Lakers 2008 Town Hall Meeting - 4/1 Recap

[Jordan-esque]

Thanks to knm for this recap of last night's Lakers 2008 Town Hall Meeting:

Night started off with a Q&A session with Mitch Kupchak and hosted by Bill McDonald.

Pau Gasol Trade:
Mitch Kupchack talked about the Pau trade and how it had happened, how the deal went down. Didn't go into many details about it, but he mentioned that he had had some conversations with Jerry West back when Pau had demanded a trade. Mitch mentioned that West didn't say Pau was untouchable but wasn't really looking to move him at that moment in time either. However, he could tell from his conversation with West, that it was possible and just needed the right timing and pieces to make it happen. He also brought up that he told Phil one day that we could possibly get Pau Gasol as early as tomorrow. He said Phil's eyes lit up. But there were some snags and the deal didn't go down the next day. And not the day after either. But the day after that, the deal happened and Phil didn't even know about it until it was already done so he was pleasantly surprised.

Mitch had a great sense of humor. When he talked of Gasol's trade demands last year, he said it's always tough on GMs because when big name players make trade demands like that, it puts a lot of pressure on them and also, generates many phone calls from eager front offices. He then went on to say, "So you can imagine how hectic my offseason was". All in all, he said he was nervous because he knew what Memphis wanted for Pau and there were 3-4 teams that could offer similar packages. But in the end he said, Memphis liked the Lakers package the most.

When Billy Mac introduced the topic that Mitch would talk about, in this case Pau Gasol, it got a lot of cheers from the other attendees. Mitch also mentioned that he's a big dude himself and especially so standing next to Billy Mac, but Gasol is easily 3 inches taller and as long as Bynum.

Lamar Odom's Future:
Mitch was pretty non-committal when it came to Lamar Odom's contract. He said there is nothing on the table right now, they haven't had a chance to see how these guys fit and play together all together yet. He said Lamar's been doing really well the past few months (to a lot of cheers from the crowd after that comment) and so they'll just have to play it out and see.

Injury Updates:
GREAT NEWS here. He said Pau had a partial practice yesterday and participated in the FULL practice today. When asked if Pau would play tomorrow he said they need to wait and see if his ankle swells tomorrow after a first full practice. He didn't say it explictly, but he implied that if there is no swelling tomorrow, Pau will play.

He said Bynum looks good. Practiced for about 25 minutes total today. Mentioned it would be a great challenge to integrate him into the lineup so close to the playoffs. Ideal would be to get Bynum in for a couple games before playoffs, rather than try to integrate in the playoffs.

Ariza, he didn't sound so optimistic. He said recent CAT scan showed the foot is healing now. Ariza is running on the Alter-G at HALF his body weight. He's taking set shots on the court, but not jumpers yet. He mentioned Ariza is the Lakers BEST defender. He said he knows people are frustrated with the injuries but that different people heal differently. Mitch said he has a scab on his knee that is still kinda there afer 7 weeks yet his nephew (I think he said nephew) had one that healed in 3 days.

Kobe Bryant Story:
Mitch was asked if the whole Kobe thing is done. Mitch said he has always believed Kobe would be a Laker for life. But Kobe wants to win ... and Mitch's best guess is that if you sit and think about it, there's no better place for Kobe to be than LA if he wants to win. Any other destination that ANY big player like Kobe could be traded to would be wiped out and he'd be left with very little to work with.

Andrew Bynum's Development:
Mitch said no one expected Bynum to develop this quickly, but his development is all to Bynum's credit. He said in the exit interview, that he wants Andrew to really focus on getting into shape. Andrew already had a calendar prepared for Mitch that detailed all of his offseason workout plans. He was in the gym virtually every day working out with Laker trainers. In (I think it was August), Andrew left for Atlanta, hired his own trainer (we now know this is Sean Zarzana) and lived in a hotel. Worked out every single day with Zarzana for about 5 hours. He said when he came back, you could see a distinct difference in Bynum's definition and confidence. Mitch said, Bynum no longer looked like an overweight kid. Not sure if some of that motivation came from Bryant's situation this offseason, it's possible, but the point is Bynum went on his own accord and worked hard. Oh, and he mentioned that he thinks Bynum could be an all-star next season.

Sasha Vujacic's Development:
When asked about Sasha's development, he simply said it was a matter and issue of time. Sasha was 19 when they drafted him and he just needed time to adjust. He said they drafted him because he could shoot, he has a gift for shooting, he just couldn't shoot for a while. (Everyone laughed). But he said Sasha is a gym rat and is almost always in the gym either working out, shooting the ball, or even just shooting around with a friend. Billy Mac asked everyone if they like the nickname "The Machine" and everyone seemed to like it.

2008 Free Agency:
Mitch clearly said that he does not plan to participate in any major free agents. They are happy with what they have, will continue to work with what they have, he knocked on wood and said we need to stay healthy, and said maybe they'll get a veteran or something at the most. He mentioned he wants to resign both Turiaf and Sasha and those will be offseason priorities.

Mitch's Feelings:
Billy Mac asked Kupchak if he was hurt by the criticism, and if he feels vindicated now because of the progress. BIlly Mac said to the crowd, that at this time last year, everyone was saying trade Bynum, trade Bynum, get Garnett. Kupchak didn't really answer the question directly.... he just said the key is patience and timing. He knows everyone wants to win now and win all the time. He said one of the things that Jerry West taught him, and was very very good at, was not being pressured into things. He would do things the way he thought they should be done. He wouldn't make moves to appease the fans, he would do what he thought was best for the team. Maybe some of this rubbed off on Kupchak. He's a huge North Carolina fan, he was smiling like a 5 year old when Billy Mac asked him about UNC and the NCAA. Mitch mentioned he's personally scouted all 4 teams in the final four and each has 3-4 NBA-caliber players so it should be an exciting weekend.

[CITYOFANGELSX3]

Cool, nice recap

[TommyTheCat]

wow, so bynum had his entire offseason workout calendar in place before the exit interview...............way to go bynum.............doesn't look like he needed anyone else to light a match under his @ss. he knew what he needed to do and had it planned out.

[Farsi Man]

Wasn't Phil Jackson there last year? Why not this year?

[dockingsched]

just saw a clip on the lakers post game show from this meeting where mitch says andrew is several weeks from playing successful nba basketball. i didn't catch it word for word because well hearing several weeks kinda shocked me. he said not a month, but certainly several weeks.

[Danny Darko]

Nice find.

[pooteeweet]

just saw a clip on the lakers post game show from this meeting where mitch says andrew is several weeks from playing successful nba basketball. i didn't catch it word for word because well hearing several weeks kinda shocked me. he said not a month, but certainly several weeks.

Yeah, I saw that same clip last night. I don't know if Mitch was just trying to "manage expectations," or if Bynum truly won't be back until the playoffs.

[AgentK0be]

if boston, phoenix, or detroit make a move this off season for a major free agent.....do you think mitch will change his mind about participating for a major free agent?