What's your pipe dream?

[giordunk]

In terms of how you want the next few seasons to unfold.

[Kupchak9]

2017 - 2018 season goals
1. Ball shows us that he is a competent 3 point shooter and a transcendent passer.
2. Ingram ups his scoring averages to 18-20 PPG
3. Lakers finish anywhere in the 9-12 range in the West.
4. Find a way to dump Deng's contract without giving up either Ball or Ingram.

2018 - 2019 offseason
1. Only happens if number 4 in the previous list isnt completed. Stretch Deng.
2. Find a taker for Clarkson
3. Have Paul George sign on the dotted line to a max deal.
4. Be happy that we now have a core of Ball/George/Ingram and virtually no bad salary.
5. Call it an offseason. Anything positive happening after number 4 is just icing on the cake.

[loveshaq786]

Sign Paul George and LeBron. Trade Deng, clarkson, and Randal for wade now. re-sign Brook Lopez.

Lonzo/Ingram/pg/Lebron/Lopez... kuzma, nance, zubac off the bench

[Kilroy]

Sign Lebron, Sign and trade Randle, Deng, Clarkson for resigned Westbrook... Resign Lopez... Pass on PG... Sorry bro.

Lonzo, Westbrook, Ingram, LeBron, Lopez.... FUGSW...

[Beethoven]

Sign Lebron, Sign and trade Randle, Deng, Clarkson for resigned Westbrook... Resign Lopez... Pass on PG... Sorry bro.

Lonzo, Westbrook, Ingram, LeBron, Lopez.... FUGSW...

Yes. I thought i was the only bro who liked Lopez.

[TylersLakers]

This season:

- Randle, Ingram, Nance take huge steps forward
- Clarkson balls out to the start the year, we trade him at the deadline for a 1st round pick
- Deng looks like a valuable role player off the bench at the 4 spot, and we attach Zubac and a future unprotected 1st to him to trade him away
- Lonzo is everything we expect him to be, and hits the three ball at a 36-38% clip
- Kuzma and Hart play well when opportunities are given to make you think they're going to be valuable roleplayers in the future

Next off-season:

- Sign Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins
- Re-sign Julius Randle

[danfantastk32]

Sign Lebron, Sign and trade Randle, Deng, Clarkson for resigned Westbrook... Resign Lopez... Pass on PG... Sorry bro.

Lonzo, Westbrook, Ingram, LeBron, Lopez.... FUGSW...

Yes. I thought i was the only bro who liked Lopez.

Nope...I've had a few posts where I tell people to have a "wait and see" approach to this season. I think Lopez could be a great fit. I differ from you guys one Westbrook though. I don't see Ball and Westbrook co-existing.

Im actually hopeful that KCP and B-Lopez work out great, and that we only sign 1 player, and I'd take Lebron.

Ball, KCP, Ingram, Lebron, Lopez. With Kuzma, Ibaca off the bench. I''m short of guys after that. We gotta find the rest.

[DanishLakerFan]

In terms of how you want the next few seasons to unfold.

Pipe dream:

2017-18:
Clarkson looks good early on and we flip him for an expiring deal at the deadline.
Randle looks even better and we flip him for a first round pick at the deadline.
Deng looks good enough during the season, that the first round from the Randle deal - as well as 2nd rounders and Zubac - is enough to move his entire deal.

Offseason 2018:
Sign Paul George and Demarcus Cousins.
Re-sign KCP.

Ball - KCP - Ingram - George - Boogie

[SlimShady83]

For the love of god

Stay Healthy

8th seed next year back to top 3-4 after that then 1-2 after that

Am I asking for too much?

[Spens1]

For the season:

- Ball is actually consistent and can drain 3's and his passing really is as good as advertised
- Lavar shuts the hell up
- Ingram breaks out (like near 20PPG)
- Lopez stays healthy and actually rebounds the ball
- KCP is a solid 3&D option
- Zublocka, despite fears has a more of the same season this year.
- Randle shows that he can shoot a 3 pt shot and has improved his defense
- Nance Jr improves on his rebounding and continues his improvement offensively
- Clarkson is showing he's a good 3&D player and is efficient
- Sneak an 8th seed against the odds
- Able to move Deng without paying an arm and a leg

offseason:
- Sign both PG13 and Westbrook (Lebron is better but i ain't about that life, let Ball-Westbrook-Ingram-George-Zubac happen and that is more of a dynasty than Lebron, who is looking at retirement plans by the looks of it).
- Able to keep KCP on the cheap
- resign some players to good deals

[OzCastiel]

Why does everyone want to keep Lonzo in all of these scenarios instead of using him to fetch something better and really improve the roster even more? He wouldn't be useful to LeBron/Westbrook unless they were on the bench.

[SlimShady83]

For the season:

- Lavar shuts the hell up

Lavar can talk all he wants ... Just as his son is doing his thing on the court ...

He'll shut up during games i'm sure, but will talk after and b4 I'm also sure

[loveshaq786]

In terms of how you want the next few seasons to unfold.

Pipe dream:

2017-18:
Clarkson looks good early on and we flip him for an expiring deal at the deadline.
Randle looks even better and we flip him for a first round pick at the deadline.
Deng looks good enough during the season, that the first round from the Randle deal - as well as 2nd rounders and Zubac - is enough to move his entire deal.

Offseason 2018:
Sign Paul George and Demarcus Cousins.
Re-sign KCP.

Ball - KCP - Ingram - George - Boogie

The reason we are trying to sign Brook Lopez, is because we have his rights and re-signing him only as a minimal cap hold. I don't believe we have the bird rights to kcp because he is only a one-year contract. This just means, if I am not mistaken, we can sign Brook Lopez after we sign two big players.which is not an option for KCP.

