The Boston Celtics are celebrating.
The rest of Lakers Nation is reveling in the afterglow, and should start buying shopping for Christmas presents early for one LeBron James.
Because the signing of King James without the Lakers having to deal ANYONE ahead of time, a scenario I really never saw coming (and I don't think anyone else did either), has changed the NBA landscape for the near and maybe long-term future.
Because the signing of King James without the Lakers having to deal ANYONE ahead of time, a scenario I really never saw coming (and I don't think anyone else did either), has changed the NBA landscape for the near and maybe long-term future.
My previous blog was about the scenarios that I thought would bring James here, and all of them were contingent upon the Lakers trading to get another piece of the puzzle before James would sign away his leverage by inking a contract. In my previous blog, I argued there was no way to bring LeBron James here that would be worth it under those circumstances.
You see, by James coming to L.A. without the Lakers having to deal anything, he just made the Lakers ten times richer. There's no way I wouldn't take LeBron James for the cost any day and twice on Sunday. Not only is the deal only locked for three years, they have an option for a fourth. The term being shorter actually benefits the Lakers. LeBron will be 37 when he can opt in or out. Instead of being tied to a five or seven year deal, of which LeBron probably gives you three good ones, they get what they pay for here -- three pretty good seasons from the still-greatest player in the NBA.
Sure, there are people going on about the DeMarcus "Boogie" Cousins signing in Golden State. Hate to break to all the Lakers' fans. Unless you signed an entirely new team of stud players, you weren't taking down Golden State come 2018-19. The best you could hope for was to make a serious run in the 2019-20 season.
This assumes Golden State stays healthy of course for all of 2018-19, but barring injuries, the team that swept the Cavaliers is still fully intact, with or without Cousins. (Cousins, by the way, is coming off surgery on a ruptured Achilles, the same injury that ended Kobe Bryant's career. It is rare that players are the same after this type of injury.)
More to the point, the Lakers' kept Lonzo Ball. They kept Kyle Kuzma. They kept Brandon Ingram. And they kept Josh Hart. Brooke Lopez has signed (CORRECTION - is anticipated to sign) with the team. He's not much of a big man, but he's a veteran offensive threat and costs little. Personally, I like signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope at two years for $6 million per annum -- (CORRECTION: It's $12 million for one year, and I'm not as thrilled), He's just 25 and gives his all on both sides of the court.
Jeanie Buss, Magic Johnson and Rob Polinka should be immediately enshrined in the Lakers Hall of Fame for pulling one of the most colossally huge moves of the decade.
As for LeBron, start sending the Christmas Cards now. Because for Los Angeles, 2019-2020 is likely to be the year the Lakers are in the NBA Finals, vying for the NBA Title.
Sure, there are people going on about the DeMarcus "Boogie" Cousins signing in Golden State. Hate to break to all the Lakers' fans. Unless you signed an entirely new team of stud players, you weren't taking down Golden State come 2018-19. The best you could hope for was to make a serious run in the 2019-20 season.
This assumes Golden State stays healthy of course for all of 2018-19, but barring injuries, the team that swept the Cavaliers is still fully intact, with or without Cousins. (Cousins, by the way, is coming off surgery on a ruptured Achilles, the same injury that ended Kobe Bryant's career. It is rare that players are the same after this type of injury.)
More to the point, the Lakers' kept Lonzo Ball. They kept Kyle Kuzma. They kept Brandon Ingram. And they kept Josh Hart. Brooke Lopez has signed (CORRECTION - is anticipated to sign) with the team. He's not much of a big man, but he's a veteran offensive threat and costs little. Personally, I like signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope at two years for $6 million per annum -- (CORRECTION: It's $12 million for one year, and I'm not as thrilled), He's just 25 and gives his all on both sides of the court.
Jeanie Buss, Magic Johnson and Rob Polinka should be immediately enshrined in the Lakers Hall of Fame for pulling one of the most colossally huge moves of the decade.
As for LeBron, start sending the Christmas Cards now. Because for Los Angeles, 2019-2020 is likely to be the year the Lakers are in the NBA Finals, vying for the NBA Title.
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