The Elephant In The Room: This Summer

[TylersLakers]

With only 17 games left and us basically tanking for the sixth season in a row (ugh), I think it's seriously time to start evaluating our options going forward and the direction that this franchise will be taking.

I've listened to a lot of different podcasts from around the NBA the last couple days: The Ringer NBA Pods, Zach Lowe, Brian Windhorst, etc and of course the Lakers' Summer Plans are one of the main talking points. And the more I think about it, the more concerned I become. You generally have an idea by this point in the season who's going to get who. And while there still are avenues where I could see the free agents signing with us, a lot of it relies on other dominoes to fall. Let's run through the "scenario planning," as Brian Windhorst did on his podcast.

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The Big Fish:

Klay Thompson: I could absolutely see him signing here. Mychal Thompson has said it on radio that if Golden State didn't come correct or Klay couldn't be a Warrior, he'd obviously want to be a Laker. However, with so much uncertainty around Durant, Green & Cousins, you have to think a max contract extension will be on Klay's doorstep the second free agency opens. And I'm sure they've already had those wink wink discussions by this point. If that happens, there's no way Klay Thompson becomes a Laker.

Kyrie Irving: He's becoming the most likely Laker addition in my opinion, especially if the Lakers land Anthony Davis prior to free agency. However, it still doesn't remain likely. The Lakers can sell him on an immediate future of a big 3 of him, LeBron & Davis. They can also sell him on a future in 3-4 years of him at 30 years old & Anthony Davis at 29 years old to lead the future of the Lakers through the next decade. Chris Haynes (who's plugged in with LeBron) has talked about LeBron and how he's been wanting to "pass the torch and control of the team," to someone and has referenced Anthony Davis as someone he'd be willing to do that for. I also think he'd do the same with Kyrie, considering their past and what both have been through since they left each other. However, for this to happen, Anthony Davis would have to be traded here (will the Pelicans do business with LA even if Boston doesn't put Tatum on the table?), and Kyrie would have to pass down the ideas of teaming with Durant in New York and re-signing with the Celtics. Again, I think Irving is the most likely superstar that agrees to come, but I don't put the chances very high of that happening.

Kawhi Leonard: Everyone seems to think that it's a foregone conclusion he signs with the Clippers or re-signs with Toronto. However, Cris Carter is one of the only other "names" under his representation group and he still says the Lakers are very much in play. LeBron needs to go to him and express that same sentiment about passing control of the team to him and really put heavy recruiting into Kawhi. Ramona Shelburne has talked that she also still thinks Kawhi would come here but he would have to feel wanted for him to do so. Magic and LeBron need to earn their money with Kawhi. Even so, I still put the chances as not very likely with Kawhi.

Kevin Durant: Everyone has talked about New York and if he's leaving Golden State, you'd have to imagine he's going to the Knicks. But, can that be guaranteed with a guy like KD? If LeBron comes to him and puts on a heavy recruiting pitch and makes him feel wanted, I could see a guy like KD in an "impulse buy" type of way signing with the Lakers. Fat chance though that it doesn't happen.


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What about the next tier of guys?

Kemba Walker: It was on the wiretap a few days ago that there's now a real possibility that Walker leaves. With the market the way it is and half the league having max cap space, he'll absolutely get a 4-year max. With Charlotte's cap sheet the way it is (Batum, Williams, Zeller, MKG, Biyombo all on the books next year for major money), you'd have to think there'd be some hesitation from Charlotte's perspective to offer the full max. Even if they did, what avenues do Mitch Kupchak and Michael Jordan have of getting better? As far as the Lakers are concerned, I could absolutely see Kemba being a guy to come here. But, if the Lakers wait on the big free agents for a day or two and then don't recruit him hard until those other dominoes fall, you'd have to imagine that would rub him the wrong way. If the Lakers act fast and make him a significant priority, if he leaves Charlotte, I think he's the most realistic option. Other concerns: He'll be 29 in May, was it really worth it to give up flexibility last off-season with Randle and giving up Russell to land Kemba Walker? Is that a big enough splash to justify what's gone on the last two years of hoarding "sacred" cap space?

