Lakers Targets - Free Agent Class 2020

[slifersd]

Cousins signed for the minimum last year and then ended up getting hurt again. I think we can bring him back on a minimum considering where he is at with his career and his relationship with AD, LBJ and all. I would love to bring him back, he can bring a different dimension to our team.

[zimpy27]

Could Lakers land Marcus Morris? I know the Morris twins want to play together if possible.

Re-sign Markieff and sign Morris with 4m BAE and 10m MLE.
Cousins can be re-signed at 4m.
Dwight probably leaves for more money.
Rondo and KCP come back.
Sign Josh Jackson on minimum.
Lakers trade Green and pick 28 for Wright and Seth Curry.

PG: LeBron | Rondo | Wright
SG: Caruso | Curry | THT
SF: Morris | KCP | Jackson
PF: Davis | Kuzma | Kostas
C : Cousins | Morris | McGee

[Beethoven]

Seth looks like a 5yr old child out there always needing help defense

[lazybatman]

I think there are a few areas that we need to address to differing degrees:

Another playmaker: Playoff Rondo was great, but is this what we can count on going through an 82 game regular season? What if either LBJ or Rondo gets hurt? I think we need another guard who can run the offense and set up everything. Doesn't have to be a superstar, unless we can get one for cheap;

Shooting, lots of shooting: I know we just won the chip, but if I am being honest, our offense this year was far from great. A big reason for that is because of our terrible parameter shooting. Teams often times gambled by packing the paint to limit space for LBJ and AD, and dared us to shoot the threes. If we had a couple of real shooters (not Danny Green or Avery Bradley), our offense can become extremely difficult to contain;

Wing depth: Jimmy Butler showed us something, and that is what the Clippers/Jerry West saw, we cannot defend wings. Jimmy, when he is not completely burnt out, was out there putting up Shaq like numbers even when he is being guarded by LBJ. If we had played against Clippers or Celtics, their army of wing scorers would've killed us if that's what Jimmy can do. We need at least two guys who are 6'8, 6'9 with long arms and can defend at high level. A guy like Trevor Ariza, for example, would be perfect.

Agreed agreed but not on the playmaker train anymore.

I saw this b*tch*ss white boy grow considerably these last couple of months - snarls, attitude and playmaking.

Read on Twitter

I don't get any Magic vibes, but definitely some Marcus Smart vibes developing. Wouldn't wanna stunt that at any cost.

If Rondo is fit and available for the playoffs, I'd consider any injury time off for him during the regular season as bonus playmaking practice for Caruso & KCP.

[lazybatman]

Lebron’s window is NOW and perhaps the next couple of seasons so unless they know they’re getting Giannis and they know Lebron is willing to take a pay cut they should focus on next season.

Totally agree, and even then, Giannis may have already peaked, and he still isn't Lebron.

If I’m the Lakers I would do whatever I can to keep current roster in place because I think continuation is a key component of all good teams. Get KCP and Rondo to opt in so they get full bird rights in 2021.
Danny Green is super important defensively and still have a lot of gravity as a shooter, despite his playoff shooting slump.

After that its more difficult.

Bigs: Would like to have two of Boogie, Dwight, and McGee for the least possible amount of money. If Dwight is greedy, let him walk and the use min. or BAE on Boogie. If Dwight takes the BAE, then perhaps sign Boogie for cheap and trade McGee.

Quinn Cook, Avery Bradley, McGee, Kuzma and perhaps the 28th selection should be packaged together in a trade. The dream would be Davis Bertans, but maybe Reddick is more realistic for Cook, AB and Kuz. Then split MLE on Kieff and Josh Jackson. Sign a few min. guys. Draft BPA.

That would give us:

Caruso / Rondo / THT
KCP / Redick
Green / Josh Jackson
Lebron / Kieff
AD / Boogie / McGee

Agree about Danny Green's defensive and gravitational utility, but he's basically the only salary we have outside of Lebron+AD, so you gotta put him on the block I feel. Besides he's ageing and slower on D and been a poor shooter for 2 years now. Straight up 15 mil trade's gonna be tough to find, but a sign and trade for a long-ER wing is definitely on.

