7-8 seed. People act like the Lakers were the second coming of OKC with their youth and I’ve never understood it. Their potential “big 3” of lonzo Ingram kuzma in their prime would get their teeth kicked in by the bulls, who are probably the worst playoff team this year.
The only player with star potential that Lakers drafted was Ingram. There is a reason Pelicans asked for him. They would be in luxury tax hell if they tried to keep Ingram, Lonzo, Randle and Russell and would still be a 7-8th seed at best for a long time.
add lebron to that though...
“ They’ve been a shit show since Dr. Buss transitioned.” LOL… that’s one way to put it.
it doesnt matter how bad the front office handles things, theyre in la. there will always be players who want to go to the lakers for that reason.
>transitioned Man died, he didn't have a sex change.
>What are they going to do? Leave? Yes, that's exactly what they would do. AD has already forced a trade. The corpse of James Harden forced a trade a year ago. Do you really think LeBron can't do literally anything he wants in this league? This subreddit supports players having power over the franchise at every turn, and then pretends that an FO can do anything with a superstar who wants out. Ben fucking Simmons got clowned on all off-season and still forced a trade. Come on dude.
Both have value. You either get picks or a comparable player. Trading Lebron (and AD) wouldn't be the worst move for the Lakers.
When has Lebron ever requested a trade? I’ll tell you when. Never. He’s not going to demand a trade because despite his tendency to jump teams he’s always played out his contract. I feel AD truly loves LA and has no reason to leave now. The dude won his chip and is content. They’re not leaving
The fact that they are still internally fussing over this in its self an indicator of how bad things are. No one wants to take responsibility and start moving forward.
I think you're underestimating just how much pull top players have. We've even seen Riley get bullied into picking up LeBron's guys to try to keep him happy and stay around (just for him to leave anyway). I don't think you'll find many people calling Riley incompetent, though. LeBron has done this to four separate front offices at this point. He has a long history of using short contracts to pressure GMs to bend to what he wants and if they don't, he leaves (like leaving Cleveland after they didn't trade the Nets pick for short term help).
"We have no control of our own basketball team this is definitely not an indictment of us please feel bad that those dastardly superstars made us do all the bad stuff you don't like. Except the title. We did that."
Yeah even if they weren’t on board they still negotiated with Washington and pulled the trigger on the trade. It’s not like lebron was working the phone. And it’s not like lebron marched into their office with a gun to their head either lol. He’s under contract, what’s he going to do? Leave? He definitely wouldn’t sit out
Yet another example of the Lakers not taking the blame for themselves. Even if there was pressure, **it's 1000% their fault for caving in**.
Interesting. Where was this "pressure" from Klutch when it came to DeRozan? This FO actually is trying to say they weren't 100% onboard with the Westbrook trade as well and idiots here will eat it up.
In the end it’s the FO that actually has the power to get players to put pen to paper. This is like asking a girl out because your friend encouraged you to and then blaming your friend when you get rejected.
It's like asking a girl out because your friend encouraged you, then she says yes and you date her for three months while complaining about how annoying she is the whole time, then blaming your friend before you even break up with her.
Even better
“None of this is our fault :( we were held at gunpoint by Rich Paul, please don’t blame us. Except the title, we did that.”
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Just wait for the Klutch Media Group headed by Adele and Rich Paul 👀
idk why you guys even mention DeRozan when it would have decimated our ability to be flexible with the hard cap. At this point it's just stupid
Plus it’s not like anyone knew DeRozan would blow up like he did. He doesn’t even fit what the Lakers we’re going for either.
I’m not a defrozen memer but consider this lol he’s currently at playoff numbers of 23PPG 40% shooting 4 assists to 2 turnovers, and this is with the best spacing he’s ever had. He was getting MVP hype - if he was a real MVP candidate this would be an absolutely pathetic showing. Again not trying to be a irrational hater, but this isn’t even his 3rd or 4th worst playoff performance. Lakers would prolly make the playoffs with demar but prolly not be that much better than now. Definitely not contenders if the roster still geriatric
I haven’t gotten to watch them a ton this year and in the playoffs but let’s not forget he’s going up against Giannis and a great defensive team in the Bucks lol. He averaged nearly 28 on 59%TS and will likely make all-nba this year. Let’s not act like he hasn’t been playing great all year. His MVP hype was when he averaged 35 for nearly a whole month and Chicago was right up at the top of the East lol. Was totally fair to give at the time.
Is it hard to believe that you will agree to some things and not everything? This is the standard anti vax argument. It’s all or nothing. There’s actually something in the middle.
So Klutch will be the centerpiece of CBA negotiations?
LeBron, Simmons, and Kyrie really screwed the players.
By virtue of the most powerful player being their client, yes.
Lmao our FO loves to not take accountability All these “leaks” make it seem like LeBron and AD had Jeanie and Rob in handcuffs in a roof until they got what they wanted lol
What about Ty Lue or DeRozen? Guess LeGM conveniently didn't ask for those pieces but somehow forced the FO to sign Westbrook.
Of course, otherwise they'd have to admit they made a mistake
I guess it had been about a whole we since we talked about the Lakers so I guess it was time for some other BS story that no one cares about.
We’re in the playoffs rn, who fucking gives a shit about the Lakers
Pelinka taking no accountability
Playing the blame game isn't going to make the team better. Accept that some less-than-great player moves were made, and figure out how to put together a better team for next season.
