Mitch kupchak and Jim Buss gone.

[WiggyRuss]

IMO w/Magic on board the Lakers will be in the hunt for either PG or Butler. If George is not traded today, I think he is bound for home .............just sayin

itll be interesting. I remember LAST time George was up for an extension the same rumors abounded. When RW was up for an extension the same rumors were out there- go home, UCLA, blah blah blah.

If George qualifies for the designated player extension it will be interesting. If the Lakers can at least become semi-competitive before he has to make his decision it should be interesting.

If I was a Lakers fan I would be PRAYING Paul George does not make an All-NBA team this year or next year. That should increase their chances quite a bit- if he doesnt make an All NBA team- (or doesnt get voted into the all star game- win DPOY or MVP), then he doesnt qualify for the designated player extension- and would thus only be eligible for 30% instead of 35% from Indiana.

however- you would also need to open up max contract room for him- which would be over 30 million. That means if you use the cap space this summer to sign someone to anything longer than a 1 year deal- it would make it VERY VERY difficult.

that 20 million in cap room- if you can save it- then maybe you would have a chance of opening up that 30m+....if you spend it on someone....it would be extremely difficult to open up 30M

ESPECIALLY when you have Randle and Russell who will soon qualify for extensions and see large increases in their salaries.

 

[GNG]

And possibly why Phil and Jeannie broke up?

I think that had more to do with the age difference between them.

 

[GNG]

Interesting news from the Lakers. Going to also be interesting to see if the changes mean the team can get back to its winning ways.

Sometimes rebuilding can take a long time.

 

[WiggyRuss]

IMO w/Magic on board the Lakers will be in the hunt for either PG or Butler. If George is not traded today, I think he is bound for home .............just sayin

It just depends on so many things.

A huge part will be what the Lakers do this summer. If they use their roughly 20M in cap space to sign someone to a long term deal- taht effectively takes them out of the free agent market for the foreseeable future since they will eventually need to extend Russell, Randle---- and down the road, Ingram.

If the DONT use their cap space this summer- or use it on guys on 1 year contracts- and then George does NOT meet the specifications for the designated player contract- then things are at least in a place where its POSSIBLE.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Sometimes rebuilding can take a long time.

twolves can tell ya that , lol

as much talent as they have- they havent won ANYTHING

of course- young talent so rarely wins anything- its why the Thunder were so unique early on. As talented as the Twolves are- they are still probably 2 more seasons away from making any real noise in a playoff series. IF they are 2 years away- i gotta think teams like the Suns/Lakers are prob a little passed that.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

you def dont have room for a max as presently constructed.

Right now you have about 82M committed to next year and that is without factoring in a possible top 3 pick- which is about 6M.

getting rid of Nick Young- if he decides to opt out of his 6M makes the top 3 pick commitment basically a awash.

The cap is estimated to be about 102M. So yo should have ABOUT 20M in cap room....now if you move guys like Black (6M), you can squeeze a little more- however- after that- it doesnt really pay to get rid of a zubac or a nance or huertas who make barely anyting ---- and the next guys up are guys like russell, randle, ingram, etc. that you arent gonna just get rid of to open up cap room.

These are the salaries of Los Angeles Lakers players this season

22 million is enough to get a free agent in the door. They might to load the salary up in the 2nd and other years though. if they find a taker for Deng, Or Mozgov, they might need to do a sign and trade and give up a draft pick or two but it can be done

 

[True Lakers Fan]

You are missing the point.

Don't trade Lou, sit him to tank and have 1 first round pick.

Trade Lou to Houston for Brewer, sit Brewer to tank and have 2 first round picks.

It's that simple.

Oh I understand what they are doing. Just a bit skeptical. That 1St pick, however is not ours yet. And does not exist

 

[CitySushi]

Just read something that was kind of funny:

Pelinka is/was Kobe's agent and got him that deal that held the Lakers back for years. Then the Lakers suck GM gets fired and Pelinka then takes the job.

 

[WiggyRuss]

22 million is enough to get a free agent in the door. They might to load the salary up in the 2nd and other years though. if they find a taker for Deng, Or Mozgov, they might need to do a sign and trade and give up a draft pick or two but it can be done

you cant "load" a contract in the 2nd or 3rd year- not for salary cap purposes

they would have to find a taker for Deng or Mozgov.

and im saying- you could get more than 22 M- for sure- you can make moves.

But if you sign a guy this offseason to a long term deal with your 22 million in cap room- obviously thats money you cant use next offseason when he is a free agent--- all though- you could just use it on guys for 1 year deals- but that prob. limits you to the type of guys who will take 1 year deals- which i would say is fine- its not like you are winning anything next year.

i mean- you could probably get off Clarksons contract fairly easily if you really needed to open up cap room.

As Mozgov and Deng age- if they become unplayable- then its not gonna be easy to get off those contracts- i mean- Mozgov is barely playing, how do you convince a team to take a 32 year old center with 2 years left worth 33 million? At that point with only 2 years left- maybe you either stretch him or attach a 1st rounder to him to get him gone.

i mean- you can make cap room- i think Black's contract is only partially guaranteed- Clarkson is on a multi year deal but hes young and im sure you could move him. -thats like 20 million right there.


the thing is- you just GOTTA do it before Russell, Randle, and Ingram jump up from making a little money- to free agent money.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Just read something that was kind of funny:

Pelinka is/was Kobe's agent and got him that deal that held the Lakers back for years. Then the Lakers suck GM gets fired and Pelinka then takes the job.

the guy is a really good agent- he has freaking harden, bunch of guys....

we shall see- it cant be worse than Jimmy and Mitch....though, if i had one complaint it would be that out of Jeanie, Magic and Pelinka- none of them have any GM experience or even assistant GM experience....

