Official 2014 Free Agency discussion

[LApwnd]

This next free agency class is absolutely loaded. You don't have the Lebron/Melo level guys but quite a few ways to spend our 30M or so in a manner that I'd be very pleased with. The top guys like Love/LMA probably don't change teams.

Marc Gasol
Aldridge
Kevin Love
Asik
Monroe
Deandre
Biyombo(RFA)
Vucevic(RFA)
Millsap
Faried(RFA)

Some very solid wings & guards as well.

Rondo
Dragic
Thompson(RFA)
Leonard(RFA)
Jimmy Butler(RFA)
Wesley Matthews
Kemba(RFA)
Knight(RFA)

I'd be good with getting almost any 2-3 of those guys. Dragic-Matthews-Kobe-Randle-Asik is probably feasible financially.

I dont see any the BIG's leaving their team with exception of Monroe and maybe Biyombo but thats by default, i dont think he's a good basketball player but I guess Cha fans seem to think he has much more potential than he's shown. I like to get Dragic/Mathews as well but I dont think Asik is feasible, he'll ask and get 8figures easily in a league where any type of 7ft will get overpaid if they show some skill set and in addition if he is as good as people say he is, Pelicans aren't going to let him go.

[lakersin4]

This next free agency class is absolutely loaded. You don't have the Lebron/Melo level guys but quite a few ways to spend our 30M or so in a manner that I'd be very pleased with. The top guys like Love/LMA probably don't change teams.

Marc Gasol
Aldridge
Kevin Love
Asik
Monroe
Deandre
Biyombo(RFA)
Vucevic(RFA)
Millsap
Faried(RFA)

Some very solid wings & guards as well.

Rondo
Dragic
Thompson(RFA)
Leonard(RFA)
Jimmy Butler(RFA)
Wesley Matthews
Kemba(RFA)
Knight(RFA)

I'd be good with getting almost any 2-3 of those guys. Dragic-Matthews-Kobe-Randle-Asik is probably feasible financially.

I dont see any the BIG's leaving their team with exception of Monroe and maybe Biyombo but thats by default, i dont think he's a good basketball player but I guess Cha fans seem to think he has much more potential than he's shown. I like to get Dragic/Mathews as well but I dont think Asik is feasible, he'll ask and get 8figures easily in a league where any type of 7ft will get overpaid if they show some skill set and in addition if he is as good as people say he is, Pelicans aren't going to let him go.

I don't know how much money will be out there for Asik.. You have to figure LMA, Love, Marc, Monroe will get paid first.. Then guys like Asik/Jordan/Millsap/Biyombo.. I'd actually be cool with getting Jordan or Biyombo instead if they were better values.

[Pointgod]

This next free agency class is absolutely loaded. You don't have the Lebron/Melo level guys but quite a few ways to spend our 30M or so in a manner that I'd be very pleased with. The top guys like Love/LMA probably don't change teams.

Marc Gasol
Aldridge
Kevin Love
Asik
Monroe
Deandre
Biyombo(RFA)
Vucevic(RFA)
Millsap
Faried(RFA)

Some very solid wings & guards as well.

Rondo
Dragic
Thompson(RFA)
Leonard(RFA)
Jimmy Butler(RFA)
Wesley Matthews
Kemba(RFA)
Knight(RFA)

I'd be good with getting almost any 2-3 of those guys. Dragic-Matthews-Kobe-Randle-Asik is probably feasible financially.

Guess we have different definitions of loaded. This free agent class doesn't look good. Aldridge will be extended. Love will never be a free agent. Gasol on the wrong side of 30 and will probably stay with the Grizz. Dragic will be looking to get paid. Realistic target is Rondo but I bet he gets traded. In the end Monroe and Knight seems the most realistic.

[milesfides]

The problem is that of overpaying and overcommitting. How many max contracts are there, 30? I don't know. But they're not all created equal.

If we're going to pay the max, it better be for a top 10 player, if we're looking to build a top contender.

