What changes will the Lakers make in the offseason?

[The Batman]

What will Kobe Demand?

[Spurtacus]

1. Phil Jackson
2. Lamar Odom
3. Derek Fisher
4. Kobe paycut

only relevant moves that would make them a championship contender in the Kobe era

[HarlemHeat37]

There aren't any realistic moves they could make to win another title, as long as Kobe and his 30 million is on the payroll..

They will attempt to move Pau, but I don't know if any team will bite on him, at this point..

[DeadlyDynasty]

Less white people

[Venti Quattro]

Shoot Troy Murphy and Josh McRoberts in the head and make it look like an accident.

[LnGrrrR]

Shoot Troy Murphy and Josh McRoberts in the head and make it look like an accident.

I'm not sure why you guys picked up Troy Murphy. Did you not see him on the Celtics last year? :lol I mean, you probably didn't because he rode the bench, but you get my point...

[Venti Quattro]

I'm not sure why you guys picked up Troy Murphy. Did you not see him on the Celtics last year? :lol I mean, you probably didn't because he rode the bench, but you get my point...

Jim Buss thought he was still playing for Indiana.

[Nathan89]

Maybe they can add Bdiddy.:lmao

[Killakobe81]

I maintained all year non contenders as currently constructed. Need back up SG to limit Kobe's mins like kg not maybe as much as Pop does Tim or Gentry does Nash. Settle on a Offense and a PG to run it pick Blake or Sessions to be the backup let go the other. Add a legit perimeter defender and let go Barnes. Resign hill ... Trade pau

[Killakobe81]

Oh and we need a redick or korver type to shoot 3s

[Venti Quattro]

Oh and we need a redick or korver type to shoot 3s

Another white guy?

[024]

should dump kobe for some 3 pt shooters for bynum.

[Killakobe81]

Another white guy?

I hear ya but we need one that can actually shoot rofl

[midnightpulp]

Since Kobe has a no trade clause and Bynum is untouchable, Gasol is their only trade asset. They should look to move him for some perimeter youth to deepen their bench and make the Lakers more athletic overall. Unless they commit to developing Glock and Ebanks, but because the Lakers are in "win now" mode since Kobe is past his prime, I don't see that happening. I think the priority is finding a small forward who can both score and play good defense. Artest looks like his old self at times, but he really is more of a bench player at this stage of his career. Too inconsistent. Balancing a young buck SF (someone like Kawhi Leonard or even Danny Granger) with Artest as his backup would be pretty formidable.

[midnightpulp]

And no, GNSF, I'm not suggesting we consider Leonard for Gasol. Just that the Lakers need a player like him. A young, athletic SF with an upside.

[Rummpd]

If they smart they figure out a way to beg plead or buy out Bryant to send him in a sign and trade for Williams and blow the whole thing up and start over - 28 million can buy a lot of talent and LAL with Williams, Bynum or Gasol or somehow Howard, Gasol and Williams could be scary good.

More likely it will be Howard for either or both Gasol and Bynum and that may actually be a regression if they had the right coach - Brown is a fine coach in a different environment but his sucking up to Bryant is over the top and he has helped shut down the potential of Sessons and not been able to figure out how to use two bigs - LAL might be better with Gasol and Bynum less on the floor together and developing Hill or adding a quicker alternative PF.

[SpursIndonesia]

Slim Gasol + 1st# pick for Scola + Parsons + Lowry (assuming Dragic is re-signed) ? Which team says no or is it win-win for both ?

[HarlemHeat37]

Lakers aren't winning anything with that Rockets package, tbh..

[ElNono]

Lots of praying at godvine, tbh

[Spur_Fanatic]

Kobe, on next season resolution:

DDrJhHM7ASM&feature=relmfu

[rascal]

The Lakers are one of the few teams that can quickly reload and be back in contention any year. They have no problem getting top free agents and making blockbuster trades to upgrade talent.

[Donkeybong]

trade gasol for a lottery pick. best way to rebuild on the fly.

