^ That’s my take away a couple days after all this free agent BS. Once upon a time I expressed worry when we got LeBron, thinking he was going to leave our team in ruins when he left. Little did I know 1 year later Bron and Klutch would be the ones to keep us afloat in player aquisition, while the front office is STILL figuring things out.
OK. First off, Lebron isn't coming to Hollywood to be an actor per se. He wants to be a producer and run a media empire. He isn't looking to win an acting Oscar. And AD came because of Lebron. Lebron is on the downside, but still likely has another great two seasons left in him. Look, I'm not saying we aren't set up nicely for the next two years. We are. I'm just saying we had two stars in the middle of their prime spurn us. (PG last year and Kawhi this year). And they both fought to get on the other team in LA. We may feel like the Lakers mystique is still intact, but players obviously don't. Our management team needs to find a way to sell us and our situation as being better than other situations without needing to hold up the Laker logo. One of your main arguments is to not get caught up in the moment, yet by looking at this roster and just ignoring the mess that we have been and will continue to be if Jeannie allows the Rambii and an increasingly small circle to make basketball decisions, you are guilty of the same myopic thinking you are accusing everyone else of. We fell into this roster because Lebron wanted to create a media empire and live in Los Angeles after his career was over. Go ahead and blame David Stern for vetoing the CP3 trade. That was 7 freaking years ago. We missed the playoffs in 6 consecutive seasons in a league where over half the teams make the playoffs. Coincidentally, that period coincides with the passing of Jerry Buss.
I have really lost faith in the ownership group and FO. You watch for example the Clippers/ Jazz/ Nets/ Sixers/ Blazers/ Bucks FOs- they evaluate talent well, have a clear plan A, as well as back up plans. We bumble our way into LBJ and Davis, watch our FO sign some fine complementary players and while it will result in a competitive team this year, there's still no strong sense of competency in the FO and indications of a solid plan. We lost a year of LBJ's late prime partly because our FO made some dumb signings. We watched the FO apparently miscalculate the salary cap implications of the Davis trade. We watch Magic attempt to throw the entire team leadership under the bus and then declare his love for them. Time for AEG to flex a bit.
I love Jeanie and would never want her out as owner. But she needs to open up her eyes on this. Magic was a mistake but whether it was a leverage ploy or not, George, Kawhi and AD all wanted out if their current situation and wanted the Lakers. That didn't happen under Jim/Mitch. With Magic quitting, the silver lining was the vacated Prez position that offered lucrative pay. Yet we didn't sincerely pursue anybody with it. So with forced pairing of a non cap guy in Magic and a novice cap guy in Rob, conversations probably went like this: Magic: Hey Rob, big picture Jeanie wants stars back in LA...so how do we turn MozDeng into cap space to go get Bron and a running mate next summer? Rob: bad news, Magic. George doesn't want to run with Bron and the Boogie injury kills that contingency. Magic: let's roll our cap into next summer then. Rob offers renouncing Jules as an option and Magic green-lights it. Meanwhile, had we had a CBA/cap knowing Prez at the helm instead of Magic, if Rob comes to that guy, Jules would have been used in a S&t scenario (ie look at how many S&Ts occurred this summer) in order to get paid and be sent to a cap-strapped team like the Pels, while we gain some future assets out of it. Same can be said for Zu and TB...but instead we got bupkus. The way we handled our cap space was trash. It was cLips, Dallas and us that the remaining free agents could negotiate a larger bag from. Think about this, the way the cLips took Harkless into their cap space allowed them to get another Miami pick, which was used in a trade to secure Kawhi. We could have taken in a trade like that, while still giving Green that 15m per bag. Jeanie, for the love of gawd...bring in a CBA seasoned prez asap to have oversight with Rob and Rambii's lack of finesse.
AD is with Klutch. I would like to believe Rich Paul made sure AD doesn't have a negative view on the Lakers. I agree with Vas on the other stuff.
I'm not sure you're not missing the whole point, just what you want to see... This isnt about the moment, this is about the future. Again thr point that's been made over and over is this happened because LeBron wanted to be here for his other business ventures. He recruited Ant Davis, he is the driving force behind our player recruitment. When hes gone and we still have the same s***ty FO than what?
