Devin Ebanks Earning PT (Pine time...)

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree realdeal.

But I don't blame anyone because of convenience. You ought to know that from my history of posts here. I try to discern what's going on and I call it as I see it. If I thought Mitch Kupchak was the problem, and I did think he wasn't up to par when he began, then I would call it that way. But the guy has been unbelievable the last few years. Jim Buss fired all of our scouts. Jim Buss hired Rudy T, Mike Brown and with his dad, Mike D' Antoni over Phil, Sloan and McMillan. That track record has been bad, there's not much way to get around that.

One thing I've given credit to Jim Buss for is his personnel moves. If you recall my posts you'll remember that is one thing I actually credit the man for. That's also something that he prides himself on. So when I brought up Pietrus and the Lakers not contacting him I said specifically that the FO blew it, not Jimmy Buss. You brought up the fact that it might be on Mitch. I wouldn't go there personally because I don't see him having the autonomy to make that move on his own. You brought up that Mitch is at odds with Jim because he doesn't want to move Pau, and for good reason! I don't presume to know what's going on over there, but I do know who calls the shots ultimately and that's Jim. Maybe neither one of them wanted Pietrus. Who knows? But I'm not going to throw Mitch under the bus on that when I know Jim holds the ultimate cards on it and they seem to work together on personnel decisions. To me it's a FO screw up, not Mitch's unless someone shows me some proof.

That's fine LJ, I'm down with calling it a FO screw up because I agree with that. I think that as a whole they missed the mark on that one.

I'm just not down with blaming Jim Buss for skipping on Pietrus. To me it seems more like Mitch wants to be conservative and he wants to wait until we see what we've got. We'll know in a couple of weeks with Nash back and hopefully everyone healthy whether or not this is going to work. At that point I think Mitch relents and goes for some other options.

The reason I'm saying Mitch is because just like the Howard deal I think Mitch is trying to hold onto available pieces so that he has more guys to trade/move around if and when Gasol needs to be moved.

And I'm not trying to insult you by saying you're looking for someone to blame, because believe me I am too. watching these guys play basketball is almost stressful at this point. It's maddening and I'd be way more comfortable saying "well see this is D'Antoni's fault!" when really it's just because of some truly unfortunate injuries. I'll postpone this debate until about January 14th. I think if we're healthy at that point and still struggling then I'll gladly blame the FO and specifically Jim Buss and Kupchak for not making the necessary moves.

^^ Good stuff realdeal. Yeah, it's been frustrating beyond belief. And like you said, we got straight up SNAKE BIT when it comes to injuries. Nash, Pau, Hill, Blake . . . even Jamison to a lesser extent. And Howard hasn't even been truly healthy, he's still in recovering mode. So yeah, I've been wanting to see how this will all work and I'm definitely holding judgement until we see what we have. In regards to Mitch being conservative with that in mind, I'm with him. That's why I'm cool with holding back on any Pau trade until it all plays out (not to mention that he has way more value next year as an expiring contract). We've made some huge moves and we need to see how it all pans out before we make a bunch of other moves.

The Pietrus thing will remain a mystery though, and definitely a gaffe on the FO's part (Buss and Kupchak). To me (and to you, too) it fell into the category of obvious moves to just get better, without making enormous waves. We would have basically been sacrificing either Devin, Morris, Sacre, or DJO to get ourselves a really capable player where we have a glaring hole, SF. That's a move you can and should make regardless of what you want to do with Pau down the line.

Either Devin's contract should have been voided because of the DUI, or he should have just been let go, or you let go of DJO or Sacre. Morris couldn't be let go when we were paper thin at the PG with Nash and Blake out indefinitely. Sacre is a good insurance guy in case D12 gets hurt. To me you either drop Devin or DJO who is an intriguing player but not as valuable as Pietrus who we know could contribute. But oh well. Crying over spilled milk as they say. Just seems like Pietrus would have been the right guy to gamble on because he D's up hard but can also knock down the long ball. Seems like a great fit for D' Antoni's system, and really just in general, a guy we could use on the Lakers. Missed opportunity for sure.

I'm really just confused about why they're keeping Ebanks around though... Because he's got the freaking "no-trade" clause and he made a huge effort this summer to stick around, he's unlikely to approve any trade.

Just waive him! He was an educated gamble, but it didn't pay off. We could use if anything an open roster spot. If I were Mitch I'd sit him down and say "we're either trading you and getting value back, or we're just going to waive you. Your choice, but either way you're done".

Even if it's not Pietrus anymore, you could pick up someone else that might be able to contribute you know? Maybe Delonte West or something.

therealdeal wrote:I'm really just confused about why they're keeping Ebanks around though... Because he's got the freaking "no-trade" clause and he made a huge effort this summer to stick around, he's unlikely to approve any trade.

Just waive him! He was an educated gamble, but it didn't pay off. We could use if anything an open roster spot. If I were Mitch I'd sit him down and say "we're either trading you and getting value back, or we're just going to waive you. Your choice, but either way you're done".

Even if it's not Pietrus anymore, you could pick up someone else that might be able to contribute you know? Maybe Delonte West or something.

^^ I completely agree. That's why the whole thing with Pietrus boggled my mind. Why wouldn't you void his contract after the DUI? Or if not, then why not waive him at that point? They had three weeks between his DUI and Pietrus signing with Toronto.

I definitely think we should have let Devin go by now and gone after someone who could contribute more.

The ironic thing about this conversation is that you and I were two of the biggest Ebanks supporters before this went down.

Can this guy be traded or something, for cash, a 2nd round pick 20 years for now, anything?

why we have him and morris...beyond me.

Weezy wrote:Can this guy be traded or something, for cash, a 2nd round pick 20 years for now, anything?

seriously

at least he's got his rap career to fall back on

Just throw him and morris into that Gay Deal and try to get back Barbosa

Invisible? What a baby wow.

Why don't you do something with your opportunities then ***hole.

wow please just waive this guy. how he got a f***ing no trade clause i have no idea

Showtime.Revival.05 wrote:wow please just waive this guy. how he got a f***ing no trade clause i have no idea

It's a verbal no trade clause between him & Mitch, for waiting until the Dwight trade to sign & not going to another team.

He needs to be cut RIGHT NOW. He is just absolutely beyond useless and has always been. Sadly, people here love to see the potential in the bum rather than the potential bum.

I liked the signing because
1. He's young and athletic and those are two things we sorely lacked.
2. He showed some promising development with his jumpshot and cutting ability early this season and late last season.
3. He waited until after the Dwight drama this summer to sign because he really wanted to be in LA.

I thought that combination of 3 factors would result in something this season, but it turns out he's just a loser.

This guy is a scrub & he ruined his chance by deciding to drive under the influence, what a moron.