Lakers: Woj: Lakers Trade D'Angelo Russell & Mozgov to Nets for Brook Lopez & 27th Pick

[DeRozan m8]

He's just a kid, a child who has been under severe attack since the snitch. Everyone makes mistakes, but, Media had no intention of letting him up because he was a Laker so they egged everyone on, because it didn't matter if he was destroyed,,,he was a nobody, easily jettisoned. & the kicker is it was easy to cut it up...there was nothing on the line for the Lakers, we were so they went after him with a gleeful vengeance. (We) let Kobe up. (They) never put Duncan under the boot.

It was wrong what he did, and he stipulated to it, but, they had no intention of it ending there. Uh, uh.

They were selling Kobes

[midnightpulp]

The worst thing they could do is sit and absorb an unnecessary contract. They have two, mind you, so this really restricts them from a cap standpoint. Under Johnson, they opened up $25 million next season. They also have a Top 12 player basically throwing himself to the franchise for free and most importantly a transcendent draft pick that is more concerned in running plays than scoring to make his presence felt. Barely a year ago, they have 2 toxic salaries and mid tier free agents wouldn't even touch them in free agency. That's a uva turn around in less than 4 seasons.



You also have to realize that they are not operating under the assumption of competing with the Warriors, and if we're being honest here, who really can? The business side is the other equation and I think the Lakers, particularly Jeannie, is under tremendous pressure to bring back an exciting brand of basketball to Staples. TWC's knocking on her door and with the '18 ASG being held in Los Angeles, she's despera to have someone represent her brand at this juncture.

More cap flexibility is always good, true, but the reason those contracts weren't "bad" in this context is because the Lakers are a developing team whose young core is 3-5 years away from maturing. Cap room is great for teams one or two pieces away from contention. The Lakers won't be one or two pieces away in at least a half-decade, if ever (depending on how they develop). Cap room will just tempt the Lakers FO to chase stars next season, and again, the worst thing for developing players is to play alongside superstar players. You want the primary focus to be on Longo, Ingram, Randle, Clarkson. Paul George + another potential star will disrupt that dynamic. , Ingram had a tough enough time getting touches with Nick Young and Lou Williams on the team last season.

I agree with you this move is more motivated by the business side of the equation. Even a 40ish win team challenging for a playoff spot would be enough to get LA excited about the Lakers again, but as a basketball move, I think it shows impatience and short-sightedness. Lakers are like a declining Fortune 500 company looking to boost quarterly earnings to make shareholders happy in the short-tern in lieu of sticking to a 10 year plan that might be unprofitable for the first few years, but that will ultimately produce major returns.

[midnightpulp]

agree that i dont like this deal ...But you lost me at the contract wasnt that bad ...
only Spurstalk ...Russell is a bust, yet we made a mistake by jettisoning him ...smh

I always advocated for Russell to be traded. But the Lakers should've tried to get a handful of first rounders/late lottery pick for him rather than Brook Lopez and a single late first rounder. Example: How the Spurs traded George Hill for the pick that led to Kawhi Leonard. Teams are desperate for scoring PGs with range, and while Russell might not have shown consistency, he's shown enough flashes (40 point games, etc) while maintaining a decent PPG on a a decent shooting percentage that teams would've taken a shot.

[spurraider21]

stealth Lakers fan StrengthandHonor spinning this.

Horrible trade. They got absolutely jack in return to build towards their "youth movement" (lol low first round picks). This move was entirely based on freeing up space for Paul George and maybe another star in 2018.

That plan will blow up in their faces. Look at all the successful teams that built their cores through the draft: Thunder, Warriors, Celtics, Wizards. At no point did they ever pursue a superstar player as their young players were developing. Superstar players playing alongside developing players will only hamper development.

Mozgov's contract wasn't even bad considering the Lakers are light years away from contention. He would've came off the books at about the time the Lakers youth movement will be entering their prime (2020). If Longo and Ingram prove to be a solid duo, but still need another gun, that's when you go after the big fish. In fact, players like Mozgov and Deng are fine to have around young players. They won't take touches away and are basically in collect a paycheck mode.

It's also highly stupid to waste time and money trying to build a contender right now since it's the Warriors conference to lose for the next half-decade. Lakers plan should just be to stack youth and more youth, develop that youth, and then start making moves for stars after the Warriors' peak.

"stealth"

[Thread]

They were selling Kobes

Your Rodman finked as well, right smack dab in the middle of the NBA Playoffs.

You've nary room.

