Game #9: Toronto Raptors 107 (8-1) - Phoenix Suns 98 (2-6)

[planetmars]

The smart plan for Kawhi would be to sign a 2 year deal and then take a max when he hits 10 years in the league. Can get paid more that way. 10 year vets can get 35% of the cap as a max contract. 7-9 year vets can get 30% of the cap as a max contract.

So I don't think he'll get an extra $50M from Toronto. Money is basically even in free agency for all teams in my opinion.

It'll come down to what Kawhi wants. Right now the best guess is Family > Winning. Hope Masai and the Raptors treat his family really well.

[planetmars]

I have not watched a single Phoenix Suns game this year.. not even a few minutes. How is Ayton looking? The one thing people kept saying during the draft was that his defense was poor. His offensive numbers look good though for a rookie.

Do we need JV on him, or would Ibaka survive?

Hopefully Booker plays. Would like to see Green or Kawhi shut him down

[The Great One]

Let's see, he'll probably fire Walton. But how come Magic is not getting blame? because he's Magic Johnson?

Drafting Ball over Tatum/Fox is looking pretty bad right now. Dude got FOOLED by LaVar Ball and no one's talking about it.

How about trading Russell for Lopez or just letting Randle walk away? lol

Sources: After a winless two-game trip, Magic Johnson's meeting with Luke Walton on Tuesday reverberated throughout the Lakers organization. The pressure's on the coach to win sooner than later. Story with @mcten: https://t.co/0ISPEuBZd8

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 2, 2018

[The Claw Reborn]

Let's see, he'll probably fire Walton. But how come Magic is not getting blame? because he's Magic Johnson?

Drafting Ball over Tatum/Fox is looking pretty bad right now. Dude got FOOLED by LaVar Ball and no one's talking about it.

How about trading Russell for Lopez or just letting Randle walk away? lol

Sources: After a winless two-game trip, Magic Johnson's meeting with Luke Walton on Tuesday reverberated throughout the Lakers organization. The pressure's on the coach to win sooner than later. Story with @mcten: https://t.co/0ISPEuBZd8

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 2, 2018

Lebron “aka” President of Basketball Operations/ General Manager/ Coach and the Boogeyman James may have bump shoulders with Magic in the hallway going to the locker whispered to his ears and said “fire Luke” or else....

Same shit everywhere he goes...

[MixxAOR]

Let's see, he'll probably fire Walton. But how come Magic is not getting blame? because he's Magic Johnson?

Drafting Ball over Tatum/Fox is looking pretty bad right now. Dude got FOOLED by LaVar Ball and no one's talking about it.

How about trading Russell for Lopez or just letting Randle walk away? lol

Sources: After a winless two-game trip, Magic Johnson's meeting with Luke Walton on Tuesday reverberated throughout the Lakers organization. The pressure's on the coach to win sooner than later. Story with @mcten: https://t.co/0ISPEuBZd8

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 2, 2018

Lebron is such a poison. arguably GOAT but his antics are getting so old.

[S.R.]

Lebron is such a poison. arguably GOAT but his antics are getting so old.

Only franchise that has really handled him properly is The Godfather in Miami. Not surprisingly, that was also the only team that was not a dumpster fire when Lebron walked out the door. They won 48 games a year after.

[KeonClark]

Lebron is such a poison. arguably GOAT but his antics are getting so old.

So far, James has been publicly and privately supportive of Walton.

But this is all his fault. I wish I could get inject a poison that brought my team rings and finals.

You guys have lebron PTSD. Next the war in Syria is partly his fault

[The Great One]

Also, i'm not saying Luke Walton should not get any blame. Luke Walton shows how OVERRATED Steve Kerr is as a coach. Walton coached the WARRIORS a couple of years ago and no one could beat them so he must be good lol!

I also would look like a great coach if i coach the Warriors lol.

[S.R.]

But this is all his fault. I wish I could get inject a poison that brought my team rings and finals.

You guys have lebron PTSD. Next the war in Syria is partly his fault

Lebron is crack for fans and franchises. The high is really high but the comedown is pretty bad too.

[KeonClark]

Also, i'm not saying Luke Walton should not get any blame. Luke Walton shows how OVERRATED Steve Kerr is as a coach. Walton coached the WARRIORS a couple of years ago and no one could beat them so he must be good lol!

I also would look like a great coach if i coach the Warriors lol.

Heres a dirty little secret: coaching in general is overrated. Bad coaching can hurt good teams, but good coaching cant help bad teams much. The talent wins the titles.

[The Claw Reborn]

https://stats.nba.com/players/advanced-leaders/

Liking that some of our boys are amongst league leaders in several positive categories.

[Yuri Gagarin]

I live on a boat 6 mo’s a year so I certainly cherish warm weather but winter is for working and watching movies hopefully Kawhi sees it the same way. Hunker down and take care of business! Lots of time to play in the water after bball season.

Phoenix looks nice with its imported palms but theres not much going on there. Very scenic outside the city. Apache Trail is beautiful.

[inthepaint]

The smart plan for Kawhi would be to sign a 2 year deal and then take a max when he hits 10 years in the league. Can get paid more that way. 10 year vets can get 35% of the cap as a max contract. 7-9 year vets can get 30% of the cap as a max contract.

So I don't think he'll get an extra $50M from Toronto. Money is basically even in free agency for all teams in my opinion.

It'll come down to what Kawhi wants. Right now the best guess is Family > Winning. Hope Masai and the Raptors treat his family really well.

Yeah the only thing is 2-3 yrs from now he will be, well, 2-3 yrs older. He no doubt looks like a max player now, and will most likely be in 3 years as well, but a lot can change in that period of time, so it's not a given (especially if there's a history of significant injuries). But I agree the main driver here sounds like it will be family, and being in a winning situation where he feels valued/appreciated.

[ReubenJRD]

Heres a dirty little secret: coaching in general is overrated. Bad coaching can hurt good teams, but good coaching cant help bad teams much. The talent wins the titles.

Say it louder for the homies in the back!

Great coaching can only be visible/accounted for when the talent is either good enough, capable, or intelligent enough to actually utitlize the system and sets in place. Hence, why Pop has had success for so long -- he's had the guys. Also, Casey is pretty much the perfect example of getting the best of his players, but proving that bad coaching (in aspects such as fourth quarter execution or lack thereof) can hurt good teams.

If Steve Kerr was the head coach of the Lakers, I'd bet good money they'd be in the same situation they're in now. The roster is a mess of "veterans," young, inexperienced and unproven players, and a lack of outside shooting, negating the best aspects of LeBron's game, which is driving and kicking and scrambling the defence.

The Lakers' direction wasn't a mess because of LeBron going to L.A., it was because of Magic and Pelinka's decision to bring in a random group of guys that could playmake and take the attention off LeBron from an initiation standpoint... but, what's the point of that if the defence just collapses? There are so many holes to the Lakers' roster.

[planetmars]

Yeah the only thing is 2-3 yrs from now he will be, well, 2-3 yrs older. He no doubt looks like a max player now, and will most likely be in 3 years as well, but a lot can change in that period of time, so it's not a given (especially if there's a history of significant injuries). But I agree the main driver here sounds like it will be family, and being in a winning situation where he feels valued/appreciated.

Yeah he missed a whole year.. so he may not risk that. KD had a big injury in his past, and he does the 1+1 type of contract though. So who knows.