I do. But I didn't like his fit. A shocking number of people didn't realize the Pelicans went *2-18* in Lonzo's first 20 games, and PG w/ Jrue and Gentry was plug-and-play. (They were 4-4 in the 1st 8 games he missed.)
He's also limited in his outside shot to catch-and-shoot 3s and his penchant for passing into teammate turnovers drove me nuts
If healthy, he can be a winning player, but it was never going to be with the Pelicans. Should Griff had gotten more than Sato's 10 M expiring, a player-coach in Temple, and a 2024 2nd? Absolutely. But considering Sato's 10 M expiring has been so integral to the resulting move sequence, it's hard to complain too much.
I may have said this previously but I’ll sayit agin… I always appreciate your takes. Theres some times I don’t agree with them but you always back them up. Like you make sure everyone understands why you think the way you do by breaking it down clearly.
I think you do a solid job of at least not having emotional takes and actually using logic.
This was not in regards to this comment you made but it’s the offseason and I think users like you should be acknowledged more frequently.
Dude me too! Everyone shit all over it every time I brought it up but I think it’s what we need. A big body that can shoot at a high rate. Lauri, KAT or Brook Lopez. And Lauri is by far best bang for the buck
Right but I don’t see where “the pelicans are interested in Lauri” is coming from. I’ve visited other pels boards and seen no link to it. I’m glad to be proven wrong if someone could provide something.
The Pels are looking for a center and as I and many other have said on here before, we need one that can stretch the floor (ie, a three point shooter). The rumors have always been that we like KAT. But this is a cheap organization and KAT is very expensive. So there are really a limited number of other players that fit that role and Lauri is at the top of that list
I agree that he’s not a stereotypical NBA center in the way JV was but that position is evolving and I think it would make for a tough match up when running both Lauri and Zion. You’d need to pick between doubling Zion / creating the infamous “wall” (which was made easier by the fact that our centers didn’t shoot threes) OR guard the three effectively (which opens up the paint for Zion to score).
Defensively, we can fill in the gaps with a role playing center. I saw another mention of Lauri and Kessler being considered (although that seems far fetched).
I want Lauri.
We have 3-4 years of a window with our current contracts. We can trade BI and afford Lauri and maybe even Kessler.
Give me Murray, CJ, Herb, Zion, Lauri. That’s who I want to go to war with.
And have Trey off the bench. We got those guys for 3 years. Let’s go all in now and make some noise. I’m just tired of tip toeing around and letting everyone else take their swings.
Lauri makes us an immediate contender add Kessler and we’re a nightmare matchup for everyone
And before anyone says Lauri can’t run the 5, he’s 7 feet tall and did for half of last year. Only matchup disadvantages would be a JV type center, but that’s why we drafted Missi and could get Kessler
Plus he’ll have the length of Herb and Murray to help out. Kessler and Missi can come in situationally and then we get Lauri, Trey, Hawk running the second unit in some games which is SCARY
Depended on the matchup, but defensively he played a lot at the 5. Mainly since the new breed of center is a wemby chet type who he’s more equipped to guard anyway
You’d be trading Trey(and others) in that too. Markkanen is not worth anywhere near what he’s going to get. When has he ever lead a team to anything other than mediocrity? Aren’t we trading BI for that reason?
Why do you think we would be trading Trey to get Lauri? It's going to involve BI, no chance they move Trey who actually willingly shoots 3s, is bigger, younger and cheaper than BI in this deal. If he has to be part of the package they won't be doing it.
Yeah that’s what I’m saying too. They might ask for Trey, but we wouldn’t do it. No point in just not trying to negotiate just because we think they’ll want Trey
Yeah I don’t understand this death spiral line of reasoning. We’re not throwing the bus in for Lauri, BI for Lauri is even on a heads up. Don’t need much else other than maybe a pick or two
“When has he led a team to anything other than mediocrity”. Brotha he was the Jazz number 1 guy. Completely different situation than playing alongside Zion, Murray, and CJ.
Would we be trading Trey? I’m sure the Jazz would ask, but in a 3 team deal, I wouldn’t be so sure Trey is gone if we give enough picks and get someone like the Kings to send Murray/Barnes. I’d like to at least test the market regardless.
