Andrew Bynum 4year/58million done deal!

[TruSkool]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lakers31-2008oct31,0,6564933.story

[TonyMontana]

He better earn every single dollar of it, if not, then its ON.........LOLLL

[history2b]

I'm torn on this one.

First off, I love Andrew Bynum and definitely wanted him re-signed but I'm still concerned with how he's going to hold up over the grind of a full season.

This is essentially pretty darn close to a max contract for 4 years. The one thing I really like is the fact that there is a team option for the 4th and final year.

So the Lakers gambled in order to save a couple bucks in the end, I truly hope he stays healthy because its going to be a long 4 years if he does not. In the end though I am happy to see that we will have the core of Kobe-Gasol-Bynum for at least another 3 seasons assuming Kobe doesn't opt out and leave.

[eckoner]

Well we can now put this behind us and focus on winning games
I think it's a fair contract but i wonder what kinds of offers he would have recieved as a RFA

[Kobe_for_3]

good for andrew but i hope he holds up. 14 mill over the next four is a huge investment for someone who has play well for about 40 games. he's a beast and i hope he stays hungry because big men tend to get lazy the longer they play.

[fareweatherfan]

I'm ok with this. It looks like the reason the Lakers jumped on this rather than wait until the summer is because they likely would have had to give him a longer deal (and maybe more money too). I realize the argument that comes up is that he could have warranted less than this after the season was over. Bottom line, someone was going to offer him at least this much, and in all likelihood for 5+ years.

What's best of all, no more of David Lee's nonsense!

[hermes]

wooo finally its over

bright side
Bynum can now make it rain with 5's, forget singles man we're in the big time now!

[shagadelic45]

we pay him lebron/wade money!? and NO ONE would put him in their league....we got screwed!

[brandonkb8]

Iyyyyy! I love bynum but hes really only played about 2 good months of basketball in his career!!!! Iyyyy 14 mill a year!!!! iyy!!!! damn.

[TruSkool]

to tell u the truth, im not feelin this signing just yet...
its very high risk, high reward.....and it can turn out as god's revenge for the gasol steal!
if bynum can climb each year and reach a 20/10 potential, then good for us, if not, we are screwed for 4 years + the possible loss of lamar odom

[lakersfanatic]

It was a hard decision but i think it was quite fair.

We don't know what bynum will in the future right now but we at least know what he can be...
I'm pretty sure that if we left him as is... it could go either way.. if he does well then the lakers lost money.. if he sucks which is highly unlikely then the lakers benefit.

well since all this drama has been put behind us.. lets all focus on getting them Ws!!
GO LAKERS!!!

[CITYOFANGELSX3]

Glad its over, but what about Odom and Ariza now? Theyre gonna be FA's this comin offseason. Whats this mean for them? Hmm.

[lakersfanatic]

gosh.. i totally forgot about Odom... as well as ariza..

I'm pretty sure they'll keep Ariza considering he is a defensive minded player.

Since lakers were able to pull off not having to give Bynum the super max deal and sort of met him halfway... it'll give them more room to offer Odom.. But ultimately i think it would require that Odom take less... but that's Odom and his agent to decide.

[TruSkool]

expect ariza to be resigned next season.....

as for lamar, there are 3 options:
1. he takes a significant paycut and gets resigned
2. he walks away as a free agent, and the lakers get nothing
3. the lakers trade his expiring contract for a solid player making less money (battier type)

[Danny Darko]

oh brother to the pessimists.

We're blowing teams out, we have a guy who has NBA and experience and is still just getting into the time where big men usually start developing. He's shown he's a worker, he's a roll player when asked to be, and still he has a shot at being our Go To Guy when Kobe is getting up there in years and can't do what he used or god forbid a Greek Billionaire shocks the world with a giant contract off to Kobester.

This aint Okafor, Jerome James, Benoit Benjamin... this isn't a guy with a history of lame injuries either. This is a rare beast in the NBA: A giant guy with great hands, a great mentor, a great work ethic, and a chance to be... great.

It's alot of money but I'm glad it's done.

[TylersLakers]

The contract isn't bad. He'll get around 12, 13.5 million the next couple years. Then we have a team option.

Really, this was probably what we were going to have to settle for if we wanted to keep Drew.

[Sedale Threatt]

DD pretty much sums it up.

Even with the questions about injuries and the fact he's still just scratching the surface, you can't let a guy with that much potential walk. You just can't.

It would be like developing a franchise QB in the NFL, then getting cheap at the last minute and letting somebody else reap the rewards.

Worse case scenario, he levels off or can't stay healthy and in three years we decide he's not worth it. That's a small price to pay compared to watching him leave and blossom into an All-Star with somebody else.

So as much as I don't think he's worth what he'll be making (right now, at least) I would have made this deal in a heartbeat. It had to be done.

[kno]

I get back from my first of three midterms today and the first thing I see is this?

Its gonna be a great day.

[Luxury]

Wow, what a pretty nice birthday gift. Good points Danny Darko.

As for Odom and Ariza, we're going to have to wait till June to find any real indication of what's going to happen to them.

[lojowo]

I hope he continues to work hard now he has the money, even as a Celtics fan, I hate wasted potential of any player.