Kobe Bryant, torn rotator cuff

[True Lakers Fan]

I'm not convinced that the Lakers are that interested in Love anymore. For one, they just used a 1st round pick on a power forward that most seem to think is going to be very good. If you have Randle with Ed Davis and/or Tarik Black to back him up, you're pretty good at the PF spot.

I think much of the Lakers interest last year may have been because of D'Antoni' being the coach. Love would have been perfect in that system because the stretch 4 plays a big role. Plus, defense wasn't exactly a priority with D'Antoni, so the fact that Love doesn't play any wouldn't have mattered.

Although it's hard to tell because they just don't have a lot of talent, Scott actually expects his guys to play defense, so the Lakers may no longer be as interested because of that.

I also think who the Lakers target in FA will determine what direction they go in FA. For example, if Oladipo or that 7'1" kid from Kentucky (Cauley-Smith?) are available, then we may see them grab one of those 2 and look top get a PG in FA.

If they decide to draft Mudiay, then maybe they go after a center (DeAndre Jordan?) in this FA class or the 2016 FA class.

One thing Mitch has preached throughout all of this is that they want to maintain flexibility and they seem to be doing a pretty good job of that. Although, they'll have to do something eventually because having flexibility doesn't mean much if you don't use it.

Don't get me wrong, Love is a good player, but I don't think he is championship material, I think he is a weak player defensively speaking and I think if the Lakers are willing to wait until 2016 before making serious signings, they can do better. Especially if they have that first round draft pick and Julius Randle developed by then. That would push their plan into four years though and that 3 year plan they talked about was just to get back into the playoffs. Now in my fantasy world(not going to happen) they get four draft picks and all of them turn out to be wonderful players. I personally think the Lakers should have been trying to rebuild with younger players sooner and shouldn't have waited so long to start, but I'm not the gm or the owner. The one thing we do agree on is that whether its two years or 5 years, the Lakers will be making a run for another title before this decade is out and hopefully before Boston gets their ugly ass going - I want to see the Lakers get two more championships while Boston gets nothing so that we can really but shit in their fans faces

 

[Retroram52]

I think we will draft a center this year in the first round and take a guard with the second first rounder we may have. Either that or we will sign Monroe before we sign Love. I think the Lakers have indeed lost interest in Love and are going to start drafting their own players to develop. Methinks Scott may have something to do with that and the fact we have been really badly burned with the Nash and Howard trades.

 

[trojanfan12]

Don't get me wrong, Love is a good player, but I don't think he is championship material, I think he is a weak player defensively speaking and I think if the Lakers are willing to wait until 2016 before making serious signings, they can do better. Especially if they have that first round draft pick and Julius Randle developed by then. That would push their plan into four years though and that 3 year plan they talked about was just to get back into the playoffs. Now in my fantasy world(not going to happen) they get four draft picks and all of them turn out to be wonderful players. I personally think the Lakers should have been trying to rebuild with younger players sooner and shouldn't have waited so long to start, but I'm not the gm or the owner. The one thing we do agree on is that whether its two years or 5 years, the Lakers will be making a run for another title before this decade is out and hopefully before Boston gets their ugly ass going - I want to see the Lakers get two more championships while Boston gets nothing so that we can really but shit in their fans faces

When the Lakers say 3 year plan, I don't think they mean win a championship in 3 years. I think it means, getting a team that can contend or is at least well on the way. If they add another promising rookie and a couple of top FA's over the next couple of seasons, then they will have a team that can contend.

At that point, it will just be about giving Byron 2 or 3 seasons to see if he is the guy that can get them to the finals and making minor roster tweaks. If that's the position the Lakers are in by the end of 2016, then the 3 year plan can be considered successful.

 

[Retroram52]

This is how long the Logo has taken to get GS to where it is today. Three to four years ago, the Logo started assembling that powerhouse team with draft picks and now they have one of the best records in the league. They are a scoring beast and they play pretty good D as well. That is where we should be headed with the Lakers three-year plan.

 

[LALakersboy24.7]

This is how long the Logo has taken to get GS to where it is today. Three to four years ago, the Logo started assembling that powerhouse team with draft picks and now they have one of the best records in the league. They are a scoring beast and they play pretty good D as well. That is where we should be headed with the Lakers three-year plan.

I really hope so.

 

[lakersrule]

This is how long the Logo has taken to get GS to where it is today. Three to four years ago, the Logo started assembling that powerhouse team with draft picks and now they have one of the best records in the league. They are a scoring beast and they play pretty good D as well. That is where we should be headed with the Lakers three-year plan.

