Official Speculation Thread (Pt. XLIX"Reg. Season"Ed.)

[rcklsscognition]

George Karl says he wanted Vucevic in the Dwight trade and if the Magic hadn't taken Nicholson the Nuggets were going to draft him.

[AhaAha]

Earl Clark looking good for the Lakers in limited minutes.

[Bensational]

I'm not a Rudy Gay hater. If we still had Dwight I would be ALL IN for him. We just are too far away from where we need to be to trade for that Monster contract (for his production). Rudy Gay isn't going to get us into contention but he sure as hell would take away the financial flexibility to obtain other players to get us there; all while keeping us from an opportunity to draft a star.

Now, if you tell me we could trade some of our bad contracts for him (like Hedo and/or Harrington) then I'm probably game even though we still would be adding contact years. Good luck getting Memphis to take that type of offer seriously though.

i guess it comes down to how you want to invest your money over the next 3 years.

$21M per season into Jameer + Afflalo + BBD

or

< $20M per season into Gay

I know that with Jameer + Aff + BBD, when all 3 are healthy, they're able to keep us as playoff contenders. doesn't help for the tankers, and doesn't make a lick of difference in terms of competing for a 'ship, as all players are close to their peaks, and their success greatly lowers our odds of landing a superstar via the draft.

with Gay, i'm not sure he's good enough to single-handedly push us into the playoffs, particularly if you move some of the other pieces that keep us at our most competitive.

ie, deal BBD + Afflalo, don't pick up Jameer's option after 2013, don't pick up options on Hedo or Al after this season.

Vucevic/Ayon/KOQ
Nicholson
Gay/Harkless
Moore

2013 rookie
2014 rookie

That's roughly $30M worth of salaries there, plus a couple of rookie salaries. Who knows, we may have managed to land a Bazz/McLemore/Wiggins amongst those picks? Or maybe not. still, we'd have room to chase 1 max FA from that 2014 FA class. had we kept BBD and Aff, we'd have an extra $7M to spend. if we kept Jameer on top of that, we'd have less money to spend, but we'd have 3 starting caliber players taking up roster spots that we may well be trying to convince FA's to take.

[thelead]

I'm not a Rudy Gay hater. If we still had Dwight I would be ALL IN for him. We just are too far away from where we need to be to trade for that Monster contract (for his production). Rudy Gay isn't going to get us into contention but he sure as hell would take away the financial flexibility to obtain other players to get us there; all while keeping us from an opportunity to draft a star.

Now, if you tell me we could trade some of our bad contracts for him (like Hedo and/or Harrington) then I'm probably game even though we still would be adding contact years. Good luck getting Memphis to take that type of offer seriously though.

i guess it comes down to how you want to invest your money over the next 3 years.

$21M per season into Jameer + Afflalo + BBD

or

< $20M per season into Gay

I know that with Jameer + Aff + BBD, when all 3 are healthy, they're able to keep us as playoff contenders. doesn't help for the tankers, and doesn't make a lick of difference in terms of competing for a 'ship, as all players are close to their peaks, and their success greatly lowers our odds of landing a superstar via the draft.

with Gay, i'm not sure he's good enough to single-handedly push us into the playoffs, particularly if you move some of the other pieces that keep us at our most competitive.

ie, deal BBD + Afflalo, don't pick up Jameer's option after 2013, don't pick up options on Hedo or Al after this season.

Vucevic/Ayon/KOQ
Nicholson
Gay/Harkless
Moore

2013 rookie
2014 rookie

That's roughly $30M worth of salaries there, plus a couple of rookie salaries. Who knows, we may have managed to land a Bazz/McLemore/Wiggins amongst those picks? Or maybe not. still, we'd have room to chase 1 max FA from that 2014 FA class. had we kept BBD and Aff, we'd have an extra $7M to spend. if we kept Jameer on top of that, we'd have less money to spend, but we'd have 3 starting caliber players taking up roster spots that we may well be trying to convince FA's to take.

I would probably be okay with the BBD+Afflalo idea but I'm also just hoping to package those guys to move up the draft to pick our guy if we don't land the pick we need. I also doubt Hollinger values Afflalo with what the advanced stats say about his defense.

[Bensational]

I would probably be okay with the BBD+Afflalo idea but I'm also just hoping to package those guys to move up the draft to pick our guy if we don't land the pick we need. I also doubt Hollinger values Afflalo with what the advanced stats say about his defense.

oh no, i wasn't saying we deal BBD + Afflalo for Gay, i was just saying we make sure to deal them after we deal for Gay. Hollinger may not be too fussed on Aff, but a 3rd team (Minnesota?) might.

if Memphis blow it up and deal ZBo AND Gay, then they'll be looking for smart, efficiently paid players, as well as youth and prospects, and players that are favoured by advanced stats. our guys are efficiently paid, but they don't perform well in common advanced stats.

if they're looking at Dudley, then they may also be looking at guys like Novak. may well be worth trying to swing a 3 team deal with NYK.

i also wouldn't be surprised if they're looking into a 3 team deal to land them Millsap, if ZBo is on the block.

lots of potential deals out there, IMO. right now, i'm interested in landing one, solid player we can start to build around. Gay, Bazz, McLemore are all the kinds of guys at the top of that list, and one of them seems much easier to obtain, at this point.