Dwight can walk straight to retirement with his ring, if he doesn't resign for a minimum deal. Unplayable for 75% of the playoffs. IDGAF.

If we're planning to use the MLE/BAE on a big, then Drummond, Noel, Ibaka and Whiteside are FAs. All of them(except Ibaka) have minimal utility on most teams, and should jump at the chance to win the chip. Drummond will command like 10 mil(MLE) but he can actually force the hand of small ball teams cos of his offensive prowess too. And I'd fancy seeing a Drummond + Boogie center rotation.. lol.. Feeling a bit bad for the Clips, Rockets, Celtics kinda small ball teams.

I'm keeping Avery Bradley, if he want's to play next year. He is a top 3 small defenders in the game, and that's rare to find replacement for. If it weren't for playoff Rondo showing up just in time, this run would've been much different without AB.

[lazybatman]

Where do I find a list of who on our team has what contract and how many years left?
I hope we keep kcp.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/LAL.html

[Beethoven]

Where do I find a list of who on our team has what contract and how many years left?
I hope we keep kcp.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/LAL.html

Awesome thanks

[lazybatman]

Thoughts on this?

LA trades: Danny Green, Kyle Kuzma, Talen Horton Tucker, 2020 LAL 1st (28)
LA receives: Norman Powell, Seth Curry

Dallas trades: Delon Wright, Seth Curry, 2020 DAL 1st (18)
Dallas receives: Danny Green, Kyle Kuzma, 2020 LAL 1st (28)

Toronto trades: Norman Powell
Toronto receives: Delon Wright, Talen Horton Tucker, 2020 DAL 1st (18)

Good deal IMO. Can we keep THT though?

[lazybatman]

Could Lakers land Marcus Morris? I know the Morris twins want to play together if possible.

Re-sign Markieff and sign Morris with 4m BAE and 10m MLE.
Cousins can be re-signed at 4m.
Dwight probably leaves for more money.
Rondo and KCP come back.
Sign Josh Jackson on minimum.
Lakers trade Green and pick 28 for Wright and Seth Curry.

PG: LeBron | Rondo | Wright
SG: Caruso | Curry | THT
SF: Morris | KCP | Jackson
PF: Davis | Kuzma | Kostas
C : Cousins | Morris | McGee

Only sign the Morris boys if they publicly promise to abandon Mr. Hyde. Can't have them pulling those repugnant stunts that Marcus did in the Dallas series.

I get why you'd wanna sign them though.

[Ball so hard]

Could Lakers land Marcus Morris? I know the Morris twins want to play together if possible.

Re-sign Markieff and sign Morris with 4m BAE and 10m MLE.
Cousins can be re-signed at 4m.
Dwight probably leaves for more money.
Rondo and KCP come back.
Sign Josh Jackson on minimum.
Lakers trade Green and pick 28 for Wright and Seth Curry.

PG: LeBron | Rondo | Wright
SG: Caruso | Curry | THT
SF: Morris | KCP | Jackson
PF: Davis | Kuzma | Kostas
C : Cousins | Morris | McGee

Cousins is a minimum contract player at this point in his career. Cousins wasn't very athletic even before his injuries... I'd guess he's even less athletic now. Is he even playable against most teams? McGee and Howard barely saw the floor in the playoffs and they're both more agile. There's chance Dallas trade us Curry for Green and a pretty worthless pick.

[zimpy27]

Could Lakers land Marcus Morris? I know the Morris twins want to play together if possible.

Re-sign Markieff and sign Morris with 4m BAE and 10m MLE.
Cousins can be re-signed at 4m.
Dwight probably leaves for more money.
Rondo and KCP come back.
Sign Josh Jackson on minimum.
Lakers trade Green and pick 28 for Wright and Seth Curry.

