RealGM

Mamba Venom wrote:Isn't Pau the largest expiring contract next year?

Next year that is huge value. We traded Kwame for Pau because he was expiring.

I think Gay and J-Smoove trade places. But I would love to see the Lakers make a run at either player OR let's see how Pau does in Odom's 2011 role as 6th man. I think Pau can handle that and be great.

Again, if the Lakers refuse to take salary beyond 2014, his trade value means nothing. You can't trade him for anything other than an expiring or future draft picks. Or the entire dream of 2014 is gone.

Can we try to get Shannon Brown back?

Letting him go was one of the biggest mistakes we have ever made.

last night was a prime example to me of why we must move Pau now or he's coming off the bench period. Late in the 4th quarter when we stopped turning the ball over we needed an athletic player to be able to switch on the pick n roll's and we didnt have that luxury.

Gunner24 wrote:Can we try to get Shannon Brown back?

Letting him go was one of the biggest mistakes we have ever made.

Trust me - you don't want Chuckie Cheese back. After two years watching him in PHX, I literally have to look away when he's in. He really believes he's Kobe

deNIEd wrote:

Mamba Venom wrote:Isn't Pau the largest expiring contract next year?

Next year that is huge value. We traded Kwame for Pau because he was expiring.

I think Gay and J-Smoove trade places. But I would love to see the Lakers make a run at either player OR let's see how Pau does in Odom's 2011 role as 6th man. I think Pau can handle that and be great.

Again, if the Lakers refuse to take salary beyond 2014, his trade value means nothing. You can't trade him for anything other than an expiring or future draft picks. Or the entire dream of 2014 is gone.

look, 2014 is a dream in general. Lakers aren't getting Lebron and there's nobody else in that free agent class that's worth the trouble. an old Dirk? they'll pass on that episode... that's why you hear about their interest in Josh Smith. 2015 is the year to go after free agents, brotha. that's when Rondo, Love, and Rudy Gay hit the market. those are the targets. don't expect Kupchak and or Buss to come out and give you an exact target. when Buss comes out and says " yeh, we'll make our run at Lebron "... they know they won't be gettin Lebron. that's just a way of them saying that we won't be taking back any super-long deals for Gasol because we'll be enjoying our cap space soon. 2015 is the year. when Nash's deal ends, Rondo will take over at PG for the Lakers... i sincerely believe that.


what 2014 will do, however, is allow Kupchak/Buss the opportunity to get Kobe on a better/cheaper contract and help their cap number because 30mill it outrageous. Kupchak/Buss would love to get their hands on Josh Smith at the trade deadline this year and sign him long term. you have to have athletic defenders in the new NBA and they would have Smith and Howard going forward and target Rondo for 2015. Rondo/Howard/Smith is the foundation of a great defensive team that can get out and run. all they'll need is a few shooters/veterans to fill in next to them.

HiiiPOWER wrote:look, 2014 is a dream in general. Lakers aren't getting Lebron and there's nobody else in that free agent class that's worth the trouble. an old Dirk? they'll pass on that episode... that's why you hear about their interest in Josh Smith. 2015 is the year to go after free agents, brotha. that's when Rondo, Love, and Rudy Gay hit the market. those are the targets. don't expect Kupchak and or Buss to come out and give you an exact target. when Buss comes out and says " yeh, we'll make our run at Lebron "... they know they won't be gettin Lebron. that's just a way of them saying that we won't be taking back any super-long deals for Gasol because we'll be enjoying our cap space soon. 2015 is the year. when Nash's deal ends, Rondo will take over at PG for the Lakers... i sincerely believe that.


what 2014 will do, however, is allow Kupchak/Buss the opportunity to get Kobe on a better/cheaper contract and help their cap number because 30mill it outrageous. Kupchak/Buss would love to get their hands on Josh Smith at the trade deadline this year and sign him long term. you have to have athletic defenders in the new NBA and they would have Smith and Howard going forward and target Rondo for 2015. Rondo/Howard/Smith is the foundation of a great defensive team that can get out and run. all they'll need is a few shooters/veterans to fill in next to them.

I'm not saying the Lakers should put their eggs in the free agency basket (I think the new CBA changes a lot)...I'm just stating what many Laker fans have been harping.

We all know that 2015 will be a big year (just like 2010). A team can become an instant contender if they play the 2015 market extremely well/get extremely lucky.

However, suppose the Lakers obtain Josh Smith. He'll be commanding a contract around $15 million. Is Kobe still going to be on the team in 2014? Will he resign another deal? Kobe originally said he planned on retiring, but he has also said he will continue to play. Regardless, Kobe will not be signing a contract for pennies. Let's hypothetically say $10 million? (I think this is still low).

So going into 2015 the Lakers would have around $45-50 million on the books (or $35-40 million w/o Kobe). Now, it would also require for the Lakers to trade away their 2014 draft pick and not sign anyone beyond a 1 year deal in 2014. It's just highly highly unlikely.

if Kobe signs any kind of deal after he expires in '14 it'll be a 1 year deal. Kupchak and Kobe talk quite a bit. if they told Kobe that Rondo was their target for 2015 i could see him signing back for even less the following year to fit Rondo in. there's very little said about this, but Kobe's gonna be a minority owner and have a % of the Lakers when he retires. he rakes in 70+million for the franchise every year. he's not hurting for money. the idea is to beat the salary cap system and put a great product on the floor.

HiiiPOWER wrote:if Kobe signs any kind of deal after he expires in '14 it'll be a 1 year deal. Kupchak and Kobe talk quite a bit. if they told Kobe that Rondo was their target for 2015 i could see him signing back for even less the following year to fit Rondo in. there's very little said about this, but Kobe's gonna be a minority owner and have a % of the Lakers when he retires. he rakes in 70+million for the franchise every year. he's not hurting for money. the idea is to beat the salary cap system and put a great product on the floor.

