This team is too talented...

[Kreuk]

I never thought I'd be able to say this, but we went from one of the worst teams in the league (aside from Kobe), to one of the most talented in less than a year.

The problem now is that this team is too talented, and ironically our depth is going to be a big problem for us.

Let me elaborate... Essentially, we have three first options (Kobe, Bynum, Gasol) and a monster of a third option (Odom)... We are also dangerously thin at PG (more to come on this).

Obviously, for salary cap reasons, we cannot have Bynum, Kobe, Gasol, Odom, and be in a position to re-sign our valuable core players. Someone has to go and I know a lot of people are going to say "ship Odom's ass out."

But, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that an Odom, Kobe, Gasol combo would be more successful than a Bynum, Kobe, Gasol combo.

Gasol and Bynum are too similar in terms of style of play to both be effective on the floor. However, you throw Odom in there with either Bynum or Kobe, or Gasol and Kobe, and you create a much different and more deadly dynamic.

This is an important issue because both Odom and Bynum can be extended this summer... and we also have Turiaf and Sasha up for extensions...

Once we got Gasol, Bynum became expendable, as much as I hate to say it... I know a lot of you will say Odom became expendable, but just look at how well this team has been playing with a healthy Odom and Gasol.

I think the route that we must ultimately take, and I know a lot of people are going to hate on me for this... is to package bynum with walton, mihm, scraps for a legitimate PG and to free up cap space to re-sign Odom and our other players...

[lakerz12]

I think we will find a way to keep them all and have Farmar as our pg with Fish.

If anything it will be Odom going because I don't think the organization is willing to part with Bynum or Gasol.

[That Nicka]

You really should have retired at 3,000 posts

[Gus McCrae]

1) not seeing Bynum on the floor makes him seem expendable but he is a BEAST!!! He tool us to #1 in the West and Power Ranking BEFORE we even got Gasol. All those lobs that Turiaf can't throw down, Bynum will. gawd, he is insane.

2) Odom will re-sign for less.

3) if we keep Kobe, Bynum, Gasol, and Odom then vets will be lining up to sign for the minimum and all those other techinical signings I can't quote.

4) I must see Bynum and Gasol run tandem at some point with Kobe and Lamar on the floor. There is no way on earth any team can beat us with that lineup.

[hermes]

Gasol and Bynum are too similar in terms of style of play to both be effective on the floor.

how do you know, they haven't played together yet

[Kreuk]

Salary...

Kobe - $19.4 million
Gasol - $13.75 million
Odom - $12.9 million

so roughly $46 million between three players, with the tax threshold at roughly $67 million

...which leaves approximately $21 million for the rest of the team...

players may take a pay-cut, but they will not be playing for the league minimum...

there is NO way we can have kobe, odom, bynum, and gasol on the same team for a lengthy period of time... sure we can let odom's contract run out, and bynum's rookie contract expire, but then what?

and that still leaves out farmar, sasha, ronny, etc...

[Chubby Chaser]

Lay off the drugs if you for a second think laker management would rather keep Lamar at the 4 and Pau at the 5 and get rid of Bynum. They brought Pau over with the understanding that he is a true power forward. When everyone's healthy and contracts are taken in to consideration. Lamar is the odd man out. Unless he re structures his contract that's just how it is.

[That Nicka]

Salary...

Kobe - $19.4 million
Gasol - $13.75 million
Odom - $12.9 million

so roughly $46 million between three players, with the tax threshold at roughly $67 million

...which leaves approximately $21 million for the rest of the team...

players may take a pay-cut, but they will not be playing for the league minimum...

there is NO way we can have kobe, odom, bynum, and gasol on the same team for a lengthy period of time... sure we can let odom's contract run out, and bynum's rookie contract expire, but then what?

and that still leaves out farmar, sasha, ronny, etc...

Are you Dr. Buss? He is the only one that has to spend the money, so maybe we should leave it up to him to decide...

Mavs have a 100+ million dollar roster
Knicks/Nuggets/Cavs have a 80+ million dollar roster

We are in a better position than all those teams... let Buss decide if he will spend the money

[DEEP3CL]

Heres your answer plain and simple, Sasha, Ronny and Jordan are not going to max type players anytime soon. And even if they did no team in the league is going to pay them 10 to 13 million anyway.

