Lakers 2014 Off-Season Thread

[trojanfan12]

I see the Lakers getting Luol Deng. He plays a position we need to improve on and he'll be cheaper than Melo.

I was thinking the same. I'd have no issue with him as a Laker.

 

[Retroram52]

I see Hill re-signing before Pau. Kaman is iffy at this juncture.

 

[Hangman]

First move should be to fire D'Antoni and replace him with anyone else. He is the worst coach in Lakers history.

Get some young stud from the NCAA to coach.

 

[wildturkey]

I see the Lakers getting Luol Deng. He plays a position we need to improve on and he'll be cheaper than Melo.

I'd just be careful on his price. He's a tad past his prime and really fell off once he got to Cleveland. Granted it is Cleveland and Mike Brown but it's still something of note. His All Star days are likely over and is probably more of an overqualified role player (similar to Vince Carter in Dallas). He'd be great to have, I'd just be wary of the price if he's looking to get paid

 

[LALakersboy24.7]

First move should be to fire D'Antoni and replace him with anyone else. He is the worst coach in Lakers history.

Get some young stud from the NCAA to coach.

You might have a point, the NBA now has changed. A lot of teams are hiring young coaches.

 

[LALakersboy24.7]

I see Hill re-signing before Pau. Kaman is iffy at this juncture.

From the last interview with Gasol that I saw a few days ago, it seems like he want's to get the hell out of town. He didn't sound too optimistic about coming back.

 

[Retroram52]

Yea, LALakersboy. Phil called and I believe that now that Odom is signed, Pau just may want to hang with Phil, Metta, and maybe even Kobe to win another ring in New York.

 

[Hangman]

$5,000,000 increase in salary cap next season. Use that money wisely

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Yea, LALakersboy. Phil called and I believe that now that Odom is signed, Pau just may want to hang with Phil, Metta, and maybe even Kobe to win another ring in New York.

Kobe isn't going anywhere for at least two seasons. He's due to make over $48m over the next couple of years and has a no-trade clause.

Plus, Metta and Odom are waaaay over the hill and Pau is only going to be declining too.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

$5,000,000 increase in salary cap next season. Use that money wisely

I just read that too. From $58.6m to $63.2m. Great news if the team want to re-sign Young without taking a serious hit.

The luxury tax threshold is going up too.

 

[Retroram52]

Shaqdaddy, just because a player has a no-trade clause in a contract, does not mean the player can't waive that clause. Many players often do. And yea, Kobe might think about those big bucks but he also might want a chance at another ring with Phil and Kobe has already stated that he doesn't want to be a party to any rebuilding process. Don't be so sure Kobe isn't going anywhere. I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[HizzleRocker]

We need to fire dumbtonin ASAP - and here is why:

We have 3 big men who can't stand to play for him. Pau, Hill, and Kaman all don't like him. We need to re-sign at least 2 of them. If we don't, it will likely effect our draft decision.

Seriously, if we have Howard, Gasol, Kaman, and Hill all jet the very second they get the chance within a 2 year period - and then we keep the damn coach that ran them off, how many big men free agents to you think will want to sign up with us? We will have to use our draft on someone like Vonleh instead of Exum.

1) Exum, Kobe, Gasol, Kaman.... or
2) Kobe, Vonleh
???

The difference could well rest in whether shortbuss admits his idiotic mistake or not.

 

[trojanfan12]

We need to fire dumbtonin ASAP - and here is why:

We have 3 big men who can't stand to play for him. Pau, Hill, and Kaman all don't like him. We need to re-sign at least 2 of them. If we don't, it will likely effect our draft decision.

Seriously, if we have Howard, Gasol, Kaman, and Hill all jet the very second they get the chance within a 2 year period - and then we keep the damn coach that ran them off, how many big men free agents to you think will want to sign up with us? We will have to use our draft on someone like Vonleh instead of Exum.

1) Exum, Kobe, Gasol, Kaman.... or
2) Kobe, Vonleh
???

The difference could well rest in whether shortbuss admits his idiotic mistake or not.

You might want to watch the exit interviews before you start talking about who does or doesn't want to play for D'Antoni.

Also, firing the current coach without having a better coach already lined up while heading into the FA period would be idiotic.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Shaqdaddy, just because a player has a no-trade clause in a contract, does not mean the player can't waive that clause. Many players often do. And yea, Kobe might think about those big bucks but he also might want a chance at another ring with Phil and Kobe has already stated that he doesn't want to be a party to any rebuilding process. Don't be so sure Kobe isn't going anywhere. I'll believe it when I see it.

Kobe isn't going anywhere. I'm willing to bet my left nut on it.

The only upside to him going to NY is Phil. Odom is way to far gone and I believe they got rid of Artest a while ago.

 

[HizzleRocker]

You might want to watch the exit interviews before you start talking about who does or doesn't want to play for D'Antoni.

Also, firing the current coach without having a better coach already lined up while heading into the FA period would be idiotic.

While I don't agree with your points about dantoni - I at least get them. I know you are not saying he is "it" you are just saying fair chance. However, you have to realize that we would be doing that at the expense of losing multiple talented big men who want to be nowhere near him.