[angelbelow]

I thought the Troy Murphy signing was going to pay huge dividends. You can have him spread the floor when Pau or Bynum are on the court. In theory it sounded good but I guess not everyone can be Matt Bonner.

I also think the Lakers give up too many first round picks for short term fixes. Right now, its biting them in the ass because Gasol is no longer working out. I think they should have just swallowed Luke and Derek's contracts and retain their first round picks. When was the last time they had a 1st round pick that they ended up keeping? Farmar?

I think Mitch is a great GM but he's too prone to overpaying scrubs. Luke Walton's contract was attrocious. So was Sasha's. McRoberts at 6.8 is a rip off too. He was completely unproven. Steve Blake hasn't paid off either. They need to re-evaluate the way they bring in role players and not rely on mega blockbuster trades.

They're going to have to find a way to move Gasol because Bynum is up for an extension soon. They won't be able to afford both players.

[scanry]

I say trade Kobe to Orlando for Dwight's scrubs and imo both teams will benefit as the Lakers can rebuild and Orlando can move on from the Dwight drama.

[hater]

sorry to say lakers are fucked for years to come

[Indazone]

Kobe and T-Mac will be on the same team. :hat

[spursfan1000]

really need to make a 180' on their complete roster

[JamStone]

Sign Bo McCalebb to play PG.

Find a young, athletic wing that can earn minutes from MWP and legitimate back-up minutes for Kobe. When Wilson Chandler and Rudy Fernandez return next season, Corey Brewer might find it hard to get much significant playing time. He might become available, although I would find it surprising if Denver trades him to the Lakers for cheap.

[SenorSpur]

I thought the Troy Murphy signing was going to pay huge dividends. You can have him spread the floor when Pau or Bynum are on the court. In theory it sounded good but I guess not everyone can be Matt Bonner.

I also think the Lakers give up too many first round picks for short term fixes. Right now, its biting them in the ass because Gasol is no longer working out. I think they should have just swallowed Luke and Derek's contracts and retain their first round picks. When was the last time they had a 1st round pick that they ended up keeping? Farmar?

I think Mitch is a great GM but he's too prone to overpaying scrubs. Luke Walton's contract was attrocious. So was Sasha's. McRoberts at 6.8 is a rip off too. He was completely unproven. Steve Blake hasn't paid off either. They need to re-evaluate the way they bring in role players and not rely on mega blockbuster trades.

They're going to have to find a way to move Gasol because Bynum is up for an extension soon. They won't be able to afford both players.

Couldn't agree more. The Fakers personnel situation is the result of some very poor management decisions - and it IS biting them in the ass. They have both Gasol and Bryant's bloated contracts and young players in the pipeline. That makes them have a roster that's comprised of older and expensive players. That's not a place you want to be.

[urunobili]

Deron...

[NRHector]

Lakers are fucked for a few years for giving a big contract to Kobe and they don't have any money to work with

[Goran Dragic]

For all the people ejaculating over the Lakers being done forever, take it easy. Because of their spending power, location, the fact they're the Lakers, etc., they're never more than 3-4 years away from contending again. Maybe this current group is done but they'll be able to rebuild quickly, especially with no contracts going beyond the 2014 season.

I also don't see any value in them trading Gasol. His value is the lowest it's ever been and any deal involving Gasol will be trading him for a package where he's by far the best player in the deal. At this point they might as well ride it out with Kobe and Gasol till their contracts expire and they'll have tons of cap room to rebuild around Bynum.

My idea:
1) Get rid of Troy Murphy and Matt Barnes. Pick up the team option on Jordan Hill and resign Ebanks. Give Ebanks consistent minutes.
2) Fire Mike Brown. It's obvious he can't coach offense and horribly mismanaged how to utilize the advantage Gasol + Bynum have in the post.
3) Split the MLE between Odom and DeShawn Stevenson. Odom won't field any better offers after what happened this season and clearly wants to come back to LA. THAT nigga Abe Lincoln gives Kobe a competent backup.
4) If possible, see if the Odom trade exception can be used to get a scoring combo guard or an upgrade at PG in a sign and trade (OJ Mayo, Kirk Hinrich, Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, Raymond Felton, Jameer Nelson, etc.). Assuming I'm not forgetting when it expires and it can actually be used in free agency this year, the Odom trade exception and Odom resigning are the two keys to their current group contending again.

