[::Official Lakers Offseason Thread | Vol. Watch out world...we might sign Othello Hunter::]

Thinking we could have had Adelman makes me sick, but then I think about the character of that Kings team, (scored points w/ ease, went through long stretches where defense was non-existent in games, flopped all over the place, lots of whining), and I'm glad we didn't get him.

Then I think about the character of that Houston team, (struggled to put up points, but made sure other teams struggled to score points, great defense), and I has disappoint.

Then I think about the character of Mike Brown's Cavs, (had LeBron), and I has more disappoint.
 
Thinking we could have had Adelman makes me sick, but then I think about the character of that Kings team, (scored points w/ ease, went through long stretches where defense was non-existent in games, flopped all over the place, lots of whining), and I'm glad we didn't get him.

Then I think about the character of that Houston team, (struggled to put up points, but made sure other teams struggled to score points, great defense), and I has disappoint.

Then I think about the character of Mike Brown's Cavs, (had LeBron), and I has more disappoint.
 
^lol

dam
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[h1]Lakers accept hard salary cap, revenue sharing[/h1]
If you’re one of the many Lakers fans out there ignoring all this lockout stuff and simply waiting until your team gets back to all its usual winning, the awakening is going to be quite rude.

And the alarm clock here is more like a final horn.

lrk4kj-b78848339z.120110915021808000gv6122vtq.1.jpg


The Lakers’ most golden age is already over.

The landscape that enabled the Lakers to live like kings on everyone’s courts is being wholly redesigned in the current collective bargaining, and there’s only one word to describe how the hedges will be trimmed from here on out: evenly.

So unstoppable are the forces at work here – take note, NBA Players Association – that even Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who mastered every angle of this game set up for him to win, knows it’s pointless to stand in the way.

While Buss and the Lakers showed off jewels and staged parades, most other NBA owners in smaller markets with smaller budgets felt their competitive spirits nearly broken by all their on- and off-court losses.

This lockout, this opportunity to reshape the league’s structure, is their NBA Finals.

With three-fourths of the owners baring wounds dripping red ink – self-inflicted or not, convincing or not – it’s simple math to a logician like Buss. He started out as a chemist and also worked as an aerospace engineer. Now he spends much of his time playing professional poker, leaning on solid odds while also knowing what others’ cards are by the way they hold their eyes.

And for sure, in the eyes of owners such as Sacramento’s Joe and Gavin Maloof, Phoenix’s Robert Sarver, Cleveland’s Dan Gilbert and Charlotte’s Michael Jordan, there is fire now.

Although cash can’t buy championships (see Knicks, New York), there’s no disputing how high the Lakers’ payrolls have been as they’ve been winning lately. Kobe Bryant’s league-high $25 million pay aside, Buss is set to spend $34 million next season on Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum – and then another $9 million on Lamar Odom just to back those two up.

NBA commissioner David Stern went so far as to invoke the Lakers’ name Tuesday in explaining why owners are entrenched in getting a hard cap from the players during collective bargaining.

“A team like the Lakers with well over $100 million in payroll and Sacramento at 45, that’s not an acceptable alternative for us,â€
 
[h1]Lakers accept hard salary cap, revenue sharing[/h1]
If you’re one of the many Lakers fans out there ignoring all this lockout stuff and simply waiting until your team gets back to all its usual winning, the awakening is going to be quite rude.

And the alarm clock here is more like a final horn.

lrk4kj-b78848339z.120110915021808000gv6122vtq.1.jpg


The Lakers’ most golden age is already over.

The landscape that enabled the Lakers to live like kings on everyone’s courts is being wholly redesigned in the current collective bargaining, and there’s only one word to describe how the hedges will be trimmed from here on out: evenly.

So unstoppable are the forces at work here – take note, NBA Players Association – that even Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who mastered every angle of this game set up for him to win, knows it’s pointless to stand in the way.

While Buss and the Lakers showed off jewels and staged parades, most other NBA owners in smaller markets with smaller budgets felt their competitive spirits nearly broken by all their on- and off-court losses.

This lockout, this opportunity to reshape the league’s structure, is their NBA Finals.

With three-fourths of the owners baring wounds dripping red ink – self-inflicted or not, convincing or not – it’s simple math to a logician like Buss. He started out as a chemist and also worked as an aerospace engineer. Now he spends much of his time playing professional poker, leaning on solid odds while also knowing what others’ cards are by the way they hold their eyes.

And for sure, in the eyes of owners such as Sacramento’s Joe and Gavin Maloof, Phoenix’s Robert Sarver, Cleveland’s Dan Gilbert and Charlotte’s Michael Jordan, there is fire now.

