@tada most people agree the Lakers are out. Bresnahan was the first to officially report it. Aldridge's camp is doing their best to say the Lakers aren't out, but they are. We have no chance at him.
Great... Here we go. The Laker brass is probably trying to climb off the canvas after the Aldridge snub wondering what to do and how to do it better. Have to have confidence but...
Yeah I mean as a salesman you go into this meeting hoping for the best, but ready to end it quickly. We just don't have the time to wait around for Jordan and Aldridge while all the other options get snatched up. If I feel like this is a lost cause, which I already suspect, then after the meeting I call Monroe and offer the max right away. Then start looking at other options for SF. Maybe that's where Shumpert comes into play.
This mostly has to do with how the roster is constructed right now. Old Kobe and a bunch of young unproven guys doesn't sound that appealing to a 30 year old looking to win now. Russell, Clarkson and Randle (and hopefully Upshaw!) need to prove themselves this season. They need to stay healthy, win 35-40 games and put out a good product that will attract free agents next summer, so the Lakers can actually pitch their talent instead of their city.
I want to know why the hell a 9 & 6 guy should get $12m a year. If that's the rate, God help us all. We're going to be paying Caron Butler and JJ Barea $10m each
I'm going to stop watching now. I've wasted too much time on this today. Our best case scenario at this point is Harris and Robin Lopez. It's really up to Russell and Randle at this point. If they end up being superstars, we're back in business...in 2-3 years. If not, we're looking at a large wasteland of mediocrity. Get on the phone with KJ McDaniels reps. Offer him 2 years/10 million. Fill a need with a solid defender. Call Ed Davis. Offer him 3 years/21 million. Sign Ronnie Price to a vet minimum deal. Dump Ryan Kelly. Dump Swaggy P. Trim the fat off the roster and go forward with cheap assets that you know can be useful. Davis/Upshaw Randle/Black/Nance Kobe/Anthony Brown Clarkson/McDaniels/Jabari Brown Russell/Price Next offseason don't even THINK about resigning Kobe until you have exhausted every other opportunity. You'd go into next season with around 29 million on the books...so 60 million in cap space. No one will likely sign next offseason either unless Russell and Randle go beast mode in their rookie year (I know Randle isn't technically a rookie). Davis - 7 McDaniels - 5.5 Randle - 3.3 Russell - 4.5 Clarkson - 5.5 Nance - 1 Upshaw - 1 Anthony Brown - 1
Not too many yrs left for them to contend And like i said if they dont wanna play here eff them Gimme players who wanna play here and arent afraid of the big city and arent afraid to step into our greats' shoes
Not happening unless Randle and Russel look like the second coming of Larry Johnson and James Harden.
21 wins and possibly a basketball system that isn't attractive...I've been lukewarm on Byron given he hasn't had talent but I want to see him incorporate some of the modern philosophy (SAS, GSW)
Thank you! I have watched him make guest appearances on Laker post game shows and he is always smug like he knows something we don't. You read his articles and it reeks of condescension. Compliments are backhanded too. Then there's that other troll Ben Bolch. For all I know, they're tossing each other's salad. I am not asking for fluff pieces nor want any, just straight forward write-ups...unbiased and honest. These two clowns couldn't carry ex- L.A. Times Sports writers Steve Springer and Scott Ostler's pocket protectors. Now...I'm really, really angry.
