2017 NBA OFFSEASON

PG + lonzo + randle seems like a lateral or downgrade move from kyrie + love + thompson for bron

― 龜, Tuesday, June 20, 2017 6:57 PM (fourteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah the lakers younguns wld have to make serious strides over the next year for this to make sense for bron

lmao brons not going to the lakers w that core hell no.

remind me why anyone seriously suggests lebron is going to the lakers? reminds me of all those knicks fans before the Decision

there was a rumor he wants to lol

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DCzOzR5XcAIuKyU.jpg

all of my fave lakers

hes much more likely to go to the clippers!

lakers fans are notoriously delusional, but now it seems like the front office is getting into fantasyland, too.

love it

Haha wtf

no words

heh

Per source, Jimmy Butler has informed Cavs that he wants to stay in Chicago rather than be traded to Cleveland.

— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) June 21, 2017

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

doesn't want a ring huh, too bad

Sources: Charlotte is sending Miles Plumlee, Marco Belenelli and 41st pick to Atlanta for Dwight Howard and 31st pick.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) June 21, 2017

dwight is a historic cancer

on the latest lowe/arnovitz podcast they were talking about russell and the beefs are apparently:

1. immature kid, not bad just childish
2. questions about ability, especially finishing at the rim i guess
3. knee problems

i like him tho, he's so young and just knows how to play basketball

today we r truly blessed

DWIGHT GOT TRADED WHILE DOING A DRAFT Q&A ON TWITTER LMAOOOOO pic.twitter.com/BSZsat6d3p

— Drew Fultz (@Dcorrigan50) June 21, 2017

that's a brutal trade for atlanta to have to make.

they save like $3-4M at best and have plumlee on the books at $12.5M for the next three years.

i faintly remember when dwight was going to come from Orlando to L.A. and it was going to be like Shaq all over again, Kobe and Dwight ftw, and now he's off to the hinterlands.

good lord why did somone pay plumlee $50M

dwight was the second best player in the nba for like 4 years rip

people talk a lot about the MJ/kobe dogma regarding guys like lebron & KD but dwight fucked his career by living in the shadow of shaq. if he had dedicated himself to being a pick and roll big man he still would have been amazing.

ESPN Sources: Los Angeles Clippers surveying landscape for potential DeAndre Jordan trade. https://t.co/2MuTa757uS

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 21, 2017

ice cream's plan coming to fruition

er... lagoon... reverting way back my b

God, just call him by his Christian name why don't you?

just saw that dwight thing and jeeeeeesus he might as well ship himself to china tomorrow

that lakers picture is so disturbing

dwgt is so disinterested in basketball.

hoops came very easily both to young shaq and to young dwight. neither was a workaholic, but shaq seemed to handle his amazing gifts more astutely, worked a bit harder, and got better results. dwight's always going to have a sneaking feeling he underachieved, but I don't think it will eat at him in the wee hours or anything. he's always going to get guff from some randoms about it and feel bad for an minute or so.

i mean shaq is just straight up better. my point is just about style of play.

dwight was a better athlete than shaq (or at least held his athleticism better as he aged) and was not nearly as dominant of a back to the basket big man. but instead of playing in a way that harnessed his athleticism (basically the way SVG used him) he forever wanted to establish himself as a post threat, even tho he's bad at it. it was just stupid all around.

J0rdan S.
Posted: June 20, 2017 at 7:56:24 PM
er... lagoon... reverting way back my b

lol

dwight was kind of good this year!

super weird career

i will challenge the assertion that dwight was a better athlete than shaq. young dwight couldn't handle the ball and run the floor like young shaq could

Travis Schlenk showed the worth he had with the dubs, highlighted by his first move as Hawks gm.

i was vocally in favor of the dwight signing. i think he still has skills and can be a force. but i also thought bud and the hawks would be good for him but he might just be completely and permanently impossible to be around.

Dwight was pretty good but also inconsistent. he really seemed disinterested at times. the back thing looks bad sometimes too. The way he moped himself out of the rotation in the playoffs sealed his fate I'm sure.

i will challenge the assertion that dwight was a better athlete than shaq. young dwight couldn't handle the ball and run the floor like young shaq could

i clarified that i meant he basically stayed in better shape as he got older

he can still produce but cancer is cancer

i still like his trade for the bobcats! that plumlee contract is hysterical!!!

lol marc spears called them the bobcats in his tweet too

i will challenge the assertion that dwight was a better athlete than shaq. young dwight couldn't handle the ball and run the floor like young shaq could

― k3vin k., Tuesday, June 20, 2017 11:25 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

kinda depends on what u mean by athletic i guess, dwight was insane as far as ups quicks and strength, young shaq was huge and strong while also being pretty jumpy and nimble but prob not at dwights level, as far as actual basketball skills obvs it was shaq no comparison

it's weird to read some of these pieces now:

Lakers acquire Dwight Howard in four-team trade
Adrian Wojnarowski

The Los Angeles Lakers have completed their blockbuster four-team trade to acquire Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The teams finalized the trade on a call with NBA officials Friday afternoon.