[Killakobe81]

I always advocated for Russell to be traded. But the Lakers should've tried to get a handful of first rounders/late lottery pick for him rather than Brook Lopez and a single late first rounder. Example: How the Spurs traded George Hill for the pick that led to Kawhi Leonard. Teams are desperate for scoring PGs with range, and while Russell might not have shown consistency, he's shown enough flashes (40 point games, etc) while maintaining a decent PPG on a a decent shooting percentage that teams would've taken a shot.

on that i agree disappointed we didnt show any patience here ...
but to hear Raven tell it Russell was trash.
lets be honest cap space was the asset not Lopez ...but
Hevis one of the better pick and pop big men which is what Lonzo feasted off of at UCLA
either way i dont like the deal im just mocking those that killed him and now are expecting us to get great value ...
the George Hill deal is apples to oranges ...
RC didnt also include a contract worse than Splitter's ...
if mozgof deal wasnt as bad or not included we would get more for Russell.
again i dint like it but call it ty for the right not the wrong reasons ...


mitch still ing us from retirement.

[LkrFan]

I always advocated for Russell to be traded. But the Lakers should've tried to get a handful of first rounders/late lottery pick for him rather than Brook Lopez and a single late first rounder. Example: How the Spurs traded George Hill for the pick that led to Kawhi Leonard. Teams are desperate for scoring PGs with range, and while Russell might not have shown consistency, he's shown enough flashes (40 point games, etc) while maintaining a decent PPG on a a decent shooting percentage that teams would've taken a shot.

He wasn't valued the way Hill was around the league (snitching has that kind of negative affect). He showed flashes - and I had high hopes for him - but he was really inconsistent, slow defensively, and for the Lakers to give up on a premium pick so soon for an untested rookie (with a big mouth dad) speaks volumes.

Now that he's no longer a Laker, he'll have a chance to rehab his career in Brooklyn. He'll put up good numbers and stat pad...then ST will clown Laker fans all over again

[Spurtacular]

Damn, the Nets stupidity just continues.

[Brazil]

He wasn't valued the way Hill was around the league (snitching has that kind of negative affect). He showed flashes - and I had high hopes for him - but he was really inconsistent, slow defensively, and for the Lakers to give up on a premium pick so soon for an untested rookie (with a big mouth dad) speaks volumes.

Now that he's no longer a Laker, he'll have a chance to rehab his career in Brooklyn. He'll put up good numbers and stat pad...then ST will clown Laker fans all over again

wtf Lorenzo ?

[Brazil]

oh boy, there are some threads to bump tbh...

[RsxPiimp]

i feel like the nets made out like bandit on this one. they basically got russell for $16 million a yr for 3 yrs. even if it doesn't pan out, they gave up nothing for him. wow.

ive always thought they could at least fleece the sixers for a high draft pick since they've always loved russell and pairing him with his buddy ben simmons would be ideal.

lakers couldnt even get brooklyns 22nd pick lol.

[Splits]

The D'Bust era has come to an end

I for one would hate to be a fan of that franchise. WTF they tanked an entire season and just gave their gains away for nothing? To get rid of the first free agent signed less that a year ago, 5 minutes after the midnight deadline passed? What a disaster

[LkrFan]

wtf Lorenzo ?

[Killakobe81]

i feel like the nets made out like bandit on this one. they basically got russell for $16 million a yr for 3 yrs. even if it doesn't pan out, they gave up nothing for him. wow.

ive always thought they could at least fleece the sixers for a high draft pick since they've always loved russell and pairing him with his buddy ben simmons would be ideal.

lakers couldnt even get brooklyns 22nd pick lol.

agree not dure why we couldnt at least get their higher pick, smh

[Thread]

The D'Bust era has come to an end

I for one would hate to be a fan of that franchise. WTF they tanked an entire season and just gave their gains away for nothing? To get rid of the first free agent signed less that a year ago, 5 minutes after the midnight deadline passed? What a disaster

(We) never rallied to his side during the fink situation. The players, the front office, our/the Media, LF's...instead we rallied to the side of that idiot Swaggy P. Rome was burning, but, we couldn't care less. Kupchak needed to take the lead there and embrace Russell, see him thru the process of acceptance of responsibility, a public apology and then rehabilitation. Instead Kups was too busy sorting his parachute out on the dining room table for when he had to hop out & auger in.

Russ could never surface in Los Angeles. Everytime he'd stick his up he'd get beaten down.

We permitted this to happen. We've nobody to blame but ourselves. We've yet to touch bottom.

