Wow go to bed and miss four pages!! I'm sorry if I forget to respond to someone! Re- This meeting vs. Howard/Me7o meeting: I think the reality is neither of those other two players wanted to be here. Howard knew he wasn't coming back and he probably made it fairly obvious in the meeting. Carmelo admitted LA wasn't even on his radar, but he took the meeting as a favor to Kobe. Neither guy was actually in love with our franchise and our team, so I'm not so sure the Lakers left those meetings feeling positive at all. This meeting is with a guy who by all accounts is definitely interested in what we have to offer. The key last night was making a pitch that was more impressionable than what the Spurs offer. The Spurs are still the front runner: home team from Texas with a strong FO and the ability to compete right away? That's a lot to beat. The Lakers have to not only show why their brand is better, but how we'd be more able to compete with them (and everyone else) as well. If I were in that meeting, I'd point out that between us and San Antonio, there's no more winningest franchises in the sport over the last 20 years. The difference is we've never asked our stars to take less money to stick around. We're always willing to shell out enough cash for a winner AND make the big moves necessary AND fill in our roster with good supporting players within the confines of the rules while still paying our best players what they're worth.
Aldridge is moving along in his meetings. I hope he makes a decision quickly. Also, glad we're moving quickly; time is of the essence!
After reading all these LMA to Lakers scenarios I'm getting really sold on him coming aboard, and I wasn't really a fan of his before. Hopefully it's having the same effect on him.
How were you not a fan of Aldridge? He probably been one of the most consistent and efficient offensive players of the past decade. I love his game.
Spurs just re-signed Green and traded Splitter. They now have all the room they need to fit Aldridge into their roster and split remaining cash with Duncan/Ginobili.
Damnit Hawks. Parker - 13.4 Diaw - 7.5 Mills - 3.6 Kawhi - 7.2 Joseph - 5 Anderson - 1 Green - 7.6 5 cap holds - 2.5 Total - 47.8 million Total cap space - 19 million........Is TD/Manu playing for minimum or what?
Woj has been pouring ice water on the whole LMA to the Lakers thing for days now. Haven't gotten my hopes up as a result.
And honestly, I'd love to make a splash in free agency, but it's just nice to have hope for the future for a change even if we strike out. Gimme an entertaining youthful core that plays hard every night, and I'll be enjoying this coming season. If LMA or Jordan or whoever don't want to be Lakers, that's their call. Not worried about it.
We should be a little worried about it. Not good that we can't close any of these meetings. Years ago we convinced Shaq to leave Orlando when he wasn't really considering it. Now we can't get LaMarcus Aldridge away from Portland or the Spurs? Not a good look. I'm happy to have the young guys too, but at some point you'd think we'd be able to attract SOMEONE.
Not looking good for the Lakers right now. While they are "interested" in a lot of players it feels like they put all their eggs in the Aldridge basket, but it doesn't appear that's going to happen. No way the Spurs deal Splitter without getting LaMarcus. Jordan is for some reason deciding between Mavs and Clips, and Monroe has always leaned NY. BroLo already off the market...too many teams chasing the same bigs as the Lakers.
Yes, we got Shaq here, but if you remember Shaq had no intentions of leaving Orlando until they flubbed the hell out of that situation. Every other major Laker in their history that I can think of was obtained via the draft & trade. Free agents will come, but by it's design we're going to miss out more than we hit on.
True, but this was supposed to be THE summer. We've got youth, we've got cash, and we've got opportunity and still we've got no FA in our camp right now. I don't think Aldridge would have saved us or anything, but if we can't convince someone to take our cash this summer, we're in big trouble. We're in for another 2-3 years of missing the playoffs because if we can't get anyone THIS summer, what makes us think we're getting anyone next summer either?
