₦airaland Forum

birdman:
I for one am happy that DeRozan did not end up with the Lakers, even though I knew that is what Lakers really needed. It would have reduced DeRozan to a marginal star, and for sure he would not be in MVP conversations today. Yall know how long I have been rolling with LeKing, but I call it how I see it. If you go from team to team, you should expect these type of things to happen. Its the same thing happening to Durant now. Its not good, its not bad, its just how these things work. I am very happy to see Deroan get his just props after all these years.

My personal reading on the Lakers: Even though Lebron, Magic and other Laker greats are against Pelinka on this roster issue, Pelinka will not be fired. Why? He is that guy. Those of you in corporate environments know what I'm talking about. The green snake under green grass that knows how to survive by throwing everybody else under the bus. He is going to stroke Jeanie Buss ego and do everything to survive, including trading Lebron and AD if need be.

I am interested to see how this plays out - this is class 301: Black in Corporate America - After they have hired and promoted you, how to save yourself from the orcs coming for you. Some players are still in class 101 - How to stay hired.

The fact that Klutch Sports and Lebron are trying to make Pelinka the fall guy is so sad and laughable. From 'Rob wants his respect' to this. Then he wonders why nobody respects him. Leadership is not only about taking the glory when things pan out, part of being a great leader is taking ownership when shyte goes south as well.

The damage had been done building this team with LeNomad's approval. A real rider would go down on his shield not put this on Rob. Jeannie would be smart to stick with Rob and offload LeNomad if it hits the fan

Incase World War 3 goes down. It was nice knowing y'all

Roland17:
As in ehn! I no even bother respond to that particularly post. As though LeBum is supposed to improve in the coming years. A player that has progressively declined in most aspects of his game, especially on defense, is the one he is reminding the Laker nation has 2 more seasons (including this season) to endure. LeBum that averaged 23 pts in the post season the last time we saw him, can't carry the Lakers by himself, either with younger players or without a healthy AD! Some stories just write themselves.

Most of these guys are not Laker fans, they are just LeBum fans and anything that protects debunked narratives is fine and dandy!

The great teams do not merely think for now they think for the future as well. No serious team wants to fluke one bubble ring and remain irrelevant and hamstrung for years to come. Bronsexuals cannot see the trees for the forest. They have hailed the decision to get a perma crock AD but at what cost?

Even if they want to defend the decision to trade for AD who had prior to joining LA missed at least 12-15 games a season, does it make sense to still attack Pelinka for not moving their only pick in the next 5 years for John Wall?

Oya nau. Shebi the guys that they deemed were not good enough to contribute have been shipped out. Time for AD to carry the load

Khanben:
The draft is a crap shoot. Nobody has figured out the formula on how to quantify a can't miss prospect. That is why, if you already have a bonafide number 1 option in place, drafts picks are meant to fill up the team. The goal of an nba team is to win, not to be competitive. Ask the Raptors and they will tell you that the past 4 years were better than all those years they kept losing in the playoffs. Yes they only won 1, but if you hook Masi and co to a polygraph they will tell you it was worth it because they have proven that they have what it takes to build a team which can win it all because they have done it before.

PS: The worst is when it comes to legacy, nobody cares about how many playoffs you made, they all care about if you won a chip.

Are you comparing the Lakers to a backwater franchise like Toronto Raptors? Do you see anyone scrutinizing Toronto? There's a difference between expectations for both teams. And there will always be. Toronto is never expected to win a championship and have been punching above their weight all this time

Bear in mind they didn't mortgage anything for Kawhi. They lost nothing so I don't quite understand this comparison

donlittle25:
I don’t get why people are missing the point.

You can draft well and compete for 7-8 years when the time is right or you can put pieces together and compete for 3 years, and maybe with luck win a championship. Losing so many cards while trying to put pieces together is the bad way to go like the lakers. They just don’t have any bargaining chips. None. Hopefully they can become a FA destination once again but most guys are plying their trade with other markets these days and are able to attract serious endorsements which only big teams could offer before. That was the selling point of these big teams but you could find that almost anywhere now if you are good enough.

The selling point of the Lakers used to be that it was the glamour franchise but the difference now is that the margin for error is shrinking. You can play for small markets and still get your flowers as we're seeing with Giannis and Ja.

The Lakers getting to just 1 Finals after 4 years of AD and Lebron would be a disaster

Khanben:
Lebron is still under contract till 2023, AD till 2025. If they want an earlier reset, they can trade both and recover all of their assets. You are talking as if the Lakers did not experience worst Purgatory when Kobe was there, or immediately after Magic left.
The Lakers if they play their cards right still have options. They can either pay a huge luxury tax next year,or blow it up and reload with a bus load of picks.

