Free Agent Possibilities

[tamaraw08]

Ingram is the one who's game overlaps LeBron's the most. Kuzma fit's pretty well and doesn't need touches the way Ingram does.

Yeah but defensively the complete opposite is true. Ingram has the potential to do what he did post all-star break from 3pt range and overall. Kuzma is turning 24 in a few months and likely has hit his ceiling. Don't get me wrong, I love Kuzma but if we're looking at pieces to a championship roster his skillset on defense and his perimeter shooting rank towards the bottom on the list of needs.

His individual defense is underrated in my opinion. Luke had him playing the 5 defensively for a good portion of the season which was nuts. Individual defense isn't our problem... playing as a team is. His defensive stats for the majority of the season were significantly better than last year. Having to defend centers shouldn't be held against him.

Kuzma is cheaper, we control him longer and he doesn't need the ball to effect the offense. Ingram has to pound the ball offensively and the 3 point % is as high as it is because he takes so few. If he shoots 6 a game my guess is that it drops to the mid 30's as well.

The age thing to me is silly. So what that he's older. Does age alone mean you will progress and then plateau? No one ever got better before the one and done era when everyone came in at 22?

To me it's not about one or the other but about fit and what we need to get better. With guys like LeBron we need guys who can play off the ball and don't require forced touches to score.

Here's my biggest issue with Ingram and I think of it this way. We will have to pay him in all likelihood if we don't move him this offseason. His trade value will be dropping like a rock like Randle's did going into his FA summer. Here's the question we need to answer..... would you sign Ingram to a Max contract if he were someone else's FA over other available guys because that's what we're talking about if we keep him? For how he fits on this team my answer is no. We don't need a 2 guard that has to pound the ball to score with a guy like LeBron here and a PG like Ball. Ingram's best games this season were mostly losses (7-13 in games where he scored over 20). In those games we had some of the slowest pace in the season as well. He showed he can score at a high efficiency however we didn't do well in those games for the most part and we slowed down. Maybe that was Luke forcing him into the same role as Bron or maybe it was where he's most comfortable. If he has enough value (along with our pick) to bring us a top 5 SG who can finish at the rim and hit 3's I'd move him. Add Leonard and be done. Add Vucevic and that 2 guard and we'd be good as well.

I agree that Ingram style of play doesn't mesh well with Lebron. The time that he was scoring heavily tho, was when they were ranked 26th back in (they ranked February https://stats.nba.com/teams/defense/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=1&Season=2018-19&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&Month=5
averaging 22 pts. I strongly believe the trade rumors really affected them most in defense even though Brandon wanted to show everyone he can score
Lakers ranked 3rd best in Nov https://stats.nba.com/teams/defense/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1&Season=2018-19&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&Month=2and 9th in december.
Going back to Ingram, The guy is smart and very flexible esp on defense when focused. I strongly believe WHEN his body fully develops like most players that he will be a very good player. But I think this blod clot condition has lessened his trade value.
Moving forward, I would have loved Klay or even Kawhi but it's realistic that they will join the team. Kyrie is a possibility esp if Kobe and Lebron actually recruit him hard esp if Boston gets eliminated in the East but I worry about his ability to stay healthy.
Vucevic looks good this year but please be aware that he shot 31.3% last year and 30.7% 2 years ago from the 3pt area. This team badly needs 3pt shooting and this year, he is only attempting less than 3/game. Most fans here laughs at Mike Muscala, sure he has struggled this year but his career 3pt% is 36.5%, compared to Vucevic's 33% and Brook Lopez' 34.7%.

[Landsberger]

Yeah but defensively the complete opposite is true. Ingram has the potential to do what he did post all-star break from 3pt range and overall. Kuzma is turning 24 in a few months and likely has hit his ceiling. Don't get me wrong, I love Kuzma but if we're looking at pieces to a championship roster his skillset on defense and his perimeter shooting rank towards the bottom on the list of needs.

His individual defense is underrated in my opinion. Luke had him playing the 5 defensively for a good portion of the season which was nuts. Individual defense isn't our problem... playing as a team is. His defensive stats for the majority of the season were significantly better than last year. Having to defend centers shouldn't be held against him.

Kuzma is cheaper, we control him longer and he doesn't need the ball to effect the offense. Ingram has to pound the ball offensively and the 3 point % is as high as it is because he takes so few. If he shoots 6 a game my guess is that it drops to the mid 30's as well.

