Official 2016 Free Agency Thread

Lakers have a blank slate. Deng fits the bill of a veteran type that the Lakers will probably go after and have hand interest in before; he'd be our best wing defender (still highly effective) and can play small-ball 4; an increasingly important trait now that Luke has become our head coach.

Noah is a leader. He has durability issues, but because of those issues he'll come at a bargain, and provide the sort of veteran leadership that will be needed in a lockeroom with youth and a first time head coach. Plus, when he does play (although diminished), he plays hard, can pass and defend from the 5 position.

I see this as a rebuild, but I think the Lakers will try to expedite this rebuild by adding veterans this offseason and field a PO team. It might sound crazy, but jobs are on the line.

 

It is a rebuild, but we can't just have a bunch of young guys with no veterans. Still I'd prefer to re-sign Bass over Noah. Wouldn't mind Deng. Major upgrade at the 3 if we can't get Barnes, Batum, or DeRozan.

Batum can't stay on the floor. DeRozan is clearly not a max player. That's been evident in the seven game series against Indiana. He had one good game. Don't want him unless KD comes with. Barnes is a better fit so I'd prefer him.

 

No Deng, No Deal

 

If hypothetically, I had to chose between somehow getting the #1 overall pick or signing Durant, I might actually go with the pick.

Not to say that I think Simmons or Ingram will end up anywhere near as good as Durant (I honestly don't know much about either of them at all). But I feel like if we get Durant, management might get impatient with the re-build and prematurely dish out some of the young pieces trying to hit another "homerun".

Of course if we could keep our pick AND get Durant, that would be awesome, but I'd kinda like to see a team like this develop over several years (maybe with some vets like Deng and/or Noah to be locker room presences and ease guys like Ingram and Ezeli into the core)

Russell /
Clarkson / Williams
Ingram
Randle / Nance
Ezeli
HC: Walton

 

I would totally be down for this as a starting core, but you're right Helljumper they can't jump the gun and fool around with this rebuild. Management has no excuse since essentially it's a blank canvas they are working with. They have plenty of cap which I think is a gift and a curse, I just hope they spend wisely.

 

Dear Mitch,

Hassan Whiteside.

Do it. That is all.

 

I really hope we can snag him away from Miami. He's an absolute monster. This is his 23rd game with five plus blocks. Next closet guy has 7. He is a dominant big man defensively.

 

Defense I suppose.

They're both former students of Tom Thibodeau and vets the young guys can learn from.

 

two vets who have been part of winning teams, have been good in the locker room, play positions of need, have high hoop iq, and will probably be available. could get each on high dollar, short-term deals, I imagine.

this is the sort of thing I'm expecting this offseason.

 

No, but it's probably for the reason that posters here outlined. I'll ask him, though.

 

Deng - From my understanding, the Heat are going to have to play salary gymnastics; they have to pay Whiteside (who's due for a massive pay raise), re-sign Wade, and they're still paying Dragic and Bosh. With the salary going up, Deng performing well, his stock and price are increasing by the day. As you said, he's going to be committing to his last-long term deal, and these guys (usually, and not always the case) prioritize money over anything else.

I believe he does want to win, but we have this to sell him; $60 million in cap space and he's not the only vet piece we'd be adding. We are going to be adding other pieces along with Deng, can probably offer the most $$$ if everybody else that we prioritize in FA says NO, and we have a promising young core.

Noah - Hoiberg benched him. He felt disrespected, and I believe he doesn't like playing for Hoiberg. You're talking about an individual who is use to the Thibs culture, and well the organization loves him, Hoiberg is going to be there for the long-term. Can Noah stand to play with him for that long? I don't think so. As @abeer3, he's a guy you structure a short term high dollar deal for; similar to the way we structured Jordan Hill's $9 million dollar contract with a TO included. He's not coming off his best year, and can audition for a season to bring his stock back up.

I don't know if this answer your concerns, but I still believe we're a good landing spot. I believe things are looking up.

 

Deng and Noah sound exactly like the kind of vets we should be targeting. We have to change the culture around the team and the product on the floor. These two can help both.

 

That said, I really hope we find a way to snag Whiteside.

 

George Karl cited a lack of support from the Sacramento Kings and health issues for his firing as head coach this offseason.

Karl spent less than two seasons with the Kings.

“Vlade (Divac) has a helluva task ahead of him,” Karl said. “The roster needs to be tinkered with. He is going to be in for an NBA free agency unlike anything we have ever seen. If the decision is made to keep Cuz, you have to put the right players around him. But it can’t be about Cousins. You have to make basketball decisions.”

Karl's relationship with DeMarcus Cousins was always tenuous.

“I never felt I got into a good place with Cuz,” Karl said, “and some of that was my stupidity when I said that no player is untradeable. I still believe that. But I should have been smart enough not to say it, and I in no way, at any time, thought DeMarcus was going to get traded.”

On Nov. 8th, Karl wanted Cousins suspended two games for yelling at him after a loss to the Spurs.

“That night the bomb went off,” recalled Karl, his voice rising. “Vlade was right there. When they supported Cousins instead of me, I felt, ‘OK, I’m in the compromise position. Cuz has the power.’ They sent that message many times, too many times sent it to the players. And the players wanted someone to stand up to Cuz, and they wanted it to be their coach. But at that point, I realized that you either compromise or you blow it up, and my job was to make us a better basketball team and get to the end of the year.”

 

I' think cousins can be had for cheap if their FO thinks he's a cancer to the team

 

It won't be that cheap and it is not worth it. A big part of a successful team is having players with good character. I would rather have Barnes. I think he should be our number 1 priority.