The Lakers will send All-Star center Andrew Bynum to the Philadelphia 76ers, who also will receive shooting guard Jason Richardson from the Magic. The Sixers will send guard Andre Iguodala to the Denver Nuggets. The Magic will receive Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, rookie swingman Moe Harkless, forward Josh McRoberts, forward Christian Eyenga, a first-round pick from either the Nuggets or the New York Knicks in 2014, a protected first-round pick from the Sixers, a protected first-round pick from the Lakers in 2017, a second-round pick from the Nuggets in 2013 and a conditional second-rounder from the Lakers in 2015. In addition to Howard, the Lakers will also receive Earl Clark and Chris Duhon from the Magic.

Lakers forward Pau Gasol had been in previous scenarios of the trade, but his representatives were assured Thursday night that he was no longer in the deal. The trade ends a difficult year of uncertainty for Gasol, who was initially traded to the Houston Rockets in a three-team deal for Chris Paul before NBA commissioner David Stern blocked the trade. The Lakers again discussed moving Gasol at the trade deadline and he heard his name in talks for Howard all summer.

"After a while I've been able to block it out," Gasol said. "So I'm relieved."

Orlando, Los Angeles and Philadelphia had discussed a three-way deal, but needed a fourth team to take Iguodala and also provide Orlando with the necessary future draft picks, sources said. Denver joined the talks in the past week, sources said.

Howard's contract ends after this season. He isn't expected to immediately sign an extension with the Lakers because he can get a longer deal in free agency.

Bryant, who is playing for Team USA in the London Olympics, confirmed the trade on his Facebook page.

"Well, it looks like Superman has found a home," Bryant wrote. "…The Lakers have landed a piece that will hopefully carry the franchise long after I'm gone. I have spoken to Dwight Howard, and we are locked and loaded to hopefully bring back the title."

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- An image Los Angeles Lakers fans have been dreaming of for two years finally became a reality Friday night as Dwight Howard held up his newly minted Lakers jersey for the first time at the team's training facility.

Sitting on the Lakers' practice court with 10 Larry O'Brien trophies staring down at him from Lakers executive vice president Jennie Buss' office and 12 championship banners and eight retired jerseys surrounding him on the walls, Howard quickly was introduced to the expectations that now will be placed on him before he even addressed the media.

"There's been a lot of speculation regarding Dwight being traded for the last six to eight to 10 months to a year," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said. "Today, the speculation finally comes to an end. And we're hopeful that 10 years from now, we can add a jersey to that wall over there that says Dwight Howard."

There's no question the ordeal took longer than Howard, the Orlando Magic and everyone involved would have liked, but Howard finally got his wish to be traded from the Orlando Magic on Friday.

In the process, the Lakers were able to pick up the most dominant big man Los Angeles has seen since Shaquille O'Neal, who left Orlando to come there 16 years ago last month.

Howard now joins a storied lineage of Lakers big men dating back to George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and O'Neal, who all led the Lakers to championships after joining the team.

"I don't want to try to compete with those guys," Howard said. "I want to bring my own flavor to L.A. I saw a picture last night. It was like the Mount Rushmore (of Lakers centers) and they had all those guys up there and said, 'Will he join the list of heads with the Lakers greats.' I want to be great in my own right. I want to write my own history and today is the first day of that history."

The Los Angeles Lakers are obviously the big winners of this trade, as Mitch Kupchak essentially managed to swap Andrew Bynum for Dwight Howard.

With D12 on board in purple and gold, the Lakers now boast the NBA's best starting lineup: Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol and Dwight.

L.A. now has a center who fits in better with the Princeton Offense—one who also happens to be the best player at his position in the NBA.

With elite players at four of the five positions and a standout defender at small forward, the Lakers are poised to add a sixth ring to Kobe's collection in the immediate future.

Dwight's presence ensures that L.A. is in the hunt for a title while also extending Kobe's prime for a bit longer, as some of the pressure can now be taken off his shoulders.

wow i forgot the nuggets got iggy as part of the howard trade

oof