[thelead]

I would probably be okay with the BBD+Afflalo idea but I'm also just hoping to package those guys to move up the draft to pick our guy if we don't land the pick we need. I also doubt Hollinger values Afflalo with what the advanced stats say about his defense.

lots of potential deals out there, IMO. right now, i'm interested in landing one, solid player we can start to build around. Gay, Bazz, McLemore are all the kinds of guys at the top of that list, and one of them seems much easier to obtain, at this point.

Don't forget that Shabazz and McLemore are 18 though and could be future superstars on much smaller contracts. Don't also forget that a lot of lotto teams will be interested in the big men talent (Noels, Len, Zeller) which would give us a shot at picking our guard. Lastly, don't forget we have the 6th worst record in the entire league. We actually have a very good shot at either Shabazz or McLemore.

[NickAnderson]

COME ON BRO JENNINGS SCORED 55 IN ONE GAME HE HAS TO BE GOOD WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE SEE THAT GEEZ

[fendilim]

COME ON BRO JENNINGS SCORED 55 IN ONE GAME HE HAS TO BE GOOD WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE SEE THAT GEEZ

dont forget he made it in his rookie year too..................

[Skin]

Earl Clark looking good for the Lakers in limited minutes.

The Lakers will turn him into a star. Henny never knew what he was giving up.

[ChosenSavior]

Earl Clark looking good for the Lakers in limited minutes.

The Lakers will turn him into a star. Henny never knew what he was giving up.

[MagicTownBaller]

George Karl says he wanted Vucevic in the Dwight trade and if the Magic hadn't taken Nicholson the Nuggets were going to draft him.

They say that now.

[ADRajX]

Didn't know where to post this... we've lost 20 of our close games (latest one being against Denver last night) by an average of 6.25pts this season ... that's crazy

[Javanar]

Earl Clark looking good for the Lakers in limited minutes.

The Lakers will turn him into a star. Henny never knew what he was giving up.

He uses lots of jump shots. If they fall in, he looks like next LeBron James, if don't he looks like a D-League player.

[MoMM]

Is McLemore this good? I dont wanna an undersized SG who can't play D.

[RYgoBOOM]

COME ON BRO JENNINGS SCORED 55 IN ONE GAME HE HAS TO BE GOOD WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE SEE THAT GEEZ

2nd game without Skiles and he leads the bucks with 35 and the W against the bulls.....

Just saying.

Back to back efficient games now mofo

[thelead]

Is McLemore this good? I dont wanna an undersized SG who can't play D.

Listed at 6'5" with a good wingspan, he's hardly undersized. And who says he can't play D? He's an average defender who averages a block and a steal per game.

The ONLY thing I question with McLemore is his unselfishness. As much as I bash Shabazz for being a selfish chucker, he does have that killer instinct. I like McLemore's complete game better but he does seem willing to just fit in at times and not take charge. His second to last game was a great example of this. Then again, that has to be on Bill Self for not running plays through him.

[AhaAha]

Earl Clark looking good for the Lakers in limited minutes.

The Lakers will turn him into a star. Henny never knew what he was giving up.

He uses lots of jump shots. If they fall in, he looks like next LeBron James, if don't he looks like a D-League player.

I woudn't go so far to call him a future star but he had some potential, especially on the defensive side of the floor.
He had to use jumpshots in our system. Our PF's were nowhere near the rim and it's the same in LA actually.

I wondered why we got rid of him in the first place. To get McRoberts and Eyenga?

[MoMM]

Is McLemore this good? I dont wanna an undersized SG who can't play D.

Listed at 6'5" with a good wingspan, he's hardly undersized. And who says he can't play D? He's an average defender who averages a block and a steal per game.

I was just asking if he can play D, i never watched him.

DraftExpress listed him at 6'4'' with only 181lbs, that's why i thought he could be undersized and small.
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Ben-McLemore-6258/

Personally i'd say that a 6'6'' SG with 6'11'' wingspan is more interesting.

[tiderulz]

Is McLemore this good? I dont wanna an undersized SG who can't play D.

Listed at 6'5" with a good wingspan, he's hardly undersized. And who says he can't play D? He's an average defender who averages a block and a steal per game.

I was just asking if he can play D, i never watched him.

DraftExpress listed him at 6'4'' with only 181lbs, that's why i thought he could be undersized and small.
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Ben-McLemore-6258/

Personally i'd say that a 6'6'' SG with 6'11'' wingspan is more interesting.

well, just because you have wingspan doesnt mean you know how to use it. And McLemore has a wingspan of 6'7 which seems fine for a SG (and he still has time to grow only being 19). I would just be happy to get a SG that can consistently attack the rim and not have to rely solely on jump shots.

[Def Swami]

Is McLemore this good? I dont wanna an undersized SG who can't play D.

Listed at 6'5" with a good wingspan, he's hardly undersized. And who says he can't play D? He's an average defender who averages a block and a steal per game.

I was just asking if he can play D, i never watched him.

DraftExpress listed him at 6'4'' with only 181lbs, that's why i thought he could be undersized and small.
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Ben-McLemore-6258/

Personally i'd say that a 6'6'' SG with 6'11'' wingspan is more interesting.

We really won't know his real NBA measurements until the combine since all these guys are so young and still growing. But, I agree that I'd like a bigger wing player. McLemore isn't anything to sneeze at either.