Don't you find it eerie that Zach Auguste gets signed by the Lakers in.................................August?
Seriously, I do like the move, low risk, but..how? Isn't this 16 players? And then we're still signing camp invites? And forwards at that? Do they not realize we can only have 15 players and that we have like 10 forwards already?
They probably want to retain his rights so they can keep him on our D-League team. We can cut up to 4 players from training camp and retain their D-League rights. If they don't have his rights then he can be drafted onto any D-League team.
It's almost certainly to stash him on the D-Fenders and I believe we can sign up to the high teens in players right now. We just have to cut it back down to 15 by the start of the season. I liked Auguste in Summer League. I'm not positive he's an NBA player, but he seemed the closest of the fringe guys on the SL squad. Hopefully he has a good camp.
I think it's a case of the Lakers trying to find what they deem is the best talent available right now. They probably like Auguste and they can lock up him up for pennies on the dollar, and if he works out, great; if he doesn't, they can waive him. We can worry about balancing out the roster during the season, IMO.
Asset acquisition. Precisely what I'm saying; as an example, not that I want or advocate trading Randle, but if you could package him and some other player(s) or pick(s) for an impact piece, you have the flexibility to do it. I believe we have something like 21.9 million dollar in expirings going into this season.
There is a big difference between "trade filler" and "assets". I don't think any GM is going to count a player that went undrafted this summer much of an asset.
No, but maybe he's decent enough to replace an asset we trade. Like if we trade Nance, do we lose A TON if we replace him with Auguste? I don't know the answer yet, but might be what's behind it. Creating options. Like signing Yi. Does losing Zubac become more tolerable if he's a good fit? You can start to see a pretty good package headed out the door for a star with young talent potentially. We'd still have Mozgov, Tarik, and Yi. How much do we really lose? And he's young enough and unknown enough that he's definitely considered an asset more than filler. If we are swinging for the fences, having 16 signed players that are a questionable fit starts to make more sense if there is a multiplayer player trade scenario out there.
I know I know, just thinking outside the box. However, if it's for the right "star", I do it in a heartbeat.
Zu is going to be a right kind of star. Find someone else to do "in a heartbeat". Soooo disappointed to hear you even joke that way.
