BANG/Kurtenbach: LeBron James made a mistake saying no to Steph Curry and Warriors

[Allen]

Kurtenbach: LeBron James made a mistake saying no to Steph Curry and
Warriors (plus 4 other mid-week thoughts)
LeBron James turned down a trade to play with Steph Curry and the
Warriors, proving that basketball is a secondary venture.

>Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) defends against Golden
State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the second half of an NBA
basketball game in Los Angeles, Saturday, March 5, 2022. (AP
Photo/Ashley Landis)
By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurt...@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News
Group
PUBLISHED: February 14, 2024 at 11:45 a.m. | UPDATED: February 14, 2024
at 4:47 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/02/14/kurtenbach-lebron-james-made-a-mistake-saying-no-to-steph-curry-and-the-warriors-and-four-other-mid-week-thoughts/


The Warriors went after LeBron James at the trade deadline, per ESPN.

And LeBron made a mistake in saying he wasn’t interested in leaving Los
Angeles.

Neither the Warriors nor the Lakers will win a title this year. Both
teams are fundamentally flawed and contractually bloated. If they didn’t
have Steph Curry and LeBron leading the way, respectively, they’d be in
tire-fire situations.

That’s why the Warriors trading for LeBron would have made all the sense
in the world. Both teams will live in a desolate wasteland once their
superstars retire. (Sorry, but no heirs are apparent in either locale.)
So why should they both languish in mediocrity now?

The Warriors take the present; the Lakers take the future. Seems like a
fair deal to me.

LeBron would have been a perfect fit with the Dubs. Not only would he
provide immensely valuable late-game wing scoring, but he could also run
the Warriors offense when Draymond Green was not on the court.

You may have noticed the Warriors are playing much better now that
they’re not employing a true point guard. Their system demands
point-forwards, and Green and LeBron are two of the greatest of all time.

And for a guy who seems to be having no fun playing for the Lakers,
LeBron would’ve had a blast with the Warriors. Playing alongside a guy
like Curry must be euphoric when you’re used to D’Angelo Russell.

Adding LeBron to the mix would have been the one move the Warriors could
have reasonably made at the deadline to put them back in title contention.

And the Lakers would have loaded up on some draft picks and young
players. Jonathan Kuminga might not be a future superstar, but he has
proven to be a solid building block. They’d be fine in the long run.
They might even enjoy a post-LeBron world — it probably has much less angst.

Ultimately, it wasn’t to be. The Lakers reportedly engaged in talks, but
LeBron’s real team — his management — shot the move down.

Apparently, the King is too committed to Los Angeles and all of his
non-basketball ventures, which are centered in the Southland.

As someone who paid hard-earned American dollars to see Space Jam 2 in
theaters, I believe LeBron has his priorities out of whack.

(The family aspect of things would be understandable, save for the fact
that he’s a billionaire, and the flight from Santa Monica to SFO is less
than an hour. His L.A. commute in a car is probably longer.)

I’m sure we’ll hear LeBron-to-the-Dubs chatter until the end of time
because the connection now exists, and LeBron will continue to be
passive-aggressive about playing for the mediocre Lakers.

But last week was the window. Everything, basketball-wise, was aligned
for this deal to go down.

It’s too bad basketball seems to be a secondary interest.

[The rest is non-Warriors related. -AL]

Jorge Soler has averaged 32 home runs per 162 games over his 10-year
career. He reportedly signed a free-agent contract with the San
Francisco Giants. (Lynne Sladky, AP)

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The Giants agreed to terms on a three-year deal with Jorge Soler this
week, adding the exact kind of hitter this team desperately needed.

If only they could sign three or four more players like him.

My favorite preseason projection tool (insert your jokes here) — The Bat
X — sees Soler as a .837 OPS hitter.

That’s 60 points better than the Giants’ previous projections leader,
Jung Hoo Lee, whose slugging percentage is slated to come on doubles.

In only 529 plate appearances, the system thinks Soler will hit 30 home
runs this season. Barry Bonds was the last Giant to hit 30 home runs in
a single season, 20 years ago.

But it should be noted that getting excited for Soler clearly indicates
how sad the Giants’ individual projections are for this upcoming season.