Khris Middleton: He'd be a great fit next to LeBron and the young guys, but there's absolutely no way Milwaukee pays Bledsoe what they did and then low ball Middleton. Not happening.

Tobias Harris: He's not a max player in my opinion and I don't think Philadelphia gives up what they did to let him walk. He'll get the max from Philadelphia.

Jimmy Butler: I think Brooklyn will come after him hard from Day 1, but if the Lakers are willing to put a max offer out to him, you'd have to imagine he'd consider the Lakers big time. He's been rumoured to want to play with the Lakers ever since he was in Chicago and coming up on restricted free agency. However, do we want Jimmy Butler on a max deal for 4 years? That's crippling considering LeBron's age and Butler isn't good enough to lead the young core if LeBron slows down or deals with missed games.

The Rest: With half the league having cap space, who else has the capability to get a max? My guesses are..

D'Angelo Russell - The Lakers front office would never extend an offer sheet because of ego alone. No way they ever admit that mistake.

Julius Randle - Copy and paste with Russell. I don't think he'll get the max, but I can certainly see a team with $20-25M in cap space spending it on Randle. Imagine him with Porzingis and Luka? Goodness.

Nikola Vucevic - He'll get big time money. Maybe not a full max, but close to it. I could see a 4 year deal starting at $25M for him.

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Anthony Davis:

This shouldn't be the first option but with no real indication at this point that any major free agents are coming, it will be. The Lakers have to land him by the draft in my opinion. And I say it shouldn't be the first option because the Lakers have passed up the flexibility on other guys (Randle, Russell, Nance) for the ability to land a free agent and keep the core young guys (Ingram, Ball, Kuzma, Hart). If you're trading for Anthony Davis, most of the young guys are going unless we somehow land the #1 pick and that's not likely at all.

If we land him, that's a big weight lifted off the franchise's shoulders. We'd still have significant space to fill out the roster with roleplayers or sign one of the big free agents. However, this totally relies on the Pelicans doing business with us and Boston not putting Jason Tatum on the table. Ingram was closing that gap significantly on Tatum, but him being out for the rest of the season puts a fork in that now. Tatum, right or wrong, is looked at as the prized possession by New Orleans or else they would have made the deal with us around the deadline.

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Prediction Time:

So, what happens? If Boston gambles or gets an assurance from Kyrie that he's staying if they land Davis, and that happens, where does that leave the Lakers? That takes off 2 of the potential targets (Irving, Davis) with no clear lane to any of the other major guys. Do we prepare an offer for Kemba Walker and make him the big signing or do we round out the roster with players on solid deals?

OR:

The Elephant In The Room: What if Davis gets traded to Boston and Klutch still tells the Lakers that Davis isn't staying past the one year in Boston? I could absolutely see the Lakers making a stupid decision to offer a one year massive deal to DeMarcus Cousins and try to sign players with better shooting ability on 1-year deals. That scenario basically puts us in the exact same position next year that we were in this year, with a broken culture, and LeBron another year older. Scary thought. And based on the last two years of evidence, you have to imagine this is the road the Lakers' inexperienced front office takes. I truly don't think they understand or grasp the concept that they can sign players on team-friendly deals and then make the corresponding moves to trade them if you get the agreements from the big time players you're interested in.

My predictions are as follows:

- Klay Thompson re-signs on a max contract.
- Durant signs in New York, Jimmy Butler joins him.
- Kyrie eventually remains with the Celtics, possibly on a one year deal.
- Boston decides to gamble and trades Anthony Davis to Boston.
- Kawhi signs with the Clippers.
- Harris re-signs with Philadelphia.
- Middleton re-signs with Milwaukee.

So if the Lakers get none of the big fish, what route do they go? How do you predict this summer playing out? While it's a little early for us to be discussing this, the Lakers front office needs to be doing this at the moment. Do they have the front office experience to know? Do they have the knowledge to formulate the plans now and not just watch playoff games and build their team "to beat Golden State," when they only play the Warriors 4 out of 82 games?

Personally, I'd prioritize depth moves with players on team-friendly deals. There's a ton of them out there. My favorites:

- Darren Collison: Could start in the back court with Lonzo and fit as a solid defender and good shooter. Could be had for $10-12M on a 2-3 year deal, with maybe a partial guarantee on the 3rd season. He's shot over 40% from 3PT over the last 4 seasons.

