Ok if we can play this hindsight gm, I would've not done anything in 17' and say Dlo has an uptick like he did this yr, we leverage that into say the Dall Zingis trade or maybe trade him to Pho with pick swaps and dropping Deng with Dlo. So for this past off season, I wouldve tried to pull off the Mozgov/Dho trade like Nets managed to do, since 18' was also a thro away yr, I would've resigned Randle to his 4/48 like he asked for in beginning of 17', PG still blows us off in this scenario. So now we have NO stretched Deng salary, only Randle with a 12-14 mill annual salary (our only big $ guy). So now we are also near 2 max. I dont know what to do with the 2nd pick that resulted in Ball, so I'll leave that as is. So lets play the everything turns out great gm, Kawahi max, resigned Brolo (I would've brought him back on a 1+1 in offseason), Walker or Irving at PG, and since we dont have ties to Klutch maybe we dont get hated on by Pelicans and make this trade offer for AD (Zo/Kuz (picked with Lou will trade but no Hart), 19' lotto pick, a future unprotected 1st), give full MLE 3yr deal to Green Irving or Walker BI/Green KL/Green Randle/Ad AD/Brolo close enough to contention, no dead $
So you're still banking on signing two max FAs in this scenario and trading for Davis. That's literally the exact same plan as the FO, except instead of Irving or Walker we have James.
sort of but maybe in that scenario we dont have a cluster F of a FO and the dysfunction we're experiencing now? BTW- OKC has 2 all-star all NBA guys with decent support personnel in Adams, how they looking?
The FO is the same in either case. I'm sure if anyone here owned the Lakers we might have different people in charge, but the cluster**** in the FO is likely there whether or not we get James. The criticism is probably is there if we don't have James last season and trade Russell with Deng in a salary dump like you suggested. Plus the trade rumors would exist as well. OKC is looking a lot better than us, that's for sure. But they have to operate very differently, given they are in OKC and we are in LA.
We aren't sniffing contention now either and we'd be one year away from having MozDeng completely off our books. PG13 + Randle/Russell/Ingram/Ball/Kuzma...That's a pretty nice core.
This is starting to sound like a lot less than the most ridiculous thing on the board. The Lakers were coming off a 26-56 season when I wanted them to trade down for Fox and Zach Collins. But they didn't, and that's cool. Shelving that... You could have had... Ball/Nwaba 1.0 VORP Russ/Hart 3.9 VORP Ingram/Nance 3.0 VORP Randle/Kuzma 2.1 VORP Zubac/Mozgov 0.3 VORP That's 10.3 VORP for 55m this season. Lakers were 9.8 (until you subtract 1.3 from scrubs and Ingram) for a lot more. There were quite a few decent bigs you could bring in to start - even those not chasing rings. You have a defender at every position (except 4, but Nance could slide there). You need more three-point shooting, too. But those things are manageable. And even when you add 15M to Russ's salary in 19-20, you have tons of cap space. Then, you could drop whichever players you wanted - Randle, Kuzma, a pick - for a re-signed AD. You'd still have money. You can have two players after building a respectable team through the draft. Suppose, for instance, you added AD and George, moved Ball and Randle and Kuzma and a pick. Russ/Nwaba George/Hart Ingram/Nance AD/ Zubac/(Expired) It's not at all clear that that team is worse than the best team we can put on the court next year.
But there's no opportunity to really win in that situation. You'd have to use up most of your cap extending that core. We'd be in the same situation Minnesota is in right now.
Adding AD and George is taking the exact same risk we're taking right now. Trying to trade for AD and sign a max FA. I fail to see what's wrong with that. All these supposed "optimal" plans that don't include James all involve both of those things, which is what we're precisely trying to do now. If I assume I get the same luxury as you, which is to sign a max FA and trade for Davis, I would much rather have something like... Ball Green Leonard James AD That team will undoubtedly contend, and be a defensive nightmare.
