[::OFFSEASON OVER. Lock Please.::]

[MVP]

Watching the replay of First Take this morning and Stephen A. spitting knowledge. He's usually spot on with the pulse of the league and he was 100000% right on his analysis of Jim Buss. Until he checks his ego, regardless of the amount of cap space we have the next 2 years when these great free agents are available, I don't think we'll return to prominence. I'm just interested to see how they play this as far as this season; we aren't winning a title or even competing, so why not just amnesty Pau and go full on tank mode. Kobe won't like it but that's what's best as far as accelerating the rebuilding process, because if he comes back I think we'll still be good enough to barely make the playoffs and then that takes us out of the lottery.

I wanted Melo a couple seasons ago, and would love him to come, but we'll need another star piece or good supplementary pieces around him to compete. LeBron would be ideal but that's still a long shot unless the Heat have a catastrophic season similar to our 2011 run after 3 straight runs to the Finals, which is entirely possible. That's why I was hoping so hard that the Spurs pulled out that Finals, I would have put it at 80/20 that he leaves Miami after this year if that happened and they lost again this upcoming season as well. Lot less likely now, but hey Bron isn't exactly loyal to anyone so who knows. Pipe dream of Bron and Melo though, DO IT MITCH!

We need to get Phil back in some capacity in this organization and elevate Jeanie or the other brothers to running the basketball side of things for us. Oh and D'Antoni still needs to go.

Meh on the Kaman signing, guess we only have the vet minimum to go after guys now. But I don't even know if I want the Lakers to even try and compete this year to win games at all. Just get on of the young studs in the draft, Melo or Bron and go forward. I don't know if that's Jim's plan, or if he even has one, but it should be.

 

[essential1]

Sarcasm all up and down this post

Honestly if we have Lowry(or Top PG) & Mamba backcourt I will be happy... and I like Gortat too

Melo

Gortat isn't that good... Not good enough for cap space signing at least

 

[hybridsoldier23]

why do you guys like sasha so much :x

Word to Manu and Leonard

 

[tay1]

It really saddens me that people support the idea of tanking. That's a cowardly *** way of doing things, but hey I guess.

 

[ValarMorghulis]

0 pts 0 FT attempts before

 

[ValarMorghulis]

Gortat isn't that good... Not good enough for cap space signing at least

No... no he's the best of the FA crop... which is really slacking in the PF/C dept and is HEAVY at SF.

 

[lokid300s]

Ice Cube lets his feelings be known about a DWIGHT HOWARD:

 

[grandtheftbike]

Gortat loved playing with nash

 

[essential1]

Gortat isn't that good... Not good enough for cap space signing at least

No... no he's the best of the FA crop... which is really slacking in the PF/C dept and is HEAVY at SF.

Doesn't matter. You don't waste cap space on Marcin Gortat... Also Gasol ain't playing for no Vet's min.

 

[senorroboto2k5]

The only way we have a real shot at being in the lottery is if a combo of Kobe/pau/nash miss a significant amount of time


As someone else mentioned, I hope they give Kaman #12

Basically. There is no way Kobe, Nash, and Pau let the Lakers tank unless they have no choice cause they're injured.

Why do people support the possibility of it? Cause those three are gonna play their hearts out, but the Lakers still aren't gonna be making noise. It's already a lost season, especially by Laker standards. Some people will want the Lakers to make the most out of it - tank for a high draft choice.

 

[CP1708]

Take this for what it's worth.

Start hoping for a Bull like season.

2007-08 Bulls went 33-49. Not good, but not terrible "enough". They earned what would have been the 9th pick in the draft. They had a 1.7 percent chance of winning the #1 pick.

But they did, D Rose.


So even if we manage to squeak out a few wins we shouldn't, and Kobe does stupid Kobe things like try hard to beat the Jazz at home in February for no real reason, we just need a little luck to jump into the top 3. Wiggins, Parker, Smart or Randle, one of them could be the start of a new beginning.

And that's without "tanking" which seems to bother some of you. That's fine, fight and try to win, and uphold our name, give everything we have, that's fine, then you better pray for us to be the 08 Bulls then.

#9 pick will still be a nice player, but getting into the top 3 could completely alter our comeup by 2-3 years depending on who it is.

And besides, if we landed Wiggins, the E streets would riot. NT, Twitter, Facebook, Google +, Google Chrome, Google your momma, would all crumble. We would be despised once again like never before.


