Free agency and team building going forward

[TimeisIllmatic]

Idk if it's possible but this team needs to do whatever they can to get Myles Turner this summer. If the Lakers can't get a quality big, it'll be the same thing each playoffs.

[Tracymcgoaty]

Two things i wanna read in the offseason.

Lebron takes a paycut to help the roster.

Reaves is traded for a good wing player or a legit big.

[tamaraw08]

Idk if it's possible but this team needs to do whatever they can to get Myles Turner this summer. If the Lakers can't get a quality big, it'll be the same thing each playoffs.

How much paycut is Lebron will to give just to get Myles Turner?

[tamaraw08]

Can Lebron, Luka and Rob convince Jeanie that Reaves is a bad fit with this team?
Reaves is a very good shot creator but too inconsistent as a shooter and not a good enough defender esp in the playoffs.
2 greatest needs. a reliable center AND 1-2 defenders who can hit open 3’s.
Royce ONeal and Grayson Allen both have really good CONSISTENT career 3pt%. Lakers best season was having guys like peak KCP, Caruso, Danny Green..

Nick Richards is young and has a cheap contract.
Suns need to rebuild.

[Astaluego]

Richards is a backup-level center. Being very optimistic, if it's about winning the championship, you need someone much better, in my opinion...
Pure fantasy, but something like that, I'd like.

Trade 1
A.Reaves for Herb Jones

Trade 2
Maxi/Vandervilt/Knecht/FRP 31 for Claxton+ FRP Knicks 25(#26)

Trade 3..
Vincent+Milton+SRP for Clarksson..

Trade 4
26 to Hornets for 33 and 34

FA..
Bruce Brown..
Luke Kornet or Kai Jones or Hayes
Javonte Green


Claxton/FA/Draft
Hachimura/DFS
LeBron /J.Green/Draft
H.Jones/B.Brown/Goodwin
Luka/Clarksson/Bronny

[TimeisIllmatic]

Idk if it's possible but this team needs to do whatever they can to get Myles Turner this summer. If the Lakers can't get a quality big, it'll be the same thing each playoffs.

How much paycut is Lebron will to give just to get Myles Turner?

I misspoke but doesn't look like there's a possibility of landing Turner unless he decided to sign the MLE which he won't do. The likely path is probably signing Capela to the MLE.

[TimeisIllmatic]

Richards is a backup-level center. Being very optimistic, if it's about winning the championship, you need someone much better, in my opinion...
Pure fantasy, but something like that, I'd like.

Trade 1
A.Reaves for Herb Jones

Trade 2
Maxi/Vandervilt/Knecht/FRP 31 for Claxton+ FRP Knicks 25(#26)

Trade 3..
Vincent+Milton+SRP for Clarksson..

Trade 4
26 to Hornets for 33 and 34

FA..
Bruce Brown..
Luke Kornet or Kai Jones or Hayes
Javonte Green


Claxton/FA/Draft
Hachimura/DFS
LeBron /J.Green/Draft
H.Jones/B.Brown/Goodwin
Luka/Clarksson/Bronny

Trade 2 would be a great get for the Lakers. I don't think Brooklyn does it since that FRP is pretty far out and Vando/Knecht's trade values are not great, imo.

[Liam_Gallagher]

A trade centred around Reaves and Walker Kessler could help both teams in their present landscape IMO.

[Beethoven]

Let's just trade for Giannis with Knect and a few firsts and get this over with, and get the championship next year already.

[stan francisco]

LeBron and Don is like peanut butter and peanut butter. It’s not an ideal duo, but I’ll be quiet. Both provide similar things offensively.

But, it provides an opportunity. We could afford the luxury to always have one or the other on the court. I would limit their time together. Prolongs Bron’s career, allows Luka to be fresh in the post season. Limit the -29 effect of them together on the floor.

That requires a great supporting cast.

Draft will be interesting. We should explore trading up for Flagg.

I think the roster we have needs adjusting. Tough break with the rescinded trade for Williams or we could’ve made a run.

Gotta say I’m disappointed in Redick giving up on defense first and getting us eliminated. What happened to the togetherness-vibes and the defensive intensity?

[Beethoven]

I have a feeling flagg is going to be a bust.

[stan francisco]

I have a feeling flagg is going to be a bust.

we’ll have to agree to disagree. He’ll contribute big time in year two, maybe even in year one.

