Do the right thing, Dwight - Sign with Houston

[trojanfan12]

We might this offseason if Dwight says no. He needs to think long & hard too. All he really has to do is look at the Lakers roster & realize this team has no shot long term. We already know the best players in the league aren't coming to the Lakers because they're signed long term with Miami & OKC. Kobe isn't going to play forever & he wants to win NOW. Nash is OLD. Gasol is the Lakers only trading chip & he makes 19M. The only positive about him is his expiring contract. The Lakers are OLD & SLOW. They have the absolute worst coach they could have possibly hired for their roster.

Rebuilding the Lakers WON'T be easy.

The Lakers are old and slow right now!! After next season, much of the old and slow comes off the books and they can sign players who are younger and faster. You act like the Lakers are going to be stuck with this roster for the next 5 years. The Lakers are stuck with this roster (the bulk of it anyway) for 1 more season.

And the best players in the league are NOT all signed long term. In fact, Lebron (among others) will be a free agent after next season as well. So will Kevin Love (I believe) and a few others. Again, it's not as if the Lakers have ever had a problem attracting top talent.

As for the coach. What makes you think he'll still be after next season (if he lasts that long)?

 

[HurricaneDij39]

At what point did I say that he would stay in L.A. on the slim hope that Lebron would come to the Lakers? In fact, I specifically stated that I seriously doubt that Lebron joins the Lakers. Please try to keep up.

As for having to develop young talent, that's not necessarily true. The difference between the Cubs and Lakers is money. The Lakers are swimming in it. The several billion dollar t.v. deal with Time-Warner guarantees that the Lakers make money no matter what. The Cubs had their one shot because they didn't have the money to maintain what they were trying to do. The Lakers are not in that position.

You wish. Money is no object if you can't build a farm, buddy. Cubs are in a major market themselves. Our previous GM Hendry spent money with the best of them but couldn't build a farm to save his life. Once our high-salary players started to age, our lack of a farm system got exposed. Now, we're forced to pick our spots as to when to spend our money. See the Edwin Jackson signing last winter.

 

[Black Adam]

As long as he doesn't sign with the Lakers it's all good. Lakers fans deserve to know what it's like to have a shitty team for many years to come.

All I ask is that the other GM's in the league don't answer the phone when Kupchak calls.

LOL!!!! guess you all can continue to HOPE...






CL67

 

[trojanfan12]

You wish. Money is no object if you can't build a farm, buddy. Cubs are in a major market themselves. Our previous GM Hendry spent money with the best of them but couldn't build a farm to save his life. Once our high-salary players started to age, our lack of a farm system got exposed. Now, we're forced to pick our spots as to when to spend our money. See the Edwin Jackson signing last winter.

You do know that this is basketball and not baseball right? There is no "farm system" to build a team with. You build through the draft or through free agency and trades. The Lakers have shown the ability to do all 3.

Also, just because a team is in a major market doesn't mean that they can or will spend the money or that they will spend it wisely. Case in point, the Clippers and Knicks!!

The Clippers are in the 2nd largest t.v. market and what do they have to show for it? Sterling has never shown a willingness to spend and even with the success that they are currently having, most expect that they will not re-sign many of their current players when their contracts start expiring.

The Knicks are in the largest t.v. market and had payrolls that rivaled or exceeded the Lakers. The money was not spent wisely and they are just now relevant for the first time in forever and haven't won a title in over 40 years!!

I have been a Laker fan for 42 years. I have seen many "doomsday scenario's" re: what the Lakers can and cannot do. Yet, after 42 years I can still count the number of seasons that they have missed the playoffs on one hand and don't have enough fingers to count the championships I've seen them win (and yes, I have all of my fingers and both thumbs).

 

[Hornsstampede2.0]

55 wins????

I dont see how the 2014 Lakers will be any better next year without Kobe. They will be a year older and playing without Bryant for the whole season. They will be fortunate to reach 41 wins.

 

[trojanfan12]

55 wins????

I dont see how the 2014 Lakers will be any better next year without Kobe. They will be a year older and playing without Bryant for the whole season. They will be fortunate to reach 41 wins.

Because they won't be without Kobe!! It's a 6-9 month recovery according to his doctors!!

 

[bksballer89]

55 wins? LMAO

 

[trojanfan12]

55 wins? LMAO

Yeah, if the same roster is healthy, has the possibility of getting 55 wins. Sorry you're not bright enough to understand the difference.

 

[starbigd]

Because they won't be without Kobe!! It's a 6-9 month recovery according to his doctors!!

Recovery time is a whole different ballgame than actual playing time.

His injury will be healed......that doesn't mean he'll be ready to play or in game shape.

He's going to be pretty worthless next season, and the team cannot depend on him coming back to carry them.

They're looking at another season like this one. A season where they run the starters into the ground, because they don't have money to sign quality backups, and the mileage leads to injuries.

Don't expect much.

 

[RobToxin]

Dwight Howard is going to do what is best for Dwight Howard. He could care less what is in the best interest of the Lakers, the Rockets and he damn sure don't give two shits about what is in the best interest of the league.

Anybody who watched the way he left Orlando and doesn't realize this is a damn fool who needs to consult with me so that I can sell you some Arizona swampland located in Montana.

 

[trojanfan12]

Recovery time is a whole different ballgame than actual playing time.

His injury will be healed......that doesn't mean he'll be ready to play or in game shape.

He's going to be pretty worthless next season, and the team cannot depend on him coming back to carry them.

They're looking at another season like this one. A season where they run the starters into the ground, because they don't have money to sign quality backups, and the mileage leads to injuries.

Don't expect much.

