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that, the league can survive with the Lakers being a joke....
The Dallas Cowboys say hi.
that, the league can survive with the Lakers being a joke....
Lakers should trade Nash/Artest tbh
thats a little premature to say now, we need to see what a full training camp and can do, i doubt there will be much roster change by next year, if anything its going to be a coaching change if the team is ing up.
The league needs to be turned upside down. You can only watch the same movie so many times before you just don't watch it again. The NBA has always been big market vs big market, and yet they try to expand to capture small market dollars. They've bitten off more than they can chew and the talent in the league is so diluted right now that it's barely watchable on most nights. The product needs to be higher quality on average. can the D-league, you either make it to the NBA or you don't. Developmental leagues for the NBA are full of ty players and with expansions, those players end up in the NBA. People like James ing White end up being in the dunk contest and stinking it up.
It's a saturation of mediocre basketball, and it's lowered the expectations of NBA fans who cannot wait for the NFL season to begin. Instead of the classic matchups of now HOFers, you get a Lebron James/Wade vs someone like Danny ing Granger and Paul George. There's the barely alive Celtics who threw together some old ers and won a ring, and that led to the Heat, Knicks, Lakers and Clippers stacking.
When you know at the beginning of the season who the final 4 will be, it's a fruitless endeavor to watch the games if your team isn't part of those 4.
So I'd like to see the Lakers suck for 300 years and eventually break off into the Pacific along with that hole state they occupy so we can once again make decent automobiles without destroying them with emissions overs.
almost passed out reading that
Ultimately, I do not care whether Dwight Howard walks in the off-season or not. He is a waste of time, money and energy. For an 8-year veteran, he still has the same game as compared to when he entered in the NBA. What a pity. Surely they won't let Kobe walk (literally and figuratively), because from a business standpoint, he generates more business than his $30 million per year contract. Amnestying him will mean a lot of business lost for the organization, in jersey sales and match day tickets, and 95% of the fan base will be very angry and/or will be contemplating suicide.
Since Kobe is gonna be out for at least half of the season next year, they should let Dwight Howard walk and show the door to Ron Artest. He was funny and cool during his first two years in Los Angeles, but the guy has been non-effective already. I do not see the purpose of making him stay for a contract year. I like to see Pau take over while Kobe's out. I really like the guy, despite things that he can't be on the court, and I want him to retire as a Laker. Trading Nash seems to be a good idea but there aren't a lot of point guards in the NBA that Kobe will respect and listen to, so I say just keep him too.
Bump. Not to rub salt in the wounds, but because I'm legitimately curious as to what Laker fan opinions are on their offseason to-do list.
a) Will they keep D'Antoni?
Mitch said he'll be back, but he also called Mike Brown's job safe. D'Antoni was in major damage-control mode in the post-game and exit interview, nonstop citing the rebound from 17-25, or how they finished 28-12 or whatever it was. Will they fire yet another coach. My guess is they'd only can him if Phil was on his way, and that doesn't seem likely with how he wants to be a front office guy or a coach-GM or somethin. Do you guys give him the benefit of the doubt based on how they closed the season and were banged up, or do you get rid of him and find another coach. Do you think Lakers brass wants to pay for a 3rd coach
b) Will Dwight Howard return?
This is two fold. Do you think Dwight will resign with the Lakers? I think its pretty clear the Lakers have almost no choice but to throw the max at him, regardless of his at ude and demeanor. His struggles this season were obvious, but had some reasonable explanations to it. He was noticeably smaller than he was on Orlando, largely because he couldn't lift weights coming off back surgery, and I'm sure tearing his labrum didn't help him much either. He'll have the offer. Does he want back? I don't think he liked the LA press, and he even called this year a nightmare. Would he sign into another nightmare since Kobe's health is a huge question mark? Also, do you guys want him back? Do you want to make him the cornerstone guy by throwing 5 years 117 million at him?
c) Will the amnesty be used?