The age thing to me is silly. So what that he's older. Does age alone mean you will progress and then plateau? No one ever got better before the one and done era when everyone came in at 22?

To me it's not about one or the other but about fit and what we need to get better. With guys like LeBron we need guys who can play off the ball and don't require forced touches to score.

Here's my biggest issue with Ingram and I think of it this way. We will have to pay him in all likelihood if we don't move him this offseason. His trade value will be dropping like a rock like Randle's did going into his FA summer. Here's the question we need to answer..... would you sign Ingram to a Max contract if he were someone else's FA over other available guys because that's what we're talking about if we keep him? For how he fits on this team my answer is no. We don't need a 2 guard that has to pound the ball to score with a guy like LeBron here and a PG like Ball. Ingram's best games this season were mostly losses (7-13 in games where he scored over 20). In those games we had some of the slowest pace in the season as well. He showed he can score at a high efficiency however we didn't do well in those games for the most part and we slowed down. Maybe that was Luke forcing him into the same role as Bron or maybe it was where he's most comfortable. If he has enough value (along with our pick) to bring us a top 5 SG who can finish at the rim and hit 3's I'd move him. Add Leonard and be done. Add Vucevic and that 2 guard and we'd be good as well.

I agree that Ingram style of play doesn't mesh well with Lebron. The time that he was scoring heavily tho, was when they were ranked 26th back in (they ranked February https://stats.nba.com/teams/defense/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=1&Season=2018-19&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&Month=5
averaging 22 pts. I strongly believe the trade rumors really affected them most in defense even though Brandon wanted to show everyone he can score
Lakers ranked 3rd best in Nov https://stats.nba.com/teams/defense/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1&Season=2018-19&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&Month=2and 9th in december.
Going back to Ingram, The guy is smart and very flexible esp on defense when focused. I strongly believe WHEN his body fully develops like most players that he will be a very good player. But I think this blod clot condition has lessened his trade value.
Moving forward, I would have loved Klay or even Kawhi but it's realistic that they will join the team. Kyrie is a possibility esp if Kobe and Lebron actually recruit him hard esp if Boston gets eliminated in the East but I worry about his ability to stay healthy.
Vucevic looks good this year but please be aware that he shot 31.3% last year and 30.7% 2 years ago from the 3pt area. This team badly needs 3pt shooting and this year, he is only attempting less than 3/game. Most fans here laughs at Mike Muscala, sure he has struggled this year but his career 3pt% is 36.5%, compared to Vucevic's 33% and Brook Lopez' 34.7%.

Here's my problem with judging guys based on a 5% or less difference in 3 point shooting. Do the math. A guys shooting 6 3's a game with a 5% difference in % makes one more 3 pointer every 3 games. That's it. If your shooting 10 a game it's a big difference if it's 4 it's really not.

Muscala is horrible at just about everything but 3 point shooting. He's an afterthought. Vucevic rebounds fantastic, can score with his back to the basket, facing up, on the move and from 3. Those 2 shouldn't be in the same sentence.

Your point about guys having good and average years shooting the 3 can be said about everyone. Kuzma shot well last year and struggled at times this year. Everyone ignores last year and projects this year forward. Just not how shooting 3's goes if you look at it over time.

My larger point on Ingram: If he were a FA to you sign him to a max over someone else? That's what we're really talking about here. Is he really a team leader post LeBron? I don't see it mentally and without LeBron does he score as easily as he did in that 2 month stretch. If we keep him it's for 7 more years. I'd move him for someone and sign someone who fits better.

[what would jack bauer do?]

I like Vucevic and all but not on a max deal. Our priority should be defense. Kuzma just doesn't rebound well enough and doesn't have that defensive closer mentality in him. So ancillary pieces like that don't make sense at this point of a rebuild.

I get it we desperately need perimeter shooters, but I like the direction Ingram was going after the break. If you compare pre allstar break to post break you can tell he worked on his catch and shoot a lot. The fact that he recognized that facet was missing and came in after the break focused on setting his feet the same way we see Klay does is very telling for things he's adding to his arsenal as he grows as a player.

The idea would not be to play Ingram at shooting guard too. It would be moving Lebron to the 4 and Ingram to the 3. With much more natural and grittier players on the perimeter (Kawhi, Rozier, or Butler). The idea is to build around our youth (Ingram is going to be a star).

[Landsberger]

I like Vucevic and all but not on a max deal. Our priority should be defense. Kuzma just doesn't rebound well enough and doesn't have that defensive closer mentality in him. So ancillary pieces like that don't make sense at this point of a rebuild.

