ATL trading Luka or LAC trading Shai?

[phanman]

It's clearly Atlanta trading Luka away for Trae + Reddish. The Steph fever was in full effect and the franchise wa just disillusioned with the understanding that they had just drafted his clone. Trae's numbers during his lone season college were actually better than Steph's 3rd year total at Davidson.

Hindsight is 20/20, but the Clippers still make that trade today and don't even think twice about it. That 2018 team had peaked as an overachieving bunch post CP & Blake and the SGA trade got them 2 superstars making the franchise relevant once again. It's not hard to see how the acquisition of Kawhi & PG provided Balmer with the ability to move the franchise to San Diego and build an arena there too. Plus the current roster of the team even with Kawhi injured and PG + Harden's contract status in the air is stil 10x better than whatever is cooking in Atlanta.

[Kordic27]

It's clearly Atlanta trading Luka away for Trae + Reddish. The Steph fever was in full effect and the franchise wa just disillusioned with the understanding that they had just drafted his clone. Trae's numbers during his lone season college were actually better than Steph's 3rd year total at Davidson.

Hindsight is 20/20, but the Clippers still make that trade today and don't even think twice about it. That 2018 team had peaked as an overachieving bunch post CP & Blake and the SGA trade got them 2 superstars making the franchise relevant once again. It's not hard to see how the acquisition of Kawhi & PG provided Balmer with the ability to move the franchise to San Diego and build an arena there too. Plus the current roster of the team even with Kawhi injured and PG + Harden's contract status in the air is stil 10x better than whatever is cooking in Atlanta.

I still think that Kawhi goes to LAC without George. Where else was he going to go? He wanted to be in LA, without Lebron. If the Clippers would have (nicely) held firm, he'd have signed anyway.

[Ball4life32]

It's clearly Atlanta trading Luka away for Trae + Reddish. The Steph fever was in full effect and the franchise wa just disillusioned with the understanding that they had just drafted his clone. Trae's numbers during his lone season college were actually better than Steph's 3rd year total at Davidson.

Hindsight is 20/20, but the Clippers still make that trade today and don't even think twice about it. That 2018 team had peaked as an overachieving bunch post CP & Blake and the SGA trade got them 2 superstars making the franchise relevant once again. It's not hard to see how the acquisition of Kawhi & PG provided Balmer with the ability to move the franchise to San Diego and build an arena there too. Plus the current roster of the team even with Kawhi injured and PG + Harden's contract status in the air is stil 10x better than whatever is cooking in Atlanta.

Trae has never played anything like Steph nor do I think Atlanta ever thought they had a clone. People compared them mostly based on physical stature and they shoot deep 3’s.

[phanman]

I still think that Kawhi goes to LAC without George. Where else was he going to go? He wanted to be in LA, without Lebron. If the Clippers would have (nicely) held firm, he'd have signed anyway.

Come back to Toronto?

Kawhi had all the leverage in the world. Unlike most superstars, nobody knows how or what even what this man is thinking. You don't chance the ability to add both PG and Kawhi in one transaction by playing hardball. Especially for a cursed franchise like the Clippers. Kawhi is on record wanting to play with PG nearly as much as he wanted to come back home to LA. SGA was the 11th overall pick coming off a decent but unremarkable rookie season.

Trae has never played anything like Steph nor do I think Atlanta ever thought they had a clone. People compared them mostly based on physical stature and they shoot deep 3’s.

Were you locked in a basement in 2018 or something? There were countless articles, segments, videos on the comparison between both guys. Trae was literally considered the second coming of him. Stephs physical stature and ability to consistently shoot and make deep 3's is a core descriptor of who Steph is.

I mean just watchin these hilights, it doesn't remind you to what Steph did at Davidson?!

Watch on YouTube

[Mr Loggins]

That luka trade had to have been the worst trade in real time I've ever seen.

I loved Colangelo showing up on philly for a hot minute, trading up to draft Fultz, and then getting drummed out for burner accounts.

A historically bad tenure:time in place

[Ball4life32]

I still think that Kawhi goes to LAC without George. Where else was he going to go? He wanted to be in LA, without Lebron. If the Clippers would have (nicely) held firm, he'd have signed anyway.

Come back to Toronto?

Kawhi had all the leverage in the world. Unlike most superstars, nobody knows how or what even what this man is thinking. You don't chance the ability to add both PG and Kawhi in one transaction by playing hardball. Especially for a cursed franchise like the Clippers. Kawhi is on record wanting to play with PG nearly as much as he wanted to come back home to LA. SGA was the 11th overall pick coming off a decent but unremarkable rookie season.

