He's seeing the potential we have, or just using us as leverage. Regardless it's still good news that the Lakers name is getting brought up everywhere for everything. LMA's game will translate well when he ages, his game is not predicated on his athleticism. Imagine the spacing he'll give Okafor, Randle becomes Lamar Odom, we can go very very big or small. If LMA does come here we will have very little spending left but maybe with a crazy starting 5, players will come for cheap.
LMA would be ideal. Randle to the 3, as I was saying so many times before. And yes, Randle needs to expand his range some.
Not too worried i think his game will age well and he will adapt if need be He doesnt really need to rely on athleticism too much unlike other players and the thought of having him alongside okafor working in the post and randle coming off the bench like odom did for us is making me excited Also just to think we'd have a mentor like LA for randle is worth the $$ by itself
If Aldridge really is interested in the Lakers, doesn't that make the choice between Okafor and Russell even tougher though? I'd hate to see us take Russell anticipating getting Aldridge and then it not happen and we have to keep Hill or something. Man this draft pick is so important, I'm getting pretty anxious at this point.
let's gamble on aldridge. no need to go after Cousins. Aldridge + Okafor/Russell, 27th pick (Delon Wright, Justin Anderson, RHJ, etc.), 34th pick (Upshaw or Mickey or 3nD guy), Clarkson, and Randle!!!
When the cap goes up wouldn't we have $ to sign more players? We would just be cash strapped for one year
If we're confident in signing LMA I'd be willing to bet we trade down for Russell or a wing. I'd be curious to see what we could get for the #2 and a pick in the range to land Johnson, Winslow, or Henjova. Maybe Denver takes on Kelly, Sacre, and Young for Lawson, Nurkic, and the #7.
I'm not the biggest fan of LMA game ... not very mobile on the defensive end and too many midrange shots ... Rumors and this time of the year are fun but I'm not really convinced by the names : Love , Cousins , LMA . Keeping our youngs and signing a player ala Jimmy Butler may be the safest bet in the mid-term ...
With all due respect man... if you're not convinced or impressed by Love, LMA and Cousins... then we're in trouble here. Because those guys are some of the best players in the world (and right now would be best players on our team, sans Kobe, who is at the end of his career). Lamarcus's game is incredibly effective. Same with Love, except that he's been misused in Cleveland, but that's another story. Boogie is able to post beastly numbers at 24 and he is, arguably, the most talented big in the NBA. We should develop our young players, sure. And we were lucky enough to get some talent through the draft and all. But to win, we'll need some experienced, all-star level players, or we won't be able to make a real impact. And we're the Lakers. That's what we do - make impact. We can have some bad years, everyone does, but ultimately LA loves stars and our team wins championships with them. You have to do it with the right mix of experienced players and newbies. I would fully expect us to sign an impact player this year or next year, instead of letting people like Clark, Randle and possibly Okafor or Russ figure it out on their own.
Well I just don't see Love and LMA as difference makers on a championship team ... This is when the stats vs overall impact on the game debate kicks in ... I'll take Marc Gasol over both of them in a heartbeat ... Cousins I'm willing to take the "risk" for the right price ....
I don't know what to tell you. I mean, they are some of the best PFs in the league. Sure, AD is better, but he can play some center too and we're not getting him anyway. Marc is a pure center too, and yes, I'd like to sign him too if possible.
As much as I'd love LMA to sign with the Lakers, Los Angeles doesn't really seem to match his private personality. The Spurs would be perfect fit for him.
the next big name FA to leave somewhere for SA will be the first, so hearing that Aldridge is leaving is pretty exciting. also, boom goes any leverage the kings thought they had in trade talks with the lakers. give up the house for your guy or just go sign another one in the same tier who's not crazy....hmmm...what should one do? anyway, call me a homer, but as impressive as SA's organization has been, if you look at where both teams are right now, would the lakers not be a little more enticing than SA? both teams are losing their prior championship core very soon (probably next year) to either injury or retirement. so it becomes Clarkson/randle/okafor vs...basically just kawhi leonard. which organization is more likely to lure another top FA next year? add in the tremendous off court advantages in la, and I wonder whether SA is truly "in the lead".
Gotta love your homerism, but SA still has a 1-2 year window to contend with the Big 3 + 1 (Kawhi) core intact. Aldridge turns 30 before the season opener, so he's only got like a 3-4 year window himself. The Spurs may seem more attractive at this stage of his career.
maaaannn...i don't know. manu has been largely done for a while now, and last year even parker started showing cracks in the foundation. i'm not positive that window's open. good point on aldridge's age, though.
Yeah whoever said this is part leverage on the Cousins situation is 100% right. Stein is being manipulated. That's not to say he's wrong necessarily, but boy the timing on this is impeccable. The Kings have NO power here in these negotiations and any leverage they thought they had is gone. If we can keep all our pieces and get Aldridge is the dream for the Lakers. If he's genuinely considering us, we're extremely fortunate. @Weezy for me the choice is still easy with Okafor. I'm not into Russell, but it would certainly make sense for the Lakers to hesitate if they thought they could get a big name big man. For me you still pick Okafor and now you've got a hell of a twin towers offensively. Aldridge's game is mostly mid-range which would space the floor awesomely for both him and Okafor. Randle would have to play some SF, but I think he can for stretches. Would you rather start Clarkson/Russell/Bryant/Aldridge/Black or Clarkson/Bryant/Randle/Aldridge/Okafor. For me it's undoubtedly the second one even with no "shooter" on the floor. We'll see what happens, but this is the nail in the coffin to the Cousins deal. The Lakers are just angling to see what happens with the Kings. The Kings are a MESS. If Mitch can take advantage of that situation, he should! That means only taking a deal that we want though. When you see a firesale you don't go around paying full price. Apparently though we're fairly convinced we can make a big run at Aldridge so why would we sacrifice our cap space AND give up our young assets when we can keep both and end up better overall? It won't happen.