- Danny Green: Same type of deal as Collison, I would assume. Strong wing defender and has shot the lights out this season for Toronto. I've wanted him on the Lakers forever.

- Bojan Bogdanovic: 2-3 year deal, I would assume around $12-15M a season. He'll be in his Age 30 season next year, which should scare teams off from offering massive deals. If he slips through the cracks, he's someone we should seriously consider.

- Nikola Vucevic: If he somehow doesn't get close to max offers and he's available for anything in the $12-20M range, the Lakers should jump on it and not think twice.

- Trevor Ariza: You'd have to assume Phoenix was his last big pay day. Bring him home on a 2 year deal starting around the room exception, $5-7M a season.

- Terrence Ross: Someone we should have went after early in the season, I would imagine he'll get something like $10-12M a season on a 2-3 year deal.

- Nikola Mirotic: Have to imagine the Jazz re-sign him, but if he's available on a good deal, the Lakers should pursue him.

- J.J. Reddick: Late in his career, still does the same thing everywhere he goes: Makes 3's. The Lakers haven't really had a guy that come off screens and knock down shots. He's also a guy that draws so much attention, when he's moving around screens like crazy, it creates fantastic opportunities on the weak side for open lay-ups, open dunks, open shots. Imagine Reddick running around screens with LeBron handling the ball and Kuzma/Ingram cutting to the basket? Probably a 1-2 year deal worth $10-12M a season.

- Patrick Beverley: This team needs a defender in the back court and his 3PT shooting ability has improved significantly. You hate him when he's not on your team, but if we could weaken the Clippers and bring him on, he'd be such a huge pick-up. Someone who instantly changes the culture of the team and gave us an insurance policy on Lonzo Ball. 2-3 year deal around $8-10M a season would be his market, I would imagine.

- Mike Scott: He's been massive with Philadelphia. A 2-3 year deal around $6-8M a season would be a great contract for him. He can play some small ball 5 and I like his toughness. Shooting 43% with the 76ers on 4.8 attempts per game. They played him at the small ball 5 against DaMarcus Cousins and the Warriors and caused huge problems for them.

- Ed Davis: Why the Lakers let him go to begin with a couple years ago, I have no idea. He's productive every place he goes. Such a good defender, very good in the locker room, etc.

- Wayne Ellington: I'm sure it wouldn't take much to get him. 1-2 year deal worth $5M a season? Which is basically the room exception.

- Brook Lopez: Would the front office admit another mistake? 2-3 year deal worth $6-10M a season would be a great get for the Lakers.

- Other Room Exception/Minimum candidates: Cory Joseph, Troy Daniels, Ian Clark, Austin Rivers, Wes Matthews, Seth Curry, Ish Smith, Reggie Bullock, DeMarre Carroll, Anthony Tolliver, Thabo Sefolosha, DeAndre Jordan, Robin Lopez, Amir Johnson, Pau Gasol, Boban.

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Imagine if this team came away with Vucevic, Darren Collison, Ed Davis and Trevor Ariza?

PG: Lonzo/
SG: Collison/Hart/
SF: Ingram/Ariza/
PF: LeBron/Kuzma/
C: Vucevic/Davis/

That's a hell of a 9 man rotation. The pieces fit a hell of a lot better than this year's cast of characters. So, what happens? Where is this organization come August and what the hell does it look like? This team needs to put their work in and decide if the correct people are in charge to maximize this off-season. Stephen A Smith has hinted at front office changes. If that doesn't happen, can Rob Pelinka and Magic Johnson do better with this do-over?

Tons of questions and Lakers got to have the right answers.

[Rafer24]

If we don´t get any top FA, Maginka has to leave.

I still have (slim) hope in LeBron recruiting Kawhi or Kyrie.

[Landsberger]

Congratulations on a new thread that, to this point, hasn't turned into a LeBron bashing fest.