I think your over thinking the process Kobot,just to let you know its only a few teams with cap space and its not the power house teams we are use to seeing. That said LO, weather people like it or not will be on audition mode. His contract gives the Lakers leverage in many ways. Plus there is the " Bird Rule", we all know what that is so I don't have to go into it. It's up to the Busses to exceed the tax threshole or not to, doing so like he did for the Pau trade to make the team a contender is smart business, not doing so is watching what we were watching for the last 3 seasons.

Guys will be paid accordingly, players have never complained about being under paid here and I don't think they'll ever start.

[Chubby Chaser]

The lakers are currently in a position that few teams have ever been lucky enough to be in. We can win now, and win in the future. It's possible to have our dynasty now, which will incorporate our dynasty for the future. When this team is done and Kobe eventually retires in maybe 6 years. Pau will be 31, and so will Lamar. Bynum however will barely start hitting his prime at the age of 26 while farmar will be the same. A nucleus of Farmar and Bynum, and a declining Pau or Lamar could still win rings when number 24 hangs them up. The laker franchise is in great position as long as we hold onto Kobe, Pau and Bynum. To think, Bynum could still play for 8-9 more years after Kobe retires He could very well finish with more rings than Kobe if he stays healthy. I'm pretty sure that management sees what great shape the franchise is in right now, and would not jeopardize the longevity of this dynasty for the future by cutting out Bynum now. The kid is only 20!

[dockingsched]

i really dislike the idea of losing odom or bynum due to money reasons when radman and walton are eating up more than 10 mil per year.

[Chubby Chaser]

Heres your answer plain and simple, Sasha, Ronny and Jordan are not going to max type players anytime soon. And even if they did no team in the league is going to pay them 10 to 13 million anyway.

I think your over thinking the process Kobot,just to let you know its only a few teams with cap space and its not the power house teams we are use to seeing. That said LO, weather people like it or not will be on audition mode. His contract gives the Lakers leverage in many ways. Plus there is the " Bird Rule", we all know what that is so I don't have to go into it. It's up to the Busses to exceed the tax threshole or not to, doing so like he did for the Pau trade to make the team a contender is smart business, not doing so is watching what we were watching for the last 3 seasons.

Guys will be paid accordingly, players have never complained about being under paid here and I don't think they'll ever start.

Unless if your Shaq yelling at Buss "Pay me my motherf****n Money!" when he's on the court.

[alfurd]

Salary...

Kobe - $19.4 million
Gasol - $13.75 million
Odom - $12.9 million

so roughly $46 million between three players, with the tax threshold at roughly $67 million

...which leaves approximately $21 million for the rest of the team...

players may take a pay-cut, but they will not be playing for the league minimum...

there is NO way we can have kobe, odom, bynum, and gasol on the same team for a lengthy period of time... sure we can let odom's contract run out, and bynum's rookie contract expire, but then what?

and that still leaves out farmar, sasha, ronny, etc...

So what you're talking about isn't salary cap flexibility, which is what you were referring to in your first post. You're talking about minimizing the effect of the luxury tax. Besides Ronny the other Laker players you've mentioned can definitely be retained as long as the Lakers are willing to take a tax hit to keep them. If the Lakers have to drop either Bynum or Odom then fine, but you see how they all play alongside each other first and go from there, rather than adding unnecessary risk by trading someone and regretting it later. People aren't going to criticize you for saying trade Bynum as much as they will be for saying trade Bynum before the key players really get a chance to play together. You're pretty much saying that the Lakers should act based on what the team has on paper, without knowing what the team really has.

My question is what kind of "legitimate PG" you're looking for as compensation, because you've highlighted that the cost-cutting purposes of a Bynum/Odom trade. This is relevant because I think you'd have to be looking at a Rafer Alston/Derek Fisher-level guard (which is unacceptable for Bynum) or someone who will require greater compensation when their contract is up.

[Kreuk]

I think your over thinking the process Kobot,just to let you know its only a few teams with cap space and its not the power house teams we are use to seeing.

well, I may be overthinking it, but... Mitch is the one who got me thinking about in the first place, because he was very vague about the prospect of re-signing lamar...

IMO, Sasha and Ronny are worth more to me than Vlad and Walton and Vlad and Walton are making the MLE... So, now Sasha and Ronny/ Farmar aren't max type players, but my god, has that stopped any team from throwing ridiculous money at similar players?

