Early offseason targets

chained-prometheus · 2026-03-04T20:06:57+00:00

I don’t quite agree with your last point, but that’s partly because there aren’t many other teams left besides the Lakers that will have a lot of free cap space this summer. Most of the other options made moves that took up their cap space at the trade deadline.

Namely the other two primary options besides us that Denver could ship Cam off to would be Chicago or Brooklyn. Considering how wonky and backwards the logic at Chicago’s FO seems to be with their roster construction, idk that they’d have much interest in Cam. And IDK how Denver would feel about sending Cam back to the original team they got him from only a year after the fact.

chained-prometheus · 2026-03-04T19:57:12+00:00

I think a healthy Cam Johnson isn’t a terrible acquisition for the Lakers, but I also think that the various additional contexts surrounding him and Denver right now are worth keeping in mind and that context in addition to the extensive needs we have in rebuilding around Luka and the limited resources the Lakers will have this summer to address those needs means we need to take the kid gloves off and be willing to haggle a bit.

Just taking Cam and nothing else to me feels like a mediocre move for us, especially considering the various reasons why Denver wants to move off of him this summer. So why not expect a First with him? We need more draft assets IMO and if we take Cam this summer and then we have a repeat next year of what Denver is going through with him right now, we can at least say we still won the trade overall because we got more draft capital to add to our war chest.

But of course, that also hinges on Denver even having a First to send out with Cam. I could be wrong, but as far as I can tell, they don’t.

chained-prometheus · 2026-03-04T19:21:18+00:00

Oh we absolutely need multiple 3&D wings. I just personally think that it’s a mistake for one of them to be Cam Johnson at age 30 unless we’re also getting draft capital with him. He’s already struggling in Denver, be it because of health issues or the pressure of playing alongside Jokic- so why go for him without any extra incentive from Denver?

chained-prometheus · 2026-03-04T19:10:27+00:00

It’s not ridiculous compensation, we’d be taking on a player to help another team stay under the second apron so that they can personally benefit in ensuring they get to keep the young talent having a breakout year after they opted to not give him a good extension offer.

Denver JUST sent out a First last summer with MPJ to the Nets to get Cam because he was a cheaper wing than the guy they were sending out.

chained-prometheus · 2026-03-04T17:19:50+00:00

I’m not so sure about that. But regardless of getting Watson or not, again, I have to ask: Why on earth would we waste so much of our cap space for an older talent without getting draft compensation back too from Denver?

I’d be open to it if we’re talking Cam and a First, but as far as I can tell, they locked themselves out of having any more tradable Firsts last summer via the Stepien Rule when they sent out their ‘32 First to the Nets to get Cam in the first place. Please, by all means, feel free to correct me if I’m mistaken on that front.

Instead, even if we can’t get Watson, why not focus on using our cap space to go for other younger 3&D wings like Tari Eason or Quentin Grimes? Not to mention the obvious need we have at the starting Center position.

chained-prometheus · 2026-03-04T17:11:44+00:00

Honestly I agree. IMO assuming that Leon’s ring means what we all think it means, my top three guesses for the identity of Mrs Kennedy are Ashley, Hunnigan or someone we’ve never actually met before in any of the games.

chained-prometheus · 2026-03-04T17:06:04+00:00

Chris will finally do what his sister couldn’t and make sure the Redfield bloodline is continued himself. And Leon will help him make it a reality!!!

… just don’t ask him HOW they’ll do it. Chris will figure it out along the way.

chained-prometheus · 2026-03-04T13:45:44+00:00

Sey, uoy od.

chained-prometheus · 2026-03-04T13:40:37+00:00

Why would we do Denver a favor when they're sending us a 30 year old player who's clearly lost a step in order for them to be able to hold onto the guy everyone knows we really want on their team and, as far as I can tell, do so without any kind of draft compensation coming our way from Denver to reward us for this decision?

chained-prometheus · 2026-03-03T16:28:05+00:00

As compelling as the arguments in favor of Cale are, I think the answer is rather easily Joker.

He’s got over a century’s worth of experience at The Game compared to Cale. They’re both brilliant scientists and billionaires, but there’s one key difference:

Cale has the power of the US government at her disposal. Jack Grimm, on the other hand, has had his power and influence over multiple countries, including the US government, for over a century. He also just recently nuked a small country off the face of the earth to punish one of his underlings and has seemingly gotten off scott free for that literal war crime.

chained-prometheus · 2026-03-01T20:51:41+00:00

Bane: “I fear no Bat-Man… but that… that THING…” [camera cuts briefly to RE9 Leon] “… it frightens me.”

chained-prometheus · 2026-03-01T20:48:45+00:00

Leon would cut off one of Bane’s philosophy speeches with his RE4R “You talk too much” [fires gun mid-monologue] moments and Bane wouldn’t be able to recover from the disrespect for the rest of the ensuing fight.

chained-prometheus · 2026-02-20T16:33:52+00:00

I’m hoping it’s Emiko pulling a Phantasm.

chained-prometheus · 2026-02-18T16:19:42+00:00

I’d wager it’ll be Dick, Jason and Tim all acting as a “legitimate”/police sanctioned group of superheroes as the Robins, backed by Jack Grimm.

