GT: T-Wolves @ Lakers 11/10/13 6:30 PM PST

[Michael Lucky]

the roster isn't old. The only ancient player is Nash (outside of Kobe who hasn't played a game yet) and he doesn't even play every game. The fact is the team simply isn't talented, end of story.

[AcecardZ]

I still have some hope.
I'm pretty sure Pau is getting shipped out. Maybe we can throw in Nash in that deal.

Unfortunately we can't just ship something out, in this case Pau, without taking something in return. Matching Pau's $20 million salary to anything another team is willing to give up will be incredibly difficult.

Ideally Pau's poor play can be attributed to him trying to get into shape but that's wishful thinking. Pau looks like he's done and if we on Real GM can see this it wouldn't be too hard for the rest of the league to see it also.

Oddly enough Pau's poor play might possibly be to our advantage. Next year's draft lottery selection show is going to be must see TV for Lakers fans.

[gotokyo]

Just curious what Lebron going to Miami or Dwight going to Houston (even though he's overrated) had to do with low seeding, draft picks, etc. Good thing we were able to draft Shaq and Kareem though...GREAT drafts. Don't know where our organization would be without "those" drafts.

I don't see what the connection is you're trying to make here. What does getting a good draft pick have to do with signing free agents?

I'm talking about fans who think we will automatically draft a superstar/all-star if we get low seeding, and who are so willing to suffer a miserable season because they're holding out hope for the next Lebron or KD.

Yeah and there's no guarantee we sign championship level talent FA's so what's your point?

[myersia]

Steve Blake is our best player. Enough said. Looking at you Jim Buss. 8 games in. We are who we are going to be. 35 year old Kobe is not going to save us. He did last year but he also had an all star center named Dwight that helped make that happen. Not even sure that 06 Kobe could save this team. Smush and Kwame were better than Nash and Pau at this point lol. Hell Chris Mihm and Chucky Atkins >>> Nash and Gasol. Anyways, let's blow it up. Fire Dantoni. I feel for him and wished it would have worked out. But he can't help us. Wrong team and wrong fit. I kept thinking over and over again last night what would the season had looked like if Phil was coaching and not Dantoni as far as the locker room chemistry. We really need a coach that can control Kobe. I think this was part of the issue last year. Dantoni was scared/is scared of Kobe. Probably would have helped if we had a coach that could have put both Kobe and Howard in their places. Anyways, fire Dantoni. Trade Pau and consider telling Kobe to sit this year out and come back 100% next year. Get a high draft pick sign key players (doesn't have to be a superstar) and beg Phil to come back one last time until Kobe retires.

[Danny Darko]

i've grown to sympathize with the situation MD inherited, but I've never thought winning basketball could be played on the principle of chucking threes, going small, and having little or no defensive emphasis. I would think getting an attractive coach in before free agency would be paramount.

[Michael Lucky]

leading scorer on our team is Jodie Meeks.

[leeprettyp]

i've grown to sympathize with the situation MD inherited, but I've never thought winning basketball could be played on the principle of chucking threes, going small, and having little or no defensive emphasis. I would think getting an attractive coach in before free agency would be paramount.

This falls back to my point where no superstar will want to come here an play under him based off of the fallout with Dwight and Carmelo. We have to cut ties with this guy also not just certain players. Mike Dantoni attracts role players and league average type of players but not superstars. Unless he's only your offensive coach but he cant be your head coach. He did revolutionize the game of basketball with his stretch PF basketball and 3 point chucking playing style

[ROballer]

leading scorer on our team is Jodie Meeks.

At 12.8 ppg nontheless.....8 games in and we have 4 guys out of 11 (included only the players who played consistently) shooting over 40%(with Young barely doing that and Hill not taking a lot of shots)

Not really a big sample size but it's still 8 games....we **** suck

[BEazy]

And it's not gonna get easier we face the Pau Gasol destroyer next game. Anthony Davis is Pau's nightmare.

[Michael Lucky]

good thing i have AD in both my fantasy leagues.

[ROballer]

Me too but not in the RealGM one unfortunately

I have Anderson tho and he is due to return to play sometime this week....is it wrong if I cheer for him to play and hit like 8 3's ?

[Danny Darko]

i've grown to sympathize with the situation MD inherited, but I've never thought winning basketball could be played on the principle of chucking threes, going small, and having little or no defensive emphasis. I would think getting an attractive coach in before free agency would be paramount.