Trae has never played anything like Steph nor do I think Atlanta ever thought they had a clone. People compared them mostly based on physical stature and they shoot deep 3’s.

Were you locked in a basement in 2018 or something? There were countless articles, segments, videos on the comparison between both guys. Trae was literally considered the second coming of him. Stephs physical stature and ability to consistently shoot and make deep 3's is a core descriptor of who Steph is.

I mean just watchin these hilights, it doesn't remind you to what Steph did at Davidson?!

Watch on YouTube

Oh I remember a bunch of people comparing them but I never once thought they were clones. Trae excels on ball and much better playmaker while Steph is much better off ball and shooter.

[Black Jack]

That luka trade had to have been the worst trade in real time I've ever seen.

I loved Colangelo showing up on philly for a hot minute, trading up to draft Fultz, and then getting drummed out for burner accounts.

A historically bad tenure:time in place

Right at least Trae can play and is still in Atl putting up numbers. He has trade value if they want to move him. The Fultz trade was full on terrible.

[dhsilv2]

That luka trade had to have been the worst trade in real time I've ever seen.

I loved Colangelo showing up on philly for a hot minute, trading up to draft Fultz, and then getting drummed out for burner accounts.

A historically bad tenure:time in place

That was terrible, agree. But I don't think anyone saw Tatum as a franchise player. And ball is ball...

[phanman]

I still think that Kawhi goes to LAC without George. Where else was he going to go? He wanted to be in LA, without Lebron. If the Clippers would have (nicely) held firm, he'd have signed anyway.

Come back to Toronto?

Kawhi had all the leverage in the world. Unlike most superstars, nobody knows how or what even what this man is thinking. You don't chance the ability to add both PG and Kawhi in one transaction by playing hardball. Especially for a cursed franchise like the Clippers. Kawhi is on record wanting to play with PG nearly as much as he wanted to come back home to LA. SGA was the 11th overall pick coming off a decent but unremarkable rookie season.

Trae has never played anything like Steph nor do I think Atlanta ever thought they had a clone. People compared them mostly based on physical stature and they shoot deep 3’s.

Were you locked in a basement in 2018 or something? There were countless articles, segments, videos on the comparison between both guys. Trae was literally considered the second coming of him. Stephs physical stature and ability to consistently shoot and make deep 3's is a core descriptor of who Steph is.

I mean just watchin these hilights, it doesn't remind you to what Steph did at Davidson?!

Watch on YouTube

Oh I remember a bunch of people comparing them but I never once thought they were clones. Trae excels on ball and much better playmaker while Steph is much better off ball and shooter.

Steph developed his insane off-ball capabilities in the NBA. During his college career and Mark Jackson era, Steph was much more dangerous on ball navigating the PnR like most scoring PGs do now.

[kingr]

Trading SGA if im not mistaken, also why they got kawhi. So I can understand that happening, and PG is still a good player. So PG + kawhi, yeah I'll take that. Luka for Trae has to lead to banging heads.

[GuyverX]

SGA was still very raw his first year. Yes, he showed a lot of poise but I don't think anybody really expected him to be superstar SGA we see today. I hated seeing him go...but Kawhi was coming off his finals MVP run in Toronto and "the shot" against the Sixers. His signing with the Clippers was contingent on the Clippers trading for PG.

I don't see too many FO's not pulling the trigger on this if you could nab that year's finals MVP plus PG coming off the best season of his career for that version of SGA. Hindsight is 20/20.

[King4Day]

SGA was still very raw his first year. Yes, he showed a lot of poise but I don't think anybody really expected him to be superstar SGA we see today. I hated seeing him go...but Kawhi was coming off his finals MVP run in Toronto and "the shot" against the Sixers. His signing with the Clippers was contingent on the Clippers trading for PG.

I don't see too many FO's not pulling the trigger on this if you could nab that year's finals MVP plus PG coming off the best season of his career for that version of SGA. Hindsight is 20/20.

Perfectly said. LAC did the right thing.
Atlanta, I was so happy when Luka fell to them. As a Suns fan, I thought, 'well if taking Ayton was a mistake, at least Luka isn't in the West'. I was stunned ATL made the trade with Doncic falling in their lap.
Like most other things, it just leads to many what ifs in the league. ATL would be a title contender most likely. Instead, it's Dallas.