Fair assessment. But I believe if Kobe did decide to play after this current contract is up, he'd sign to a similar deal to KG and Duncan (3year roughly 10mill a season type of deal)

Milwaukee really does seem like the best trade partner for us.

Gasol, Ebanks, and Jamison for Ellis, Dalembert, and Dunleavy.

OR

Gasol for Dalembert, Dunleavy, and Udrih.

Why would Mitch think about trade options? You mean by giving a coach steve nash AND dwight howard that aint enough?

HiiiPOWER wrote:if Kobe signs any kind of deal after he expires in '14 it'll be a 1 year deal. Kupchak and Kobe talk quite a bit. if they told Kobe that Rondo was their target for 2015 i could see him signing back for even less the following year to fit Rondo in. there's very little said about this, but Kobe's gonna be a minority owner and have a % of the Lakers when he retires. he rakes in 70+million for the franchise every year. he's not hurting for money. the idea is to beat the salary cap system and put a great product on the floor.

If you make the assumption that the Lakers have already acquired a player like Josh Smith (making around $15 million) and keeps Dwight in LA (around $22-24 million by 2015). The cap should be at $60 million by the summer of 2015, leaving the Lakers approximately $23 million to play with (assuming no one else is on the books).

Rondo will command a deal around $15 million as well, leaving $8 million to use on 9 additional players. If the Lakers keep their draft pick in 2014, that leaves around $6.5 million.

What I'm getting at, is Kobe would have to take a minimum salary or at the most, a MLE salary. Does anyone see Kobe being a person that would be okay with a $3-5 million salary (or $1-2 million)? I know it's not about money for him anymore, but I still find that he would be open to accepting a deal like that.

I personally think Kobe retires at the end of his current contract.

TyCobb wrote:Milwaukee really does seem like the best trade partner for us.

Gasol, Ebanks, and Jamison for Ellis, Dalembert, and Dunleavy.

OR

Gasol for Dalembert, Dunleavy, and Udrih.

Can u imagine a Monta Ellis and Dwight Howard pick n roll. OMG thats almost a guaranteed basket every time in the paint. Once Ellis hits that corner were going to get a good shot. And Dunleavy can provide the shooting we need. I like this trade

I think Kobe stays two more years after his current contract ends.

deNIEd wrote:

HiiiPOWER wrote:if Kobe signs any kind of deal after he expires in '14 it'll be a 1 year deal. Kupchak and Kobe talk quite a bit. if they told Kobe that Rondo was their target for 2015 i could see him signing back for even less the following year to fit Rondo in. there's very little said about this, but Kobe's gonna be a minority owner and have a % of the Lakers when he retires. he rakes in 70+million for the franchise every year. he's not hurting for money. the idea is to beat the salary cap system and put a great product on the floor.

If you make the assumption that the Lakers have already acquired a player like Josh Smith (making around $15 million) and keeps Dwight in LA (around $22-24 million by 2015). The cap should be at $60 million by the summer of 2015, leaving the Lakers approximately $23 million to play with (assuming no one else is on the books).

Rondo will command a deal around $15 million as well, leaving $8 million to use on 9 additional players. If the Lakers keep their draft pick in 2014, that leaves around $6.5 million.

What I'm getting at, is Kobe would have to take a minimum salary or at the most, a MLE salary. Does anyone see Kobe being a person that would be okay with a $3-5 million salary (or $1-2 million)? I know it's not about money for him anymore, but I still find that he would be open to accepting a deal like that.

i believe Kobe is going to consider 3 things at the end of his contract if he wants to continue to play for LAL:

1) that if he isn't helping the front office make life easier for him ( taking less in salary) than it may be time to go
2) he'll be giving up his quest for his 6th/7th rings when the front office is building another power
3) he won't be breaking Kareem's scoring mark, at least not in a Laker jersey

he cares a lot about 2 and 3. he doesn't wanna be " MJ with the Wizards ". if you were gonna be a minority owner of the Lakers, would you trip out over a year or two of MLE money given to beat an anti-Lakers salary cap and give up 2 and 3? i didn't know this until an hour ago, but Josh Smith and Rondo are good friends. Rondo said that other than his teammates and Josh Smith, he doesn't even consider anybody else his friend around the league. Lakers get Dwight's boy Josh Smith to town and a couple seasons from now Smith will be luring Rondo to LA. nobody would like to rain on Chris Paul's parade like Rondo. Kobe will either be in or out, but the ship keeps moving.

A line up of Rondo, Kobe, clark, Smith and Howard would be good in terms of D and horrible in terms of spreading the floor If i were the opposing team I would just zone up every possession.

eablinksum wrote:A line up of Rondo, Kobe, clark, Smith and Howard would be good in terms of D and horrible in terms of spreading the floor If i were the opposing team I would just zone up every possession.

and you'd get slaughtered on the glass with your zone too. that's why Phil preferred switching defenders over zones... you stay connected to a man. whoever wins the rebound war and defends the best, wins it all... that has never failed. zones are a gimmick... they work best when opposition is undersized. Dwight's a man-child and even Rondo will grab 10-15 rebounds. hell, all 5 of those players you named could grab 10-15 rebounds against a zone lol

also, who said anything about Clark? if i had my way they'd have Ariza back by then

When was the last time a GM said anything that actually meant anything?

Other than "we stand firmly behind coach ______" being a nearly literal way of saying "you're fired".

Re: minimal trade options...

If the average basketball fan can see Pau is done I'm pretty sure most of the GM's around the league can also. Heck even Kahn in Minnehaha is smart enough to realize acquiring Pau would be a big mistake.

Any way to pry Chandler P out of Houston?