lol what? the first line of the article states that Walker would probably be more likely, but the headline says we're looking at Middleton. yawn. more clickbait.
Exactly. Let's say we resigned Randle to the 4 year 40 million dollar deal he wanted before last season. Is AD in a Laker uniform right now? IS Randle (playing a significant role the last two seasons) along with Ingram, Ball, and picks enough to get a deal done? Randle would be feasting right now as our small ball center with Lebron. We gave Zu away early cause we know we probably won't sign him to a long-term deal this offseason. Giving away assets and letting others walk for nothing. Sure we got Lebron, but with all his off the court activities and his comments about "not having anything to prove," It seems like he had made the decision to come here regardless of what we were doing. Are we going to resign Ingram? He's coming up on his extension too. Are we letting him walk for nothing as well if we are looking for cap space in 2020 and AD?
I could be okay with Kemba honestly. Would really depend on what additional moves we made including potential trades.
Beyond that, I'm not paying a lot of attention to the other rumors. Media is really piling on and being extra anti-Laker. It was always going to be tough to bring in two max guys and make us a contender again. Not much has changed in that regard IMHO.
if this team can't land at least one of AD, kyrie, KD, klay, or kawhi then magic and rob need to go. even kemba i'd be ok with middleton? no
Kemba is better than Middleton, but I still think he has to be your third star. Say we sign Kemba and then use the remaining room on like Brook Lopez and Terrance Ross. Lopez/Lebron/Ingram/Kemba/Lonzo with Hart and Kuz off the bench. It's a good squad, but unless KD bolts, it's not beating the Warriors. I hope KD makes his decision early. If he leaves, it opens up other avenues to contention because there is no longer a sole behemoth. Kemba and some good role players added to this team might all of a sudden be enough.
The Lakers underestimated the fact that other stars don't want to play with LeBron. We all did. When Magic hired LeBron he was damn sure he'd get a 2nd superstar in 2018. His other option was to choose PG and Kawahi over LeBron but he didn't get that dual commitment. So he chose LeBron, who wanted to be in Hollywood anyways. Pretty much every GM takes LeBron in that situation. As a chess piece and as a recruiter. Especially if you believe everyone wants to play with Bron. What we're seeing now is more of the same old news from last summer, players don't want to play with LeBron. Let's see what happens. Klay may want to get paid. Even if we strike out and get Middleton/Walker is that on Magic and Pelinka? Only if they had a chance to sign both PG and Kawahi and chose LeBron instead IMO.
Yes. I would not be OK with Kemba either. He is better than Middleton and having a big year BUT 1. He is a PG...a position occupied by Ball, who would need to be shipped out 2. He isn't THAT good to build a tandem with James and have championship quality especially with James wheels falling off slowly but surely 3. He isn't worth the max IMO as a third star unless he is the final piece and you overpay. Currently...our best 3 players are all SFs...adding Walker means out of our top 5 players all are PG or SF...I know positionless basketball bla bla bla...this team gets owned defensively.
I know beggars can't be choosers, but I'd like someone younger to extend our window of opportunity (ie insurance for when the Lebron experiment fails) Kyrie along with Davis (and hopefully Ingram or Ball) fits the bill.
Agree with this, but would prefer Kawhi with AD, as in 4 years time they'd both be early 30's (30 + 32) still contributing at a high level, injuries willing.
Kemba's actually a good fit with ball, imo. He's more of a sg on offense/pg on defense. He's a tougher fit with lebron, again imo. Despite the summer rhetoric, lebron doesn't seem interested in playing more off the ball. Anyway, walker would be overpaid, undersized, and heading for 30. Historically, that's a bad combo. Small scoring guards don't tend to age well.
BTW I hope Middleton plays like garbage tonight. If he has a big game, it sucks both ways...the Bucks will blow us out and the Lakers will be enticed to throw money at him.
Agreed. I think he and Ball can work well as a backcourt. The only thing I will say in defense of Kemba regarding his fit with Lebron is LBJ won a ring with Kyrie. Kemba is a little like Kyrie lite. About an inch or two shorter and slightly less crafty, but the same basic "shooting guard trapped in a point guard's body" type player. I still don't want him though unless, like Middleton, he's the final pieces of a summer that has us trading for AD, preferably without giving up Ingram. AD is our threat inside, Kemba does stuff on the outside, Lebron does Lebron and Ingram is our utility knife. That's a solid foursome.
If Kemba or Middleton are the type of guys we sign this summer - Magic failed. They will both get contracts they don't deserve (hopefully somewhere else).
If Kemba resigns with Charlotte, he deserves the max. Charlotte kind of owes him a lot for keeping that franchise a float with the occasional playoff appearance. And he's been pretty underpaid for the last 3 seasons. Not like Steph Curry underpaid from the "Ankle Contract," but 12 million for Kemba is an absolute steal. He doesn't deserve the max from other teams, but if he gets it from Charlotte, that seems more than fair to me.
There was a report around the trade deadline that Charlotte has all intents to keep him so it’ll be up to him if he wants to stick around.
This so much. LeBron says he wants playmakers but the ball inevitably ends up in his hands. Middleton is not close to my first or second choice, but he fits with LeBron better than Kemba. A catch and shoot 3 ball who can also play some defense. Maybe just maybe make us more appealing to Giannis down the road. We have done worse with other FA signings.
