So if we went Towns, Davis Randle, Black, Kelly FA, Young, Wes (Kobe likes him) Clarkson, Rondo (for cheap, Kobe likes) Options at 3 - Middleton (unlikely), Harris (good maybe), Barnes, Crowder, Carrol, etc. What are your preferential fits at the 3? I like H. Barnes,
Yes, they do have cap concerns. They're already at $77.5M in committed salary for 15-16, and that's before Green's max deal. They can match it, but they'll be firmly in LT territory if they do. David Lee comes off of the books the following year, but then Barnes will be due an extension.
You can't be serious with Wes... Kobe basically called him out with the "only you can mess it up" jab last year. The best realistic unrestricted options are Carroll and Danny Green. Wes Matthews is there, but he's damaged goods. The restricted options are Butler, Leonard, Middleton, Harris, Draymond Green. Harrison Barnes is still on contract through next season.
how about: I eat lee's deal if barnes is attached. you take young and I take your 30th pick (which they probably don't want anyway). I realize such a trade can't exactly happen, but something close can. lakers can start lee for a year while randle learns the ropes, have a starting quality sf in place with bird rights on a low cap number, are more competitive next year, and are locked and loaded for FA the following year.
I like your thought process. I thought about this exact scnario same weeks ago. I'd do it in a heartbeat...
The one caution is Lee's contract will take us out of the running for any potential max-free agent signings. He's set to make $15,493,480; so you have little room to work with after absorbing his contract. I'd realize you'd be getting Harrison, so I guess the question is, is getting Lee and Harrison better than what you could do in free agency? I'd explore my options in free agency and this would probably be a last resort...
Well, assuming we draft & keep 1 of Okafor or Towns(he'll go #1 but I can dream). Also assuming atleast 2 of our 3 later picks get used on guards/wings( RHJ, Andrew Harrison, & Dakari Johnson plz), here's how I would approach FA, in order: SF: (Kawhi & Draymond I consider impossible to get) 1. Jimmy Butler (our only chance is if the rumored tension with Rose leads to Butler forcing his way out) 2. Khris Middleton (I still think this is our guy & don't think they match a max offer, maybe not even a 4 year deal starting at 12 or more but I'll say 14 to be safe) 3. Tobias Harris (Hopefully 12M or less, not a huge fan of his compared to the other 2 but 1 huge advantage he brings is the ability to slide over to PF some if Randle isn't ready for 30+ MPG) If we manage to land 1 of them, I move on to a G to split time with Clarkson & step in as the starter at SG if Kobe goes down for the season, or moving Clarkson to SG if it's 1 of the smaller PG's. 1. Monta (probably going to go in the 8-10M range, coming off a season where he put up numbers comparable to the soon to be 20M Dollar Man Dragic. Will take atleast a slight raise to get him out of Dallas imo, starting at 10M) 2. Beverly, Rondo, Lin, or Mo Williams. Whoever we can steal for cheap. If we got Monta, that's it for our cap space. If it's 1 of the bargain options we probably have 3-5M left. In either case, I'm looking to unload Young for a non-guaranteed contract (Caron Butler from Detroit maybe?). Butler/Middleton's position is the last position where we need a backup capable of starting that makes 5M. Probably go ahead & dump Sacre & MAYBE Kelly too depending on our options. I know we just landed a potential Franchise Player at C, but he may need someone to split time with him the first couple years. I'd spend 4-6M on another big. 1. Bismack Biyombo (22 years old with All Defensive Team potential, a 7'6" wingspan, & 9'4" standing reach. Equal to or greater than Okafor's measurements from a guy that's only 6'9". Very mobile for a guy that can anchor a defense.) 2. Ed Davis (Love Special Ed but he can't be more than a Plan B with Bismack available) So assuming the best case all around - we unloaded all 3 of Young(5.21), Kelly(1.72), & Sacre's(.981) contracts, while adding Middleton(14), Monta(10), Biyombo(4), that puts us at roughly 63.5M including cap holds. Right around 4M in space remaining + the Room Exception (2.814M). With the remaining 4M, I'd offer Wes Matthews a 2 year 8M contract with a Player Option, so that he can opt out & get the payday he deserves if he makes a strong recovery from the achilles injury. He's likely to miss the beginning of the season but that's fine as we'd already be loaded with wings. He's more of an investment. If he returns to near full strength we'd have the inside track on keeping 1 of the better 3 & D guys in the league. So the end result looks like this: Monta/Clarkson/Harrison Kobe/(Matthews) Middleton/Hollis-Jefferson Randle/Black Okafor/Biyombo/Johnson I'm not sure if I even spend the Room Exception at this point. On paper we look thin at SG until Matthews returns but that's by design so that Monta & Clarkson both get plenty of playing time. I guess you can spend it on Ellington to make Real happy. It's a flexible roster. Combo guards at PG. Middleton can slide to SG if needed. We can test Randle out at SF in a pinch. Biyombo & Black can play both PF & C. Monta next to Kobe historically seemed like a terrible fit, but if Kobe's in facilitator mode like we saw last season, it should be a great fit. Okafor & Randle will hopefully be a dominant 1-2 punch inside. You have Middleton as the glue guy, he has a knack for stepping up wherever his team is lacking, & in this case it'll be continuing to play great defense & shooting over 40% from 3. RHJ & Biyombo would fill voids as defensive stoppers off the bench. Biyombo's minutes would hopefully be split up to where Okafor & Randle always have a guy to do the dirty work when the other is sitting. The spacing wouldn't be great but hopefully working Matthews into the rotation can bring it up to par. I realize it's an unrealistic offseason from A-Z but man, that team would be fun to watch.