[wegotthabeet]

It's clearly Atlanta trading Luka away for Trae + Reddish. The Steph fever was in full effect and the franchise wa just disillusioned with the understanding that they had just drafted his clone. Trae's numbers during his lone season college were actually better than Steph's 3rd year total at Davidson.

Hindsight is 20/20, but the Clippers still make that trade today and don't even think twice about it. That 2018 team had peaked as an overachieving bunch post CP & Blake and the SGA trade got them 2 superstars making the franchise relevant once again. It's not hard to see how the acquisition of Kawhi & PG provided Balmer with the ability to move the franchise to San Diego and build an arena there too. Plus the current roster of the team even with Kawhi injured and PG + Harden's contract status in the air is stil 10x better than whatever is cooking in Atlanta.

I still think that Kawhi goes to LAC without George. Where else was he going to go? He wanted to be in LA, without Lebron. If the Clippers would have (nicely) held firm, he'd have signed anyway.

Yes. been always saying this. He was always going to the Clips.

[heatwillbeback]

I excuse LAC because they were trying to win immediately. And Paul George is a terrific player and that led to signing Kawhi.


Atlanta essentially traded a rookie for a rookie. And one is clearly much better. So yea, clear answer here.

[Wammy Giveaway]

You can try and play hindsight games, but even then the Clippers have fared better than the Hawks. But the only way to judge these decisions is in the moment and its not close that the Hawks made the far bigger mistake.

That moment will come when if Clippers face the Thunder in the next round (assuming they get past the Mavs, of course).

Previously, I said that Thunder will win the trade by default if Paul George and/or Kawhi Leonard get ejected from a game. Because I feel a Clippers-Thunder Meet-Your-Maker meeting is inevitable (and neither player got tossed ever since joining), I am retracting this condition and now basing it exclusively on the winner of that 2nd round. Whoever wins that series will win their side of the deal.

Clippers are fighting for more than just that. A loss to Thunder means they're forced to rebuild, as all their superstars (sans Leonard) are heading to free agency.

[Kordic27]

SGA was still very raw his first year. Yes, he showed a lot of poise but I don't think anybody really expected him to be superstar SGA we see today. I hated seeing him go...but Kawhi was coming off his finals MVP run in Toronto and "the shot" against the Sixers. His signing with the Clippers was contingent on the Clippers trading for PG.

I don't see too many FO's not pulling the trigger on this if you could nab that year's finals MVP plus PG coming off the best season of his career for that version of SGA. Hindsight is 20/20.

Perfectly said. LAC did the right thing.
Atlanta, I was so happy when Luka fell to them. As a Suns fan, I thought, 'well if taking Ayton was a mistake, at least Luka isn't in the West'. I was stunned ATL made the trade with Doncic falling in their lap.
Like most other things, it just leads to many what ifs in the league. ATL would be a title contender most likely. Instead, it's Dallas.

Well they definitely didn't do the right thing. Hindsight of course, but if you could see the future, if you're the clips, you stay the course with the feel-good overachieving potential-laden team you had, vs the perpetually injured over-priced soulless borg you have going for you now.

[Pointgod]

It’s Luka all day, everyday and twice on Sundays. The reason the Clippers struggle is that Kwahi is not healthy so even a Kawhi and Shai duo would go nowhere.

[NY2k1]

ATL trading Luka.

Theres nobody in the world that thought SGA would turn into this type of player. The signs were all there that Luka was a generational player, winning Euro basket in 2017, then following that up with a championship and MVP with Real Madrid. You could argue he'll get into the basketball hall of fame just for what he did when he was 18 and 19 the Hawks absolutely blew it

I might be one of the very few who thought he would at least come close to what he is now. He had a lot of potential in his 2nd season and 1st year with the OKC. So much that I wanted the Knicks to trade for him before he broke out.

[The Servant]

Worse than all of these are Phoenix taking Ayton #1 and Kings taking Bagley ahead of Luka.

[OkcSinceSGA]

ATL trading Luka.

Theres nobody in the world that thought SGA would turn into this type of player. The signs were all there that Luka was a generational player, winning Euro basket in 2017, then following that up with a championship and MVP with Real Madrid. You could argue he'll get into the basketball hall of fame just for what he did when he was 18 and 19 the Hawks absolutely blew it

I said he was a future superstar before his first game suiting up for the Clippers actually. But I didn’t know MVP candidate. I thought more perennial all star tier. It’s the Clippers though because SGA probably didn’t even have to go out in trade if they called Uncle Dennis’ bluff.