[The Gemini Method]

Getting rid of one of the worst contracts this side of giving the corpse of Kobe was a win. Lopez' contract is over after this year. If I were the GM I'd wait and ac ulate the cap space and try and get 2 next off-season. The Ball era begins!!!!!

[Thread]

agree not dure why we couldnt at least get their higher pick, smh

Because they had us by the shorties. We egged on that spectacle in Los Angeles, everybody saw us and they made notes. So, when we had to come a knockin' they reminded us that we had damaged goods. They knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt how the game is played:::they knew Russell would be given a 2nd chance AFTER he was traded and not one second before. But, that he'd be worth diddly on the trade block. We're fortunate to get what we got.

[Raven]

agree that i dont like this deal ...But you lost me at the contract wasnt that bad ...
only Spurstalk ...Russell is a bust, yet we made a mistake by jettisoning him ...smh

you didn't. But let's now talk about how you guys are doing everything in power to dump away the awful contracts of deng and clarkson while hoping anyone gives anything in return for randle... Remember the time when those contracts were not that bad?

[Killakobe81]

you didn't. But let's now talk about how you guys are doing everything in power to dump away the awful contracts of deng and clarkson while hoping anyone gives anything in return for randle... Remember the time when those contracts were not that bad?

who said that? i called it awful when they signed both I remember that ...so did 95% of posters here and on LG ...

[Killakobe81]

(We) never rallied to his side during the fink situation. The players, the front office, our/the Media, LF's...instead we rallied to the side of that idiot Swaggy P. Rome was burning, but, we couldn't care less. Kupchak needed to take the lead there and embrace Russell, see him thru the process of acceptance of responsibility, a public apology and then rehabilitation. Instead Kups was too busy sorting his parachute out on the dining room table for when he had to hop out & auger in.

Russ could never surface in Los Angeles. Everytime he'd stick his up he'd get beaten down.

We permitted this to happen. We've nobody to blame but ourselves. We've yet to touch bottom.

great post ...Thread but me if we havent seen bottom yet ...

[LkrFan]

Don't worry, Magic's about to get taken to the cleaners by Indy after already getting fleeced by the Nets.

How much credibility do you give Bill Simmons?

this shiiiiiiiit I said!

Minus the signing with LA part, BS is saying the same I've posted here.

[Thread]

great post ...Thread but me if we havent seen bottom yet ...

Unfortunately no. The bottom for us is foreign soil. We lived on an island provided by interests attached to us thru the old man. When that protection ended we didn't react correctly. Kupchak didn't know what to do beside run amok pushing buttons. But, we couldn't just throw him out in light of blinding reality. And he couldn't handle that reality.

I've spoken the term for us= (derelict). We're listless, no rudder, no acknowledgment of the truth-of the facts. So we teeter twixt fear & false bravado, between glorious past & incomprehensible future.

[Killakobe81]

Unfortunately no. The bottom for us is foreign soil. We lived on an island provided by interests attached to us thru the old man. When that protection ended we didn't react correctly. Kupchak didn't know what to do beside run amok pushing buttons. But, we couldn't just throw him out in light of blinding reality. And he couldn't handle that reality.

I've spoken the term for us= (derelict). We're listless, no rudder, no acknowledgment of the truth-of the facts. So we teeter twixt fear & false bravado, between glorious past & incomprehensible future.

we are derelict but we have to rise at some point ...
yesterday did not give me hope ...

[Raven]

who said that? i called it awful when they signed both I remember that ...so did 95% of posters here and on LG ...

The Clarkson one? Pretty sure almost nobody said it was a bad contract..

[Raven]

(We) never rallied to his side during the fink situation. The players, the front office, our/the Media, LF's...instead we rallied to the side of that idiot Swaggy P. Rome was burning, but, we couldn't care less. Kupchak needed to take the lead there and embrace Russell, see him thru the process of acceptance of responsibility, a public apology and then rehabilitation. Instead Kups was too busy sorting his parachute out on the dining room table for when he had to hop out & auger in.

Russ could never surface in Los Angeles. Everytime he'd stick his up he'd get beaten down.

We permitted this to happen. We've nobody to blame but ourselves. We've yet to touch bottom.

let's see the situation as it is: they thought they drafted a pass first point guard with deadly shooting and size advantage and instead they got one of the worst passers at the position seen in the last decade, one of the worst defenders both from a mental and a physical standpoint, an absolute cancer in the locker room and a joke outside of it and of top of it, someone with so many gifted minutes and statpadding that would cost way way way too much to keep after the rookie contract. Dbust is just not a player that belongs in any playoff roster not today, not in the future. He was frankly an embarassment as the franchise player.