Oh and to help you all with your thought process, the #1 that year was D Rose, the #9 was DJ Augustin, so, bit of a difference there. This may be a better draft class, but Wiggins/Parker type to the #9-10-11 type pick, still a difference. Ya'll dig?

 

[senorroboto2k5]

No... no he's the best of the FA crop... which is really slacking in the PF/C dept and is HEAVY at SF.

Goes back to my personal wish, that the Lakers don't spend just because they have money and a need. Let the frontcourt be thin rather than lock a bunch of cap space up for 4 years on Gortat. Make a bigger splash a year later.

 

[ValarMorghulis]

Yeah lets go ahead and buy more Jordan Hill stock, how about Matt Bonner want him, or Ryan Hollins or Emeka Okafor they're good for 6 fouls, or Hawes he's a great championship piece...


You need to fill out a roster... WE HAVE NO ASSETS TO TRADE!!

We're not getting Love until he's a FA in 2016 :\

Joakim Noah/Roy Hibbert/Brook Lopez ??? FA same year.

6'11 and 7'0 mobile bigs don't grow on trees, and we haven't had a decent draft pick in how long?

Ya'll go look at the list and make a better team...

http://www.hoopsworld.com/2014-nba-free-agents


#Vamos
View media item 486319

 

[essential1]

They key to 2014 is getting Kobe and Pau to sign for as little as possible..

But signing Gortat is

 

[CP1708]

You rather have Melo/Gortat

Or Melo/? for a year, and Melo/Kevin Love the following year?

Locking up Gortat only takes you away from Love, or LaMarcus the following year. And if you nab one of those guys, you have a better chance at getting Rondo (should that be in your heart)


Getting Melo alone won't net a title in 2014-15, but may help add some guys in 2015-16.

We want to use that 52+ mil in cap space, but not ALL of it needs to be spent. It's ok to save some for that rainy day that is the next year of free agents.

Now if Melo and Lebron both call you and want your money, well then yeah, go on ahead and write a couple checks down.

Melo/Gortat, save some bread, get better ingredients in July 2015.

 

[tay1]

It's about gradual buildup. We get Melo next year along with some other decent player, and in 2015 we try to go after someone else. If that doesn't work, get some trades done and try it over again. There's no purpose in trying to discuss 2015, while we're still unsure of 2014.

 

[CP1708]

Yeah lets go ahead and buy more Jordan Hill stock, how about Matt Bonner want him, or Ryan Hollins or Emeka Okafor they're good for 6 fouls, or Hawes he's a great championship piece...


You need to fill out a roster... WE HAVE NO ASSETS TO TRADE!!

We're not getting Love until he's a FA in 2016 :\

Joakim Noah/Roy Hibbert/Brook Lopez ??? FA same year.

6'11 and 7'0 mobile bigs don't grow on trees, and we haven't had a decent draft pick in how long?

Ya'll go look at the list and make a better team...

http://www.hoopsworld.com/2014-nba-free-agents


#Vamos
View media item 486319

Kevin Love has an opt out in 2015 bro. You think he'll opt IN to Minnesota, when LA will be sitting there with cash in hand for him?

If you gonna yell at us, least get all the facts right, ok?

I know Hoopshype doesn't list him as having an opt out, but he does, use google. (regular google, not the google your momma I mentioned earlier, that's not a real google)

 

[ValarMorghulis]

I know he has an opt out....

So we are banking on Love to opt out of a deal for 16mil with a more talented team a yr early? the ultimate :\

The best thing about assets, if Gortat doesn't workout, we have the possibility of trading him to those teams you say "Spin their wheels"

Throwing away a year ON TOP OF 2013 from Mamba fading career.... and it may never be the same... is something im not jiggy with.

Don't act like Gortat aint a "servicable big" guys... come on now.


SOO now we're ready to throw away 2014 too?

 

[senorroboto2k5]

You rather have Melo/Gortat

Or Melo/? for a year, and Melo/Kevin Love the following year?

Locking up Gortat only takes you away from Love, or LaMarcus the following year. And if you nab one of those guys, you have a better chance at getting Rondo (should that be in your heart)

.

This is the way the Lakers need to think. It might be different for some of you to think that way because it's been 20 years since the Lakers have been in this situation.

Patience is the key. The Lakers won't have a good post player outside of possibly Pau returning cheap. That doesn't mean they have to immediately go out and spend on the best available big, tie up their money, and take themselves out of the running for the next crop of available players - the next year, the year after, or the year after that.

"Rather than save money and go after a star when he comes along, let's throw it at this ho-hum player just because he's there now."