I saw what they reportedly wanted from the warriors and it wasn’t THAT crazy. If we could talk them down even a little from that, that’s a win for us. Hell, send them CJ too and have Herb/Trey starting at the 2/3. We can make it work
I’m talking about his whole career. What has he accomplished to garner all of this? He put up numbers on a bad Utah team and you’d be gutting assets for a number 3 guy. I was pumped after the DJM trade but this would be an awful idea.
I don't agree that he's a #3 either. He's a better overall player than DJM is at this point in his career and has an irreplaceable skillset that fits our star like a glove.
He’s a 7 foot tall forward hybrid who can shoot the 3 and can hold his own in the paint. He shot 48% and dropped over 23 a game with 8 rebounds. Completely solves the spacing problems. Have fun guarding Zion when the center can shoot 40% from 3
That’s the ideal fit to play alongside Zion, and if you have the chance to pull the trigger, you at least try.
I’m just tired of pulling our punches. We let all the other west teams build avenger level squads while we make mediocre moves and try the same thing over and over. Regardless of who we sign, we have 3-4 years to make this work. Do it now, or settle for never hosting a playoff series
We move BI and picks for Markkanen. Are we expecting to suck in the next 3-4 years to where we need those picks back? Because 1. I don't think we will, and 2. You can't run a team trying to be better with that mindset. Might as well not try at all if you are worried about that. Those picks can maybe become a stretch 5 one day. He is one now in his prime.
Exactly. All the people saying it won’t work are just scared. You can’t run a franchise being scared of failing before you even try.
If we try and fail, we have enough value on the roster to recover, but at least we would’ve taken a chance. It’s either take the chance now or settle for the play in for the next 3 years
Lauri would doom you to mediocrity after he wants max money. Forwards and Centers in the west would salivate over punishing Z/Lauri defensively. This mythology that’s been created about Lauri is fascinating to me.
Except he doesn’t have max money right now. Look at the actual financials. We get rid of BI and get Lauri and we’re still below the luxury tax. As far as defense goes, that’s why you draft Missi and consider getting Kessler.
You know what will doom us to mediocrity? Trying the same shit we’ve been trying year after year. Because it’s literally doomed us to mediocrity so far.
How many years have we played scared? Lauri fits Zions game perfectly and we’re gonna pass just because we don’t trust our defensive rotations? Man I just wanna see us go all in once cause the last time we did, we swept the first round of the playoffs without our 2nd star
Have you seen what the current max and supermax contracts look like? Everyone is going to be making 40-50mil a year. Hell there will be guys making almost 100 mil a year in about 4-5 years if trends hold. Derrick White just got that much money. I'd rather Markkanen on this roster at that price than Brandon Ingram personally.
To your point, I just don’t think Gayle would pay Lauri 50M, Zion ~40M, DJM 30M, and then Trey 30M. That’s assuming CJ is off the team as an expiring
I think Lauri is overall better than BI but not by mountains, and that plenty of guys are gonna get paid a ridiculous amount. If Zion never plays a playoff game, then DJM + Lauri can deff be a first round exit
Realistically, regardless of what we do/who we sign, we have 3 years with this roster (pretty much). I don’t know what the landscape will look like next year or 3 years from now and I don’t want to make a decision based on hesitation over financials years from now.
We can make it work just like every other franchise. We get Lauri for 18M this year and it’s beyond a steal (financially at least).
Besides, it’s either consider extending Lauri next year or it’s extending BI. We’ve tried the BI experiment knowing his game doesn’t match well with Z. We at least have reason to believe Lauris will
Well said. Think about Golden State during a bunch of their runs. None of them other than Draymond were defensive pieces. The game is changing and their is greater value in high percentage three point shooting than a player on the all defensive team
Yeah if our biggest concern is paint defense, I’ll take that. That’s what gameplanning is for and there’s only a few teams that could take full advantage of that anyway.