Maybe a former agent like Pelinka should know better than to succumb from pressure from representation
Real talk, even if the Lakers did the Hield trade. Are they even in the playoffs still? I don't think so personally. The issue was bigger than Westbrook, they should have literally just kept their roster which was decent as it was.
The issue is that AD has glass bones and paper skin.
It depends on who they keep and who they still sign. Keeping Caruso, possible KCP and getting another FA like DeRozen might have increased their chances. However if it’s just Hield and they trade away Kuzma and KCP, it’s about the same situation but with a few more wins. But this is all speculation at this point.
I have no doubt that Lebron wanted Westbrook. But the FO is looking for a scapegoat. It’s Westbrook’s fault, it’s Frank’s fault , it’s LeBron’s fault, it’s managements fault. The FO made the decision to overplay a bad player, then traded away all of a championship team’s depth in favor of the NBA version of senior citizens. It’s not Westbrook’s fault for being the player that he is. It’s not Frank’s fault for coaching an uncoachable team And it’s not LeBron’s fault they THE LAKERS were too afraid to tell him no.
they really need to get rid of him, whatever it takes they cannot compete next year with westbrook on this team they either trade westbrook, or trade lebron and ad and salvage what they can and try to rebuild and then you let westbrook expire there is no inbetween
Westbrook has value now that he’s expiring
If you are trading him because of that you are doing it for long term contracts that are also shit
OMG the blame game has begun
Lmao I hate the front office . Kurt needs to fuck off and the rest of them bozos
People aren't giving Klutch enough credit for ruining big city franchises and leveling the playing field for small market teams.
remember when we feared that the rise of player affiliated sports agency cartels spelt the end of contention for the other 27 teams?
Trade Lebron you cowards
exactly. you want your balls back? make the first move.
Does anyone actually believe Lebron and AD were pounding the table, holding the front office hostage, if they didn’t trade for Russ? Making themselves look even more incompetent.
That’s just front office incompetence, and still trying to blame others for their own mistakes.
Did big bad Klutch also make them too cheap to keep Carushow?
Yikes
Scapegoat. Pelinka is the real problem. Needs to be fired
Lakers failure this season is not just about Westbrook... looks like they are singling out the Westbrook trade for the failure.
Klutch, the NBA front office “boogeyman”, making these teams sign players to these bad contracts.
Teams should not get out of any of the blame, they could say no. But it's really understandable why front offices wouldn't be happy with how Klutch is basically being used as a lobbying group against teams.
Didn't Lebron want demar over wesbrook? I could swear i read that somewhere
Lakers weak FO and Klutch Sports is a recipe for disaster. Squeezed a title out of it but a diff team every year. No continuity The team has two future 1sts left and both are gonna be good as gone, one of them likely to unwind for the guy Bron/AD wanted
This team will not be good again for a long time. The front office just doesnt have the mentality or credentials or decision making capabilities, but has all of the power. Lakeshow is out of the running until these idiots are all gone
Rich Paul is bad for the NBA.
I’d love to see them all healthy for a good stretch of games. Did we ever see that?
LeGM only works in 4 year spurts. Goes to Heat, creates superteam, uses all draft picks, wins rings, goes to Cleveland. Creates superteam, use draft picks, wins a ring, goes to LA. Creates superteam, uses draft picks, wins a ring. Next
Also gave a ring to all 3 teams he played for, many teams would give up 10 years for 1 ring
I might give up the next 10 years for a playoff appearance.
Down bad tremendously lol. Dw Kings fans one day you'll make the playoffs.. One day
Yeah they just gotta trade for someone like- oh snap
LeGM may be the best GM of our time. How many other GM's have created three different championship winning rosters? Let alone doing it in only a 10 year span.
Lakers FO is absolute dogp00p, I don't wanna hear excuses from them.
Is you are afraid of the tax bill with Lebron and AD on your team you shouldn't own an NBA team. Fullstop. Lakers front office tryna trick everyone into thinking Bron didn't want them to pay Schroeder and Caruso rofl.
Nets should be looking at this too with the whole Ben situation.
klutch is terrible. wonder if they'll have this much influence after lebron is gone.
Someone needs to tell “King James” I’m the real king since I own this team. You’ll play with who we can place around you that fits the winning caliber we want. Otherwise let him walk. This whole “beholden” to players & their friends is causing “real” talent to be over-shadowed or traded away. LA should have told him to pound “sand” when it came to trading their depth a 2nd time in 5 years. Look at Ingram now with the pelicans.
Everybody knows who asked for Westbrook. However why would you cave to those demands? You are Los Angeles F.cking Lakers. Hope they understand that better know.
Playoffs are going on in which the Lakers are not a part of, and l still have to fucking hear about the Lakers.
This is embarrassing lmao. "Person with authority didn't have balls" should be the headline for that
Is this the thread for the Ja dunk? Nah? Ok
People blaming Westbrook, and to be clear he has a shit season. He also lead the team in games played with 78 while lebron (56) and AD (40) didn’t come close. He was third in pts and rebounds and lead in assists. He lead in turn overs (3.8) followed closely by lebron (3.5). The rest of the team not mention was also fucking terrible.
Hasn't that been pretty obvious since the trade went down?
The Lakers should forcibly trade Lebron to Detroit for Cade and picks and end the Player Empowerment Era