This man is clearly in dreamland. What do you think you're getting for an aging Lebron on his last legs and last year of contract? And AD? Lmaoooo

Roland17:
Help me ask am how the Suns became what they are today? You think the Suns stumbled on the Finals? Why did CP3 choose to join a young Suns team over more established teams? How about the Grizzlies? Did they just stumble into 3rd position in the same dreaded Western Conference? I have been tracking the Grizzlies on this thread since Ja was drafted, receipt full everywhere...How about the Warriors? Post KD and Without Klay and an off/ on Green, how did they stay competitive? The Heat? anyone? How about what the Cavs are doing? If I were the Cavs, I will resist any temptation of having Ajala return to Cavs. They have a great thing going on there with Garland (22), Mobley (20), Allen (23) and it will be disastrous for them to lose those guys because Ajala wants to return home to retire and play with his son.

Dan Gilbert is smarter than that. He has squeezed the title he can get out of LeNomad. Let the Touareg nomad carry him kaya go elsewhere. Hopping from team to team like kangaroo

The draft is still the best way to remain competitive for as long as possible. There are 10-15 teams trying to win every other year so even if you load up on free agents a chip is not guaranteed as the Nets and now the Lakers are coming to find out

Khanben:
So if I gave you a bet, Lakers or the Timberwolves, which ones will win a championship first, who will you pick?

Lol. You're dealing in extremes. For every Timberwolves there's always a Milwaukee, San Antonio, Golden State.

Why are we using a traditionally badly run franchise like Minnesota as your point of reference.

I can bet though that neither Lakers or Timberwolves is winning this season though and I can also bet the Lakers aren't winning no championships next season

joshboo:
Exactly, in chucks words, availability is the biggest assest any team can have. Imagine having glass house AD and john wall who has a worse injury record to AD not to mentions playing with lBJ which automatically reduces your productivity in all stats.

I don't even understand are these guys with a straight face asking for the Lakers to trade their only pick for the next 5 years for John freakin Wall? A guy that's missed at least 40 games in the last 5 seasons

Lebron and his army of Bronsexuals are crying and making Pelinka the scapegoat because he has made his bed and is refusing to lie on it.

Khanben:
What has Boston done with all the Nets picks, what has the sixers gotten for all the tanking for the process, the Timberwolves, currently has about 4 lottery picks on their team and they are going nowhere fast. Picks are worth nothing when compared to established talent.
You talk as if the Lakers are not the number one FA destination in the nba as long as they have their house in order.

That's on Boston. Not every team is going to draft smart. What did Brooklyn do with the old men they got from the trade? 1 playoff series win?

Lol again Philly did not draft with sense. Whose fault? Is it anybody's fault that Philly drafted two #1 picks at PG that cannot shoot to save their lives in this modern era?

Timberwolves are going nowhere but they are ahead of the Lakers that have mortgaged their future in the standings. Ok

The same way you can miss on draft picks is the same way you miss on FA or you're forgetting how the Lakers struggled after Shaq left? No be Lakers pay Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov or you think it's everytime Lakers will be able to attract good Free agents?

Khanben:
Again with the false narrative, lottery picks mean nothing, there are more lottery picks who have fall into the bust, and under achievers bracket than they have been lottery picks who have validated their drafts status. When you sign a 34 as a FA, you either have players who from their first season have shown they are ready to win now or you trade whatever you have to maximize the late prime of your FA. If the Lakers had not made the trade they would not only have not won, but right now they will not even be in contention. Does a team of lebron, Ingram and Ball beat any of the top 4 team in the east of even the suns and GSW as constructed. The answer is an emphatic NO.

PS: They laker have only traded their picks up until 2026.

No shit Sherlock. However a lottery pick that has to play with a top 3 to top 5 player of all time surely is less likely than most to be a bust because of the situation they find themselves.

If the Lakers had not made that trade they might not have won but suggesting that a combination of Lonzo, Ingram, Kuzma, Lebron, Caruso would not have contended is a sad joke. If not for team chemistry and good coaching wetin make Jordan Poole, Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder and Cam Payne better than what the Lakers would have had?

Anyway we are seeing the benefits of their maximization.

A fluke bubble chip and 1 first round exit, they will probably need to win two games just to make the playoffs in their 3rd year

3 players consuming over 75% of their cap space for this season and the next. Two of them with 15 seasons or more in the league, the other a perma crock

A bunch of one year rentals that nobody wants

No first round picks till 2027.

