Jeremy Lin to the Lakers

[Shaqdaddy11]

There is no way for one to say Kobe is desperate for a ring. Trojan fight nailed a perfect example in how Dirk handled it, all to get more cap space so they in Dallas can do more. When a team places marketing priorities about fan priorities it is brutally transparent. Kobe's final years of tenure will not move the bar forward. So he plays 20 years for the Lakers......big deal. He then uses the gate revenues to build his only company, big deal. His legacy may turn out to be one of greed.

Trade him, and give the loyal Lakers fans (who are not brainwashed) hope.

And what exactly did Dallas do with that extra cap space from Dirks contract?

As far as i'm concerned, the Lakers have a better team and a better future than Dallas. Despite Kobe's contract.

 

[LogicMan]

Shaq, independent of which future is brighter, if Kobe is so desperate, why did he agree to be the highest paid athlete in NBA, all knowing he is not a top 5 or 10 player ?

Regardless, the fans nor Buss's owe him anything. It is he who owes the organization. Help them out by agreeing to be traded, getting assets for the team and still giving him livelihood with that contract somewhere else.

Is his needs bigger than the teams?

OR, trade Randle and picks for someone who can help them win.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

I remember before kobe signed that extension that it was widely speculated his next contract would be substantially less. I mean correct me if I'm wrong but in his last year before extension wasn't he making like 27 or 30 mil?

Personally I was expecting something like what gasol made 17 mil per year. Was jaw dropped when found 2 years 48 mil. He's getting paid like he's still best player on planet that's not case anymore.

Looking what dirk did to help dallas that's admirable. He makes just over 8 million a year with new deal. You would have thought after so many years of not having money to sign impact players due to cap restrictions, getting bounced by dallas, lost in 2nd round to spurs that it would say need more talent on roster.

How many times has a above average player became available but lakers have no play because kobe's contract? Montae Ellis, Jamal Crawford trevor ariza this year just some of the names

Complimentary players who wouldn't have put us over the top, and probably wouldn't have torn Anthony away from his 120+ mil deal in NY or LeBron away from Cleveland.

 

[trojanfan12]

I appreciate that... I'm far from spoiled... I rock the purple and gold when Sean Rooks Sedale Threat and Elden Campbell were running up and down the court, when Smush Parker and Chris Mihm were starters... This is me last month...

View attachment 11061

Rockin it... For some on here to say I should jump to the Clipps is bullshit... 25 years Shaqdaddy are you even 25 years old yet... I'm voicing my disappointment after being lied to, and I'll get to my real point in a little bit... Gotta run...

Who lied? The Lakers never said anything about winning now. Mitch has preached patience since before last season. The only "win now" option was to land Lebron or 'Melo. Everyone, including the FO, knew and said it was a longshot to land either one, but you HAVE to try. Ultimately, even though things got interesting with 'Melo for a few days, they each did what pretty much everyone knew they were going to do.

Now, it's about saving cap space for the future and being patient.

 

[trojanfan12]

Complimentary players who wouldn't have put us over the top, and probably wouldn't have torn Anthony away from his 120+ mil deal in NY or LeBron away from Cleveland.

Clearly, you don't understand how much better it would be for the Lakers to eat up future cap space by signing those guys and being a 6-8 seed.

 

[lakersrule]

There is no way for one to say Kobe is desperate for a ring. Trojan fight nailed a perfect example in how Dirk handled it, all to get more cap space so they in Dallas can do more. When a team places marketing priorities about fan priorities it is brutally transparent. Kobe's final years of tenure will not move the bar forward. So he plays 20 years for the Lakers......big deal. He then uses the gate revenues to build his only company, big deal. His legacy may turn out to be one of greed.

Trade him, and give the loyal Lakers fans (who are not brainwashed) hope.

Do people not realize that owning an NBA team is owning a business? They aren't playing fantasy basketball. It's not about being a brainwashed fan. I'll chose to live in the reality of the situation. You guys can continue to live in the past, come up with your speculative plans about what you would have done, and then be irate because it didn't happen.

And here's the thing. You have no idea if your speculative scenarios could even have played out. You have no idea what other efforts Mitch may have made. Maybe he contacted the agents of the Lowry/Ariza types to gauge their interest. To think you know everything going on in NBA front offices is ridiculous.

 

[lakersrule]

I would hate to have no cap room next summer if Love is free agent.

 

[trojanfan12]

Do people not realize that owning an NBA team is owning a business? They aren't playing fantasy basketball. It's not about being a brainwashed fan. I'll chose to live in the reality of the situation. You guys can continue to live in the past, come up with your speculative plans about what you would have done, and then be irate because it didn't happen.

And here's the thing. You have no idea if your speculative scenarios could even have played out. You have no idea what other efforts Mitch may have made. Maybe he contacted the agents of the Lowry/Ariza types to gauge their interest. To think you know everything going on in NBA front offices is ridiculous.

Haven't you heard? Logicman and is the greatest basketball mind in our time and space. If the Lakers would just listen to him, they'd go 82-0 and win the title every season.

