Official 2016 Free Agency Thread

Anyone up for a Huertas return? : http://www.lakersnation.com/lakers-...t-would-be-awesome-to-stay-in-l-a/2016/05/22/

 

re: derozan's threes:

i wouldn't hold my breath on him becoming a three point shooter. as has been said, he's tried for several years. i saw a good interview with him a couple months ago in which he said his game went to another level when he quit trying to be a three point shooter and focused on what he does best: get to the rim/line. this is why i view him more as a dwyane wade than a kobe.

you can be successful as an offensive team even if not everyone can shoot threes. the whole point of stretching the floor is that defenses must attend to you. defenses must attend to derozan. where he goes, somebody better follow, or he will get into the paint and cause problems.

 

i'm down. in any case, a veteran pg is probably a must. given that i hope said veteran pg doesn't have to play a lot of minutes (i want russell and clarkson as the primary pgs), huertas is a fine fit.

 

This won't happen at Staples Center.

 

With all due respect to Clarkson, but if he's our best player next season that most likely means we suck again. D'Angelo, Julius, even Ingram should have evolved into that guy.

 

yeah, i think the fans (myself included) have taken clarkson for granted. he was the lakers' best player last year, without a doubt, imo. i think people just don't see where he goes from here. but maybe he's got yet another gear? that would be great.

but i agree that if he's still the best player on the lakers in april of 2017, it probably wasn't a great year. i'm willing to be proven wrong here!

 

D'Angelo is our best overall player imo. He was the one guy out of the three kids who's defense improved substantially during the season. He's still far from great, but he really seemed to understand how to use his size and length to his advantage to make up for lack of elite foot speed. He's the second best play maker on the roster behind Huertas. He's a decent rebounder as well and will only get better. Wasn't afraid to take big shots either. If Randle improves his jumper I could see them being 1A and 1B. In fact that's what needs to happen.

 

russell showed the strongest upside, but he was WILDLY inconsistent. clarkson was a better player, game in and game out.

all of them made defensive baby jesus cry at almost all times.

 

Yes we are!

I'm not sure where you're basing your stats from but...
Clarkson career per 36 - 4.5 reb, 3.6 ast, 2.1 tov
Derozan (last 2 seasons) per 36 - 4.5 reb, 3.7 ast, 2.0 tov

If that is not equal, I don't know what is. And between ages 23 and 24, Derozan made a huge jump in his production. So why is it fair to assume Clarkson wouldn't do the same? With JC's work ethic, sky is the limit for the kid. I won't comment on their teams' records because that just is not a fair argument.

He's proven to be effective in the RAPTOR's SYSTEM. That's where you're completely missing the point. Yes, not everyone needs to be a high percentage shooter from beyond the arc, but when considering free agents for OUR TEAM, that player needs to be a dead-eye shooter because we have D'Angelo who's still very inconsistent, Julius who has no range, Biyombo/Whiteside (probable FA candidates) who can't shoot. And you want to add Derozan to the mix? That would be a travesty. Imagine decreasing Curry's 3P% by 10%, replacing Thompson with Derozan, replacing Barnes with a worse shooter, and Green with Randle. The GSW system would no longer be pretty. Defenders would sag off our sets and it would look silly.

Well you have a point there.

That's because you brought up one game that brings little substance to this argument. A better sample would be his horrific shooting slump in the Playoffs --- 37.8 FG% 16.7 3P%

No, I do not think Derozan will regress. I never said that. He will probably be the same player. I'm saying he doesn't fit our personnel because he can't shoot, which digs into one of our biggest weaknesses. A chain is no stronger than it's weakest link, and that weakest link is our shooting. How are we expected to score efficiently in this day and age when our most reliable shooter is D'Angelo? We don't have 38%+ 3-point shooters like Lowry, Powell, Ross and Carroll. Heck even Patterson, their PF shoots 36%. The Raptors have surrounded Derozan with knock-down shooters. It's similar to how they surrounded Dwight with shooters in Orlando. The system has to be catered around the weakness of the best player. Do you really want to overhaul our roster for Derozan?

 

So D'Angelo, Julius, and even the rookie Ingram will all leapfrog Clarkson, who will somehow not improve in the slightest, right?

 

I still think Javaris Crittenton when I see JC

Sorry Jordan!

 

It's very possible that Clarkson won't improve. That he is what he is. Could he? Sure, but it's not unreasonable to expect Randle and Russell to leapfrog Clarkson when they aren't far behind if at all.

 

Seriously, that's how he's being treated lately!

 

And vice-versa. Clarkson could become our lone all-star. So given that they all have a good work ethic, it's only fair to assume they all improve at the same rate, no?