PG: LeBron | Rondo | Wright
SG: Caruso | Curry | THT
SF: Morris | KCP | Jackson
PF: Davis | Kuzma | Kostas
C : Cousins | Morris | McGee

Cousins is a minimum contract player at this point in his career. Cousins wasn't very athletic even before his injuries... I'd guess he's even less athletic now. Is he even playable against most teams? McGee and Howard barely saw the floor in the playoffs and they're both more agile. There's chance Dallas trade us Curry for Green and a pretty worthless pick.

Don't have to re-sign Cousins at that price but it's his cap hold so you can do it.

Dallas would do it to clear the cap space in 2021 and remove Wrights contract.

[LAKESHOW]

Yo Gallinari is free, is that true? Does he play defense? Would he fit? Just curious

[PKABOOICU]

Yo Gallinari is free, is that true? Does he play defense? Would he fit? Just curious

He is free, he would fit, but his defense is suspect. I would still take him though.

[DanishLakerFan]

Yo Gallinari is free, is that true? Does he play defense? Would he fit? Just curious

Gallo would be an amazing player to get because he's a knock-down 3pt shooter and he can create for himself and others and do a little bit of everything. He'll be expensive though, which means he has to be aquired via sign-and-trade.

[DanishLakerFan]

Lebron’s window is NOW and perhaps the next couple of seasons so unless they know they’re getting Giannis and they know Lebron is willing to take a pay cut they should focus on next season.

Totally agree, and even then, Giannis may have already peaked, and he still isn't Lebron.

If I’m the Lakers I would do whatever I can to keep current roster in place because I think continuation is a key component of all good teams. Get KCP and Rondo to opt in so they get full bird rights in 2021.
Danny Green is super important defensively and still have a lot of gravity as a shooter, despite his playoff shooting slump.

After that its more difficult.

Bigs: Would like to have two of Boogie, Dwight, and McGee for the least possible amount of money. If Dwight is greedy, let him walk and the use min. or BAE on Boogie. If Dwight takes the BAE, then perhaps sign Boogie for cheap and trade McGee.

Quinn Cook, Avery Bradley, McGee, Kuzma and perhaps the 28th selection should be packaged together in a trade. The dream would be Davis Bertans, but maybe Reddick is more realistic for Cook, AB and Kuz. Then split MLE on Kieff and Josh Jackson. Sign a few min. guys. Draft BPA.

That would give us:

Caruso / Rondo / THT
KCP / Redick
Green / Josh Jackson
Lebron / Kieff
AD / Boogie / McGee

Agree about Danny Green's defensive and gravitational utility, but he's basically the only salary we have outside of Lebron+AD, so you gotta put him on the block I feel. Besides he's ageing and slower on D and been a poor shooter for 2 years now. Straight up 15 mil trade's gonna be tough to find, but a sign and trade for a long-ER wing is definitely on.

Dwight can walk straight to retirement with his ring, if he doesn't resign for a minimum deal. Unplayable for 75% of the playoffs. IDGAF.

If we're planning to use the MLE/BAE on a big, then Drummond, Noel, Ibaka and Whiteside are FAs. All of them(except Ibaka) have minimal utility on most teams, and should jump at the chance to win the chip. Drummond will command like 10 mil(MLE) but he can actually force the hand of small ball teams cos of his offensive prowess too. And I'd fancy seeing a Drummond + Boogie center rotation.. lol.. Feeling a bit bad for the Clips, Rockets, Celtics kinda small ball teams.

I'm keeping Avery Bradley, if he want's to play next year. He is a top 3 small defenders in the game, and that's rare to find replacement for. If it weren't for playoff Rondo showing up just in time, this run would've been much different without AB.

I strongly disagree with regards to Green. All advanced stats point to Green as being one of our most important players in terms of wins and losses, and just because his shooting in the playoffs was a bit loud, i dont think that is reason enough to move on, when we dont have any way to aquire his combination of defense and shooting in the offseason. At all. And he's an expiring in 2021 which could make him an important trade chip during the season.