Whether you support his chances or not - Not worth it.

 

[tomodach10]

While I don't agree with your points about dantoni - I at least get them. I know you are not saying he is "it" you are just saying fair chance. However, you have to realize that we would be doing that at the expense of losing multiple talented big men who want to be nowhere near him.

Whether you support his chances or not - Not worth it.

I agree not worth it to keep D'antoni at this point. We cannot go into next year with this coach. He has no concept of defense or how to use post players. If he is back next year, he won't make it to December!!!!Cut the cord Now!!

 

[trojanfan12]

While I don't agree with your points about dantoni - I at least get them. I know you are not saying he is "it" you are just saying fair chance. However, you have to realize that we would be doing that at the expense of losing multiple talented big men who want to be nowhere near him.

Whether you support his chances or not - Not worth it.

There isn't a multiple talent big man who has said he doesn't want to be near him. Pau said that they had their differences but found a common ground and that D'Antoni was always open to working with him. Pau also said that the coach won't weigh much in his decision wherever he goes. He's going to go where he feels he can win. If that's with the Lakers, he'll remain a Laker. If it's with another team, he'll go there.

What some of you fail to understand is that when you have a coach who hasn't had a big with Pau's skills and a big who hasn't played in a system like D'Antoni's, there is going to be a learning curve. Add to that, Pau's inconsistency on being available due to injuries and illness, the learning curve is even longer.

Once they found common ground and Pau had some consistent time in the lineup, he was back to his 20/10 self. Jordan Hill just had a career year.

Additionally, the team played hard every night and never quit. You think coaching has nothing to do with that? Virtually every player stated that D'Antoni did a great job keeping everyone motivated and morale high.

It's funny, everyone says what a crappy job D'Antoni did and yet no one can seem to name a coach who could have done any better under the circumstances.

 

[tomodach10]

There isn't a multiple talent big man who has said he doesn't want to be near him. Pau said that they had their differences but found a common ground and that D'Antoni was always open to working with him. Pau also said that the coach won't weigh much in his decision wherever he goes. He's going to go where he feels he can win. If that's with the Lakers, he'll remain a Laker. If it's with another team, he'll go there.

What some of you fail to understand is that when you have a coach who hasn't had a big with Pau's skills and a big who hasn't played in a system like D'Antoni's, there is going to be a learning curve. Add to that, Pau's inconsistency on being available due to injuries and illness, the learning curve is even longer.

Once they found common ground and Pau had some consistent time in the lineup, he was back to his 20/10 self. Jordan Hill just had a career year.

Additionally, the team played hard every night and never quit. You think coaching has nothing to do with that? Virtually every player stated that D'Antoni did a great job keeping everyone motivated and morale high.

It's funny, everyone says what a crappy job D'Antoni did and yet no one can seem to name a coach who could have done any better under the circumstances.[/QUOTE

Don't need to name a coach who would done better. We are talking about the future and he is not it!!!

 

[trojanfan12]

There isn't a multiple talent big man who has said he doesn't want to be near him. Pau said that they had their differences but found a common ground and that D'Antoni was always open to working with him. Pau also said that the coach won't weigh much in his decision wherever he goes. He's going to go where he feels he can win. If that's with the Lakers, he'll remain a Laker. If it's with another team, he'll go there.

What some of you fail to understand is that when you have a coach who hasn't had a big with Pau's skills and a big who hasn't played in a system like D'Antoni's, there is going to be a learning curve. Add to that, Pau's inconsistency on being available due to injuries and illness, the learning curve is even longer.

Once they found common ground and Pau had some consistent time in the lineup, he was back to his 20/10 self. Jordan Hill just had a career year.

Additionally, the team played hard every night and never quit. You think coaching has nothing to do with that? Virtually every player stated that D'Antoni did a great job keeping everyone motivated and morale high.

It's funny, everyone says what a crappy job D'Antoni did and yet no one can seem to name a coach who could have done any better under the circumstances.[/QUOTE

Don't need to name a coach who would done better. We are talking about the future and he is not it!!!

Really?!? When did they fire him? Who's the new coach? Did they pick one yet? Last I heard, Mitch shut down some reporter by telling him: "He still has 2 years left on his contract. If that changes, we'll let you know."


And learn to use the quote function or gtfo!!

 

[Silas]

You might want to watch the exit interviews before you start talking about who does or doesn't want to play for D'Antoni.

Also, firing the current coach without having a better coach already lined up while heading into the FA period would be idiotic.

While I'm not a D'Antoni fan, I have to agree with you that if the Lakers do decide to fire D'Antoni that they need to have a replacement in mind or at hand. So, the first thing the Lakers need to do is decide who is going to coach going forward. FA's, trades, re-signings then make sense.

If the Lakers keep the current coaching staff, I hope someone in the FO encourages D'Antoni to stress Defense a hell of a lot more than what we saw. I get the fact that a host of guys were hurt a lot this season, but the emphasis still needs to be on playing more Defense. This team has, or should have, guys who can score, but you can't give up 105 plus points a game and expect to compete for an NBA title.