I would take Terrence Jones in a heartbeat....but I don't what we can offer...Rockets love to get 1st round picks for guys like that.
hmm didn't realize both Pau and Dwight have player options and are likely going to opt out of their deals.... Would be HIGHLY ironic if we got one of the two back in a Lakers uni.....I wouldn't be surprised if we tried to get one of these guys to put next to Randle...but i dunno I def don't want Dwight and Pau is getting older...would rather go for Horford or Whiteside.
No to both. Dwight is a shell of himself now and has been really since his last season in Orlando when he injured that back. Pau is old too and it would be a layup line for opposing teams just like it was when he was last here.
I'd welcome Pau back, but I'm sure he doesn't want to come back and he's certainly not first on my list. Whiteside is a huge priority for me this summer. With or without another star, a max contract to him on the very first day of FA. I like Hibbert immensely, but Whiteside is simply a better player and a great fit for our team.
I'm actually buying into this Hassan Whiteside idea. Miami Bosh(23.7) Dragic (15.9) McBobs (5.8) Winslow (2.6) + 9 cap holds (4.5) - Assume Miami wants max room and just renounce everyone, even Wade. (He will just sign back anyway with remaining space, let's be honest) Total - 52.5.......Cap at 90.......Room left - 37.5 Sign Whiteside - 21 million Room left - 16.5 Lakers Lou (7) Nick (5.4) DAR (5.3) Randle (3.3) Nance (1.2) Clarkson (1.2 QO) Black (1.2QO) Brown (874k) +5 cap holds (2.5) - Assume we want max cap room and just renounce everyone else. Total - 27.9.......Cap at 90.....Room left - 62.1 Sign Whiteside - 21 million Room left - 41.1 If the FO had their s*** together they could pull it off because Whiteside is still young, he could develop with the young trio and be a force for many many years, that we are willing to pay for. Meanwhile Miami's window is very small and rests on the legs of Bosh/Wade. Best case scenario - Durant, Whiteside, Simmons, fire Byron Awesome scenario - Durant, Whiteside, fire Byron Great scenario - Durant or Whiteside, Fire Byron Ok scenario - No big FA, get Simmons, Fire Byron Most likely scenario - We get nothing, keep Byron Wow just went from excited to depressed while reading my own post.
Whiteside is the guy I pursue. Lock him up. The beauty of having so much cap space neat summer lends you the flexibility of chasing Durant but pursuing other players simultaneously. If I am due Lakers, this season is a throw away. I'd look for even more avenues to create more space. Young, Bass, Williams, Kelly, get rid of some of them. Put yourself in a position to add to our core building blocks.
You forgot the scenario: Whiteside/someone not Durant/fire Byron. That's the one I'm hoping for... Durant or Simmons I won't bother hoping on.
Fire Byron. Get some semblance of hope for the future. That's all about we can pray for at this point.
Firing Byron simply must happen. I'm really not banking on anything else this summer. Fire Byron and bring in a new coach and we will already have improved the team and added wins. I'd love Whiteside but I don't see Riley losing him especially to us. No way is Durant jumping to this dumpster fire. I'm also not sure how well he would deal with the LA media and spotlight given some of the issues he has had in OKC. Right now I see us bringing in a new coach and signing some mid tier free agents similar to this year.
If we finish with the 3rd pick in the draft, I really think we should look to move it so we would have a solid vet already on board to entice Free Agents. That being said, Whiteside scares me. I don't want him. The dude was a knucklehead in the past. I'm worried that a big payday (which he's yet to receive) would rekindle those sparks of knuckleheadedness.
Whiteside is a monster. He's only gonna get better. The Lakers would be foolish to not try to make a concerted effort to sign him. He'd be a big upgrade over Hibbert and a perfect fit for this young core. He would only add to it really. There's always a risk of someone like him getting paid and his play declining. Jordan Clarkson has the same risk. He was a second rounder too. The Lakers will definitely pay him and rightfully so. You add in someone like Batum and you have an excellent starting five.
I think Clarkson's hard work and the chip he has on his shoulder makes him a safe bet to continue being a good player after getting paid
Russell Clarkson Batum Randle Whiteside That would be legit. So would Hibbert at the 5 and a deeper bench.
1. Whiteside will be 27 and pretty reliant on athleticism 2. Didn't Whiteside had a grudge agains Lakers for getting Ellington over him in 2014?
I'd be ecstatic if we re-signed Hibbert for about what he's earning now and reinvested the remaining money in shoring up the bench a bit, say at backup PG. Russell/Greivis Vasquez* Clarkson/Williams Batum/Young/Anthony Brown Randle/Ryan Anderson*/Larry Nance Hibbert/Festus Ezeli*/Upshaw Hear me out: let Vasquez run that offense, dishing to shooters at the 2-3-4, and let Ezeli gobble up rebounds. Does it have to be those players? Of course not, but we could put together a team that would continue to get as a first unit, and that second unit would be devastating.