2022-23 Team Developments: News / Trades / Free Agents / Rumors

I would pass on Butler too.

I can see us grabbing KD if we can get him for what we can offer.

 

Yeah, like I said earlier KD is the most on brand move from Jeanie and Rob. To the point I'd be more surprised if we weren't discussing it than if we were.

I really like Butler because he's built like the old model, probably has the best work ethic mixed with killer instinct of anyone in the league today. He's the culture changer that Pat Bev went on TV and said he'd be for the Lakers. You know, the one that would get us back to championship contention. Well, Jimmy is that guy. The age and salary numbers are concerning but it would be nice to have a needle mover who's easy to root for. This is a move they make if they're committed to maximizing the Bron and AD window... not sure they are.

Beal wasn't an option for us when we tried two off-seasons ago and we have fewer assets now. They'll get a lot better unless we up the pick swaps to five or something wild like that.

 

i read somewhere someone saying that bkn would do right by kd if he wanted out. would we make the short list? iffy, especially if we're 4-16 at trade time.

but i feel like if the stories are true that rob and company think there's a chance at someone, that someone has already communicated to us that we'd be the place they want to go. thus they're figuring that a 20% chance at said guy is better than whatever's currently on the table. and they may be right.

 

yeah, i could be talked into butler. but lebron's groin and AD's back have me pretty concerned. but for no picks...you're right. he's the right guy to pair with our stars.

but does miami pack in the season this early? they're not that far out of it. and getting butler when we're 12-24 isn't going to matter.

 

No, if I knew exactly when guys would get hurt I'd have put my talents to work on the Powerball on Monday or at least be raking in millions for a sports team. lol

We did get bad luck on the timing, but I felt like the early schedule would still be tough with all the new pieces and a new coach.

Yeah, it was the worst timing for it along with his slump.

I did a long post a while back about who I would've targeted based strictly on the rumors but I always preferred potential deals with Utah and Charlotte. I think the main difference between me and you and some other posters is that there was a point where once we decided to extend LeBron, I would've likely taken the best offer on the table to go ahead and move Russ and have the best team we could going into the season even if it was a bit of an overpay. I think there were ways to acquire assets back if the moves ultimately failed to deliver.

But, you know, we're here now and I just think we've all argued all that stuff into the ground.

The bigger problem for me here is I just don't have faith that our front office is going to do the right thing and build us a real team. And that's not just a shot at Rob. I question everything because of how we're organized at the top and have for a long time.

 

I gotta hope that is the case. It's always felt like the team genuinely thought they had something viable in their back pockets. Despite my pessimism I'm definitely rooting for that to be the case.

 

oh i agree. i've pushed back on everyone blaming rob, as if replacing him would fix anything. it will not. the larger organizational structure is the problem and has been the problem since magic was drunkenly wreaking havoc in the front office.

to be clear: i don't think they have anything in their back pocket. i think they have a line on something that's unlikely. it's just that what they DO have in their back pocket (trading the house for hield/turner, etc.) sucks, so they figure we might as well wait out the other options.

again, if lebron was himself right now, i'd still be saying that i expect to win 6 or 7 of the next 9 games, be near .500, and be ready to make trades without being desperate. but that ship is now sailing fast.

 

In the scope of the next couple of years, I think we have little to fear as fans. We have EXTREMELY valuable assets. AD and LBJ have 3 seasons left on their contracts counting this one, we have Westbrook's contract which can still produce some good future assets for this team, we have the Beverley and Nunn contracts and mainly, we have all of our draft capital going forward save for one FRP (2024 or 2025 depending on which NO picks). NO also can swap FRP with us this year but we do have a FRP this season. My guess is that Ham will get this thing under control and NO and us will finish with not that different records so the swap will mean little.

Point is, from an assets POV we are not sitting bad at all, we may have the most in the league. Teams that take on LBJ or AD know that they have them 2 years after this season so their trade value will be high. I don't even think Brooklyn compares to us in star assets. Kyrie and Simmons are junk and Durant is old and seems to many to have a bad attitude not to mention a 4-year deal (which may not be a good thing with KD who will cry 'I want out' "). AD, if he stays healthy, can bring back a lot, LBJ can completely change the landscape of a team's finances merely by being there. Don't think teams won't throw a lot of wampum to bag either one of them. The yield of picks we could get from those 2 would make even Danny Ainge salivate. Future assets to go out and bag some more stars and get back in the mix asap.

The point is, at what point does Rob press that big red destruct button? How much does Laker honor to LBJ for changing our circumstances enough to bring us a chip and feeding the Laker economy for 5 years play into Jeanie's mind as far as blowing it up? There is a big time Buss loyalty factor there but remember, she is the one who turned on her own brother against her dead father's wishes when the team's fortunes were down. Question is, who does she like more, Jim or Lebron? My guess is Lebron.

 

Jeannie made comments strongly suggesting that they want to give LeBron at shot to play with Bronny. I don't know what would have to happen for us to really pull the plug on him.

I'd rank trading AD far ahead of trading LeBron and even that is a long shot to me.

 

Yeah before I read this I edited my post to add a comment about Jeanie and loyalty. That's the big question in my mind. The thing is do you wait for 2 years of misery before finally going "ok, enough" and then having little value at all on LBJ to trade.

Is it "I'll bring you one chip in 7-8 years but the deal is most of those years will be painful to watch and I'll want my son on the team at the end of it all".

 

both our stars are injury prone, theres no trade that save them this season

 

Lebron would only be traded if he requested a trade. There is zero chance the Lakers would initiate that.

The only place that would make sense for Lebron, if he would leave, would be Cleveland. Having said that, he isn’t leaving. His kids are in school in Cali, he’s not going to move back east

 

Double down on aging stars that will continue to miss games as the seasons progress.
Check.
Continue to sell the fans on,”When we get the next star, everything will be all right.”
Check.
Fire the people who had nothing to do with the mess you created.
Check.
EXTEND one of the masterminds behind dismantling a Championship Team.
Check.
Alienate your fan base by continuing to bring in players they despise.
Check.
Our Front Office is rotting from the top down and that’s just the simple Truth.

 

Translation to Rob:

 

Meanwhile, our city edition jerseys are consistent with this season's "Everything Blows" theme:

 

i miss when NBA teams had one home jersey, one road jersey, and maybe one alternate

now every team has 20 different jerseys

i also miss when NBA coaches would wear suits on the sideline

 

They should have kept in reasonable rotation the black Kobe uniforms. For multiple reasons not least of which they looked freaking awesome.

 

Yup.

Give me purple away and actually gold for home. Sunday whites are fine and I’d add the mamba blacks as well.

these “city edition” jerseys are always ugly

 

I loved those jerseys, and I love how the team seemed to channel Kobe when they wore them. I think they were undefeated (or maybe just lost one game)?

So while my initial reaction is that yeah I wish we kept those jerseys… now that I think about it, I think it’s better we wait until the team is no longer a dumpster fire to bring them back lol

This current squad wearing that jersey as they lose game after game would just be disrespectful

 

This is stars league. Trading Bron and AD for picks and decent players gets us nowhere. We always had a superstar on the team, im not sure we'll get one in the near future.