2022/23 NBA REGULAR SEASON THREAD "TANKING FOR WEMBANYAMA"

ESPN Sources: Lakers G Russell Westbrook and coach Darvin Ham had a brief, heated verbal exchange in the halftime locker room on Tuesday vs. OKC. Ham expressed frustration with how Westbrook lingered on the playing floor after getting subbed out of game late in second quarter.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2023

he’s worse than kyrie honestly…

as a hooper? yes.

would you rather your erratic point guard be on the court not enough or way too much

seems like one that ham might want to just let go

russ is annoying tho i get it

breaking that record against the thunder at home, stopping the game midway through the third quarter for a speech, then disappearing in the fourth quarter and sitting the last couple of minutes out (after which your team actually goes on a run to close the lead to 3), then throwing a party on court after taking an L in a must-win game…can’t sum up lebron and the lakers much better than that. great TV tbh

dont think there was even a mention of losing the game in any of the coverage lmao. and the fact that it was kind of a must win for them?

he shd take the rest of the season off go hang out in miami like that one time when he was on the cavs again

in lebrons speech he said i can still help whatever team im on win championships. i could see him shutting it down the rest of this season. if he knows in his heart his team is dead in the water hes not one to push through and give it his all. and by shut it down i think he still wants to put that record out of reach so he'll get his 27/7/7 but on cruise control

i think it was the post game interview actually

yeah thats what id expect him to do and hes not wrong i mean obvs the lakers have no shot

The Lakers, Jazz and Timberwolves are in discussions on a three-team deal that would send D’Angelo Russell to the Lakers, Russell Westbrook and draft compensation such as a first-round pick to Utah and Mike Conley Jr. to Minnesota, sources tell me and @Tjonesonthenba.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 8, 2023

lakers are gonna re-sign nick young and get the band back together

wow weird trade i like it for all the teams

Three-way talks with Lakers, Jazz and Timberwolves would potentially land D'Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley with LA, Mike Conley, Jr., and picks with Timberwolves and Russell Westbrook and picks with Jazz, per sources. Jazz remain engaged elsewhere on Conley Jr., too.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2023

yeah thats not bad

im sure the jazz will release/buyout russ right?

imo that trade is a lot of deck chair rearranging except for the jazz where it's just found money

flipping russ into d russ and beasely is a positive for the lakers. they need bodies, and particularly bodies that can shoot.. and they got two of those

conley to the wolves just makes them older but hes a good locker dude and vet

well if there's picks going to utah and minnesota one has to assume the lakers are sending out both of their available firsts which for russell and beasley........ idk man

gotta do something to try and keep lebron

yeah if they have to send out both first its not great especially considering they had better deals available earlier but it still is a nice upgrade for their team

i like conley to the wolves a lot but it's not like i'm watching a lot of utah games over here

rumors about vandy to lakers too, thats a pretty good deal i think

conleys def a better fit than russell but hes old think its more about getting russell out than anything

what happens if utah buys out russ, does anyone take him i need to see this play out v badly

maybe the nets

so there's some deal with the salary cap (and i might be messing up this description) but if we let d'angelo walk after this year we lose some cap space (an exemption maybe?)

if we can get a first round pick back i will be super happy. i haven't watch conley much but this team definitely needs more dudes that are just pros and treat the game that way.

it's definitely more about getting Dlo out than anything else, he's shot great at times this year and definitely won the wolves games but i get the sense he's been worse in the locker room than has come out in reports. i just don't think he's a winning player tbh.

the wolves would be better off in the playoffs if d'angelo russell sprained his ankle in the first minute of game one and didn't play for 3 months months, and conley will prob get hurt anyway. so in a roundabout way it will prob work out

beasley would be a nice addition to the lakers, he can be a great shooter

Dlo - and this is based on stuff he says constantly - is definitely one of the most delusional players in the NBA, he truly believes he is a superstar and max player and it's just that no one uses him correctly. he's also weird because he's a point guard technically but plays like a 2 guard but when it's suggested he'd be a better fit at 2 he seems to get miffed at the idea.

the lakers paying two first round picks to fill out their rotation w/ decent role players bcuz they traded away their whole team of decent role players for westbrook... it's all so stupid. they should just eat this season but they were obv always gonna cave to lebron's pressure, even tho he has no leverage

thing with dlo walking is prob "the bird rights trap" eg because minny is over the cap they can resign their own players for as much as they want but cannot with new players so if you trade for a guy with a longer contract like conley it is in some sense preserves your ability to spend that money

ive never seen dangelo russell run full speed

xpost - yes I think that's it

conleys contract is only partially guaranteed next year which makes it a real good candidate to be packaged with picks for another guy in the offseason

russell is just not a serious player, there's nothing he can do to meaningfully make the lakers better

He’s better than Russ Westbrook no?

just trade LeBron, Lakers got the last good thing they're gonna get from him last night, and Bron himself deserves the chance to contribute to something other than whatever the hell they got going in LA right now

lebron can’t be traded this season

they would never trade him without his consent anyway you gotta keep the free agent pipeline flowing

which is also why KD will never be traded to memphis, new orleans etc no matter how podcast minutes are spent discussing teams with the most assets

idk LeBron saying "I feel like I can still contribute to any team" and things of that nature makes it sound like he'd be okay with a trade, dunno how his contract is set up right now though. obviously its not gonna happen this stuff is just fun to think about

couple good games tonight celtics sixers classic matchup of eastern conf powerhouses, and kyries first game with dallas vs rival clips

idk LeBron saying "I feel like I can still contribute to any team" and things of that nature makes it sound like he'd be okay with a trade, dunno how his contract is set up right now though. obviously its not gonna happen this stuff is just fun to think about

― frogbs, Wednesday, February 8, 2023 4:45 PM (two minutes ago)

he signed an extension w/ the lakers before this season even tho he had literally no reason to. it just seems like raising his family in LA is more important to him than criss crossing the country chasing one more title

couple good games tonight celtics sixers classic matchup of eastern conf powerhouses, and kyries first game with dallas vs rival clips

― lag∞n, Wednesday, February 8, 2023 4:48 PM (two minutes ago)

i saw rob will and horford were both questionable for the game tonight which put a damper on that one for me but the mavs game should be fun

what they gotta play horf vs his son joel embiid cant be tearing families apart like that

nate duncan does this thing on his twitter feed every day noting how many match ups from the previous night were “high quality” (the two best players from each team all playing) and the numbers are fairly depressing