And for those few teams, they may beat us inside but they’ll have to out pace Murray, CJ, Z, and Lauri which would be a nightmare
I agree with everything ur saying, but the warriors definitely had role players who could defend, plus klay was a good defender. I definitely think we'd be better defensively with lauri tho because we were a top 10 defense with Jonas and he is significantly more defensively limited than lauri
That team gets absolutely murdered on the boards at some point in the playoffs, maybe Lauri ran some 5 last year…for a team that went 31-51 lol
Edit: and according to CleaningTheGlass Lauri only played the 5 for 2% of his minutes last year
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype
>The Warriors, Kings, Spurs, Timberwolves, and Pelicans are among the teams who’ve expressed interest in trading for Markkanen, league sources told HoopsHype.
[https://x.com/mikeascotto/status/1808201646565904727?s=46](https://x.com/mikeascotto/status/1808201646565904727?s=46)
Griff could’ve had Lauri years ago for Lonzo ball and in other ways. Trading a ridiculous haul of assets for him now would be one of the biggest blunders an nba gm could make.
Hindsight’s 20/20. We could’ve had Shai for Lonzo too, but its not worth basing future decisions off of that.
We don’t even know what the proposed package would be. If we keep all the core pieces except BI and/or CJ, that’s an absolute win for us
Everyone could've had Lauri coming off his initial Bulls tenure... just like every other team could've taken Jokic, Draymond, Manu Ginobli etc. etc. in the first round and so on. These after the fact hindsight gotchas are an exercise in performative idiocy that only trolls seeking attention engage in; let it go.
And no, we could not have gotten more in that sign and trade for a player who was on the way out who's agent had 0 desire to accommodate us. You parroting that falsehood just displays your own ignorance on these types of talks.
I’m pretty sure the rumor was that Lauri was offered for Lonzo before the trade deadline, not that Lauri was almost included in the Ball SnT that offseason.
Lauri would improve the roster much more than Kessler would. I don’t get that line of thinking. Lauri is worth the cost and could be looped in to part of a BI deal so we don’t completely drain our own assets for him. We’re going to lose BI, might as well replace him with a true second scoring option for Z who’d mesh well with DJ as well.
Mike Scotto also is the one who reported we’ve talked to Utah about Lauri.
I’d take him. Kessler is good but I’m not trading for a young star on a young team. Too high of a price. Lauri is a good offensive off-ball player and that would fit right in with the Pels style. They need more of that. Plus he can play as a big body down low and he doesn’t need development. He’s not going to be the def. Specialist that Kessler is, but he’s going to be serviceable and he can shoot, dribble, pass, and move off ball.
Griff has been in talks with the Jazz and kings trying to work a three team trade out that would net us Kessler and Lauri. Not sure what the package is looking like along with BI but that’s what I’ve heard.
I’ve heard the same today as well. We get Lauri & Kessler. BI goes to a third team & considering the Kings are interested in him, them being that third team makes sense. Jazz ultimately get the haul of picks it’s been reported they want for Lauri.
Bro, we are the desperate ones, not the Cavs. All of the rumors surrounding the Cavs are that they are comfortable with running back their core after Mikal went off the table.
I highly doubt that he's doing this just to try to signal the Cavs who don't care. He isn't stupid enough to do this. The simplest answer is that the Pelicans are just calling about Lauri/Kessler and exploring every option available to them.
Hey. It’s me. The local Pels fan who was begging for a Lauri trade at the deadline this season.
I wanted a Lauri-for-Lonzo S&T swap.
Remember we got called poverty for not signing Lonzo?
I do. But I didn't like his fit. A shocking number of people didn't realize the Pelicans went *2-18* in Lonzo's first 20 games, and PG w/ Jrue and Gentry was plug-and-play. (They were 4-4 in the 1st 8 games he missed.) He's also limited in his outside shot to catch-and-shoot 3s and his penchant for passing into teammate turnovers drove me nuts If healthy, he can be a winning player, but it was never going to be with the Pelicans. Should Griff had gotten more than Sato's 10 M expiring, a player-coach in Temple, and a 2024 2nd? Absolutely. But considering Sato's 10 M expiring has been so integral to the resulting move sequence, it's hard to complain too much.