I think the areas of the biggest need as far as starters go is SG and C. Vuc and one of Kemba or Kyrie would be fantastic. Vuc flies under the radar but he's not an ego guy, seems to play off of others great, doesn't "need" the ball to be effective and rebounds. Getting a guard who is a threat to his a 3 and finish at the hoop is a key IMHO. Ball is so sporadic and is going to be set back yet again. Is it time to move on from him?

Next priority would be to same some $$ to deepen the team with some vets and key role players. I'm not in the camp that Hart will be much more than a minor role player on a really good team, Rondo would be a keeper for the right price and maybe Chandler but after that the bench can be cleaned IMO. We need a physical guy like Faried who can bring energy and rebound, we need a shooter or 3. Not sure Bullock is that guy yet, he's been up and down here..... like he has all of his career. If we get the top couple guys to finish a balanced team then I could see us trade one of the young guys for role players to fill in. With an aging Bron we will need to be deep to truly compete.

[iQon]

Hate to say it, but I do not have any faith in this FO to fill the team out. We very well could end up with Kyrie, but after last summer where they just bent the knee to what LeBron wanted... eh.

By all means, please prove me wrong this summer Magic and Rob!

I'd say if we land a high lottery pick, scale the offer down to Ingram or Zo and the pick with some filler for AD. Don't negotiate through the media, either. If NOP doesn't want to deal, the best revenge is to steal Kyrie. So go all in on him. And get some damn players that can at least play SOME defense, knock their shots down, have thick skin; and get a coach who can manage the rotations better.

If we strike out, I'd love to float 1 year deals to Julius and Thomas Bryant if their market isn't there.

[danfantastk32]

Congratulations on a new thread that, to this point, hasn't turned into a LeBron bashing fest.

Give it a couple hours =0)

You know, when you look at it fairly....this team was doing quite well on Dec-25th.

Lebron was playing fine...he was elevating most of the team. The team was playing hard. Defense was good.
Luke was coaching just fine. Defense was good. We were "ahead of schedule" in most minds.
There were no complaints with Luke or Lebron on the morning of the 26th.

There were a couple issues: Freethrows were ungodly. We had a glaring lack of real shooters. BI looked lost out there. But all in all, this was a season with expectations for playoffs, hopefully 2nd-round, if we got the right matchup. Towards the end of Dec, I think people started to look at this team as a 2nd-round team.

Then it started to fall apart. Losing Lebron was obviously big....but losing Kuz and Rondo (and shortly after Ball) really messed it all up. And then of course you have the A-D trade, and everything that did. I think Lebron's injury and all the BS has resulted in him tuning out as well.

People can hate on Magic, but he made no pretenses that this team was a contender. This was "year 1" we picked up 1-year vets, and your gonna get what you get with that....and all in all, this team was pretty good through Dec.

People can hate on Luke, but same thing: this team had flaws. The lack of shooting is real, and once the team crumbled to injuries...what can you ask the guy to really do?

Alot of people hate on Lebron, but I think his record speaks for itself. His stats this year are still up there, with a decline in defensive effort (this isn't his first year, btw) and he was creating alot of open shots for his teammates, as he does, and this team was driving along just fine until the injury.

But clearly the AD thing has destroyed this team. Now how much of that was complete sabotage by New Orleans? Are some of those trades really BS? It sure seems odd how specific and constant things got "Leaked"......maybe they were "Fabricated"?

Either way......it looks like a decision will have to be made here: Magic/Rob and their plan (this includes Lebron). Or this coach, and the young crew.

Will Ball even play again? For how long? And to what end? How good is he really gonna get....assuming it's not 40 missed games each year, with those knees and feet getting worse and worse? Anyone who is gonna tell me they "know" the issues are behind us now, is just lying to win an argument. The guy is at best, a giant ?
Kuz can drop shots...seems to have good attitude, and I'm happy with him.
Hart has great attitude. I think he's one of those nice bench pieces. But he's gonna have to show he can be more than that.
Ingram has a deep toolbox of talent, but he massively underwhelmed the first season. Had a decent 2nd year (prob 'felt' so much better when compared to the disaster rookie season)...and has struggled with Lebron, without Lebron, and then started to piece a hand-full of good games together....but now he's out for the year.

