re: Can the Lakers win the title this year?

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The OKC GM is a superstar. It feels like they don't miss in the draft and getting Hartenstein for nothing from the Knicks was stealing.

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Presti learned from build one. Lots of fans don’t realize the Harden deal was the start of downfall. But at the time it was a new city and fanbase. They were talent rich. But the NBA came out with a new CBA, and it was adding the lux tax in 3 of 4 year windows.

They knew with that roster they’d be in the tax. And had some different owner's in the group. Most blamed Presti for trading Harden and it pissed off KD. But it was the owners who looked at the future tax implications and didn’t want to be in that category. They assumed with all the talent they could trade Harden and still compete for titles and not be in tax hell.

But it really hurt KD as he was blindsided and eventually left. Presti had to get some value for Harden versus let him walk so made the trade to ease future tax burden implications, as pushed by owners. And of course Presti couldn’t put owners under the bus so the messaging was Harden didn’t want to play off the bench so had to trade him.

Anyways, they learned and cut Presti loose to rebuild without restrictions. And Presti unrestricted is pretty damn good. Thats where we’re at now, build 2. And he has built so many pieces with players and picks he has flexibility to do a lot.

Rumor is SGA loves it here he is not as outgoing as most stars and enjoys less press hounds than bigger markets. And an unconfirmed rumor is he’ll give them a discount on his upcoming supermax. He already fired his agent and will rep himself. Which means he can take less and still make as much. That will be interesting to watch, because if he does take less that helps them stay on top.