Lakers Plan To Explore Dragic Trade Or Offer Him $20m Per Year In Off-season

I'm fine either way. If we are able to get him without a max offer, great. If we need to go to the max to get him, I'm fine with that too.

Another key to keep in mind: The Blazers just got Afflalo from Denver. Could Wes Mathews be considered more expendable if someone gave him a bigger offer this summer?

I don't care either way. The Lakers aren't making a mistake by getting an impact player this summer regardless of how much we have to pay to get said player. We're trying to turn this around and the first step is the hardest. If we have to overpay to get talent, do it. I don't give a ****. I'm sick of watching this team miss the playoffs. If it takes a max offer to a 2nd tier guy, oh well. We'll have plenty of money freed up each summer for the next three years to wipe away any problems that offer might present.

Just give us an impact player and that Top 5 pick. I don't care about the costs.

 

Every NBA player says it's not about the money. And every player lies. Especially a player like Dragic who hasn't had that real pig payday as of yet. This is his one shot. And he'd be on a team with some talent in a weaker conference. I think he stays.

 

Not necessarily. You take a big contract, but keep the opt out clause there. The opt out would be in two years, thus making the 5th year less important.

If you REALLY want to play in NY or LA, you take what is essentially the same max offer and bet on yourself. In the event you get hurt or whatnot, you don't opt out. You lost that last bit of money, but if you're okay gambling on yourself then it's worth it. If you gamble on yourself and win, you opt out in two years and take a bigger, long-term contract with the team you wanted all along.

This game is far from over. Everything I've read is that even going to Miami, Dragic is STILL very interested in LA and vice versa.

 

Exactly. Once the domino falls (the pick) it's time to start moving up the mountain. I'm not in love with giving the max to a 2nd tier player, but it's better than giving more short-term deals to guys like Jordan Hill. It's time to start making something happen.

With Kobe expiring we've got a max slot open next summer. After that the Cap blows up and 85-90% of teams will have Cap room. The Lakers need to have the most attractive team when that happens. Players aren't going to look at LA and say "oh they have Dragic on a max deal with some young guys, they're dumb for paying that much". They're going to look at LA and say "they're willing to pay us big money AND they've got Dragic with some young guys. Looks good".

Certainly it looks better than recycling the current team we have now with no major additions. Again: not saying we should absolutely max out Dragic, but if that's what it takes to get an impact player (ANY impact player) then you do it!

 

or maybe we draft Stanley Johnson so we can forget about Butler and Mathews and focus on Dragic and Rondo.

 

Maybe. I'm just sort of trying to convince myself we won't be wasting money on him. I want the game to be over.

My move this summer would be to make a pitch to Love. If he declines, throw the max at Jimmy Butler and wait. If Chicago matches it, then we just do the same thing we've done the previous two seasons, hopefully developing Randle, Clarkson, (fingers crossed) Okafor and maybe like Norman Powell and then try again next offseason.

 

I'm just not going to accept that anymore. We're not Dallas, we're not NY, we're not any of those teams that's content to recycle and miss the playoffs for years and years and years.

This summer I want to land a FA and I don't care how much money it takes to get them. Whether that's Love or Rondo or Dragic or Matthews or whomever doesn't matter to me in the slightest. I want an impact player that will net us a couple of wins this summer. We can't continue this long rebuilding crap. After this summer we'll have our Top 5 pick, our Top 7 pick from the year before, and we BETTER have a FA. That's the only way you start making this place attractive for a star FA.

 

Uh-oh... the choices are becoming too much for my meek and feeble grain. I mean brian. I mean brain... what's happening to be? ME???

 

Well then his price should be lower which should help us get more FAs. I'm serious though, this summer it's about landing talent. Whatever position, whatever age, whatever whatever. We just need talent this summer. I don't THINK we're going to just start throwing around our max, but if we do I'm alright with it. Give me someone this summer that'll help us win more than 30 wins for Christ's sake. I can't sit through any more seasons like this one.

Big FA + Top 5 pick= successful summer. The numbers we can worry about later, but let's get big ticket items when we have the opportunity to do it.