Lakers Targets - Free Agent Class 2020

[stan francisco]

LeBron, stop playing GM!

Rob, don’t listen to Rich Paul!

It’ll ruin our depth and cap flexibility.

I know you’re friends and all but you can hang out everyday after retirement.

[LAKESHOW]

Rondo was Magics choice. Turns out to be the right move. AD imo will wanna keep him around

[DanishLakerFan]

A couple of under-the-radar guys in the back-court we could target.

PG:
Trey Burke. This guy can really shoot, pass and score. Should be cheap.

SG:
Justin Holiday. Solid wing. Cheap. From LA. Can defend, shoot 3s.

SF.
Josh Jackson. 3s/D project. Young, athletic. Why not?
Kent Bazemore. 3s/D wing. Great locker-room guy. Struggled offensively in the dumpster fire that is Sacramento.

[tamaraw08]

LeBron, stop playing GM!

Rob, don’t listen to Rich Paul!

It’ll ruin our depth and cap flexibility.

I know you’re friends and all but you can hang out everyday after retirement.

It’s easier said than done with regards to ignoring Paul who masterminded the move of AD to the Lakers, he is the agent of Lebron, AD, KCP and Morrris who ALL mAde significant contributions for this team.
3 of them want a huge raise add Rondo and there’s not much money to spend.
Another issue is the over reliance on the 35 yr old superstar to make plays. Can they use the cap space for that?

[ROballer]

As far as I'm concerned, KCP is probably gone. He's gonna fetch more than we are willing to pay.
Bradley will probably opt in.
McGee will probably opt in.
Howard will opt out and he's probably gone as well.
Rondo will opt out but we'll probably resign him for a more lucrative deal, using his early bird rights.
Markieff Morris will probably resigned via the BAE.
Jr Smith, Waiters and Dudley are all goners.

Kuzma, Green and Cook will probably be packaged for somebody.

So that leaves us with Lebron, Davis, Caruso, Rondo, Bradley, McGee, Morris, THT, Cacok and Kostas.

Trade Kuzma, Green and Cook for Buddy Hield and #35 and #43 in the draft.
Let's face it, we're not getting Beal, CP or a top notch guy for Kuzma. We're also not gonna pay him so we need to cash in before we lose him for nothing. He alone can't fetch anybody noteworthy since he has a low salary, Green will need to be included in any deal.

Realistically we can get a guy in Hield's tier. He should fix our shooting issues and give us a reliable 3rd scoring option every damn night off the bench.

Package #28 # 35 and # 43 for a higher pick. Miami for example, has proven time and time again that they can develop low picks and they have a single pick in the draft, #20. They will probably do our deal.

Draft Jalen Smith. He is an excellent rim protector and was shooting 37% from 3 this college year. Excellent length, can switch on the perimeter and shoot the 3 at the other end. The modern day 5 at it's finest. I see him as a Myles Turner type of guy in this league.

Sign Gallinari with the MLE. As he said in a previous interview, he's at a point in his career in which he prioritizes winning over money. And 10 mil per year is a nice chunk of change anyway.

And two more ring chasing vets to round out the roster. I'm thinking defensive wings.
Mo Harkless and DeMarre Carroll

Lebron/Rondo/Bradley
Caruso/Hield/Horton Tucker
Gallinari/Carroll/Harkless
Davis/Morris
McGee/Smith/Kostas/Cacok


This is an attainable roster IMO. Not saying it will happen, but we're not getting a top tier star via trade and don't have the room to make a big splash via FA.

And it's even better than last year. I don't see anyone who can argue it's not.
We'd have a deeper bench, we'd have consistent scoring outside of our 1-2 punch, shooting, defense, everything you need.

[MAMBAEMD]

I’m not in favor of trading for Hield and his $94 million contract and attitude. Getting him takes us out of the 2021 free agency market too where Giannis becomes available.

On top of that, he is a defensive liability .

I’d rather fill out the roster with one year deals for shooters and defensive wings

[BEazy]

We're now targeting Derrick Rose. Them Chicago boys teaming up in LA!