Although cash can’t buy championships (see Knicks, New York), there’s no disputing how high the Lakers’ payrolls have been as they’ve been winning lately. Kobe Bryant’s league-high $25 million pay aside, Buss is set to spend $34 million next season on Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum – and then another $9 million on Lamar Odom just to back those two up.

NBA commissioner David Stern went so far as to invoke the Lakers’ name Tuesday in explaining why owners are entrenched in getting a hard cap from the players during collective bargaining.

“A team like the Lakers with well over $100 million in payroll and Sacramento at 45, that’s not an acceptable alternative for us,â€
 
NBA commissioner David Stern went so far as to invoke the Lakers’ name Tuesday in explaining why owners are entrenched in getting a hard cap from the players during collective bargaining.

“A team like the Lakers with well over $100 million in payroll and Sacramento at 45, that’s not an acceptable alternative for us,â€
Click to expand...
 
NBA commissioner David Stern went so far as to invoke the Lakers’ name Tuesday in explaining why owners are entrenched in getting a hard cap from the players during collective bargaining.

“A team like the Lakers with well over $100 million in payroll and Sacramento at 45, that’s not an acceptable alternative for us,â€
Click to expand...
 
NBA commissioner David Stern went so far as to invoke the Lakers’ name Tuesday in explaining why owners are entrenched in getting a hard cap from the players during collective bargaining.

“A team like the Lakers with well over $100 million in payroll and Sacramento at 45, that’s not an acceptable alternative for us,â€
Click to expand...
 
NBA commissioner David Stern went so far as to invoke the Lakers’ name Tuesday in explaining why owners are entrenched in getting a hard cap from the players during collective bargaining.

“A team like the Lakers with well over $100 million in payroll and Sacramento at 45, that’s not an acceptable alternative for us,â€
Click to expand...
 
This makes me hate the Yankees more, since they've been getting away with it for years and we can't.

Yes, the reason is clear: different league.

Now that we've the reason out of the way, let me go back to hating them more.
laugh.gif
 
This makes me hate the Yankees more, since they've been getting away with it for years and we can't.

Yes, the reason is clear: different league.

Now that we've the reason out of the way, let me go back to hating them more.
laugh.gif
 
And whether you want to read a lot or a little into it, note this: When talking about the contrasting offensive styles Brown will show from Cleveland to here, the new Lakers’ coach summarized the coming Lakers offense as feeding [Pau] Gasol and [Andrew] Bynum inside, not being the Kobe [Bryant] show.

“This team is completely different from what I had in Cleveland,â€
Click to expand...
 
And whether you want to read a lot or a little into it, note this: When talking about the contrasting offensive styles Brown will show from Cleveland to here, the new Lakers’ coach summarized the coming Lakers offense as feeding [Pau] Gasol and [Andrew] Bynum inside, not being the Kobe [Bryant] show.

“This team is completely different from what I had in Cleveland,â€
Click to expand...
 
Looking forward to a season already. I can't wait to cuss at Pau Gasoft through my tv and say hateful things about Mike Brown and his stupid faces.

Pau looking like Kwame Brown 2.0 last season.
 
Looking forward to a season already. I can't wait to cuss at Pau Gasoft through my tv and say hateful things about Mike Brown and his stupid faces.

Pau looking like Kwame Brown 2.0 last season.
 
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sources: New Amnesty Protection Won't Count Against Cap[/font]
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[/font]

[table][tr][td]Owners have a consensus, according to sources, that they want to have an amnesty clause upon completion of a new collective bargaining agreement. 

Unlike the previous agreement in 2005, teams would not have the salary count against the cap. 

The clause was widely nicknamed as 'The Allan Houston Rule' even though the Knicks ultimately didn't use the provision upon him.[/td][/tr][/table]Link:

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/215670/Sources_New_Amnesty_Protection_Wont_Count_Against_Cap

If it's in the new CBA when the lockout is over and there is no hard salary cap. This will be HUGE and help the Lakers a lot.

Dwight Howard becoming a Laker in the future is pretty much a done deal.

Well unless Jim Buss who's calling the shots now refuses to trade or release Bynum of course 
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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sources: New Amnesty Protection Won't Count Against Cap[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/font]

[table][tr][td]Owners have a consensus, according to sources, that they want to have an amnesty clause upon completion of a new collective bargaining agreement. 

Unlike the previous agreement in 2005, teams would not have the salary count against the cap. 

