2016 NBA Draft Lottery Thread.

Good grief. What if this plan of Hinkie's actually works. Theoretically, next year they will have a lineup of Embiid/Saric/Simmons/?/Smith with Okafor and Noel off the bench? Damn.

 

Before the draft, I think we all thought about trading the #2 pick, but now that it's real and tangible (and likely Ingram), I don't think there's much way I do unless it's for one of the elite players like AD, Steph or Westbrook (none of which are happening). Logically, it just doesn't make sense anymore, especially with the Thunder's run here in the playoffs. The main reason for wanting to trade a top 2 pick would be to coax other free agents to our team. But I don't think there is any coaxing of Durant (at least this coming offseason) which makes one ask, why trade the pick for Cousins or Butler just to have a player who will make us a little better, but not attract the real game changers? Is Cousins and DeRozan enough to get us to where we need to be? Ingram matches our Russell/Randle timeline. At this point, I don't trade the pick. It's a cheap asset in the same age range as our other two studs. My plan would be to sign Noah and Deng to ridiculously frontloaded contracts. Give them the max (dollar amount wise) for 3 years, but give us an opt out each year. Then I would try to get Derrick Rose as a dump candidate. That gives you a starting five of Noah/Randle/Deng/Rose/Russell with Clarkson, Nance and Ingram off the bench. Hopefully resign Black as well.

I'm not trading that pick though now. We have the potential for a Big 3 in 3-4 years. Their games all compliment each other as well. Let Luke form the 3 of them into a force.

 

Thinking the same thing as Savory since we landed the pick. No way I trade it now unless it's for a superstar. I was in favor of trading for Butler, especially if it was the number three, but with Ingram or Simmons in play? No way. I think both those guys have potential to be better players than Butler.

 

And Ingram is going to be 5 million dollars a season. If Ingram, Randle and Russell start to really form something special, NEXT offseason could be very nice for us, especially if Durant signs a 1 + 1 deal which I think is likely.

 

Can we get a verbal or handshake agreement? I'm down for this.

 

Earlier in the summer we thought Butler and Cousins were more available than they are now anyway. Butler is unlikely to be moved at this point and Cousins is almost assuredly not going to be moved (new coach and a new stadium). So it comes down to... who exactly are we trading for? Is Paul George available? If not, then I'm not sure what we're talking about anymore.

Not to mention I was preparing for just the 3rd pick. At the 3rd pick I'm willing to move that for someone like Gordon Hayward. I don't think anyone at #3 is likely to give us what Gordon could, but I think at the 2nd pick you expect more value.

Now I'm fine with Ingram (or unlikely Simmons) and just filling in the holes. I still think the Lakers go after DeRozan if they can along with Horford and Biyombo. I wouldn't be shocked if they still target Barnes or Ezeli too. Noah is a tremendous fit with Ingram and yeah I'm all for Deng too. The Lakers have an opportunity to try to lure good players here to compete now while still keeping a young core that can grow too. They've got 60 million to spend and that money has to go somewhere. Maybe we even eat a big contract from somewhere to get a future pick. I could see the Lakers taking Pekovic away from Minny in exchange for a pick or two. Something like that...

Either way, I'm loving the idea of Russell/Clarkson/Ingram/Randle... Oh my goodness. They all fit on paper and are young enough to grow and peak together. Awesome. Maybe include Nance Jr and Black and... maybe Brown(?) in that. Amazing. The clouds are gone fellas.

 

Quoted for TRUTH!!! I still like Whiteside best though at the 5. I would love to go after Barnes, too. But I'm fine with any of those names (less into Ezeli, but even he's better than what we had with Roy).

 

This offseason has already been about as successful as we could hope for. It appears Whiteside is off our radar (not that we know if he was actually ever on it). I can't imagine us going after Barnes now. Him and Ingram are both too big to play sg, and Barnes making max money to either take significant playing time away from Ingram and Randle or sit on the bench, especially when we don't even know how good he is? I think we target Horford and DeRozan. We get DeRozan and then fill in with players on frontloaded contracts like Noah or Deng. Ideally, I'd pass on DeRozan and go after Courtney Lee, Noah and Deng in frontloaded deals and grab a dump.

 

Ideally for me, DeRozan is still a decent fit. Moreso now that Ingram is likely headed here. I go hard after Horford and if he turns us down, then I go after Noah and start looking for dump candidates. Ideally though, someone blinks on giving Horford a max deal and we end up with:

Russell/Clarkson
DeRozan/Williams
Ingram/______
Randle/Nance Jr.
Horford/Black?

Find a dump candidate or two to fill in SF and maybe backup C.

 

I don't mind it, but I worry about not having the money to lure Westbrook AND Durant next offseason. With all the young talent we've accumulated and having Walton as coach, all those kids have to do is show A LITTLE and the two might jump to us. Because of that, I'd take Horford over DeRozan. If Horford leads our kids to great things (30-35 wins) Tell me Durant and Westbrook don't look at us with A LOT of interest.

I'm willing to roll the dice on that possibility because we already have Russell, Randle and Ingram locked up.

 

To Lakers2015 point, I've read the opposite:

http://www.lakersnation.com/nba-rum...n-whiteside-less-than-max-contract/2016/05/16
NBA Rumors: Miami To Offer Hassan Whiteside Less Than Max Contract?
By Corey Hansford -

05/16/2016





Once free agency begins this off-season, one of the most sought after free agents will be Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside. With a massive hole at center, the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to be one of many teams attempting to bring him in.


The 26-year old led the NBA in blocked shots by a wide margin and also ranked third in rebounding. With so many teams having cap space it is expected that Whiteside will command a maximum contract this summer.

According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, however, the Heat may try to convince Whiteside to take less money to remain with the team:

There will be considerable debate inside the Heat over the next six weeks about how much to offer Hassan Whiteside when free agency begins July 1.

The Heat values him but someone who has spoken to the team’s front office said he believes the Heat will try to convince him to take something less than the max deal he almost assuredly could get elsewhere.

This mindset would make sense as Whiteside presents an interesting dilemma for the Heat. The Heat do not own Whiteside’s Bird Rights meaning they can’t go over the cap to re-sign him. This means if the Heat were to sign Whiteside to a max deal, they would have very little money to sign any other major free agents. With Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, and Joe Johnson all free agents as well, the Heat are in a tough situation.

And apparently the Heat have a major one in mind as they plan to pursue Kevin Durant, and if they are successful in doing so, it makes it highly unlikely they will retain Whiteside:

And of course, all this is moot if the Heat can sign Kevin Durant, which is Miami’s No. 1 priority in free agency. If Miami can sign Durant, keeping Whiteside becomes highly unlikely. That’s why the Heat needs a read on Durant before it can move forward with Whiteside.

The one advantage the Heat do have is that they can still offer Whiteside more money than anyone else if they choose to do so. Whiteside will undoubtedly have max contract offers from a number of different teams so the Heat may be hard-pressed to keep him for anything less.

If the Lakers do make a run at Whiteside, it would probably be better for them to go after him very early. The Lakers will have enough room to sign two max players so even if they were to lock down Whiteside, they could still sign someone else as well.