Ask Mr. Rambis

Yikes guys, that's a lot of notifications I've missed!

I'm still traveling so things will still be spotty, but I just wanted to check in and say hello. I have a little bit of time today, but as you've probably guessed my information and contact with folks in LA has been relatively limited, since I'm not in the office chatting away. Let me see what I can do, though.

If I missed your question, please just ping again. There's no way I can get to all this anytime soon!

Best Regards,
Mr. Rambis

 

Yes just got a chance to look at all that's been reported recently. I can't verify everything but looks to be good news!

I've been a little removed from the New Balance stuff for about a week and a half now, but I was checking in periodically. Seems as though the Lakers, while internally confident, do view themselves as the underdogs in this situation. There's been more of a focus on developing a "Plan B/C" so to speak in case the max FAs don't work out. Kawhi is still a top priority.

Last information I got is several days old, and was centered around the AEG guys presenting some promotional stuff in the meeting. But if the latest is true then looks like it will only be Jeanie/Magic, so I guess that doesn't apply anymore.

I'll be asking for more info today, so I'll keep you posted if anything interesting arises...

Best,
Mr. Rambis

 

I wouldn't think of it as bad news, more like smart planning! In my opinion it's good they have an underdog mentality, so that they don't put all their eggs in one basket (like we've seen in years past) and so they don't get too comfortable and instead work hard on their pitch!

Not having other guys is both a good and bad thing. I really think having the AEG folks pitch the business side would have been very powerful for Kawhi's camp. But they've already been in touch so it's not the end of the world. The good news is the Lakers can't bring in the wrong guys, like Kurt Rambis, to mess it up either.

-Mr. Rambis

 

Yeah, I'm thrilled Rambis and Kidd won't be there to run him off.

 

@Savory Griddles I don't think that part of the plan has changed. They were always going after Max FAs (even after the Anthony Davis trade) and had planned accordingly. I believe I posted about this in that topic. The specific FAs they're targeting has changed a little, however.

-Mr. Rambis

 

Changed in what way? Are we targeting anyone not previously mentioned, or is it roughly the same group of max candidates we’ve heard?

 

I’m thinking it goes like this

1. Kawhi - if he chooses Toronto then
2. Kyrie - if he choose Brooklyn then they free up DLo
3. Russell - if Ky goes Knicks or something, they resign Russell then
4. Butler

 

DLo is officially a resteicted free agent as of yesterday. That tells me the Nets are out on Kyrie.

 

They’re just hedging their bets. They could simply renounce his rights if they have an agreement from Kyrie. Also, if it’s just Kyrie that they add then they should be able to sign and trade DLo somewhere

 

They can renounce his rights the same we did with Randle. We gave Randle a Qualifying Offer but he declined and went to NOLA right after.

 

^^^ Doesn't count us out on DLO, but definitely makes it a bit more unlikely. If Kyrie drags his feet & doesn't make up his mind right away, I'm not sure the Lakers are in a position to wait & see..

 

Am I the only one here who doesn't really want DLO? I would take him at 12 million at most. I just don't trust him to be a complete player on both sides of the court. I think he was very inconsistent last year, despite his solid moments on the upside. I do see his upside, just think his downside may be too prevalent to mix with these other guys. I also do not think he is worth 20 mil, let along the 27 mil it says he will command. I would much rather have Butler because he will be a better defensive presence. What I saw last year is that Lebron is coasting on defense much of the time. With Davis as our ONLY solid defensive player, we will be much easier to exploit. Kawhi is the perfect fit, past that I think Kyrie works simply because he spreads the offense to well. Not sure I trust DLO to do that as well as Kyrie. Alot of this depends on who the Lakers can fit in around these guys that can help shore up our defense. In Magics day, he and Scott were moderate defensive players, but they had Cooper when they needed him and they had Kareem in the middle. It gave them leeway. But that was a lane driven offensive league back then. With 3 pointers driving the offenses now, we really need a great defensive player who can put pressure on those shooters. Butler and Kawhi do that and both have very serviceable offensive skills, Kawhi's is off the charts but Butlers is still very good. I think Kawhi can handle outside shooters better than Butler but I could be wrong about that. Just haven't seen Butler play enough to be sure of that. The other thing about DLO is that on the Lakers, he is not going to be handling the ball nearly as much as he did on the Nets, he is going to be a third or fourth option. I don't see him putting up the kind of numbers he did on the Nets. I think he will need a couple of years to adjust and we don't have a couple of years.

 

I think with DLo you consider it as a split the max for multi player approach.

The Pincus approach had him make a 23m incentivized salary where he makes 20m against the salary. Then say you bring in Beverly for 12.

A DLo + Beverly combo could be better than just Butler.

 

Well, if you can get them both, perhaps.

 

I don’t want DLo either for the reasons you outined.