I joked about DJ in an earlier thread but he would not be a bad anchor on defense and definitely not scared to go get the ball when its around the rim. As long as he isn't demanding touches I wouldn't frown at the idea of grabbing him. The problem is he wants to get paid I believe. I'd take him or Marc (prefer Marc but don't think that is happening). I don't see us going after Love now or Rondo for that matter
I'm starting to fear we're buying into small ball and might be totally willing to start Aldridge or Love at the 5.
True but lamarcus has to look out for his future in san antonio he might make the playoffs but after parker & duncan are gone who is there? No one. At least with us we have dangelo randle clarkson and next season we can bring in another big time FA The lakers pitch is gonna soumd something like that. Do you wanna win one now or would you like to be a part of something bigger & better and we'll sign another big time FA next season.
Well if I'm him in that scenario I take San Antonio... win now! He's already 30 years old. How long does he have? Long enough for LA to be super competitive again?
Maybe its just me but i dont see san antonio winning anything Their run is over. Parker has regressed. Duncan is another year older. Kawhi leonard is the only bright spot.
That's what I said in 2008 after we beat them in the WCF. Then again when they lost to the Mavs in round 1 of 2009. Then again when the Heat beat them after that Ray Allen 3 forced a game 7 in the Finals and they lost game 7. Then again when they were starting that season thinking that they'd be too tired to make a 2nd Finals run in a row and they went on to win the title. Then again when they had a poor start this last season, but of course turned it around, and ended up unluckily drawing a tough Clippers team in the first round this season, otherwise I think they would have gone far. I'm never going to say the Spurs are done or their run is over again until Duncan and Ginobili are officially retired. Add Aldridge to that team, and their run is not over at all.
Yeah I can't write them off. Duncan can't play forever but with Duncan, Aldridge, Parker, and Leonard they're a competitive team. Should have those guys for at least two more years...
The key here will be Spurs clearing enough room for LMA....Ironically, Tiago Splitter would be a nice pick up for us....perfect next to Randle. I like our chances with LMA or DJ....no shot at Gasol...and don't want Love or Monroe
I see your point about when youre talking about 2009-2015 but father time will catch up to duncan sooner or later and parker too i respect the spurs but thats like expecting a career year from kobe at age 37 its just not gonna happen Im not saying were better or that were gonna make the playoffs and they arent but i dont think lamarcus would sign a max to play with a soon to be 40 yr old duncan and 34 yr old parker and expect a championship.
I suppose the Spurs could lose or would have to lose a lot of their depth and role players to sign Aldridge, but they're just so clever and smart with their signings I never count them out. They'll have Parker, Diaw, Mills, and Duncan will be back along with Ginobili so they've said. But then I believe Green and Leonard are free agents, as are Belinelli and Bonner, so there's that. Still, again, the Spurs just seem to get things done, to get guys signed, to find gems from out of nowhere, I can't count them out. I do think with Aldridge and the right signings around him they could be a contender for the title yet again this season. So Aldridge would have to decide between that and then becoming the Spurs main guy next season, or playing with our young rebuild core and probably becoming the Lakers main guy next season. As far as most recent success goes, the Spurs have the edge. Aldridge would really have to be sold on our young guys' potential, and confident in our FO going forward post-Kobe.
The small ball talk is overblown for quite some time ... It's more about defensive versatility than downsizing for the sake of it Love is a terrible defender and Aldridge lacks mobility to defend the PNR and isn't a strong rim protector ...
Yeah I don't think small ball is something we have to worry about at all. Love flat out can't play defense, especially against bigger stronger C's. As for Aldridge, he was vocal about not wanting to play C in Portland which is why they went out and got Lopez. Neither of them is going to sign here if we tell them they'll be the starting C. A slightly bigger concern in my opinion is how Randle is going to be used. With LMA or Love starting, Julius wouldn't see many minutes backing them up. With the recent report that Randle has dropped 20 lbs and dramatically improved his outside shot, I'm worried that they might end up making him play the majority of his minutes at SF. I don't mind testing him at SF, but if that experiment fails we need the option of giving him more minutes at PF. We've put too much stock in Julius to have him wasting away on the bench losing value. Another potential scenario that could impact Randle is if we get some type of handshake agreement from LMA or Love that hinges on us being able to land a starting C before they sign. In that scenario, with our limited resources, I wouldn't be shocked if we shop a package built around Randle. If there's pressure to find a deal quickly we might lose a trade badly. I know that's not very Laker-like, but we've seen the FO make what seemed like panic moves before.
We will see what happens, but I don't think its a coincidence that LMA rumors started popping up right around the time we were rumored to pick Russell. It's the NBA and things change quickly, but I think we have a pretty good shot at Aldridge and I would love that signing. I think we will be in the mix for several of the free agent big men and like our chances of landing one.
Bill Plaschke speculating on the pick (He hates it, we hate him, all is equal in the world).... I hope there is some sort of wink wink here. All signs point to it. Deadlocked on Okafor, LMA says he ain't coming back, Ding comes out with article that Russell is the guy now, we take Russell in a surprising move. Let it be true.
I actually don't want LMA as much as DeAndre for this team. DeAndre excelled because he plays defense and had a brilliant passing pg feeding him. We just drafted Russell, a guy Rick Pitino said is the best passer coming out of college since some pg taken back in the late 70's. Can't create his own offense, but we have Clarkson, Russell, Randle and Kobe that can do that. We need a dominant defensive big man with this team. LMA is obviously a better player. No question. But for this team, DeAndre is a perfect fit...and we kick the Clippers in the nuts at the same time.
DeAndre would be nice too, but we really need a 2-way big with an established scoring ability. Otherwise I don't think we get enough consistent offense from our rookies when Kobe sits.
Yeah man this Summer League will tell us a lot I think. @tttttada you're right about needing consistent scoring when Kobe is out. Right now we're rightfully stoked about the young cats, but they haven't proven anything just yet. Even Clarkson was doing it on a bad team. Long-term though I believe the young guys figure it out and we aren't necessarily desperate for more scoring anymore. Russell and Clarkson are both combo guards that should take a decent amount of shots. Randle looks like an aggressive guy who will go get his shots. Somewhere along the line we need a cleanup crew, right? DeAndre fits that bill perfectly. And with guys like Kobe, Clarkson, and Russell in man-to-man defensive situations we're going to need a paint deterrent and nobody in the league right now is better than DeAndre in that aspect. Ya'll know I'm a huge fan of classic Centers so DeAndre doesn't sit well with me from that standpoint, but for this team he makes a TON of sense.
If the Spurs get LMA, that would put them over the top for at least another 2 or 3 years with their current core. Remember, these Spurs aren't as old as their age because of all the rest they get. Duncan can still be effective at 40, and LMA can make up for any of his decline. Parker still has plenty of good years left, and as mentioned earlier, Leonard is a rising star who can also make up for Parker's or Ginobili's declines, whenever those may be. Russell and Randle might just be too young of a core for any star player to hop on board, unless they just really want to go to LA. Star players want to see if a team is capable of at least making the playoffs, then maybe they'll join that team to take them over the top. Therefore, I just don't see any star FA coming this Summer except maybe DeAndre Jordan, which could actually fit very well anyway and won't command the max.
Quick question, if we get LMA and/or Kevin Durant, what positions would everyone play? Would Randle move to SF??