Sessions/Blake
Bryant/Stevenson
Artest/Ebanks
Gasol/Odom/Hill
Bynum/Hill/McBob

+ anything they can get from the trade exception (ideally a scoring 6th man who can take pressure off Kobe or a defensive PG).

On offense they should utilize Artest's ability off the dribble a lot more. He's a horrible catch and shoot player but is deceptively good creating.

[JamStone]

Lakers are fucked for a few years for giving a big contract to Kobe and they don't have any money to work with

I think that's a warped misconception. Anytime you have three superstar caliber or at least superstar "paid" players on a roster, financial maneuverability will be difficult. It's not about how much a team pays their top guys. It's more about how clever and smart they are about how they acquire and pay their lower end contract players and how they draft.

If Kobe made $15 million this season instead of $25 million, the Lakers are still over $76 million in payroll, still nearly $20 million over the cap. If Kobe made $5 million this season, the Lakers are still $7 million over the cap with no money to work with. Paying Kobe a big contract isn't what fucks them. It's not finding really great role players who compliment the three stars of Kobe, Gasol, and Bynum so that they can still pay big money to those three while still fielding a good and cohesive team.

Look at the Spurs with Duncan and Manu and Parker. Now collectively all three of their contracts combined are reasonable considering the caliber of players they are, but they still take up about $46 million of the $59 or so million of the cap. And Stephen Jackson pretty much takes almost the rest of the cap space. So where is the financial maneuverability with the Spurs? There isn't really any either. But what they have done well is find low end cost players via the draft or free agency that fill the holes to make it work. Leonard and Neal and Danny Green and dare I say Bonner. To me, that's easily the difference, not the fact that Kobe is paid $25-30 million a year.

[Goran Dragic]

I thought the Troy Murphy signing was going to pay huge dividends. You can have him spread the floor when Pau or Bynum are on the court. In theory it sounded good but I guess not everyone can be Matt Bonner.

I also think the Lakers give up too many first round picks for short term fixes. Right now, its biting them in the ass because Gasol is no longer working out. I think they should have just swallowed Luke and Derek's contracts and retain their first round picks. When was the last time they had a 1st round pick that they ended up keeping? Farmar?

I think Mitch is a great GM but he's too prone to overpaying scrubs. Luke Walton's contract was attrocious. So was Sasha's. McRoberts at 6.8 is a rip off too. He was completely unproven. Steve Blake hasn't paid off either. They need to re-evaluate the way they bring in role players and not rely on mega blockbuster trades.

They're going to have to find a way to move Gasol because Bynum is up for an extension soon. They won't be able to afford both players.
The Lakers won 2 championships as a result of their short term decision making. When Pat Riley made that huge trade to get Antoine Walker, Jason Williams, etc. while giving Shaq a huge extension in 2005 he knowingly mortgaged the Heat's future for a team that had a 1 year window at best and needed tons of luck to win a championship that year. I don't think any Heat fans hold it against Riley for trading the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons in exchange for a title. Almost any team would be willing to mortgage its future to win 1 title let alone 2. The fact we're talking about the Lakers is the only reason there's scrutiny.

Overpaying Kobe and Gasol with longer contracts than they might have liked was the only way they were keeping Kobe and Gasol. There woulda been another team out there willing to give those contracts out. This is classic Spurfan not realizing that the Spurs are the rare exception to teams needing to overpay players to win a championship.

[Goran Dragic]

I think that's a warped misconception. Anytime you have three superstar caliber or at least superstar "paid" players on a roster, financial maneuverability will be difficult. It's not about how much a team pays their top guys. It's more about how clever and smart they are about how they acquire and pay their lower end contract players and how they draft.

