I'm to the point of just keeping the nucleus of Bryant, Clarkson, Randle,and Kelly, resigning Brown, Black, Ellington and Davis, getting their 3 draft picks, and unloading Young to free some cap room to go sign some unrestricted mid level vets that fly under the radar. Guys like Koufos, Aminu, Mo and Lou Williams,Brandon Wright, Jonas Jerebko, and Carroll. Keep under the cap leaving flexibility for future trades, and FA signings letting the new young team begin to mold itself. These young guys need to play not be brought along slowly behind high priced FA's like Rondo, Love, or even Monroe. It may mean a so so season as they mature, but with the next FA Class and the big bump in payroll they will have a good idea on how these last two year's draft picks fit.Figure in Bryant's contract of the books and they will have a boat load of cap space to work with. Then you got something the top FA's will see as a good fit for them.
Soooo all this rondo talk is scaring me... Why isn't there some article by ESPN or other sports outlet that says the Lakers will offer the max to people like Monroe, Harris, Leonard, Middleton or something. This rondo talk is scAring me. He will not make this team better. He won't. I mean, is there any legitimate argument out there that will dissuade me otherwise? If the dude couldn't play for a great coach in Dallas.... Than how could he for our coach?
Don't worry. Our FO can't be that dumb. The players you mentioned aren't really big names. Leonard is probably the most well-known one from your list, and even he rarely gets talked about. Rondo, on the other hand, is a "big" name. He gets talked about like a star with 0.1% of the impact. Bigger names = more clicks.
Heeelllllooooooo!!! Anyone here today. Damn it's dead. Last post in Laker discussion was over six hours ago. Work sucked today with no Laker talk.
I see Doc hasn't seen this yet, so I'll give you the answer as I interpret it & he can correct me if I'm wrong. Yes, if Love opts in to his player option & then is traded here, we'd have his Bird Rights after next season to negotiate an extension. Think about the Harden trade, he went to Houston right before his extension deadline & they still had his Bird Rights to give him the maximum years & raises. Bird Rights are normally only impacted by being on a 1 year contract or signing with a new team as a free agent, they transfer with players in trades. I'm not sure why it would be a S&T though. It would only be a Sign & Trade if Cleveland signed Love to an extension before trading him here. Love opting in to his option doesn't count as signing a new deal.
Not only that, but there's no evidence to support a story about the other players. With Rondo, he goes out to lunch with Kobe when he's in town. He's supposedly been set on signing here since he was still in Boston. With evidence like that to support the story, it atleast doesn't look like pure speculation & will get people talking. There were plenty of stories about Love to Boston after he hung out with Rondo & toured the city, & we saw how that turned out.
Could Atlanta Hawks star DeMarre Carroll join the New York Knicks next season? http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/04/atlanta_hawks_defensive_stoppe.html Carroll specifically mentions playing in Madison Square Garden or the Staples Center. Do it Mitch!
Jump on the Carroll train ya'll! Choo Choo! Draft Okafor or Towns and throw a big wad of cash at Carroll! Let's roooll.
It'll most likely get matched after the season he's had, but it's not a bad move. Hopefully Carroll doesn't sign too quickly if that happens. My preference is to go after Carroll since he's an UFA. That way we're able to throw as much as we need to at him without Atlanta able to just match and keep him.
We're not going after any RFA's; it's just not happening. Aldridge, Love, Dragic, and if we strike out, we'll go with the value option on some second tier free agents to pair up with Randle and Clarkson.