This falls back to my point where no superstar will want to come here an play under him based off of the fallout with Dwight and Carmelo. We have to cut ties with this guy also not just certain players. Mike Dantoni attracts role players and league average type of players but not superstars. Unless he's only your offensive coach but he cant be your head coach. He did revolutionize the game of basketball with his stretch PF basketball and 3 point chucking playing style

I wonder though, and you are correct about the roll players- MD does develop some of those guys into better players, so : better to develop our young guys worth keeping like Wes/X or better to start training some of those guys for the system that will be run next year (if they axe pringles) ? Hard to say since many of these guys probably won't be around next year so learning the system might not be as crucial as getting someone to pull an Earl Clark

[Kilroy]

The other side of the coin is, you could let the Superstar decide who he wants to play for...

If we go further in the Tank, I'd just let MDA go for a cost savings and give the nod to Rambis or someone else. Then decide on a coach/system after we actually have a core.

[AcecardZ]

The other side of the coin is, you could let the Superstar decide who he wants to play for...

If we go further in the Tank, I'd just let MDA go for a cost savings and give the nod to Rambis or someone else. Then decide on a coach/system after we actually have a core.

I'm not 100% letting MDA go and hiring Rambis would save any money at all. I believe, and somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, if we fired MDA we'd still owe him a ton of money.

[leeprettyp]

i've grown to sympathize with the situation MD inherited, but I've never thought winning basketball could be played on the principle of chucking threes, going small, and having little or no defensive emphasis. I would think getting an attractive coach in before free agency would be paramount.

This falls back to my point where no superstar will want to come here an play under him based off of the fallout with Dwight and Carmelo. We have to cut ties with this guy also not just certain players. Mike Dantoni attracts role players and league average type of players but not superstars. Unless he's only your offensive coach but he cant be your head coach. He did revolutionize the game of basketball with his stretch PF basketball and 3 point chucking playing style

I wonder though, and you are correct about the roll players- MD does develop some of those guys into better players, so : better to develop our young guys worth keeping like Wes/X or better to start training some of those guys for the system that will be run next year (if they axe pringles) ? Hard to say since many of these guys probably won't be around next year so learning the system might not be as crucial as getting someone to pull an Earl Clark

But if the idea is to bring in some marquee talent to put alongside Kobe during this last tenure. We're not gonna be able to keep him. In reality what the new CBA did in my opinion is give the players the power to really align themselves together in whatever market is available during their free agency. Stars will make top $ no matter where it is because they idolize guys like Jay-z, Lil Wayne, etc. Players feel their the brand now compared to the destination being the pull. So if 2-3 stars see a place (which will be us this offseason or even 2015) they can join up and make max $16-20mill their gonna jump. The bad side of this is the non superstars arent gonna hardly make squat, gonna see alot more players who once were making 3-5mill on a roster only getting the minimum. For superstars the new CBA wont be a problem (even if their still being underpaid based on their true value). Thats why it won't help keeping Mike D, he doesn't react or mix well with any superstar he's coached outside of Nash and Amare Phoenix days. From the reports out there during the Meeting with Dwight and his reps Mike D was quiet and really couldnt even look at DH12 in his face (probably because he was full of crap). But it is what it is these new age superstar players are just different and need to be coddled and courted like their royalty smh. We'll need to adapt to that new philosophy. To be honest this offseason we need to have Phil, Kobe, Magic, Mitch in that room courting top tier free agents.

[leeprettyp]

The other side of the coin is, you could let the Superstar decide who he wants to play for...

If we go further in the Tank, I'd just let MDA go for a cost savings and give the nod to Rambis or someone else. Then decide on a coach/system after we actually have a core.