I just don't see a cast of youth that's gonna make this team any type of contender.....at any point in their careers. One or two might continue to make strides....and turn into semi-decent players, but I don't see any Durants, Klays, Paul Georges, on this team. Ask yourself....would any GM trade the #1 pick for our 4 young guys right now? Would anyone trade the #2 pick for Ingram? For Ball? I don't think the League values our youth very much, and while they are all butt-hurt at Magic and Lebron right now, I don't think they hold much value.

I don't see Jeanie canning Magic, and bringing in someone to trade Lebron. Sorry. I don't see it. Our 4 youth just don't command any sort of respect like that. Not even close.

We're gonna try and bring in a 2nd star....and we're gonna package whatever we can for AD....and pray that he tells every other team to suck eggs. If these things don't happen, then it will be interesting to see what Magic does. But firing him won't be an option, and most likely it will be another year of rent-a-vets.

Sadly, Luke will be the immediate fall guy. Can he take some of the blame? Perhaps. Huge flaws on this team...but I feel like some of the lack of development, and lack of cohesion is on him.

Its a big mess....no doubt

[zimpy27]

Butler is the guy that most likely comes.

Cousins could be had for cheap too.

I'd be going for these guys too:
Gay, Bullock, Beverley, Taj, Bojan, RoLo

[nzahir]

If we don't land any big names, we will have to do 1 years AGAIN. Listen, Lebron isn't trying to win 0 rings here. We aren't going to win with some good pieces, we need a legit star or two.

KD, Kawhi, Kyrie, Klay plus Lebron plus young core/AD

OR

Butler, Kemba, Middleton, and AD.

If we can't trade for AD then we move youngsters by next summer to clear up cap space to sign AD. I think we are able to sign someone near a max, but not full max.

[Pythagoras]

I think missing out on Klay, Kyrie, and KD is very likely, although I do think Kawhi will at least consider us. A lot with Kawhi will depend on LBJ’s pitch to him.

Even if we miss out on ALL of those guys, it’s hard to envision us missing out on Kemba, Butler, Cousins AND Middleton as well, unless we just completely ignore them.

Cousins/Middleton: I don’t think either of these guys will even receive a max level offer from anyone. We could probably land either player simply by outbidding everyone else.

Kemba: He’s had no real playoff success, and he gives you like 80% of the production of Kyrie, while getting like 10% of the credit. I never understood why so many people thought he was staying in Charlotte. We’d offer him a unique opportunity where he could come here and play the same role to LBJ that Kyrie did, and he’d greatly enhance his rep.

Butler: He’s a diva who’s been interested in LA for a minute. Philly will likely offer him a max deal but I think he’s going to listen to other offers anyway.

I’d personally be ok with adding either Butler or Kemba and some spot up shooters, but I have a sinking suspicion that Cousins is the guy we most likely come away with. If that happens, Magic can’t afford to make a bunch of other silly signings to fill this roster out next year. Let’s get guys who can freaking shoot and defend!

[Landsberger]

Congratulations on a new thread that, to this point, hasn't turned into a LeBron bashing fest.

Give it a couple hours =0)

You know, when you look at it fairly....this team was doing quite well on Dec-25th.

Lebron was playing fine...he was elevating most of the team. The team was playing hard. Defense was good.
Luke was coaching just fine. Defense was good. We were "ahead of schedule" in most minds.
There were no complaints with Luke or Lebron on the morning of the 26th.

There were a couple issues: Freethrows were ungodly. We had a glaring lack of real shooters. BI looked lost out there. But all in all, this was a season with expectations for playoffs, hopefully 2nd-round, if we got the right matchup. Towards the end of Dec, I think people started to look at this team as a 2nd-round team.

Then it started to fall apart. Losing Lebron was obviously big....but losing Kuz and Rondo (and shortly after Ball) really messed it all up. And then of course you have the A-D trade, and everything that did. I think Lebron's injury and all the BS has resulted in him tuning out as well.

People can hate on Magic, but he made no pretenses that this team was a contender. This was "year 1" we picked up 1-year vets, and your gonna get what you get with that....and all in all, this team was pretty good through Dec.

People can hate on Luke, but same thing: this team had flaws. The lack of shooting is real, and once the team crumbled to injuries...what can you ask the guy to really do?