Then we start over with the next star like we always have? The Lakers mystique is their ability to appease stars. We're still doing that right now. This s***ty front office did everything the Clippers are getting credit for. What's the difference? LeBron chose us. Shaq chose us. Guys choose us, that's what makes us the Lakers. Just because this guy didn't, doesn't mean the Lakers are dead. When Klutch has outlived its usefulness and vice versa (which won't happen for probably a decade with Davis on board), then we start over again and it's rough, but we do it.
Here's the difference and why Jeanie and Rob are getting crapped on now. Nice to have freaking Lee Jenkins spinning media for you. What Kawhi did is now being called the "stuff of legend" by Broderick Turner. What PG did to his bestie is applauded too I believe. Article by Broderick Turner July 8 L.A. paper Times, "Leonard's move is stuff of legends" and sub below that, "From Johnson to Barkley, NBA greats applaud his calculated leap to L.A. and push to bring a partner." Link's not working trying to find what's up. Disgusting take by this guy. IMO. Well on line it's in pressreader.com and now that's being treated as subscription. Magic even applauds Kawhi's job like well done. I s*** you not.
Future is we have a just turned 26 year old unicorn. Lakers are gonna be fine for at least 10 more years. That's a generation.
i think our front office is a mess, and that it starts at the top. but now isn't a great time to be fussing about it (3 months ago definitely was). i hope that lebron/AD can stabilize the on-court product while the FO storm passes.
This^^^. The LBJ era will be short lived. The existing FO is not up to the task. Yeah, AEG could pressure the Buss family to sell, we could hire a real GM, and also throw whatever it takes at Jerry West to come back, or in the alternative, just retire. He has single handedly altered the NBA landscape this year.
I disagree with the jerry west narrative that he got kawhi. Kawhi wanted the clips all along. All he needed to do was get PG, of which he paid an exhorbitant amount for. West struck out on KD and butler, two guys Kawhi wanted and was forced to pay a kings ransom and more for PG. Just like people don't give the FO credit for LeBron bc LeBron wanted to come here.
Also... JERRY WEST ISN'T THE F***ING GM. it's that Winger guy or whoever his name is. Literally the exact same scenario for the Clippers with the Lakers and yet WE are a mess and the Clippers are the greatest. I cannot understand why that narrative exists among us fans. I understand why the media is pushing it, but we should know better.
Exactly.. Somehow West & the Clipps are geniuses because Kawhi wanted to be there & helped get PG to force his way there as well, but LeBron wants to be in LA & he helps AD force his way here too & our FO are scrubs..?
Hard to take your take seriously when you're advocating at this point in time with all the water under the bridge trying to now bring West back from the Clippers? A real GM? Guess that roster on the floor 70-80% put together under the gun and the circumstances of the last couple of days came together on its own?
Winning cures all. Not saying the mess in the front office shouldn't be addressed but we are finally able to put a competing roster out there.
No it's because of LeBron and AD not because of anything our FO has done. These guys are signing small deals to try and win with LeBron and AD, not because ROb's a great recruiter. Hell people don't even want him present when they are negotiating lol c'mon mane... This notion that we are ok and steady is crap. Before LeBron wanted to come we couldn't get a whiff of anyone, couldn't even get meetings and now all the sudden we're alright? Magic had more to do with LeBron then anyone in the FO and if we're being real and look at the ruckus he caused on his way out when he didn't get his way.. "This narrative" that are FO is ok is a joke, it's not. When our GM is the most hated guy in the league how can we negotiate deals in confidence? Our GM and recruiter is really LeBron. AD has always looked up to him and wanted to come. Now these other guys are signing minimum deals because thye might have a chance to win. Does Boogie come though if he's healthy, hell no. THis is an opportunity to take advantage of a winning situation and audition for a larger contract. Rob has played a role but let's not kid ourselves
AD will still be here and Bron these 3 years and he'll yeah that's part of the plan. Once Mag went Tragic on us he took away that part of the FO's appeal and recruitment. No need for your rant. I just don't buy, sorry, that Pelinka is a huge joke and worthless as a GM. Yeah the FO post Magic needs some reassessment.