I get it we desperately need perimeter shooters, but I like the direction Ingram was going after the break. If you compare pre allstar break to post break you can tell he worked on his catch and shoot a lot. The fact that he recognized that facet was missing and came in after the break focused on setting his feet the same way we see Klay does is very telling for things he's adding to his arsenal as he grows as a player.

The idea would not be to play Ingram at shooting guard too. It would be moving Lebron to the 4 and Ingram to the 3. With much more natural and grittier players on the perimeter (Kawhi, Rozier, or Butler). The idea is to build around our youth (Ingram is going to be a star).

Butler, Ingram, Ball and LeBron? Who gets the ball and who benefits off the ball? That lineup would persist for 4 more years. How is Ingram going to be a "star" where he's obviously the 3rd wheel? Butler isn't the deferring type and LeBron is vastly better than Ingram and everything Ingram is good at. Just throwing players who've been successful as an alpha on their previous teams together has almost never worked.

While I agree that Ingram has the ability to be an All Star I just don't see him as the best player on a really good team which is what signing him next offseason will mean. Vucevic and Kuzma are not going to be centerpiece stars in this league however they could be more valuable to a really good team in that they both score and play off of great players. Guys like Butler and Ingram need to be the centerpiece to be most valuable. Again, for me it's not Kuzma or Ingram. It's fit around LeBron. I don't think we need another top name to be really good. We need to fill in the blanks around LeBron. A center that rebounds, plays hard defense and can score from just about anywhere is rare. A PF who can stretch the floor, score 18-20 while not requiring set plays is rare as well. Are either of them "stars"? Probably not but guys like them are on every great team with a central star.

Get me a 2 guard that finishes, puts pressure on defenses and can hit the 3 to go with Ball and a Center that can stretch the floor while still being a center defensively while keeping Kuzma for at least one more year on the cheap. Making the commitment to Ingram seems like a huge gamble when that money could bring in someone with a much better fit. You could move Kuzma and move Ingram to the 3 but you'd move a guy with a small salary while committing to Ingram long term which is a huge shift if money long term.

[Kilroy]

I'm not sure what games you were watching, especially after ASG, if you think Ingram's style of play doesn't mesh with LeBron's...

So many of the narratives that surround this team right now are based on faulty or outdated logic...

[Landsberger]

I'm not sure what games you were watching, especially after ASG, if you think Ingram's style of play doesn't mesh with LeBron's...

So many of the narratives that surround this team right now are based on faulty or outdated logic...

And our pace slowed to the slowest of the season and we only had 2 primary scorers during that stretch and we lost more of those games that we won. We let 4th quarter leads slip away while killing any ball movement to get those two those points. We had only 2 scorers average over 15 in that stretch which coincided with slower pace and low ball movement.

Point is Ingram's success in the second half didn't translate to team success. I posted in another thread the number of 20 point games for Ingram, Kuzma and LeBron and the wins and shooting % for each. In the games where Ingram got 20 we were 7-13. He did great in those games. If that's what's important than I'm off base. If winning is then I'd say that means a little something.

Each of the younger guys had great stretches. Kuzma was scoring 26 a game over 4 weeks at one stretch. Ball even had a great stretch before he got hurt. Ingram has one and it's the new norm and only onward and upward I guess. Next stop the rafters.

[tamaraw08]

I like Vucevic and all but not on a max deal. Our priority should be defense. Kuzma just doesn't rebound well enough and doesn't have that defensive closer mentality in him. So ancillary pieces like that don't make sense at this point of a rebuild.

I get it we desperately need perimeter shooters, but I like the direction Ingram was going after the break. If you compare pre allstar break to post break you can tell he worked on his catch and shoot a lot. The fact that he recognized that facet was missing and came in after the break focused on setting his feet the same way we see Klay does is very telling for things he's adding to his arsenal as he grows as a player.

The idea would not be to play Ingram at shooting guard too. It would be moving Lebron to the 4 and Ingram to the 3. With much more natural and grittier players on the perimeter (Kawhi, Rozier, or Butler). The idea is to build around our youth (Ingram is going to be a star).

Butler, Ingram, Ball and LeBron? Who gets the ball and who benefits off the ball? That lineup would persist for 4 more years. How is Ingram going to be a "star" where he's obviously the 3rd wheel? Butler isn't the deferring type and LeBron is vastly better than Ingram and everything Ingram is good at. Just throwing players who've been successful as an alpha on their previous teams together has almost never worked.