Alot of people hate on Lebron, but I think his record speaks for itself. His stats this year are still up there, with a decline in defensive effort (this isn't his first year, btw) and he was creating alot of open shots for his teammates, as he does, and this team was driving along just fine until the injury.

But clearly the AD thing has destroyed this team. Now how much of that was complete sabotage by New Orleans? Are some of those trades really BS? It sure seems odd how specific and constant things got "Leaked"......maybe they were "Fabricated"?

Either way......it looks like a decision will have to be made here: Magic/Rob and their plan (this includes Lebron). Or this coach, and the young crew.

Will Ball even play again? For how long? And to what end? How good is he really gonna get....assuming it's not 40 missed games each year, with those knees and feet getting worse and worse? Anyone who is gonna tell me they "know" the issues are behind us now, is just lying to win an argument. The guy is at best, a giant ?
Kuz can drop shots...seems to have good attitude, and I'm happy with him.
Hart has great attitude. I think he's one of those nice bench pieces. But he's gonna have to show he can be more than that.
Ingram has a deep toolbox of talent, but he massively underwhelmed the first season. Had a decent 2nd year (prob 'felt' so much better when compared to the disaster rookie season)...and has struggled with Lebron, without Lebron, and then started to piece a hand-full of good games together....but now he's out for the year.

I just don't see a cast of youth that's gonna make this team any type of contender.....at any point in their careers. One or two might continue to make strides....and turn into semi-decent players, but I don't see any Durants, Klays, Paul Georges, on this team. Ask yourself....would any GM trade the #1 pick for our 4 young guys right now? Would anyone trade the #2 pick for Ingram? For Ball? I don't think the League values our youth very much, and while they are all butt-hurt at Magic and Lebron right now, I don't think they hold much value.

I don't see Jeanie canning Magic, and bringing in someone to trade Lebron. Sorry. I don't see it. Our 4 youth just don't command any sort of respect like that. Not even close.

We're gonna try and bring in a 2nd star....and we're gonna package whatever we can for AD....and pray that he tells every other team to suck eggs. If these things don't happen, then it will be interesting to see what Magic does. But firing him won't be an option, and most likely it will be another year of rent-a-vets.

Sadly, Luke will be the immediate fall guy. Can he take some of the blame? Perhaps. Huge flaws on this team...but I feel like some of the lack of development, and lack of cohesion is on him.

Its a big mess....no doubt

Our youth is at an inflection point. Ball hasn't shown much improvement overall, Kuzma has shown some maturity in his game this year but he's not a primary guy, Ingram has shown some signs of coming around but I don't see a primary player on a good team in him so I agree to a certain point about our youth. Overlay the cap and it gets more complicated. Kuzma is by far the best per dollar and we have him longer before he's do big money. Ball can't seem to stay healthy and isn't showing marked improvement in any aspect of his game. Ingram is coming into his contract year and will want to be featured which brings me to the first issue with him. We want players that play his position it seems (Klay, Leonard etc.) and I'm just not seeing him happy in a bench or significantly reduced role. He's not a 2 guard and he's not a PF. Our issues offensively are getting to the hoop and finishing and hitting 3's. Ingram does one well (albeit without the threat of distributing) and the other marginally. I'd move him if we could as part of a deal for a top vet. Kuzma is a "fit" guy. He's expanded his playmaking, is playing better D and is still hitting shots. He fits the best of anyone we have with Bron and he's cheap for a couple more years. I'd keep him. Ball is the enigma. He shows great skill at a couple parts of the game and is really not good at other key parts. Can he close the gaps? Can he stay healthy? Can he hit a FT?.... If Kyrie is part of the plan then I'm not sure about his future. I just have no feel for his future at all. Hart is what he is... which is a limited player at this level. He's a fill in the gaps guy off the bench on a really good team IMHO. I think what ever we do with him is somewhat inconsequential as we can get his production fairly easily in FA.

The FO went with Bron who has a narrow window so my guess is that this offseason we HAVE to make progress toward that or it will be a burn the house down event next year with another total reboot coming.

