RealGM

ndnow wrote:

StojkoVrankovic wrote:

LKTD wrote:After this year, if you had to predict with what you know now:

Celtics will have to rebuild very soon, can players stand Rondo enough to not cause drama inside the locker room? I don't think the franchise is as appealing to free agents as the Lakers because of Rondo.

Lakers are loaded with trade pieces but do they have the personnel and mentality to stay as contenders in the Kobe era?

I think Celtics are in a tougher situation.

The ONLY player who has had an issue with Rondo was Ray Allen. Every other player loves the kid, every coach loves his abilities.

Players around the league love watching the kid play ball because they know how difficult it is to do what he does.

Stop making stuff up

Saying everyone loves him is just as bad as saying everyone hates him. You know just as much as the OP, you need to also stop making things up.

Not really, Rondo is good friends with most of the locker room. Last year, it was made known that he was best friends with Wilcox, Daniels, Ticket, and Dooling. We already know he was good friends with Pierce. I'm sure Bass has nothing against Rondo as he force feeds him jumpers all game. This year, we already know he is good friends with Lee, as it took a big effort by him to pry Lee to boston, and that he has been good friends with Green ever since the trade. Sorry bro.

^ Don't forget that he's pretty much been Avery Bradley's mentor and supporting him 100% since he came into the league.

When you think about, the only teammate/coach Rondo's ever had that had felt he had locker room issues with was Ray. If everyone else gets along with Rondo except Ray, something tells me that Rondo wasn't the problem. But of course the media, seeing as they favor Ray Allen over Rondo tried to make Rondo out to be the "bad guy" in the situation.

The Lakers never go trough it. The only time they had a tough futur , it was when Magic retired and nobody could predict it. This franchise has something ( maybe the money) that makes it easier.

R9ndo wrote:Rondo
Bradley
Green
Sullinger
Maybe melo

That's a good young core.

Ainge has to contend/rebuild at the same time and he is doing a great job IMO.

LMAO. No it isn't.

ComboGuardCity wrote:

Celts17Pride wrote:I say it's close because people will want to play with Doc Rivers and Rondo. Players playing with Rondo know their scoring average will go up because Rondo will give them the ball.

I agree the Lakers will always be good because of their history and everyone wants to play in LA. The one thing that is going to hurt the Lakers going forward is that they won't be able to have a team payroll of $100-$110 million+ like they have in the past. The new CBA really hurts high spending teams.

I think the Celtics will have it tougher than the Lakers but it's closer than people think.

No one wants to play with Rondo. He's a diva.

Based off of what exactly? Why did numerous FA's as recent as this off-season go out and say they wanted to play with Rondo? Mayo, Lee, Terry, etc.

Look, I get that you'll bash the Celtics/Rondo any chance you get, but maybe for once you'll stop being a coward and defend your claims? I'll wait..


And as far as the OP goes, the Lakers will almost always have the slight upper hand due to location. But if Howard leaves, then they're screwed big time and they'll be in the tougher situation.

The Lakers will have cap space in a couple years, something they haven't had in over a decade.

They always have a winning program, and now you add cap space to this.

The Lakers easily have the better future, and are in a damn good position to build something else.

Ayt wrote:

R9ndo wrote:Rondo
Bradley
Green
Sullinger
Maybe melo

That's a good young core.

Ainge has to contend/rebuild at the same time and he is doing a great job IMO.

LMAO. No it isn't.

The Celtics will be in a tougher situation going forward. However, I think the NBA is changing and the days of the Lakers being gift wrapped players and acquiring whoever they want from free agency are coming to a close. GM's are getting smarter and LA isn't the only attractive city in the US.

Lots of posters in this thread are also overrating Dwight's ability. Sure he's a fantastic defender (slightly overrated) but can you really build a contender around him? I say no. He's never going to be a dominant force on the low block and his FT shooting is horrible (it wouldn't matter if he could get make more field goals). Are you seriously going to sit here and tell me that building around Dwight will make you a title contender? You're always going to need another elite scorer with Dwight. Especially out west.