While I agree that Ingram has the ability to be an All Star I just don't see him as the best player on a really good team which is what signing him next offseason will mean. Vucevic and Kuzma are not going to be centerpiece stars in this league however they could be more valuable to a really good team in that they both score and play off of great players. Guys like Butler and Ingram need to be the centerpiece to be most valuable. Again, for me it's not Kuzma or Ingram. It's fit around LeBron. I don't think we need another top name to be really good. We need to fill in the blanks around LeBron. A center that rebounds, plays hard defense and can score from just about anywhere is rare. A PF who can stretch the floor, score 18-20 while not requiring set plays is rare as well. Are either of them "stars"? Probably not but guys like them are on every great team with a central star.

Get me a [b]2 guard that finishes, puts pressure on defenses and can hit the 3 to go with Ball and a Center that can stretch the floor while still being a center defensively while keeping Kuzma for at least one more year on the cheap.[/b] Making the commitment to Ingram seems like a huge gamble when that money could bring in someone with a much better fit. You could move Kuzma and move Ingram to the 3 but you'd move a guy with a small salary while committing to Ingram long term which is a huge shift if money long term.

I agree with your points esp the bolded ones but i wish you can be more specific by actually mentioning their names esp the 2guard you envisioned. Would Wesley Matthews suffice?
About Muscala I will not lie to you by saying I have watched most of his games but of the the limited time I saw him, I felt, he has decent agility to cover ground. Brook Lopez was my favorite player since his Stanford years, the guy was disrespected from the start inspite of his strong numbers in college even last summer when he was top 5 in hustle stats, contesting shots etc.
Lebron was pretty good with a work horse like Tristan Thompson and I like Montresz Harrell but he too is limited
Who is the PF you are referring to, do you think Tobias Harris would be realistic?

[LakersSoul]

I don't mind rondo tho. He's a proven playoff baller

We already have a pass first pg in Zo. I would prefer to add a good shooting pg and/or defender. If we add Rondo, he better come near vet minimum of $5 million.

[Dmagic]

So is zo actually any good? From a Lakers fan perspective

[Landsberger]

So is zo actually any good? From a Lakers fan perspective

At best we don't know. He's shown flashes but he's got some huge fundamental holes to fill. In comparison to his hype (overall and in this forum) he's not lived up to it but then again we had people putting him at the top of the all time PG list last year.

He plays on ball defense as good as anyone I can remember at that position while he still has some team aspects of defense to understand. He rebounds very well for his position. He has flashed some great court awareness on the break but still gets lost in the half court. Shooting has been not good to horrible. FT shooting in the 40's for a PG is a problem in close games.

Injuries have limited his time on the court and they seem to linger into the offseason which limits his time to work on the holes. He's polarizing for sure. Ask again next year if he can stay on the court.

[Landsberger]

I like Vucevic and all but not on a max deal. Our priority should be defense. Kuzma just doesn't rebound well enough and doesn't have that defensive closer mentality in him. So ancillary pieces like that don't make sense at this point of a rebuild.

I get it we desperately need perimeter shooters, but I like the direction Ingram was going after the break. If you compare pre allstar break to post break you can tell he worked on his catch and shoot a lot. The fact that he recognized that facet was missing and came in after the break focused on setting his feet the same way we see Klay does is very telling for things he's adding to his arsenal as he grows as a player.

The idea would not be to play Ingram at shooting guard too. It would be moving Lebron to the 4 and Ingram to the 3. With much more natural and grittier players on the perimeter (Kawhi, Rozier, or Butler). The idea is to build around our youth (Ingram is going to be a star).

Butler, Ingram, Ball and LeBron? Who gets the ball and who benefits off the ball? That lineup would persist for 4 more years. How is Ingram going to be a "star" where he's obviously the 3rd wheel? Butler isn't the deferring type and LeBron is vastly better than Ingram and everything Ingram is good at. Just throwing players who've been successful as an alpha on their previous teams together has almost never worked.

While I agree that Ingram has the ability to be an All Star I just don't see him as the best player on a really good team which is what signing him next offseason will mean. Vucevic and Kuzma are not going to be centerpiece stars in this league however they could be more valuable to a really good team in that they both score and play off of great players. Guys like Butler and Ingram need to be the centerpiece to be most valuable. Again, for me it's not Kuzma or Ingram. It's fit around LeBron. I don't think we need another top name to be really good. We need to fill in the blanks around LeBron. A center that rebounds, plays hard defense and can score from just about anywhere is rare. A PF who can stretch the floor, score 18-20 while not requiring set plays is rare as well. Are either of them "stars"? Probably not but guys like them are on every great team with a central star.

