LA Lakers Hire Mike D'Antoni

[Numbers Guy]

There's a few reasons I can think of off hand.

1) The Clippers are not winning a title.
2) The Clippers are the Lakers ugly step brother.
3) The Clippers owner is the cheapest in the NBA.
4) The Clippers don't have a player near Dwight's caliber.
5) I'm sure Dwight, and Paul are buddy's.
6) The hype surrounding building another superteam.

All of those are legitimate reasons for Paul to leave the Clippers. It's a terribly run franchise, their coach is a joke, and Blake hasn't improved one bit. Without Paul the Clippers are back in the cellar.

1. The Clips have a legitimate shot at knocking off Memphis, OKC, or San Antonio.. the 3 best teams in the west.
2. Why does this matter? If he gets them to the Finals, it'll be an even bigger deal.
3. Take it from a former Clipper:

"The truth of the thing is Sterling, when I was there my first few, four to six years, he was tight with everything," said Kaman, who was part of the package the Clippers sent to the New Orleans Hornets before last season to land Paul. "He didn't want to spend the money. I think as he's getting older, he's realizing, 'Hey, I don't know how much time I have left' -- or whatever it is -- 'I'm older.' You can't win in the grave.

"No, I'm serious. I think he's almost 80 years old. I think he's seeing, 'Hey, I'm getting older, I'm not getting any younger, I want to win,' so he's putting the money out. ... I think he's saying, 'Hey, I've got to spend more money. I want to get a winning franchise going.' And that's what he's done."

4. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin themselves are Dwight Howard caliber.
5. Seems all superstars are buddies.
6. Switch teams just for the hype?

[billmac91]

Dwight just isn't the same guy he was....kid came into the league and basketball was his life. Towards the end of his Orlando contract it was all about being a celebrity rather than a great player. The guy just doesn't get it. Instead of working on free-throws he's too busy having his sixth illegitimate kid. It's sad because he really could have been Shaq-good. He isn't even in the same zip code anymore.

[Jon]

The LAC front office would have put protection on the pick that became Kyrie Irving, but they could not due to conditions that could have conflicted with a previous trade. Depending on how things worked out, they could have been in violation of the Stepien rule (traded 2 future #1 picks in a row).

And if they were clever enough they would have come up with a contingency to cover that situation, but Sterling just wanted Baron gone and the lack of protection added a ton of value to the deal. Most likely the Cavs do not accept the deal if it was protected.

Supposedly they wanted to free up money to spend in free-agency figuring their team was young enough and could use some players ready to compete right away.

They're currently 14-6, so I guess it's working out for them, but I don't personally find their 2012 free agent signings all that exciting (Crawford, Hollins, Turiaf, and Grant Hill)

[Mdog1]

1. The Clips have a legitimate shot at knocking off Memphis, OKC, or San Antonio.. the 3 best teams in the west.
Sure they do. Just like Denver has a legitimate shot to knock LAC out of the playoffs. The West is wide open.
2. Why does this matter? If he gets them to the Finals, it'll be an even bigger deal.
Sure just like if Josh Smith leads the Hawks to the finals it will be a big deal... What I was saying is no matter what Paul does in LA it will never outshine the Lakers.
3. Take it from a former Clipper:

"The truth of the thing is Sterling, when I was there my first few, four to six years, he was tight with everything," said Kaman, who was part of the package the Clippers sent to the New Orleans Hornets before last season to land Paul. "He didn't want to spend the money. I think as he's getting older, he's realizing, 'Hey, I don't know how much time I have left' -- or whatever it is -- 'I'm older.' You can't win in the grave.

"No, I'm serious. I think he's almost 80 years old. I think he's seeing, 'Hey, I'm getting older, I'm not getting any younger, I want to win,' so he's putting the money out. ... I think he's saying, 'Hey, I've got to spend more money. I want to get a winning franchise going.' And that's what he's done."

Like I said a few signings does not make him a good owner. A few (one year really...) years doesn't erase the decades he was the cheapest owner in the NBA.

4. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin themselves are Dwight Howard caliber.
Laughable that Blake is anywhere near Dwight when he's healthy. Paul sure, you could argue either way, but Blake no chance. Blake's closer to Rudy Gay than Dwight Howard.
5. Seems all superstars are buddies.
Pretty much. They likely spend holidays together at MJ's ranch playing with blanket.
6. Switch teams just for the hype?

Look at all of the hype that Melo, and LeBron got for creating a super team. Hype leads to money.

[Rich]

Denver has a legit shot at knocking off the Clippers in the playoffs? Blake is closer to Rudy Gay? Dwight Howard and Chris Paul would leave L.A. to go to Atlanta? And that would lead to more money?

Might just wanna sit the next few plays out.

Dwight Howard is not leaving the Lakers. When has a superstar EVER left the Lakers in free agency? Doesn't happen.

EDIT: Just to be clear, what is being proposed here is that Howard is going to walk away from A. more money both in salary and endorsements and B. the Lakers. Now does that not seem absolutely laughable on its face?

[Rich]

And if they were clever enough they would have come up with a contingency to cover that situation, but Sterling just wanted Baron gone and the lack of protection added a ton of value to the deal. Most likely the Cavs do not accept the deal if it was protected.

Supposedly they wanted to free up money to spend in free-agency figuring their team was young enough and could use some players ready to compete right away.

They're currently 14-6, so I guess it's working out for them, but I don't personally find their 2012 free agent signings all that exciting (Crawford, Hollins, Turiaf, and Grant Hill)

They've created the best bench in the league...

