regardless of names or level of impact, I do want to see management tab a couple of players this offseason as long-term keepers. even if it's freaking aaron brooks on a four-year low-money deal, I want to see something that looks like building instead of stopgapping.
Hey you know me man I'll stick to my opinions pretty strongly even if I'm wrong! Re: Mitch saying they won't rush if they don't have to- I think he just meant Rondo because he's also said the Lakers HAVE to be aggressive in FA. I take that to mean he's going after Love and when I see Randle practicing more threes and attacking the rim, I think the Lakers are planning for it. I don't love the idea, but I think it'd be a good long-term move. For me, it's not about draft position at those players. You've also got to keep in mind who's picking those guys. Most of them are perennial bottom feeders. Charlotte, Cleveland (without being gifted all those picks, they'd still stink), Philadelphia, Sacramento, and Minnesota are responsible for most of those picks, right? For me you've got to combine two major factors in just the draft process when predicting the efficacy of a player in the NBA: the strength of the draft and the team picking. The Lakers just don't mess up many picks this high. When was the last time we drafted in the Top 10 and got a bum like some of those names? We just don't do it. In fact our worst luck I'd say comes in the teens of the first round. 1. I guess I just assume Carmelo won't ever be healthy long-term. Unless he's been faking his injuries so he doesn't have to play with bum, he said last season that his knees are degenerative. People speculated the Knicks might even try to move him this summer, but no one wants a 31 year old with knees that are falling apart. If/when Carmelo is healthy, he's effective but just like I can't count on Kobe to be there all year, I certainly can't expect Carmelo to do it either. 2. I'm not expecting Randle to be great next season (well secretly I am hoping it), but I expect him to be exciting which is half the battle. I expect him to be explosive and fun to watch and intriguing as a talent kind of like what I saw from Clarkson. Oh and by the way Clarkson in his limited time already outperformed Hardaway Jr. statistically. Jordan averaged more points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. He was also more efficient in every way except for three point shooting (Jordan was at 31% and Jr. was at 34%). My point is just that the Lakers have a lot more positivity going for them than the Knicks. A younger more dynamic roster, enough cap room to add to those guys, a stable FO, a very good owner, and then all the same benefits that come from being in a large market. If a guy picks the Knicks over this and the money is equal, he either knows something I don't know about who else will be a Knick in the future or he doesn't want to be a part of this rebuild and I think he's likely a loser. If we go head-to-head on a FA like Carroll and lose out, then Carroll isn't the guy we want. We'll find another person who is smart enough to stay away from that rat trap.
That's what they did with Nick Young which may or may not be a mistake at this point, but I'd love for them to do that with Ed Davis. I know Scott is a huge fan of the guy, I'm a huge fan of the guy, and I'd like to see him in a Laker jersey as we turn things around.
I'm a Davis fan. Still, I can't imagine that we retain Davis if we're taking a big 1 or 2 though. Can you? He's going to command more than 6M a season, and I'm not sure why we'd spend that money on a C when we can bring in a hustle/defense guys on the cheap.
I'm just not sure honestly. He's said he wants to be here, the Lakers said they want him. If we draft a guy like Towns, I could see us bringing Davis back because I'm not sure Towns is NBA ready. We could use Davis as a stopgap until Towns catches up to NBA play. If we draft Okafor, I'm not sold we bring him back at all.
I could definitely see Davis here if we signed Love or potentially various other scenarios. If we draft a center, I'm under the impression that center isn't starting right out of the gate. Byron will make him earn it. So, well, that' happening, Davis could fill the roll at the 5 in limited minutes; rebounding, blocking shots, a good-to-very good roll guy, good finisher, etc; for 6 million bucks with the cap going up to $90 million the following season, he'll be a bargain. By the way, what hustle/defense guys do you have on the radar for cheap? Just curious...
I see, guys. I won't rule it out, and I'd like to see t happen somehow. My list is short: Upshaw and Biyombo.