Get me a [b]2 guard that finishes, puts pressure on defenses and can hit the 3 to go with Ball and a Center that can stretch the floor while still being a center defensively while keeping Kuzma for at least one more year on the cheap.[/b] Making the commitment to Ingram seems like a huge gamble when that money could bring in someone with a much better fit. You could move Kuzma and move Ingram to the 3 but you'd move a guy with a small salary while committing to Ingram long term which is a huge shift if money long term.

I agree with your points esp the bolded ones but i wish you can be more specific by actually mentioning their names esp the 2guard you envisioned. Would Wesley Matthews suffice?
About Muscala I will not lie to you by saying I have watched most of his games but of the the limited time I saw him, I felt, he has decent agility to cover ground. Brook Lopez was my favorite player since his Stanford years, the guy was disrespected from the start inspite of his strong numbers in college even last summer when he was top 5 in hustle stats, contesting shots etc.
Lebron was pretty good with a work horse like Tristan Thompson and I like Montresz Harrell but he too is limited
Who is the PF you are referring to, do you think Tobias Harris would be realistic?

I'm not up on salaries etc. Beal would be great but he's got a nasty contract. Same for McCollum.
Could Kyrie and Ball coexist? Could Kemba and Ball coexist? Not sure on either of those. If you look at moving Ingram we should be able to get a 2 guard who fills the bill then sign Vucevic in FA and a bench. While I think it would give us a better team overall I'm 100% sure the FO would see that as a failed offseason as they want marketable stars over less flashy guys who fit with LeBron. The PF I was talking about is Kuzma. IMO he's a great fit for LeBron. His 3 point shooting was not stellar this year but I think he'll return to his rookie year % or thereabout. He was starting to shoot very well from deep in Feb (over 40%) then he got the nagging hip injury then the ankle. He got 18 a game while playing off the others. I think people are underestimating that quite a bit around here.

[Dmagic]

I think ball is going to work hard this summer.

[Landsberger]

I think ball is going to work hard this summer.

I'm sure he will. He, like all of the young guys, will have a payday coming up soon.

The report about him possibly having surgery on the ankle is troubling. Not sure the severity of that injury but it must be fairly significant to consider that.

[Lost Angel]

Praying for klay
But I think Kemba , Vuveic are my top choices

Can we get both without stripping the team?

[Ballerhogger]

Praying for klay
But I think Kemba , Vuveic are my top choices

Can we get both without stripping the team?

Yea

[tamaraw08]

Butler, Ingram, Ball and LeBron? Who gets the ball and who benefits off the ball? That lineup would persist for 4 more years. How is Ingram going to be a "star" where he's obviously the 3rd wheel? Butler isn't the deferring type and LeBron is vastly better than Ingram and everything Ingram is good at. Just throwing players who've been successful as an alpha on their previous teams together has almost never worked.

While I agree that Ingram has the ability to be an All Star I just don't see him as the best player on a really good team which is what signing him next offseason will mean. Vucevic and Kuzma are not going to be centerpiece stars in this league however they could be more valuable to a really good team in that they both score and play off of great players. Guys like Butler and Ingram need to be the centerpiece to be most valuable. Again, for me it's not Kuzma or Ingram. It's fit around LeBron. I don't think we need another top name to be really good. We need to fill in the blanks around LeBron. A center that rebounds, plays hard defense and can score from just about anywhere is rare. A PF who can stretch the floor, score 18-20 while not requiring set plays is rare as well. Are either of them "stars"? Probably not but guys like them are on every great team with a central star.

Get me a [b]2 guard that finishes, puts pressure on defenses and can hit the 3 to go with Ball and a Center that can stretch the floor while still being a center defensively while keeping Kuzma for at least one more year on the cheap.[/b] Making the commitment to Ingram seems like a huge gamble when that money could bring in someone with a much better fit. You could move Kuzma and move Ingram to the 3 but you'd move a guy with a small salary while committing to Ingram long term which is a huge shift if money long term.

