Mike D'Antoni Vows Changes For Pau Gasol

[nashill]

doesnt matter what changes are made, Pau has been done for 3 years now, the only change we need in regards to Pau is to trade him away

we better expect the offense will improve because there may not be a chance that the defense will improve. well knowing dantoni, cant expect anything about defense.

[Jetset]

So I have a BIG WHAT IF post. Which means this scenario is highly debatable. But say Gasol comes back and Dwight is out longer and we go on a winning streak. Nash actually gets a lot of Gasol and Gasol averages 17 and 10 as our center. Would/should we consider trading Dwight? Again I could see either argument. But we are stuck with Gasol for another year and he want's to be here. I just wonder if we can get true value from Dwight and not have to deal with some of his issues.

For example Dwight to Atlanta for Hortford, L. Williams, K. Korever.

Role with
Nash/Blake/Duhon/Morris
L. Williams/Korver
Kobe/MWP/Clark
Hortford/Clark/MWP
Gasol/Hortford/Sacre

Just seems like Gasol may "space the floor" better.

this is your second time making a "big what if" statement that involves dwight leaving. you claim you don't want him traded but your posts show otherwise. i'd rather trade you than dwight.

I think a majority of posters would love to trade you. Such a bully. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I am starting to entertain the idea of trading Dwight.

all the bitches love me. and when an opinion is unfathomably inane like that is then it rightfully deserves to be called out in the way it has. and it's sad you don't even realize how ridiculous trading dwight is, especially for what you have him going for. you traded the next 6 years of the franchise after kobe for al horford, lou williams and kyle korver, and all for the sake of "spacing the floor" for pau gasol. a player, along with kobe, that isn't even going to be on the roster a year from now. no gm in the history of sports gm history has ever traded 6 years for a year and a half, and if it ever happened the lakers would undoubtedly lose los angeles to the clippers 10 milliseconds upon it being announced.

[myersia]

all the bitches love me. and when an opinion is unfathomably inane like that is then it rightfully deserves to be called out in the way it has. and it's sad you don't even realize how ridiculous trading dwight is, especially for what you have him going for. you traded the next 6 years of the franchise after kobe for al horford, lou williams and kyle korver, and all for the sake of "spacing the floor" for pau gasol. a player, along with kobe, that isn't even going to be on the roster a year from now. no gm in the history of sports gm history has ever traded 6 years for a year and a half, and if it ever happened the lakers would undoubtedly lose los angeles to the clippers 10 milliseconds upon it being announced.

I see where you are coming from. I never said that it wouldn't be insane to trade Dwight. However, I was using the logic that our owners are using in thinking about 2014. That core group surrounded by a big name free agent coming to LA could solve a lot of issues. Kobe and Pau both expire and we have some money to build around someone else. I agree that Dwight would be the logical answer. But I think one has to be a little concerned with Dwight as a our franchise center considering his ego and past. Also I would like to see Kobe/Nash and Dwight gel better to be sure that such a combination will even work. You are also forgetting that their is a chance that Dwight walks even if we all believe he will stay.

[Jetset]

if he leaves then he leaves. but the part you're not understanding is that if la trades dwight for anything outside of lebron james then they just lost their own city by their own hand. the pressure on dwight to re-sign isn't just money based, he also has a brand that he and adidas are attempting to rebuild and maintain. if dwight leaves la he can't do so without losing $18 million and doing damage to his own brand. so why give dwight his $18 million and an out by trading him? because if he's traded he's not going to get anywhere near the backlash that the lakers are going to get. doesn't make sense.

as far as 2014, if we want to contend earlier than that season then that plan may need to be scrapped in favor of building an actual team in the meantime. if we don't care about anything before 2014 then it's best to keep what we have now rather than have horford, nash, williams, and korver taking around $28 million. at least with dwight/nash at $29 mil we'd have star power just on dwight's name alone rather than a bunch of nothing.