That's not what is doctors are saying and it only takes a couple of weeks to get into game shape. If he is closer to the 6 month mark on his recovery, then he will have the early part of the season to get into game shape.

I know you really want the Lakers to be without him, but the doctors and his history both say otherwise. No offense, but I'm going to put my faith in what the doctor's say and Kobe's history.

Will he be the same player? No, but it also won't be some "lost season" like you're trying to make it out to be. He won't be as explosive with his first step which means he'll need to rely on his teammates more, which would actually be a good thing.

And the starters (outside of Kobe) weren't run into the ground. They weren't even playing for much of the season because of injuries. The injuries started at the beginning of the season and never let up. It had nothing to do with starters being run into the ground.

Even Kobe's Achilles had nothing to do with the minutes he played. According to doctor's it was a freak injury that could just as easily have happened stepping off a curb and had nothing to do with the minutes he played.

And he wouldn't have been playing that many minutes if the rest of the team wasn't dropping like flies.

 

[Rolln300]

Great post Trojan. The whole issue is the haters don't want to see Kobe because they are afraid he might still light their teams up and make the Lakers a better team next season. I am amazed at people and how they know everything about everything.

 

[starbigd]

LMAO. Okay homers. Playing ENTIRE GAMES with no rest had zero effect.

Believe that nonsense if you want. Kobe got run into the ground. OLD LEGS played a lot of minutes.....and their health suffered for it. You have no bench......the starters HAVE to play a lot of minutes, and it shows.

Be happy if you get 40+ wins. Don't be stupid and expect more, it's not going to happen.

 

[HurricaneDij39]

You do know that this is basketball and not baseball right? There is no "farm system" to build a team with. You build through the draft or through free agency and trades. The Lakers have shown the ability to do all 3.

Also, just because a team is in a major market doesn't mean that they can or will spend the money or that they will spend it wisely. Case in point, the Clippers and Knicks!!

The Clippers are in the 2nd largest t.v. market and what do they have to show for it? Sterling has never shown a willingness to spend and even with the success that they are currently having, most expect that they will not re-sign many of their current players when their contracts start expiring.

The Knicks are in the largest t.v. market and had payrolls that rivaled or exceeded the Lakers. The money was not spent wisely and they are just now relevant for the first time in forever and haven't won a title in over 40 years!!

I have been a Laker fan for 42 years. I have seen many "doomsday scenario's" re: what the Lakers can and cannot do. Yet, after 42 years I can still count the number of seasons that they have missed the playoffs on one hand and don't have enough fingers to count the championships I've seen them win (and yes, I have all of my fingers and both thumbs).

You're right. Basketball is not baseball. In fact, chemistry is an ever greater factor in basketball. There's no taking turns to go to bat. You have to function as a group at all times.

My point was that money is no object if you don't use it wisely and don't develop homegrown talent, and you were trying to disprove it. Ultimately, if you build your team entirely around free agency and trades and don't develop from within, you are destining yourself for failure and mediocrity, as chemistry is even more important in basketball than it is baseball.

 

[Jims_Doors]

Did Dwight just play his last minute as a Laker?

 

[TexasMan]

So just to reiterate -- NO. We don't want that crybaby bitch.

 

[Black Adam]

Great post Trojan. The whole issue is the haters don't want to see Kobe because they are afraid he might still light their teams up and make the Lakers a better team next season. I am amazed at people and how they know everything about everything.

some folks DO like to act like know-it-alls...







CL67

 

[trojanfan12]

LMAO. Okay homers. Playing ENTIRE GAMES with no rest had zero effect.

Believe that nonsense if you want. Kobe got run into the ground. OLD LEGS played a lot of minutes.....and their health suffered for it. You have no bench......the starters HAVE to play a lot of minutes, and it shows.

Be happy if you get 40+ wins. Don't be stupid and expect more, it's not going to happen.

No one said it had zero effect Einstein!! Don't be stupid and say that things were said that weren't!! The above post shows the response of someone who has no idea what they're talking about, got it shown to them and now trying to save face.

The Lakers problems this season were the constant injuries. The only starter who was playing excessive minutes was Kobe and that was because of all of the injuries. All you had to do was watch a game or 2 and see all of the guys sitting on the bench in street clothes.

Hell, we just watched a game with 5 players who would have started or played significant minutes sitting in street clothes.

But hey, at least you got to tell people not to be stupid, so now you can be e-proud of yourself!!

 

[bksballer89]

Did Dwight just play his last minute as a Laker?

Yes. Him and Harden will be great together. All Houston has to do is find a head coach who cares about defense and run actual sets on offense.

 

[trojanfan12]

You're right. Basketball is not baseball. In fact, chemistry is an ever greater factor in basketball. There's no taking turns to go to bat. You have to function as a group at all times.

My point was that money is no object if you don't use it wisely and don't develop homegrown talent, and you were trying to disprove it. Ultimately, if you build your team entirely around free agency and trades and don't develop from within, you are destining yourself for failure and mediocrity, as chemistry is even more important in basketball than it is baseball.

And chemistry in basketball is built from teams playing together. The Lakers main core of players had a grand total of 7 games played together this season, therefore no opportunity to develop chemistry.

You act like the Lakers would be signing players to a bunch of 1 year deals. They would be signing them for 3-5 year deals which gives plenty of opportunity to develop chemistry between the players.

Look at the Heat. The first year of the big 3, they struggled with chemistry, still made it to the finals, but lost to a team with better chemistry. Then, last season, the chemistry kicked in and they won the championship and are likely to win it again this year. So, you absolutely can sign free agents and then let them build chemistry. Chemistry has to be developed whether you are working with young players via the draft or experienced players via free agency. I'd wager that veteran players can develop chemistry more quickly because of their experience.