[zuju]

I think there are a few areas that we need to address to differing degrees:

Another playmaker: Playoff Rondo was great, but is this what we can count on going through an 82 game regular season? What if either LBJ or Rondo gets hurt? I think we need another guard who can run the offense and set up everything. Doesn't have to be a superstar, unless we can get one for cheap;

Shooting, lots of shooting: I know we just won the chip, but if I am being honest, our offense this year was far from great. A big reason for that is because of our terrible parameter shooting. Teams often times gambled by packing the paint to limit space for LBJ and AD, and dared us to shoot the threes. If we had a couple of real shooters (not Danny Green or Avery Bradley), our offense can become extremely difficult to contain;

Wing depth: Jimmy Butler showed us something, and that is what the Clippers/Jerry West saw, we cannot defend wings. Jimmy, when he is not completely burnt out, was out there putting up Shaq like numbers even when he is being guarded by LBJ. If we had played against Clippers or Celtics, their army of wing scorers would've killed us if that's what Jimmy can do. We need at least two guys who are 6'8, 6'9 with long arms and can defend at high level. A guy like Trevor Ariza, for example, would be perfect.

Agree with the direction.

Despite winning the Champ, we have some glaring holes to fill as we saw in the regular season.
We were lucky not needing to face most of the elite wings in the league aka Kawhi, PG, Tatum, Siakum etc
We simply haven't got the personnel to deal with them. Look what JB did to us before fatigue.

We definitely need more dimensions on the court especially shootings and playmaking. But not one-dimensional players. We had cook and Troy Daniels. We didn't play one in the playoff and waived one in the regular season. Aside from meeting those needs for shooting and playmakes, the players should be decent in defense and basketball IQ

In addition to the 3 needs mentioned, I would also like to add an athletic C on the roster who is strong and big enough to battle inside, preferrably with 3 point shooting ability, to enable Davis from playing his preferred power forward position. During the playoff run, AD was always assigned to play the C and got annoyed by the stronger Cs e.g. Adebayo. After we sign Cousins and Dwight, we still need one more insurance in case of any injury. Being slow on the court, Both of Dwight and Cousins would barely see the floor against smaller teams. We need that athletic C to utilize.

That being said, the ones to go shall be JR, Cook, Mcgee and Waiters are goner. Dudley can be that dressing room leader. Trade Bradley in case we got a decent return. In this playoff run, without Bradley, we still have enough personnel to chase the faster and smaller players. Promote THT and Kotas, at the 4 instead of 5, if they have developed enough for NBA games

[lazybatman]

Lebron’s window is NOW and perhaps the next couple of seasons so unless they know they’re getting Giannis and they know Lebron is willing to take a pay cut they should focus on next season.

Totally agree, and even then, Giannis may have already peaked, and he still isn't Lebron.

If I’m the Lakers I would do whatever I can to keep current roster in place because I think continuation is a key component of all good teams. Get KCP and Rondo to opt in so they get full bird rights in 2021.
Danny Green is super important defensively and still have a lot of gravity as a shooter, despite his playoff shooting slump.

After that its more difficult.

Bigs: Would like to have two of Boogie, Dwight, and McGee for the least possible amount of money. If Dwight is greedy, let him walk and the use min. or BAE on Boogie. If Dwight takes the BAE, then perhaps sign Boogie for cheap and trade McGee.

Quinn Cook, Avery Bradley, McGee, Kuzma and perhaps the 28th selection should be packaged together in a trade. The dream would be Davis Bertans, but maybe Reddick is more realistic for Cook, AB and Kuz. Then split MLE on Kieff and Josh Jackson. Sign a few min. guys. Draft BPA.

That would give us:

Caruso / Rondo / THT
KCP / Redick
Green / Josh Jackson
Lebron / Kieff
AD / Boogie / McGee

Agree about Danny Green's defensive and gravitational utility, but he's basically the only salary we have outside of Lebron+AD, so you gotta put him on the block I feel. Besides he's ageing and slower on D and been a poor shooter for 2 years now. Straight up 15 mil trade's gonna be tough to find, but a sign and trade for a long-ER wing is definitely on.