The clause was widely nicknamed as 'The Allan Houston Rule' even though the Knicks ultimately didn't use the provision upon him.[/td][/tr][/table]Link:

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/215670/Sources_New_Amnesty_Protection_Wont_Count_Against_Cap

If it's in the new CBA when the lockout is over and there is no hard salary cap. This will be HUGE and help the Lakers a lot.

Dwight Howard becoming a Laker in the future is pretty much a done deal.

Well unless Jim Buss who's calling the shots now refuses to trade or release Bynum of course 
mad.gif
laugh.gif
 
[h2]Report: Kobe Bryant agrees to $3M deal[/h2]
ROME -- Italian club Virtus Bologna said it has reached a verbal agreement with Kobe Bryantfor the Los Angeles Lakers star to play in Italy during the NBA lockout.

"We have reached an economic deal," Virtus president Claudio Sabatini told a local radio station. "There's still some things to arrange but at this point I'm very optimistic. I would say it's 95 percent done."

A person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday that the sides have settled on a $3 million contract for the opening 40 days of the Italian league season.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has still not been signed.

Bryant, who spent much of his childhood in Italy, was in the country for sponsor appearances over the past two days but was flying back to the U.S. for labor talks with the NBA on Friday.

Bryant is expected to get a work visa and return to Italy next week.

"Kobe should be in Bologna by Wednesday or Thursday with his visa in hand for medical visits and then we can deposit the contract with the league," Sabatini said. "I want to make clear that right now there are still no signatures. We've got to write the contract, which will then be read over and over again."

Virtus had been due to open the season Oct. 9 against Roma, but schedules now need to be reworked after Venezia was added to the league as a 17th team.

The deal, which would allow Bryant to return to the Lakers immediately if the lockout ends, should last about 10 games.

Sabatini wants to create a special schedule that assigns Bryant's games to Italy's biggest arenas.

"This is an important investment and a unique chance for the city of Bologna and all of Italian basketball," Sabatini said. "I'm hoping everyone wants to collaborate."

The 33-year-old Bryant has three years and $83.5 million left on his contract with the Lakers.

Between the ages of 6 and 13, Bryant lived in Italy when his father Joe Bryant played with Rieti, Reggio Calabria, Pistoia and Reggiana from 1984-91. The elder Bryant also once owned a small part of Olimpia Milano. He now coaches the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA.

The younger Bryant still speaks Italian fairly well, and discussed his memories of his time in the country during an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport two days ago.

"Italy is my home. It's where my dream of playing in the NBA started. This is where I learned the fundamentals, learned to shoot, to pass and to (move) without the ball," Bryant told the Italian newspaper. "All things that when I came back to America the players my age didn't know how to do because they were only thinking about jumping and dunking."

Bryant added that playing in Italy "would be a dream for me."

Bryant has been bothered in recent seasons by an arthritic joint in his right knee, which has required several minor operations. He sat out a majority of the Lakers' practices last season and saw his scoring, shooting percentage and minutes decrease in his 15th NBA season.

Former USC guard Daniel Hackett, a dual citizen who plays for Pesaro in Italy, said he would give Bryant a hostile reception if he faced the former NBA MVP.

"The only way to stop a player that good is with a hard foul and he knows that," Hackett said. "I've got five fouls to commit and they're going to be the hardest five fouls I've ever committed."

Hackett also criticized speculation that Bologna will ask opposing clubs hosting Bryant's away games to chip in a portion of ticket sales to help pay Bryant's salary.

"I really hope Kobe doesn't lower himself to this level for economic and commercial motives," Hackett said, according to the Gazzetta. "To me, it would be a big disappointment to see him here under these circumstances, and a loss of respect for a player who is too big to dirty his hands in this league."

Bologna president Sabatini replied, "Fortunately not all Italian players think like Hackett."

Turkish club Besiktas and at least one team in China had also expressed interest in Bryant, who has won five NBA championships and been an All-Star 13 times.

Bologna also recently approached Spurs swingman Manu Ginobili, who played with the club before joining San Antonio in 2002. Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari rejoined his former Italian club Olimpia Milano last week.

The NBA season is scheduled to open Nov. 1 but owners and players have failed to agree on a new labor deal. The two sides are at odds over how to divide the league's revenue, a salary cap structure and the length of guaranteed contracts.

Last week, NBA officials announced the postponement of training camp and the cancellation of 43 preseason games.

Virtus has won 15 Italian league titles but none since 2001, when it also won the Euroleague for the second time.

Bologna did not qualify for this season's Euroleague, although the team has big ambitions after signing former Clemson point guard Terrell McIntyre, who led Siena to four consecutive Italian titles before transferring to Malaga in Spain before last season.