I agree with your points esp the bolded ones but i wish you can be more specific by actually mentioning their names esp the 2guard you envisioned. Would Wesley Matthews suffice?
About Muscala I will not lie to you by saying I have watched most of his games but of the the limited time I saw him, I felt, he has decent agility to cover ground. Brook Lopez was my favorite player since his Stanford years, the guy was disrespected from the start inspite of his strong numbers in college even last summer when he was top 5 in hustle stats, contesting shots etc.
Lebron was pretty good with a work horse like Tristan Thompson and I like Montresz Harrell but he too is limited
Who is the PF you are referring to, do you think Tobias Harris would be realistic?

I'm not up on salaries etc. Beal would be great but he's got a nasty contract. Same for McCollum.
Could Kyrie and Ball coexist? Could Kemba and Ball coexist? Not sure on either of those. If you look at moving Ingram we should be able to get a 2 guard who fills the bill then sign Vucevic in FA and a bench. While I think it would give us a better team overall I'm 100% sure the FO would see that as a failed offseason as they want marketable stars over less flashy guys who fit with LeBron. The PF I was talking about is Kuzma. IMO he's a great fit for LeBron. His 3 point shooting was not stellar this year but I think he'll return to his rookie year % or thereabout. He was starting to shoot very well from deep in Feb (over 40%) then he got the nagging hip injury then the ankle. He got 18 a game while playing off the others. I think people are underestimating that quite a bit around here.

I agree with you about retaining Kuzma. Not only is he cheap but he's one of the few current players who works best next to Lebron. But you are right, Beal and CJ are great, but it would be extremely difficult to trade for one of them using Ingram IMO.
I think Kyrie can work well with Lonzo who is 6'6 and can therefore guard SGs. I am still not sold out Vucevic and I think a relatively cheaper Brook Lopez would be more realistically attainable (that is if he agrees to return here). I like a workhorse like Montresz Harrell and yes I know he is limited. I also like getting floor spacers like Seth Curry and a 3 & D PG like Darren Collison and Patrick Beverley.

[AGAVE]

Going back to the original post list....
I'd take a look at Beverley.

After reading some of your comments here;
Most everything mentioned above totals up to/towards this season's results.
They played within a system Luke ran.

We should consider that the next Lakers Head Coach will run a different system.

I'd be curious to know how the current players and future signs possibly fit that before any moves are considered.

Kuzma just may be used differently next year.
I prefer to keep him than see him go.
Ingram is my biggest question.
How will we use him next year

[Landsberger]

Going back to the original post list....
I'd take a look at Beverley.

After reading some of your comments here;
Most everything mentioned above totals up to/towards this season's results.
They played within a system Luke ran.

We should consider that the next Lakers Head Coach will run a different system.

I'd be curious to know how the current players and future signs possibly fit that before any moves are considered.

Kuzma just may be used differently next year.
I prefer to keep him than see him go.
Ingram is my biggest question.
How will we use him next year

Ingram is the question. If we decide to keep him long term he's going to occupy a max slot in our cap. The question is.... is there someone else available for that money that's better? System is a key but LeBron is one as well. With Ball on the team we're not going to get consistent shooting at the PG so we need to get floor spacing elsewhere. Ingram is great in the paint but so are LeBron and Kuzma. Ingram's role was to be LeBron "lite" under Luke or so it seemed. If he's been held back and has a consistent outside game that doesn't depend on 12 dribbles then it will be even better Luke's gone. If not then I still see an overlap and a gap in our starting unit at the 2.

Move Ingram to the 3 and trade Kuzma.... To me that means we've settled on that max slot for Ingram long term over another top FA. Kuzma isn't the end all for sure but he's cheap and under control for a year longer than Ingram. We have another year to make the decision on him. Not sure waiting another year on Ingram improves our flexibility if he doesn't jump forward.

My guess is that the next system will still have LeBron closing games in isolation. Our problem this year was that we put Ingram in isolation as well in the trade-off picks and roll we were doing in the 4th quarters. There was no motion anywhere. If we can get the motion back and keep the ball moving we are so much better because we have complementary pieces when that happens. The downside is that Ingram tends to get lost when we do that. Don't know if it's the system or not because he's only played in one.

[Pythagoras]

If we really do add Lue and strike out our on the big names. I’d prioritize Dedmond, Reddick, and Mirotic. We’re probably going to spam iso pick n’roll with Ingram and LeBron, and those guys are tailor made for that kind of offense.

[gts1]

With the mess in the front office I really wonder we can attract any free agent of merit at all. Not being flippant, its a serious concern for me. When you really think about it what do we have to offer? My biggest concern is having to over pay and give out bloated long termcontracts to bring in guys that are not worth that level of attention. Then in 2 or 3 years when Lebron exists we're stuck with them