KingCuban wrote:The Lakers will have cap space in a couple years, something they haven't had in over a decade.

They always have a winning program, and now you add cap space to this.

The Lakers easily have the better future, and are in a damn good position to build something else.

Cap space isn't necessarily the best thing for the Lakers. The Lakers have always had an incredibly high payroll compared to the rest of the league. When was the last time their payroll was around the average?

The cap space the Lakers have would only be useful if they release the rights on their FA's, and once they do this, the Laker's will be caped to a certain amount in which they can spend. Basically the salary cap + whatever remaining exceptions they have. So their payroll after the summer of 2014 will be around $65-$70 million?

Randomly assume the cap will be set at $60 million for the 2014-2015 season.
Also assume that Dwight will resign with the Laker's this offseason for the max contract as well as Laker's obtain no additional salaries that extend beyond the 2013-2014 season and trade away the rights to their 2014 draft picks (to get rid of the holds)

Going into the summer of 2014.
--------------------------------------------
Dwight Howard - $22.26 million
Steve Nash - $ 9.70 million

Remaining Cap Space - $28.04 million.
Remaining Exceptions - Mid Level Exception, Bi-Annual Exception


The Lakers would have $28.04 million to spend among 8 players...only the free agent class of 2014 is incredibly weak.




Hypothetical Line-up
------------------------------
PG: S. Nash, K. Lowry (MLE)
SG: B. Gordon (2nd FA), Minimum Scrub
SF: D. Granger (main FA), Minimum Scrub
PF: M. Bonner (B. Annual), Minimum Scrub
C : D. Howard, K. Brown (Vet Min)


Ya...that's not beating anyone.

LOL at Kyle Lowry accepting the MLE to be a backup when he can make much more starting for someone else.

smith2373 wrote:LOL at Kyle Lowry accepting the MLE to be a backup when he can make much more starting for someone else.

That's not the point. The point is just having cap space for LA may not be as great as it sounds. LA has been able to make a living by having multiple star players and affording the bill.

Dwight Howard in his prime + millions in cap space in 2014 is better than anything the Celtics have

Howard is a bit unpredictable, so I wouldn't consider him a lock to stay with the franchise until the ink has dried.

GrandTheftRondo wrote:The Celtics will be in a tougher situation going forward. However, I think the NBA is changing and the days of the Lakers being gift wrapped players and acquiring whoever they want from free agency are coming to a close. GM's are getting smarter and LA isn't the only attractive city in the US.

Lots of posters in this thread are also overrating Dwight's ability. Sure he's a fantastic defender (slightly overrated) but can you really build a contender around him? I say no. He's never going to be a dominant force on the low block and his FT shooting is horrible (it wouldn't matter if he could get make more field goals). Are you seriously going to sit here and tell me that building around Dwight will make you a title contender? You're always going to need another elite scorer with Dwight. Especially out west.

He's a force to be reckoned with on the glass and his defense isn't at an elite level right now. He himself said he's only at about 75%. That isn't just explosiveness, that also takes into account conditioning. He said fatigue sets in earlier right now. Once he gets back in game shape he'll get back to being a perennial DPOY candidate.

And of course he's going to need an elite scorer next to him. Same could be said for every great big man, including Wilt, Shaq, Duncan. A big man needs a guard who can penetrate the paint and/or spread the floor. That isn't anything unique to Dwight. But I agree he isn't as gifted on the offensive end as the all-time greats. But very few have been able to rebound and defend like him either.

lodom7 wrote:Dwight Howard in his prime + millions in cap space in 2014 is better than anything the Celtics have

thats right!

How is that even a question?

depends on how far in the future

rondo is still young and has many years ahead of him as the top 5 pg in the league

lakers' future is absolutely uncertain with kobe's upcoming retirement soon