 

[lakersrule]

Haven't you heard? Logicman and is the greatest basketball mind in our time and space. If the Lakers would just listen to him, they'd go 82-0 and win the title every season.

I get that it's fun to come up with these plans. However, acting like it's a sure thing these speculative plans could happen and then bash the front office because it didn't is just crazy in my opinion.

 

[trojanfan12]

I get that it's fun to come up with these plans. However, acting like it's a sure thing these speculative plans could happen and then bash the front office because it didn't is just crazy in my opinion.

People get these trade/FA/draft scenarios in their heads and forget that there are a lot more moving parts and much more involved than simply, "my team needs that player, so we should be able to get him with no problem".

It's never as simple as "if they just trade player A for player B, all will be well" or "if they just signed so and so as an FA, they'd win it all this year". What if the other team doesn't want player A? What if so and so FA wants more money than your team can offer? Or in the case of Lebron and 'Melo, ultimately decided that they want to play for their hometown team?

 

[LogicMan]

I merely discuss what LA writers and some LA fans are already debating. Its not rocket science what is taking place. You can paint all the lipstick you want on the elephant, its still an elephant.

When someone tries to make it all sweet and defendable, I cant help but explain the lunacy. Your not convincing any non LA fan nor some realistic LA fans, and so in the end you look like a fool just to defend some dynamic of the Jim Buss/Mitch decisions.

Continue on, I enjoy it. I saw this before with Pitiono and some of my friends who defended him and the previous ownership group. Painful period of chaos it was

 

[OutlawImmortal]

'our advantages remain the same. And considering where a lot of teams have ended up in this kind of position, we have a lot of flexibility going forward. We don't have a lot of players that are good players but not great players who are on long-term deals. Those kinds of contracts can sometimes bury an organization for four or five years. Going forward it's pretty clean, so it's up to us to use that money wisely.' - Mitch Kupchak

 

[trojanfan12]

I merely discuss what LA writers and some LA fans are already debating. Its not rocket science what is taking place. You can paint all the lipstick you want on the elephant, its still an elephant.

When someone tries to make it all sweet and defendable, I cant help but explain the lunacy. Your not convincing any non LA fan nor some realistic LA fans, and so in the end you look like a fool just to defend some dynamic of the Jim Buss/Mitch decisions.

Continue on, I enjoy it. I saw this before with Pitiono and some of my friends who defended him and the previous ownership group. Painful period of chaos it was

You discuss what LA writers and some LA fans are already debating because for some strange reason you are more concerned with the Lakers than you are your own team.

We've all heard your rhetoric and the vast majority aren't buying it. You continually posting the same tripe over and over again has become boring.

We ALL get it. You think you have all of the answers for what ails the Lakers and Mitch should be calling you on a daily basis so that you can tell him what to do.

You post more about the Lakers than you do your own team who have their own issues and as of last season, weren't even as good as the Lakers who only won 27 games. Probably time for you to go worry about them.

 

[LogicMan]

Oh I do worry about them. The Rondo situation is front and center. Danny is building assets nicely, he has a plan, but one cog in the road is Rondo. If they cant attract Love or similar with these assets than I do feel, even tho I like him, that Rondo needs to be dealt.

I actually think Rondo to LA is a good move for both teams. Until recently I did not think LA had the goods to be in play but Ii feel different now. Like Boston, LA needs to decide if they are in it to win it now (aka the Kobe deal and a trade like Rondo), or is the Lin deal a signal they are building assets over the next few years instead.

Its one or the other as the middle will bring mediocrity as I saw with the 90's Celtics.

The plan/speed of the C's centers around Rondo. The same is the case for Kobe and the Lakers.

LA is not being successful relying on free agency. Clearing cap space means nothing on its own.

 

[trojanfan12]

Oh I do worry about them. The Rondo situation is front and center. Danny is building assets nicely, he has a plan, but one cog in the road is Rondo. If they cant attract Love or similar with these assets than I do feel, even tho I like him, that Rondo needs to be dealt.

I actually think Rondo to LA is a good move for both teams. Until recently I did not think LA had the goods to be in play but Ii feel different now. Like Boston, LA needs to decide if they are in it to win it now (aka the Kobe deal and a trade like Rondo), or is the Lin deal a signal they are building assets over the next few years instead.

Its one or the other as the middle will bring mediocrity as I saw with the 90's Celtics.

The plan/speed of the C's centers around Rondo. The same is the case for Kobe and the Lakers.

LA is not being successful relying on free agency. Clearing cap space means nothing on its own.

I wouldn't mind seeing Rondo go to the Lakers as long as his knee is sound. I think he and Kobe would pair up well and he wouldn't get destroyed by the PG's in the west like the Lakers PG's have for the past few seasons.

Not sure where you get "the Lakers aren't being successful in FA" stuff from. They have had the cap space to go after FA's once since they got Shaq in '96 and that was this past class. Dwight walked. So what? In the long run, I and many others believe that the Lakers are better off without him. If Dwight has shown nothing else, it's that he will never be the guy to lead a team to a title.