If Kobe made $15 million this season instead of $25 million, the Lakers are still over $76 million in payroll, still nearly $20 million over the cap. If Kobe made $5 million this season, the Lakers are still $7 million over the cap with no money to work with. Paying Kobe a big contract isn't what fucks them. It's not finding really great role players who compliment the three stars of Kobe, Gasol, and Bynum so that they can still pay big money to those three while still fielding a good and cohesive team.

Look at the Spurs with Duncan and Manu and Parker. Now collectively all three of their contracts combined are reasonable considering the caliber of players they are, but they still take up about $46 million of the $59 or so million of the cap. And Stephen Jackson pretty much takes almost the rest of the cap space. So where is the financial maneuverability with the Spurs? There isn't really any either. But what they have done well is find low end cost players via the draft or free agency that fill the holes to make it work. Leonard and Neal and Danny Green and dare I say Bonner. To me, that's easily the difference, not the fact that Kobe is paid $25-30 million a year.
Agreed, and Manu + Parker are exceptions. The Spurs being able to have a "Big 3" from 2005-2007 with Parker + Manu getting paid as little as they did is a rare scenario.

The Spurs basically ushered in the idea of splitting the MLE between two role players rather than blowing it on one since role players are interchangeable with a competent big 3. Their 2007 team had Bowen, Horry, Elson, Oberto, and Finley all getting paid less than 4M as players who got consistent minutes. Meanwhile the LA after their 2010 title blew almost all of its MLE on Steve Blake. THAT's the difference.

[Killakobe81]

Lakers wont be down long ... I say real contenners in 5 years or less ... they wil be pretenders for the next couple. The half suckered me last year with their post ASB win streak but I was right about them ALL year this time ...

[Killakobe81]

For all the people ejaculating over the Lakers being done forever, take it easy. Because of their spending power, location, the fact they're the Lakers, etc., they're never more than 3-4 years away from contending again. Maybe this current group is done but they'll be able to rebuild quickly, especially with no contracts going beyond the 2014 season.

I also don't see any value in them trading Gasol. His value is the lowest it's ever been and any deal involving Gasol will be trading him for a package where he's by far the best player in the deal. At this point they might as well ride it out with Kobe and Gasol till their contracts expire and they'll have tons of cap room to rebuild around Bynum.

My idea:
1) Get rid of Troy Murphy and Matt Barnes. Pick up the team option on Jordan Hill and resign Ebanks. Give Ebanks consistent minutes.
2) Fire Mike Brown. It's obvious he can't coach offense and horribly mismanaged how to utilize the advantage Gasol + Bynum have in the post.
3) Split the MLE between Odom and DeShawn Stevenson. Odom won't field any better offers after what happened this season and clearly wants to come back to LA. THAT nigga Abe Lincoln gives Kobe a competent backup.
4) If possible, see if the Odom trade exception can be used to get a scoring combo guard or an upgrade at PG in a sign and trade (OJ Mayo, Kirk Hinrich, Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, Raymond Felton, Jameer Nelson, etc.). Assuming I'm not forgetting when it expires and it can actually be used in free agency this year, the Odom trade exception and Odom resigning are the two keys to their current group contending again.

Sessions/Blake
Bryant/Stevenson
Artest/Ebanks
Gasol/Odom/Hill
Bynum/Hill/McBob

+ anything they can get from the trade exception (ideally a scoring 6th man who can take pressure off Kobe or a defensive PG).

On offense they should utilize Artest's ability off the dribble a lot more. He's a horrible catch and shoot player but is deceptively good creating.

Awesome post. Can you email that to Mitch? Only thing I dont like is we need a shooter. At backup 2 or starting 3 ...I thinK Brown was right to Move artest tothe bench and make him a creator he and Bynum should lead the bench crew. Or bench sucks when Pau and artest lead it because Pau is too pasive an dyou are right Ron is a better creator than people give him credit for. The pass to Blake was a good one and the right basketball play ...

[Killakobe81]

Desawn or someone like him can be the extra defensive stopper needed for guys like Harden but he would contribute to our poor spacing if he was playing big minutes ...

