Official 2016 Free Agency Thread

I dont care if any of the 3 dont turn out great....get me a RESIGNED Westbrook 1st then OKC can ask for whatever the hell they want.

 

i'm with real, no way on BOTH ingram and russell--honestly, very few teams could even match that offer (including the C Bags), so why even throw it out there? and i'd only trade one if i had assurances westbrook was going to stay. since that's unlikely, i'm guessing this goes nowhere.

but for those saying you just give up until gs isn't good...i disagree. durant hurts his foot again, and you could be the team that sneaks in a title if you play your cards right. SA is losing duncan, and parker and gino will follow soon. okc just fell back to the pack. clips are going to disband soon, too, imo. it's open for the taking. two big moves and you're in the conversation for HCA in the first round. westbrook could be one of those moves.

all that said, i'm also just fine with rolling with the development plan. i hope the FO has the same attitude--open to change, but not desperate for it.

 

We lost out on last 3 years free agents because 1) Previous Win total sucks & no room for improvement 2) Coach sucks 3) Teammate potential very low

We're going to improve on all 3 accounts by 2017 Summer to appeal to Russ. There's no way in hell I'll gut the young guys to sign Russ and hope he'll handle 1 year of midding Lakers squad and then re-sign. It will turn him off & make our team worse

 

GSW was already elite w/o KD, how you figure it only takes a KD injury away from competing with them? All they lost is 2 underachievers in Barnes and Bogut thus far.

 

And as for Russell and Randle....I think Russell will be fine, he can shoot the 3 and he has shown he can distribute the ball. Randle seems like an elite rebounder and thats it, I really can't find any part of his game that is consistent. Both can be very good contributors on this squad even if they may not be All stars

 

I think we can win 30 next year...but more importantly the kids will be better. The direction of the team is more important than its current location. Westbrook is that guy that can take our franchise to the next level and he wants to be that type of player

 

Are you freakin kidding me right now?

 

12 roster spots if you include Huertas and Zubac and still haven't reached he salary floor yet; I wonder what the plan is going forward.

 

I just...what? Two guys who just played through a tumultuous rookie season:

One averaged a 2x2 in 81 games played, has shown the ability to handle the ball in transition and by all accounts is a no nonsense workhorse off the court.

The other is a PG (who works best in PnR...while having Roy Hibbert set phantom screens) who at 19/20 yrs old:

Shot 41% on 2s (18th for qualified pg) and only 4 (Russ, IT, Kemba, Schroeder) played in as many or more games (80) as DLo.

Shot 35.1% on 3s (17th for qualified pg) while only 4 (IT, Raul Neto, patty mills, kemba) played as many or more games (80) as DLo.

And averaged 3.3 Ast (19th for qualified pg) while only 5 (Russ, TJ McConnell, IT, Kemba, Schroeder) played in as many of more games (80) as DLo.

Mind you, this was in the most textbook definition of "stagnant offense" with a coach who won 17 games, yet had a short leash for rookies (unheard of in today's NBA).

I don't understand how anybody watched them play last season and don't think they have at least the ABILITY (or TOOLS) to get much, much better, unless they are just digging in their heels in an argument.

 

why anyone surprise or hate on the ring chasers? We were once that team that got old vets to sign cheap, can't hate just cause shoe is on the other foot.

 

Nope. 30 ain't gonna be enough. If the Lakers do not overachieve next year, we are toast with Westbrook. He can go to the Clippers after Doc does some maneuvering and the cap goes up and have Cp3 and Westbrook in the backcourt and they would be dangerous.

 

Players go to garbage teams for more $: "NBA is garbage, no one cares about winning!"

Players jump on good teams for minimum deals: "NBA is garbage, there's no parity. Everyone is a ring chaser!"

 

If the Lakers want to make a play on Westbrook, I think the smart thing would be to wait until the trade deadline at the earliest. As it stands right now, I don't think D'angelo alone gets the deal done, because fair or not, his reputation around the league doesn't do justice to the ability we as close Laker followers know he has.

If you wait until the trade deadline, you'll get two positive factors working in your favor for a Westbrook deal. For one, you'll give D'Angelo the chance to really show his playmaking ability, hopefully with inflated statistics due to the high volume offense Luke intends to implement this upcoming season. That should vastly improve his trade value and hopefully vault him into the centerpiece of a Westbrook deal. Secondly, you'll get the Thunder to trade in a state where they may be a little more desperate to make a move, with only a matter of months before his impending departure.

 

Hard cap and no max contracts. Otherwise this game is screwed...

 

and he certainly not guranteed to stay either if we get bounched in the 1st rd of the playoffs (if we even make it to the playoffs). Even if russell is big time bust, imagine how much more of a laughing stock we would be if Westbrook signed elsewhere after the season, would make Howard debacle look like we just lost Kwame Brown in FA