I think drafting players and developing the youth is part of the three-year plan. Drafting talent and signing free agents doesn't have to be mutually exclusive though. This rebuild will involve both. Maybe even a significant trade as well. With some 2015 lottery luck, a 2015 FA signing or two, and a big FA splash in 2016, Jeannie won't have to fire her brother!

 

[trojanfan12]

I think drafting players and developing the youth is part of the three-year plan. Drafting talent and signing free agents doesn't have to be mutually exclusive though. This rebuild will involve both. Maybe even a significant trade as well. With some 2015 lottery luck, a 2015 FA signing or two, and a big FA splash in 2016, Jeannie won't have to fire her brother!

That's what I'm thinking too. Mitch has been preaching "flexibility" ever since Dwight left and Nash and Kobe's body parts started falling off.

Last off season the Lakers got one of the studs of the draft and also potentially, the steal of the draft. If things remain as they are, they are set up to get one of the studs of the draft this year too. Plus, potentially have 3 more draft picks. That's the draft part of the re-build.

The next 2 FA classes are going to be very good one's. The "flexibility" that Mitch has been preaching about is to enable the Lakers to potentially be major players in both upcoming FA classes.

 

[Retroram52]

Yea, "flexibility" is O.K. but you don't see the Logo building his team with a whole lot of "flexibility". Now he almost bit on the lure of getting a FA-type player by dangling the Thompson kid out there but he retracted because of the very notion that is the foundation of this newly developed powerhouse. That being what Hubie Brown mentioned the other day and that is that you draft really good players and then maybe add a veteran piece or two-Maybe. You develop those really good players in-house and you don't mortgage the future of the franchise by chasing after somebody that is often hyped above reality, something we have been doing for nearly a decade.

 

[lakersrule]

Yea, "flexibility" is O.K. but you don't see the Logo building his team with a whole lot of "flexibility". Now he almost bit on the lure of getting a FA-type player by dangling the Thompson kid out there but he retracted because of the very notion that is the foundation of this newly developed powerhouse. That being what Hubie Brown mentioned the other day and that is that you draft really good players and then maybe add a veteran piece or two-Maybe. You develop those really good players in-house and you don't mortgage the future of the franchise by chasing after somebody that is often hyped above reality, something we have been doing for nearly a decade.

I don't think they're mortgaging the future by pursuing this current rebuild path. They mortgaged the future when they went all-in with Dwight and Nash. Golden State's situation at the time Logo was hired as a consultant was different than the current situation the Lakers find themselves in.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

I don't think they're mortgaging the future by pursuing this current rebuild path. They mortgaged the future when they went all-in with Dwight and Nash. Golden State's situation at the time Logo was hired as a consultant was different than the current situation the Lakers find themselves in.

The Lakers have had a long history of paying out large sums to players, but I'm not going to say it wasn't worth it because it is what netted them two more championships in 2009 and 2010. That being said, they do have realign the payment structure so that they can rebuild. That is what they are doing though and it's going to take a little bit of time, but if they continue, they will be back in the hunt in a few years ago. The only thing I have been questioning is how long that will take and as I have said before: I have heard all of the promises and what they are doing. I think it could take longer than most people believe

 

[Retroram52]

That's my point lakersrule. Geez, don't you understand anything? The Lakers perhaps have learned their lesson and have slowed down chasing FAs in favor of accumulating picks which they accomplished with the Lin deal and by virtue of their crappy won-loss record.

Perhaps they are taking a page from the Logo's work. BTW, what difference does it make if the Logo is a consultant or a true GM at the time he was hired and how was the situation different? GS was in nowhere land with a roster that was bad. How was that different than us now?

It is obvious his influence has developed a very nice ball club matriculating toward a shot at the playoffs and an opportunity to play for a title. That is the point Hubie Brown was making a couple of days ago and one path I think the Lakers are now on.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

That's my point lakersrule. Geez, don't you understand anything? The Lakers perhaps have learned their lesson and have slowed down chasing FAs in favor of accumulating picks which they accomplished with the Lin deal and by virtue of their crappy won-loss record.

Perhaps they are taking a page from the Logo's work. BTW, what difference does it make if the Logo is a consultant or a true GM at the time he was hired and how was the situation different? GS was in nowhere land with a roster that was bad. How was that different than us now?

It is obvious his influence has developed a very nice ball club matriculating toward a shot at the playoffs and an opportunity to play for a title. That is the point Hubie Brown was making a couple of days ago and one path I think the Lakers are now on.

It only seems that way because they already know that they have to dump the high end contracts before they can rebuild. Be assured that once they have accompanied a few really good drafts and there are some free agents willing to listen - the Lakers will be calling them. That's the way they operate.