[baseline bum]

Unless the Lakers can get a really amazing offer for Gasol, I would keep the team together and hope I could get something decent out of
(1) the mini-MLE
(2) McRoberts' expiring contract.

[Josepatches_]

They should trade Bynum. His trade value will be higher than what he can do for the Lakers. He's prety dumb and he never will be 1st option while Kobe still playing. Plus his knees are a bomb.

[tesseractive]

Because of their spending power, location, the fact they're the Lakers, etc., they're never more than 3-4 years away from contending again.

You're probably right, but nevertheless, the 2000-2012 New York Knicks say hi. :lol

[tesseractive]

The Lakers won 2 championships as a result of their short term decision making. When Pat Riley made that huge trade to get Antoine Walker, Jason Williams, etc. while giving Shaq a huge extension in 2005 he knowingly mortgaged the Heat's future for a team that had a 1 year window at best and needed tons of luck to win a championship that year. I don't think any Heat fans hold it against Riley for trading the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons in exchange for a title. Almost any team would be willing to mortgage its future to win 1 title let alone 2. The fact we're talking about the Lakers is the only reason there's scrutiny.

Overpaying Kobe and Gasol with longer contracts than they might have liked was the only way they were keeping Kobe and Gasol. There woulda been another team out there willing to give those contracts out. This is classic Spurfan not realizing that the Spurs are the rare exception to teams needing to overpay players to win a championship.
Totally agree with all this. The Spurs didn't do much in the way of overpaying players to get their titles, but they still did things like sign veterans at the end of their careers in the hopes of getting a year or two out of them that made it hard to repeat.

If you have a chance to win a title in the current year, you do whatever it takes. And the Lakers have more than delivered over the past decade-plus.

[Trainwreck2100]

For all the people ejaculating over the Lakers being done forever, take it easy. Because of their spending power, location, the fact they're the Lakers, etc., they're never more than 3-4 years away from contending again. Maybe this current group is done but they'll be able to rebuild quickly, especially with no contracts going beyond the 2014 season.

I also don't see any value in them trading Gasol. His value is the lowest it's ever been and any deal involving Gasol will be trading him for a package where he's by far the best player in the deal. At this point they might as well ride it out with Kobe and Gasol till their contracts expire and they'll have tons of cap room to rebuild around Bynum.

My idea:
1) Get rid of Troy Murphy and Matt Barnes. Pick up the team option on Jordan Hill and resign Ebanks. Give Ebanks consistent minutes.
2) Fire Mike Brown. It's obvious he can't coach offense and horribly mismanaged how to utilize the advantage Gasol + Bynum have in the post.
3) Split the MLE between Odom and DeShawn Stevenson. Odom won't field any better offers after what happened this season and clearly wants to come back to LA. THAT nigga Abe Lincoln gives Kobe a competent backup.
4) If possible, see if the Odom trade exception can be used to get a scoring combo guard or an upgrade at PG in a sign and trade (OJ Mayo, Kirk Hinrich, Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, Raymond Felton, Jameer Nelson, etc.). Assuming I'm not forgetting when it expires and it can actually be used in free agency this year, the Odom trade exception and Odom resigning are the two keys to their current group contending again.

Sessions/Blake
Bryant/Stevenson
Artest/Ebanks
Gasol/Odom/Hill
Bynum/Hill/McBob

+ anything they can get from the trade exception (ideally a scoring 6th man who can take pressure off Kobe or a defensive PG).

On offense they should utilize Artest's ability off the dribble a lot more. He's a horrible catch and shoot player but is deceptively good creating.


They're fucked for years to come cause Buss Jr. is a retard

[z0sa]

Kobe, sensing his window for #3 is sealed shut, commits suicide via autoerotic asphyxiation while jacking off to Jordan highlight reels.

[Venti Quattro]

They're fucked for years to come cause Buss Jr. is a retard

This. We also need a new management change. Dump Jim Buss into the LA dumpsters for Jerry or Jeanie.

