2014 Los Angeles Lakers

[TurnUpTheHeat]

What a pure joy to see the haters of all things purple and gold scared shitless at the mere possibility.

Not really. Just think there is no reason to leave here, and certainly no reason to want to play there next year.

IF he did leave, I hope it is to a WC team.
It would at least give a handful of teams in the East a chance to lose in the Finals.

 

[starbigd]

How do you know what Kobe will or will not do re: "discounts" or for that matter, what the Lakers are going to be willing to pay him?

Also, where is your evidence that nobody wants to play him? Because Dwight Howard left and said that Kobe had nothing to do with his decision?

LOL.

Kobe has already stated PUBLICLY he's NOT TAKING any pay cuts. You already know this.

Please name for us all the top free agents that have signed with the Lakers with Kobe as the lead horse. I'm not talking role players either.

C'mon man, you're smart enough to know you can't play the homer role with me on this.....

 

[HammerDown]

LOL.

Kobe has already stated PUBLICLY he's NOT TAKING any pay cuts. You already know this.

Please name for us all the top free agents that have signed with the Lakers with Kobe as the lead horse. I'm not talking role players either.

C'mon man, you're smart enough to know you can't play the homer role with me on this.....

Which really has nothing to do with the signability of either free agent.

 

[starbigd]

Which really has nothing to do with the signability of either free agent.

Actually it does, since he'll be a free agent as well.

So the Lakers have to figure out WHO they're going to sign, assuming they can get those players to agree to terms. They don't have unlimited funds.

 

[trojanfan12]

LOL.

Kobe has already stated PUBLICLY he's NOT TAKING any pay cuts. You already know this.

Please name for us all the top free agents that have signed with the Lakers with Kobe as the lead horse. I'm not talking role players either.

C'mon man, you're smart enough to know you can't play the homer role with me on this.....

No he didn't!! He he said that he's not just going to a huge paycut!! It is called a negotiation!! Kobe knows that he's not getting another max contract, so he's going to do exactly what he SHOULD do and try to get as much as he can.

When the time comes, the Lakers will go into negotiations with the max number that they are willing to pay and they will try to stay as far under that number as they can.

Kobe will go into the negotiations with the minimum amount that he's willing to sign for and try to stay as far over that number as he can.

It really isn't that difficult to understand.

As for top free agents, the Lakers haven't had to go after any top free agents since Kobe has been in the league. They have acquired them via trades (Shaq and Pau). Shaq re-signed with the Lakers (twice I believe) before he was traded because Dr. Buss wasn't going to overpay him. Pau also came to the Lakers via trade and re-signed with the Lakers. So 2 top players chose to stay when they could have left via free agency.

Next summer will be the first time in Kobe's career that the Lakers will go into the off-season looking to sign top free agents. So you have absolutely nothing to support your claim that no one wants to play with him.

 

[starbigd]

No he didn't!! He he said that he's not just going to a huge paycut!! It is called a negotiation!! Kobe knows that he's not getting another max contract, so he's going to do exactly what he SHOULD do and try to get as much as he can.

When the time comes, the Lakers will go into negotiations with the max number that they are willing to pay and they will try to stay as far under that number as they can.

Kobe will go into the negotiations with the minimum amount that he's willing to sign for and try to stay as far over that number as he can.

It really isn't that difficult to understand.

As for top free agents, the Lakers haven't had to go after any top free agents since Kobe has been in the league. They have acquired them via trades (Shaq and Pau). Shaq re-signed with the Lakers (twice I believe) before he was traded because Dr. Buss wasn't going to overpay him. Pau also came to the Lakers via trade and re-signed with the Lakers. So 2 top players chose to stay when they could have left via free agency.

Next summer will be the first time in Kobe's career that the Lakers will go into the off-season looking to sign top free agents. So you have absolutely nothing to support your claim that no one wants to play with him.

LOL, OK, fine.

I haven't even heard a single top FA even MENTION trying to go to LA with Kobe, and neither have you.

Reality will not be kind to you if you're going to choose to WILLFULLY be ignorant.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

No he didn't!! He he said that he's not just going to a huge paycut!! It is called a negotiation!! Kobe knows that he's not getting another max contract, so he's going to do exactly what he SHOULD do and try to get as much as he can.

When the time comes, the Lakers will go into negotiations with the max number that they are willing to pay and they will try to stay as far under that number as they can.

Kobe will go into the negotiations with the minimum amount that he's willing to sign for and try to stay as far over that number as he can.