i) MWP is going to exercise his player option. He'll be making over 7 mil. That is a lock. He probably wouldn't get 7 mil on a 3 year deal anywhere else, let alone for 1 season. Will the Lakers amnesty him? If so, who starts at the 3 next year, Clark? Jamison? Meeks? or do they sign another minimum salary scrub and just plug him into the starting 5?
ii) Pau is another option. I'm sure ideally they want to trade him, but its tough to deal a 19 million dollar contract. The Gasol-Love rumors are there because the Wolves know Love is going to bolt, and Pau would likely resign with them at seasons end to play with Rubio. On your end, a Dwight-Love duo would gobble every ing rebound in existence, assuming Dwight is back. Your defense probably gets worse though. Love is no better than Pau is and with the reduced length, he's less of a paint presence/deterrent. He is also a better offensive fit alongside a Dwight since he is a natural outside shooter that prefers it out there, whereas Pau CAN hit outside shots but that's not his game. Still, that trade does seem like a longshot to go down anyway, as I don't think in the end Minnesota would want an aging big man with a myraid of injuries this season. So if Pau can't be traded, would they actually amnesty him? Or would they pay him 19 million + luxury tax. They probably won't be competing for a le anyway next year, so why not clear cap? Bottom line though, amnestying Pau is unlikely in my eyes. It would allow another western conference team to get his services and end up biting the Lakers in the ass.
iii) Kobe? I think its an obvious no. We all know the cases for/against. Jim Buss doesn't have the balls to make this move, although it makes sense, especially if their main goal is to convince Dwight to stay. Then again, we saw how the Lakers backcourt looked during the postseason.
Aside from that, not a lot of action to be expected from the Lakers. The only free agent signings you can make is vets minimum and the mini-mid-level exception (3 years 9 mil). Earl Clark will get some interest outside, but he stupidly said he'd play for less money to play for the Lakers, although he also wants a bigger role. Steve Nash said he has zero intention to retire, so his 10 million will be paid, and he's not an amnesty option.
But whatever happens, your perimeter defense will still suck, and there's no way to work around your ty cap position to make huge roster improvements unless an unlikely Pau deal happens.
I agree just not 100% sold on Howard ...
No matter what we do we won't win next year. Here is my plan.
1. Sign Dwight for as little as you can under the max. IF he wants max to stay I say trade him for draft picks ... gain Lebron took a bit less to build a contender you sell him on that. If not let him go to a Texas team in a sign and trade for picks or a 3-way with picks plus a prospect.
2. Try and get Phil if not, keep Mike D one more year so the no training camp/injury excuse is taken away and we can see how he coaches
3. Trade Pau if howard stays. Keep him if he does not unless you can get Love. He looked better down the stretch but I think if Dwight stays still not a great fit. Plus he deserves to be back on the block tough to get those touches with Dwight.
4. Amnesty MWP he gave us all he had Im grateful for saving us in the Finals in 2010 but he is not worth $14 million ... ($7 mill plus lux tax) which may be even more with new CBA but Im not sure.
5. Urge Kobe not to rush back him at 75-80% does more harm than good.
6. Re-sign Earl Clark. USe him as 3/4 off the bench he is not a starter on a contender (but we are not that)
7. Get a young athletic 3 like Corey Brewer to come over and replace MWP
8. Find a young cheap hybrig guard who can provide minutes at both G spots especially defensively.
Jus read that Jamison skipped his exit interview and wouldn't answer his phone. He's not coming back.
I think the most logical way to semi rebuild is trade Gasol, re-sign Dwight and Clark, amneaty MWP and get another guard, wing player that can back up Kobe. They really don't have a lot of option but allowing Dwight to walk would be another step backward. Look at the 2014 and 2015 FA class. No one is a better realistic option.
If they can snag 2 guys like Tony Wroten from Memphis, Nick Young, or Kyle Korver and a guy like Korver to address their perimeter shooting and perimter speed they will be tons better and those are cheap moves. Hill is also projected to have another solid season, do their frontcourt is already decent.
Tbh, the Lakers are not that old once they shed players like Gasol (33) Artest (34) and Jamison (37).