Khanben:
No matter how good Lebron his, the Lakers talent was not good enough to win because they drafted the wrong players. What has the promising players done since leaving to show they could have won with them? Nothing, Ingram and Ball seem to also have the injury bug, Kuzma and Hart are just rotation pieces, so what exactly did they lose

You mean the great Lebron who makes everyone better couldn't improve two lottery picks and Kuzma and Hart? So what goes through people's heads when they spew foolishness about how LeNomad makes others better?

Bear in mind guys like Lonzo and Ingram are just hitting their primes. Anyway I hope the bubble chip was worth it. The Lakers essentially gutted their future for that. 1 year of joy for 10 years of famine

aliondo:
Healthwise aside, Wall is an upgrade on Russ..

I just rolled out the stats of how he performed the last time we saw him play. Numbers don't lie

Tellwhat:
What's with this LeNomad everywhere . You really dislike this LeBron

But you sef check am is he not a nomad? And yes I'm not a fan. I don't hide it

Khanben:
I keep hearing this narrative that Lebron trading the young Lakers talent was some how bad. Please does anyone think they would have won with Ingram, lonzo, Kuzma and Josh Hart.
IMHO you are trading consecutive 1st or 2nd round exits for 6-7 years for 1 chip an that is only because of AD's continuous injuries. If the dude could stay healthy for a playoff run, they might still have one shot at it

If LeNomad makes everyone better like Bronsexuals swear he does why can't he mentor 4 promising players that would have been primed to shoulder the burden from his neck by now?

You think if not for COVID that allowed AD and LeNomad 3 months of rest they would have won the title?

You're banking on a guy that has already showed you previously that he's good to miss 12-15 games a season. Ok.

Anyway their bed has been laid, now is the time to lie pon it

birdman:
He is not playing because of mgmt decision. Wall shoots better than WB. More assists, less TO. Thinks better on the court. Again, go check the stats. 20pts 8 assists average last year. Lakers and Rockets exchange large contracts of players not working out == Win win win.

Lebron is 37. The heir apparent doesnt want any smoke. It is what it is.

It's evident that you're still using Washington eye to look at John Wall.

John Wall last season shot 40% from the floor on 18 shots. Averaged 7 assists and 3.5 turnovers. A 31% 3pt shooter. That is to say him and Westbrook, omo iya kan ni won. You just dey wind yourself if you think Wall is a significant upgrade on Westbrook and that's not even factoring his availability issues

Essentially you would have a scenario where Wall, AD are out and LeNomad would have had to carry the load himself

birdman:
You have 4 hall of famers on the team, one in his prime, one has GOAT like stature (at least he is even in the conversation), and yet you refuse to make any trades because of a draft pick down the road. That was an idiotic move, likely sponsored by Pelinka. The guy has all those snake like qualities, so he knows how to play both the owner and the players. I mean, what drafts pick are you expecting to replicate what you already have?

As much as I don't like Lebron moving around, this is a good reason why. Its YOUR career, and YOU are responsible for a big part of how it turns out. Owners and GMs can ghost you. Fans are fickle. At the end of the day you have to live with YOUR decisions. If Lebron never left Cleveland, perhaps he wins 1, in an off year where the West is weak. They would never have drafted Kyrie because they would win the ECF every year, and the stingy owner would never have found a reason to get the talent around Lebron. Just ride the prize horse and make as much sales until the horse gets old.

I say get rid of Pelinka, maybe shop AD and see what pieces you can get. Lebron is ready to get another ring if need be. Its obvious AD doesnt have that same kind of fire. He won one, and he has settled.

What trade will you have done? Mind you John Wall is also a perma crock that can't shoot and missed two years of basketball. He's not played a single game this season and Houston are paying him to not play. Lol LeNomad must always have a scapegoat sha

donlittle25:
I heard the Lakers only have one pick for the next five years in the first round and klutch sport wants them to use that pick to trade for John wall. Oga

This is what happens when he leaves teams and they say teams can't win without him. How can they win when they are absolutely destroyed and their future mortgaged. How can you have no first round picks till 2027

Lakers fans better enjoy their bubble ring cos it's back to the doldrums after that

birdman:
I like how you jejely ignored the fact that the Wizards missed the playoffs that year, in the crappy East no less. Even that 20ppg, let jerry stackhouse and co gist you how mike would ballhog all day. Carry the h*ll on.

Shior. LeNomad is 36 playing in the weaker West with 3 top 75ers as teammates and is still 4 games under .500. If they made the playoffs this season it will only be because of the new format but yet you have the gall to throw shade. Using your logic LeNomad has been a colossal failure this season because he has more help than Jordan did with the Wizards and has failed at a higher clip

Is LeNomad not hogging the ball and trying to break Kareem's record?

donlittle25:
There is no draft in the past 10 years you are doing that kemp won’t be a top 15 pick. The guy was the most athletic Power forward the game has even seen. I don’t know any power forward that comes close to his level.

