Trade & FA 2023-24: Stein-Ingram Trade Inevitable| LAL Want Lebron Back On Any Terms

[DanSchwartzgan]

I think we better hope he makes it to the summer…speaking of someone who would require multiple firsts.  I don’t think we have the draft capital to make a deal for LM right now.   

Another note on LM (in case this gets any louder).  He's another of those guys who probably won't extend even under the new 140% rule.  An extension off of an $18mm salary is only in the $25mm range.  Utah is well under the cap next summer and can do what Sacramento did with Sabonis (renegotiate and extend).  Problem solved.

If for some reason they don't do that, then it is either risk UFA the next summer or cash him in at the best possible time.  It is certainly possible to see why Utah might cash him in.  He's not exactly an iron man and while he is a 25/9 guy on efficient shooting, is he really a max or super-max guy?  Is he the star to build your franchise around or the guy you want to play alongside your star?  How about his timeline compared to a longer term rebuild.  He, Lively and Luka would be an interesting Big-3 once Kyrie starts to fade.

We are coming up on Nico's 20 game evaluation period.  I find it interesting that Holmes is finally getting some run (or is he getting some evaluation time).  I've questioned whether (for the current season) the bigger need is to replace Powell/Holmes behind Lively or to replace one of Green/DJJ/GWill in the top 8.  I get that if you want to add a third star that he's probably a big wing (I've long said this team will be trouble if we have someone who pushes GWill to the bench).  But for this season's playoff run and given the assets we have, I still like putting a better big behind Lively.

Note also the move of Green to the starting lineup just ahead of the 20 game mark.  It looked good against Houston.  When is the last time we got out to a 9 point lead in the first 7 minutes.  Among the things I like about this is DJJ off the bench with THJ and one of our stars gives us more length/size than Green with THJ and one of our stars (Powell, THJ, Green and Kyrie lineups are a bad idea).  Don't know if people heard Kidd talking about Green in a recent post game.  Kidd doesn't place much, if any, value on Green scoring.  In fact, he said Green's best game was probably the Washington game.  If you don't recall, that was zero points and 4 boards on 0/4 shooting.  But, he was +12 and active in a 13 point win.  He's in the lineup to defend and disrupt and move the ball and keep defenders honest.  I think him starting and how well (or not) Holmes plays the next week plus will be interesting to watch.