Also, when I compare the way the Lakers pitched Dwight to how they pitched 'Melo, I'm not sure that the Lakers really put much effort into retaining Dwight.

The Lakers knew that this was coming and they knew that landing Lebron and/or 'Melo was a longshot at best. They also knew that they HAD to make pitches to both because they were the only FA's out there who could help turn things around immediately.

The pursuit of 'Melo got interesting for a few days, but both players ended up doing exactly what 95% of the populace thought they would do.

So, now the Lakers are signing younger players who can possibly be developed to cap friendly deals. These are players who, if they pan out, can possibly be role players to put around a couple of max FA's or they can be dealt for other players or picks. If they don't pan out, they can walk and Lakers haven't lost anything.

 

[Retroram52]

Lakersrule, to your point about the transactional information around players. You mentioned the Lakers FO perhaps contacting Ariza and Lowry. They indeed do that and like a lot of players the Lakers attempted to draw to LA the FO was rebuffed.

 

[trojanfan12]

Lakersrule, to your point about the transactional information around players. You mentioned the Lakers FO perhaps contacting Ariza and Lowry. They indeed do that and like a lot of players the Lakers attempted to draw to LA the FO was rebuffed.

The way I understood it and I could be wrong, was that the Lakers contacted their agents, but the asking price was more than they were willing to pay in terms of dollars and/or length of contract. So the discussions never progressed.

 

[LAKERSUSCBAM]

bottom line is they've gone after the big fishes. Have we heard the Celtics do same? Not that it was in their plans maybe but who knows what Danny is up to with his stockpile of picks.

Can't accuse the Buss kids here who didn't stand pat as we've seen with D12 and Nash and didn't succeed but tried. If every team had a crystal ball well you know....they put together a plan with this years' FA and came up short which was not a shock as most of us envisioned. Now they've got cap space and will try again next year. You can't put a gun to FA's and force them to sign either.

With both Clarkson and Randle showing early signs of being productive NBA players, bringing back good PER players like Hill and Young, coupled with FA signees Davis and the amnesty with Boozer, we'll see what comes of it. The X factors will be which HC can group a winning formula along with Kobe and Nash health. Lots of if's but I'm satisfied that the Buss clan did what they said they'd do and not sit on the sidelines like some other storied franchise in green.

 

[lakersrule]

Lakersrule, to your point about the transactional information around players. You mentioned the Lakers FO perhaps contacting Ariza and Lowry. They indeed do that and like a lot of players the Lakers attempted to draw to LA the FO was rebuffed.

The way I understood it and I could be wrong, was that the Lakers contacted their agents, but the asking price was more than they were willing to pay in terms of dollars and/or length of contract. So the discussions never progressed.

Rebuffed is a bit strong of a term I think. I was thinking it was more like they indicated that were willing to sign their guys to no more than 2 year deals and their agents responded that they were looking for longer deals.

My point was, all of us here don't know everything that happens. They could very well have made some initial efforts to field a more competitive team for Kobe's next two seasons with these mid-tier FA types. I'm not going to continue to be irate like some though because they didn't follow my speculative plan of improvement. Who knows exactly all the efforts that were made.

 

[wlk3]

Perhaps you guys miss understand what I'm saying... First, Kobe said something along the lines of him doing his job on the court and the FO needs to their job... Something about, hold on...

“Let’s play next year and suck again? Absolutely not,” barked Kobe Bryant, in regards to the Lakers. ”It’s my job to go out on the court and perform. No excuses. It’s the same with the front office. The same expectations the front office has of me when I’m on the court, I have the same expectations of them. You’ve got to figure out a way to do both.”

After he signed I recall him saying something to the effect that the Lakers FO laid out the plan and he signed off... What has transpired doesn't fit Kobe's above statement... I won't lie I looked for the articles and tweets but I can't find them and won't be scouring the net to find them... I remember reading them in terms of winning... I read Jim say the Lakers should be in contention to win a ring within 3 years... My question isn't will the Lakers ever be good, it's the lack of great moves... As Bam said you can't hold up a free agent and say sign it... And in all honesty many players are starting to think about starting a legacy where they are... I doubt Durant leaves OKC... But Westbrook is too big for them... Durant is better, but he doesn't feel the need to prove it outside of bringing it... You have to find those guys (Westbrook), and make a move towards them... How many free agents that can turn around a team do you think are willing to leave that extra year on the table... Usually, if they're young enough to get another max deal down the road they'll stay, then you have a guy who is too old to get another so you better have a team in place or he's going to take the money...

As Logic stated, what do we have to offer Love...? Why would he come, because we're the Lakers...? We can't offer more money, we have 0 players that you can pair him with, and there are several places that can offer more... To think sunshine and him being home sick will do it is not a plan, it's a hope... Are we really there now...? Parsons just signed 3 years 46mil... Was he not a piece worthy of money...? If Kobe's deal ends after the 2015-2016 season then you have a prime Chandler to pair with somebody... If Love is our goal why pick Randall as the cornerstone player, they play the same position...? Why are we signing Ed Davis and Boozer to the same position...? These aren't smart stretegic moves... These are reactionary and desperate moves...IMO