Love the Monta suggestion; I think Middleton gets maxed out though, man. I haven't watched a lot of Biyombo, but I think his qualify offer his only a little over 4 million dollars (I don't know the approximate amount). Nevertheless, I would go after Ellis instead of pursuing somebody like Rondo.
Harris isn't my absolute favorite, but of the restricted FAs, he seems the most attainable. They have Aaron Gordon who is a 3 that can slide to 4 and their draft position kind of puts them in a position to snag another sfs.
They have a shot at WCS, and they could trade Gordon for all we know. If Harris was that valuable to them, which I would think so, my priority would to take the sure thing and worry about the draft pick later.
Green, Leonard and Butler would be excellent. What I'm amazed at, is how easy every FA requires max contracts LOL. In the day and age I grew up, max contracts were exclusively for absolute franchise players...now a borderline scrub like Ronto (based on current play) requires a max...a guy that has achieved literally nothing like Dragic requires a max even though he is almost 30...and then I see these guys like Middleton, Green etc...these guys would make 8-10 mio. a few years ago...and now all of a sudden everyone talks about max contracts...seems like thats the only offer that is being tossed around for every FA.
Demarre Carroll's injury looked pretty bad. Do Atlanta Hawks Stand a Chance vs. Cavaliers Without DeMarre Carroll? http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...a-chance-vs-cavaliers-without-demarre-carroll
If the Lakers go big in the draft free agency is going to be difficult at best. The top wing players are all restricted, which means that the unrestricted ones will have a lot of competition for their services. The severity of Carroll's injury will be a factor, as will the recovery process for Wesley Matthews. The guard positions are just as thin, with Dragic being the only real notable unrestricted point, and of course Rondo is still out there somewhere, sulking in the darkness and waiting for a team to talk themselves into believing they can change him. The deepest part of the free agent crop is bigs, with Greg Monroe, Brook Lopez, DeAndre Jordan, LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol, maybe Kevin Love, etc. However, if the Lakers take Okafor then the centers likely won't want to sign in LA because he would be breathing down their neck for minutes. Towns has enough versatility to possibly switch over to the 4, but it's still far from an easy sell. On top of that, adding a power forward like Love or Aldridge isn't ideal when the Lakers have another lottery talent in Randle that plays that position. That's not to say don't draft Towns or Okafor. If Mitch believes that one of them is the best talent in the draft then you take them and worry about fit later, but it will make rounding out the roster this summer a bit more challenging. Finally, I'll say this: the Lakers are a young team now. They aren't contending for a title next year, and as such it makes the most sense to target younger free agents, especially if they are getting the max. I'm not sure the Lakers want to be paying Dragic or Gasol max contracts when they are in their mid-30's and declining. Beggars can't be choosers, but I'll be more excited if the Lakers get Greg Monroe, whose "max" deal starting at $15 million per season is nearly guaranteed to be a great contract in the future, than if they land one of the about-to-turn-30 crew.
Best case scenario for us is to 1. Get Towns 2. Sign Love 3. Trade Randle for an SF I think Love and Towns compliment each other very well and we would have a great front court. Then get an athletic defensive minded wing that can shoot the 3 and we would be set. Towns Love SF Kobe Clarkson
Honestly, given the latest development (#2 pick) I feel decisions this summer have become alot less complex..... Drafting Towns or Okafor would create so much buzz that signing a big-name player (for the sake of satisfying the fans) is no longer a necessity. PG Situation 1. Dragic is too old and doesn't deserve a max. But he's perfectly happy in Miami anyway. He's not coming here. 2. Rondo is garbage. Game sucks, attitude sucks, infinitely worse than Clarkson. When Dragic and Rondo are the most coveted PG's on the market, you know it's a red flag..... possibly the worst year ever signing a PG to a big contract. Sign Lin back for MLE-type money. He has good chemistry with Davis/Black running the PnR. Lin is a good spark off the bench, but we can find similar talent on the market if he decides to walk. PF/C Situation 1. Gasol and Aldridge are on the wrong side of 30, perhaps already on the decline. 2. Jordan is a liability on offense, even playing with CP3. 3. Lopez and Monroe are intriguing, but aren't good enough to justify benching our young core of bigs. 4. That leaves Love, but it also means playing Randle at 3. We have Okafor/Towns and Randle as starters, and Black as a backup. Sign Ed Davis as the other backup. SG/SF Situation 1. Carroll and Mathews are damaged goods. No thanks to injuries (bad karma) 2. Leonard is a RFA and is quite obviously staying in San Antonio. 3. Butler may be available if the feud with Rose is true. 4. RFA wings that may be attainable if we can outbid their respective teams. --- Khris Middleton --- Draymond Green --- Tobias Harris 5. Second-tier UFA wings --- Jeff Green - player option --- Monta Ellis - player option --- Luol Deng - player option --- JR Smith - player option --- Danny Green --- Paul Pierce - player option This is the area we need to focus on improving, not getting a PG or a big. We have no true SF on our roster, and Kobe may be retiring in 2016. I feel we only have a few ways to go about our summer..... 1. If Love is willing to sign, OR if we are interested in him, slide Randle to the 3 and get another veteran wing for cheap. 2. If Love goes back to Cleveland, OR we are simply not interested, go after Butler -> Middleton -> D.Green -> T.Harris (in that order) 3. If signing of quality wing fails, go after second-tier wings
We're not trading Randle unless we're getting a star back. I'm not an insider, but from all reports, the Lakers are VERY HIGH on Randle. Unless it's a star SF coming back for Randle, a deal isn't happening.
