pcbothwel wrote:ozthegap wrote:Also the Lakers need a 3rd star as an insurance policy. Lebron's risk of injury will only increase as he gets older and AD doesnt really have a great track record in that department. If either goes down in a season they'll need more than role players. If both go down theyre ****
I've already mentioned this in the GB... but LAL have bigger problems than a 3rd star.
They dont have a SINGLE PG, SG, or wing on the entire roster.
Shooting/Guard oriented league based on shooting, pace, and defending the perimeter... and LAL as a soon to be 35 y/o Point forward and a sometimes brittle Big man...
I think on many nights they will get run out of the gym... and the wrong matchup in the playoffs will have them out in 5-6 games.
Also, they have zero assets to move to a seller at the deadline. I think they win 50 games, but I dont think they make it out of the 2nd round... Heard it here
Well, there's no question that that third star should be a guard. If not Kemba, then maybe Jimmy Butler.
But the latest is that they are more likely to be working with about $23M in cap room, not the $32M that was originally discussed. I don't think Kemba will play for that little coin.
Now I'm thinking their best bet is to go after Malcolm Brodgon. He's not an ideal guy to run the show when Lebron is out, but he's probably an even better fit in a crunch time lineup alongside Lebron and Davis than Kemba would be, because he's a better defender and off-the-ball player.
Would Milwaukee match a 4-year deal starting at $18M? If not, then the Lakers could grab Brogdon, spend their remaining $5M on another wing, and then the $4.5M Room Exception on one more guard. If they landed, say, Danny Green and Trevor Ariza, and then added Joakim Noah and Garrett Temple for the vet minimum, their lineup would look like this:
PG Brodgon/Temple
SG Green/Temple
SF Ariza/Lebron
PF Lebron/Kuzma
C Davis/Noah
That's a real strong rotation when Lebron is on the floor - good enough to win a championship. But they're going to struggle to create offense when Lebron is off. Their regular season record might be something like 53 wins instead of being in the 60's.
I'd like to find a wing defender better than Ariza at $4.5M, but I'm not seeing many good wings available in free agency. Is Mbah a Moute better than Ariza at this point? Can he stay healthy?