Damien Wilkins

[Dr Aki]

you play way too much NBA Live

the only move that kupchak seriously considers [and it saves money purely on ammo's deal of 5 mil (10 mil post lux tax)] and then tries to find a ring-chaser willing to play the 3 on the second unit for the vet's min. this is the only move that is worth a calculated gamble.

IRL, kupchak doesnt even consider vujacic for wilkins, or farmar for collins let alone believe he could sign three FA point guards (all with the vet's min btw) in a market where good PGs are hard to find and then expect the FAs not to chase more money with other contenders, then think kupchak will rub his magic lamp and phil gets everyone to gel and look like theyve been playing together for years

this is blowing up the second unit for a long-shot pipedream, i agree with hermes, it doesnt matter who's playing or how good our record is

people are still going to complain about how much better it could be, except if we do it your way, we'd be complaining about how **** collins/wilkins/curry are and reminisce about how we miss sasha's 3-pt shooting accuracy (now even worth since vlad's gone), farmar's zip and aggressiveness and luke's ability to get the ball into the bigs' hands, im not sure how all that money saved could replaced about 12 (total) years of triangle experience vacated by the exiting players

can you imagine how much investment it takes into training a player to operate within the triangle?

[ALL HAIL]

The bench I'm suggesting would be lead by Fisher and Odom, with Wilkins and Collins merely playing supplemental roles.

And by the way, when Jordan came back for his first full season, Jerry Krause "threw" a bench together with the signings of Steve Kerr, Randy Brown, and Jud Buechler and they proceeded to win 70 games.

I'm not saying we're going to win 70 games. What I am saying is that when players fit a system well there is no need for any magic potions for a team to be successfull.

All that being said, you're probably right, we dump Morrison and sign a Matt Barnes/Devean George type for the minimum. Unfortunately, I think we get outbid by Detroit for Odom if we do not find a way to dump Walton (first priority) and Vujacic (second priority). I really, really hope I'm wrong though and Buss opens up his wallet and makes it rain. The unemotional side of my brain says otherwise.

[Dr Aki]

im not sure detroit is planning its rebuilding with the signing of odom

not with the salary cap about to drop, it would seriously hinder their big 2010 plans of signing a premier FA

matt barnes would be a great addition if we could land it, however it seems like he'll command considerably more than the vet's min

[ALL HAIL]

When I say that Detroit might outbid us for Odom, I mean that we may only have 7.5 mill per to spend and Detroit will have 9. It could be that simple. I believe Odom when he says that he will take less but when he's actually looking at two offers and one is for 10 - 12 million more it will be really hard to pass it up. I don't hink I would and I love LA and the Lakers.

My larger point again, is that we are probabl asking a lot of Buss for him to pay everyone what they deserve plus Walton, Vujacic, and Morison. They all have to go first, then we can add the RIGHT, economically efficient players to go ahead and when another two or three titles after this year.

[Dr Aki]

detroit isnt looking to sign odom for 9 mil per, it screws up their 2010 plan badly, who is odom going to play 3rd fiddle to? rip? tayshaun? none of those players are dominant, odom would again turn into a lemon and dumars knows better than to sign a 30yo odom and then hope they attract a premier FA in 2010

there has been no noise coming from detroit about signing odom and plenty of noise coming from odom about loving the LA lifestyle and taking less for rings, about him being lucky enough to have already earned all he needs and that hes not a greedy guy

trust lamar on this, hes a keeper

[ALL HAIL]

Hope you're right about Odom taking less and Buss spending more.

Also hope that Buss gives Kupchak the flexibility and freedom to actually IMPROVE this team in the offseason.

We need a floor distributor who's not a defensive liability, a PG defender, another SF defender, and a cheap mini-shooter to be groomed to replace Fisher when he hangs it up.

[Slava]

We need a floor distributor who's not a defensive liability, a PG defender, another SF defender, and a cheap mini-shooter to be groomed to replace Fisher when he hangs it up.

I cringe everytime I read that. Each time it reminds me of Steve Blake, the perfect fit and so many times he was available to be acquired.