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

Aside from George, I prefer the 2019 class actually. Still, if we can’t sign a start this summer I try and trade for one now or in the summer. Anyone not named Ball or Kuzma is available for a star to me, as well as draft picks. Stars turn franchises around, look at what Jimmy Butler has done for Minnesota, or how trading for Kyrie has made Boston even more relevant and a threat.

 

Eh, Minny didn’t trade KAT for Butler though, and that’s key, that’s why they’re a playoff team. I’m for trading for a star, but you can’t leave the cupboard bare, you have to keep some of the key pieces to stay competitive. For me that’s Ball and Kuzma for sure, Hart to a lesser degree. Ingram is my favorite Laker, but realistically to land a star he’d have to be the one we’d give to even get the phone started. If we could land a star for Ingram/Clarkson and pieces and a pick, I’d be good with it. Possible to keep Randle that way, or then attract a second star in free agency. Eventually we are going to have to try and make this happen through trade if every summer we can’t get a signing that matters. If George doesn’t sign here, if LeBron doesn’t even give us a meeting, it’s time to stop pretending. Shaq was our last star free agent signing. Kobe was drafted, Pau was traded for. But hey, if we don’t sign a star, at least we’ll have our lottery pick next season!

 

First impression is still some posturing due to the deadline, but not an empty threat. The Lakers are seeing the pool dwindle and now feel less confident, but they also clearly haven't gotten the offer they want for the young guys. If they get the offer they want tomorrow they'll do it.

That being said, they probably won't and that is wildly disappointing. I sincerely doubt the Kawhi Leonards of the league will be genuinely interested and Klay has said many times he wants to stay in Golden State.

Here comes another 30 win season.

 

What did Russell do to deserve this type of fandom? Holy crap. The Lakers are better now, we've got Kuzma, we've got Ball, we've got Hart, we've got our own foundation. What is with this obsession with that kid? He was a dummy here and the FO moved on.

I'll never understand how a kid who showed up for 2 seasons and did nothing has become this standard by which our new FO is a failure. The kid is gone and the Lakers are better this season than they were last season. Why are we still worrying about that trade? Hell we won that trade with or without a FA this summer, but we're still pining over that kid? Really?

 

While kicking the can down the road seems like a bad idea, there are ways to salvage it. Let's say you resign Randle to a 15 million dollar a year deal. We then sign DeAndre Jordan to a 15 million dollar a year deal as well this offseason. In 2019, you would have roughly 82 million dollars against the cap with: DeAndre/Randle/Ingram/Hart/Ball as your starting five and Kuzma and Clarkson as your bench. That 82 million dollar number still includes Deng's contract in it's full glory. But at this point you only have one year left on it. You could probably move that piece of s*** into another team's empty space if you attached a first rounder or you could (worst case scenario) stretch it over five years which would only be about a 3.8 million dollar hit. So in the worst case scenario (stretch), we now have 68 million or so tied up. That leaves us with enough for a max offer, and we have another year of this team growing to make a better case to a free agent.

DeAndre/Julius
Julius/Kuzma
Ingram/Kuzma
Klay/Hart
Lonzo/Clarkson

Not a bad 8 man rotation. Even better if you replace Klay with Leonard.

 

I think honestly when they got in they were told by people inside, "Oh MAN! You're going to reopen the LA market. My guy is definitely interested" which at the time was probably true, but things change and now the calls aren't as frequent and the job is harder. Players aren't sold and the honeymoon has worn off.

I don't doubt for a second that the Lakers plan on pitching LeBron/George, but they've probably got to prepare now for the likelihood that those two won't jump. That means preparing for the future. Also don't doubt for a second that this isn't a deadline play. There's no doubt in my mind that this is a deadline play still revolving around the value of our two biggest assets: Clarkson and Randle. They're not getting the offers they want, so they're threatening to stand pat. They said the same thing a week ago and two days before the deadline they're saying the same thing. This is similar to when Ding wrote that hit piece for Jeanie, it's about perception.

I'm sure they're preparing to punt and trust me I'm frustrated with that too, but it's a reality that I was trying to get people to look at earlier if we pass on LeBron just because he's LeBron. Without LeBron, we've got very little shot at George and vice versa and seeing George stay and Boogie off the table... Where does that leave us?