People Have Been Stuck On This Face Of The League Stuff Without Addressing Another Major Issue On The Horizon…

[KFBF]

Had SGA, all of our picks, and open cap space but threw it all away to chase Kawhi and did whatever he told them to do

Every team in NBA probably makes that trade. PG was third in mvp or whatever and Kawhi coming off the finals. Now should they have mortgaged their future for PG? Absolutely not. Should they have let Kawhi have all these crazy exceptions? No. But on paper you were getting two top ten players. The shyt they've done after is whatever because we disagree on the value of guys like Brandon Boston and Diabate or KPJ. But reality is they're playing out the string till the picks are under their control again.

 

[ISO]

I don’t get why it matters and yeah the difference with the NFL is staggering where teams like Buffalo, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and Green Bay can be major draws.

What does it care what city makes it or is represented? It’s not that it’s OKC vs. Indiana. OKC in the Durant, Westbrook, Harden was a draw and of course you had LeBron in Cleveland for so many years.

It’s the players and for whatever reason players like Tyrese Haliburton and Shai are not appreciated and even Anthony Edwards is ehh.

The culture around the NBA is just different. People are too busy calling Shai a free throw merchant, calling Tyrese “corny”, and discussing Anthony Edwards baby momma.

 

[murksiderock]

I don’t get why it matters and yeah the difference with the NFL is staggering where teams like Buffalo, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and Green Bay can be major draws.

What does it care what city makes it or is represented? It’s not that it’s OKC vs. Indiana. OKC in the Durant, Westbrook, Harden was a draw and of course you had LeBron in Cleveland for so many years.

It’s the players and for whatever reason players like Tyrese Haliburton and Shai are not appreciated and even Anthony Edwards is ehh.

The culture around the NBA is just different. People are too busy calling Shai a free throw merchant, calling Tyrese “corny”, and discussing Anthony Edwards baby momma.

That kind of pointed criticism is directed at NFL players too. I think the difference is how The League itself markets their member clubs...

But to your other point, the new era stars just haven't resonated with NBA heads at a great degree yet. Because Giannis has been plenty popular in Milwaukee; you mentioned LeBron in Cleveland; Durant and Westbrook in Oklahoma (and Shai will grow in popularity in the same city, that MVP will buy him fans, as well as dudes hate-watching him); Dame was popular in Portland; the Spurs had Robinson then Duncan; and so on and so forth...

Haliburton's arrow is actually pointing way up, too. So I don't think its a market thing so much as, in agreement with you, its the new era guys not capturing the fans like the prior guys. Because if he's "him", he can make alot of noise in any market...

 

[pete clemenza]

Every team in NBA probably makes that trade. PG was third in mvp or whatever and Kawhi coming off the finals. Now should they have mortgaged their future for PG? Absolutely not. Should they have let Kawhi have all these crazy exceptions? No. But on paper you were getting two top ten players. The shyt they've done after is whatever because we disagree on the value of guys like Brandon Boston and Diabate or KPJ. But reality is they're playing out the string till the picks are under their control again.

All I hear from Lawrence Frank now is "Wait until '26-'27, we'll have open cap space again". Which means he wants to attempt another 213 Era debacle and bring into two more "stars" who don't move the needle in any department and cost $50 million per season. And they'll f*ck the pics off again too once they get back in control of them. Probably only have one more year of Kawhi & Harden being productive so something has to give. Better hit on a pick and a productive G Leaguer soon.



-On the thread topic, OKC, Minny, Indy, Detroit, etc. drafted well, made good trades, developed players, and sucked a couple of years to get where they're at today. Bigger markets don't want to step back for a season, have a bad year, play some kids, and then build it back up. Its just a constant hunt for "who can we get, We need a ring now" culture. The problem is all the stars that carried that mentality are on their way out -Bron, Curry, KD, Kawhi, etc. Now who are you going to chase to try to bring in to keep the championship or bust season alive?

The unrestricted superstar free agent is almost a thing of the past and a ghost because any star worth a damn signed a max or supermax with their current team and it takes a bigtime trade to acquire them. Now you add in the new CBA and its aprons now the big market star chasers will have to pivot and start hitting on a pick or two and find a diamond in the rough out of the G League.

Even the mainstream media has to adjust. They said Lebron and Luka were now championship favorites but didn't take into account players 6-15 on their roster. Just roll the ball out and the Big 3 or Big 2 will do everything era is over with. If some rating drop for a couple of seasons then so be it. This was going to happen sooner or later no matter what. Still promoting Bron and Curry in 2025 told us the big name drop off was coming. Now its here

 

[KFBF]

All I hear from Lawrence Frank now is "Wait until '26-'27, we'll have open cap space again". Which means he wants to attempt another 213 Era debacle and bring into two more "stars" who don't move the needle in any department and cost $50 million per season. And they'll f*ck the pics off again too once they get back in control of them. Probably only have one more year of Kawhi & Harden being productive so something has to give. Better hit on a pick and a productive G Leaguer soon.

There's not point in bottoming out when the team isn't really in control of their 1st round pick until 2030. If your issue was with their scouting department and who they drafted I'd hear you. Not sure what you want them to do at this point. They've made good moves on the margins and bad ones. At this point the team is just trying to kwept their books clean and make the playoffs

 

[Street Knowledge]

The Lakers will be great with Luka during his prime

 

[pete clemenza]

There's not point in bottoming out when the team isn't really in control of their 1st round pick until 2030. If your issue was with their scouting department and who they drafted I'd hear you. Not sure what you want them to do at this point. They've made good moves on the margins and bad ones. At this point the team is just trying to kwept their books clean and make the playoffs

I get all that. My point is are they playing this out correctly. L. Frank is hyping up open cap space in '26-'27, but imo, there's no "stars" out there that's going to come and save the Clippers. Unless they want to sign LaMelo Ball or Trae Young and pay them 50 million a year just to say that they did something. Plus Harden & Kawhi are in their late 30's and really only have one more season of playing high level basketball. Can't play Harden 40 minutes a game next season and on top of it all expect him to carry the team into the playoffs.

I'm just saying their whole method of operation on several different fronts is crumbling and the thing of the past. Open cap space or waiting to get control over their pics again, always in the buyout market, trading young players for old washed guys, etc. iIts all dwindling away..

We could probably continue to get away with win now mode if Kawhi and Harden were 5 years younger, or if therer were a lot of young stars coming up on the horizon and they weren't locked into max contracts.. and if the old CBA were still around and Ballmer could simply out spend everyone.