Official 2016 Free Agency Thread

I think Ezeli is a good player but I don't know if I would give him that contract unless that third year is a team option and even that's a maybe. His injury history is too concerning as he missed all of the 2013-14 season and has only played 46 games last season and this season while averaging only 11 and 16.7 minutes a game, respectively. I doubt he can handle starter minutes for a whole season.

 

People want the team to improve. We're gonna have to overpay. That's just how it is with the cap going up. There will probably be one player who won't be overpaid and that's Kevin Durant.

 

Completely unsold on Derozan at max money watching him today. He does more than shoot but he shoots a lot and he's dropped from .446 regular season to .331 in the playoffs. That's huge. Forget about 3s.

I hate the notion that we must spend money because we have it. Stupid amounts of money are going to get thrown at undeserving players this summer. I'm perfectly happy waiting another year if the FO wants to do 1 year deals and/or 1+1s with team options. Our youth need to develop, Luke needs to settle in, the market will be way better next summer. If we get our pick and keep it, there's even more reason to be patient. On the other hand, if the FO can bring in the kind of guys that can play GSW ball and not have to throw everything at them, great because we aren't getting a Curry, Thompson or Green.

 

First off, these rumors and articles are all pointless. We may go after Ezeli? It's almost as if a writer put 2-and-2 together seeing as Luke is now going to be in LA. Crazy!

Anyway, one thing that needs to be stated is how overrated Whiteside is at defense. Do NOT let blocks fool you. When he has to man up, he can be roasted by average NBA bigs. And don't forget about the sense of entitlement. Maxing him out could cripple any rebuilding effort. Besides, look at the current NBA. Do we need a max center? Warriors, Cavs, and Thunder are doing just fine without them.

I'd rather throw some coin at Mosgov or try to pry a big from Denver with an asset. We don't need to throw money at a position that's basically dead in the NBA. Howard is out of the playoffs. Cousins couldn't make it. DeAndre is an overpaid one dimensional talent. Meanwhile you have the Cavs out there starting Kevin freaking Love at center.

Basically, the last thing we want to do is get "Kanter'd".

 

Couldn't disagree more. Whiteside's man defense is just fine. Has he had his bad moments? Sure, but he's had plenty of moments where he's dominated whoever was in front of him and he's been a dominant force all season long defensively. No shot blocking isn't everything, but he's had a number of huge shot blocking games. That's not by accident. He's a hell of a player. He's also the perfect fit with our young core because of his athleticism, rebounding, physicality, and defense so I don't see how he cripples a rebuild. No we don't need a max center, but who the hell are we to pass on a talent like Whiteside who's production matches his talent?

 

If I have to max one of them (Ezeli or Whiteside) its Whiteside all day.

 

I don't have time to do the research at this time, but I'm fairly, fairly confident that if you look into him getting beat on post ups, he's one of the worst bigs in the NBA. I remember watching a game earlier this season where Favors just absolutely roasted him.

And, Valanciunas has been nothing short of awesome against Hassan. Look, I'm not saying Whiteside wouldn't be a good addition, because he would be. But I'm not going to be the one who advocates maxing him out. You simply don't need a dominant center anymore. I think the fact that we'll see Love/Draymond more than anything this year in the finals proves that point. I'd throw the money at a guy like Batum before I give it to Hassan.

 

Sarcasm?

 

Nope, there's no other team that have 5 promising young players like ours'. DAR, Clarkson, and Randle are Top 5 in their draft class. Nance is Top 10. Ingram/Simmons will be Top 3. If we keep that core intact, with patience, and barring injury, (ie Portland situation with Roy and Oden) we will contend for at least decade imho.

 

So you're expecting one to be a hall of fame talent, and others with multiple multiple All Star appearances?

 

Whiteside is also a poor PNR defender ( which is more important than 1 on 1 D today for bigs ).

I'd still take him .

I still fear he won't care much about B-ball anymore after he gets paid though .

I'd probably take Ezeli over him if it wasn't for his injuries history

 

I worry about him caring after getting paid as well.

 

Well I'm hopeful that either DAR or Simmons/Ingram would eventually develop into a HOFer but that's wishful thinking.

At the very least, I'm expecting D'Angelo, Randle and Ingram/Simmons to be all-stars (maybe not multiple but at least a couple of appearances). Clarkson and Nance will be very solid role players. Those 5 players will be our core and we can always add another all-star through free agency. That should be enough talent to be contend.

 

ironically, I've accused of being in both camps within the last few pages of this thread!

the lakers WILL have to overpay to get anyone, but that doesn't mean you dramatically overpay for ANYONE.

i'd take whiteside at the max, but I think kb's point about the utility of big money centers is pretty spot on. if cousins ever got his head right, he could completely change the calculus on that by himself, but otherwise, it doesn't seem very useful. you need one credible big body, preferably with high hoop iq, and you can run fairly small outside of that. mozgov and asik types still interest me, and are/will be cheaper. ideally, you get someone like that at c, and get an impact sf plus some veteran bench players.

but man, anything's on the table for me. I can't really spend too much time on specifics until I know about the pick, though.

 

What I was thinking as well. I would like to have Bazemore along with.