2019 Offseason Thread

[Shanemansj13]

Lakers really should be on a Kawhi or role players only plan. It's really not worth maxing out anyone else but him.

Plus, I have a hard time believing that after all that Little Brother stuff in Cleveland, Kyrie is totally cool with being Lebron's sidekick again. He might be ok being a sidekick (KD's), but not Lebron's.

Only guys worth maxing is Kawhi and Kyrie. I say Kyrie bc Lebron has played with him before and he can make it work. But basically I agree, max Kawhi or go for 2-3 really good starters

 

[Kold]

Sunday can't get here fast enough...

 

[msgkings322]

Sunday can't get here fast enough...

All I know is, Twitter better have their shit together on Sunday. Gonna be ape crazy bananas.

 

[tlance]

We don't know what happened with last years roster. There could be any number of possibilities from the better FA's not being available or not interested to the FO actually thinking it was a good idea.

We also don't know what Magic allowed Pelinka to do or how much say he allowed him to have. Mitch Kupchak got skewered for signing Mozgov and Deng until it turned out that those were done by Short Buss.

As I said earlier, since Magic left, we have seen Pelinka make the AD trade and clear the cap space that most were saying he wouldn't be able to do.

So let me re-phrase my earlier question...Since Magic left, what has Pelinka done wrong?

I still say not pushing to get that trade consummation date pushed to July 30th was a huge error.

So that is 1.

And I am not going to say that Pelinka gave too much. Getting AD while keeping Kuzma is a big win.

But they gave up a ton with the distant future pick swaps and that lotto pick hitting at 4. Pushing for the trade consummation date that favored the Lakers should not have been a deal breaker. I heard Pelinka didn’t even bring it up in negotiations.

And dumping 3 nothing salaries to the Wizards is not a hard trade to execute. Pretty easy to find a team to take those contracts on. If any of them have negative trade equity, it is a negligible amount.

So he traded 90% of his non-LeBron assets for a superstar when it didn’t appear that anyone else was seriously bidding on him and he dumped 3 cheap contracts that a lot of teams would be willing to take.

He deserves some credit for for making the bold move to get AD. But I would be nervous right now if I were a Laker fan. Because Pelinka has not given me a reason to believe he is a competent GM. And now He is in charge of competing a roster that SHOULD be an elite team if done correctly. We shall see how he does it.

 

[Gman]

So... basically what we're saying is...

Pelinka and company should have been more aware of this way to create cap space in the present at the time the AD deal went down.

And now they've corrected the error they made by adding in a small bit of extra compensation.

Hardly the time to start patting Pelinka's back.

But he has a great chance right now to really earn some respect. The hard part is done... LeBron arrived, and AD followed... now all they got to do is not foul up rounding out the roster.

Short of Kawhi wanting to sign on... the Lakers should be strictly focused on 3+D guys at reasonable rates. We'll see if they make the right call.

 

[shopson67]

It is a good trade that accomplished a clear objective in LA and is probably good for the Wizards too in case 1 of those turns into a player.

That said, it is still only a necessary move because the Lakers screwed the pooch on the Davis trade timing.

Had they got that right, they would have even more cap space and would have been able to keep 3 cheap young players.

So I am not terribly impressed by this.

There is no "screwing the pooch" on the trade timing. It was going to be as it is now; any team trading for a draft pick (especially then trading that pick for more assets to a third team) will require that pick signed and ready for summer league play (or the ability for the third team to do the same).

This just goes to show that many (including myself) was guilty of dumping on Pelinka before the deals were finalized. He clearly has a solid understanding of the cap rules.

 

[shopson67]

So you are giving him zero blame for everything that happened before with last year’s roster? All the stories of extreme dysfunction in the Laker FO?

Look, they can still make this work.

But if they were any other franchise than the LA Lakers, they would not have either LeBron or AD. Because they have not been run very well since Pelinka was hired. And yet, they may still end up with a contending caliber roster anyway.

Why does this repeatedly have to be explained? The Lakers missed on their targets last year, and were trying to preserve cap space for this summer. So they signed a bunch of 1 year deals to bridge the gap (as the Knicks are likely to do with at least one max contract's worth of cap space this summer). By the time the Kawhi trade was done, the options were limited. Even then, they did reasonably hit with Rondo and McGee. Lance and the others didn't have much positive impact, if not being net negatives.

The Lakers hate (and Pelinka hate) is palpable. Exactly which players on the Lakers roster currently weren't brought in with Pelinka as the GM? Here's a hint: none of them. He was the GM when they traded DLo/Mozgov for Lopez/1st(Kuzma). He was the GM when Lebron came to town. He was the GM when they traded for AD (post Magic). He was the GM that traded for the second rounder (Teren Horton-Tucker). He signed Caruso and Williams to 2-way contracts with the Lakers (now RFAs).

The stories of dysfunction in the front office wouldn't even have been news had it not been about a high profile team like the Lakers. I would feel better if the Rambii weren't involved, but so far no tragedies.

 

[Gman]

The Lakers hate (and Pelinka hate) is palpable. Exactly which players on the Lakers roster currently weren't brought in with Pelinka as the GM? Here's a hint: none of them.