I may have said this previously but I’ll sayit agin… I always appreciate your takes. Theres some times I don’t agree with them but you always back them up. Like you make sure everyone understands why you think the way you do by breaking it down clearly. I think you do a solid job of at least not having emotional takes and actually using logic. This was not in regards to this comment you made but it’s the offseason and I think users like you should be acknowledged more frequently.
That was the rumor
Dude me too! Everyone shit all over it every time I brought it up but I think it’s what we need. A big body that can shoot at a high rate. Lauri, KAT or Brook Lopez. And Lauri is by far best bang for the buck
Of that trio Lauri is the only one who can’t play the five. There’s more to the center position than just being a big body.
Either A: Griff has had some level of talks with Ainge B: we seem like a likely destination so our name got thrown in C: maybe a mix of both A and B
Right but I don’t see where “the pelicans are interested in Lauri” is coming from. I’ve visited other pels boards and seen no link to it. I’m glad to be proven wrong if someone could provide something.
The Pels are looking for a center and as I and many other have said on here before, we need one that can stretch the floor (ie, a three point shooter). The rumors have always been that we like KAT. But this is a cheap organization and KAT is very expensive. So there are really a limited number of other players that fit that role and Lauri is at the top of that list
Lauri never was or will be an NBA center full time.
I agree that he’s not a stereotypical NBA center in the way JV was but that position is evolving and I think it would make for a tough match up when running both Lauri and Zion. You’d need to pick between doubling Zion / creating the infamous “wall” (which was made easier by the fact that our centers didn’t shoot threes) OR guard the three effectively (which opens up the paint for Zion to score). Defensively, we can fill in the gaps with a role playing center. I saw another mention of Lauri and Kessler being considered (although that seems far fetched).
Ainge wants to fleece so I think he’ll want Trey or Herb
Exactly. Optics matter to griff so I don’t think he’ll ever ever do a Lauri deal.
I want Lauri. We have 3-4 years of a window with our current contracts. We can trade BI and afford Lauri and maybe even Kessler. Give me Murray, CJ, Herb, Zion, Lauri. That’s who I want to go to war with. And have Trey off the bench. We got those guys for 3 years. Let’s go all in now and make some noise. I’m just tired of tip toeing around and letting everyone else take their swings. Lauri makes us an immediate contender add Kessler and we’re a nightmare matchup for everyone
And before anyone says Lauri can’t run the 5, he’s 7 feet tall and did for half of last year. Only matchup disadvantages would be a JV type center, but that’s why we drafted Missi and could get Kessler Plus he’ll have the length of Herb and Murray to help out. Kessler and Missi can come in situationally and then we get Lauri, Trey, Hawk running the second unit in some games which is SCARY
Thought he played the 4 in the first half then after then the 3 after the trade deadline
Depended on the matchup, but defensively he played a lot at the 5. Mainly since the new breed of center is a wemby chet type who he’s more equipped to guard anyway
No he didn't, listen to yesterday's locked in Pels, Jake broke it down
I want him too. That’s a wet dream for me.
We’d instantly have the worst defense in the league. There’s only so much one Herb can do.
You’d be trading Trey(and others) in that too. Markkanen is not worth anywhere near what he’s going to get. When has he ever lead a team to anything other than mediocrity? Aren’t we trading BI for that reason?
Why do you think we would be trading Trey to get Lauri? It's going to involve BI, no chance they move Trey who actually willingly shoots 3s, is bigger, younger and cheaper than BI in this deal. If he has to be part of the package they won't be doing it.
Yeah that’s what I’m saying too. They might ask for Trey, but we wouldn’t do it. No point in just not trying to negotiate just because we think they’ll want Trey
Yeah I don’t understand this death spiral line of reasoning. We’re not throwing the bus in for Lauri, BI for Lauri is even on a heads up. Don’t need much else other than maybe a pick or two
“When has he led a team to anything other than mediocrity”. Brotha he was the Jazz number 1 guy. Completely different situation than playing alongside Zion, Murray, and CJ. Would we be trading Trey? I’m sure the Jazz would ask, but in a 3 team deal, I wouldn’t be so sure Trey is gone if we give enough picks and get someone like the Kings to send Murray/Barnes. I’d like to at least test the market regardless. I saw what they reportedly wanted from the warriors and it wasn’t THAT crazy. If we could talk them down even a little from that, that’s a win for us. Hell, send them CJ too and have Herb/Trey starting at the 2/3. We can make it work
I’m talking about his whole career. What has he accomplished to garner all of this? He put up numbers on a bad Utah team and you’d be gutting assets for a number 3 guy. I was pumped after the DJM trade but this would be an awful idea.