I don’t watch college hoops much but he strikes me as more complete than most rookies I’ve seen recently not named Wemby. Plays both ends without any real weakness, does not have to rely on his freakish athleticism to be effective. High hoops IQ. Rebounds, assists, drives, handles, shoots. Good off the ball, good on the ball. Would be a good compliment to Luka. He’s NBA size with solid fundamentals. I think he’ll have a NBA star level, or close to it, career.

[danfantastk32]

Lakers have almost no salary space to buy players, and have no draft pick this year.

They can try and trade, or waive alot of riff-raff...and along with a slight gain from trading DLo for Finney-Smith, and the uptick in cap space you get almost every year...and you're prob looking at about $15mil in space.

So what the Lakers need to do, is just chill, and wait for Lebron to retire. Hopefully it will be this offseason. If not, it will be the next.

Next offseason, you have a few other players come off the books as well. You can renegotiate, or move on. You will also have your draft pick. That is the season for the Lakers to make their moves. I know it's not fun....but anything you do this offseason is gonna be more Finney-Smiths, and Gabe Vincents, and the like. You can sign Finney-Smiths till your blue in the face....your not gonna win with them.

They need to sit Luka down, and make sure he's committed to this. Cause it's gonna take a few years to build something. I'd like to think that in 3-4 years there isn't a single player on the roster (besides Luka) that is here now. I certainly don't see anyone I'd particularly miss.

My only caveat is if the Laker are able to get Lebron to waive his contract, and do a one year deal for about $20 mil less...or whatever. Now your looking at $30-$35 mil that you'd be able to potentially get a good player with. But even then......I mean look...you can't just go "signing guys" and think your gonna get somewhere. You gotta get the right guy....even if it means waiting for him.

The Lakers are waiting for Lebron to retire....so they can rebuild around Luka. To call it anything else, is just lying to yourself.

Don't waste any more picks or any cap space on anything but long-term moves. We're not in "closing window" mode anymore. We're in 'building the next era of the Lakers mode" .....it's high time everyone shifted gears.

[danfantastk32]

If Luka is not committed to a 3-4 year rebuild (sorry...it's gonna take a minute to build around a guy when your maxed out, and all tradable draft picks are spoken for) then move him, and wait for Lebron to leave (that might speed it up) and rebuild. You should me able to get a grip of picks, and young talent for Luka.

[tamaraw08]

LeBron and Don is like peanut butter and peanut butter. It’s not an ideal duo, but I’ll be quiet. Both provide similar things offensively.

But, it provides an opportunity. We could afford the luxury to always have one or the other on the court. I would limit their time together. Prolongs Bron’s career, allows Luka to be fresh in the post season. Limit the -29 effect of them together on the floor.

That requires a great supporting cast.

Draft will be interesting. We should explore trading up for Flagg.

I think the roster we have needs adjusting. Tough break with the rescinded trade for Williams or we could’ve made a run.

Gotta say I’m disappointed in Redick giving up on defense first and getting us eliminated. What happened to the togetherness-vibes and the defensive intensity?

After watching a few highlights of Flagg, I think it's going to be next to impossible to trade for him. The guy has size, impressive skills and is very athletic.
I am hoping Rob and his really good staff can find that mature 22-23 year old defender who can hit open 3's from the draft.
They found guys like Josh Hart and Max Christie (took a while). Alex Caruso was acquired from the G-League.
Maybe hire Shane Battier to tutor Dalton Knecht on proper ways to defend.

[Andri]

Lakers have almost no salary space to buy players, and have no draft pick this year.

They can try and trade, or waive alot of riff-raff...and along with a slight gain from trading DLo for Finney-Smith, and the uptick in cap space you get almost every year...and you're prob looking at about $15mil in space.

So what the Lakers need to do, is just chill, and wait for Lebron to retire. Hopefully it will be this offseason. If not, it will be the next.

Next offseason, you have a few other players come off the books as well. You can renegotiate, or move on. You will also have your draft pick. That is the season for the Lakers to make their moves. I know it's not fun....but anything you do this offseason is gonna be more Finney-Smiths, and Gabe Vincents, and the like. You can sign Finney-Smiths till your blue in the face....your not gonna win with them.

They need to sit Luka down, and make sure he's committed to this. Cause it's gonna take a few years to build something. I'd like to think that in 3-4 years there isn't a single player on the roster (besides Luka) that is here now. I certainly don't see anyone I'd particularly miss.