Have fun in Miami next year, Antawn.
1. If you assume that Dallas and Houston have enough cap space to sign him outright, there's no incentive for Dwight or Dallas/Houston to participate in such a sign and trade.
4. Depending on the total payroll, using the amnesty on MWP could save 20-30 million in luxury tax. See the table here: http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q21
5. Absolutely. See Jeter, Derek.
7. The Lakers will have the mini-MLE (3yrs/9m) and the vet minimum to offer FAs.
8. Can Morris be developed to be that guy?
If I were a Lakerfan, I'd be happy if they did the following:
1. Resign Dwight
2. Amnesty Artest
3. Trade Pau for some athletic wings/picks
4. Don't rush Kirby back
I'm iffy on Pringles. My guess is Dwight doesn't come back unless Pringles is gone and that's a no-brainer decision if you're Kupchak.
A team with a healthy Dwight + the haul you get from Pau is good enough to make the playoffs in the West. Kirby comes back sometime between Christmas and All Star weekend and you've got a team that could conceivably get to the WCFs based on cir stance.
Even if they won't ring next year, you'll have enough free taco nights and Kirby tweets to satisfy your fanbase. You have a boatload of cap room in a big name FA summer of 2014 with a solid No. 2 man in Dwight & a still serviceable Bryant going forward.
All Jimmy & Kupchak have to do is not to overreact based on their re ed fanbase and realize they're still in a pretty enviable position with a chance to be legit le contenders starting 2014. They are in a MUCH better position than say the Celtics.
i've also been curious about the future of the laker franchise.
if the numbers ive found online are correct...if they do nothing, let dwight walk, cut all the salary they can (assuming MWP doesn't opt out) they will but just above the tax line. i've read "Trade nash" and "trade pau", but who would / could take them? would any team take a chance on nash's back? and pau is making almost $20M. it would be awesome for the lakers if they could trade him for several pieces, but who would give up quality talent for a guy eating up 1/3 of the cap? i can't think of any teams out there like the celtics of a few years ago, ready parlay young talent for a run at a le (especially with only 1 year left on Pau's contract).
basketball reasons say you should stand pat, see what pau and nash can do with the squad (there IS some talent on that bench), ride it out, and maybe get a high pick. with only nash under contract for 14-15, they could be MAJOR players in the FA market, or facilitate a trade to maybe get them a star disgruntled with his current team.
but business reasons say you don't do that. rebuilding is generally not an option for the league's marquee team. but even if you amnesty someone, you'll still only be playing with the MLE (not sure if they have the other exception to play with this year or not). so do you field the best team possible, tax be damned? or do you cut costs for a year?
the immediate future looks pretty bleak either way, but i suspect they'll be back in a year or 2.
the lakers situation in this offseason is really interesting, they basically can't do . They have four absolutely untradable contracts in Bean, Pau and Nash, and one almost as ugly in MWP. The four toghether will cost 66.7M. If we assume they resign Coward for 10M (not happening), that means they used their whole cap for just the starting team that is a bottom feeder anyway.
Here's what i would do: amnesty Pau, trade MWP for Gerald Wallace, Buyout Chris Duhon, trade Steve Blake for Kyle O'Quinn and a second rounder, then give up and shoot myself.
Currently 37 and having wrist surgery. I think retirement beckons, not the Heat... Although Miami might not be a bad place to retire too...
Killakobe81 do you think Dwight would actually accept less money to come back to the Lakers? It seems that's their main selling point, that they can offer him more years
I dont think so, but again if that is the only selling point for him ... him tbh.
Im not saying take less years or a huge 10 million dollar discount but if he took a bit less to ensure another young star joined him he can make that up easily. Harlem is a Lebron rider but the part he nailed (not the he did it for the kids) from day one is that Lebron took less when he did not have to . Sure he "joined" Wade's team but he has taken it over and is reaping the rewards. If Dwight is too selfish (and again it's not my $ it's his) to place winning first then let him walk.
We wont win teh le with him as our #1 anyways. Like Pau he is meant to be a #2 ...
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