tOfficial 2015 NBA Draft/Free Agency Thread

[WiggyRuss]

Sort of a head-scratcher. The preliminary reasoning is he is in his prime and would be a good on-the-court influence on Clarkson and Russell to help facilitate their development. But Lawson apparently has off-the-court issues with alcohol and that could be not good. If the Lakers are looking for a positive influence, they already have that in Steve Nash who is becoming more and more a coach as he'll be working with Russell and Clarkson this summer.

Lamar Odom was smoking crack and you employed him for a term of years. Whats a little alcohol?

 

[WiggyRuss]

I mean- its the Lakers. If they decided they really wanted to win now- and make some moves and trade Randle and Russell i might be surprised for the moment but not for long.

Say they traded both Russell and Randle in a 3 way deal with the Nuggets and Kings and came out of it with something like Lawson, Cousins, Hickson- would anyone be really stone-cold- shocked?

Back court- Lawson, Clarkson, Kobe, Williams
Front court- Cousins, Hibbert, Hickson, Bass

and then i guess you play Young at the 3- maybe Nance Jr. at the 3 some....

but like I said who knows. It seems they are committed to the slow but steady (and smart) rebuild through the draft- but maybe they get impatient and just want to win.

 

[WiggyRuss]

One thing is clear about the Nuggets and Lawson though- they need to deal him.

Mudiay looked like the best player in all of Summer League- which- take from it what you will- but its clear Mudiay is a freaking GREAT athlete- and very quick. Reminds me a little of RW.

But the Nugz also have Gary Harris- the MSU point guard who was a lotto pick- and Jameer Nelson on the roster...

Lawson
Mudiay
HArris
Nelson

thats 4 point guards- and if I were them I would want Mudiay starting from the jump because he looks like he could be something hugely special. Lawson is going to have to get dealt.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

[QUOTE="WiggyRuss, post: 6908688, member: 8255"

maybe Cousins is still on the table.


That's what I say every time I walk through the casino.
Cousins sure likes the craps table.

 

[Hambombs]

As much as people hate on Josh Smith. It is actually a huge signing for the Clippers. Not sure why he went from the Rockets to Clippers, wasnt he starting in Houston? But anyway the Clippers now have some really good depth, probably just need another big man to sign and they are looking like contenders in the West possibly.

Josh smith is not a huge signing lol. We don't believe in that

 

[Retroram52]

Lamar Odom was smoking crack and you employed him for a term of years. Whats a little alcohol?

And you saw what happened to Lamar Odom when the Lakers caught as well Wiggy. The Lakers have learned their lesson to some extent but now they feel they can get a guy help BECAUSE of their experience with Lamar Odom.

 

[trojanfan12]

So why are the Lakers interested in Lawson? They have Russell and Clarkson, maybe as a trading option idk

I can only think of 2 reasons. One, they want to take some of the pressure off of Russell and have solid insurance if he doesn't pan out. Because of his off court issues, he can be had for practically nothing. Perhaps Nick Young for him?

The other reason would be as Wiggy suggests, maybe there is a trade in the works.

 

[WiggyRuss]

I can only think of 2 reasons. One, they want to take some of the pressure off of Russell and have solid insurance if he doesn't pan out. Because of his off court issues, he can be had for practically nothing. Perhaps Nick Young for him?

The other reason would be as Wiggy suggests, maybe there is a trade in the works.

bro.

no one is taking Nick Young. Supposedly you guys shopped him to every single team in the league. The fact that his contract runs past this year is definitely not helping things. Unless you guys attach an asset to Swaggy P- or he is traded in a package- he will be wearing Purple and Gold!

 

[Retroram52]

Well if there is a trade in the works and it involves Russell and Cousins as some have suggested, then we indeed wasted a pick this past draft. Larry Nance Jr. is also been mentioned in this mega trade brewing between three teams one of which is the Lakers and that would be a second first round wasted pick. It just makes little sense on any a number of levels to take a guy like Russell, passing up Okafor, and then selecting Nance Jr. just to trade them for guys like Lawson and Cousins. That would be totally ridiculous. I mean it would be totally insane to have Russell work with Nash this summer and then trade him. Talk about fantasy.

 

[trojanfan12]

bro.

no one is taking Nick Young. Supposedly you guys shopped him to every single team in the league. The fact that his contract runs past this year is definitely not helping things. Unless you guys attach an asset to Swaggy P- or he is traded in a package- he will be wearing Purple and Gold!

You're probably right. I'm kind of on the fence about them trying to get rid of him anyway. When he's focused on playing basketball, he's actually a solid guy off the bench. Problem is, he is easily distracted and doesn't take the game serious enough.

He's not a bad guy in the sense that you don't hear about him hitting women or getting in legal trouble. He's just a knucklehead.

 

[ManuForever]

bro.

no one is taking Nick Young. Supposedly you guys shopped him to every single team in the league. The fact that his contract runs past this year is definitely not helping things. Unless you guys attach an asset to Swaggy P- or he is traded in a package- he will be wearing Purple and Gold!

I can think of a few teams who would take a great shooter off the bench that doesn't care about playing the actual game...

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Lamar Odom was smoking crack and you employed him for a term of years. Whats a little alcohol?

Yeah, and he still has more rings than the Cavs franchise lol.

 

[Beengay fudgepackers]

Yeah, and he still has more rings than the Cavs franchise lol.

The Cavs don't even have more rings than I do!

 

[DJ Fieri]

Yea he played 15 minutes, I believe, before he broke his leg. Tough break for him and the Lakers. But, Blake had a very similar "first year" in relation to getting hurt and sitting the majority of his rookie year and he came back strong. I think Randle can do the same. If he works hard and continues to develop his game he will get where he wants to be in terms of his overall game.

BG missed his entire rookie campaign, he got hurt in pre-season.

 

[DJ Fieri]

Smith was a nice pickup by the Clippers for the veteran minimum.

 

[DJ Fieri]

I take a dissenting opinion.

Josh Smith is literally the worst possible fit for the Clippers.
He would have fit far better with teams like Houston, Dallas, or GS.

The Clips need a big man who can spell Jordan AND a bigman to hit free throws when hack-a-Jordan happens.
Smith doesnt play center, and hack-a-Smoov is even worse than hack-a-Jordan.
There is literally no sane way any coach can risk both of them on the floor at the same time.

They also need a true small forward when the bigs are out there unless PP can play 40+ minutes.
They only have 37 year old Pierce, and a bunch of shooting guards.

Smith basically destroyed his career playing SF next to the big men in Detroit.
He was HORRIFIC in that role. He cannot play SF with 2 other big men. It was a mitigated disaster for him.

The only niche he is good at is being a "roving 4" without big men clogging the lane.
And he is reasonably decent defender.
That is Golden State to a tee...and even Houston/Dallas style.

He could not have picked a worse team for his skills.


.................

But, I guess he is a warm body and its only the league minimum.

The Clippers signed Cole Aldrich. He's not a great pickup but they only need him to play 13-15mpg, backing up Jordan.

Smith is a lot better than Glen Davis, last season's backup PF. For the cash, he's a bargain. If he gives them 10-11ppg and 6rpg off the bench (definitely attainable since he'll get 20-23mpg), he's a solid role player.

 

[DJ Fieri]

Outside of Josh in Detroit, when was any of the other 3 ever a clubhouse cancer? Not being a fit for the team doesn't make you a cancer. Also Big Baby is no longer on the team. Say what you want about the Clips because I know how much you hate them, they improved their roster this summer. They're a better team than they were in May

+1

They added Stephenson, Smith, and PP.

3 good rotation players.

 

[DJ Fieri]

Clippers actually have a solid bench unless they trade Crawford.....not deep but they have 3 really good players on their bench

They have a great bench. If they trade Crawford.....it's still a good bench.

 

[bksballer89]

+1

They added Stephenson, Smith, and PP.

3 good rotation players.

Exactly. I get it that certain posters on here hate the Clippers but you have to he really stupid and have a low basketball IQ to not realize they really improved the bench and if austin rivers can play the way he did in the playoffs, he would not be a bad bench player as well

 

[bksballer89]

What also should not be forgotten is that Lance & Josh are good defenders so not only did they improve the bench but they probably will be a better defensive team than they were last season