Lakers 2014 Off-Season Thread

[Retroram52]

Lamar Odom's basketball career is over. Unfortunately, Lamar was unable to uphold the standards to return as an NBA player. The Knicks found it necessary to free up the roster spot and they waived him today.

Phil viewed Odom as a project after extended off-court problems and drug abuse and now at 34 he's done. It is somewhat sad yet some of these guys cannot let go of their youth and age invariably catches up with them and they simply don't meet the criteria of competing in the NBA. Something Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant will eventually have to face.

 

[Retroram52]

With Gasol signing with Chicago, Kobe Bryant is the last remaining member of the 2010 championship team. This is truely the end of era and in two years or less, we will see the final page turned.

 

[GMATCa]

Lamar Odom's basketball career is over. Unfortunately, Lamar was unable to uphold the standards to return as an NBA player. The Knicks found it necessary to free up the roster spot and they waived him today.

Phil viewed Odom as a project after extended off-court problems and drug abuse and now at 34 he's done. It is somewhat sad yet some of these guys cannot let go of their youth and age invariably catches up with them and they simply don't meet the criteria of competing in the NBA. Something Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant will eventually have to face.

... well-said. I find it painful to see some of these aging veterans (Chauncey Billups has been another) hanging on well past their primes or even the point of really being able to contribute, as if they need another paycheck.

 

[GMATCa]

IMO, those guys are equal, at best to Lin.

... agreed. Payton and Harper were past their primes and Fisher, while a solid role player, was not as creative and dynamic as Lin can be.

 

[Retroram52]

 

[GMATCa]

I see Lin starting actually. Nash will get about 10-15 min MAX. Clarkson maybe 10 for now.

I agree that Lin should start. The Lakers need to try and tap into his offensive upside, which has been bottled up the last two years in Houston. That way, LA can figure out if Lin is its point guard of the future.

Starting Nash seems like a waste of time for me; he represents the past. If he is actually available to play, using him to provide some leadership with the second unit sounds about right. He probably will not be able to play major minutes in any event.

Actually, if I'm running the Lakers, I'm probably looking at Nash as my third or fourth point guard and more as a de facto player-coach.

 

[Retroram52]

again.

 

[tomodach10]

Exum is a beast!! He would have been exciting here.

 

[lasportzphan]

Lamar Odom's basketball career is over. Unfortunately, Lamar was unable to uphold the standards to return as an NBA player. The Knicks found it necessary to free up the roster spot and they waived him today.

Phil viewed Odom as a project after extended off-court problems and drug abuse and now at 34 he's done. It is somewhat sad yet some of these guys cannot let go of their youth and age invariably catches up with them and they simply don't meet the criteria of competing in the NBA. Something Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant will eventually have to face.

The signing was far more surprising than this.... Not surprised set all.

 

[trojanfan12]

I disagree on Nash, kind of. In the unlikely event that he is healthy enough to play, I think you let him start out of respect for who he is, but don't have him playing "starters minutes".


In the little bit of time that he's actually been able to be on the floor for the Lakers, he has shown that he can still be very effective.


As for Lin, I agree with the prevailing sentiment that he should be the one with the starters minutes. He has shown that he can be a brilliant point guard at times, but he's inconsistent. I'd be very interested to see how much he can improve and how much more consistent he can be with a little mentoring from Nash. They have very similar styles.

 

[trojanfan12]

The signing was far more surprising than this.... Not surprised set all.

Yeah, I think Phil was kind of throwing him a bone because Lamar was well-liked during the championship runs. But in the end, it's still a business.


With the talent, skill set and size that Lamar possessed, imagine what he could have been if had the drive of a guy like Kobe.

 

[Retroram52]

He'd probably still be with the Lakers coming back to them even if he did have to be traded.

 

[lakersrule]

This is how the roster shakes up so far. I may be slightly on off on numbers. Feel free to adjust the list as necessary.

Kobe (23.5)
Nash (9.7)
Lin (8.4)
Marshall (0.9)
Young (5.3)
Clarkson (0.9)
Randle (3.0)
Sacre (0.9)
Hill (9.0)

Total salary so far is $61.6mil. Not much money left with up to 6 roster spots to fill. I believe Kelly and Henry will be brought back on short cheap deals. I think another big and a couple swingmen fills out the roster.

Curious to see today's summer league game. Missed the first one. No Randle again unfortunately.

 

[DJ Fieri]

Use the stretch provision on Nash. Save the $ & get some more players.

 

[lakersrule]

Definitely want to see what Lin brings to the table. His shooting %s keep improving. 35.8% isn't terrible from deep and could increase given the trend. I think he was second in the league behind Lebron at shooting % at the rim off of drives (minimum 7 shots on drives per game). That's pretty strong. Good size and length for his position. He's improving his passing. Turnovers are coming down. He'll be 26yo this season. Still young with time to improve. He could learn a thing or two from Nash.

 

[lakersrule]

Use the stretch provision on Nash. Save the $ & get some more players.

I'd rather keep Nash and see his whole salary come off the books next summer. Could teach a thing or two to Lin this season as well.

 

[Retroram52]

Lakersrule, apparently Clarkson is impressing many at the summer league so much so that he looks way better than Marshall in our opening loss to the Raptors. Randle hasn't played yet but apparently the guys we thought we should draft have sucked so far. Guys like Exum and Vonleh, whom the latter went 0-13 in his debut. Here's the link and its a good read.

Lakers fall to Raptors, but Clarkson impresses in 88-78 loss - Silver Screen and Roll

 

[lakersrule]

Yeah, I'll get a look at Clarkson today. Missed the first game. Not hard to look better than Marshall

 

[Retroram52]

That is a true statement although this article states that Marshall has improved his shot release which had that awful two-handed set-shot style. He still lacks in overall game direction but that could be a function of being unfamiliar with his teammates. I'll be watching too. We shall see.

 

[erckm510]

That is a true statement although this article states that Marshall has improved his shot release which had that awful two-handed set-shot style. He still lacks in overall game direction but that could be a function of being unfamiliar with his teammates. I'll be watching too. We shall see.

Marshall is a very shitty version of Rubio. I hope Clarkson makes the team. He's got a more NBA ready game. Marshall needs to fix alot of his stuff in the D-league.