RealGM

The Los Angeles Lakers' "Plan A" is to keep Pau Gasol and bring back the rest of the team, according to a report citing a source with knowledge of the organization's thinking.

Since the Lakers were swept in the first round by the San Antonio Spurs, Gasol talked openly about this season possibly being his last in Los Angeles.

Gasol is set to make upwards of $19 million next season.

Kobe Bryant has been a staunch supporter of Gasol, saying he believes the Lakers should keep the big man.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/227523/Report-Lakers-Plan-A-Is-To-Bring-Back-Team-With-Gasol

If this is true, the improvement of the roster will be very limited. He was the only real tradeable asset the team has.

Honestly don't know how to feel about this. A part of me sort of wants to give this team another chance but I realize that Pau is broken down at this point and that is not going to change. I really wanted to some new blood on this team but if the plan on bringing back Pau that means a little to no change will occur.

Then again, Lakers do say stuff like this and then do a complete 360

I don't really mind because the Lakers in last month or so were actually playing really well with each other.

The only problem I see is - Can the stay healthy through out the season?
I just hope Kobe plays the way he played in the last month all the way through the season = no more scoring runs.
Nash should be back up point guard and spot up shooter
Pau should also come off the bench - but we will see how it all goes I guess.

Dumb plan! Gasoline gets worse every year! If we can all see it why can't management?

Minime83 wrote:I don't really mind because the Lakers in last month or so were actually playing really well with each other.

.

They were winning more games but they weren't blowing anybody out.

If this team returns next year Jim Buss' tenure is going to be very short lived. Expecting different results without changing anything is asinine!

this is a shocker. i thought the lakers were gonna make at least some moderate changes to the roster. a starting pg that can defend, spread the floor, pass first, doesnt need to score. and a defensive/3pt shooting sf. there's plenty out there. the pg could be someone who plays a lot in the first and 4th quarter. doesnt need to be a 35mpg player. give most of the 3-4qtr minutes to blake or nash, whoever doesnt get traded.

Good, always hated how Pau Gasol was the scapegoat for our entire season. Our plan is should assemble an athletic bench at ever position, that's going to be the key to our success imo. And what else could we do, might as well give this roster another shot next season, if it aint working out, ship out Pau at the trade deadline for picks, then rebuild fully in 2014 with a big time FA.

Tank, plan for 2014

This means he's getting traded.

EArl wrote:This means he's getting traded.

Exactly.

Anyone remember, "Lakers plan to keep Mike Brown" ?

AI wrote:

EArl wrote:This means he's getting traded.

Exactly.

Anyone remember, "Lakers plan to keep Mike Brown" ?

but eventually they made a mistake by signing mike D instead of phil, or atleast most people say it's a mistake..

but as long as it makes us win more games next season, any decision will do

Lakers plan A: bring Pau Gasol back next year!

Lakers plan B: scrap plan A!

Imho insuranceif Dwight walks.

This is simply posturing. If and when D12 tells Mitch he is coming back, Pau will be sent off to the team offering the best package of youth and salary relief. If D12 signs with another team, Pau will be back as the starting Center. IMO, there is an extremely low probability that both D12 and Pau come back. The only way I see them both returning is if Phil comes back to coach and makes that a pre-requisite.

rocketsballin wrote:this is a shocker. i thought the lakers were gonna make at least some moderate changes to the roster. a starting pg that can defend, spread the floor, pass first, doesnt need to score. and a defensive/3pt shooting sf. there's plenty out there. the pg could be someone who plays a lot in the first and 4th quarter. doesnt need to be a 35mpg player. give most of the 3-4qtr minutes to blake or nash, whoever doesnt get traded.

yeah, players like u mentioned are not available for what the lakers have to offer.

a pg that can defend, spread the floor, pass 1st, doesn't need to score? sounds like a superstar

a defensive / 3 pt shooting sf? sounds like a premier role player that no one is going to give away.

I don't like how some of us (myself included) forget about the injuries we had and hyperbolae blame on Kobe, Gasol, Metta, Nash, Mike D, and D12 whenever it is convenient. although I am still not comfortable with Mike D as a coach I wouldn't mind giving the team a second chance next season.

as far as the belief that Phil was the cure I think it is hogwash. Phils system doesn't fit the players and would take even longer for the players to adjust especially since there were so many injuries. What we need to do is scout cheap players to fill our holes ala Spurs and bring in a defensive coach to help Mike D. with a full training camp and the major players that we have we can make some serious noise next season.

The team will do better in terms of chemistry after this season but it's still a bad idea.

Howard is a monster in the right system, with the right people around him.
Gasol just doesnt fit there, and he's also a liability on defense.

Pau is the only asset LA has to improve the team also, so... 1+1=2

I'll only keep Pau if Dwight leaves, plain and simple.

we need depth and athleticism at the 1, 3 and 4 spots.

how do we do that without trading pau? i just don't see this plan working out

I realize this is what Kobe wants and yes, we'll have better injury luck next year, but even so.. we're just lacking some key pieces to be a Championship team. We need more athleticism at the wing spots and in the front court. We just can't do that unless we trade either Pau Gasol or Dwight Howard. We're not going to sign and trade Dwight, so the only available option is Gasol.

I assume if we did this, we'd buy out Duhon and amnesty Metta. Would save us about 21 million, but once you bring back Clark, it's down to a savings of only 14-15m. You add in a veteran player we bring in, and there's really hardly any difference at all in team salary. Then we use the MMLE and we're back in the exact same situation.

I just don't see this being possible.

This is the politically correct answer.
But it's also an acknowledgment of the fact that the new CBA makes it hard to trade a single player making 20M unless he's still relatively worth that salary. Even an expiring.

I think the FO would still jump at the opportunity to land a solid player for Pau... But they aren't optimistic that's going to happen... Mitch said 'everything is in play'... I don't think he's backed off that in the slightest.