Lakers

There are so many conflicting reports out there so I guess we will see what happens when it happens.  Word is front offices know the Lakers have the max space and are major players for some of the big names and are floating out this incompetence stuff about Lakers FO and them not having the money trying to sabotage them.

 They won’t get a third max player. They should aim for filling out the roster with the cap space they have left. 

Horford just gave up 30 million for a season in Boston. Does he think they are finished with Kyrie leaving and want to chase a title while he still can? In that case he would fit great with LBJ and AD if he is willing to take 10 or 12 million for a year. 

LA is probably a place guys will go again to be in the limelight and chase championships since they have the new odds on favorite to win it all. I don’t think they will win it but if they design this roster right they could.

KCP is probably the only guy that is a free agent from last years team I would even consider bringing back. Rondo, Stephenson and Chandler are past their prime and not ideal playing with LeBron and AD.

Trevor Ariza has been a rumored target and would fit well as long as they don’t overpay him.

Patrick Beverly would be an ideal PG for that team with his 3 and D style. I just think he is going to be looking for the highest bidder from what I have seen.

UCLA alum Darren Collison would be an underrated signing. Maybe he would take a paycut to play back home on a true contender. 

Rudy Gay would be a guy I would look at. The Spurs are improving but he might want a real shot to win and they might want to move on from him. 

I don’t think Danny Green or JJ Reddick end up leaving their current teams but they would be obvious targets. 

Wayne Ellington is underrated and brings a lot of the same things other higher price players do. He was a Laker for a year when they were awful. 

If you can’t get Horford cheap I think the ideal center to play with AD on this free agent market is Dewayne Dedmon. 

It seems very doubtful they will be able to attain Horford, Ariza and Beverly. Ariza made 15 million himself last year. Players see big contracts going around and they want that for themself naturally.  If they get one of those guys I’d be happy if I were a Lakers fan (ewww). 

A consolation trio of Collison, Dedmon and Ellington could be almost as good. Give Dedmon 8 million, Collison 7 million and Ellington 3 million. That would still leave them with 5 million dollars to add a couple more bench players. 

 If they’re serious about winning a title – which they should be – they shouldn’t think twice about going over the cap. Go over the cap, get who you need, and win.

23.7 to spilt between what like 8 or 9 dudes. Its going to basically be the same thing they did last year. Give a bunch of castaways 1 year deals.

The only players I want back from last years roster is Mcgee, Lance and Reggie Bullock. I actually really like Lance on the second group. Gives the crowd energy and did have his moments last year when the lakers were playing well.  

Then go out and make offers to Derrick Rose, Seth Curry, Redick, Danny Green, Terrence Ross, Mirotic, Raymond Felton.

I like a combination of that around lebron kuz and AD.

 A few things here.

The premise that they don’t control any draft picks for the next 5 years is false.  They have their own pick next year.  They give up a top 8 protected pick in 2021 which barring something crazy means they get their pick in 2022. After that the swaps start to kick in.  

It’s clear that Pelinka probably dropped the ball….big time in not thinking through this thing entirely, or maybe he did?  Maybe the goal was never to wait until July 30th and that was just more Woj Lakers smear campaign.  

The goal is to get rid of Wagner and Bonga and Jones in the AD trade.  To make that work they need to burn through the entire $32.5 million in cap space July 1st-5th so they operate as a tax team and are required to match outgoing salaries for the AD trade.

It should be Kawhi or bust.  If it’s not Kawhi consuming that max slot then it should be divided into 3 or 4 quality role players so the team is at least 6 or 7 deep before the reliance on vet minimum guys and 2nd rounders takes over.

Also, they have only $3.6 million to spend this calendar year.  There is nothing stopping them from agreeing to the purchase of 2nd round picks at the draft and postponing the purchase of them until July 1st when the NBA fiscal year rolls over.  So in theory they actually have close to $9 million to spend at the draft if they choose.  The smart thing to do would actually be to acquire as many 2nd round picks as you can because they cost less than a roster cap hold.  If the goal is to squeeze out as much cap space as possible.

Ultimately it looks like this is going to be an extremely top heavy roster.  One injury could derail the whole season very quickly.  Your betting on a dinosaur in LeBron and glass man AD to not get injured.  If Kawhi comes it eases the burden but further limits the quality on the rest of the roster.  Load management will be very important and will have to alternate.  Otherwise Lakers could be looking at another lottery pick next year.

 Ah how I love seeing a new Lakers thread each day…….

 can’t wait till people realize Woj has no real intel on the lakers and on what Kawhi is doing next. Pelinka is supossed to be a CBA savant, and ya’ll think all these scenarios that the twitter world is coming with for the Lakers to have 32 millions cap space he hasn’t thought about it beforehand? truth is, Magic was leaking stuff left and right, but Pelinka is quiet right now and making moves. This is pissing Woj off and everyone is eating this Clipper shit lmao please. Kawhi’s whole family are Lakers fan, Kawhi is a big Kobe and Shaq fan and also a Laker fan. Kawhi ain’t joining the Clippers, ya’ll can neg. But remember, Woj reported that Lebron to the Lakers was a long shot and that LA was not getting AD. Let’s stop with these false naratives created by the media. 

 It doesn’t seem like it’s been well thought out. Just based on his history, AD is infinitely more likely to play 60 games than 80, and unless something crazy happens, I don’t see how they win many games during the 20 games he’s out.

If you go 40-20 in the 60 games he plays, and 3-17 in the 20 games he’s out, that means you finish 43-37. That doesn’t even come close to getting you in the playoffs in the West. And while the Warriors are going to be worse, I think a bunch of the teams in the West are going to be much, much better. Utah. Yes. Clippers. