Remember those old threads we used to have for most playoffs teams? What's next for them after winning or losing in the playoffs? I think it's time to see what we can do to keep improving and stay relevant after the finals. Next season will be the first one that is not hyphenated, ie. it's just 2021. Regardless of what happens in the Finals, we have a pretty good idea of what our team needs. I'd like to start with every position but would like to hear other opinions about players and coaches. Coaching: Vogel will obviously stay. He's proven he's the right guy for the job; always poised, but fiery when he needs to be, can deal with superstars and big egos. Elite defensive coach, but I'd prefer if we could get an offensive specialist. Yes, we have stars who can just go and get you a bucket, but I'd prefer to get less stagnant and have options that are not necessarily "LeBron ball" next season. PG: For Bron's sake and the sake of our team, he needs to stay our primary PG and his minutes need to go down even more. If we do that and bring another guy to take some pressure off him, he can give us more productive years, no matter how crazy that sounds. He's unique, but he's not invulnerable. Rondo will pick up his option for sure. But for all his good play in the bubble, we know what we will- and will not get for him during the regular season. He's not going to become any more quick or spry in general. Brilliant basketball mind, he should spend more time coaching (not to mention he'll miss games for sure) and being our 3rd string creator. This is why we need to get a combo guard who is a legit creator for others, but who can score when Bron is on the bench or he simply goes cold. Who is this person? A dynamic guy who can play both 1 and 2 for us? Can we get someone for Danny Green, even if it costs us Kuz in the process? SG: See PG and the combo guard discussion. Trade Danny, keep KCP and Alex. This would give us a very versatile lineup when Bron is not on the floor. How expensive will KCP be? Caruso needs to work on that 3-pt shot, because he will get more and more open shots and he absolutely needs to knock them down. SF: Bron can do some damage here if we get that new combo guard to play some 1. You can slide KCP to 3 against small teams. But what do we do for depth? PF: AD is here to stay. It's unlikely that he is going to play 82 games and we need depth. Kuz could back him up, but we might need to trade him with Green if we want to get a new, dynamic guard... I propose we sign Kieff to play backup 4 as well as 5 against small teams. He's 31, not young, but not very old either. Morris is in good shape, very strong, plays hard, can defend most bigs. Vogel likes that. I don't think he is going to be very expensive. C: This is the big question for us. I like McGee, he's been nothing but good teammate and a positive presence for us, but I don't think we can (or should) keep him. Are we going to reach out to Boogie and have him sign for the minimum and does he have anything left in the tank? Do we even need two big centers next year? I propose we sign Dwight cheap. He can still give us a couple of solid years; he's still athletic for a big, very strong, in great shape. Mentally, he finally knows what needs to be done: hard-nosed defense and rebounding with some shot blocking when possible. We don't need big numbers from him. 7/7 with an occasional double-digit rebounding game and a block. He's perfectly capable of giving us this on a consistent basis. I think he would be willing to come back relatively cheap. If we use Morris as a 5 against smaller teams - and he has proven he can do that without too much trouble - it might just be enough, since AD will end up playing some 5 anyway. We might not need that extra big anymore, except if we want to get a very young player and slowly develop him in D-League. I know this is a long post, but I'd like to see what you guys think about all this. We keep the core of Bron/KCP/AD/Morris/Dwight/Caruso with Coach Rondo sitting on the bench. The rest will probably not return. That's some significant depth we need to add at the (combo) guard and wing. What role will THT play for us next year? In any case, I think we'll need the 3rd guy. Not necessarily a true star, but a dynamic player we can lean on when necessary. Warriors will be back, Denver's time is coming, who knows where the Clips will be, but we should not count them out. West is strong and it's only going to get more competitive. That 3rd player will give us the edge necessary to go deep in the playoffs once again. And, will there be any useful older ring-chasers available who want to sign for practically nothing? Thoughts?
I think we have KCP at the same money, at his option if he picks it up. Don't see him not picking it up. Great thread starter! Need to at all costs keep Phil Handy and THT keep working his butt off with him. He should be on the roster next year if his upward progression continues. Maybe he contributes toward that combo guard need behind some veteran stud hopefully we can score.
Oh yeah, totally forgot about this. Other teams will want him, we have to make sure it does not happen!
A lot to ponder for sure... as Lebron nears the end of his career, we need to find a balance between adding new/young guys while maintaining a veteran core that can keep us in contention for a title... essentially, a "win now" mentality while putting the pieces in place for a dynasty. I will evaluate potential players/transactions through this lens... for example, I think Boogie is done... let's move on and find someone who can contribute in the long run... that is my crude assessment at this time.
Next is championship parade. But I am not sure that it would be allowed in Los Angeles even with social distancing.. BTW in Tampa NHL is going to be boats championship parade, and they expecting around 16000 people.
Drop McGee / Cook / JR Smith / Dudley (Add him to coaching staff) Re-sign Dwight Sign Boogie: I don't think his career is over In an ideal world trade anyone & everyone not named LeBron or AD for Bradley Beal In a realistic world trade Kuz and Danny Green for Derrick Rose and filler (Svi for sure) Keep AC / THT / Morris / KCP in that order Keep Rondo but put him in deep freeze until the playoffs Keep Kostas... you know why Maybe keep Dion
Rose is still a good player, but can't shoot the 3. I'd like this guy to be an outside threat if possible. Personally I'd give Dion a chance, but Vogel will not play him. He does not have the defensive awareness or tenacity that Vogel wants.
