I'm trying to think of who the other PG/Wing is we'd add. JC/Watson Kobe/ Harris/Young Randle/Black/Kelly Okafor/(Whatever - I like Dalembert/Upshaw) Cheap options: Blue and Brown, but I don't like the idea of either of them playing heavy minutes when Kobe's injured (or even if he's not, for the 20 minutes a night he doesn't play). Would the Duke return? Would that be enough?
BTW, I presume we're drafting a guard - a PG or Wing. Skip ahead two or three seasons. Our starting lineup is: Jordan Clarkson ? Tobias Harris Julius Randle Jahlil Okafor And we could have Black and Upshaw as our second unit bigs.
They'll get time to develop. If I'm a fan, though, I wouldn't go into season with the expectation for them to start...
It's amazing how close we could be to doing what Oklahoma wanted to do. I remember saying last year when everyone was praying we'd go that route that doing so meant sucking for years and years. I didn't want to do it because I genuinely thought we had no chance at getting the right players so quickly. Now we could all be wrong, but I think we've almost done it already. Obviously they have to work out once they're put together, but damn man after this summer we may have just constructed a team like OKC did through the draft. What's perfect about it is that A) we WILL pay for a winner unlike OKC and B) we have enough cap room left over that we can and will ALSO add veterans to the lineup that can make them more competitive asap. It took Oklahoma three straight years of being in the Top 5 picks and ENORMOUS luck to get the guys they needed to have a home built young squad. Then their owner got cheap and let Harden go which I think effectively ruined their chances at a dynasty. We'll never have that problem here. The Lakers will go deep into the luxury to provide a winner. And guess what? There's plenty of fish in the sea in 2016 too. It's not as if we must get Durant. You know who else could be available in 2016? Mike Conley, DeMar Derozan, Al Horford, Nicolas Batum, Ryan Anderson, Jeff Green, Thadeus Young, Chandler Parsons, or even Pau Gasol. Realistic and entirely possible lineup: Clarkson Derozan Carroll Randle Okafor
I think it was Pincus that suggested trying to get him this summer. I wouldn't mind that at all, but he's coming off a torn Achilles. I'm not sure how effective he'll be afterwards... He seems like a bit of a wild card to me, but if we saw him in a workout and he looked good I'd take him and a future pick from the Pistons.
Above all, I think we need a CONSISTENT 3pt threat for spacing on offense, and a strong defender on defense. I'm leaning more towards Carroll because of that need, but either way, if we got Harris, he would need to become that 3pt threat guy. Our spacing for 3pt shots is going to be crazy good if we get Okafor demanding a double team in the post and passing out (which he is really good at). I don't trust Clarkson or Kobe to knock down those open 3pt shots at a good enough rate to take advantage of the massive bonus having Okafor could provide. Ellington can help give us that 3pt shooter off the bench, but I feel we need 3 guys that can hit it at a good clip to compliment what Okafor and Randle can do in the post and mid range.
I don't think Detroit would just give him to us. it would probably cost us at least our 27th pick. Players his age can come back from that injury. Maybe not to 100% but an 85% Jennings is likely better than the 27th pick.
I'm leaning more and more towards Carroll too, because he can do the D and three thing, is a legit starting SF, and is an unrestricted FA. Question though, do you think he comes here? Hotlanta will probably try to keep him there.
I think Clarkson and Kobe will be roughly 35% this season on catch-and-shoot threes. Clarkson had some success shooting corner threes in Summer League with Randle, I saw the potential there with him. BBallBreakdown in February had him at about 34.6% on catch-and-shoot threes. Kobe has been willing to go more off-ball since 2012 and has worked on his catch-and-shoot ability. I think he'll be close to 35% or so... So yeah not great, but hopefully good enough to win a few games. I think the interesting struggle will be getting each of those players the ball enough for them to be most effective.
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OJ Mayo- 8 million Jennings- 8.3 million Ross- 3.5 million (rookie deal, QO in summer of 2016) Wilson Chandler- 7.2 million Chalmers- 4.3 million CJ Watson- FA
I brought Chandler up months ago. He's on a team option. We discussed Chalmers for a bit. I like Watson; Ross is horrible defensively. Jennings is coming of an Achilles injury, and I don't want to chance it.
-Ross is one of the most inconsistent young guys out there. It's strange how inconsistent he is. He actually reminds me a bit of that Brooks kid we had last year or the year before: a ton of talent, but a two cent head for the game. -I don't know where Jennings is in the recovery process, but I'd have to have some insight that he's doing well mentally and physically. - Chandler is interesting but he's kind of injury prone and really expensive. If we get Chandler, we have to let go of Young somehow to make room. - Chalmers I hate this dude but he'd be a good backup PG. - CJ Watson seems like a good fit and should be a relatively cheap option. - Mayo I'm not sure I'm interested in at that price... He's a Plan C for me if we miss out on basically ever FA.
By the way, I wouldn't touch Mayo for $8 million. I'd give Young a chance to redeem himself before I took on Mayo, and I don't even like Young. Chandler does provide a nice placeholder until we pursue Durant in 2016. His numbers aren't great, but he's cheaper than probably any other wing we could find on the open market that's looking to get paid handsomely this summer, and gives us more flexibility to fill some other holes.
Yeah, not super excited about any of those guys. I say he should be our first priority in FA, although knowing the Lakers, you just know he won't be. We will try Aldridge and Gasol, and maybe even Wade before we target the real need at SF. It's the gift and the curse of an organization that tries to go hard for a home run star at all times. I'm afraid we don't get Carroll because we don't let him know he's integral to our plans going forward. Still, I have hope that the Lakers name, sunny California, and a young talented squad he can grow with will be enough to entice him to LA.
It may not be exciting, but it's improvement, nonetheless. For a team that only won 21 games last year, I'm not looking forward to another season of Wes Johnson, Jordan Hill clanking jumpers, or Ronnie Price isolations.
Afflalo might be a little cheaper? Also it might be worth it to pay the extra 2-3 million instead of giving up an asset for a 3-4th tier kind of guy in a trade.
Definitely. These aren't the big fish we're looking for, just some of the more complimentary pieces to fill around the other guys. I think Ding assumes these are guys we'll target AFTER our big FA catch.