Well... the Lakers are down to 3 players on their roster... so... ... not saying much.

 

[shopson67]

I love Magic. He's the reason I became a Lakers fan.

But he wasn't suited for his role in the organization. Magic is a fan of the game and a fan of the players and he was basically forced to shut up about everything he loved.

My feelings exactly. He's my favorite athlete of all time. He's best suited as a hype man for the franchise, not a coach/GM/PBO etc.

 

[shopson67]

Well... the Lakers are down to 3 players on their roster... so...

...as they would be with these opportunities in front of them in any case. The Lakers have coveted AD long before Lebron came to town. Being able to sign Lebron and another max player, as well as trade for AD (and keep one promising young player) is maximizing the roster. Any credit for the team moving forward is Pelinka's alone as a GM, as he has was the guy to bring every one of these players (and soon to be teammates next week) to the Lakers.

 

[Gman]

...as they would be with these opportunities in front of them in any case. The Lakers have coveted AD long before Lebron came to town. Being able to sign Lebron and another max player, as well as trade for AD (and keep one promising young player) is maximizing the roster. Any credit for the team moving forward is Pelinka's alone as a GM, as he has was the guy to bring every one of these players (and soon to be teammates next week) to the Lakers.

I think the question most folks would ask is...

... how good did Pelinka have to be to get to the current state of affairs?

Hollywood brought LeBron into the fold. And LeBron brought AD into the fold.

The only area I see as 'real credit-worthy' for Pelinka thus far is keeping Kuzma in the fold... and I do credit him there, I think Kuz is gonna be a key role player for the Lakers... but there was a definite trade-off there in terms of future draft considerations. The Lakers gave up a lot to keep Kuz.

 

[shopson67]

All in all it is great for the Lakers.

But there is a reason Pelinka has been criticized and he deserves it. He has made more bad moves than good.

What bad moves has he made?

 

[shopson67]

I think the question most folks would ask is...

... how good did Pelinka have to be to get to the current state of affairs?

Hollywood brought LeBron into the fold. And LeBron brought AD into the fold.

The only area I see as 'real credit-worthy' for Pelinka thus far is keeping Kuzma in the fold... and I do credit him there, I think Kuz is gonna be a key role player for the Lakers... but there was a definite trade-off there in terms of future draft considerations. The Lakers had to give up a lot.

The Lakers have never been shy about throwing future draft picks into deals because (right or wrong) they assume that adding that great player will put those draft picks at the tail end of the first round. Ability to swap picks doesn't mean much if your pick is in the late 20s anyway. A future pick in the late 20s two years from now is a small price to pay. The rest of the cost (3 young players and the 2019 pick) was a given.

 

[Gman]

The Lakers have never been shy about throwing future draft picks into deals because (right or wrong) they assume that adding that great player will put those draft picks at the tail end of the first round. Ability to swap picks doesn't mean much if your pick is in the late 20s anyway. A future pick in the late 20s two years from now is a small price to pay. The rest of the cost (3 young players and the 2019 pick) was a given.

Right. No doubt.

If it all works out... then it'll all works out.

That being said: 4 to 6 years in the future is a long way. So it's the risk and uncertainty that makes it scary for the Lakers.

Given that all the other potential suitors for Davis were balky and unwilling to fully commit... did Pelinka really have to make such concessions?

 

[dtgold88]

it's like i said the other day, coach...

we fell into a bucket of shit, and COULD come up smelling like a rose...

might....but only because they fell into Lebron/AD

And, yes, if he was not from NE OH, not likely Cavs get a title.

 

[Black Adam]

might....but only because they fell into Lebron/AD

And, yes, if he was not from NE OH, not likely Cavs get a title.

I'll just leave it at "Sunday will tell the tale"...

 

[dtgold88]

Not giving the guy zero blame but atleast give the guy credit where credit is due.

A little over a month ago everybody was raving about how bad the Lakers' front office is, Safe to say honor has almost been restored now.

Needless to say, it wasn't Pelinka who got a tampering fine. It wasn't Pelinka who leaked the proposed trade back in Feb for AD which ruined team chemistry.

Pelinka isn't done yet. He still needs a home run in free agency. But so far he's made all the right moves.

Fair, but he kind of lucked into them.........AD wanted to play in LA and only LA, limiting NO's options. And landing the #4 pick probably saved them from giving up Kuzma or more in the deal.

 

[shopson67]

Right. No doubt.

If it all works out... then it'll all works out.

That being said: 4 to 6 years in the future is a long way. So it's the risk and uncertainty that makes it scary for the Lakers.

Given that all the other potential suitors for Davis were balky and unwilling to fully commit... did Pelinka really have to make such concessions?

4 to 6 years? That's a generation in NBA years. Anyone signing with a new team this summer is getting at most a 4 year contract.

 

[bksballer89]

4 to 6 years? That's a generation in NBA years. Anyone signing with a new team this summer is getting at most a 4 year contract.

Remember when NBA contracts used to be 7 years long?

 

[Gman]

4 to 6 years? That's a generation in NBA years. Anyone signing with a new team this summer is getting at most a 4 year contract.

I'm talking about the draft considerations that run all the way to 2024 possibly '25.