Official 2016 Free Agency Thread

Alot more bearable than Cowturd

 

Late to the party on the Mike Conley potential signing debate, but I would sign him if I knew two things:

1.) DAR would slide to the starting 2 spot
2.) JC would be the swing third guard/6th man so that MC/DR/JC would get majority minutes and Lou would either be seeing little minutes or traded

I don't think Conley hinders the development of DAR with those two points put into play and having that 3 man rotation is a significant upgrade over the DR/JC/Lou trio. I would think somewhere, somehow Lou has value still and we could offload him for a similar veteran player at a different position or get a future 2nd rounder or something.

Conley (26)
DAR (5.3) / JC (2.8 QO)
Ingram (4.4) / Brown (1)
Randle (3.3) / Nance (1.2)
Whiteside (22) / Black (1.2 QO) / Zubac (1)

NY stretched - 2.2
2 cap holds - 1
Total - 71.4 million.......Still have 23 million for a backup SF (Hey Deng) and a backup PG (Hey Huertas).

*My bonus point to making it easier for Lou is..........Jabari Brown. Can he provide the similar production of Lou at way cheaper? I think he can and I hope SL he has a great showing because I think he was deserving of a roster spot last year.

 

:Headbang:

 

I've always been a huge fan of Conley, but I think the window for getting him in the P&G has closed. What has always made him a favorite of mine is his ability to do it all, especially play some top tier defense. He'll be 29 this season. 2 way players seem to conserve their energy for 1 side of the ball as they enter their 30's, and it's usually their defense that suffers. Kobe is a great example of this. Love the guy just don't think the stars aligned for us.

I'd be happy signing Whiteside and adding some veterans. I'm guessing we add a vet or 2 in a salary dump again.

 

JC's is 2.8 until he signs and then his number is whatever the first year of his salary is....

http://www.latimes.com/sports/laker...dan-clarkson-offer-sheet--20151224-story.html

Ingram's cap hold is 4.4 until he signs his contract (Usually done last to ensure max cap space) and then will be reflected when he signs his deal. This was the case with Julius Randle for SL because we were trying to get Melo and he couldn't sign which held up his SL debut.

http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/rookie_scale/2017

http://www.hoopsrumors.com/2016/06/2016-nba-rookie-salaries-contracts-first-round-picks.html

http://kysportsconnection.com/carmelo-anthony-delaying-julius-randles-contract-with-la-lakers/

 

My top 3 players to get for free agency (assuming Durant is not coming here lol)

1) Whiteside. WE NEED A CENTER. 3 years in a row our rim protection has been awful....if hes not available then Biyombo
2) Allan Crabbe. He's a SG/SF who can shoot 39% from 3s...he plays the same position as McCollum I doubt POR would want to resign him
Look at the guys stats in POR http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/crabbal01.html
3) Courtney Lee/Aaron Afflalo...a SG/SF player who is all hustle and can play D and knock down the 3 and they can even guard 3 positions.

 

TR I understand you're not excited about those two guys defensively but they could still improve with a change of scenery to LA don't you think? They're not gonna be defensive stallworths but they can take the pressure off DAR,JC and BI

 

ah my bad then!

How about Lance Stephenson? He just became a FA, Grizz didn't want him

 

Windhorst on Whiteside

 

nash trade was only a debacle AFTER he and kobe BOTH had career-ending injuries. no one foresaw that, even the most ardent laker haters.

the FO gets a pass on all that for me. where they lost me was the repeated terrible coaching hires. hires that were obviously awful at the time, mind you. and those DID set the franchise back even further. in fact, dantoni's signing, imo, was what made it so that pau left for nothing instead of being traded to recoup assets lost in the nash trade.

anyway, not sure why we're rehashing this...oh yeah, is this year's FA a referendum...i think not. as real has indicated the years of ineptitude on the court doomed FA for a while. it will take a durant-level signing to wash the stink of banal nba franchisedom off the once-regal lakers. and that's not on the horizon. so, the lakers need to pull a neat trick and beat the have-nots at their own game. i think they can.

i will say that this year's FA will be informative in terms of strategy...will they cleverly utilize their huge amount of space, or just rinse and repeat on the pitches to big names whilst useful players drop off the board. i hope they're smarter than that, and i think they are. but we'll know in a few days.