Walker Kessler Discussion: Rim Protector And Lob Threat

Man no kidding. What a doomer take, and hell to the yes one of the best young centers in the league plus the one up at the top of the DEFENSE rankings with Wemby and a top rebounder 7'2". Exactly what we needed. We wanted him and needed to get it done, with other players we wanted on Hold. For who knows how long before they went Dwight Howard and panicked like the year he did after the championship and signed elsewhere.

 

lowe's always been a C Bags fan dressed an an objective observer.

whatevs. had the C Bags gotten kessler, it would have been a shrewd investment. hell, had anyone but the lakers gotten kessler at this price point for those assets, it would have been considered a coup.

i promise that if someone suggested this would happen ahead of free agency, lowe and his cronies would have called it pie-in-the-sky laker fan wishes.

f*** off, dude. i know who you are.

 

Oh yeah, Stevens would be a genius. Presti has been called a genius for dumping 3 rotational players this season and getting 2nds lol
They're substantially weaker but still framed as having a positive offseason for whatever reason

 

I don't get the media at all, Kessler's contract is fair. I also think two firsts is a fair trade for a player of his current caliber - yes the two swaps are maybe a bridge too far, but it's RFA, it is what it is. Imagine not doing the trade for the sake of two swaps?

If he develops, it'll be looked as great business by us and a cheap contract, if he regresses or is injured, it'll be looked at as a move we needed to make but didn't pan out.

 

hopefully he makes the trade look like a steal in hindsight

 

It is a certainty.

 

And then he compares the contract with who earns more to try to argue it's a bad contract. He already earns less than them!
When the correct comparison is with who earns less and, by his logic, are better, hence it's a bad contract.

So below Kessler is Allen, Poeltl, Turner, Hartenstein, Reid and Claxton.
He is the youngest and better than all of them on blocked shots, rebs, offensive rebs, rim protection%, FG% and so on. None is an all-star either which is another stupid argument. It's really crazy how people frame things wrongly just to push a narrative

Why is it really a bad contract?

 

cuz lakers.

stevens got executive of the year for dumping/losing half the C Bags title team for nothing. 11D chess!

 

It’s important to have context. They were set to pay 200m in luxury taxes this year - and the expectations was they were going to have to pay to dump salary. Instead they got rid of Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe who had both fallen out of the rotation while getting multiple assets and restructured Hartenstein’s deal so he stays a key piece of the team moving forward.

At that point they could have been just slightly over the 2nd Apron and pat a small amount of tax. Then Presti traded Dort for additional seconds. That’s probably going to draw criticism, however I think it was a really bold and forward thinking move. Dort has regressed a bit this year both defensively and shooting wise. Clearing him out allows Cason Wallace to start and make his claim for larger contract, while Ajay additionally takes more minutes in the back court as a result.

I do think it’s addition by subtraction and we see Wallace and Ajay take steps forward. Have they lost some depth? Yes. But that was regular season depth you need when you want to win 60+ games. They jsut need to focus on getting to the playoffs healthy. OKC still has a fantastic 8 man unit:

SGA
J Will
Chet
Hartenstein
Wallace
Caruso
Ajay
J Dub
McCain

All I can say is thank god they didn’t get Spencer Jones. He would have been perfect for them, a 1-4 defender that can shoot the three and has size. We dodged a bullet.

 

the depth is how you get to the playoffs healthy. they got to keep some minutes down because they had those guys. now that they don't, it can have a ripple effect.

and i don't know that i expected them to have to pay to get off guys. none of the contracts were bad (no vandos). i actually thought they might get another mccain type pickup or two, tbh, and i thought they could possibly get a 1st for dort.

i'm glad they didn't get jones, too, but it's a weaker team this year, and it figures to get weaker again when they start having to choose between guards. they will only be able to afford one of three of mitchell/wallace/mccain, imo. and if you think dort's on his way out (probably), don't look at caruso.

anyway, moving useful players for second rounders doesn't impress me. i get that he had to, but i don't get why i have to kiss his a** about it.