RealGM

LINK:
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=11007

Great read.

keep trevor, its not like he's going to ask for bynum money

They better keep Trevor, but I'm afraid of the cap situation just like when we lost Ronny.
We have so much tied around Kobe, Gasol, Bynum,maybe Odom, Farmars possile extension, etc. Ariza might commend MLE type money and someone else might give that or overpay him. Teams like GS, NY will want Ariza for sure as his style flourishes run and gun.

I don't see Trevor being a Laker past this season. We simply can't afford him. I think this is largely why he has not been, and probably will never be, inserted into the starting lineup.

We will likely land a starting SF via trade, and keep Trevor as an energy guy off the bench (this season, that is).

don't give farmar an extension, and odom said he would come back for less
it will still be a lot though

how much a year is sasha making, would that be a good deal for trevor?

Sasha is getting about 3 years for $15 mil, doubt Ariza will sign for that range. I am pretty sure it will take MLE or slightly above MLE. Do we hold Arizas birdright? Where is davidse? LOL. I'm afriad some run and gun team might offer Ariza $6-8 per year and LA will not go that high. If Vlad and Luke gets $6 per we know agent David Lee will ask for a higher salary.

It's these medium level player contracts that have absolutely killed us. If we hadn't signed Radmanovic-Walton-Vujajic we could take in a major player on a long-term deal with ease right now.

My suggestion is that we get our money's worth dealing Ariza right now to bring in the best possible SF with Vujajic taking the minutes left between our SG and SF. First thing's first though, we need to improve out trade capability by signing Marbury and Mourning. That will give us the ability to trade Odom and eventually Farmar.

ideal would be to move a guy like Vlad with Trevor and get back a better fit at the 3 and a defensive minded pg.

Best I could possibly think of would be to tell Houston we'll give you Farmar+Ariza+Radmanovic just to get Shane Battier. It would be pricey as all heck but if you find a decent backup PG you'll protect your rotation with the big men and still relieve your difficulties at SF.

Perhaps Farmar+Radmanovic can fetch us Battier? Worth a shot... Would be simply bliss if we pulled it off.

Ariza has arguably been our most consistent player this season. I think he makes more of an impact on this team than anyone not named Kobe or Pau (or Bynum when he decides to rebound and anchor the D.) Dude plays hard, injects the team with energy, wreaks havoc on the defensive end, has a knack for getting to the hoop, and his J is improving. On top of all that, he's only 23 and he wants to be a Laker. Pay the man and keep him in P&G, even if it means letting Odom walk.

Do you do that or do you trade for guys that are coming off of bad years but are known to be better players that can drive to the hoop, can shoot better, and have better BBall IQ. It's a question to be answered.