[Chubby Chaser]

To be honest, Mitch was vague about lamar because he is the odd man out when all starters come back healthy. Although lamar is a fine player. You just can't justify paying your 4th option 13 mil/year. Unless we are the yankees, that is just not going to happen. Another reason Lamar is the odd man out is because the "ideal" SF playing alongside Kobe, Pau and bynum would be a hybrid of Sasha and Ariza. Someone who can hit the three consistently, and play lock down defense. (Dare I mention Artest?) I for one hope Lamar restructures his contract and stays a laker.

[Kreuk]

To be honest, Mitch was vague about lamar because he is the odd man out when all starters come back healthy.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

This is one of my points... Why is Lamar the odd man out? We've been playing the best basketball of the last four seasons with Lamar in the line-up and the guy has been an absolute beast... and I was somebody who once hated Lamar...

So you want to tell me, that although we've been very successful... Let's just let him be the odd man out because bynum and pau could be a better combo...

[dockingsched]

To be honest, Mitch was vague about lamar because he is the odd man out when all starters come back healthy. Although lamar is a fine player. You just can't justify paying your 4th option 13 mil/year. Unless we are the yankees, that is just not going to happen. Another reason Lamar is the odd man out is because the "ideal" SF playing alongside Kobe, Pau and bynum would be a hybrid of Sasha and Ariza. Someone who can hit the three consistently, and play lock down defense. (Dare I mention Artest?) I for one hope Lamar restructures his contract and stays a laker.

one, no one is expecting lamar to get 13 million dollars. 2nd, lamar should get paid what he's worth, not a penny less. not when radman and walton aren't earning their money. completely unfair for lakers fans to ever expect lamar to be the one to get paid less than he's worth. 3rd, people act like lamar is all of a sudden going to only be a sf. lamar will still get plenty of minutes at pf. injuries are a part of the game and lamar's ability to step in is very valuable. people talk about the future as if gasol and bynum are going to play every minute of every game.

[TommyTheCat]

odom's the odd man out. once bynum is back next year odom becomes a redundant piece. i'm glad he's playing at a very high level but he's doing that at the pf spot and there is no way in hell the lakers trade bynum (ps. please pass me the crack pipe). jerry buss has been very willing to pay big dollars to field a contending team...........see 80's showtime and 3-peat team. i'd love to see how odom fits at sf with bynum and gasol and hopefully we get to see that in playoffs or next season. but if i were to bet, i'd put my money on odom being moved for a true sf and/or pg. i doubt buss would just let odom's contract to expire when he's sitting with a team that can contend for years. i think his history has shown he'll bite the bullet and lay down the money for the championships.

maybe odom will be willing to extend for less money but that doesn't seem to happen very often....................and with a nba's short career expectancy, i don't blame them for taking the money when it's on the table.

[LLcoleJ]

-= original quote snipped =-



"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

This is one of my points... Why is Lamar the odd man out? We've been playing the best basketball of the last four seasons with Lamar in the line-up and the guy has been an absolute beast... and I was somebody who once hated Lamar...

So you want to tell me, that although we've been very successful... Let's just let him be the odd man out because bynum and pau could be a better combo...

GM's dont normally commit to deals in the press and or town hall meetings. They negotiate with the player and the agent. Odom is not up for an extension this season so I am sure it has not been on the top of the list.

It would serve everyone from Odom, Mitch, Buss and all the fans to actually see how this team plays together at full stregth before we look for ways to break it down.

Having a payroll of 80 million is not that big a deal of the team is a contender every year.

We are in a great situation to sit back relax and see how it all plays out.

Hopefully, Kobe, Odom, Gasol and Bynum will all be on the floor for the Lakers for many years. They do have too much talent. Young talent that I dont see them giving up anytime soon.

Too much talent = good postion to be in.

[LLcoleJ]

maybe odom will be willing to extend for less money but that doesn't seem to happen very often....................and with a nba's short career expectancy, i don't blame them for taking the money when it's on the table.

I see Odom getting a deal like Sheed got. He was making 14 million a year and then traded to Det. When his contract expired, he took a deal with the Pistons for 5 years @ 10 million per.

I am not sure about the length of the contract- but I see Odom getting around 10 million per..