I dunno about beating LMA, but certainly he's more of a contributor than people give him credit for. I'm not sure he's a long-term solution necessarily unless at some point Randle can slide up to SF, but I like him. Why some guys are down on a 25 year old who averages a double-double and scores efficiently, I just don't know. He's also a pretty passer. The only problem is he's a really bad help defender which I think we'll need. Still though, he'd be a decent get this summer if we can snatch him away from Phil.
Well it sorta is Kobe/FO's fault. Kobe is sitting on a 25 million dollar check and the FO gave it to him. The Lakers want to bring in LMA/DJ, LMA/RoLo, which are great ideas, but they don't have room.
Damn. We need to go after Harris then. He's a pretty great consolation prize if you can get him. Hope we don't lose Ed Davis in the meantime.
I feel like if the Spurs can dump Tiago, we could have attached a pick or something and dumped Young to make enough room for both of them. I'm waiting for that Kobe check to pay off. Eventually we'll be good enough and intriguing enough that the fact we pay over the top on our guys will matter. Maybe a year or two with Russell, Clarkson, and Randle has to happen for other FAs to see a good enough roster, but that contract has to pay off... right?
I feel your pain, believe that. But I must emphasize once again how far our beloved Lakers have come since the last two off seasons. Cap space this year and next, a trio of promising young players, and maybe some sleepers in Nance, Brown...both of them, and Upshaw. As a FA I too would look at the track record of the team and it's core group as a deciding factor. The Lakers are an unknown at this point. I think all our expectations on what this next season was going to be like had rose a bit too far. Gimme a 40 win team this next season that's watchable and I'll be happy.
I love Aldridge's game I think he's a solid 2nd star, but I've never been in favor of building our team around him, and certainly don't want to trade Randal if we get him. I'd honestly be 100% happy if we could get Harris and Davis back. I'm more excited to see our young kids grow as players than to get Aldridge.
Let's go young! Young guys with high talent and upside! I'm down with that. It'll take a couple years to actually look like a good team, but it'll be a fun ride getting there at least.
How is it going to pay off when the cap explodes and everyone has cash to throw around like that? I've always said 18-20 million makes the same point. We could have used that extra 5-7 million to make the moves the FO has been wanting to make.
I will admit that I am slightly worried now. Not because of LMA. He is a great player and all, but maybe not the best fit with our team anyway. I am worried because it seems we can't atract major free Agents for some reason. Maybe I'm wrong, of course. If he doesn't want to join our team, we should really try hard to get DJ. I'd be thrilled if we can keep our young guys and have him as our anchor. In the worst case, we still have to make something happen. Heck, get Biz Biyombo and I'll consider this offseason a success... But I'll still be worried.
What hurts Kobe/Lakers is that you're basically saying to sign up with us now to play with our max player in Kobe and young talent. That max player just happens to have had 3 big injuries the last year, you really think these guys are betting on him being healthy at this age? That means it will essentially be the guy they are pitching to and a bunch of young guys. For LMA, that doesn't sound great as he is already 30. When you talk to younger players, I am sure they are more open to it. Jordan maybe even more so, he knows if Kobe gets hurt it is pretty much his team, and he is young enough that he can wait a year for more talent to come.
Well to get to 40 wins we're going to need some FAs to bite on what we've got. Hopefully the meeting we're in with Monroe is going well. I like him more than most fans do. I think a lineup of- Russell Clarkson Kobe/Young Randle Monroe/Black that team can make some noise in the 30-win range. Not great, but they'll be young and fun and exciting.
I expected this crying over spilt milk (Kobe's contract) to crop up again after every disappointment. We have justified it already last year and we should still believe that justification this year. C'mon I know LMA is the best FA but he wasn't even in the conversation for gettable FAs until 2 weeks ago. As Laker fans, we should already be immune with our team being attached to every player available in trades and free agency. We should not expect most of those rumors to be true, it just leads to disappointment.
Re: Jordan- the thing is we were supposed to have Aldridge's attention. We are barely on Jordan's radar apparently while he has had two meetings with the Mavs already! I was more on board with Jordan than Aldridge for sure. I think he makes more sense. I think you can make him a strong argument and get his attention pointed this way easier with his age and what we'd offer... But I am less than hopeful we have a shot at him.
I don't think Jordan comes here, but our pitch makes a lot more sense for players that are younger, like him and Monroe. We want to say something we want to build something special with our young guys and a player like you this year, and another next year. Aldridge wants to hear how they are going to win THIS year.
I'm not so down on the "Lakers not being able to attract LMA" as everyone else. Truth is, the Spurs put together a brilliant strategy & we couldn't compete. Getting Green & Leonard to agree to contracts without signing & having TD & Manu all just waiting to see how much money is left is brilliant. It takes an entire franchise to be on the same page & buy into the plan.. Couple that with LMA being a Texas guy, no state income tax & a proven franchise that will compete Now... Lakers didn't have a chance.
Agreed, but convincing Jordan to take less money to be less competitive is rough sledding. Unless he REALLY wants to have a leadership role/be the #2 guy while staying in LA...
Sure, but shouldn't we have still left a strong impression? Woj said we didn't even do that! That's my main problem. You're right, convincing Aldridge to play here instead of SA was always a long shot, but to not even leave a strong impression is kind of an indictment on the FO.