Otherwise, we're better off signing players to moveable contracts who have depressed values due to circumstance. So when their values increase, we can trade up or gain more assets. I'm actually interested in our free agents, and how much we can lock them down for. Guys like Lin, Hill, Wes, X, etc.

The Lakers are kind of in a tough place, because everybody is on short term contracts, showcasing. Extend players who pan out, but not overpay...and when they can't agree on an extension, the Lakers have to have the guts to trade and not let them walk for nothing.

Boozer needs to be traded first...if the Lakers can get a pick out of him, that would be sick. Showcase him for a couple months, let him put up his 15 and 10, maybe his inflated numbers and modest 3m contract can pull a future second rounder.

That would be pretty sneaky, taking advantage of amnesty waivers to generate a pick.

[lakersin4]

The problem is that of overpaying and overcommitting. How many max contracts are there, 30? I don't know. But they're not all created equal.

If we're going to pay the max, it better be for a top 10 player, if we're looking to build a top contender.

Otherwise, we're better off signing players to moveable contracts who have depressed values due to circumstance. So when their values increase, we can trade up or gain more assets. I'm actually interested in our free agents, and how much we can lock them down for. Guys like Lin, Hill, Wes, X, etc.

The Lakers are kind of in a tough place, because everybody is on short term contracts, showcasing. Extend players who pan out, but not overpay...and when they can't agree on an extension, the Lakers have to have the guts to trade and not let them walk for nothing.

Boozer needs to be traded first...if the Lakers can get a pick out of him, that would be sick. Showcase him for a couple months, let him put up his 15 and 10, maybe his inflated numbers and modest 3m contract can pull a future second rounder.

That would be pretty sneaky, taking advantage of amnesty waivers to generate a pick.

I don't think we'll need to pay the max for some of the better players in that class.. Dragic SHOULD go for Curry money.. Matthews should go for a few M more than MLE money & be top 5 in 3PM. & we'd still have $ for Asik, Jordan, or Biyombo to anchor the defense. If Kobe is still Kobe & Randle is good, that team is ready to compete.

As for Boozer being traded, he can't.. You can't trade players picked up off amnesty waivers.

[milesfides]

I don't think we'll need to pay the max for some of the better players in that class.. Dragic SHOULD go for Curry money.. Matthews should go for a few M more than MLE money & be top 5 in 3PM. & we'd still have $ for Asik, Jordan, or Biyombo to anchor the defense. If Kobe is still Kobe & Randle is good, that team is ready to compete.

Kobe as a superstar has an expiration date. It's a big presumption to think Kobe can play at a superstar level for the next few years. And even a bigger question is Randle.

Dragic will probably get paid big money, close enough to the max to give us pause. "Curry money" is criminally unfair for Curry, fair for Dragic, but probably a bad move for us. A long term double digit contract for Dragic probably keeps us from landing a star max free agent. The question is why should we go for Dragic when we have another very good point guard in Jeremy Lin who we could lock down for perhaps much cheaper. If we do, then we do have a chance of offering a max offer to a Durant, Westbrook (and Anthony Davis )

By the way, Curry's extension happened because GS took an early risk and offered significant money to lock him down. So I would definitely look to do that with Jeremy Lin, especially because of the notoriety accompanying his balloon payment.

As for Boozer being traded, he can't.. You can't trade players picked up off amnesty waivers.

After 30 days, yes he can

[crazyeights]

As for Boozer being traded, he can't.. You can't trade players picked up off amnesty waivers.

After 30 days, yes he can

Checked Larry Coon's FAQ, and it looks like we can't trade Boozer until next July 1st. :/

The waiving team may not re-sign or re-acquire the player for the length of his contract (which includes seasons following an ETO or option), and the claiming team is prohibited from trading the player until the following July 1. If the player is eventually traded, his new team becomes the claiming team.

[Danny Darko]

Boozer cannot be traded. Amnesty pickups aren't like free agents. Too bad.