Dwight can walk straight to retirement with his ring, if he doesn't resign for a minimum deal. Unplayable for 75% of the playoffs. IDGAF.

If we're planning to use the MLE/BAE on a big, then Drummond, Noel, Ibaka and Whiteside are FAs. All of them(except Ibaka) have minimal utility on most teams, and should jump at the chance to win the chip. Drummond will command like 10 mil(MLE) but he can actually force the hand of small ball teams cos of his offensive prowess too. And I'd fancy seeing a Drummond + Boogie center rotation.. lol.. Feeling a bit bad for the Clips, Rockets, Celtics kinda small ball teams.

I'm keeping Avery Bradley, if he want's to play next year. He is a top 3 small defenders in the game, and that's rare to find replacement for. If it weren't for playoff Rondo showing up just in time, this run would've been much different without AB.

I strongly disagree with regards to Green. All advanced stats point to Green as being one of our most important players in terms of wins and losses, and just because his shooting in the playoffs was a bit loud, i dont think that is reason enough to move on, when we dont have any way to aquire his combination of defense and shooting in the offseason. At all. And he's an expiring in 2021 which could make him an important trade chip during the season.

Agree to disagree mate. His production's been poor for two seasons now, and he's lost a step on D IMO.

[DanishLakerFan]

Totally agree, and even then, Giannis may have already peaked, and he still isn't Lebron.


Agree about Danny Green's defensive and gravitational utility, but he's basically the only salary we have outside of Lebron+AD, so you gotta put him on the block I feel. Besides he's ageing and slower on D and been a poor shooter for 2 years now. Straight up 15 mil trade's gonna be tough to find, but a sign and trade for a long-ER wing is definitely on.

Dwight can walk straight to retirement with his ring, if he doesn't resign for a minimum deal. Unplayable for 75% of the playoffs. IDGAF.

If we're planning to use the MLE/BAE on a big, then Drummond, Noel, Ibaka and Whiteside are FAs. All of them(except Ibaka) have minimal utility on most teams, and should jump at the chance to win the chip. Drummond will command like 10 mil(MLE) but he can actually force the hand of small ball teams cos of his offensive prowess too. And I'd fancy seeing a Drummond + Boogie center rotation.. lol.. Feeling a bit bad for the Clips, Rockets, Celtics kinda small ball teams.

I'm keeping Avery Bradley, if he want's to play next year. He is a top 3 small defenders in the game, and that's rare to find replacement for. If it weren't for playoff Rondo showing up just in time, this run would've been much different without AB.

I strongly disagree with regards to Green. All advanced stats point to Green as being one of our most important players in terms of wins and losses, and just because his shooting in the playoffs was a bit loud, i dont think that is reason enough to move on, when we dont have any way to aquire his combination of defense and shooting in the offseason. At all. And he's an expiring in 2021 which could make him an important trade chip during the season.

Agree to disagree mate. His production's been poor for two seasons now, and he's lost a step on D IMO.

Look, there's no doubt his shooting was bad these playoffs, which of course is concerning, but he was still a key component of our defense and he was more impactfull on that end than KCP according to win shares and box-plus-minus. FiveThirtyEight even had him as the third most impactful Laker and through these playoffs. Lebron and AD were #1 and #2 overall on the list btw.

As for his game these past couple of seasons, it really isn't something that is open for debate tbh. Whatever metric you look at he's been among the most impactfull two-way wings across the league. I get that his offensive mistakes are loud and that he isn't a lock-down one-on-one defender, but he spaces the floor as well as anyone and quietly plays solid team defense on the other end, which simply translates into wins because it's the type of skills that enable other players to succeed.

We're not going to find that kind of two-way player in free agency using the MLE and dont really get the urgency to trade him.

I'll stop my rant now.


