My Plan For the Lakers.

[Heatles84]

Lakers cant resign Bynum as they are over the cap, and as a Laker fan I DO hope Howard leaves, the guy sucks, doesnt play hard unless you baby him, cant take the pressure of LA, cant hit free throws ever, has no offensive game, and isnt worth a max contract.

I give it up to Lakers fans, it seems a majority are in the field of "Peace out Dwight", while other teams and their fans are fighting tooth and nail to land Dwight. When it comes to titles you have to have that mental edge and Dwight to me just doesn't have it.

 

[psaboy]

Lebrons not playing with Kobe unless he feels sorry for him.

Kobe wont be around in 2014. Please

 

[Davwy]

I don't see either scenario happening, bit IMO there is a bigger chance of Kobe playing with James in Miami then there is of James going to LA.

If the Lakers are in mediocre/rebuilt and Kobe wants to chase #6, it might be his best opportunity to say, maybe take over Ray Allens role.

This is highly unlikely. As Kobe already mentioned, he will retire as a Laker. And you can't have it both way with your opinions of Kobe. You can't think Kobe won't ever play second fiddle to someone in Los Angeles, and then believe he will go across country and play second fiddle to Lebron. And if Kobe decides he would be second fiddle to Lebron, then why couldn't Lebron go to the Lakers and win a championship with the more prestigious franchise?

 

[Jims_Doors]

Nice to see ya here, Davwy.

 

[Davwy]

Nice to see ya here, Davwy.

Thanks! Happy to be on the boards. Should be fun while the free agency is going on.

 

[Jims_Doors]

This is highly unlikely. As Kobe already mentioned, he will retire as a Laker. And you can't have it both way with your opinions of Kobe. You can't think Kobe won't ever play second fiddle to someone in Los Angeles, and then believe he will go across country and play second fiddle to Lebron. And if Kobe decides he would be second fiddle to Lebron, then why couldn't Lebron go to the Lakers and win a championship with the more prestigious franchise?

The "in thing" right now looks to be trying to win one with a "less" prestigious franchise when you look at where the talent is.

Houston (if Dwight goes there)
Clippers
Golden St.
Indiana
Denver
Brooklyn
Memphis

 

[Jims_Doors]

Thanks! Happy to be on the boards. Should be fun while the free agency is going on.

Just don't own me too bad in our future debates. Let me win a few here and there.

 

[shitsho]

Just don't own me too bad in our future debates. Let me win a few here and there.

Davwys a beast!

 

[Davwy]

Or sure cause years ago the Lakers sucked off the right magic fairy and pop! Came out magic Johnson out of no where. Then Kareem gave birth to James worthy ... and that's how the show time Lakers were created.. not by the draft right fucktard?

When it's stated that the Lakers don't build through the draft, that doesn't mean the Lakers don't ever use draft picks. It means they build by acquiring players that can help them win now. Teams that build through the draft purposely trade away their valuable players in exchange for draft picks with the hopes that those young players will grow into great players and win in the future. And while doing that, they don't expect to win many games or make the playoffs. That's not the Lakers' philosophy.

When Magic came to the Lakers, the Lakers had already acquired previous seasons Kareem in a trade and signed Jamaal Wilkes as a free agent. They were one of the better teams in the league, having lost the in the semi-finals the season before.

They acquired the draft pick for Magic three seasons earlier when Jazz signed future Hall of Famer, Gail Goodrich. At the time in the NBA, when veteran free agents were signed, the team that lost them had to be compensated. The Lakers received from the Jazz a second round draft pick at 3 first round draft picks--77, 78, and 1979, the Magic pick. At the end of the 79 season, the Jazz had the worst record in the NBA. The Lakers have used their draft picks many times. But because the team rarely misses the playoffs, they don't expect to used them to build a team. But they are not idiots. They will keep high draft picks acquired in trades or their own if they have them.

 

[Davwy]

Davwys a beast!

Happy to see here here, too, Montsho!

 

[OutlawImmortal]

I look forward to the knowledge Davwy is sure to drop.

 

[RoboticDreams]

Dwight is NOT the answer. If they mortgage the future of the team on Dwight, it will cost us the franchise for half a decade. The Lakers are playing this all wrong and admitted defeat when they courted Dwight in the first place. The attitude should have been "Fuck you, we're the Lakers and we can pay you $30M more than anyone else. Get on your hands and knees and beg, motherfucker."

I agree with this entirely. I am sick and tired of this primadonna and his flip flopping ways. He doesn't want to play in the shadow of Kobe but he isn't and never will be a leader. I want him to walk. If he stays we will be held hostage to this punk for at least 5 years and the rebuilding process will be even longer.

 

[Retroram52]

Hey Heatles84: The Lakers have a first round pick in 2014 but no second round pick because of the Nash trade.