It really isn't that difficult to understand.

As for top free agents, the Lakers haven't had to go after any top free agents since Kobe has been in the league. They have acquired them via trades (Shaq and Pau). Shaq re-signed with the Lakers (twice I believe) before he was traded because Dr. Buss wasn't going to overpay him. Pau also came to the Lakers via trade and re-signed with the Lakers. So 2 top players chose to stay when they could have left via free agency.

Next summer will be the first time in Kobe's career that the Lakers will go into the off-season looking to sign top free agents. So you have absolutely nothing to support your claim that no one wants to play with him.

They actually just went after Dwight Howard, didn't they?

 

[trojanfan12]

LOL, OK, fine.

I haven't even heard a single top FA even MENTION trying to go to LA with Kobe, and neither have you.

Reality will not be kind to you if you're going to choose to WILLFULLY be ignorant.

When was the last time you heard a player talking about where they want to go a full year before they could leave? How smart would it be for a top free agent to say "I want to go to this specific team" a year before they are eligible to go anywhere unless they are trying to force a trade?

And outside of Dwight leaving, I haven't heard a single free agent say that they WOULD NOT go to L.A. and neither have you!! So, you may want to take your own advice re: being "WILLFULLY ignorant"!!

You want to claim that no one wants to play with Kobe, yet you have ZERO evidence to back it up. I gave you 2 top free agents who chose to re-sign with the Lakers even though Kobe was still there.

 

[Jims_Doors]

Lebron would leave in a second for the chance to play in LA and end his career there. Even Pat Riley will tell him he's nuts not to. Miami was fun but now it's time to take it to the next level and that is most certainly LA. The parties here make South Beach look like Fort Meyers.

 

[Black Adam]

Watch out Lakers fans if it happens.

Turnip and Punchline will be fans of yours

no room on the bandwagon for Turnip, to be sure...

 

[SportsChic]

Massive Kobe pay cut may help Lakers; it also may be unlikely
JOAN NIESEN Published: Wednesday, July 10, 2013, 8:18pm

LOS ANGELES -- In the real world, a pay cut signals bad times. It signals hardship, a difficult period for a company and its employees.

Basketball isn't the real world, but the above description sounds a bit like the Lakers right now. They can't win with some of the massive paychecks they owe, and they won't win in the future if they keep doling them out.

But on Wednesday, Kobe Bryant, the owner of the largest of those paychecks, went a long way in dispelling the notion that any major reduction in salary would be coming his way. His deal expires after next season, but at his camp in Santa Barbara, Bryant told fan site Lakers Nation that he’s not taking a massive pay cut – or perhaps any pay cut – for 2013-14. "Nah," he told the site. "I’m going to try to get as much as I possibly can."

Well, then.

Here's the thing: Among elite athletes, large pay cuts are voluntary. They keep great teams together and allow them to move forward and evolve. Kevin Garnett took one in Boston. So did Tim Duncan in San Antonio. In fact, Duncan's decision played a large part in getting his Spurs to the NBA Finals this past June, when they came within a shot of winning.

Too often, players are paid as much for past production as they are for what they'll bring in the future. Contracts are often back-loaded; for instance, Bryant will make more next season, $30.5 million, than he has in any year in his career, no matter that he'll be coming off a devastating Achilles tear and will likely miss time at the beginning of the season. Players are paid for their names and resumes, which seems respectful and right, until of course one considers that a player with a 15-year resume is downright old by NBA standards. A player with a 15-year resume may not be able to single-handedly lead his team to a championship.

Realistically, it's of no surprise that Bryant isn't publicly clamoring for a minimum salary a year in advance. That's a terrible precedent to set, especially for one of the most competitive men in the NBA. At the same time, there are several realities looming: Bryant's paycheck has the potential to be extremely restrictive, and this should be more about winning and less about individual income.

Let's assume, now, that next season is a wash for the Lakers. In the summer of 2014, they can have an extraordinary amount of cap space and the ability to throw money at big-name free agents, the likes of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. In theory, they'll still have Bryant, who now hopes to play for three or four more years. He’ll be their leader, their veteran. He’ll also be accustomed to the biggest paycheck on the team.

Bryant could earn up to $32 million in 2014-15. It's unlikely he'll get that much, simply because 36-year-olds don’t tend to sign max deals, but even if he makes $20 million that season, the Lakers' much talked-about flexibility will be severely limited. For the team to make the significant moves it’ll need to make, it will likely need Bryant to sacrifice a solid chunk of what he’s making.

