Which means that they will swing and miss at players they can't realistically get, while sleepers and underrated talent gets cleaned up by 'lesser teams.'From what I'm reading they're going to make plays to get a big (if they can't get KD) but Dwight is down on the list. I'd reckon unrestricted guys like Horford or Whiteside are the guys they'd be after first.
Won't even meet them BTW. Sweepstakes between OKC, Golden State, Spurs, Celtics, Clippers and Miami.i hope durant doesn't join the knicks, the ring he craves will become even more elusive if he goes there...
noah is a significant upgrade for them at the defensive end right now...but yeah both deals are ridiculous, the mozgov one is laughable...Lakers grab Mosgov with ridiculous money for no apparent reason. Derozan, and it looks like Noah is joining the Bulls tribute band in New York
They leonald could have just re-signed Hibbert for 1 year and made a run next season. Jim Buds is bonkers.Everyone has money to spend. They weren't getting Whiteside or Horford, Horford would have to turn down like 32m in guaranteed money on a 5th year with Atlanta to sign elsewhere, and if he does, he's not going to a complete rebuild. Plus at age 30 he's an awful contract after 2-3 years, by the time their team was actually good he'd be done and sinking their cap. Whiteside is, granted, not in a similar spot 'cause Miami don't have full bird rights on him. So I guess it's a possibility but there's like 20 teams with max room to sign him who are better than the Lakers. Mozgov isn't the best center around but he's not as bad as people make out, and in this new NBA cap world is probably worth that money for a year or two more. The only mistake is the years, 4 is too many. One guy I think they could have gotten who would be much better is Biyombo, but he's also gonna have a lot of suitors.
Hibbert is absolutely awful though, and there's basically no players on the market next year that can protect the rim at all. If they knew they weren't getting Whiteside this year then at least Mozgov can protect the rim and isn't a complete liability on offence. They weren't getting better than him next off-seaosn, the whole FA class is point guards and wings. Also, Batum is far far better than a role player. He will get maxed out this year.They leonald could have just re-signed Hibbert for 1 year and made a run next season. Jim Buds is bonkers.
Still role players are in 7th heaven now. Lin, Batum, Ish Smith...
Contrast it with how well set their eternal to ask in green are set up (even If they whiff on this year's targets) and it must gall the Laker fansLakers now have Deng for 4 years, $72 million. Again another 30+ guy on a long contract.