Not really caught up on the likeliness of players returning to their teams, so if anyone has a better understanding please fill me in. Aldridge - Not likely, seems like he is out. Gasol - ??? Chandler - ??? Jordan - Problems with CP3 Love - Likely to return to the Cavs? Lopez - Probably going back to Brooklyn Greg Monroe - ??? I mean if 5 of those players are serious about leaving their teams, we should have a pretty good shot of getting one.
Gasol is staying Aldridge is likely out Chandler will wait for the big names to get signed Jordan seems open to moving Love is supposedly getting a max offer from Cleveland to return B. Lopez- likely to return R. Lopez- same as Chandler Monroe- probably a lock for NY Koufos- Waiting to see what happens with Gasol, then likely leaving (RFA tho) Asik- Unknown but I heard likely to get a big offer from NOLA.
Seems like everything is up in the air and we cant really predict anything at the moment Aldridge was out, now reports are saying he's still not sure I thought gasol was a given to stay in mem and now others are saying he might be open to moving Jordan has issues with cp3 but doc says there is none and that hes signing hin to the max Love i want no part of Lopez is injury prone Monroe not too sure about. Cant give an opinion From the ones listed my choices are gasol>deandre>aldridge
Of that list the only ones I'd sign are LMA and Monroe. Monroe is not a Max Player but he'll get it. He's a very consistent PF who brings it every night. I'm still not sure we're done with SAC and Cousins. That scares me more than Love, Jordan or Lopez.
gasol and lma are the prizes, obviously. I think both are longshots, the latter being a slight possibility. I expect a Jordan/chandler swap, but if that doesn't happen, things could get wild. I could see either being enticed to join the lakers, chandler at sub-max. (chandler/deng, ftw, btw, imo, other abbreviations, etc.) rolo or asik would be on the same tier as koufos for me. meaning: I'm happy, but not predicting a wcf appearance.
You wouldn't sign marc? I think hes the best out of that list I like aldridge but he doesnt wanna play C thats why deandre is higher on my list. Aldridge age also doesnt fit with us because he'd be losing his prime years with us rebuilding. Is monroe a beast defensively? Because thats what we need. Thats why i dont mind deandre because hes an energy guy that bust his a** on D and rebounding and plays off the ball really well. I also want no part of cousins. We are rebuikding no point in gutting our team for one player. Cousins doesnt take us to the finals so i see no point. We'd also be paying him much more which restricts our spending
This is probably very accurate. We should probably target LMA and DeAndre simultaneously. If LMA doesn't want to play C he'll let us know. If both fails, I'd pick up Chandler and resign Ed Davis.
Yeah that's basically my thinking too... I probably call Marc Gasol's agent the minute we're allowed. We're almost assured to get rejected, but it's still necessary to call. Then I believe it's been reported we're meeting with DJ day one at his home all the way in Houston... I wonder if we meet first with Aldridge at his house in LA? If we miss on those two... I probably call Robin Lopez and Tyson Chandler next. I really like Chandler as a fit here. I think I saw he's looking for 3/36 million... That leaves us with roughly 10 more million to spend elsewhere. I guess you could go Davis and split the rest with like CJ Watson and Wayne Ellington. Not ideal, but at the start of the summer we'd have liked that. Russell/Watson Clarkson/Ellington/J. Brown Bryant/Young/Nance Jr. Randle/Black/Kelly Chandler/Davis
So I guess the Rockets won't match any offer for him then? I would like to have KJ on the Lakers. Lakers do need a wing defender against the likes of LeBron, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo, James Harden, Klay Thompson
I like KJ. Not the smartest player, but very talented, very athletic, and a very good defender. There's not many guys with his unique skill set. He could be a solid pick-up. Philadelphia discarded him because he was helping them win games. Houston didn't play him because they already had a bunch of wings.
This was supposed to be the warmup summer, the one during which the training wheels get slapped on and everybody practices for the Real Summer of Kevin (Durant, not Love). The Lakers, though, have already turned lemons into something sweet, moving up in the draft despite the gnashing jaws of Steve Nash-shaped despair and grabbing dynamic point guard D'Angelo Russell second overall. All their financial eggs now go into the big-man basket. They want to talk to LaMarcus Aldridge, he wants to listen, and if all goes well for both sides, the four-time All-Star signs a four-year, $80-million deal to be the Lakers' power forward. Read rest at Link: http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/la-sp-lakers-bresnahan-20150628-story.html
I'd honestly be cool with Asik, Robin Lopez, or Koufos. Gasol and Aldridge aren't likely, and I'm sorry I just don't give DJ max money if it's above 15 mil or so, he doesn't have Paul here to spoon feed him. I do not want Hill back for 9 mil though, dude became unmotivated, and a jump shooter, went completely away from the hustle guy we signed him to be. I'd take Ed Davis at 6 or 7 mil over Hill at 9. We just need a big, and if it's not a star, he needs to come at a reasonable price. I have no notions of us winning a title this season, so I'm not gonna be bummed if we don't get the star we're after. We'll once again fill out the roster with solid one year deals like Mitch somehow manages, see our rookies develop, and swing again for the fences in 2016. It's the cliched "is what it is" scenario, it's a rebuild.