The real question is, Who is the best defensive/3./Fastbreak option we have between KCP/Westbrook/PG-13?

I'm assuming it is going to be a tossup between Westbrook and PG-13. Unless I'm severely under rating KCP. This needs to be a really good discussion assuming we keep everything intact.

Since we have Lonzo and assuming we get LeBron at the four, which mix of players is best for the two and three positions to play along side Ingram? If we get Westbrook, ingram has to pay three. If we get Paul George, Who is better at the two position ingram or him, while the other Plays three?

I think Westbrook makes us the fastest at him playing at the two. I think Paul George is a slightly better version of KCP that also allows us more size. He is more lengthy, can shoot better, but might be a slight downgrade on defense in comparison to KCP. So all in all, with the belief that we are trying to run the ball, i'm going Westbrook first, Paul George second, and KCP third. Who agrees, and who disagrees?

[AcecardZ]

Why does everyone want to keep Lonzo in all of these scenarios instead of using him to fetch something better and really improve the roster even more? He wouldn't be useful to LeBron/Westbrook unless they were on the bench.

You imply Lonzo sucks while at same time say we should use him to get something better.

Exactly how good or bad do you expect Lonzo to be?

[SlimShady83]

Why does everyone want to keep Lonzo in all of these scenarios instead of using him to fetch something better and really improve the roster even more? He wouldn't be useful to LeBron/Westbrook unless they were on the bench.

You imply Lonzo sucks while at same time say we should use him to get something better.

Exactly how good or bad do you expect Lonzo to be?

lol wonder if he seen the summer league?

[Vae Victus]

All that matters is fluffing Randle, Clarkson, and Dengs trade value up enough to unload them for picks (Randle, Clarkson) and attaching said picks to dump a bad salary (Deng). We need to open up that salary cap space so LBJ can recruit a superfriend to come along for the ride, at this point it most likely points to PG13. Randle is far from ideal fit at the 4 as he's like the anti thesis of what the modern NBA needs from that position, Nance/Kuzma/Deng can fill that role fine after Randle is traded. Clarkson is similar in that he's a TERRIBLE fit due to the combination of his selfish playstyle and cap hit, Hart gets to eat all the developmental mins afterwards. Hopefully the Lakers find some idiot team to take them off our hands. I was soooo sad when the Randle + Clarkson + Pick for PG13 rumored deal did not come through. That was like killing 2 birds with one stone move (Dump Clarkson, Acquire PG13), at the cost of Randle and the pick that became Hart or Kuzma.

Fluff and dump KCP might be frowned upon as it might damage the Lakers and LBJ/Rich Paul relationship. However i'd also be looking to dump KCP and BroLo for 1sts as well. WHATEVER it takes to clear Deng's salary for 2018 FA, 2 late 1sts is a paltry price to pay. KCP and BroLo arent keepers anyway so trading them for assets is a win ONLY IF Deng leaving is part of the picture. However i wouldnt trade KCP unless its a 100% followup move in dumping Deng + picks for expiring.

Downside of trading KCP and BroLo is that it'll heavily impact the W/L column. Personally i dont find Randle/Clarkson impactful players that helps the team win so trading them is likely a net wash or addition by subtraction.

If we can move Clarkson and Deng for no future salary back at the cost of traded for picks (plus even 1 future 1st), we're gonna be riding high in 2018 FA. With just around 28 mil on the books that means we can easily grab LBJ + PG13 and even have some leftover for a ring chaser.

C - Zubac, Bryant
PF- LBJ, Nance, Kuzma
SF- Ingram
SG- PG13, Hart
PG- Lonzo, Ennis

Need some more veteran size, so thats where i spend my leftover cap on. A MLE lvl backup PG/combo wouldnt be bad either.

[TyCobb]

Trade Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson, and Luol Deng to the Chicago Bulls for Dwayne Wade and 2018 2nd round pick.

PG Lonzo Ball, Tyler Ennis, Briante Weber
SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Dwayne Wade, Josh Hart
SF Brandon Ingram, Corey Brewer
PF Julius Randle, Kyle Kuzma
C Brook Lopez, Ivica Zubac, Thomas Bryant

2018 FA

LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Paul George watch Golden State cupcake walk to another championship and decide to team up in Hollywood. Randle gets Harrison Barnes'd.

G Lonzo Ball
G Russell Westbrook
F Brandon Ingram
F Paul George
F Lebron James

Coach Walton

[BEazy]

This season:
Get to the playoffs with Ball and Ingram leading the way.
Kuzma and Hart turn into major steals.

Next season:
LBJ stays his ass in Cleveland and rots under Dan Gilbert's dumbass.
PG and Westbrook come to LA

[Dr Aki]

this one time, i dreamed i was trying to slither through a really small pipe in order to get to the other side because my friends dared me. so because i was super skinny, i thought "sure, i got this", and i was making good progress by worming my way through (i was skinny enough to). however, while i was in there, they tried to block me in (some great friends they were), i then freaked out and woke up in a cold sweat.

i've had that dream a few more recurring times, but it always felt like that familiar deja vu feeling you get

[playboy jeanie]

Its going to be hard to package Deng together with Randle or Clarkson because of the size of their contracts and how much of the capspace they will occupy going forward for any organization.

So the best scenario this upcoming season is having both Clarkson and Randle get off to hot starts. Trade Clarkson for a low 1st from a playoff team who needs bench scoring. Trade Randle for a mid 1st from a playoff contending team. Package the two 1sts plus Kuzma or Zubac with Deng for expirings.