Official 2016 Free Agency Thread

I like Barnes but it will be real difficult to pry him away from GS, and hes a RFA too.

DeRozan is someone the Lakers should, and I think will target this off season. I'm just not too sure if he would willingly leave Toronto, and come down to a rebuilding team, even if it means coming back home.

Batum is intriguing as well. It is someone that I would like to see the Lakers go after b/c I think he's a real good player at the 3 spot. He can also mix in as a stretch 4, but he is a little undersized to be at the 4.

As for all the rest of the big name FAs out there (Durant, DeRozan, Whiteside, etc.) I don't want to see the Lakers spend ALL their time trying to lure them in just to see guys like Batum go elsewhere. I do not want us to sign players to 1-2 year deals just to fill the roster b/c we struck out on the big name free agents.

 

I'm banking on Durant joining GS after they are decimated by the Spurs. It'll just need a second rounder for the Warriors not to match our offer.

 

Better health.

 

Adding Derozan would be fine for two seasons given the current level of our team (obviously not happening)

You try going from terrible to below average/average then you try adding a way better main player.

No way I'm signing DDR for 4 seasons .

 

basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/228516/warriors-prepared-to-offer-bogut-thompson-or-barnes-to-lakers-for-dwight I was an idiot and laugh at this offer nearly 3 years ago

 

Giving Barnes the max would be idiotic. Let other teams take that risk. I'd rather plug that position with a stop gap for a year than throw money at a player who isn't max valued.

 

wait--so everyone wants to max batum (at a higher rate) and not barnes?

don't get that.

 

they're just not worth hoarding cap space over. you can get players of that caliber in trade. the common denominator in my thinking is that hoarding cap space is silly. it has worked exactly once, and that took a long term plan enacted by the players involved.

flexibility is good. having 60 million in space means mostly negative things.

no, it's not. it's a long-term commitment to a young player who has proven he can play and still has some room to grow. 21 million isn't what it used to be. plus, I'd rather be paying barnes 21 million and have an improving roster than be paying that to some hibbert for a *chance* to *maybe* overpay a 30 year old paul millsap next year.

man, people better be ready to be shocked by the FA market this year...

 

Pertaining to your last sentence.

From GT:

Top 20-ish NBA Free Agents (IMO)

1) Kevin Durant
2) Al Horford
3) Hassan Whiteside
4) DeMar DeRozan
5) Mike Conley
6) Nicolas Batum
7) Dwight Howard
8) Kent Bazemore
9) Harrison Barnes
10) Dwyane Wade
11) Al Jefferson
12) Ryan Anderson
13) Pau Gasol
14) Luol Deng
15) Rajon Rondo
16) Jeremy Lin
17) Festus Ezeli
18) Bismack Biyombo
19) Zaza Pachulia
20) Evan Turner

20 Teams that could have max cap space this Summer w/o making a trade

1) Lakers
2) Philadelphia
3) Dallas
4) Washington
5) Portland
6) Houston
7) Charlotte
8) Brooklyn
9) Memphis
10) Detroit
11) Miami
12) Atlanta
13) Toronto
14) Utah
15) Denver
16) New York
17) Indiana
18) Minnesota
19) Phoenix
20) Orlando

Do the math.

 

agree on everything abeer, just because Barnes sacrificed his stats for the greater good doesn't mean he lost that potential to be a star.

 

yup, the FA market terrifies me.

I'm sort of hoping the lakers do what Portland did last year: target a couple players you know can fit in your system and grab them (by slightly overbidding on day 1) before teams get desperate and start dramatically overbidding on them. having the coach and theoretical system in place should help guide that process.

 

I honestly don't think he is sacrificing his stats. Like at all. He's just a mid-level player. He gets solid minutes and has opportunities to step up. He just hasn't done so. I won't completely give up hope that he can improve some more, but I haven't seen anything that shows he has much alpha dog in him.

Playing along with Steph, Klay, and Iggy is helping him a lot more than it hurts.

 

We do this every year guys. It's the annual Marcus Banks Free Agent Debate where a second/third tier player is elevated to the next best thing while guys with legitimate numbers are picked apart.

I like guys like Barnes and Batum, but let's not get carried away.

 

lol, who's being derisive? i think you're overrating hayward and millsap and underrating barnes and derozan (can't remember if you were among those also saying he wasn't worth it, but that's been stated very strongly in this thread of late). hayward has done nothing to deserve "absolute stud" status. he led his team to 9th place on pretty meh production vis a vis stud status (20/5/4 on 43/35 shooting). i'd give him the max, too, but let's not pretend he's a franchise savior while barnes is radioactive.

i could easily see barnes, in an expanded role, putting up high teens in points, and defending and rebounding well for his position. moreover, he's a guy who doesn't need the ball in his hands to be effective, which is important if you plan on keeping any of russell/clarkson/williams around.

as far as the trade comment: my point is that generally, superstars aren't available in trade, hence FA is the way (really, draft). anything below that level can be had via trade, provided you have some assets. one way to accumulate those is by signing useful players in FA, as opposed to rolling over space or absorbing has-beens.

my point is that you're probably not getting ANYONE on a team-friendly deal, unless you're really digging in the bargain bin, late FA, like with lou. that's a dangerous game.

so, given that if you don't get durant, you WILL BE overpaying, i don't see why we're splitting hairs on the extent. much rather have barnes at 21 than say, kj mcdaniels at 8 per or something like this.


i think the misunderstanding of my point is that i'm advocating sitting on the cash. i'm actually not doing that. i understand the philosophy there, and it may actually be correct, technically speaking. my real point is that people need to scale back what "max" means in the current financial climate. as rrofy demonstrated, there's a TON of money out there, and not a lot of great players. thus, harrison barnes is a max (and gs might keep him at that). chandler parsons, coming off microfracture and a SECOND knee surgery, is a max (and will probably have more than one team offer it). hell, dwight howard may be looking at a pay raise this summer, despite his loss of stature. the list will go on. jeremy lin was pretty high on that list...

 

If we are going to be running the GSW offense, we need shooters. DD is not one.

 

Yeah, I don't know how that got twisted either. I'd be fine with Deng/Noah or guys on that level.