At this point the whole, "He's only popular cause he's white." narrative has all but disappeared so teams are preparing for him. And he's STILL doing his thing.
i was the one who said a big RFA offer wasn't coming, and after his playoff performance, i'm actually thinking some team SHOULD offer him the max to see if we balk. we won't, but it's worth the gamble.
yeah, i agree. i think russell will be here, too, but his most recent statement to the press made me think he might be dumb enough to take a couple million more to play for orlando or something. or worse, pull a schroder and just burn it down without knowing there's another offer.
I mean, he needs time at this point but he will get there. West was actually better at every asset but it took him a couple years plus a bit to get to that point himself and when he started he was the clear second option and then Baylor got injured and he was the first option. Reaves is not as fluid as West was but he is maybe tougher at this early point in his career and he is clearly playing as a 3rd to 4th option but we have seen him play as the second when Lebron was out and he handled it well.
Do teams have any penalty for offering a huge contract, just to make the Lakers have to match?? The ONLY options the Lakers have to combat this is to let them have him. That would suck.
Just amazing progress in his 2nd season to be playing like this. Tremendous compilation. That has to be one of the nastiest crossovers in the league but there’s so much more he generates with the rest of his always improving handles and footwork. A joy to watch play!!
that's the punishment. but to offer it, you have to have max space, and you have to prioritize reaves over other options, as your cash is tied up for the first couple days of FA, when most things happen. but yeah, if i'm san antonio, i'm like...this guy is better than my whole team. if i don't pay him, i'm just taking on draft picks to rent my space. which is better? even if he's not a star in the end? again, i don't think a full max is coming, but i'm starting to think that anyone watching the playoffs is seeing a 20-25m per guy, and RFA has a premium attached to it.
I think the Lakers lose Rui. D-Lo does things no one does. He has to be signed. Vando and Reaves are huge priorities. If the Lakers sign Reaves, DLo and Vando and get a really serviceable ver for the MLE, the Lakers will win the off season. Hopefully a serviceable back up center for cheap too. I think Bamba, Beasley and Rui will have to go elsewhere.
I think we’re in a good spot with Rui. We have his bird rights and I can’t see anyone offering him 20m+. I think anything less than that and we resign him.
Vando is under contact for 4.6 mil already next season though. Does that still hurt our chances with Rui, like the cap hold of that money?
it shouldn't affect anything, especially when you've got team options for up to 26 million on bamba and beasley combined. if we're going to save cash, that's the first place it will come from, imo. i really don't see rui getting an offer, tbh. i think we'll offer him 3/45, and he'll take it without shopping heavily. i just can't imagine a team thinking rui's a 20m per guy, and i agree with svtzr that that's what it would take to make us balk.
Maybe his agent is talking to Shams. The purpose doesn't seem to be to get him off the Lakers, it's to increase his $. They need another team to do that.
