FF you value late first round draft picks way too much, NOLA got jack shit for the brow and OKC got jack shit for PG.

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But OKC got PG for nothing but money. Now they have many tangible assets that they could never get otherwise.

Wrong. NOLA destroyed the Lakers on that trade and if AD doesn’t resign it becomes one of the worst trades in history. Kawhi and George are only on the Clippers for 2 more years guaranteed and many of those picks don’t vest for another 4-6 years. It was a tremendous haul by both teams and virtually nobody connected to the league argues otherwise.

_________________
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

SGA is also one of the more promising young PGs in the league.

Edit: and Gallanari is a fine trade piece this year. OKC made out like bandits.

_________________
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

Also it’s important to keep in mind that OKC was the very definition of Basketball Hell that so many on here decry as the worst thing ever. So they got themselves out of that and in return got the largest trade package in the history of the NBA. And you got folks on here arguing it was bad offseason for them

_________________
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

Agreed. SGA has a high ceiling, no doubt

Once again I'm left wondering why none of this could equivalently be written about Blake Griffin, who you suggest should just be fine with everything cause he still gets his salary. What about the potential sponsorship revenue of Blake Griffin As A Business in LA compared to luxurious Detroit? Not to mention any planning he may have done for his future and his family based on being located in LA. If the response to this is that he had to know he could've been traded, then likewise any potential sunken revenue and other factors are already taken into account by the Thunder well in advance of any decision to execute the trade.

On the basketball side, the Pistons aren't going to be any good any time soon. That may have been exactly the kind of consideration Griffin took into account in electing to sign with a team that shortly thereafter reneged on its promise that he'd be a Clipper for life.

More to the point, those picks have very loose if any protections and the Clippers could be bad as soon as 2 years from now.

New Orleans was literally told the same thing and elected to wait until an offer they deemed acceptable was presented to them. OKC could have very easily done the same since they had far more leverage but chose not to because they got an insane offer that gets them out of cap hell on the treadmill (surely another one of those business considerations you claim I'm neglecting) and a jumpstart on a rebuild.
I am but it's hardly any kind of staunch pro-labor argument to suggest complaints and proposed punishments for disloyalty should go both ways.

Unequivocally false.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

He will be better than Trae Young. To be debated in another thread at some point.

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No it’s true. No GM ever got handed a more valuable get out of jail free card recently.

_________________
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

Kawhi Leonard signed with the Clippers moreso because of Geography. He also signed with them because Paul George was coming with him. I don't believe Laker mismanagement played much of a role in his decision.

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So you think playing with George is more appealing than playing with LeBron and AD? If he signed with the Lakers they would have been Warriors level favorites over the rest of the league. After he believed the Spurs mismanagement of his injury jeopardized his career I think it became clear he values competent front offices over anything else. I don’t necessarily agree with him on the SA thing but I do believe he thinks they wronged him.

_________________
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

Ltg, Woj, and Boilermaker Rick all agree. It is a fact.

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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!

Woj six months ago shortly after the trade happened*

_________________
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

Being sucked into all things Lebron isn't all its cracked up to be. Kawhi is a better player than Lebron James right now but on the Lakers he'd have to take backseat to him. Probably AD also.

He has two rings already and probably surmised that He George and a much better coach and supporting cast would be more than enough to pop the Lakers.

He also probably didn't want to be KD'd for the rest of his career.

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I agree with all that but if all he wanted to do was go to LA and win that was the clear path.

Obviously none of us will agree and Woj himself will tell you nobody knows what Kawhi really values outside of Uncle Dennis but I think it’s clear he’s a different type of dude than most and this was about being comfortable with a team and situation and putting his own thing together with a front office he trusts than anything else. He trusts the Clippers in Ballmer’s hands and got his running mate and put everything together without it being some crazy 3 HOFers team. Love what he did. He’s proved everything he’s ever needed to before this and now put his own thing together without it being something that kills the competitive balance of the league. I just think he would’ve considered it elsewhere than LA in the right situation and the reports that he told the Raptors the same thing but they weren’t willing to deal Siakam for it sort of backs me up that the LA part of it was a benefit, not the main factor.

_________________
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

The fact is that no team in the NBA has the cap room for 2 max FAs outside of the coastal big city teams so it’s a little funny to hear these complaints in lieu of that.

_________________
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

If you get rid of all the exceptions it is impossible to build a team like Golden St or the Heat unless they all take significantly less money the entire time they are there.

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