2016-2017 NBA SEASON: Crab walk vs Chef Wok the Threequel: The Return of the King

[Andalusian girls]

Trade a tall euro and draft another tall euro. Bold strategy

it's cool all tall white guys with funny names have the same game

[Moss]

it's cool all tall white guys with funny names have the same game

For those not familiar with Lauri Markkanen, he's been a projected lottery pick all year but has nowhere near the upside of Porzingis. He is tall and has a sweet stroke and that's where the similarities end. His rebounding is anemic and he doesn't have near the shotblocking and general athleticism of KP

[Cail]

Marc Stein‏ @ESPNSteinLine
League sources tell @RamonaShelburne and me: The Pacers and Lakers have engaged on Paul George trade talks in advance of Thursday's draft.

Marc Stein‏ @ESPNSteinLine
The Clippers, Rockets, Wizards and, yes, Cavs are among the teams that have also talked Paul George trades with Indiana, league sources say

[Deejay]

Adrian Wojnarowski‏ @WojVerticalNBA
Sources: As teams become aware Phil Jackson isn't ruling out possibility of trading Kristaps Porzingis, frenzy of interest is growing today.

RIP Deejay

got like 13 texts this afternoon

It sucks that the Knicks are the one team I could never turn my back on but this shit gets harder and harder every day.

[kisada]

so many developments today damn wtf

[tyven]

How does LeBron start and expansion team with himself, Paul George, Kristaps, and Jimmy Butler?

[Cail]

so many developments today damn wtf

Crazy that Pau opting out so he can sign for less, so that the Spurs can go for a max player, is like the 5th biggest NBA headline today lol

[kisada]

other things off top of my head

pacers expected to move PG soon.

raps want pg. clips contacted already but pacers don't have much interest. they probably aren't offering Jordan which means they are morons.

Kyrie wants out of Cleveland if James leaves.

[Jem]

From what they are saying on the local Orlando radio, the caveat to Porzingis being dangled out there is that whoever wants him also has to take on the Noah contract.

That's is a pretty fucking big caveat! I think he's still on the hook for 17m a year for 3 more years

[Dimmauk]

Crazy that Pau opting out so he can sign for less, so that the Spurs can go for a max player, is like the 5th biggest NBA headline today lol

This.

Cp3 is going to look weird in silver and black

[Moss]

From what they are saying on the local Orlando radio, the caveat to Porzingis being dangled out there is that whoever wants him also has to take on the Noah contract.

That's is a pretty fucking big caveat! I think he's still on the hook for 17m a year for 3 more years

It likely precludes a contender from doing it since they don't have the cap space or valuable player worth parting with that matches salary BUT any other team would happily eat that contract to get KP's rights

[Cail]

And we have a trade!

Spoiler: show

Adrian Wojnarowski‏ @WojVerticalNBA
Lakers are trading Tim Mozgov and D'Angelo Russell to Nets for Brook Lopez and 27th pick Thursday, sources say.

[Cail]

Nick Friedell‏ @NickFriedell
League source confirms @vgoodwill report that Wade has informed Bulls he will pick up his option and return to Chicago next season.

[Jem]

It likely precludes a contender from doing it since they don't have the cap space or valuable player worth parting with that matches salary BUT any other team would happily eat that contract to get KP's rights

On the local radio they were half jokingly pitching Biyombo plus pick(s) for it. Since Biyombo is on a similar atrocious contract but at least he can still actually play

[Andalusian girls]

And we have a trade!

Spoiler: show

Adrian Wojnarowski‏ @WojVerticalNBA
Lakers are trading Tim Mozgov and D'Angelo Russell to Nets for Brook Lopez and 27th pick Thursday, sources say.

well RIP to the D'Angelo Russell era, and to the mystery of if the Lakers are going to take Ball or not.

helps with their cap flex more than anything, dump Mozgov's horrible contract to rent Lopez for a year then go ham on the Bron/PG sweepstakes.

[Moss]

I never understood why they couldn't try Russell off the ball. Still feels like he has a lot of potential

It functions as a salary dump anyway which is more important so I guess it doesn't matter

[Jem]

I'm more surprised that Russell holds so little value.

[kisada]

it's not so little it's just that magic is trying to maintain his title as one of the dumbest people in basketball

[Gredival]

I never understood why they couldn't try Russell off the ball. Still feels like he has a lot of potential

Presumably because they already locked Jordan Clarkson up for that and developing Russell into a solid 2 is work and a gamble they would rather not take when Clarkson is right there.

I think he's worth more than a sweetener in salary dump, but I guess the Lakers want to make sure they have room for next year when they know a bunch of teams won't be looking to facilitate cap clears for them.

[Cail]

Brad Turner‏ @BA_Turner
Just heard @Lakers offered @Pacers either Jordan Clarkson or Julius Randle and 27, 28 pick for Paul George.