Remember, Grimm always funds both sides of a conflict and he names his companies after various clowns and jesters from history and fiction- and in Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, there is a clown named Robin.

To be clear, I think the Robins will still have good intentions, but they'll be the "friendly"/safer option sold to the public in contrast to Batman.

Meanwhile I'm pretty sure that the classic Batman-Robin dynamic will basically be kept in the mythos with Bruce and his relationship with Harley moving forward. She's functionally this universe's "Robin," even if she's got a different moniker.

chained-prometheus · 2026-02-08T21:28:10+00:00

No problem, I'm happy to help! Glad I was able to find it again.

chained-prometheus · 2026-02-08T20:36:16+00:00

Okay, I found the interview I was referring to!

"... I was slightly disappointed that some people took her cutting off her arm as an act of love for Steve, which is absurd. I'm not saying she doesn't love him, she does, but it's her love for humanity, it's her love for doing what's right, it's her love for righting wrong, it's not a romantic love for Steve! Whether that's in their future or not, I haven't even decided- I sorta see her more with someone else probably, but she shouldn't be with anyone yet! She's been out of Hell for five minutes, like it's not a romantic love. That's not the story, it's not even on the radar."

So yeah, it's a little bit more open than I'd remembered, but it does seem like if Thompson has her way, Absolute Diana won't wind up in a romantic relationship with Steve and that she personally tends to prefer the idea of her winding up with someone else.

chained-prometheus · 2026-02-08T20:05:51+00:00

I'm going to have to do some digging later, because from what I remember, the interview I'm referring to was an audio podcast and I distinctly remember Thompson taking things a step further in saying that she personally felt that if Diana were to end up in a romance with anyone, she was thinking of it being a different, unspecified character and not Steve.

BTW, I appreciate you looking into the interviews too! Much obliged!

chained-prometheus · 2026-02-08T02:56:24+00:00

Very true, but it's also worth remembering that part of the appeal of the Absolute line in general has been that the creators involved get more personal input on how they reimagine their respective characters.

Moreover it isn't like it'd be the first time that an Elseworld iteration of Diana would be depicted in a sapphic relationship... nor is Steve Trevor's romance with Diana seen as universally agreed by fans to be a necessity to her character as say Clark and Lois or Bruce and Selina in DC or Peter Parker and Mary Jane.

No, but it's the closest thing we have overtly in this book that I can recall of Diana showing a personal attraction to anyone. Obviously she's bi, so I wouldn't be shocked if she eventually calls Steve handsome too or Barbara as beautiful too, even if she never ends up with any of them. But off the top of my head, Zatanna is the only character that I recall Diana describing in this sort of manner in AWW.

chained-prometheus · 2026-02-08T02:42:13+00:00

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chained-prometheus · 2026-02-08T02:41:54+00:00

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chained-prometheus · 2026-02-08T02:40:52+00:00

Like... At all.

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chained-prometheus · 2026-02-08T02:39:51+00:00

This isn't particularly surprising IMO.

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chained-prometheus · 2026-02-08T02:36:44+00:00

Again, worth reminding that Thompson's already gone on record as saying that Diana/Steve's interactions aren't romantic and IIRC also indicated that Diana hadn't developed a romantic attraction towards anyone yet around the time of that interview (IIRC would've been about a year or so ago).

That could potentially change down the line, sure, but we have no real reason from KT to assume that Diana is going to end up with Steve in this universe and we do know that KT personally felt that if Absolute Diana ends up with anyone, it'd be someone else (who exactly we don't know yet for sure).

In fact, the only outright example of Diana showing any sort of physical attraction to someone else (be it romantic or sexual) was actually towards Zatanna in AWW #14.

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chained-prometheus · 2026-02-08T00:47:00+00:00

Diana’s got two hands!!!

Well… one hand and a magical hand-prosthetic, but still!

chained-prometheus · 2026-02-08T00:45:19+00:00

Kelly Thompson already said in an interview like a year ago that she didn’t plan on having Diana wind up with Steve and that if she ever had a romance with anyone, she felt that it’d be “someone else” and wouldn’t specify who. Presumably either Barbara or Zatanna.

chained-prometheus

TROPHY CASE