In 2002-2003, Michael Last season at the wizards at the age of 40 he averaged 20 PPG.
The average point per game that year was maybe 95 or 96, I don’t even think it’s up to that and michael averaged 20. Tell me 20 players that peaked in the last 6 years you think will average 20 Points Per Game at the age of 40? I am not even going to use the ring argument to shut you up, Just pure body of work.

Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O'Neal, Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, Chris Webber, Ray Allen, Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter, Steve Nash were some of the best players that year.

On the bolded, name their names and lets compare their body of work

Who told you they do not mention Dwight among people lebron played against? Just because you just started watching basketball doesn't mean the same for the rest of us. Dwight is the sole reason we never got to witness a kobe and lebron final. We remember.

JJ Berea also gave lebron the work. Go and watch the nba finals in 2011, You can catch the highlights

It's not hard to know people wey no sabi basketball no matter how them try disguise. Everyone who knows Shawn Kemp knows he was a great player but his indiscipline and weight issues never allowed him reach his true potential. I want to see that forward today that peak Shawn Kemp will not destroy at 6'10 and 280 pounds

Clowns think this era is better cause teams now shoot 40 3's a game instead of the 10 they used to shoot before.

Anyone with critical thinking will ask themselves. How many top 75 players did Jordan face vs How many Lebron had to face. Then also ask how many did Lebron have as teammates at various points vs Jordan. And form an informed opinion

Roland17:
Perhaps, this was the the worst dunk contest.

Absolutely rubbish contest. Nobody deserved to be awarded anything. They couldn't execute even the most basic dunks and worse nobody was creative enough to use any props like they used to do in the past. They need to cancel it for a few years and regroup

Kdtrey5:
BRo you've been on nairaland for a very long time wowww bro u must be in your 40's

Sorry to disappoint you bro. I never 20 when I join this app sef

Put am nau if e sure for you. Say na mistake am for MJ

Roland17:
I feel gutted for AD! Man can not catch a break! These recurring injuries take a toll on not just your physical health but your mental health and emotions.

I warned one clown that used to post here about AD and his injury issues 2 seasons ago. I wonder where he is now

Happy 59th to the GOAT

https://twitter.com/Ballislife/status/1494280571446611968?t=1ctuMC_B0ziAsmmkud-g1w&s=19

Go and watch this compilation and come back and tell me anybody is better than this man. Leave rings let's talk about what this man could do on the court

birdman:
There are very few nba players that I cant bring myself to like. Normally its blockheads like the Morris brothers. But Klay hasnt done anything particularly egregious. I just no like d guy. I even like CP3 with his wahala. I have forgiven Harden, and I will tolerate Westbrick while holding my nose. But Klay just rubs me the wrong way everytime. And Im not even sure why

How person go hate Klay Thompson? This is not ordinary eye oh

Roland17:
Of course, the losing streak ends against the 2nd bottom placed Pistons! Call it winning fatigue , we had a bad 3rd Q and the demons from the start of season reappeared as we struggled to keep leads and close the game. Hopefully, they have learnt important winning skills during this run as we approach the All Star break.

Your team is so weird mehnn. They play down to the competition

Roland17:
@A40, don't look now, one of your most hated player has expanded his offense past the midrange jumper! He now takes it to the rim, his 3 point percentage has improved and is a credible candidate for the MVP.

I know you despise him but give DeMar DeRozan his due

I don't hate DeRozan per se. Just real disappointed with his past choking

I agree he definitely is top 4.

Jokic
Embiid
Giannis
DeRozan are the only credible candidates

This Nagelsmann no dey impress me at all oh. We started too poorly and a quality quality team would have slaughtered us by halftime.

Who be that Adamu wey score use us dey dance Griddy

Roland17:
Is Big Ben a for sure first ballot?

Easily. Has the numbers and hardware to show

afrodoc2:
Donald is surely 1st ballot. People that should know like Warren Sapp and Shannon Sharpe have even said he is in the conversation for best defensive player ever.

Miller too can get in on the first ballot depending on who else is eligible at the time. For example anybody who chooses to retire this season should know first ballot will be tougher with Brady and Big Ben as certainties.

Naah Donald is a beast. I was wondering where he was for most of the game but he came alive from midway through the 3rd quarter. It's remarkable he's able to do what he's doing despite being undersized for his position. It doesn't matter if you have never watched American football or understand the game. You would see #99 and it would be obvious this guy just stands out from the rest of the field

birdman:
Shaq said highly placed sources in the Lakers org want the Suns rather than Warriors in the first round if it comes to that.

Lmaooo Phoenix will beat Lakers like an abusive stepdad. That is absolutely the last team the Lakers should want to face