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What do you guys think?

Should we really go all-in on KD?

The problem is, KD is the only top player available in the FA...and every frickin team will hunt him with the exploding salary cap.

I'm almost 99.9% sure KD is staying in OKC. I can only see him go to Washington or maybe even the Knicks. I just don't see him coming to us, especially because our team is probably still a couple of years away from giving him the "win now" argument.

I would think we might be better off going after second tier players from the get go, but leave enough room for a max contract in 2017, when Russell Westbrook and others will become free agents. I still see Russell Westbrook as a far more likely player to join us. But for that to happen, we need to have a team ready with proper role players and hopefully Randle/JC and DAR with enough games under their belt.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba...lakers-all-you-hear-is-kobes-mouth/ar-AAd4frs

By Steve DelVecchio

The Indiana Pacers signed free agent center Jordan Hill on Tuesday, and it sounds like the 27-year-old won’t need as many aspirin with his new team as he did with his old one.

Hill went to the Lakers via trade a few years back and played 70 or more games in each of his last two seasons in Los Angeles. He became very familiar with Kobe Bryant during that time, and he spoke to reporters about that earlier this week.

“When he’s on the floor it’s like, all you hear is Kobe’s mouth,” Hill explained, per a video that Shane Young posted on Instagram. “On the floor, all you hear is Kobe’s mouth — during practice and games. He gets loud. A lot of people can’t handle it, I guess.”

Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Kobe takes practicing just as seriously as he takes games, which is one...

I want to get some POV looks at our players. So I'm going to be crunching some stats and offering player comparisons. I invite others to make their comparisons, too. I'm interested in where our players are in our eyes right now, and what we can see going forward for them. With such a young team, that prospecting feeling is contagious.

TARIK BLACK

PROJECTIONS
Scoring Efficiency: 5.11
Passing Efficiency: 1.83
Hustle Efficiency: 3.40
Position: BIG
Positional Efficiency: 72
-Tarik is going to give the Lakers about what he did last season. He's a decent scorer, a respectable decision-maker, especially for a big, and he's a solid hustle player. He offers a bit of versatility, being able to play the 4 against many 4s and the 5 against all but the tallest of centers.

Role: Second String, Heavy Rotation


I expect Tarik to begin the season in...

Let me preface this by saying I did not break this down. This was posted by fiendisoc from LG. I messaged him a couple of days ago and asked if I could have permission to use his stuff on this site because I believe he does a fantastic job of breaking stuff down. From here on out it's his stuff...

In an earlier discussion, I mentioned my problem with the Princeton offense:

While the real Princeton is better than the *version of it* we ran last season, its pure form is also outdated for today's league. For the high post sets, the only way you're going to get the space you need to cut into the lane is if your center or 'hub' can handle the ball, pass, and shoot 3's or very high % 2 pt jumper's, and all other players are also 3 point threats. Otherwise the defense is just going to compact in and your team is going to be shooting outside most of the time.

Back-cuts, which is a staple of the system, are few and far between in the NBA. Because most of the time, they aren't...