 

[lakersrule]

That's my point lakersrule. Geez, don't you understand anything? The Lakers perhaps have learned their lesson and have slowed down chasing FAs in favor of accumulating picks which they accomplished with the Lin deal and by virtue of their crappy won-loss record.

Perhaps they are taking a page from the Logo's work. BTW, what difference does it make if the Logo is a consultant or a true GM at the time he was hired and how was the situation different? GS was in nowhere land with a roster that was bad. How was that different than us now?

It is obvious his influence has developed a very nice ball club matriculating toward a shot at the playoffs and an opportunity to play for a title. That is the point Hubie Brown was making a couple of days ago and one path I think the Lakers are now on.

But they aren't eliminating chasing FAs. Byron thinks they'll make a big splash this summer. That leads me to believe that chasing FAs is still part of the plan.

There is going to be some combination of developing youth, signing FAs, and trades to get the Lakers back into contention. There's no way they are going to simply draft youth year after year and hope they develop into capable NBA players and thus able turn around the franchise.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

But they aren't eliminating chasing FAs. Byron thinks they'll make a big splash this summer. That leads me to believe that chasing FAs is still part of the plan.

There is going to be some combination of developing youth, signing FAs, and trades to get the Lakers back into contention. There's no way they are going to simply draft youth year after year and hope they develop into capable NBA players and thus able turn around the franchise.

First: I hope you're right and I expect that you are 100% correct, but....

Byron says one thing, Mitch Kupchak says another, while Jim Buss promises the moon and Jeannie promises to hold everyone accountable and hopefully that's true but...

I think we have to consider that they are putting some spin on things and that we don't actually know what they will do. I believe they have a plan and I believe that they intend to rebuild, but if they are planning to wait until 2016 - it might be that they don't want to admit it and anger season ticket holders. We do the same thing when caught speeding. No one admits to the police they were doing 85 mph in a 65 mpg zone(Damn my car was rolling that day). We all have a story we try to sell and they are no different - they are human. Just be cautious about what you believe coming from their lips and hope they are correct about everything - just saying

 

[Retroram52]

Why not lakersrule? Several clubs have accomplished the Logo model with the most notable being the W's and the Hawks.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

On the Jeremy Lin and Boozer acquisitions, They look worse then they did at the time because it's obvious that they are scrubs, but on the other hand - what else could they do. The Lakers had to try when the bigger pictures collapsed.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Why not lakersrule? Several clubs have accomplished the Logo model with the most notable being the W's and the Hawks.

My response as a True Lakers Fan is because I don't want to wait another ten to 20 years for another championship. No team has ever won without signing some quality free agents. Those that live by the draft also die after the draft and while they Hawks has a good team, they haven't won a championship yet in the last 20 years either

 

[LALakersboy24.7]

Why not lakersrule? Several clubs have accomplished the Logo model with the most notable being the W's and the Hawks.

 

[trojanfan12]

Yea, "flexibility" is O.K. but you don't see the Logo building his team with a whole lot of "flexibility". Now he almost bit on the lure of getting a FA-type player by dangling the Thompson kid out there but he retracted because of the very notion that is the foundation of this newly developed powerhouse. That being what Hubie Brown mentioned the other day and that is that you draft really good players and then maybe add a veteran piece or two-Maybe. You develop those really good players in-house and you don't mortgage the future of the franchise by chasing after somebody that is often hyped above reality, something we have been doing for nearly a decade.

Generally speaking, teams that build through the draft, do so because they have to. They are teams that are in places that top players don't want to go. I guarantee those teams would love to be able to land top players with automatic star power rather than wait for a bunch of young guys to hopefully develop into something.

Look at OKC. They did a great job building through the draft getting guys like KD, Westbrook and Harden, being patient while they lost a lot of games learning how to play and it eventually got them a finals appearance. However, since then, Harden has already left and folks are already speculating that one or both of KD and Westbrook will be leaving via free agency, leaving them to have re-build through the draft all over again and hoping they can be as successful as they were the last time.

It worked out great for them, but you can bet your house that, at the time, if they could have landed Kobe and Dwight Howard (for example) via FA, they'd have done that in a heartbeat.

Imo, the Lakers are in a great position as they will have as many as 4 draft picks with one being a top 5 pick AND the cap space to go after some young, top tier FA's. Essentially, it's the best of both worlds if they play their cards right.

 

[lakersrule]

Why not lakersrule? Several clubs have accomplished the Logo model with the most notable being the W's and the Hawks.

But they didn't build their clubs solely on the draft. Both made trades for significant pieces. Millsap signed as a free agent. The "Logo model" includes free agents and trades.