It may suck standing pat, knowing you'll suck and sacrificing a year or whatever... but it's what has to be done. It's tough because Kobe's career is waning. But the only way Kobe's gonna compete is if you get a star or two, not a serviceable add-on.

Let's just not be the old Knicks, who tied up money whenever they could. They're the model of what not to do. Look at teams like the Pistons, the Kings, the Hawks, and just about every other one whenever they have money; they spend it on what's there as soon as they have space, the cycle continues.

 

[senorroboto2k5]

I know he has an opt out....

So we are banking on Love to opt out of a deal for 16mil with a more talented team a yr early? the ultimate :\

The best thing about assets, if Gortat doesn't workout, we have the possibility of trading him to those teams you say "Spin their wheels"

Throwing away a year ON TOP OF 2013 from Mamba fading career.... and it may never be the same... is something im not jiggy with.

Don't act like Gortat aint a "servicable big" guys... come on now.


SOO now we're ready to throw away 2014 too?

It's not Love, Lebron, or one specific player. It's just the general concept of having the money when we need it, rather than having tied it up in a "serviceable" player.

As for Gortat, no one's saying he's not serviceable or valuable. We're saying he's not worth TOO much money, or TOO long of a deal. And for Gortat it's likely a team will need to give him a contract that will take up some cap for a few years - which we don't want to do when we have bigger dreams. If he wants to sign on some Kaman **** then we'd all be for it.

 

[senorroboto2k5]

KEVIN DING ‏@KevinDing 1m
Sweet a guy as he is, @MettaWorldPeace will be waived via amnesty by Lakers to save about $30 million, barring some late change.

We don't have another SF right? Let's see who comes down the vet minimum pipeline...

Ariza? I haven't heard of him talking to other teams. So he might come cheap.

 

[essential1]

KEVIN DING ‏@KevinDing 1m
Sweet a guy as he is, @MettaWorldPeace will be waived via amnesty by Lakers to save about $30 million, barring some late change.

We don't have another SF right? Let's see who comes down the vet minimum pipeline...

Ariza? I haven't heard of him talking to other teams. So he might come cheap.

Because he accepted his player option

 

[ValarMorghulis]

ABSOLUTELY

For reference Zaza Pachulia just signed a 3/15$ deal :x :x

Gortat is at LEAST 2x the player he is...
I'll leave this topic alone for good now



I'll miss you Ron Ron.

 

[kal-el-8]

Metta going to be amenestied

 

[CP1708]

I know he has an opt out....

So we are banking on Love to opt out of a deal with a more talented team a yr early? the ultimate :\

The best thing about assets, if Gortat doesn't workout, we have the possibility of trading him to those teams you say "Spin their wheels"

Throwing away a year ON TOP OF 2013 from Mamba fading career.... and it may never be the same... is something im not jiggy with.

Don't act like Gortat aint a "servicable big" guys... come on now.


SOO now we're ready to throw away 2014 too?

Why do I care about getting this or that for Kobe? He has 1-2-3 years left at most. I hope we can win titles every year, but since that isn't reality, we have to do what's best for US, the LA Lakers.

You act like throwing money at Gortat, waiting a year and saying here guys, take this, when we wouldn't be able to tie a 2015 First round pick with him is easily doable. Sorry man, it's not.

So yes, signing Gortat for a few years is a waste. BE PATIENT. We haven't even BEGUN the rebuild yet, and some of you guys are already gripping.


Post Magic was a different time. We had all our picks in place, we had time to adjust/adapt. West was able to go out and draft Peeler, Van Exel, Lynch, Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell, there was youth on the squad to use. Stacking Shaq, Kobe, Fox, Horry, Fisher on top of all that was ridiculous sorts of awesome.

This time, we don't have the youth in reserve, and we already dealt some picks away to try and get that "one more" title. It didn't happen, now we need to get right. Boston sold at the perfect time. They sold their coach, they sold their 2 best players, and maybe they sell Rondo too, I don't know, but they have a lot of youth chips to play with, we do not. But we DO HAVE cash. But you have to spend wisely.


Pretend you had 50 mil this offseason. But Dwight/Paul were already gone. YOU have 50 mil, you can sign whoever you want. Would you then go spend 12 mil each on Josh Smith, Iggy, AND Tyreke? Would you do that? Their "good" right? Younger, athletic, talented, versatile. Would you spend for all 3 of those guys, right now, this offseason?

And then miss out on LeBron next year if he opted out, or Melo, or Love/Rondo the year after? All so you can win 48 games and get bounced in round 2 year after year?


Think bigger picture my man. Dream big.