[slifersd]

I’m not in favor of trading for Hield and his $94 million contract and attitude. Getting him takes us out of the 2021 free agency market too where Giannis becomes available.

On top of that, he is a defensive liability .

I’d rather fill out the roster with one year deals for shooters and defensive wings

We are not getting Giannis, guys. Him signing with us makes zero sense. He would have to give up money to come here and be the THIRD best player on a championship level team. He also plays the same position as AD and LBJ, so he would have to...play SG? There are a ton of young teams out there that can help him win and still be the number one guy on the team, like Miami and Dallas, so why would he want to sign here?

[MAMBAEMD]

I’m not in favor of trading for Hield and his $94 million contract and attitude. Getting him takes us out of the 2021 free agency market too where Giannis becomes available.

On top of that, he is a defensive liability .

I’d rather fill out the roster with one year deals for shooters and defensive wings

We are not getting Giannis, guys. Him signing with us makes zero sense. He would have to give up money to come here and be the THIRD best player on a championship level team. He also plays the same position as AD and LBJ, so he would have to...play SG? There are a ton of young teams out there that can help him win and still be the number one guy on the team, like Miami and Dallas, so why would he want to sign here?

Still don’t like the Hield trade.

I actually think he would fit nicely with LBJ and AD. It’s a year from now. By then LBJ would need significant load management and would be happy to defer to the young big guys . AD can play the 4 and Giannis can play anywhere from 3-5.

[DanishLakerFan]

Hield is an overpaid scrub.

He's a GREAT shooter, but doesn't attack the rim, doesn't create for others and doesn't defend. A one-dimentional shooter like that is easy to get.

[Spanish_Laker]

Keep the core intact as much as possible, but try to get a wing defender to defend guys like Butler, KD or Tatum and try to add 2 guys who can actually shoot above league average.

[stan francisco]

Give Rob a few days, lol.

I’m all for Pushing each trade a bit in order to get a draft pick back in a trade. This FO drafts well.

I hope we get to keep three out of Bradley, Rondo, McGee, Howard.

Kuzma and Green will likely not return as Lakers next season. I’d hate to blow it up too much. Pretty good team as is, the one we have.

I assume we get to keep three out of Bradley, Rondo, McGee, Howard.

Kuzma will maybe be traded, I’d give it 50/50 chance. Just make sure we have defensive legs young enough to run regular season.

[zuju]

How much will KCP, Rondo and DH ask for to stay?
And, after paying them, are we able to sign any players with the mid-level exemption or the bi-annual exemption?
Do KCP and Rondo have any birds right so that we can sign FAs before signing contracts with them to go over the cap?

I have little knowledge about CBA.

If we cannot retain KCP, Wesley Matthews and Justin Holiday will be a very nice replacement. Will be good if KCP stay with the addition of any of the two though Matthews will be a better choice with his size being able to guard stronger wings

Josh Jackson will be a nice get notwithstanding that he may be more of a trial than a sure thing.



A list of some notable free agents is here for your reference
Outside of the list, I am quite interested in Christian Wood of Detroit and Harry Giles of Kings. Both are becoming UFA this offseason as well

[loveshaq786]

Why is no one talking about houston?

Gordon could be had for cheaper than hield and is one of the best 3pt shooters in the league!

Because of his crazy contract... We could ask for covington. I don't see 2 players who fit better than them. The other 2 players I like in a trade are oladipo and mcdormett. Oladipo also at a bargain price and a great defender.

Bradley, kuz, green, our first round pick for gordon& covington or oladipo & mcdormett

We are set with any of those trades, although I prefer the one with covington because we need a great wing defender.


If those plans fail...

Schroeder/Eric gordon for green and our first

Vanfleet for green, 1st, and kuz

Kuz, cook, and bradley for covington or Spencer dinwiddie

Kuz and green for bog (from sac) most underrated clutch player in the game. I'd even consider trading gordon for him in 3 way.


Christian wood>>>>keef
Pay rondo and dwight 10/year for a one year deal
Let kcp go or s&t with kuz for wood and d rose
Sign trey burke, justin holiday, christian wood

There are so many more opportunities... Wanted to throw more out to open up more discussion!!