And what is this stuff about them being stupid for not protecting the pick? You realize had they put protecting on the pick, the Cavs likely don't do the trade?

[Cavatt]

They've created the best bench in the league...

And what is this stuff about them being stupid for not protecting the pick? You realize had they put protecting on the pick, the Cavs likely don't do the trade?

Yeah, it's easy to say we fleeced them, but the team took on lots of money to do that trade.

[SuperSurge]

Nothing is going to plan for the Lakers and the problem is simple:

Antwan Jamison. He is the black angel of suck. The cloud follows him around wherever he plays.

[shoes22]

Nothing is going to plan for the Lakers and the problem is simple:

Antwan Jamison. He is the black angel of suck. The cloud follows him around wherever he plays.

He absolutely seems like the most unlucky player in The NBA. All throughout his career he's like "I'm going to join X team and finally win a championship!!", and not only do those teams fall short, they end up an absolute disaster.

[catfish]

Yeah, it's easy to say we fleeced them, but the team took on lots of money to do that trade.

Why are you worried about Gilbert's money. Another typical Cleveland sports fan comment.

[Jon]

Yeah, it's easy to say we fleeced them, but the team took on lots of money to do that trade.

Nah, we fleeced them. The money wasn't even that big of a deal since we were giving up Mo and Moon, and Mo didn't turn down his player option.

If I remember right it worked out to be $8m to buy an unprotected lottery pick with a 10% chance of being top-3.

Who the heck gives that up just to make a player go away?

[Thunder]

There's a few reasons I can think of off hand.

1) The Clippers are not winning a title.
2) The Clippers are the Lakers ugly step brother.
3) The Clippers owner is the cheapest in the NBA.
4) The Clippers don't have a player near Dwight's caliber.
5) I'm sure Dwight, and Paul are buddy's.
6) The hype surrounding building another superteam.

All of those are legitimate reasons for Paul to leave the Clippers. It's a terribly run franchise, their coach is a joke, and Blake hasn't improved one bit. Without Paul the Clippers are back in the cellar.

1. How do you know?
2. ...okay?
3. You keep saying years of cheapness doesn't cancel out one year, but how do you this isn't the first year in the step in the right direction? It's obvious, as Kaman said, that the owner is getting older and wants to start to spend...
4. Blake Griffin is a 22-12 guy, and you say he's closer to Gay than Dwight? What??
5. So are a lot of other stars...
6. Dwight would leave the "hype" of LA for Atlanta? No...

Paul is staying in LA.

[Mdog1]

1. How do you know?
Let's call this the law of PG's. The PG being the best player on your team doesn't lead to titles.
2. ...okay?
The Lakers will always be the LA darlings.
3. You keep saying years of cheapness doesn't cancel out one year, but how do you this isn't the first year in the step in the right direction? It's obvious, as Kaman said, that the owner is getting older and wants to start to spend...
It's obvious that the last 20+ years should be erased from our minds based on this one year... Yep good idea...
4. Blake Griffin is a 22-12 guy, and you say he's closer to Gay than Dwight? What??
There's this thing that I personally refer to as defense. I'm not sure the whole definition, but i'm pretty sure that Blake doesn't do it.
5. So are a lot of other stars...
And they joined teams when they had the chance read LeBron/Bosh/Wade, Melo/Stat.
6. Dwight would leave the "hype" of LA for Atlanta? No...
Dallas is also an option the last time I looked. The hype of LA is only good if you are contending for titles, which if the Lakers being one of the worst teams in the West is any indication, they obviously aren't contending.

Paul is staying in LA.

Call me in July when Paul and Dwight are playing in Atlanta or Dallas.

This is pretty much like you guys trying to convince yourselves LeBron wasn't going to leave...

1. We are contenders.
2. We are his hometown.
3. Why would he join WADE'S team when he can win a ring on his own.

Yep LeBron was never going to Miami, until he did.

[Triumph36]

Call me in July when Paul and Dwight are playing in Atlanta or Dallas.

This is pretty much like you guys trying to convince yourselves LeBron wasn't going to leave...

1. We are contenders.
2. We are his hometown.
3. Why would he join WADE'S team when he can win a ring on his own.

Yep LeBron was never going to Miami, until he did.

with dirk's $23M salary (and marion) on the books...

[Jack Brickman]

A quality front office puts protection on that pick regardless of the so called strength of it, and you can't convince me otherwise. That is a terrible move on their part. They would have been by far the front runners to have Paul, AND Howard on their roster right now, while still retaining Blake if they had put top 3 protection on that pick. Worst case scenario for them is they keep Kyrie, and trade for Dwight (let's face it the package they sent to NOPE was much better than what Orlando got for Howard).

Their GM has gone on the record saying that the deal would not have happened if the pick had been protected. The pick being unprotected was literally the only reason that Grant/Gilbert were willing to take on Davis' contract, although ironically Davis also ended up reviving that Cavs season by making the team legitimately watchable again.

Here's the thing that people need to remember: if the rosters don't change, there's no guarantee that pick is number one. The Clippers may have won more or less games with Baron Williams on their roster instead of Mo Williams, and consequently they may have had a different set of lottery numbers. You can't look at the lottery as if it exists in a bubble. It doesn't. That trade drastically altered two teams, and you can't just assume that both would have had the same win/loss record had that trade never happened.

Sure, it's easy to say, "The Clippers traded away the number one pick to save money." The reality is much more complicated than that.