I wish Embiid was able to play this year. I would think the Noel/Embiid experiment will end in a trade and I wouldn't mind either if there is some relative healthiness going on.

[EArl]

any news on Beasley. It looks like hes a real possibility for the Lakers

[milesfides]

Well Larry coon says it, that's my bad. Thought I heard just the 30 day limitation. Well that makes it a completely inane signing.

[crazyeights]

If Boozer plays big minutes all year and we're not winning, then yeah, a pretty bad signing. But looking at our bigs rotation: Randle/Kelly/Hill/Davis/Sacre I could see needing a veteran voice in there for some insurance.

While I love Hill, he's prone to get injured and is frankly an unknown when it comes to being given this sort of responsibility (starting).

I think with some clever rotations, we'll be able to mix Randle/Kelly/Boozer/Hill/Davis in at the 4 and 5s (maybe some SF minutes here and there).

I'm guessing our FA signings are done, save for one last combo-guard guy we'll pluck out of camp.

As for next year, if we can't nab Aldridge (which is unlikely), we should either make a play ourselves or hope someone makes Matthews a nice offer and break up that starting 5 of Portland's.

Thinking on it...it's got to be abundantly clear Randle's development is paramount to our future. If nothing else, we need to have a sense of just how high his ceiling is at the end of the season/if his future is at the PF position. I say that because currently Love (although he's likely to re-sign in Cleveland once the trade goes through), Aldridge, Millsap, Faried, etc. are all 4's.

We really need to know if Randle is a foundational piece or not, and then where to improve our roster. Whether we make a strong run at bringing Marc, or trying to upgrade at PG...but then that goes into Lin's development and season next year.

Really Lin and Randle are our best hopes at reaching a new level anytime soon. Have to put them into a position to succeed. If for some reason we don't make it work with Jeremy, I'd love Dragic on this team...something tells me he loathes the Lakers, but the dude is a beast.

It's crazy how many good point guards Houston has had and let go in the past few years. Lowry/Dragic/Lin...hopefully Jeremy follows suit in taking his game to the next level like the other two.

[Kilroy]

Boozer will be fine, and I'm not sure what we'd expect for him in a trade. He's right-priced now and I don't think we'd find a better player at that price.
He'll be solid to good for us and he's not in the way of us making any whole-sale improvements.

[EArl]

We actually have a solid squad. The only spot that we really need a backup right now is our pg. I don't trust Nash and Clarkson is too young. He also seems more like a SG than a PG.

[Ballerhogger]

Definitely need back up PG..

[Dr Aki]

unless we have a crazy PG injury crisis again, we'll be fine at backup PG

we can have clarkson, kobe and henry play point in a pinch

not ideal, but i think it's more urgent we fill out the SF depth

[crazyeights]

unless we have a crazy PG injury crisis again, we'll be fine at backup PG

we can have clarkson, kobe and henry play point in a pinch

not ideal, but i think it's more urgent we fill out the SF depth

You really want to have Kobe play PG over SF? PG takes a lot of energy away from Kobe. Not only does he get away from his strength, scoring, but it affects his energy level, making him a bigger liability on defense.

[Dr Aki]

depth-wise, henry over kobe at the 1

hence the need for SF depth

[crazyeights]

PG: Lin/Clarkson/Corpse d'Nash
SF: Wes/Young/Kobe/X

Which one looks weaker to you? X was clearly uncomfortable running point last season, IMO.

The argument can be made that we should carry a full 15 man roster to be proactive this season, with such an old core, we're bound for players to miss games, so whichever way they go, I can see it as being justified for sure.

I thought the fact that we invited Appling to our training camp perhaps illustrated Mitch and Jimmy's intentions on a cheap unguaranteed PG. We shall see!

[Dr Aki]

again, i don't see why not grab both?

another backup point and another large wing

not like we have much to lose (opportunity cost-wise) given that we can only offer vet mins

[EArl]

I like the idea of always having one roster spot open in case we want to sign another free agent or make a trade etc.