Dang. This feels like asking about Valentine’s Day 2021 when we even haven’t had Halloween Thanksgiving or Christmas yet 2020. probably be nice to see how these guys perform on the biggest stage, and make decisions from there. But hopefully our guys are focused on the now and not next season already.
agreed with Times but with caveat of seeing if we could get Joe Harris interested in full tax mle or if we can get a SnT of Green/1st or something so Harris can get a lil bit more $ Trade Kuz to Det for Svi/2nd rder Trade Cook/Mcgee to a team that needs a solid backup big that has chip experience, maybe Den if/when they lose plumlee to FA, Id trade him for Morris their backup PG AC/Morris/Rondo Harris/Kcp/ThT James/Harris/vet min signing AD/Morris (1yr 5M) Howard (1yr 5-7M)/Boogie, vet min guy
A year ago, people wrote Bron off and thought he was old, passed it, and father time was catching up to him. Now, he's re-emerged as the best basketball player on the planet, and Anthony Davis is not far behind. I am sure we won't have too many issues strengthening our roster. There is always going to be a ring chasing veteran out there. And we have good connections with Rich Paul
From a historical perspective, they did the same thing with Kareem back in 1985. They said he was washed up, he was done. Kareem went in there, dominated the evil empire and won finals MVP at age 37. Let's see if history repeats itself.
Lakers have to get a 3rd guy who can cover lebron for the regular season. Lebron needs to play 30 min a game, tops. After that, let Rob do what he did after the Kawhi debacle. He did a damn good job with that.
Nonsense. He “took a chainsaw to our salary cap and didn’t offer AD an extension. You never know.” You know?
Dump: Waiters- explore the market, if we come up dry, have him back for the min. But I don't think we'll struggle to fill bench, vet roles when we leave the bubble. Dudley-hopefully he'd be interested in join the coaching staff, although I think he's more interested in broadcasting JR- unless we can sign him as a mascot, that's been his real value Kostas-not worth roster spot just to lure his brother, who i don't want. I get he's a top 3 player, just don't like his fit next to AD long term or how that would force our hand regarding the construction of the rest of the roster...8 shooters at least. bring back: Dwight- got to bring him back. Offer him the minimum ($2.5m). He's said it's not about money anymore. He's 35 with a strong injury history, not sinking much into that. Morris-i like the versatility he gives us up front, good teammate, who can bring toughness. Cousins-i think both parties want to try this thing again. He wants to play with AD and Rondo again. Not a tough sell. Big risk, so it either has to be the min or incentive based. So up front we're looking at: McGee/Dwight/Cousins AD/Cousins/Morris I see some wanting to dump McGee, with the injury history and age of these bigs, I'm adding not subtracting. Can all but guarantee the platoon at C will miss time. The chemistry is too good with our bigs to dump one, they are also the primary cheerleaders. I would give each C 12 minutes in the first 3 Qs and whoever is the hot hand can close the game. This keeps AD off the spot until playoffs again. Trade Targets: I shop a package of Green's expiring contract, Kuz, Cook and see what that get you ($21.9m). Target 1 is Joe Harris. He's the type of elite shooter we need. His salary will jump 2.5x-3x to the $12m-15m range if i had to guess. We're paying Green that to miss shots, so that's not bad. Just a matter of whether or not the Nets want to pay him the much or would rather get assets in a S&T. Target 2 and only because it's much less likely given Pop would not want to trade with us is Derozan. Only way I see us getting a 3rd star this off season. Pop would really have to love Kuz from his brief time with Team USA. Problem is if DD is available, I don't see our package winning out. those are really the only two trade deals I really like for us. A few to lesser degrees worth considering... -I'd inquire about Oladipo, but I think that's a very risky rental. I'd rather buy low on him next off season when he's a FA. - Kings are a s*** show and Luke has familiarity with some of the players. What's their ask for Bogdan or Hield? Don't think either are in their plans, either could help with shooting. - Is D Rose willing to be away from his kid (still in Chicago) for a season? Cause that's the only reason he wasn't moved at the deadline. Snell + Rose for Green and an asset works. Snell would be another shooting option and both are expiring. The needs i want to address are-- legit shooting a real PG to help Bron and let Rondo focus on getting ready for the playoffs. 3rd guy. Only reason that's 3rd because it's the least acquirable this off season, especially if we want to maintain any flexibility for the next summer. If we don't trade for a PG, I'd look at: Teague, Collison (again), or Augustin. All should be in our price range. We should also upgrade that Dudley role. Maybe Glenn Robinson, Baze, or Wilson Chandler. Tough to pin down one potential roster with the above variables. But if I had to throw one together to give a visual.... McGee/Dwight AD/Cousins/Morris Bron/KCP/Baze Harris/Caruso/THT Bradley/Teague/Rondo That's 14, leaving one open for the buyout market (assuming we moved our 1st round pick). Oh yeah, almost forgot coaching. Don't let anyone nab Handy. Kidd can go, no big loss there. We'll get Hollins back on the bench hopefully next season if Corona permits. Plus, Rondo will be in more of a coaching role during the regular season. We should offer Dudley some position, if he's interested.
He has player option. Will he pick it up? Probably, right? My concern about Bradley - aside from the fact that he wasn't part of this bubble-building chemistry - is that he is taking minutes from Caruso, and I don't see how that is useful right now. I'd rather have a new starter who is more reliable and a more dynamic scorer/playmaker. When you need a pesky, athletic defender, you put Alex in.
I took some flak for thinking Bradley may have picked a solution that would lead to him being off the team. As a team, we got NO IDEA how much longer covid will be around. We may end out with a couple of more bubbles to play in before this is all over. When you are trying to win rings, you have to have guys who are playing and who you can count on. Bradley has shown that he has other concerns that are more important than playing for a ring. I am not knocking him, I really do not know what is happening in his family right now, but facts are facts and we need to move forward with players that are all in.