With Soler (2.4 projected Wins Above Replacement), the Giants now have
only three players projected to be everyday-caliber (above 2 WAR) this
season. The other two are Patrick Bailey, whose WAR value is entirely
tied to his defense (he’s projected to be 19 percent worse than
league-average at the plate), and Lee, who is expected to be a 3-win
player, but who is a complete wild card, given that this his first
season in Major League Baseball.

Across the roster are players you can like but no one to love. The
Giants have only two position players who are top-200 picks in fantasy
baseball drafts this season — Thairo Estrada (projected to be 11 percent
worse than a league-average hitter) and now Soler.

Or, in other words: This lineup has a bunch of guys but no real dudes.

Maybe Soler can become one in San Francisco. He almost must become one
for the Giants to make the playoffs in 2024.

>Rintaro Sasaki, the top-ranked high school baseball player in Japan,
has signed a National Letter of Intent with Stanford University.
(Stanford Athletics)

Stanford actually landed the best power-hitting free agent in baseball
this week when it signed Japanese phenom Rintaro Sasaki to a letter of
intent.

Sasaki, who starred at the same high school that produced Shohei Ohtani,
hit 140 home runs in his prep career, a national record.

Instead of going to play professionally in Japan — he was a lock to be
drafted No. 1 overall — he shocked the country by opting to come to the
States and play college baseball. It locks him into a three-year
commitment before a Major League Baseball team can draft him.

It’s also a fascinating decision because Sasaki can’t benefit from NIL
in the United States. And I mean that literally — the NCAA’s NIL
guidelines prohibit international students from capitalizing on their
name, image, or likeness while stateside, as it could jeopardize their
student visas. But if Sasaki is physically in Japan, he can make all the
money he wants.

What a system!

Regardless, Sasaki, with his 70-grade power, will be the most exciting
baseball player in the Bay Area once he enrolls at Stanford in April.

>Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn calls in a play during an
NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, December 13,
2020, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Peter Joneleit)

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Niners assistant Anthony Lynn is heading to Washington, where he is
slated to become the Commanders’ run-game coordinator. I couldn’t tell
you if this is a big loss or a big nothingburger for the Niners because
I legitimately had no idea what Lynn did on Kyle Shanahan’s staff.

Yes, the Niners are a bit cagey when it comes to assistant coaches, but
over the course of a 20-plus-week season, you pick up little bits and
pieces — this guy does this, that guy does that.

Maybe I missed the day of the big reveal, but after a search through
every transcript I have over the last two seasons, Lynn was only
mentioned eight times, and each reference felt perfunctory.

Though, one time, according to my research, Lynn did ask Shanahan why he
didn’t want to practice on artificial turf.

What an anecdote!

Now, I have nothing bad to say about Lynn, but I have nothing good to
note, either.

It was all a stunningly unremarkable two years for a former NFL head coach.

But he made an impression on Adam Peters, who left the 49ers front
office to become the Washington GM this offseason, and that’s all that
matters.

Oh, and by the way, Shanahan said he expects all his coaches to return
on Tuesday. That was a lie. And we already knew Klint Kubiak was leaving
to be the Saints’ offensive coordinator. Less than 24 hours after
Shanahan’s comment, Lynn left.

Is defensive coordinator Steve Wilks the next coach out the door? (12
p.m update: Yes.)

>Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) admires the
Lombradi trophy after winning the Super Bowl at Allegiant Stadium in Las
Vegas, Nev., on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated
the San Francisco 49ers in overtime 25-22. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area
News Group)

I’ve received a ton of feedback on my column calling Shanahan’s decision
to take the ball at the start of overtime an error.

When that happens, I see it as a byproduct of poor writing. I must not
have effectively communicated my points.

So let’s try again.

My stance remains steadfast:

1. There was no guarantee of the third possession the Niners
prioritized. (One in the hand is always better than two in the bush.)

2. While Mahomes having a shot at a third, sudden-death possession is a
terrifying proposition, taking the ball first still guaranteed Mahomes a
chance to win the game on the second possession. (Either under the
circumstances that played out or with a two-point conversion.)

3. By letting Mahomes have the ball second, Shanahan gave him the
advantage of not only knowing what he needs to do to tie or win the
game, but he also provided Mahomes fourth-down opportunities to earn it.
(As we saw.)

If it is a coin-flip decision, I would err on the side that doesn’t
carry those three risks.

But that’s me.

My email and phone number still work if you disagree.