I'm not 100% letting MDA go and hiring Rambis would save any money at all. I believe, and somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, if we fired MDA we'd still owe him a ton of money.

yeah he'll have 2 more years. IMO we're gonna just have to eat that remaining time. Mike D isnt the coach for the future. If we plan to lose out on top tier free agents because of his system then keep him. We'll never be a championship contending team chucking a bunch of 3's. Those Suns teams have the right players who weren't all about their #'s. Prime Marion, Prime Amare, Prime Nash, Prime Barbosa, etc. But their reluctance on playing defense outside of Bell and Marion was their undoing in the end every year. So if we want to continue to play NBA Jam type of basketball and not win rings keep him. If we're trying to squeeze another ring out here within the next 2 years gotta let him go. We're in for a real REBOOT very soon when Kobe retires anyway. Gotta get another ring while he's still able to ball at a high level

[Danny Darko]

I wonder though, and you are correct about the roll players- MD does develop some of those guys into better players, so : better to develop our young guys worth keeping like Wes/X or better to start training some of those guys for the system that will be run next year (if they axe pringles) ? Hard to say since many of these guys probably won't be around next year so learning the system might not be as crucial as getting someone to pull an Earl Clark

But if the idea is to bring in some marquee talent to put alongside Kobe during this last tenure. We're not gonna be able to keep him. In reality what the new CBA did in my opinion is give the players the power to really align themselves together in whatever market is available during their free agency. Stars will make top $ no matter where it is because they idolize guys like Jay-z, Lil Wayne, etc. Players feel their the brand now compared to the destination being the pull. So if 2-3 stars see a place (which will be us this offseason or even 2015) they can join up and make max $16-20mill their gonna jump. The bad side of this is the non superstars arent gonna hardly make squat, gonna see alot more players who once were making 3-5mill on a roster only getting the minimum. For superstars the new CBA wont be a problem (even if their still being underpaid based on their true value). Thats why it won't help keeping Mike D, he doesn't react or mix well with any superstar he's coached outside of Nash and Amare Phoenix days. From the reports out there during the Meeting with Dwight and his reps Mike D was quiet and really couldnt even look at DH12 in his face (probably because he was full of crap). But it is what it is these new age superstar players are just different and need to be coddled and courted like their royalty smh. We'll need to adapt to that new philosophy. To be honest this offseason we need to have Phil, Kobe, Magic, Mitch in that room courting top tier free agents.

no i mean get rid of him, but how soon? like should we let him teach some of these kids to shoot for most of the season or should we get Rambo/Scott/somebody in there asap?

[leeprettyp]

I wonder though, and you are correct about the roll players- MD does develop some of those guys into better players, so : better to develop our young guys worth keeping like Wes/X or better to start training some of those guys for the system that will be run next year (if they axe pringles) ? Hard to say since many of these guys probably won't be around next year so learning the system might not be as crucial as getting someone to pull an Earl Clark

But if the idea is to bring in some marquee talent to put alongside Kobe during this last tenure. We're not gonna be able to keep him. In reality what the new CBA did in my opinion is give the players the power to really align themselves together in whatever market is available during their free agency. Stars will make top $ no matter where it is because they idolize guys like Jay-z, Lil Wayne, etc. Players feel their the brand now compared to the destination being the pull. So if 2-3 stars see a place (which will be us this offseason or even 2015) they can join up and make max $16-20mill their gonna jump. The bad side of this is the non superstars arent gonna hardly make squat, gonna see alot more players who once were making 3-5mill on a roster only getting the minimum. For superstars the new CBA wont be a problem (even if their still being underpaid based on their true value). Thats why it won't help keeping Mike D, he doesn't react or mix well with any superstar he's coached outside of Nash and Amare Phoenix days. From the reports out there during the Meeting with Dwight and his reps Mike D was quiet and really couldnt even look at DH12 in his face (probably because he was full of crap). But it is what it is these new age superstar players are just different and need to be coddled and courted like their royalty smh. We'll need to adapt to that new philosophy. To be honest this offseason we need to have Phil, Kobe, Magic, Mitch in that room courting top tier free agents.

no i mean get rid of him, but how soon? like should we let him teach some of these kids to shoot for most of the season or should we get Rambo/Scott/somebody in there asap?

Crazy how things come around full circle... Didnt we do that to Mike Brown? But in all honesty no other coach in basketball is gonna be ok with role players shooting +10 shoots per game like Mike D. So do we even want to have players we may consider staying around for the longterm (Henry, Farmar, Young, Johnson) getting that urge to chuck 3's? This is the biggest reason why Mike D is considered a fun coach to play for because anybody has the green light to shoot, short practices and not the hardest hammer on players with defensive lapses

My guess is we wait to see how things like with Kobe out there before the F.O. pushes the eject button on Mike D. But the thing is I really dont see Kobe getting into game shape till at least 1-2months worth of games or under his belt. I dont care how much you run around its nothing compared to actually being out there playing so Mike D may be gone before Kobe is even up to speed