It's NOT...because that team with young guys is better already than the team you have out there this year. Worst case scenario you add literally no one to the young guys and still fight for an 8th spot.
Russell, Randle, Ingram, Ball, Nance, Clarkson, Zubac don't get an 8th spot in the West, I'm sorry. I'd much rather have LeBron James than all of them combined. Our team, if healthy, would have probably made the playoffs. I can't prove either of those statements, so if you're in opposition we'll have to agree to disagree on that.
Hart and Nwaba both wouldn’t be on that original team, also, where did Deng go? Was he still stretched? Is Clarksons money still on board? I’d personally rather have bfc’s team with three top 15 players (potentially).
It's kind of sad how much Laker fans don't appreciate LeBron James. We are so fortunate to have had 2 top 5 all time greats on this team. We wasted the end of Kobe's career. Let's not do the same with James, in favor of unproven young talent.
What exactly do you mean with "really win"? This team sucks. At this point "really win" should be 45-50 wins. This entire notion of lets go from zero to hero has proven to be a pipe dream. We need to realize that we aren't entitled to contention. We can only contend if we keep building on a solid foundation. If that foundation is lets sign a bigtime free agent...good luck. You'd think a front office is intelligent enough to adjust after a plan fails over and over again. Even if we end up signing Kawhi and become contenders...its more luck than excellence. No serious company in the world operates like that, rightfully so.
We have to contend fast. LeBron has 2 years left on his deal before his player option. There's two ways to build. Sign FAs or build through the draft. Every champion in the last 10 years has drafted their main superstar(s) and/or signed them through FA. We had 4 chances (lottery picks) to draft a superstar and it did not work out, either it be our own lottery selection or missing out on the #1 pick. We were lucky enough to sign the best superstar through FA. Now drafting a star is out of the question. Hence the only way to win, and quickly, is through FA. If you would like to restart the process and begin tanking again for #1 picks, then we can do that too. The goal here is contention. If we want to build a playoff squad that will make the second round, we can sign some decent non-max guys this summer and do that. But that will be ensuring LeBron will never win a championship in a Laker uniform.
I do understand your point with regard to the young core though. The entire idea of building through the draft is having a few very good players under cost control and then adding one or 2 max level guys to that core. Thats how you get a leg up on competition. I get it. But that would only work if a) you have a desirable place that FAs want to be a part of b) you have drafted extremely well c) you have a FO that has the eye for complementary pieces on minimum level players. I also understand the goal to contend. IMO I'm just saying this has not been working so you have to make some changes to the idea. The ultimate goal should be contention. The short term goal should be making the post-season. With GS dominating the way they have, it was a stupid idea to try to compete with them...when they have 5 all-stars and two MVP players all in their prime.
Well if we're all in on contending with James -- then our short and long term goals are the same -- given he has only 2 years left before his player option. Our FO is a mess. Our drafting (or draft lottery luck) hasn't been 10/10. At that point, the only hope I'm really clinging to is getting our max FA and Davis and making a solid run for it. GSW's flaws have reared their ugly heads multiple times this season, so even if they keep Durant we can get it done. If we're looking to just make the playoffs, we probably can do that right now. Adding a couple of solid shooters to the roster will seal that, IMO. But, it all but ensures we never contend with James on the roster. We can also blow it all up and rebuild. I understand that too, but might as well try to swing for the fences for another summer before accepting that as our fate.
Deng stretches. Clarkson never signed. There is almost no scenario in which we have three top 15 players. In fact, next year LeBron isn’t too 15. And this team will likely have no top 15 players, an unpromising young core (won’t have the top end as only Ball and Ingram have decent ceiling), will have injuries, and won’t make the playoffs.
to suck less in the interim? to potentially get an asset out of it? to not have lance stephenson and michael beasley on the roster? i can go on. clearing the decks early isn't necessary if you simply stock up on talented players, who can always be moved into space if need be, as has happened many times.
