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

I would like Okafor, but who do we have to offer? And the logjam at center...damn. What's the rotation? Lopez/Randle/Okafor/Bogut/Zu?

 

Boogie's max is going to be the same as George's which is roughly 29 million in his first year assuming the cap stays the same.

We could easily clear enough room for Boogie (or George). It would be somewhat difficult, but not impossible to clear enough room for Boogie (or George) and LeBron. It would be damn near impossible to clear enough room for all three unless they're all willing to take big pay cuts.

 

Ball isn’t a ball stopper, neither is LeBron, they could easily play together. Not a LeBron fan, but the guy does not dominate the ball, and Zo’s game is to move it around as much as possible. LeBron would benefit so much from Ball’s passing, their games are similar except lebron is huge and much more of a scorer.

 

It’s bound to happen after all these Finals in a row. That said, he’s become a better shooter, better 3 point shooter, and slowed down LeBron is still averaging 26, 9 and 7. Yes, if we signed him to the max we would suffer in his final years, but he is a player that can attract other stars, and I’m f****** sick of losing. If he came with Cousins or George and we get to keep Ball, Ingram, and Kuzma, I’m good with it. At the very least we will finally be a playoff team again.

 

Agreed. I used to believe LeBron wouldn't age well, but he's adjusted his game quite a bit. He's explosive in space, but he's more reserved in traffic. Outside of the 15/16 season, LeBron has shot 35% or more from outside every season since 11/12 and he's started off this season extremely hot at 40.7% from outside. Despite his athleticism starting to fade, he's still averaging over 60 TS%. He's aging pretty well.

LeBron next to Lonzo would fit almost hand in glove. Lonzo doesn't need the ball at all to be effective. Lonzo's usage percentage is still under 20% while he's averaging 10/8/8 so far this year. This isn't an aberration either, it's exactly the same way he played in college and it's because he gets rid of the ball so quickly. LeBron meanwhile has dropped his usage a little bit every year for the last four seasons and this season he's at a career low of 27%.

Getting LeBron with Lonzo and another star would be a perfect trifecta. If we could get Paul George for instance, we would have LeBron to pull the cart, Lonzo to keep it steady, and a third star to pick up the slack as LeBron ages. I do honestly think that's a great future and it's a great present. I believe wholeheartedly that LeBron thinks so too right now. We've seen this type of behavior from him before: it's his "I'm leaving" behavior. Now, someone on the Cavs will inevitably get hot and they'll pick up their wins and everyone will feel better and LeBron will say something about loving this team. That doesn't mean the Lakers are going away. As long as Lonzo can continue to look like a real stud and the Lakers can find a way to clear Clarkson off the books (as well as hopefully Deng), we're in great shape.

The way I see it: the Lakers trade Clarkson/Zubac to a contender for a combination of expiring contracts. Zubac ends up as the throw in so that someone is willing to eat all of Clarkson's deal. Maybe the Lakers even net a 2nd rounder out of it. Waive Bird Rights to all expirings. Stretch Deng. You end up with-

Lonzo- 7.462
(Deng- 7.362)
Ingram- 5.757
Nance- 2.272
Kuzma- 1.69
Hart- 1.655
Bryant- 1.378
Cap Holds- 4.046
Total- 31.622 million

That's enough room for LeBron and George and leaves about 7.5 million to spend on a friend before the cap and we'd have the Room Exception of about 4 million as well. The way Lopez is playing/the way we're using him he might only be worth the Room Exception. Maybe you get Randle or maybe you get a friend or two with the remaining cap space. A backup PG would be nice for 7.5 million dollars. There'll be a couple possible options. Cory Joseph has a player option, he might be my favorite. Beverley will be available which could be ironic backing up the kid he trashed, but I hate that guy. Other names: Jameer Nelson, Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Jeremy Lin, Raymond Felton, Tony Parker, and -in what might be a crazy twist- Isaiah Thomas.

Lonzo/Joseph
George/Hart
Ingram/Kuzma
James/Nance
Lopez/Bryant

The Center spot is sort of weak, but there's not a lot available that would make much more sense. You could sign another stiff like Cole Aldridge and maybe Wade latches on for the minimum, but that there is not just a playoff team, but a great one. Not only is that team chock full of talent, but they'd fit together better than say OKC or Houston (on paper at least).

 

There's not a ton of evidence he's a real three point threat...

But I'm still half-way interested. He's the Croatian Kobe after all.