By his words Wednesday, Bryant doesn’t seem to want to budge, or at least he won't go into contract negotiations with the intent of caving in. That's his right, of course, and it doesn't at all make him a bad person; he's one of the best players in the history of the franchise, if not the NBA.

But this is the man who insists he'll be back for the first Lakers' game this fall when his rehab plan dictates weeks more recovery time. This is the man who has played the seventh-most minutes of anyone in NBA history, and yet he's trotting out for more. This is the man who might see a pay cut as representing everything that’s terrifying: mortality, decline, age.

It's hardly a surprise that the idea of less money seems anathema to him.

It's Bryant's right to say these things. He has earned the right to demand gobs of money and the Lakers' unwavering devotion. But let’s call this what it is: It's about what Bryant wants, not what he needs.

The best line of the post in which Bryant discusses the pay cut that won't happen comes when the author lauds him for being a "financially savvy individual." (Insert snort, laugh, chortle, incredulous emotion of your choice here.) This is not about being financially savvy. Bryant is set up for life, and if he says otherwise, that's false. Plus, even the tiniest of deals would pay him upwards of a million dollars, and he could still make much more than that without completely crippling the team.

Call it what it is. Bryant has earned his future paychecks, in the sense that he's one of the league’s greatest active players. He'll get his money, most likely, far more than the minimum deal that would set the Lakers up for success.

But this is not a reason to pat him on the back. Way to go, Kobe. Financially handicapping your team again was the right business decision. You must have gone to Wharton to learn these skills. Not quite.

It's reality. Bryant doesn't have to take a minimum salary, or even a massive pay cut. The Lakers don't have to pay him what he wants, either. However legacy and the past dictate that he won't, and they will, and if Bryant doesn’t want to sacrifice, then that's that.

 

[SportsChic]

no room on the bandwagon for Turnip, to be sure...

Crack me up.

 

[Malibu]

LOL, OK, fine.

I haven't even heard a single top FA even MENTION trying to go to LA with Kobe, and neither have you.

Reality will not be kind to you if you're going to choose to WILLFULLY be ignorant.

Please stop you are making a fool out of yourself.

 

[Jims_Doors]

Melo's going to play for this guy?

Or will the Lakers be laughed at for firing a 2nd coach in 3 seasons?

Will LA hire the coach that Melo wants??

 

[trojanfan12]

Melo's going to play for this guy?

Or will the Lakers be laughed at for firing a 2nd coach in 3 seasons?

Will LA hire the coach that Melo wants??

That's why I am actually more skeptical of Melo becoming a Laker than Lebron!! We saw Melo in D'Antoni's system and it didn't work!! Lebron would be perfect in D'Antoni's system!!

I'm not saying the Lakers get either one, but the style of offense makes more sense for Lebron than Melo!!

 

[bksballer89]

It is hard to imagine Lebron and/or Melo going to play with Kobe who is a ball hog and would still want to be the man when in reality Melo/LBJ should be the man.

When was the Lakers last major signing of a free agent from another team in their prime? You guys are so sure that both of these guys signed based on what? Lakers have made one splash signing in the last 20 years and that was Shaq

 

[bksballer89]

Lakers would have a better chance of signing one of these guys if Kobe actually retired.

If Kobe retires next season, I would believe the hype. No top perimeter player wants to play with Kobe.

Kobe is not a good teammate and is difficult to play with

 

[trojanfan12]

It is hard to imagine Lebron and/or Melo going to play with Kobe who is a ball hog and would still want to be the man when in reality Melo/LBJ should be the man.

When was the Lakers last major signing of a free agent from another team in their prime? You guys are so sure that both of these guys signed based on what? Lakers have made one splash signing in the last 20 years and that was Shaq

When was the last time the Lakers were looking to sign a free agent from another team in their prime?

 

[trojanfan12]

Lakers would have a better chance of signing one of these guys if Kobe actually retired.

If Kobe retires next season, I would believe the hype. No top perimeter player wants to play with Kobe.

Kobe is not a good teammate and is difficult to play with

Please find a single quote where Lebron or any other upcoming free agent has said that they will not play with Kobe!!

I'll be waiting patiently!!

 

[bksballer89]

Please find a single quote where Lebron or any other upcoming free agent has said that they will not play with Kobe!!

I'll be waiting patiently!!

why would any player with even a tiny bit of common sense say they would not play with a specific player to the media? Do you realize how stupid you sound.