Goin' shoppin'

Spent the last hour or so reading the takeaways from the Democratic presidential cattle call, and the Blob has pretty much determined who the frontrunners are mere year or so from the convention.

You got your Elizabeth Biden, you got your Kamala Warren, and you got your Pete Castro Harris. I think I got those names right.

In any case, shopping season is open for Democratic voters, whose online reactions to the doings the last two nights, near as the Blob can tell, pretty much boil down to these:

1. Good lord there are a lot of people on that stage.

2. Who is Marianne Williamson, and why is she here?

3. Are Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders actually still living, technically?

4. Hey, look! Beto O'Rourke can speak Spanish!

And of course:

5. Good lord there are a lot of people on that stage.

Almost as many people, to make a not-at-all clumsy segue, as there are narratives in the looming NBA Silly Season. Speaking of shopping.

Our opening tale takes place in L.A., where, after initially botching the Anthony Davis deal and then botching his team's cap space situation, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka finally landed Davis, and yesterday rectified his cap space botching by selling three dudes to the Washington Wizards. This frees up $32 mill for the Lake Show to go shopping for more luxury items, like Kawhi Leonard or perhaps Kyrie Irving.

Of the two, Irving seems more likely, even though most people think he's bound for Brooklyn. Having discovered in Boston that being The Man wasn't nearly as much fun as he thought it would be, and that he kinda sucked at it, it's easy to envision him coming to the Lakers to be Robin to LeBron's Batman again. And to be whoever to whatever superhero AD is.

As for Kawhi ... well, I suppose he could be persuaded to join up with LeBron, too, but given what a hot mess the Lakers are right now, why not go with the more stable SoCal option? That of course would be the Clippers, who have the excellent selling point that Rob Pelinka doesn't work for them.

On the other hand, it's probably even money right now that Kawhi stays in Toronto. So we'll see.

As for the Lakers, they could always make a play for Jimmy Butler, who's also available and would come cheaper. Kevin Durant, of course, is along with Kawhi THE free agent gem, and it will be fascinating to see where he lands.

If he's smart, he goes back to Golden State and plays for more titles. If he's not, he signs with, um, the Knicks, and does what most superstars have done with the Knicks across the last two decades: Lose a lot, get super frustrated and light out for the territories.

But, hey. He'd be in New York, and he'd be making a lot of money. At least for awhile, that might make it worth playing for a tire fire of a franchise -- and its owner, Jimmy Dolan, doofus extraordinaire.

In the meantime, keep your eye on Pete Castro Harris. Rob Pelinka says he's got serious hops.