San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Free agency breakdown for Spurs, NBA
it’s fair to question the wisdom of them trying to win now versus starting a rebuild. Young: Not sure it signals anything of significance. The Warriors, even without Cousins, are entering next season as the favorites to win another title. Now that he’s in the fold, Cousins, when he’s healthy enough to play, will provide the Warriors another weapon. The fact he sought them out after not receiving much interest in free agency speaks to their culture and how much fun it is to play with other players like Steph Curry and Kevin Durant and being coached by Steve Kerr. I remember a time the Warriors were horrible. They didn’t win. Few players wanted to play there. Not the case anymore.
What was your favorite and least favorite move of NBA free agency so far? McDonald: The Lakers signing LeBron James was a good idea. Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka are geniuses for doing it. The Lakers surrounding LeBron with the likes of Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee and Rajon Rondo is also fun in its own way.
Orsborn: Not to be redundant here, but the Warriors adding a fifth All-Star in Cousins for only $5.6 million was a master stroke and the biggest steal in free agency, especially after the Lakers signed LeBron James. My worst move: The Bucks agreeing with Ersan Ilyasova to a three-year, $21 million deal. A streaky shooter and a defensive liability, he doesn’t really help a team aspiring to become a contender in the East.
Young: Cousins’ signing with the Warriors. I thought that move provided just as much, or more, shock around the NBA as LeBron James heading to the Los Angeles Lakers, which many predicted would occur. It will be fun to see how Cousins fits with the Warriors and if his personality will be altered because he’s in the best winning environment of his career.
What is your over/under for numbers of wins for the Lakers as they are currently constituted and why? McDonald: Our esteemed columnist, Mike Finger, and I have always agreed in the belief that The Eastern Conference’s Worst Team + LeBron = an instant Finals squad. That task is going to be much, much more difficult to pull off in the West, but the Lakers should see their win total vault upward. LeBron is that good. I’m not going to put 50 wins out of reach for them, though a safer bet might be 45 in the vaunted West.
Orsborn: The Lakers ranked near the bottom of the league in 3-point shooting, so they still desperately need some marksmen. But even without improvement on the perimeter, they should still collect at least 47, 48 wins.
Young: I’ll go 45-50 wins. Why? LeBron James is that good.