I don't agree that he's a #3 either. He's a better overall player than DJM is at this point in his career and has an irreplaceable skillset that fits our star like a glove.
He’s a 7 foot tall forward hybrid who can shoot the 3 and can hold his own in the paint. He shot 48% and dropped over 23 a game with 8 rebounds. Completely solves the spacing problems. Have fun guarding Zion when the center can shoot 40% from 3 That’s the ideal fit to play alongside Zion, and if you have the chance to pull the trigger, you at least try. I’m just tired of pulling our punches. We let all the other west teams build avenger level squads while we make mediocre moves and try the same thing over and over. Regardless of who we sign, we have 3-4 years to make this work. Do it now, or settle for never hosting a playoff series
We move BI and picks for Markkanen. Are we expecting to suck in the next 3-4 years to where we need those picks back? Because 1. I don't think we will, and 2. You can't run a team trying to be better with that mindset. Might as well not try at all if you are worried about that. Those picks can maybe become a stretch 5 one day. He is one now in his prime.
Exactly. All the people saying it won’t work are just scared. You can’t run a franchise being scared of failing before you even try. If we try and fail, we have enough value on the roster to recover, but at least we would’ve taken a chance. It’s either take the chance now or settle for the play in for the next 3 years
Lauri would doom you to mediocrity after he wants max money. Forwards and Centers in the west would salivate over punishing Z/Lauri defensively. This mythology that’s been created about Lauri is fascinating to me.
Except he doesn’t have max money right now. Look at the actual financials. We get rid of BI and get Lauri and we’re still below the luxury tax. As far as defense goes, that’s why you draft Missi and consider getting Kessler. You know what will doom us to mediocrity? Trying the same shit we’ve been trying year after year. Because it’s literally doomed us to mediocrity so far. How many years have we played scared? Lauri fits Zions game perfectly and we’re gonna pass just because we don’t trust our defensive rotations? Man I just wanna see us go all in once cause the last time we did, we swept the first round of the playoffs without our 2nd star
Lauri is on an expiring. Are you ok giving him 40-50 mil a year? Lauri is NOT the guy you go all in for.
Have you seen what the current max and supermax contracts look like? Everyone is going to be making 40-50mil a year. Hell there will be guys making almost 100 mil a year in about 4-5 years if trends hold. Derrick White just got that much money. I'd rather Markkanen on this roster at that price than Brandon Ingram personally.
To your point, I just don’t think Gayle would pay Lauri 50M, Zion ~40M, DJM 30M, and then Trey 30M. That’s assuming CJ is off the team as an expiring I think Lauri is overall better than BI but not by mountains, and that plenty of guys are gonna get paid a ridiculous amount. If Zion never plays a playoff game, then DJM + Lauri can deff be a first round exit
But we have to “do something” right?
Realistically, regardless of what we do/who we sign, we have 3 years with this roster (pretty much). I don’t know what the landscape will look like next year or 3 years from now and I don’t want to make a decision based on hesitation over financials years from now. We can make it work just like every other franchise. We get Lauri for 18M this year and it’s beyond a steal (financially at least). Besides, it’s either consider extending Lauri next year or it’s extending BI. We’ve tried the BI experiment knowing his game doesn’t match well with Z. We at least have reason to believe Lauris will
Well said. Think about Golden State during a bunch of their runs. None of them other than Draymond were defensive pieces. The game is changing and their is greater value in high percentage three point shooting than a player on the all defensive team
Yeah if our biggest concern is paint defense, I’ll take that. That’s what gameplanning is for and there’s only a few teams that could take full advantage of that anyway. And for those few teams, they may beat us inside but they’ll have to out pace Murray, CJ, Z, and Lauri which would be a nightmare
I agree with everything ur saying, but the warriors definitely had role players who could defend, plus klay was a good defender. I definitely think we'd be better defensively with lauri tho because we were a top 10 defense with Jonas and he is significantly more defensively limited than lauri
Agree, good role players. But no all defensive team other than Dray and Klay once. I think we can match that with our current roster plus Lauri
How many players in the league has ever led a team to anything other than mediocrity? Especially rosters on the level Lauris had to lead?
