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

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

yeah its not a great sitch

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

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, February 8, 2023 3:50 PM (eleven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

if he winds up on his son's team this takes care of itself

I mean who knows what goes on in his mind, maybe he thought the Laker situation was salvageable during the offseason but doesn't anymore. idk I always thought the plan was to end up back in Cleveland somehow

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

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, February 8, 2023 4:17 PM (forty-nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

it’s an extremely cursed situation, but given that all of that stuff is in the past I can see why the lakers, or at least lebron, could think those picks are essentially meaningless. bron won’t be there at that point and they can just rely on free agents wanting to come there in the future. obviously you’d like to use those to acquire players a bit more…impactful…but inflation is crazy

the plot thickens!

ESPN Sources: Three-team trade is largely hinging on how Minnesota values D’Angelo Russell in potential deal and their return of draft assets. Lakers and Jazz have significant deal structure in place, but Minnesota has been engaged elsewhere on Russell too.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2023

duelling leaks. next we will hear tht the lakers are taking many calls on russ

is the deadline midnight tonight or midnight tomorrow night?

tomorrow 3pm eastern

let's hope for many trades. as ilh has often noted trades are good. even bad trades are good. hurray for trades!

trades trades trades

me when i see a blockbuster deal going down: "hell yeah very nice"

me when i see there's no trades: "hm not so good"

it’s an extremely cursed situation, but given that all of that stuff is in the past I can see why the lakers, or at least lebron, could think those picks are essentially meaningless.

well, we know lebron doesn't give a fuck about the picks. nor should he. the front office on the other hand....

good luck blake

Celtics starters tonight:

Blake Griffin
Grant Williams
Jayson Tatum
Jaylen Brown
Derrick White

76ers starters:

Joel Embiid
P.J. Tucker
Tobias Harris
De'Anthony Melton
James Harden

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) February 9, 2023

gross

are the celtics drunk?

btw I’ve been in oakland the past couple of days and the 4pm start times are so disorienting

blake griffin with 3 straight 3s lol he’s reading jordan’s posts

blake unstoppable i always believed in you blake

ok I just saw the Drake Lebron video, what an odd fellow

they really shouldve lost that one

ESPN Sources: The Lakers are finalizing deal to land Minnesota’s D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt in trade including Mike Conley and picks to Timberwolves and Russell Westbrook and a lightly protected 2027 LA first-round pick to Jazz.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 9, 2023

Also in deal: Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones to Jazz, Nickeil Alexander-Walker to the Timberwolves, sources said.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 9, 2023