 

[Retroram52]

Davwy. Good to see you on the basketball threads.

 

[Kold]

I don't care what anyone says, if we can get Dwight, THEN I WANT HIM BACK. Dwight(when healthy) is IMO the best center when you factor in both sides of the floor. You don't just let him walk out of the door and be satisfied with it. Despite his flaws, he's YOUNG and can be part of a 2 superstar tandem to lead us into the future. Now I've seen some discussion about Lebron in 2014 in earlier pages so I'll throw in my 2c. The new cba IMO is going to break up the big 3 with Bosh being the fall guy. Lebron WILL opt out, and as of now there will be 2 teams. I've thrown out the Cavs because they hired Mike Brown. The 2 teams will be the Lakers and Heat. The Heat will present a shell of himself D-Wade with whatever reduced team they have due to the cba, and the Lakers will present a young Dwight Howard(if he resigns), and cap space. Laker homerism aside, I think that the Lakers will present a far better situation. If Dwight doesn't resign, I think the only chance that Lebron considers LA is if the Lakers can get Melo to sign on with him(wouldn't put money on that), with Melo playing the PF position. Now, my doubt is that Lebron has such a strong bond with D-Wade, to where it wouldn't suprise me if he chose to stick it out with him. If all else fails, we keep our cap space and go into 2015 FA which also presents MAJOR players. Just off the top of my head, I'm VERY willing to bet that Kevin Love and Rondo will bolt in 2015 if they don't get put into much better situations. That also doesn't factor in the other guys that are in that class.

 

[BOTSLAYER]

LOL LBJ WILL NOT PLAY WITH MELO!!!!

Melo is a very selfish player who does not play D. LBJ knows this and it is why he was probably not considered for a big 3.

I have no idea where LBJ will be in 2014-15 season but if the Lakers have Kobe it will not be there. If they have Dwight I think the chances are just as low. Dwight has made fun of Lebron publicly several times back when Dwight was relevant.

The CBA does present several problems for the big 3 but something you have not counted on is the possibility they take pay cuts again to keep the team together. I honestly see that more likely than LBJ in a Laker uni.


2014-15:

Heat
.
.
.
Cleveland
Meloless Knicks
Brooklyn
LAL

The reason Cleveland is higher on this list is because they will have a team in place that could be ready to win just needing an LBJ. LA will have Dwight and that is it, or Dwight minus Kobe (meaning the negative effect Kobe will have on the team). Brooklyn can make moves and they pieces they can spin into a good team around LBJ. Everyone loves playing in the garden, except when Melo is on your team.

 

[BOTSLAYER]

I agree with you on needing to keep Dwight though. He is a great talent and there is not a lot out there right now that is championship level like Dwight.

 

[The Sports Writer]

1) Attempt a sign and trade with Dwight. I know that will be difficult now, but doable. If he is between a couple teams and he would agree to a sign and trade - simply pack him off to one of them for a lousy first round pick. It's something. And you save cap space.

2) Sign Andrew Bynum. Lol. Yep, why not? He'll be cheaper than Dwight and easily just as good when healthy. We won 2 titles with Kobe, Gasol, and Bynum. Sixers will hate our guts, but oh well.

-------------

Dwight has the ability to be one of the most dominant big men; however, he seems to be in a funk. Don't blame Kobe either---that's what losers do.
Usually guys will rise up to the challenge of playing around one of the greatest NBA players of all time. Bring your energy and focus and RISE UP SON!
But he hasn't...he's a pouter, a moper, and plays weak-ass half the time.
Think about how the NBA has evolved. It's softer now.
Think Howard would have survived during Barkley's era?
Those dudes were really tough. Elbows were an everyday thing.
Now you get suspended, fined, and it gets blown out of proportion.
Whatever.
I wouldn't sign him. He's an anchor at this point.
I'd rather have a top 5 PG.

 

[tlance]

I will be shocked if Dwight stays. Houston rumors are gaining steam every day and the fact that Dwight has moved up his decision day from the 10th to the 5th leads me to believe he knows what he is doing already.

Lakers need to start clearing cap space and stockpiling assets that will help them attract elite free agents in 2014 (LeBron)?

I agree that the CBA is directed at breaking up teams like the Heat, but I still think they can be profitable even with a significant luxury tax hit. The question is whether Arison believes that the team can keep the core together and keep winning. If Wade doesn't make it through next season looking much stronger than he did this one, Arison may decide it is time to move on.

 

[Retroram52]

Well Kold, despite what you and others want, the indicators heavily point to Houston. The Lakers effed this up by keeping Dont'knowi when Howard specifically stated on a number of occasions that he was not interested in playing for the dope. Then Jim Buss totally ignored the man's request and kept Don'tknowi. So, it won't take long for Howard to packing up and moving to Houston.