Kupchak's words @ news conference - salary cuts

[Gus McCrae]

The Lakers have 5 great players that are the heart of the team

1. Kobe 2. Gasol 3. LO 4. Bynum 5. Artest

The Lakers need depth but Luke, AMMO and Sasha are NOT worth jeopardizing keeping the 5 guys listed above together for the next 4 years.

We ALMOST lost LO because we are paying Luke, Sasha and AMMO 5.6 mil per year

Artest is a deal at 5.6 mil per... LO is definitely worth 8.3 mil per year. The Lakers need to respect the pecking order and do what other great championship teams do for depth...

FIND RING CHASERS THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE

I agree with this, but would add that D FIsh and Shannon Brown should also be retained pretty much regardless. Brown's contract is good for his skills and D Fish is D Fish. so I'd say those 7 are on the sqaud, everyone else is expendable to save money.

[10scott10]

The Lakers have 5 great players that are the heart of the team

1. Kobe 2. Gasol 3. LO 4. Bynum 5. Artest

The Lakers need depth but Luke, AMMO and Sasha are NOT worth jeopardizing keeping the 5 guys listed above together for the next 4 years.

We ALMOST lost LO because we are paying Luke, Sasha and AMMO 5.6 mil per year

Artest is a deal at 5.6 mil per... LO is definitely worth 8.3 mil per year. The Lakers need to respect the pecking order and do what other great championship teams do for depth...

FIND RING CHASERS THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE

Exactly. Go with 8 2nd round pick rookies every year to backup the big 5 to keep costs down if you have to. The rest are not worth risking. Farmar breaks out and is worth 6 million next year then let em walk if it''s gonna jeopadize the big 5. We just need to sign guys to longer deals when we get em cheap like Brown. I have a feeling he might break out to and then he would have to go but that's o.k. good luck to him if that happens because it's all about the big 5.

actually, that is a horrible idea. trying to field a bench on the cheap is what killed the 03-40 lakers. When Malone went down, we had no depth to fill his position. Our bench was awful and got murdered by the deeper bench of the pistons. A bench is extremely important to winning

[lovethisgame]

I miss Maurice Evans, i thought he was a solid back up for kobe.

+1, however, he was simply overshadowed by the acquisition of Ariza. I was very surprised by the good play of Laron Profit coming in for Kobe in that '06 season. Too bad he tore his acl.

[Dexmor]

The Lakers have 5 great players that are the heart of the team

1. Kobe 2. Gasol 3. LO 4. Bynum 5. Artest

The Lakers need depth but Luke, AMMO and Sasha are NOT worth jeopardizing keeping the 5 guys listed above together for the next 4 years.

We ALMOST lost LO because we are paying Luke, Sasha and AMMO 5.6 mil per year

Artest is a deal at 5.6 mil per... LO is definitely worth 8.3 mil per year. The Lakers need to respect the pecking order and do what other great championship teams do for depth...

FIND RING CHASERS THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE

Exactly. Go with 8 2nd round pick rookies every year to backup the big 5 to keep costs down if you have to. The rest are not worth risking. Farmar breaks out and is worth 6 million next year then let em walk if it''s gonna jeopadize the big 5. We just need to sign guys to longer deals when we get em cheap like Brown. I have a feeling he might break out to and then he would have to go but that's o.k. good luck to him if that happens because it's all about the big 5.

actually, that is a horrible idea. trying to field a bench on the cheap is what killed the 03-40 lakers. When Malone went down, we had no depth to fill his position. Our bench was awful and got murdered by the deeper bench of the pistons. A bench is extremely important to winning

Well I didn't mean literally but imo the Malone/Payton example is kind of a bad one. Those guys were old. Plus on any team if a main piece goes down you could be screwed.

[LApwnd]

send Ammo to Mem for a 2nd rd pick

[Dexmor]

send Ammo to Mem for a 2nd rd pick

That would be a fantastic trade for us.

[NBAWestFan]

Somehow I don't see Kobe taking a cut at his age for any team.

We need some energitc players for the 2nd unit.

[Dexmor]

Somehow I don't see Kobe taking a cut at his age for any team.

We need some energitc players for the 2nd unit.

KG did. He might. It's kind of moot though isn't it? Even if he signs for the min with the cap going down there not spending much more money.

[Phil Jackson]

I have long been a G. Green advocate and would love to see him come in and back up Kobe.
Right now, Kobe is the only true two on our roster. I think Green still has considerable upside and would really benefit playing on a veteran team and going up against Kobe everyday.

Trying to reduce payroll and maintain a roster that is the favorite to win the title and withstand an injury or two all at the same time is a very tricky business. Keep in mind, we already lost a potentially very good player when we sold our first round pick this year, as there were some really good guys to choose from should we have kept our pick.

Moving Sasha is attractive from a payroll stand point, but his streaky three - point shooting can be quite a weapon in a playoff game - if he's on.

Ammo still has upside, too, but if they do want to shave payroll, his stock is probably about as high as it's going to be after a strong summer league showing.

Sasha Vujabrick is a true shooting guard he just can't shoot. (Besides his contract year)

[Dexmor]

I would love Gerald Green. Green, Carney or McCants.