Trodgers and I had a discussion about something similar to the second part, but this is different.... We signed Sacre to a 3 year deal. It's 981k if we keep him past today.
Damn great catch. I know Sacre is a low-risk low-reward move, but I just don't get tying up almost a million in him when we don't have to. Even without Upshaw there's other options at backup Center that we should be able to look at besides Rob at that amount. Knowing he costs that much, I can't justify keeping him unless we can include him in a trade.
I will be furious if we unload Randle or Russell. Clarkson I can deal with if it gets us back a nice return. But I think we value Clarkson a lot higher than other teams around the league, meaning we wouldn't get a whole lot for him. The other thing is Aldridge is not the kind of talent you blow up a team for. If Durant, Lebron, Harden, Curry...if those guys are asking, then you consider. But Aldridge is a second tier star. He's not worth breaking your team apart for. If he's insistent on us getting rid of all our young talent, give him the middle finger and tell him to have fun on the San Antonio team that had to gut themselves to fit you on the roster.
San Antonio and Houston disagree vehemently with that last statement. They're preparing to blow their team up right now.
If he really wants the best chance to compete in the playoffs today, go to the Spurs. I think the Lakers do plan on competing this year if they indeed get Aldridge, will they? Who knows, but I think the Lakers main selling point is that they will be, they have a nice young foundation set, Aldridge will help it all come together this year and then with all the space we have next year for FA that will put us over the top and we will be competing for years at the top (ideally). I understand keeping an open mind, trading a young guy or so might not be the worst thing if we can pull it off, but to strip the team of youth for a win now situation isn't the best idea, just my opinion.
Hate the thought of moving Randle for anything until at least we see what we have in this player. But Randle and how many others and who are they?
That's fine, but I'm not sure why the assumption is we'd gut ALL of our youth to appease Aldridge. I think it's far more likely just one of the kids goes to create room/bring back veteran talent IF THAT IS IN FACT WHAT Aldridge requires. We haven't come close to that stage yet, it's all conjecture just in case Aldridge asks. It's not like the Lakers are offering up all our young guys for Cousins. That's not on the table and that's not happening. IF they decide to go after a veteran to appease Kobe and Aldridge, it'd be maybe one or two of the kids for a really good veteran.
Im over cousins because of his attitude issues. The guy is a diva that whines for everything and is uncoachable i rhink he'd do more bad than good Hes talented? Yes but trading for him would be dwight howard 2.0 i dont see the winning mentality in him. Plus more salary means less to spend in FA next year
SpearsNBAYahoo: So why L.A. for LaMarcus Aldridge's free agency visits? He has a Orange County home & his rep agency, Wasserman Media Group, is in Westwood.
Agreed. If we sign aldridge, lets sign a rim protector and then maybe we get caron butler with the mle or even the vet min Russ Kobe Butler Aldridge Rim protector (biyombo) Clarkson Brown Nance Randle Upshaw I like it we can mix & match the starters and the bench based on matchups AND we still have the max to make a splash next year. No to cousins No to trading our youth
Tough call. I do not want malcontents on this team. If I could believe Cousins would keep his head on straight, I'd totally be down, but man, it's a risk. Also not sure how good a fit Aldridge and Cousins would be. aldridge needs more of a dirty work center with an elite-ish wing. Completely different scenarios. SA would be dumping mediocre role players and adding him to a geriatric core. Houston would not be giving up Harden or Dwight and dumping role players. We would be dumping young blue chippers for...who? Remember, with Aldridge most of our cap space is gone, so the players we take back for the youngsters have to have inexpensive contracts themselves. Who are those players? I'm worried we'd be trading for good but not great players who might contribute more for the next couple seasons simply because of their experience, but by year 3 it is a horribly one sided deal.
Duncan assisted in the courtship of Jason Kidd when Kidd visited San Antonio as a free agent in 2003, but this is believed to be the first time he has traveled as part of a recruiting pitch. Parker will be flying to Los Angeles from China, where has been on a promotional tour. The Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks, Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns are among Aldridge's suitors, but a source close to the situation said the Spurs are currently the frontrunner. Aldridge is from Dallas, but has an offseason home in Orange County, south of Los Angeles. His representation agency, Wasserman Media Group, is based in Los Angeles. Aldridge averaged 23.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.0 blocks for the Blazers last season. He has averaged at least 20 points and eight rebounds in each of the past five seasons. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/source...meeting-with-lamarcus-aldridge-025500451.html If I'm LMA, I ask why Pop/ownership has seen financial increase while Tim/Manu/Parker have all taken big paycuts. LMA should realize that in 4 seasons, he will go from 20m a year to an asking price of 7-8m (whatever that is in 2019 cap value). Unlike those 3 who were homegrown, what happens when the Spurs machine doesn't need you anymore?
Yep, I'm sure that's a deal set up if and when Aldridge tells them he's coming. Would clear cap space quickly.