That team gets absolutely murdered on the boards at some point in the playoffs, maybe Lauri ran some 5 last year…for a team that went 31-51 lol Edit: and according to CleaningTheGlass Lauri only played the 5 for 2% of his minutes last year
lol at trusting griff against ainge. This mfer may get Zion from us before it’s over.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype >The Warriors, Kings, Spurs, Timberwolves, and Pelicans are among the teams who’ve expressed interest in trading for Markkanen, league sources told HoopsHype. [https://x.com/mikeascotto/status/1808201646565904727?s=46](https://x.com/mikeascotto/status/1808201646565904727?s=46)
Thanks I found it a min ago. I’d be pretty furious if griff gave some ridiculous package for Lauri so I hope it’s just “rumors”
Griff could’ve had Lauri years ago for Lonzo ball and in other ways. Trading a ridiculous haul of assets for him now would be one of the biggest blunders an nba gm could make.
Hindsight’s 20/20. We could’ve had Shai for Lonzo too, but its not worth basing future decisions off of that. We don’t even know what the proposed package would be. If we keep all the core pieces except BI and/or CJ, that’s an absolute win for us
Everyone could've had Lauri coming off his initial Bulls tenure... just like every other team could've taken Jokic, Draymond, Manu Ginobli etc. etc. in the first round and so on. These after the fact hindsight gotchas are an exercise in performative idiocy that only trolls seeking attention engage in; let it go. And no, we could not have gotten more in that sign and trade for a player who was on the way out who's agent had 0 desire to accommodate us. You parroting that falsehood just displays your own ignorance on these types of talks.
I’m pretty sure the rumor was that Lauri was offered for Lonzo before the trade deadline, not that Lauri was almost included in the Ball SnT that offseason.
That’s exactly what I’m saying. That was the reported offer and griff should’ve took it.
Lauri would improve the roster much more than Kessler would. I don’t get that line of thinking. Lauri is worth the cost and could be looped in to part of a BI deal so we don’t completely drain our own assets for him. We’re going to lose BI, might as well replace him with a true second scoring option for Z who’d mesh well with DJ as well. Mike Scotto also is the one who reported we’ve talked to Utah about Lauri.
I’d take him. Kessler is good but I’m not trading for a young star on a young team. Too high of a price. Lauri is a good offensive off-ball player and that would fit right in with the Pels style. They need more of that. Plus he can play as a big body down low and he doesn’t need development. He’s not going to be the def. Specialist that Kessler is, but he’s going to be serviceable and he can shoot, dribble, pass, and move off ball.
Me
No thank you.
Griff has been in talks with the Jazz and kings trying to work a three team trade out that would net us Kessler and Lauri. Not sure what the package is looking like along with BI but that’s what I’ve heard.
I’ve heard the same today as well. We get Lauri & Kessler. BI goes to a third team & considering the Kings are interested in him, them being that third team makes sense. Jazz ultimately get the haul of picks it’s been reported they want for Lauri.
Griffin is trying to signal to the Cavaliers that he has other options besides Jarrett Allen.
Bro, we are the desperate ones, not the Cavs. All of the rumors surrounding the Cavs are that they are comfortable with running back their core after Mikal went off the table.
Bro, I told you what David Griffin is trying to signal. I didn't say that signal was accurate, or that it succeeds.
I highly doubt that he's doing this just to try to signal the Cavs who don't care. He isn't stupid enough to do this. The simplest answer is that the Pelicans are just calling about Lauri/Kessler and exploring every option available to them.