[danfantastk32]

Our youth is at an inflection point. Ball hasn't shown much improvement overall, Kuzma has shown some maturity in his game this year but he's not a primary guy, Ingram has shown some signs of coming around but I don't see a primary player on a good team in him so I agree to a certain point about our youth. Overlay the cap and it gets more complicated. Kuzma is by far the best per dollar and we have him longer before he's do big money. Ball can't seem to stay healthy and isn't showing marked improvement in any aspect of his game. Ingram is coming into his contract year and will want to be featured which brings me to the first issue with him. We want players that play his position it seems (Klay, Leonard etc.) and I'm just not seeing him happy in a bench or significantly reduced role. He's not a 2 guard and he's not a PF. Our issues offensively are getting to the hoop and finishing and hitting 3's. Ingram does one well (albeit without the threat of distributing) and the other marginally. I'd move him if we could as part of a deal for a top vet. Kuzma is a "fit" guy. He's expanded his playmaking, is playing better D and is still hitting shots. He fits the best of anyone we have with Bron and he's cheap for a couple more years. I'd keep him. Ball is the enigma. He shows great skill at a couple parts of the game and is really not good at other key parts. Can he close the gaps? Can he stay healthy? Can he hit a FT?.... If Kyrie is part of the plan then I'm not sure about his future. I just have no feel for his future at all. Hart is what he is... which is a limited player at this level. He's a fill in the gaps guy off the bench on a really good team IMHO. I think what ever we do with him is somewhat inconsequential as we can get his production fairly easily in FA.

The FO went with Bron who has a narrow window so my guess is that this offseason we HAVE to make progress toward that or it will be a burn the house down event next year with another total reboot coming.

Yeah....we're pretty much on same page with our youth.

I guess my point in a nutshell is that I don't think this youth is any sort of contending "core". People talk about Lebron's window, but I think the window for our young guys is coming up as well. If we don't have a solid core of stars to sprinkle our youth around, then we're gonna have to blow it up anyhow.

[Sedale Threatt]

Butler is the guy that most likely comes.

Shoot me in the face.

[gts1]

I don't see any of the big four listed landing in LA unless GSW lowballs Klay, I guess Kyrie might? who knows what's going on his head, his mood seems to change with no rhyme or reason..

Kind of worried now even about a trade for AD... Ingram with the blood clot is now off the trade block, despite playing some outstanding ball of late he's not so good a team will want to gamble on him, Ball is out with his injury (which I have my doubts about) and with his injury history any team is going to want to see him play so there's two trade pieces out of the mix unless the Pelicans are feeling lucky enough to gamble... some of the guys in the previous trade talks/rumor will be free agents so they're out of the discussion. Pieces to put in an AD trade are fairly slim now or will be when July rolls around

[zimpy27]

Butler is the guy that most likely comes.

Shoot me in the face.

He would be a good fit. At least give it a few months before taking extreme action.

[TylersLakers]

Butler is the guy that most likely comes.

Shoot me in the face.

My thoughts exactly.

I'd rather have 4 damn good role players on team-friendly deals than Jimmy Butler on a max contract.

[TylersLakers]

Williams deserves a roster spot next year.

[Mamba4Goat]

So hypothetical question...say we win the lottery and land Zion, but Boston gets AD and none of the marquee FA's sign with us. What's our next move?

[TylersLakers]

So hypothetical question...say we win the lottery and land Zion, but Boston gets AD and none of the marquee FA's sign with us. What's our next move?

You keep Zion, sign good role-players. That's easy. We're obviously not a Championship contender at that point but maybe you can find a deal for another guy like Bradley Beal and only have to give up Ingram & Kuzma or something.

[Rafer24]

LeBron can recruit Kawhi/Kyrie. I really believe it.

[Spens1]

Throw all our eggs (or at least most of them) into begging Kawhi Leonard to come to L.A (tell Kawhi this is his team NOW, Lebron would probably defer anyway, since Leonard is a better player as it currently stands) and give him the keys to the franchise.

Then, IF we can pull it off, get A.D as well. A core now of A.D, Kawhi and Lebron is great, even in a few years, A.D and Leonard is going to be fantastic.

[brianmc]

why would Kyrie walk into a dumpster fire to play alongside someone he already had a negative experience with? Lakers aren't even his best option in LA.