Ben Rosales @brosales12 · 10h 10 hours ago BTW, since we now know our pick position, we also know how much cap space we'll have. Assuming $67.1M cap, about $22.2M. Ben Rosales @brosales12 · 9h 9 hours ago If Middleton/Harris aren't obtainable, I have no idea what direction the Lakers will go. I'll presume that all the hail mary options stay. Ben Rosales @brosales12 · 9h 9 hours ago I'll presume that the Lakers will still chase Aldridge/Love but have to imagine that they'll focus more now on guys at other positions. Ben Rosales @brosales12 · 9h 9 hours ago Say we could get Carroll for $13M per. Still would have $7-8M to burn after that, could land a fairly decent player. Ben Rosales @brosales12 · 9h 9 hours ago On the flip side, Love costs nearly $20M, wipes out your cap space, and you're stuck. Doesn't mean it's a bad option but food for thought.
Even at 6 million I'd give pause. Not saying I would be upset at all, but Randle/Okafor is our starting frontcourt for the next 12 years (hopefully). Black gives us a lot of good things, Kelly has some valuable traits. Ed Davis, as you said, has some holes in his game. If we can use his 6 million somewhere else, I'd rather do that. But let's say we sign Carroll to 10 million and resign Lin to 5 million or Mo Williams to something similar, then I'm all for Davis. It really boils down to me simply wanting to solidify our wing and pg spots first, THEN move on to adding to what's looking like a pretty robust frontline. Despite all our disagreements in the past though, at this point I think we are on the exact same page. We both like Okafor over Towns. Carroll is a great option now since we will likely need some veteran leadership with our increasingly younger squad. Upshaw is now a pointless gamble with Okafor (or Towns) in the fold. I think we are both open to Lin as our backup pg. I looked at the FA pg list and him and Mo Williams honestly are the best unrestricted ones (if you don't count Dragic who seems like a lock in Miami at this point). I know he gets a lot of hate on this board, but look at what's available. We NEED a veteran backup pg. Mo Williams is probably more likely to sign with a contender to get his elusive ring. So that leaves us with Lin, Rondo, Sergio Rodriguez, CJ Watson. I think we need to try and keep Lin. 27 year old backup pg who can get hot and get us 20 off the bench. This is my ideal lineup for next season. Okafor/Black/Sacre Randle/Black/Kelly Carroll/Young/27th pick Kobe/Brown/Young Clarkson/Lin/34th pick That equals about 61 million (if Carroll takes 11 and Lin 5). If Davis wants to come here for 6 million, that brings us right to the cap. It's almost too perfect as far as numbers go. Add Davis and we have a second unit of Davis/Black/Swaggy/Brown/Lin. At times, that was our starting five this season.
How about this? Since people don't want Lin back; let him walk. If we're upgrading PG, I like Jarrett Jack personally. A Nick Young/Jarret Jack Swap works; if Brooklyn needs incentive to take Nick's contract on give them the 34th pick. We upgrade our bench rotation with a proven vet who still is productive, his contract ends sooner, and we get rid of Nick.
Nah. I know some have a disdain for Lin, but we are a real young team that won't be ready to compete for at least a couple seasons. Why overpay for Mo Williams (cause you'd probably have to hit the 8-9 million range to make him forfeit an MLE contract from a contender) when it could end up costing you a valuable piece that could be part of the contention window? There is nothing wrong with Lin as a backup pg. When Scott finally let him start playing PnR, he was very good.
Great idea in theory. Not sure Young has value to anyone though at this point. Injuries and Scott not knowing how to use him have severely diminished his value. I'd be shocked if we could flip him to any team in any productive way. I'd love to, but the 34th pick isn't a savory enough carrot to get someone to take Swaggy. Besides, I still have a soft spot for Swaggy. I think he can still add value to the Lakers at his contract with the cap exploding. It's another reason I want to keep Lin. Lin and Swaggy is some nice scoring punch off the bench. It would honestly be all we really need as far as bench scoring. We could then concentrate on adding defensive specialists in our other bench roles.
Not to mention PnR action with Randle and Towns/Okafor would be a nightmare for the opposing teams. We should keep Lin.
My prediction is quite simple-next year we will have a better bench, then our starting unit this year. In Mitch i trust!
Hill is gone. I agree that we offer for Butler then Green. I'm also wondering about a situation in which we try to pawn off Nick Young, but that's down the road a bit. I still would love to see us take Upshaw if he's available. Clarkson, (Why not Lin?) - If (when) Kobe misses time, we need someone to play heavy minutes at the 1/2. Kobe, (Draft Anderson) - Anderson is one of those players who could be groomed into a solid role player. Butler or Green - Either would be a massive upgrade, a defender and a shooter. Randle, Black, Kelly - our PF rotation would have the talented rook, a bully, and a finesse player (Draft Okafor), (Draft Upshaw) - these guys would be so ridiculous as a C rotation. Clarkson/Kobe/Butler/Randle/Okafor Lin/Clarkson/Butler/Randle/Okafor when Kobe's out? Lin/Anderson/Young/Black/Upshaw bench? Bring on KD and slide Butler to the 2? Clarkson/Butler/KD/Randle/Okafor with a bench of... Lin/Anderson/Young/Black/Upshaw Okay; I'll settle down, but that gets me excited.
Upshaw with what pick? I don't necessarily mind us grabbing two bigs, but I woudl think we would have to take a long look at 2 or 3 with our other two picks. Particularly guys like Anderson, Hollis-Jefferson, or maybe even scorers like Rashad Vaughn and RJ Hunter.
I hope we get Gasol and Butler now with either Okafor or Towns. Then I say sign Rondo still, for cheap. Then re-sign whoever you can and add others to the bench. Rondo doesn't have to start, but him or Clarkson off the bench would be nice, I think.
If that is the case, I'd pick Gasol. Hardworking, great passer, plays smart and within himself. No issues...no headaches. I'm not casting that sort of light on Butler who seems to be a good kid as well BUT there's these reports that he is having/creating tension with Rose up in Chi-Town. Could be a diva in the making...or could be nothing at all.
we already knew as much, but I really do like hearing it come from the mouth of an agent who reps guys we'll be targeting.
