NBA-Rockets 2018 Offseason

LeBron James is now a Laker. We sort of knew that was coming, right? What the big discussion this morning was is how the Lakers and Magic Johnson screwed up the signing of Paul George. The bulk of the conversation since the end of the playoffs has been how the Lakers would sign Paul George as an enticement to the signing of King James with the added promise of Kawhi Leonard giving the Lakers a team that could compete with Golden State. Paul George was successfully wooed by the Oklahoma City Thunder leaving the Lakers front office looking a little surprised and foolish. The Lakers focused on James and George was just an afterthought whereas the Thunder courted George like a love-sick suiter and isn’t it nice to be appreciated? If the Lakers do manage to pull off the Leonard trade they will be the 2nd best team in the West passing up Houston who somehow let Clint Capela depart for Phoenix last week. Capela was arguably the 3rd best player on the Rockets last season and his departure leaves a pretty big hole to fill. It’s hard to imagine that Houston will nearly as successful in 2018-19 without him.

 

Back to the ‘Kawhi to the Lakers’ thing, I think it’s going to happen and if LA can pull off the deal and ship Lonzo Ball and his pain-in-the-ass daddy off it’s a huge win-win for the Lakers. Without Paul George though the Lakers will not likely have enough talent to beat Golden State but, if LA does get Kawhi, LeBron will have more talent than the last two teams he took to the finals so you just never know. Cleveland’s front office is the villain in this scenario because they made no serious effort to get quality talent around LeBron. LeBron made himself the villain last time he was a free agent by making a circus of his signing with the Miami Heat. This time around James learned his lesson. He kept his opting out of his last year of his contract and signing with the Lakers as low key as possible, all things considered. This despite the fact the media has been talking about nothing else for a month. The Cleveland front office is the villain this time around. When JR Smith is your 2nd best player you know your team sucks. Cleveland can’t complain that LeBron is a traitor to the city this time. Not after leading the Cavs to 4 straight finals appearances and winning 1. LeBron carried the team all the way. He helped make Matthew Dellavedova a star in one finals, he at least had Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love’s help when they won. The other two finals they just didn’t have any real help and they were swept. Cleveland can hang the owner in effigy this time around and he would deserve it more than LeBron ever did. It would be like Michael Jordan leaving Chicago because Jerry Krause never got Scottie Pippin or any of the rest of supporting cast that Jordan led to 6 NBA championships in 8 years. The folks in Chicago would have nobody to blame but the Bulls’ GM if that happened. This time around it’s the Cavs owner, Dan Gilbert, who is the culprit.

Edited July 2, 2018 by eagle eye

I have to make a correction to yesterday’s post. I went off a discussion on ESPN that said Clint Capela signed with the Phoenix Suns. That was wrong and it’s a great lesson in the need to fact check. Trevor Ariza is the one who left for Phoenix. Capela is a restricted free agent who is looking for a big payday. Ariza got a one year $15 MM deal from the Suns. And I’m sure Capela would like an 8 digit contract too.

Well, LeBron is a Laker. After a 3-hour meeting with Lakers GM Magic Johnson they also signed 3 other players. All are playmakers of sorts although none are considered great shooters. The other newbs in LA are Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee and finally Rajon Rondo. LaVar Ball called Rondo a nice backup as he is still touting his son, Lonzo, as NBA royalty. The fact is, the younger Ball could be a nice player in the NBA but he needs a lot of work on his game. His old man however is living in the great state of denial. The signings are rumored to have prompted LaVar Ball to leak information about a knee injury to Lonzo which would make trading him difficult. The other fact is, trading Lonzo even if he was healthy wouldn't be easy because, as I said before, he's not a great player. Plus, I wonder if other teams look at LaVar and think this guy is a pain in the tushy and Lonzo isn't worth the heartburn. I don't know but the article linked below is a nice update, in case you haven't heard it yet..

 

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/24003187/lakers-signings-part-magic-plan-nba

 

Right now the Rockets are just idling. The rumor mill has Houston interested in Carmello Anthony but so are the Lakers and just about anyone who could be in contention in the playoffs. Does Houston need another guard? How about a forward who can play D and score? That would be nice. How about anyone who can play D period? What's galling is I firmly believe if Chris Paul didn't get hurt at the end of Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals Houston beats the mighty GS Warriors. Houston needs to make some kind of move to replace Trevor Ariza. Does Houston have a guy in the developmental league to step up? We can only wonder.