My only caveat is if the Laker are able to get Lebron to waive his contract, and do a one year deal for about $20 mil less...or whatever. Now your looking at $30-$35 mil that you'd be able to potentially get a good player with. But even then......I mean look...you can't just go "signing guys" and think your gonna get somewhere. You gotta get the right guy....even if it means waiting for him.

The Lakers are waiting for Lebron to retire....so they can rebuild around Luka. To call it anything else, is just lying to yourself.

Don't waste any more picks or any cap space on anything but long-term moves. We're not in "closing window" mode anymore. We're in 'building the next era of the Lakers mode" .....it's high time everyone shifted gears.

Well put.

The only caveat is that in the NBA things can change all of the sudden. See Luka trade.

So, in paper, that should be the approach, but you know, life is what happens while you are busy making plans

[stan francisco]

We need a C and a PG (elite 3&D). Nothing else. We have like 19 PFs and wings.

Biggest need: replace AD’s low post defense and offense. I’d start looking at:

Lopez, Kessler, Sims, Gafford (keeping an eye on Edey, Lively etc going forward). Hayes and Jemison are good backups.

I expect Knecht to become more of an impact wing in his second year. I think he’ll be our starting SF and LBJ the PF.

Three out of Bron, DFS, Vando, Rui is enough at the 4 spot.

I’d like to start Luka at SG (on paper) and get a bulldog tough PG who doesn’t give a flying f about Luka unless he plays D. A veteran who can handle a bit for relief and who plays true 3&D on an elite level. To cover for Luka’s lack of defense, I think Marcus Smart would be good.

Smart / Vincent
Luka / Reaves
Knecht / DFS
Bron / Vando
Lopez / Hayes

Is a better fit around Luka. We have wings and picks and we have Reaves if we need Kessler more. Once Bron retires we’ll need Reaves to break down defenses.

In Rob I trust.

[stan francisco]

LeBron and Don is like peanut butter and peanut butter. It’s not an ideal duo, but I’ll be quiet. Both provide similar things offensively.

But, it provides an opportunity. We could afford the luxury to always have one or the other on the court. I would limit their time together. Prolongs Bron’s career, allows Luka to be fresh in the post season. Limit the -29 effect of them together on the floor.

That requires a great supporting cast.

Draft will be interesting. We should explore trading up for Flagg.

I think the roster we have needs adjusting. Tough break with the rescinded trade for Williams or we could’ve made a run.

Gotta say I’m disappointed in Redick giving up on defense first and getting us eliminated. What happened to the togetherness-vibes and the defensive intensity?

After watching a few highlights of Flagg, I think it's going to be next to impossible to trade for him. The guy has size, impressive skills and is very athletic.
I am hoping Rob and his really good staff can find that mature 22-23 year old defender who can hit open 3's from the draft.
They found guys like Josh Hart and Max Christie (took a while). Alex Caruso was acquired from the G-League.
Maybe hire Shane Battier to tutor Dalton Knecht on proper ways to defend.

^ agreed!!!

[stan francisco]

We have, according to ESPN, “a 2031 first-round pick, five years of pick swaps, former first-round pick Dalton Knecht and over $70 million in expiring contracts (Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith, Rui Hachimura, Maxi Kleber and Gabe Vincent) to use in a trade.”

Rob says he’ll build a roster around Luka fit to JJ’s basketball philosophy. :dunno:

If they get booted, let’s hope Joker wants to play with Luka. In the real world, I’d look at guys like Marcus Smart, Ryan Rollins, Kessler, Lopez, JJJ, Aaron Gordon, Powell, FVV, Hart…. True two way 3&D players who can switch. Tough players who are not deferring to Luka.

[NBAWestFan]

Bye Bye Bron is best thing.

I been watching the Lakers since the late 60's.

I have not watched much of the Lebron Era except the playoffs and the bubble.

He is just padding his stats from here on out. There is no championship with his big salary.

If he took a huge cut then that would say alot about him but if not then please leave.

He is too old and takes up too much salary.

As Nico said defensive when titles and at 40 you cannot play the defense needed in 6 and 7 game series.

I would like the re-build. We lost so many picks because of Lebron trades and now it will be hard to re-build.

Start over with Luka but even he looks like he is overpriced.