[TimmehC]

This. We also need a new management change. Dump Jim Buss into the LA dumpsters for Jerry or Jeanie.

Meh, if dumbass Jimmy stays out of Kupchak's way, they should be OK.

[Latarian Milton]

should show the door to mike brown first of all imho, nigga is a terrible coach

[GuillermoDiazFan]

It doesn't matter, they can't compete any more.

Anyway, I bet on trading Gasol for pieces.

They need a PF that can move his feet and hit the long-range shot badly. That Gasol and Bynum pairing can't work without a quick guy who plays 35mpg with them.

They also need a good defender of small guards. A guy who can deal with screens faster than old ass Kobe or their collection of laughable point-guards - Blake, Sessions , Fisher before them.

Anyway, it's futile. Second team in LA for the upcoming decade.

[angelbelow]

The Lakers won 2 championships as a result of their short term decision making. When Pat Riley made that huge trade to get Antoine Walker, Jason Williams, etc. while giving Shaq a huge extension in 2005 he knowingly mortgaged the Heat's future for a team that had a 1 year window at best and needed tons of luck to win a championship that year. I don't think any Heat fans hold it against Riley for trading the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons in exchange for a title. Almost any team would be willing to mortgage its future to win 1 title let alone 2. The fact we're talking about the Lakers is the only reason there's scrutiny.

Overpaying Kobe and Gasol with longer contracts than they might have liked was the only way they were keeping Kobe and Gasol. There woulda been another team out there willing to give those contracts out. This is classic Spurfan not realizing that the Spurs are the rare exception to teams needing to overpay players to win a championship.

How does this contribute to the topic of the thread? My post is geared towards how the Lakers can improve. Did I scrutinize them? Yeah. Did I blindly bash them or hate on their decisions? Nope.

I didn't say anything about Kobe or Gasol being overpaid. I think overpaying those two are fine because the ROI should cover them. My point was that they are prone to overpaying their role players.

And this overpaying players/under paying players isn't just a Spurs thing, we've handed out some terrible contracts too. We certainly aren't immune to making bad decisions. If the Lakers want to improve right now, they need to find a way to move Pau or Drew, be more astute at handing out contracts to role players, keeping their picks, and improving from within.

[tesseractive]

should show the door to mike brown first of all imho, nigga is a terrible coach

Assuming Phil Jackson isn't walking through that door, what coach do you think they're going to get that would be a legit difference maker?

[pass1st]

1. Good coach, Brown really isn't a good coach and is being exposed once again.

2. Good vet PG. Sessions is good, but is obviously shitting his pants during the playoffs and likely would thrive in the 2nd unit.

3. Get Lamar back for peanuts, he will likely want to come back for next to nothing and will be valuable off the bench.

4. Need a legit person to come off the bench and take over the SG spot, Kobe will start playing under 32 mins a game if he wants to stay healthy.

5. Gasol needs to be replaced

6. Bynum needs to man up somehow, we aren't going to get D12 for him and there isn't really a viable replacement center. I'd say he should go back to working with Kareem

[SpursIndonesia]

Slim Gasol for Nowitzki, any taker ? Assuming the Mavs score on Williams, ofcourse.

Dirk fits Bynum better (the BEST stretch 4 available, LOL), while Slim Gasol is younger & IMHO fits Deron better in the post than the 7 footer German SG.

[pass1st]

Slim Gasol for Nowitzki, any taker ? Assuming the Mavs score on Williams, ofcourse.

Dirk fits Bynum better (the BEST stretch 4 available, LOL), while Slim Gasol is younger & IMHO fits Deron better in the post than the 7 footer German SG.

Dirk is retiring a Mav, he would have left that franchise a long time ago if he wasn't

[SpursIndonesia]

Dirk is retiring a Mav, he would have left that franchise a long time ago if he wasn't

Yeah, i see your point.

Slim Gasol + 1st# pick for Bosh + Chalmers (re-signed around MLE money) ??? I love playing the couch executive game. :toast