“There are just certain franchises that seem to make all the right decisions, that make smart business moves. The credit really goes to management."

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Hope he's excoriated like Krause was.

But he won't be. Because he's right, just like Krause was.

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Easy for your organization to win championships when everyone wants to play for your organization and everyone else's organizations make sweetheart deals with your organization. I'd rather hear it from San Antonio.

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But Orlando is theoretically a place players want to play too. Free agent signings are one thing but i don't see how it benefits other teams to make bad deals with the Lakers...they're just stupid. Obviously Orlando's management is beyond idiotic. Kudos to Kupchak for taking advantage.

The Magic could have very easily taken Bynum and the 2 first round picks but they were more interested in shedding salary. The Lakers didn't fleece them. It was the Sixers who really took advantage of the Magic because they were primarily looking to dump salary.

Orlando is Jacksonville with a theme park. No one wants to play there.

I don't see how it benefits teams to bend over backwards for the Lakers, and yet they do it. Repeatedly. Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown, some stuff, and low firsts? Total giveaway. Kobe Bryant for Vlade Divac. And that's just recently! The old NBA was nothing but the Buffalo Braves and Kansas City Kings of the world pulling their ass cheeks open for the Celtics and Lakers.

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No one did bend over backwards for the Lakers. They gave up by far the 2nd best player in the deal and 2 first round picks. They also took back 2 bad contracts. Just that would have been enough for Howard.

Getting Afflalo for $12M/year probably isn't a great part of this plan.

They could have shed more salary, got more picks, and better project players(seriously, how the hell is Afflalo helping them at all in any way in the next three years?) from Houston.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Really a head scratcher. The best thing they got in the deal was the $18M trade exception. I have no idea why they didn't just take Bynum and the picks. They got the 4th best player in the trade even though they gave away the best player.

Then there are others like the Bulls that turned one of the greatest teams of all time into one of the worst teams of all time almost overnight.

That's the ironic thing about this thread. The same reason that the Lakers deserve credit is the same reason that Krause deserves to get blasted.

I'd be a lot more willing to believe that Krause was the reason for sustained organizational success if his post-Jordan plan wasn't a colossal failure.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

id rather hear it from the okc thunder. it would go something like "hey... uh... kevin... so miami the organization beat you guys this year?" with kevin snapping back "man FUCK YOU. MIAMI WOULDNT WIN ONE PLAYOFF GAME WITHOUT JAMES".

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.