Great work here. I love that you included Monta and Biyombo, they're easily 2 of my favorite targets this offseason. I love the fit with Monta next to Clarkson next season and beyond, I think they would work extremely well together. Biyombo is about as good as it gets if you want a good rim protector splitting time with our #2 pick & Randle (most rookie bigs, even lottery picks only play 20-26 MPG their rookie years). K.J. McDaniels is an interesting name that I haven't seen mentioned much. He was looking like a good prospect in Philly(or atleast as good as you can look on that team) but didn't get much of a chance in Houston. Unless some team overpays, he should be available for the BAE or a portion of the Room Exception after we've added our major pieces. I'd absolutely sign him as depth at SF-SG and see what he can develop into. With both Biyombo and McDaniels at 22, I see them as 2 extra 1st rounders without the risk that they bust. I'd love to sign them both regardless of who our main targets are. If I was to change anything about those plans, for scenario 2 it'd be Middleton over Harris if possible as the goal for every scenario is signing KD next year for me and Middleton can slide right over to SG, but I definitely wouldn't be upset with Harris. In scenario 1 I find teams willing to take on the contracts of Young and Kelly, pass on Brooks and Stuckey, and use that space to bring in Monta. I go with McDaniels and our #27 or #34 pick as the backup SF's. I don't like Randle at SF but if we try it I don't want a backup that could step in and start like Young. I want Randle playing heavy minutes because if the goal is landing KD, Randle needs to build up trade value or develop enough at SF that he can back up both F spots and be valuable to us as a 6th man. In scenario 3 I think we avoid Danny Green as he's probably closer to the premium price range(expected to make 10-12 per). I love Ellis, Biyombo, and Gerald Green as value signings(and McDaniels after we hit the cap). Instead of investing the 10-12 per year in Danny Green, I try to repeat what we did with Lin. Get multiple picks for taking on a good player on a contract their current team needs to shed to sign a max FA. With the cap jumping up and Kobe expiring, we can afford to take on a multi year contract in the 10-12M range. Keep in mind, this is after we've struck out on all of the major FA's we targeted, & these teams would be giving up picks to dump a contract in order to make a major addition via FA or trade. Some teams and contracts that might make sense: Boston - Gerald Wallace. Say Ainge manages to pull off a modern KG + Ray offseason. They traded some of their million picks to absorb Derozan's contract and need Wallace off the books to sign LMA or Gasol. They have #16, #28, #33, #45 this year and a load of future picks. We could come away with a very nice haul. Charlotte - Lance. Can't stand the clown, but if taking him gets us the #9 + #39 or a future pick I'm game. Denver - Gallo. Looked done last year but that #7 looks good. New Orleans - Tyreke. No 1st this year but they could give up multiple future 1st rounders to create the space to sign a star if they think there's any chance AD plays out his QO to become a UFA. Milwaukee - Mayo or Ilyasova + filler. Matching a max offer to Middleton would put them right at the cap with only a few M to spend on free agents. Watching them battle it out with Chicago, it was clear a dominant bigman could have been the difference in the series. They got killed on the boards in almost every game. Jordan's rebounding and rim protection would put that defense over the top and make them contenders in the east imo. With no big contracts, they'd need to package multiple players to dump roughly 13M on us. #17 + #46 + Mayo + Henson + Ennis. I'm sure there's plenty of other possibilities but you get the idea. Help another team sign their ideal FA while gaining valuable picks.
I like the general line of reasoning, but I don't think we'll see a single-digit pick moved as a sweetener in a salary dump. for lin's 15 million, the lakers got the 27th pick.
Well it wasn't a 27th pick then, Houston was predicted to miss the play offs. Harden and luck catapulted them to 2nd place.
That's fine. I want a max guy this summer, though. If not, I'll settle for the 2nd tier free agents. I'd still make a run at LMA and Love if he opts out, but I wouldn't waste all my time on pursuing them.
I view/ed love as a pipe dream. makes sense for him to stay in Cleveland. the only thing that could change it would be if he opted out and they offered sub-max due to their other contractual issues. in which case the lakers would still be bidding against the same teams that are in the mix for every other max guy (texas teams and boston?).