[myersia]

if he leaves then he leaves. but the part you're not understanding is that if la trades dwight for anything outside of lebron james then they just lost their own city by their own hand. the pressure on dwight to re-sign isn't just money based, he also has a brand that he and adidas are attempting to rebuild and maintain. if dwight leaves la he can't do so without losing $18 million and doing damage to his own brand. so why give dwight his $18 million and an out by trading him? because if he's traded he's not going to get anywhere near the backlash that the lakers are going to get. doesn't make sense.

as far as 2014, if we want to contend earlier than that season then that plan may need to be scrapped in favor of building an actual team in the meantime. if we don't care about anything before 2014 then it's best to keep what we have now rather than have horford, nash, williams, and korver taking around $28 million. at least with dwight/nash at $29 mil we'd have star power just on dwight's name alone rather than a bunch of nothing.

Well said. Outside of all of that do you think we can win with Dwight over the next several years? I know it heightens our chances but do you think Dwight can be our franchise player and lead us to gold? I used to believe he 100% could. But I have to admit I am worried that he cares more about his own brand than winning. He has the talent to contribute but I wonder if he is satisfied with his personal statistic/play (outside of averaging a few more points)? What do you think?

[Beethoven]

Pau has to play center
Pau has to come off bench

Playing Dwight and pau together is like burning two tanks of fuel when you only need one.

[Jajwanda]

For those fans that don't like the idea of Pau being a pure backup. I'd much rather spend 19m inefficiently than blow a 100m payroll because the clear-cut decision is being ignored. The Lakers have lost second and third quarters because of the Pau-Dwight lineup on defense. Then when Pau has sat the fourth quarter they've come back numerous times to fall short.

Enough is enough.

[amares goggles]

ever since he's been on the lakers I've never bought gasol being a pf. like Duncan, I think it's obvious his true position and playing style is center. it's about time people start to realize this

[richboy]

putting him in the post at least prevent runouts from other teams power forwards

This really doesn't make a big difference. Transition defense is played by the whole team and putting 1 guy in the post to prevent leak outs won't help what so ever

It makes a huge difference. Gasol is already at disadvantage in foot speed. When he is out at 3 point line your instantly under pressure because a big is running the floor and the defense has to react. Mike D played his system with Shawn Marion at the PF. You in essence had a SF at PF. He was very capable of getting back on d. Lakers are in essence playing a C at PF. He already is slower than many he is guarding. The chance of him beating guys like Blake Griffin and Serge Ibaka down the floor is remote.

Pau has to play center
Pau has to come off bench

Playing Dwight and pau together is like burning two tanks of fuel when you only need one.

That is only true in the Mike D system. They were playing fine together in the Princeton. They were playing fine together under Bernie. They would have played fine together in the triangle. If Mike D system going to be Pau Gasol stand out on the perimeter and Nash and Dwight run PNR then they can't play together.

[Jetset]

if he leaves then he leaves. but the part you're not understanding is that if la trades dwight for anything outside of lebron james then they just lost their own city by their own hand. the pressure on dwight to re-sign isn't just money based, he also has a brand that he and adidas are attempting to rebuild and maintain. if dwight leaves la he can't do so without losing $18 million and doing damage to his own brand. so why give dwight his $18 million and an out by trading him? because if he's traded he's not going to get anywhere near the backlash that the lakers are going to get. doesn't make sense.

as far as 2014, if we want to contend earlier than that season then that plan may need to be scrapped in favor of building an actual team in the meantime. if we don't care about anything before 2014 then it's best to keep what we have now rather than have horford, nash, williams, and korver taking around $28 million. at least with dwight/nash at $29 mil we'd have star power just on dwight's name alone rather than a bunch of nothing.

Well said. Outside of all of that do you think we can win with Dwight over the next several years? I know it heightens our chances but do you think Dwight can be our franchise player and lead us to gold? I used to believe he 100% could. But I have to admit I am worried that he cares more about his own brand than winning. He has the talent to contribute but I wonder if he is satisfied with his personal statistic/play (outside of averaging a few more points)? What do you think?

i believe so. can't say for certain because i don't know how his back is going to heal up, but i know he's our best shot at winning. but he can't be our head and shoulders best player on the team or else we'd be orlando magic west. there's got to be some other elite or near elite player for him to play with, preferably with leadership qualities because howard is not a leader. yeah, i guess i'd say he cares more about his brand than winning but luckily the two coincide each other. the more he wins, the more he boosts his brand. but he's not lackadaisical about the sport like bynum, and that's apparent by his work ethic in the offseason and effort on the court. i'm not worried about dwight right now or in the immediate future, i'm more so worried about how he'll be when decline starts. dwight is going to be absolute garbage when his athleticism is gone, and that's speaking as if he's going to be orlando dwight again and not like he is right now. he desperately needs to work on his game, but luckily his offseason will begin in april this year so he'll have that much more time to work.