Caruso / Rondo / THT
KCP / Green / JR Smith
Lebron / Josh Jackson (1/4 MLE)
Bertans (s/t) / Markieff (3/4 MLE)
AD / Boogie (BAE/min) / Dwight (BAE/min)

[Spens1]

S&T Targets (with Green and/or Kuzma)

Demar Derozan
Evan Fournier
Bogan Bogdanovic
Davis Bertrans
Jerami Grant
Fred Van Vleet (highly unlikely)
Malik Beasley (Kuzma for Beasley ain't a bad swap honestly but he did ball out for the Timberwolves in that short stint so they may laugh that out the door)

MLE targets
Dragic (highly unlikely but like you wouldn't take him)
Joe Harris
Tim Hardaway Jr (just please don't go back to shooting 32% from 3)
Jerami Grant (if he's willing somehow to take a big paycut over what he'll probably earn on the market)
Derrick Favours
Christian Wood (very unlikely but worth a shot)
Dario Saric
Aaron Baynes (not sure if he takes the paycut cause he could get the MLE easily if not more, but absolutely worth chasing him)

Bi-Exemption:
Tristian Thompson
Wiley Cauley Stein (better version of Javale honestly)
Nerlens Noel
Serge Ibaka (i'd put him with the glory hunters but chances are he's not leaving Toronto anyway)
DeMarcus Cousins (ideally, bring him back into the fold)

Minimum/Glory hunting:
Jeff Teague
Hassan Whiteside (maybe if he buys in)
Paul Millsap

Other trade targets in general (non-fa)
Victor Oladipo (Indiana would have to be convinced Danny Green and/or Kuzma is going to be a beast or there is no market for him)
JJ Redick (Green-Redick straight swap)

Other then that, just run it back for the most part.
Buddy Hield (same as Redick pretty much)

Beasley may go to jail.

Wait, for real

What did he do?

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[Spens1]

S&T Targets (with Green and/or Kuzma)

Demar Derozan
Evan Fournier
Bogan Bogdanovic
Davis Bertrans
Jerami Grant
Fred Van Vleet (highly unlikely)
Malik Beasley (Kuzma for Beasley ain't a bad swap honestly but he did ball out for the Timberwolves in that short stint so they may laugh that out the door)

MLE targets
Dragic (highly unlikely but like you wouldn't take him)
Joe Harris
Tim Hardaway Jr (just please don't go back to shooting 32% from 3)
Jerami Grant (if he's willing somehow to take a big paycut over what he'll probably earn on the market)
Derrick Favours
Christian Wood (very unlikely but worth a shot)
Dario Saric
Aaron Baynes (not sure if he takes the paycut cause he could get the MLE easily if not more, but absolutely worth chasing him)

Bi-Exemption:
Tristian Thompson
Wiley Cauley Stein (better version of Javale honestly)
Nerlens Noel
Serge Ibaka (i'd put him with the glory hunters but chances are he's not leaving Toronto anyway)
DeMarcus Cousins (ideally, bring him back into the fold)

Minimum/Glory hunting:
Jeff Teague
Hassan Whiteside (maybe if he buys in)
Paul Millsap

Other trade targets in general (non-fa)
Victor Oladipo (Indiana would have to be convinced Danny Green and/or Kuzma is going to be a beast or there is no market for him)
JJ Redick (Green-Redick straight swap)

Other then that, just run it back for the most part.
Buddy Hield (same as Redick pretty much)

Lots of intriguing names on this list.

I'm thinking back to last offseason though. I remember being on other Lakers message boards, and people were putting together hypothetical rosters based on free agents available. One thing I remember being very common was people grossly underestimating how much players were going to get.

For example, Seth Curry. Curry seemed like a great fit next to LeBron. I remember people saying, "let's sign Seth Curry for the MLE". Then he ended up signing for 4-years, $32M with the Mavs. Lots of discussions along the lines of, "instead of Kawhi, we should sign like 4-5 quality FA and have amazing depth". In reality, we could've afforded like 2 quality FA, not 4-5.

I think the same thing is going to happen with a lot of guys on your list. I think they're going to end up costing more than expected. Now, in fairness, you conceded that many of the guys you listed are longshots, but I'm just reminded of last offseason and trying to temper my enthusiasm a little bit.

Absolutely

I'm more concerned about fit than neccesarily name value given how it's paid dividends this season.

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