The funniest part of that incident is that it really just exposed Bobby Marks for not knowing the cap as well as Pelinka. Marks couldn’t even fathom what Pelinka ended up maneuvering with the way he timed the AD trade and first round pick signing. Probably explains why one of them only ever became an assistant GM for mediocre teams and is now relegated to a ESPN role, while the other one is the GM that brought a championship to the most glorious franchise in sports.
Still can't figure out what Mitch was thinking. If I didn't know any better I would think he did it on purpose to get back at someone in the organization.
Looked like he saw the writing on the wall and left a big pile of crap on his way out. It took a big sacrifice (DLo) to clean that up.
And what color was that pile of crap. If I had to name the color I would ironically call it KWAME BROWN. I would like to know the answer to why he did that deal. His reputation of being classy and not pre-arranging signings ringing at 12 etc does not read with him pooing on the good linen and then leaving the dinner party, but then pressure and disrespect do strange things to people. The signings sit poorly. Mosgov was such a despondent hope-free signing. Deng had been showing something in Miami before he came here, the last vestiges of his talent, flirting with a double double on good nights, being that reliable vet. Now while Danny Ferry was TOTALLY WRONG to bring race into his comments about Deng, essentially saying he was like a Nigerian Scam artist, if he had just said Deng was cunning or devious and was not honest in how he represented himself and left out MALIGNING A WHOLE CONTINENT with his analogy, I would say Danny Ferry was right. Right that Deng was crafty and the weird thing is that if Mozgov or Deng shafted us then it was Mitch was providing the gun and the five bullets. I recently heard Steve Ca$h say that he kept trying to come back because he was the last to know, and even had an anecdote about Swaggy P saying "remember what you used to do to those guys" in a back handed way of saying Na$h was toast. He certainly shafted us, but who knows if we can beat Brooklyn for the chip next season I may let go my hate for Na$h the Laker and remember sweetly my enjoyment for him as the Sun and All Star.
worse part is, he wasnt even a last resort.....according to mitch, he put in the call to both deng/mozgov right at mid night of fa opening....based on his mitch tenure with cha, not much has changed with how he operates with fa signings (giving Rozier 20M/yr) udleyshrug:
I'll never forget reading the first ticker how the Lakers were looking at Mosgov. It had just turned midnight and I was like, WTF? That's the first contact?!!
Mozgov was a weird player: he does a lot of things well and he was outstanding his first season with the Cavs. Then his Kwame Brown like poor hands seemed to get to him and he totally lost confidence Really couldn't believe the Lakers gave him that big deal. Then throw in that money for an aged Deng? Kupchak was a good GM for so many years, I agree it was really really strange.
His explanation was he wanted veteran leadership to mentor the young guys but Mosgov can't even speak English (he's Russian) and Deng was never a vocal leader for the Bulls. I still can't comprehend the decision but it's water under the bridge. The league will most likely not allow it because Deng went on to play 22 games the very next season. It's not like there was a huge separation between the Lakers waiving him and then him playing his next game. Deng just became old and useless very quick thanks to Tom Thibodeau. Tom worked that Bulls team like dogs so it only makes sense why their best players all became injured and never were the same after... Luol Deng, Noah, Rose... Tom is really overrated and needs to change how he coaches. The Lakers will have a difficult time convincing the league that Deng was truly injured. I'm sure they will contact Deng and get his opinion as well.... so maybe LeBron can slide him a few extra million dollars or something.
He almost smacked Trudell one time for asking him a dumb question. Russians have a different mentality, have to be careful with Russians sometimes. I think people forget they are still brought up over there to end your life if they are threatened.
I kinda don't get all the hate for the Deng and Mozgov signings. Mozgov was a champion and a big inside presence that could anchor the paint on defense and finish easy looks around the rim when needed. We forget that his numbers weren't great in Cleveland because he didn't get much playing time. Deng was coming off a decent year in Miami where he was still efficient. More importantly he's a great locker room veteran presence and a former all star. Yes we may have overpaid them, but that's just how free agency works now. We probably won't be real contenders within the next 4 years, so might as well make our roster competitive. Add them to the mix with the core of DLo, Swaggy, and crew? I think our 2017 Lakers are a darkhorse candidate to make the playoffs! ... is an example of the mental gymnastics I was doing later that summer in order to preserve my sanity as a Laker fan, after the initial shock of the disappointments wore out. EDIT: Okay, I was curious about what my actual reaction was back then and went back and dug into my post history and dug this up right after we signed Mozgov
This guy had the audacity of wanting out of the team when like a f'n crybaby he wasn't being treated with respect as he had wanted to. Really? After first showing up in practice extremely out of shape unbecome of an NBA player with the money he was signed for? Growing up from a 3rd world country, what infuriates me most are people who too stupid to handle huge amounts of money (hi Jimbo, Mitch, you buffoons), and those undeservingly getting paid the big bucks (Deng, Mozgov wazzup yaw).
i was fine with the players but didn't like the length of the deals from the outset. we had been so bad in FA that we needed to just target players we could get and get them. so i see why mitch thought this, too. but the lengths he had to go to in order to do that further crippled us. deng showing up as a corpse was also pretty unexpected. i thought we'd get two years out of him. he got zero minutes of useful basketball.
Mosgov as the 12:01 call and a 4 year near max was as stupid a signing as I have ever seen. He averaged 1 point and 1 rebound during the 2016 playoff run. So any of that "experience" he got was no different than Dion Waiters in the 2020 title run with the Lakers. Deng at the max for 4 years was so stupid I don't really want to comment on that. The actual execution of that tells it all.
You guys dredging up Moz and Deng reminds me of just how bad and desperate we were compared to how good and set up for the future we are now. I don't care how you divide up the credit: Jeannie, Magic, Rob, the Rambi, Klutch, LeBron... It's an unbelieveable turnaround. And through it all, the Clippers gonna clip and the C Bags did not make the Finals.