[DanishLakerFan]

Why is no one talking about houston?

Gordon could be had for cheaper than hield and is one of the best 3pt shooters in the league!

Because of his crazy contract... We could ask for covington. I don't see 2 players who fit better than them. The other 2 players I like in a trade are oladipo and mcdormett. Oladipo also at a bargain price and a great defender.

Bradley, kuz, green, our first round pick for gordon& covington or oladipo & mcdormett

We are set with any of those trades, although I prefer the one with covington because we need a great wing defender.


If those plans fail...

Schroeder/Eric gordon for green and our first

Vanfleet for green, 1st, and kuz

Kuz, cook, and bradley for covington or Spencer dinwiddie

Kuz and green for bog (from sac) most underrated clutch player in the game. I'd even consider trading gordon for him in 3 way.


Christian wood>>>>keef
Pay rondo and dwight 10/year for a one year deal
Let kcp go or s&t with kuz for wood and d rose
Sign trey burke, justin holiday, christian wood

There are so many more opportunities... Wanted to throw more out to open up more discussion!!

Christian Wood would be awesome.
Gordon shot 31% this season and is a worse defender than KCP and super expensive. They would have to add value for LA to make that deal, but i do think Covington would be pretty good to have.

[zimpy27]

I also like the idea of trading Green + McGee + Kuz + 28 for Oladipo/McDermott or Gordon/Covington.

Not sure if either is possible though.

[LAKESHOW]

Switch out Mcgee for Ibaka and I would maybe be good with that. I mean it seems it would.
Ibaka, D12, Morris and AD. Retains our Size advantage that many coaches complained about during press conference interviews.

[tamaraw08]

How much will KCP, Rondo and DH ask for to stay?
And, after paying them, are we able to sign any players with the mid-level exemption or the bi-annual exemption?
Do KCP and Rondo have any birds right so that we can sign FAs before signing contracts with them to go over the cap?

I have little knowledge about CBA.

If we cannot retain KCP, Wesley Matthews and Justin Holiday will be a very nice replacement. Will be good if KCP stay with the addition of any of the two though Matthews will be a better choice with his size being able to guard stronger wings

Josh Jackson will be a nice get notwithstanding that he may be more of a trial than a sure thing.



A list of some notable free agents is here for your reference
Outside of the list, I am quite interested in Christian Wood of Detroit and Harry Giles of Kings. Both are becoming UFA this offseason as well

Thanks for the list. Most FAs with POs will probably opt in bec of covid economy unless they had a great playoff run like Rondo and KCP. I hope to keep Rajon, Pope and Morris. I like 3&D players like Matthews and Bazemore esp if they lose KCP. Hoping Rondo won’t ask for too much and would settle instead for a wink wink deal where he’ll be hired as an assistant coach when he retires.
Dragic can fulfill a playmaking need off the bench but I’m not sure about his price tag. Bryn Forbes has a career 40% from 3 but I’m not sure about his defense.

[DanishLakerFan]

I also like the idea of trading Green + McGee + Kuz + 28 for Oladipo/McDermott or Gordon/Covington.

Not sure if either is possible though.

I think i would do both of those deals. But i doubt the Pacers are interested given that Oladipo was an MVP candidate a few seasons ago.

Houston, maybe. It's a lateral move for them for next season and if they dont truly believe in the Westbrook-Harden duo, perhaps they would prefer financial flexibility and youth in 2021.

Would really solve a lot of LAs issues too with regards to shooting. We'd still have the MLE and could still bring back KCP as well.

[stan francisco]

After we sign AD, let’s see how much money we have left. Until then, we won’t know how much we can spend on free agents.

I’d like to offer FVV four years for $80M and Meyers Leonard a three year deal for $45 but we’ll hit the cap before thinking about it. Then sign Rondo for the full MLE to say thanks for the championship.

Trading JMG, Kuzma, Green for Oladipo and McDermott would be a great move.

I’m expecting THT and Kostas to log meaningful minutes next season.

If KCP opts in, cool. If not, he’s not exactly the irreplaceable type.