Sedale Threatt wrote:DC, it's not like Andrew doesn't have a history of injuries with two major knee operations before he hit 21. You can't just sweep that under the rug. I also remember reading somewhere that some physician who dealt with him regarding the recent incident has concerns about his long-term health in relation to his body's gait. You have to take all that into account.
But those are the risks you take, in professional sports and life in general.
Really? I don't kow, I wouldn't, not when the Lakers are poised to evaluate Bynum for another year. If Bynum were a free agent at the end of last season, yes, then it would be a tough decision, and probably a risk worth taking.
Why bother evaluating Bynum for another year? Because he may get hurt again, and then we have to consider he's injury-prone. There's plenty of players who undergo surgery...then need another one, then another one, then can't seem to get back on the court. Mihm had some freak ankle injury that just got worse, and he's been out for 2 years.
Even an elite player like Arenas can't seem to get right. How about even one of the best players in the league like McGrady, who not only misses a ton of games, but his injuries seem to have hampered his abilities.
Our own Luke Walton. At this point, can anybody say he's not injury prone and was a bad signing?
Or look at Nene Hilario. That guy was on the verge of being an emerging talented center, but after he signed a big contract, he ended up being a guy who hasn't been able to further his game due to injury.
How about Greg Oden? Is that guy made out of glass? He's played like five minutes in two years.
I'm not saying Bynum is injury prone. But there is some history behind his injuries, and why not use the one year grace period that we have? See if his injuries are really behind him.
Nothing less than a career-ender would have kept us from matching a restricted offer next summer.
Maybe, but it might reduce some of the offers, no?
And it's not like his salary is going to keep us from being some big-time player in the free-agent market. It might prevent us from retaining guys like Odom and Farmar. But in my opinion, we're not winning anything without a healthy Andrew Bynum, so the whole issue is moot unless he can stay on the court.
Well, if we're acting like Bynum's hefty contract doesn't really matter with respect to the salary cap, then why would the Lakers try to get a discount on Bynum by signing him early? The Lakers have shown that they'd rather save on 2.5 million (5 mil w/ tax) a year, than avoid tying up 57 million or 120 million with tax in an injury-prone player. To me, that's (Please Use More Appropriate Word), considering that the marginal savings are really chump change considering the risk.
That's what this whole thing boils down to:
Healthy Andrew Bynum, this is a great deal.
Injured Andrew Bynum, we're screwed anyway, so ... ?
I agree with the former. Totally disagree with the latter. There are various levels of getting "screwed." Is Bynum going to miss a few games, which is reasonable in the NBA? Or will he be unable to last for a season, and be out for the playoffs when we really need him? Or will he be on and off and prevent our team from establishing any sort of consistency, the consistency required to win a championship? Can't injuries be just as distracting, if not more than contract negotiations? Btw, once the deadline passed, it wouldn't be an issue. Bynum and his agent simply would have to deal - the reason why his agent was pushing so hard was the deadline.
People freak out about Luke's contract and his injuries - the guy is making like 4m a year. Imagine Bynum sitting in street clothes in the playoffs, raking in 14m a year.
And anyways, you never know what could happen in basketball. Shaun Livingston, George Garbajosa, sometimes freaky things happen, and when I see Andrew and his sometimes gangly base moving a little too quickly and awkwardly, I hold my breath, I really do.
It's worth the 2.5m a year (5 if we're counting luxury tax) to make sure Bynum's knee problems are behind him. That's a very small price to pay considering the risk, 14m (or 28m including luxury tax) for an injury prone, unreliable player.
I'm not saying he is, but he's certainly has to prove he's fully healthy, doesn't he?
And regarding options, it's not like we have to sign Andrew no matter what. If we didn't sign him, and he gets hurt again this year, and he and his agent are still adamantly seeking close to the max, then I would absolutely deal him. There's too much risk for our championship contending team to give him the max.
Hell, I'd rather have Odom than a great promising center who's had several major knee operations in a short span. And if not Odom, then I'm sure we can get safer, high-quality assets for teams who are willing to take on that risk (bottom of the barrel teams).
Hell, let's say Andrew's knee swells again, they find something wrong with it, or worse, nothing wrong with it, he has to sit out a lot of games, he can't get right this year...
I would definitely shop him for a top pick in this year's draft.
There's always options, as long as you have time, which is an advantage the Lakers had - until they gave it up.
P.S.
Lastly, I totally disagree with the idea that Bynum might cause a problem, becoming a selfish player trying to play for a big contract.
First of all, our offense has built in limitations to what he can do offensively. We have many weapons, and the offense doesn't go through Bynum. Moreover, we're playing more uptempo, so that's another offensive limitation.
Second, it's great if Bynum becomes a little more selfish and tries to dominate. That's what I'd like. If he tries to murder people in the post, all the power to him.
When it's Finals time, our lovely passing game will sputter, as it did against the Celtics. Sometimes, a playoff series will come down to bruising, MMA, trench battles, and you need to bring the big guns and the heavy hitters and win ugly.
I love the idea of Bynum aggressively attacking in the post, whether for love of money or glory. We had Shaq, remember, and we won 3 championships.
Contract years, players tend to play better, imo. That's generally a good thing, not a bad thing, especially in Bynum's role on our team.
“OH! Caruso parachutes in! You cannot stop him - you can only hope to contain him!” -Kevin Harlan, LAL-GSW 4/4/19