If Randle embraces a bench role as the back up 4 and finishing out games as the small ball 5, then LA can keep him. Its really on him if he chooses to do so. But its pretty obvious now that his numbers are coming off of 2nd unit players and teams that can't throw length at him (cause Jules struggles with taller frontline players). His efficiency is through the roof because Luke had him come off the bench and be the emphasis of that 2nd unit. If Randle was starting and getting more minutes, he wouldn't be as efficient and that's pretty apparent. The last games as a microcosm, Randle exploits the matchup with Denver losing Jokic/Milsap and these baby bulls being unable to throw talent at Randle to stop him. So as much as I appreciate Randle and how much he's attributing to our early success, he's a key cog in trade talks cause he needs to embrace his new role otherwise he's gone. You can't let an asset like that just walk, so I think LA either finds a way to get off of Deng with him, or they use his RFA status to play the cap game during the summer. If he embraces the role, he subs in for LaBron at the 4 and is our 1st guy off the bench. This helps us monitor LaBron's minutes and protects his longevity with us. And then when the game is in question, Randle is our small ball 5 with Bron at the 4, BI at the 3, PG at the 2 and Zo at the 1. If he doesnt' want to embrace that role, then go get some assets for him (possibly a 3rd star). Randle's caphold is 12.5M. If we somehow move Clarkson's 12.5M, then Randle essentially takes his spot in cap space next summer. We all know Randle is going to demand more than that. So that cap hold of 12.5M is actually a blessing. So moving off Clarkson and stretching Deng, LA is looking at roughly 44M in team salary with Randle's cap hold. You have roughly 60M to f*** around with to bring 2 stars in. You have the room exception amount of 4.5M to throw at BLo (and we've discussed before how that is a reality with so many centers/frontline players being available next summer and many teams not having cap space). Once we have an agreement with the 2 stars (ie LaBron/PG), then you can look at Randle to give him more than the 12.5M cap hold he has in place. George and Randle sharing Mintz as an agent actually helps us in this scenario, cause Mintz will tell Randle to hold off on signing any offersheets and having LA match it, till George/Bron verbally commits to us. Once that happens and we ink those guys, then we can break the cap to match Randle. We can also do a S&T (with Randle's blessing) to get a 3rd star, if he chooses not to embrace his current role and wants to be a starter on another team. Either way you look at it, its up to Randle on whether or not he sees a future in LA. Its common sense that you don't ditch the 2 max player scenario to pay Randle max money and have him start for us instead of a star. Appreciate Randle's attitude this year, but he has to embrace it moving forward for a spot here in LA.
embrace? when mgmt hasnt even given him any sirt of commitment along with luke having a super short lease on him? looks more like thebstaff is preparing for him to go regardless of randles efforts
You want every competitor to compete....so Randle wanting more time on the court and trying to force Luke's hand in that regard is fine by me. But you can't ignore that we've been bottomfeeders and LA needs stars. That's painfully obvious. So as much as I like Randle's attitude as of late, I'm not ditching 2 max players for him. If he's cool playing his current role, then there's a possibility he sticks in LA. If not, then you got to gain assets for him before he exits for nothing. Randle's efforts are coming in a contract year. You want to call it Randle hate then so be it. I've said numerous times...it could be BI, Zo or Kuz that's in Randle's position and I wouldn't give any of them extensions till we figure out the 2 max 2018plan. Randle just happens to be in this situation, which makes him the guy that's on the trade block. Its nothing against Randle the player.
as you stated we dont actually have 2 max room now, that 2 max plan still requires deng/jc to both be gone, until we see that happen this 2max plan is just magic fantasy talks
But there's no guarantee that we get two max players in free agency. I don't give up Randle for nothing or a pick until I find out what's going to happen regarding free agency because he can be valuable to us as a 4/5 if we only end up with one free agent. Question, what is the timeline for everything this summer? When do they have to rescind the rights to Randle say to go after free agents or give him their QO to lock him down? Someone enlighten me as to that whole process. The same goes for guys like Lopez and KCP. I mean if we are landing PG and Lebron you do whatever to get there. But if that isn't likely I'd like to retain at least some of these guys.
What you're saying makes sense, but it's up to Rob if Randle stays in LA. Something that your post made me think of: if we could find a home for Clarkson's 12.5 million without taking cash back, most people feel like we'd be giving up too much off the bench. What if Wade came here for the minimum just like he did for Cleveland? Wade doesn't have much left in the tank, but he could do well enough and would be a solid mentor for Hart. You clear Clarkson and then the biggest path would be finding something to do with Deng. The problem with keeping Julius at his cap hold is that if we stretch Deng, it's not enough money for two max deals. We'd have roughly 58 million to spend. That's enough for two mid-Max deals (Cousins/George) but just barely. The ideal situation is finding a way of getting out of Deng. At that point maybe you can attach Zubac to Deng with a couple 1sts and try to find a team with cap space, but there won't be too many. Tough questions.
Julius is clouding our free agency plan right now. Clarkson as well. They are both playing great off the bench. At this point they are probably 2 of the top 5 players on the roster as it pertains to why we are winning. F-- Deng. He's going to cost us at least one of those guys.
At this point Clarkson can be replaced more easily than Julius. He's certainly playing his way into a spot here on this roster for next season.
Well, there's blame for all three. If Deng would have come in and played last season and this season like he had the previous seasons and not shown up sweating Twinkie cream filling out of his pores, then I wouldn't be mad at Deng. I'm not mad at Nash at all for what happened there. He worked his butt off to play again. Deng sleeps in a bed filled with money and bacon grease.
58M turns into a little over 60M if we find new homes for Zu and Ennis. Durantulame has set up some precedent in that stars can take less money while a team gains early bird rights to them. Give Lebron a 30M year 1 deal with 2 option years attached making it a 3 year deal and then he can opt out get reupped via early bird rights in year 2 here. Do the same for George at 28-30M in year 1 and we're in business. You can also use Randle's year 1 extension in a S&T to bring back George and have him opt into his 20.7M player option for year 1 here and then we can reup him using his bird rights since we traded for him. There are options to be had where we can bring 2 max players here..if they agree to sacrificing some of that bag in year 1 of their contracts. Clarkson for a late pick. Randle at 12.5M cap hold with the option to break the cap via matching an offer sheet AFTER we ink our max FAs (to just under the max) and stetching Deng at 7.4M gives LA roughly 58M in cap space. You can fit 2 max guys into that space IMHO.
You can, but it's not something I'd expect at the moment. If we somehow sneak into the playoffs, then maybe I could start asking that of any signees, but I can't expect it right now. If we want to go that route though, clearing even more space would mean having 3 spots available if guys are willing to make sacrifices. The George trade idea is a good one. If we clear enough room for just one max deal and George threatens to sign here, we could offer a trade for him like the Clippers did with Chris Paul. That's of course another long-shot though. It's best to just clear as much space as possible. I'm really eager to see what Rob has in mind for Deng. We've seen some creative solutions. I wonder if there's a team out there right now willing to sacrifice cap space for Zubac/1st or something like that. Mirotic for Deng/Zubac/1st?
I still keep replaying that block over and over again, was really the turning point for us momentum wise.
I wish he would speak up and call Walton BS . He's our best player so far and 7 players play more minutes per game than him .
Yeah just wish he could find it in him to lose the obligatory 2-3 straight line no doubt about em freight train DUMB charges per game and lower his dribble from top of his chest where he usually starts his assaults on key from. And gets it picked or deflected too often because of that.
