Originally Posted by
Sloppy Joe
Agree, great work.
That Lakers move for Russ feels worse by the day.
I trust LeBron knows what he's doing but Russ at that number is unconscionable. Maybe Russ has agreed to.play off the ball?
The thinking must be something like Russ will mop up enough minutes and to keep home court and allow LBJ and AD to chill through the regular season.
Still, the West ain't the East. Even Portland was able to destroy OKC (with Paul George) by just letting Westbrook launch.
Yeah, I still hate the fit. That said, these NBA dudes are strange. They really are about playing with their friends somewhere desirable. That part isn’t weird, who doesn’t? Taking way less money is the weird part.
For whatever reason, these guys seem drawn more this year than the last two. It feels like now they want to be part of this Big 3, even if it’s not a real one. I also think Russ is as likable as he is inefficient. Seems like his teammates love him. Ownership and GM’s go out of their way to get him where he wants. Like hearing how he dealt with leaving Washington, he called up Beal and asked him how he felt about it and what his plans were and it seemed like Beal hasn’t made up his mind fully yet. Called up the GM and just told the truth and said, can we do this?
In a league of Lebrons and Kawhi’s who have Riley fly to Vegas to embarrass him, or have the whole country of Canada printing up King of the North t-shirts and leaving Masai hanging when they know they’re leaving, guys who are straightforward with teammates and ownership have some value beyond their salary.
Then add in if you get this guy, and that guy to take 3 and 5 million less, it becomes slightly more tolerable. As a player, it seems the shittiest fit ever, but if healthy, obviously the top 2 are so great that Russ being Russ may not be able to derail it. As you said, it’s all about playoff game planning. He can be Russ, they might even want him to be during the regular season. He can chuck all he wants then. It’s playoff time where he needs to play within the game.
Will be interesting to see if he can. He’s a strange dude. I think someone like Lebron is all about Lebron, yet plays unselfishly, while a Russ is a legit good dude from all accounts, yet plays like it’s all about him. Like a basketball-specific Napoleon Complex where he’s still trying to prove some draft scout who said he wouldn’t make it wrong long after he already made it. Or he’s legitimately just not...intelligent? One of those guys with great EQ, but low IQ.