Official 2016 Free Agency Thread

Free agency is just too hard to predict at this point. So many problems going on and that's just the ones we know about. I can't imagine all the issues playing out behind the scenes right now.

We keep putting band-aids on broken limbs. Time to seriously commit to the rebuild on all levels in the organization.

 

Yeah we burned it to the ground already we just brought in the worst construction foreman in the business. Champ caliber FAs have got to see we are serious about getting back in the finals in the immediate future.

Why I say Derozan is a strong possibility, he's young enough and not on a contender now (and sorry Toronto you look good but you are in the weak east and not going to become champs in the next 3 years) and there aren't any real contenders offering the paper he will want. A 3 year plan to the finals isn't that bad looking in that case. I know he says he likes it there and him and Lowry are tight but the bright lights of warm LA vs old grey snowed-in Toronto as a place to live is a no-brainer when you grew up in LA. Not to mention the willingness to go way over cap well before a Toronto would commit to it. Also, like Shaq back in '96 who left a 60 win team to play here, he's at the age where he has the time for the team to build. As Kevin Ding says "very, very likely candidate for the Lakers".

He just needs to be closed and therein lies our issue that doesn't get talked about much. It's a sales job and we don't have sales people. Mitch is no FA pitch man, easily observable just in how he talks, he has the personality of a robot on a dying battery. He might be a good GM trade-pitch guy, which is conservative, between old friends and different, but not a player closer. He has 1/20th the personality of Buss, West or PJ. The pitch teams we've been sending out in free agency have been miserable to the point of Le Marcus Aldridge complaining about the Laker's pitch focus on LA's off-the-court amenities and almost total lack of basketball talk. How arrogant and incompetent is that on the FO's part to have a player say that?

In college 1/2 the job of a coach is their recruiting skills. We need a coach K in there at the table. In the living room. Likely we will just bring in Kobe, Showtime squad, for whoever we meet with. I hope they can do better than they have these past 4-5 years.

 

I'm hoping a retired kobe might become a bit of a pitch man for the organization. a guy who just got 50 million after a torn Achilles should have some nice things to say about being here.

I still think they had basically nothing to offer FAs the past couple of years, and no pitch was going to fix that. sadly, I think it's pretty similar this summer unless they make a trade prior to FA. no FA in his prime would want to take part in the long term rebuild that's happening here right now. so your choice is to dramatically shift course via trade, or to get more creative with which FAs you target. Portland went after lower dollar guys who fit what they were trying to do (ed davis and aminu) on day one of FA. they didn't waste their time chasing guys they knew weren't coming. that's worked out ok for them. maybe take a cue there.

of course, this means you know what you're doing (i.e., have a coach, system, and theory of how to get better). I KNOW the lakers don't have the first two, and I'm afraid they don't have the latter, either.

 

This is my chief worry as well. Unless the Lakers are going to blow up their young core, you should be looking at the Portland way of doing things. Forget about swinging for the big names and focus on the second tier guys that can round out our roster. If you wanna "swing"..swing for Whiteside and Batum. Let them know on DAY ONE that they are your number one priority. If we "wait" on KD, I'm gonna lose it. We just cannot afford to have another summer where we wait on guys that are very clearly NOT coming here....only to see others walk to other teams that pitched them at 12:01am. See Isaiah Thomas for recent proof of this.

 

None of this happy horse bleep is worth anything if Byron Scott is not fired IMMEDIATELY following the final buzzer on Kobe's and this f***** season's last game. If they d*** around with it at all for any length of time, then any free agent worth a bleep in this league will know that the front office is a freaking joke.

 

I'll sum up the upcoming free agency... DISASTER.
I have very little hope and my expectations are at an all time low .

 

Who you want Chicago?

This is the only type of player I'm trading any of the youngsters for. Superstar or no thanks we will work these problems out and move forward. You trade these young guys for future picks or some role players and you set this franchise back another 5 years. None of these young guys are even close to being such a distraction that we need to dump them.

Superstar or nothing

 

Yep. Reunite him with Thibs. Bring them both...

 

I'd probably take a look at a guy like Noah this offseason. He'll probably come cheap. He's older more injury prone, but the leadership he provides in a locker room is without doubt something we need right now. When Chicago was winning, he was the unquestioned emotional leader of that team. We 2-3 of those types of guys if we plan on keeping our kids.

 

maybe we should close this thread.

 

Sorry SG this seems over the top as well, incongruously amongst a history of great posts. RUN everyone .... we're doomed!!

 

No, certainly not from this. But if Boron the a-hole is brought back then yeah, lock her up.