Lakers : Free Agency

[The Skyhook]

Like I said. Phil's return will mean a lot. This was during Fisher's exit interview.

Fish doesn't know if Phil is coming back. "It impacts a lot of decisions for the front office, as well."

http://twitter.com/kevinding

Also Derek Fisher had this to say. Shows that he won't willingly take a backseat unless asked too. I was hoping he would do what Luke Walton did last season with Trevor.

To Fisher, starting is something that remains a priority, but he said it’s not necessarily a “deal breaker” in terms of next season.

http://my.lakers.com/blogs/

[dabien2]

So if you beat the shi* outta 24 you get upgraded? First Ron, now Raja? This is like Lady Gaga giving the finger to the Mets fans and getting upgraded to Seinfelds Luxury Suite at City Field.

Raja has continually crapped on 24 everytime he gets a chance, saying he's not the best, not this, not that.

He's 33 with a bad wrist, he's not worth much, what's a shot at the LOB worth to you Raja?

Yes, lets only sign players can't play any defense and let Kobe walk all over them. ??? The guy competes and never backed down on Kobe when Kobe was at his peak. I also remember that it was his team that won both series. The point is that if the price is right, Bell would be a great fit on the Lakers.

[hourockman]

Look if Kobe is over it then there is no reason why we should be getting all defensive for Kobe if Raja comes here. If Kobe says he wants him in LA he knows what he's getting himself into. After all its going to be Kobe playing alongside Raja not us.

I hated Malone and he wound up having the most respectable year here of any of the other stars, Kobe included. It's sad to think that he was our team's glue guy in 2004.

If Raja is supposed to be a **** with an edge to his game and 3 pt accuracy at the corner threes, I have no problem with him if he puts all that stuff to use here. Good lads are nice to have on the team, but scoreboard rules. That said, if he has an off year here, then he's in trouble.

We've had s-bags like Payton, Foster, JR Reid, Benoit, Christie, Rider, Rodman. Wouldn't be the first time. I have loathed Sheed for years now, but if we could've gotten him when he went to Detroit on the cheap, I would've accepted him in a heartbeat if we had the chance.

[LApwnd]

yep dont know why people hating on Bell if Kobe wants him here....you not on the team so dont worry bout kobe feelings.

[chefy]

yep dont know why people hating on Bell if Kobe wants him here....you not on the team so dont worry bout kobe feelings.

if kobe's cool with raja then I don't see any problem

it's just hard to believe though...yahoo sports? kobe a strong advocate? but can't even put at least one sentence/a quote from kobe to prove it.

[dula14]

If Bell is healthy and can be had at the right price, I say get him. His defense and shooting are exactly what the Lakers need at the guard position. He is certainly a huge improvement over Sasha.

[amb1ent]

as an added incentive, imagine the rage of suns fans when bell gets his ring with the hated, hated lakers

[LAKESHOW]

this officially makes us desperate

[Danny Darko]

I completely respect that attitude from Fish, however I think not being a deal breaker he accepts a role either starting and chilling until the crucial moments, or he is a bench player who gets the clutch time.

[crazyeights]

No. It officially makes you thick-headed.

[LAKESHOW]

crunch the numbers, hopefully you'll be able to see our luxury tax situation places us in a dire situation to take on big numbers contract wise.

but . . . alas . . . some of you see picking from the bottom of the barrel as salvation.

[Edrees]

sorry to say but I always root for the laundry. I loved shaq here, but i root against him anytime he plays us. My ties are to the lakers organization before any player, but that's just how I am. I hate Raja but put him in a lakers uniform and i'm gonna be cheering my heart out for him. 10$ says 99% of us were **** talking Artest in the houston series, and now he's our savior and we love him. You guys do realize he won't keep his phoenix jersey in the lakers locker room right? lol

[Danny Darko]

did some merging... this thread should be used instead of creating a million new threads on the merrits of Tmac vs Miller vs Bell etc

[ALL HAIL]

Here's a winning team that might want Mike Miller.

Orlando ... that ain't happening' either though, not with Redick up.

Unless they let Redick walk in favor of a cheaper Miller (very possible).

I see your point with Orlando if they let Redick go, but otherwise, NO WINNING TEAM is giving him the MLE. [REMEMBER THAT IF YOU HAVE CAPSPACE< YOU CAN'T USE MLE] Hell if Orlando does pick Miller over Redick, Miller woud be signed for something much closer to 4 million than the MLE that much people suggest.

Depending on the situation, Miller could come here for 2.5 mill. However, chances are he signs with us for right around three million ... which is fine.

[daddyfivestar]

^ true but if a team WITH cap space, like Chicago, signs one FA, say Boozer, they'll have 5 mil left of pure space to sign a SG too, say Mikey. They don't need the exception. Of course, depends on if you consider Chicago a "winner". Other than that 12 yr stretch, they've pretty much sucked the other 30 yrs.

[iamworthy]

this officially makes us desperate

Yup, we're back to back Champs and we're desperate

[ALL HAIL]

^ true but if a team WITH cap space, like Chicago, signs one FA, say Boozer, they'll have 5 mil left of pure space to sign a SG too, say Mikey. They don't need the exception. Of course, depends on if you consider Chicago a "winner". Other than that 12 yr stretch, they've pretty much sucked the other 30 yrs.

I don't.

But it will ultimately come down to whether he wants to team with Rose, Boozer, Deng, and Noah and go the playoffs or team with Kobe, Gasol, Artest, and Bynum and go to the Finals.

5 million for playoffs or 2.5-3 for the Finals.

He's got to ask himself how much he wants to win.

[LAKESHOW]

this officially makes us desperate

Yup, we're back to back Champs and we're desperate

sure, in the greatest overall sense, we are truly the back to back champions.

but the front office of ours isnt about living off of what we just accomplished. they are all about looking ahead and configuring what is best for our team going forward. not about 16, but how can we get 17 and more after that.

so if you look that we are seriously over the cap and are taking it on the chin with the luxury taxes. see that weve got some serious baggage with luke and sasha on the books, heck, i think luke is on for 3 more years . . . incredible. see that we have potentially (worse case scenario) have 3 point guards DONE. thats fish, farmar and brown at the same time . . . then you can reasonably factor in that we need to address the situation.

now in addressing the situation, one cannot reasonably deduce that we can pick up big money free agents with our salary cap situation.

second off, some say that picking up raja is a FANTASTIC PICK, YIPPEEE.

but it points to the fact that we can MUST get him on the cheap, and this is not a great addition. but just adding him in there to "fill the blank" . . . JUST IN CASE.

when you look from the bus of the parade and see the fans, its all good, we won the championship. but when you look seriously at our cap and our ability to sign . . . we are desperate to pick up anyone who looks good, who can fill the hole, and who can come in on the cheap.

[daddyfivestar]

Actually, what LA needs is a Wing who can play 22-24 mins per game, and a PG who can play 20-24 mins per game.

Raja Bell (@ 2mil) and Shaun Livingston (@ 1.5 mil) look perfect for those roles. Basically, doing this and resigning Fisher at 50% of his prior pay gets payroll at 89 mil.

They can save Vujacic's expiring for February when they might need to make a move if somebody gets injured.

[ALL HAIL]

... we are desperate to pick up anyone who looks good, who can fill the hole, and who can come in on the cheap.

Define desperate from your perspective.

Because, from my vantage point, the Lakers have a lot of leverage in the promise of a ring.

Essentially your right, except maybe for the desperate part, we've got to sign guys in and around 2 million dollars per year.

I suggest that the league IMO is very deep and that there will be a nice line of guys who would line-up to take 1.5 million to be in the rotation for the world champion LA Lakers.