2019/20 Players' Transactions: Breaking News , Trades, Free Agents, And Rumors

It's sort of hard to predict where we end up, but if we assume the Lakers can't unload Lou or NIck then our roster looks like this next year:

Russell/Huertas
______/Williams/Clarkson
Ingram/Deng
Randle/Nance Jr.
______/Zubac/Black/Mozgov

I am assuming the worst: no one we need to dump is dumped, Nick leaves in FA, we dont get the pick, and Zubac is not ready to start. This roster has 78.5 million in cap tied up which leaves roughly 24.5 million to spend. We could let go of Huertas and Black and we'd have roughly 32.5 million or so to spend. It's possible for us to clear even more room by stretching Deng or Mozgov to get to a max contract, but that's neither here nor there.

Looking at this list: http://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/

I start at Ibaka and work my way down. Sure we can give Blake Griffin a courtesy call and see what he thinks, but I mean is he really going to leave a better team in the same market to make less money? I doubt it.

Given the current climate of the NBA, it's not inconceivable that Ibaka gets a max deal. I doubt it happens, but it's possible. A max deal for Ibaka would start at roughly 28 million. Obviously if his number is that high, I'm not taking that leap. I would offer him something like 4/100 million though. That would start his contract at roughly 23.38 million or so give or take some due to nuances in the CBA. I think considering Ryan Anderson got 4/80, Horford got 4/113, and Whiteside got 4/98 (his max), a 4/100 offer to Ibaka is more than fair. It's slightly below max contract amount, but full years and full guarantee in a truly terrific fit for him. He'd be a really undersized Center, but we're making that work right now with Tarik and Ibaka is a much more talented player than Tarik. There are only a handful of players who can hit outside at 37% (taking more than 3 a game) and still protect the rim with 1.5 blocks per game. In fact there's two: Ibaka and Porzingis. Marc Gasol blocks 1.4 shots per game too.

If Serge isn't interested (I wouldn't be surprised), I shift gears to Jeff Teague. I'm not sure who would go after him very hard, but Teague would be a great get for us. He's actually only 28 years old and he's a better shooter than you'd think (career 35.5%, but shooting 40% this year). He's a 15/5 guy in 30 minutes per game and does a good job of organizing a team. I think for him I would offer something like 4/60 million. There were very few PGs to hit FA last year and the only one that got paid big was Conley (5/152.6 million). The next outright PG? Jeremy Lin 3/38 million. Notable SGs like Gordon, Clarkson, and Tyler Johnson got 4/50-ish million. I think 4/60 is fair for Teague who might have been an All-Star, but has failed to latch on anywhere in particular.

If those two (three) fall through, I immediately move to the bargain bin. Go offer 3/36 million to Redick, 2/28 million to Korver, 3/32 million to Livingston, 1+1/15(29) million to Tony Allen, 4/41 million to Michael Carter-Williams. None of those guys are going to transform the team, but they provide a need and we wouldn't be married to them for longer than they're useful with the possible exception of Michael Carter-Williams. The only reason I'd offer him a contract worth 4 years is because he's only 25 years old and I have sugarplum dreams of him being our Livingston.

 

Of all your projections in your second tier, I agree about Michael Carter-Williams. He has a balanced game. The others are aged and I have reservations they'd want to be here at the twilight of their careers.

 

I can't see Korver coming here, even for the money.

Teague would be a good get, too, but it would shift Russell to the two full time; I'm not sure that's a good idea, but to run with the thought. George Hill is a similar type of player. I don't know what the market is for him, but it's probably in the 4/60 neighborhood, too. I could handle Redick or Allen on a smaller, shorter deal. Allen would be especially helpful because he brings a skill we're lacking - perimeter defense.

Teague/Huertas
Russell/Clarkson
Ingram/Deng
Randle/Nance
Mozgov/Zubac/Black
--This isn't bad, but it's weakest down low - not in terms of depth but in the starting lineup.


If we could move Lou for a first and an expiring contract, sign Ibaka, and add, say, Tony Allen, our defense would be magically rewritten (well, with one hiccup at the 4).
Russell/Huertas
Allen/Clarkson
Ingram/Deng
Randle/Nance/Black
Ibaka/Zubac/Mozgov

Honestly, maybe Young would even opt-in, as that would allow Clarkson to play PG with the second unit and Young to get the lion's share of backup minutes from an aging Allen. Allen's trending under 24 MPG for most of his career, so Young could actually get the bulk of the minutes - period - at SG. It's a lot of dominoes, but it's not impossible.

I'm still of the mindset that the best option for us is to move Randle and Williams to bring in a legit 4/5 who can shoot and defend. I'm much less concerned about finding a SG to stick in the starting lineup (even Nick can serve there) than I am about trying to find a quality big for this team.

 

I know this is mostly a fruitless exercise, but I'm purposely delaying working on a course that opens on Monday, so...

Scenario A: Okay, you're Denver or Portland, locked in a struggle for the 8th seed. What do you want from LA?
Scenario B: Or, you're Chicago, Detroit, Charlotte, or Miami, same situation?
Scenario C: Or, you're one of the top teams, chasing assurances of a ring. E.g., does Cleveland or Boston make a move?

I've developed two teams from scenario A:
A1: Denver is out of the lottery at this point, and they're owed a first rounder from Memphis.
-Do they accept Mike Miller (who doesn't play) and a first for Lou Williams? We can waive Miller, pick up a middle of the round 1st.

A2: Harder for me to see a trade here that Portland would want to make - unless we sent them Black and a second to try to pry away their first. I don't know how thrilled they are with Ed Davis, but the salaries would match; I'd be willing to sacrifice some flexibility to make this part of the deal happen. We could eat Ezeli's salary for a season in a Lou Williams trade if it netted us an early to late first.

Two possible moves that would absolutely weaken us for the short term, but it would give us two picks.
Russell/Huertas
(Young?)/Clarkson
Ingram/Deng
Randle/Nance
(Ezeli?/Davis?)/Zubac/Mozgov

Now with two picks in the 12-21 range, we could go looking for a bigger move - like Deng or Mozgov plus two picks for a big name with one or two more years on the contract. We could either do that soon - like at the trade deadline - or do just these two moves, tank, and then see what we can nab with a 3, 14 (say), or 21 (say) pick for one of those albatrosses.

So, here's the big proposal: Randle+Mozgov+#3 for Jimmy Butler.

Russell/Huertas
Butler/Clarkson
Ingram/Deng
(*)/Nance
(Ezeli/Davis)/Zubac

*Now is Ibaka interested?

 

Good trade by both teams I think. Ross never worked out because he's a sack of rocks and they're in win-now mode so the pick doesn't mean much to them. They get a leg up on signing a good player too.

That's why I posted the news in this thread. Our chances of getting Ibaka this summer just nose dived.

 

There's a lot of scoffs at this deal by Hennigan because all in all they gave away a ton of assets to end up at this spot. However they at least recognized a hopeless situation and moved on. They didn't pull a Pau Gasol.

 

Missed opportunity for Lakers.

 

I'd assume a Vucevic trade to Boston is in the works. I've heard Hezonja's future is in serious doubt over there after the Magic got Ross.

Like I said it wasn't a bad trade for them in a vaccum. When you factor everything they gave up it looks much worse obviously.