Will The Way The Lakers Handle Nash Now Change Their Future? (ding Article)

I hate to burst anyone's bubble but Wes Matthews isn't going to go to a team for only $8 million a year. He leads the league in 3pt makes currently and is a solid defender. I think Matthews will get paid anywhere between $10-12 million a year.

Dragic same thing. I just don't think he would want to take a pay cut of $12 million a year to play for a Lakers team as currently constructed. Even if we get to keep our lottery pick. The salary cap is going to go up the next couple of years which is way I think some of these numbers are just too low.

 

@Punk-101 If we got Dragic for 12 and Wes for 8 (or some combination that amounts to 20 million), we would probably only be able to afford one of Davis or Black.

Assuming we kept Kobe, Young, Randle, Kelly, Clarkson, Top 5 pick, Pick in the 20s, Pick in the 30s, and Sacre (inc. Cap Holds) we're totaling about 45.6 million. That means if 20 million goes to Dragic/Wes then we have only about a million left to use before we hit the cap and have to start using minimum level contracts. That doesn't include Ellington if we want to keep him around.

Kelly is under contract right now for 1.7 million. I like Kelly a lot, but if we could move him to make room for Davis and Black being our rotation, I'd do it in an instant. I prefer the defense and rebounding of those two over Kelly's ability to stretch the floor. In fact I'd trade Kelly and one of our later picks for a future pick to make room for Davis, Black, or Ellington.

 

As a frame of reference-

Hayward- 14.8 million
Iguodala- 12.3 million
Derozan- 10.1 million
Stephenson- 9 million
Thornton- 8.6 million
Mayo- 8 million
Afflalo- 7.5 million
Ginobili- 7 million
Redick- 6.8 million

Wes would slot to me somewhere between Stephenson and Afflalo which is why I pegged him at 8 million. I could see the Lakers offering more actually maybe even up to 9.5 million or so. He certainly shouldn't get more than Derozan and definitely not up in the Hayward range. Either way he's "gettable" for us if we shell out the cash.

 

Exactly. I can appreciate a stretch four (Horry), but not at the expense of better players. Black and Davis are rock solid. One of them could end up being a starter even, but they would make up a great 1-2 punch off the bench for us too. If we cleared Kelly and the late 1st rounder for a future 2nd rounder we'd have about 2 more million dollars to work with. I think that'd help a lot in keeping around some of our other role players.

 

I'd dig a Jason Maxiell or a Ryan Hollins. I'd also consider dropping Sacre honestly. Good 3rd stringer and great teammate, but every dollar is going to count moving forward.

 

Wondering about getting both Okafors. Just sayin'.

 

At this point I would rather be able to sign and bring back Ellington then Kelly if it came down to it. Granted I know Kelly has really struggled with injuries this year and playing out of position but give me the reliable veteran, professional teammate like Ellington every day

 

I don't think we have Ed Davis next year. We'd have to be willing to shell out 4 million or so I would imagine. He's got the player option.

Unfortunately, we're looking at another couple of rough seasons, IMO. I don't think anyone comes to us unless we severely overpay (like 15 for Dragic or something like that). And the next season has only Durant as the big FA. And Durant coming here is slightly less pipe than Lebron, but still highly unlikely. Honestly, this rebuild is going to rely HEAVILY on the development of Randle and (if we keep the pick) who we get this offseason. That's why not just top 5, but top 3 is very important. I really don't like much past Okafor, Russell and Johnson. Granted I have seen nothing of the Congo kid, but with the Exum hype being shown to ba a tad overblown I'm very skeptical of foreign players.