Tuesdays with LakerTom returns as the Kevin Durant World Turns as his meeting with Nets Governor Joe Tsai with new demands did not go as planned. What happens next and could this reignite a Kyrie Irving trade to the Lakers? Find out the thoughts from Tom and Gerald as we continue to touch on all the Lakers scuttlebutt right here at the Lakers Fast Break podcast!
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Good stuff from LT and Gerald.
I think we’ll see a whole lotta nothing for a good while. If the Nets aren’t finding a suitable trade for Durant then it stands to reason they will keep Kyrie in order to “appease” Durant to the degree they can.
The more I think about it the more I think it’s 50/50 the following happens: Marks quits and Nash gets canned. It’s not like Nash has done wonders as a head coach and Marks evidently hasn’t signed an extension which I believe means next season would he his last one under contract.
Neither one puts people in seats. Neither one is elite at what they do, although it could be argued that Marks has been as much a victim of internal sabotage as his own poor choices, but Nash is certainly guilty of not really being up to the task in the playoffs. In some ways the opposite of how Frank Vogel performed in his first season in LA.
The meeting details that came out today make it sound like the Lakers, and to some degree LeBron, are fine starting off the season with Russ on the roster. Hoping for a corner three point accuracy bump and more made layups is a reasonable goal. Remember, James has until next June to sign his extension. Barring catastrophic injury it will be on the table all year long.
lol, Tom’s statement that the Lakers will be lucky enough to come out smelling like a rose…oh man, too funny. Love the optimism, just don’t see the path to that reality until February…at best.
Desperation doesn’t smell like a rose.
I think KD throwing Marks’ name in there is a negotiation tactic. Kinda like when I asked for 50% more in salary than I knew I could get during my last review. Gotta leave room to find some middle ground. So the Nets can say “Look, we’ll get rid of Nash but we gotta keep Marks”. Then KD can agree to that, knowing inside that he wasn’t gonna get both anyway. Nash should be the real target. (I didn’t get the money but I did squeeze an extra week of vacation out of it!!…lol)
I don’t know, Mongo. I don’t see KD saying what he said about Marks and Nash as anything but burning his bridges and making sure he gets traded.
To me, it looks like KD obviously at some point last season became totally disenchanted with the situation in Brooklyn and decided he wanted out.
The Nets seemed to be trying to force KD to play because they can’t get 50% on the dollar for him because everybody knows he won’t honor his contract.
I think throwing Nash and Marks under the bus was KD’s way of saying he ain’t coming back. JMO.
Lotta talk about KD not “honoring his contract” but I can’t recall a time when I haven’t seen him give 100% on the court. He never asks for “load management” and actually asks for more minutes. I feel like the off the court stuff is separate. Even if he requested a trade, most folks in the league believe he’ll be on the court ready to give his usual effort come training camp…wherever that may be. He won’t pull a Ben Simmons. Everything else is just words and those can always be tampered down.
You’re right. He’s put on the uniform and played unlike Harden and others. However, he might feel differently this time around.
It would be a mistake as his value has already taken a hit by his actions with so long left on his deal.
We’re starting to see the downside of players who get caught abusing player empowerment.
Yeah I can see that. Really hard to see an issue with Marks beyond him not offering an extension to Kyrie. If that’s the issue there it’s mildly astounding given that the franchise has seemingly bent over every which way to accommodate their whims.
Difference is that as a player, you don’t deal with the GM every single day like you do with the head coach. Nash and KD & Kyrie can’t be in that locker room together anymore. The words against Marks can easily be walked back and life goes on. But hiring Nash might be the biggest mistake made in this entire saga…especially when you probably coulda had Udoka.