i think russ is more than capable of feeding deandre. his points come from put backs and alley oops i think russ is more than capable of doing that my first choice is marc (pipe dream) followed by deandre (possible) and then aldridge (great player but doesnt fit our team as he doesnt wanna play C and at his age i dont think he wants to waste 4 years waiting for us to develop our young players)
Well the problem is there's no reason to wait. We don't need any more cap space next summer, we'll already have room for at least one max contract and even more afterwards. One idea is we could get Durant AND maybe someone else too if he takes less than the max. I don't know what Centers come available in 2016/2017 but we could fill in there too if we're comfortable with Russell/Clarkson as our 1/2 combination. Say we go after Durant we could get another solid Center like Noah or Hibbert or maybe Nene if he's still worth it. There'll be RFAs like Mozgov, Drummond, and Ezeli. You have a roster of approximately: Russell Clarkson/Brown Durant/Nance Randle/Black Noah/Davis Not too shabby.
I think you are right from what I've seen of Russell's post feeding skills, jerry88, but I'm biased, I plain don't like the guy. He thinks he's better than he is, he can't make a free throw to save his life which makes him an end of game liability, and worst of all he's a Clipper. I wouldn't give him max if his max is like Marc and Aldridge at 18 or 20 mil, just wouldn't do it. I know he's a defender and rebounder, but he's too offensively limited to me, I don't trust the offensive side of the ball with him. I could be really reaching, but I feel like he could be a huge product of that Clippers system and CP3 and exposed and a big mistake once given a big deal. Tyson Chandler is a great mostly one way player, and at his absolute best he was making 10-13 mil, so I certainly wouldn't give DJ much more than that. The only stats that separate them is a few rebounds and percentage points of blocks.
Well, you make a good point real, I guess I'm still in that mindset of not wanting to sign a big name just because they're a big name to a large contract. I sure as hell don't want Hibbert though, or Nene after this last playoffs where he went games without a FG. I'd much rather go after guys I've listed with a medium sized contract if possible. Bigs seem to get overpaid so maybe it's not likely, but again, I'd take an Asik, R Lopez, or Koufos for under 10 mil if I could for a bigger name at 18 to 20 and spend more money on other spots, or have it to spread around to all the spots we need. Then, like you said, Kobe comes off the books, we go after Durant, and whoever else. I dunno, I'm no GM, there's just guys I don't like at certain prices, think are overrated, or even don't like for silly reasons.
Since the beginning of the season the guy I wanted most is Marc Gasol but that ain't happening. In lieu of Gasol, I'd love to have LMA. He's just an excellent player - the most talented big available aside from Gasol, and with his new interest in the Lakers I'd say he's the best shot we have to get a star big. I'd be ok with DeAndre as a backup plan to LMA. But like Weezy I have serious concerns about paying max for a one way player. Still, if LMA signs elsewhere I'd give him a shot. But I don't think we're going to get him. The Floppers have a team that is more ready to go and can pay him the most. If he's really sick of Chris Paul I think he goes to Dallas over us. I just don't see him coming here - we are probably third on his list. I don't like Love, don't think Monroe is a good fit at all, don't want Brooks Lopez (another one way guy who is always hurt). I guess I wouldn't mind the other Lopez brother but I don't think he's all that great. Honestly, if we strike out with LMA and Jordan I would be happy to bring back Ed Davis and go after a SF like Harris or Carroll with our other money. If we paid Davis 7 a year and Harris 15, we could do it. Then we'd have a young starting level SF we could develop and we'd keep a decent 5/4 to go along with Black and Randle. I'd be totally cool with that as an alternative plan.
lol i was on the same boat i HATE the clippers like i hate lebron lol but i think he fits the team like a glove. and we wouldnt be signing him for what he gives us on the offensive end but what he does for us defensively. from all the guys that are possible to sign i think only chandler and marc come close to him defensively. whats working for him is his age. hes only 26 and we'd be paying for his prime years. i think bringing him in and letting him grow with our team would be big. and at the end of his contract if he's played we can extend him a few more years when our young players would be entering their prime..also i think that his intensity would rub on on our rookies and give us a little edge when it comes to playing aggressive teams lamarcus is 30 and chandler is 32 or 33 no point in bringing in aldridge because he doesnt wanna play C and chandler this would prob be his last contract and i'd like for someone to still be around when our rookies are close to developed, and thats where i think deandre makes sense.
I'm with you. I have an irrational hate for Mario Chalmers and Austin Rivers... *shudder* But let's say we go Lopez/Davis. Next year we'll have so much money we can get Durant and split the rest of the 20 million on either bringing Kobe back in some capacity or completely filling out our bench. I'll also say again I don't like DeAndre Jordan but he's a great fit if we've got scoring options everywhere else. We're gonna need a dumb lug to go get rebounds from all our wings /Randle. Basically my point is if we play this right our rebuild goes through in a year. I think it's really important for us to get a "draw" this season. We need to look really sleek and sexy to attract free agents again. Last season we looked dusty and sad... it's going to take more than Russell to wash that off.