 

[CitySushi]

the guy is a really good agent- he has freaking harden, bunch of guys....

we shall see- it cant be worse than Jimmy and Mitch....though, if i had one complaint it would be that out of Jeanie, Magic and Pelinka- none of them have any GM experience or even assistant GM experience....

I don't know what happened to the rest of the front office, but if the Lakers have retained their assistant GM's and scouting assistants, that would go a long ways towards helping Pelinka assimilate. Again with Bob Myers he was able to be an assistant for a year under Larry Riley before becoming the full time GM of the Warriors.

There are numerous benefits though to hiring him. A major advantage is that he's probably built up a ton of great relationships throughout his days as an agent with other teams. That and also building relationships with other agents out there. His relationship with Bob Myers was what really helped facilitate the Warriors being able to land Iguodala as a free agent.

The lure of LA is already there, but it's even better when you have someone who can relate to not only the management side, but the players as well. He will be a major recruiter for free agents down the road. That's massively in his favor over other GM's imo.

 

[trojanfan12]

IMO w/Magic on board the Lakers will be in the hunt for either PG or Butler. If George is not traded today, I think he is bound for home .............just sayin

Interesting that I see this now. I was just driving home and heard an interview with Adrian Wojnarowski who was saying that he thinks there's a good chance that PG will go to the Lakers when he becomes an FA in 2018.

The host was suggesting that the Lakers could trade for him, but Woj said that shouldn't because they would have to give up too many assets to get him. It could be like when Melo was traded to the Knicks who had given up so much to get him, there weren't any good players left on the team. They could have him in 2018 when they'll have the cap space to sign him and won't have to give up anything to get him.

Basically, he'd be choosing between the Designated Player extension and playing for a team he has said he wants to play for.

 

[trojanfan12]

I don't know what happened to the rest of the front office, but if the Lakers have retained their assistant GM's and scouting assistants, that would go a long ways towards helping Pelinka assimilate. Again with Bob Myers he was able to be an assistant for a year under Larry Riley before becoming the full time GM of the Warriors.

Ryan West (the Logo's son) is the assistant GM. Apparently, Magic said he will be "a significant part of the new regime."

 

[Wamu]

Ryan West (the Logo's son) is the assistant GM. Apparently, Magic said he will be "a significant part of the new regime."

Why would Ryan West be a good MG? It's not like his dad's really good.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

you cant "load" a contract in the 2nd or 3rd year- not for salary cap purposes

they would have to find a taker for Deng or Mozgov.

and im saying- you could get more than 22 M- for sure- you can make moves.

But if you sign a guy this offseason to a long term deal with your 22 million in cap room- obviously thats money you cant use next offseason when he is a free agent--- all though- you could just use it on guys for 1 year deals- but that prob. limits you to the type of guys who will take 1 year deals- which i would say is fine- its not like you are winning anything next year.

i mean- you could probably get off Clarksons contract fairly easily if you really needed to open up cap room.

As Mozgov and Deng age- if they become unplayable- then its not gonna be easy to get off those contracts- i mean- Mozgov is barely playing, how do you convince a team to take a 32 year old center with 2 years left worth 33 million? At that point with only 2 years left- maybe you either stretch him or attach a 1st rounder to him to get him gone.

i mean- you can make cap room- i think Black's contract is only partially guaranteed- Clarkson is on a multi year deal but hes young and im sure you could move him. -thats like 20 million right there.


the thing is- you just GOTTA do it before Russell, Randle, and Ingram jump up from making a little money- to free agent money.

They do it all of the time and are discreet about it.

 

[WiggyRuss]

They do it all of the time and are discreet about it.

do what all the time?

 

[CitySushi]

Interesting that I see this now. I was just driving home and heard an interview with Adrian Wojnarowski who was saying that he thinks there's a good chance that PG will go to the Lakers when he becomes an FA in 2018.

The host was suggesting that the Lakers could trade for him, but Woj said that shouldn't because they would have to give up too many assets to get him. It could be like when Melo was traded to the Knicks who had given up so much to get him, there weren't any good players left on the team. They could have him in 2018 when they'll have the cap space to sign him and won't have to give up anything to get him.

Basically, he'd be choosing between the Designated Player extension and playing for a team he has said he wants to play for.

Yeah but that decision will likely be upwards of 80M difference. I'm sure if this was determined before KD left OKC, it would have given him at least something much more to think about.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

do what all the time?

fInd ways around the cap. 22 million a year is good money. They can pay Some one to take the contract and unload but granted the errors of Buds and Kupchak made it difficult

 

[Wamu]

do what all the time?

Talk about LeBron?

 

[trojanfan12]

Yeah but that decision will likely be upwards of 80M difference. I'm sure if this was determined before KD left OKC, it would have given him at least something much more to think about.

True. On the other hand, PG apparently wants to be a Laker and he may be running out of patience waiting to try and win in Indiana. If the Lakers are starting to win by then and still appear to have gotten their shit together, he may decide to choose a chance to win with his favorite team (he grew up a Lakers fan and said he wants to be a Laker) over the money.

I mean, what could he afford with the money the Pacers can pay him that he can't with the money the Lakers would pay him?