Having mingled with fans in Milan on Wednesday, Bryant also received a warm welcome in Rome on Thursday, where he was brought to the Campidoglio museum to be given a commemorative medal from the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Link:

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/stor...one-italian-team-says-los-angeles-lakers-star
 
[h2]Report: Kobe Bryant agrees to $3M deal[/h2]
ROME -- Italian club Virtus Bologna said it has reached a verbal agreement with Kobe Bryantfor the Los Angeles Lakers star to play in Italy during the NBA lockout.

"We have reached an economic deal," Virtus president Claudio Sabatini told a local radio station. "There's still some things to arrange but at this point I'm very optimistic. I would say it's 95 percent done."

A person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday that the sides have settled on a $3 million contract for the opening 40 days of the Italian league season.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has still not been signed.

Bryant, who spent much of his childhood in Italy, was in the country for sponsor appearances over the past two days but was flying back to the U.S. for labor talks with the NBA on Friday.

Bryant is expected to get a work visa and return to Italy next week.

"Kobe should be in Bologna by Wednesday or Thursday with his visa in hand for medical visits and then we can deposit the contract with the league," Sabatini said. "I want to make clear that right now there are still no signatures. We've got to write the contract, which will then be read over and over again."

Virtus had been due to open the season Oct. 9 against Roma, but schedules now need to be reworked after Venezia was added to the league as a 17th team.

The deal, which would allow Bryant to return to the Lakers immediately if the lockout ends, should last about 10 games.

Sabatini wants to create a special schedule that assigns Bryant's games to Italy's biggest arenas.

"This is an important investment and a unique chance for the city of Bologna and all of Italian basketball," Sabatini said. "I'm hoping everyone wants to collaborate."

The 33-year-old Bryant has three years and $83.5 million left on his contract with the Lakers.

Between the ages of 6 and 13, Bryant lived in Italy when his father Joe Bryant played with Rieti, Reggio Calabria, Pistoia and Reggiana from 1984-91. The elder Bryant also once owned a small part of Olimpia Milano. He now coaches the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA.

The younger Bryant still speaks Italian fairly well, and discussed his memories of his time in the country during an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport two days ago.

"Italy is my home. It's where my dream of playing in the NBA started. This is where I learned the fundamentals, learned to shoot, to pass and to (move) without the ball," Bryant told the Italian newspaper. "All things that when I came back to America the players my age didn't know how to do because they were only thinking about jumping and dunking."

Bryant added that playing in Italy "would be a dream for me."

Bryant has been bothered in recent seasons by an arthritic joint in his right knee, which has required several minor operations. He sat out a majority of the Lakers' practices last season and saw his scoring, shooting percentage and minutes decrease in his 15th NBA season.

Former USC guard Daniel Hackett, a dual citizen who plays for Pesaro in Italy, said he would give Bryant a hostile reception if he faced the former NBA MVP.

"The only way to stop a player that good is with a hard foul and he knows that," Hackett said. "I've got five fouls to commit and they're going to be the hardest five fouls I've ever committed."

Hackett also criticized speculation that Bologna will ask opposing clubs hosting Bryant's away games to chip in a portion of ticket sales to help pay Bryant's salary.

"I really hope Kobe doesn't lower himself to this level for economic and commercial motives," Hackett said, according to the Gazzetta. "To me, it would be a big disappointment to see him here under these circumstances, and a loss of respect for a player who is too big to dirty his hands in this league."

Bologna president Sabatini replied, "Fortunately not all Italian players think like Hackett."

Turkish club Besiktas and at least one team in China had also expressed interest in Bryant, who has won five NBA championships and been an All-Star 13 times.

Bologna also recently approached Spurs swingman Manu Ginobili, who played with the club before joining San Antonio in 2002. Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari rejoined his former Italian club Olimpia Milano last week.

The NBA season is scheduled to open Nov. 1 but owners and players have failed to agree on a new labor deal. The two sides are at odds over how to divide the league's revenue, a salary cap structure and the length of guaranteed contracts.

Last week, NBA officials announced the postponement of training camp and the cancellation of 43 preseason games.

Virtus has won 15 Italian league titles but none since 2001, when it also won the Euroleague for the second time.

Bologna did not qualify for this season's Euroleague, although the team has big ambitions after signing former Clemson point guard Terrell McIntyre, who led Siena to four consecutive Italian titles before transferring to Malaga in Spain before last season.

Having mingled with fans in Milan on Wednesday, Bryant also received a warm welcome in Rome on Thursday, where he was brought to the Campidoglio museum to be given a commemorative medal from the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Link:

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/stor...one-italian-team-says-los-angeles-lakers-star
 
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