[Ballah]

Unless Pringles has a time machine or a map to Pau's testicles and a sherpa guide he ain't going to fix a damn thing.

[JustAwesome]

He can get more production from Gasol without the use of a time machine. Just tweaks to the offensive scheme, and things would be slightly better.

[Kilroy]

I think we just saw the adjustment... Clark starting.

[Clint Eastwood]

You guys seem to think gasol is done. I as a bulls fan haven't watched enough of him lately to judge. But he does seem slower. Is it age or injury?

If you want him gone, would a boozer and Hamilton for gasol swap interest you? Salary matches, and Hamilton woul be a nice reserve for you. Boozer has played well this year and is (gasp) healthier and more mobile this year than gasol, and is as good a passer.

Thoughts?

[GAME TIME]

You guys seem to think gasol is done. I as a bulls fan haven't watched enough of him lately to judge. But he does seem slower. Is it age or injury?

If you want him gone, would a boozer and Hamilton for gasol swap interest you? Salary matches, and Hamilton woul be a nice reserve for you. Boozer has played well this year and is (gasp) healthier and more mobile this year than gasol, and is as good a passer.

Thoughts?

I don't think he is done, but playing through tendanitis in both knees and having plantar fasciitis. He has no lift in his hops. I think it has more to do with him playing through injury. His defense is pretty much atrocious, his strenth of help out D is now a weakness.

Gasol was pretty good in the olympics which wasn't to long ago, but I think it has more to do with injuries than playing out of position.

[Jajwanda]

Again it's unlikely they trade him because they hate trading players under their proper value. I'm still expecting Pau to come off the bench guarding Cs with Dwight guarding PFs.

A poster on LG threw out a CDR+Delonte West prediction. That would be perfect.

PG- Nash, West
SG- Bryant, Meeks
SF- MWP, CDR
PF- Clark, Jamison
C- Dwight, Gasol

[Mamba Venom]

What this team needs so bad is consistency. Make Pau the 6th man and put him back in his old role.

[HiiiPOWER]

Again it's unlikely they trade him because they hate trading players under their proper value. I'm still expecting Pau to come off the bench guarding Cs with Dwight guarding PFs.

A poster on LG threw out a CDR+Delonte West prediction. That would be perfect.

PG- Nash, West
SG- Bryant, Meeks
SF- MWP, CDR
PF- Clark, Jamison
C- Dwight, Gasol

doubt that happens. they don't want Delonte. they'll probably make a run at JJ Barea... offer up Jamison ( to add some scoring for Minny while Love is out) and Duhon ( who Minny can buy out after the season for 1.3m, basically an expiring ). i don't see CDR coming back. what's more likely is Kupchak finally brings in Raja Bell.

also, if you have Dwight defending PFs... that's fundamentally wrong. most PFs play outside these days and Dwight needs to be in the paint defensively altering shots. not outside chasing stretch 4s and contesting jumpers away from the rim.

[Jajwanda]

Tell that to Ibaka^

[HiiiPOWER]

Tell that to Ibaka^

tell it to Ibaka for what? Dwight's not nearly as active/energetic or quick as Ibaka. also, the Thunder have Perkins inside holding fort while Ibaka is running around. we'd have soft ass Pau Gasol " holding fort ". it's time for Gasol to move on from the Lakers. there's no way around it. i'd take Dalembert, Gooden's bad contract, and Jennings.

we don't need Gasol trying to anchor the defense at center ( because he's soft and he can't) and we don't need Gasol trying to defend PFs either. don't need Gasol posting up on the low block because he's shooting 30% from in close/post ups... don't need Gasol shooting long 2-pointers because he's shooting 39% from the outside. don't need Gasol taking up so much of the salary cap. don't need the " Gasol cloud " hanging over this team for another year. just don't need Gasol. Lakers need to have their team set come training camp of next year and they have Dwight to worry about. it's time to turn the page on Gasol. need to flip him for solid role guys who can accomplish there roles.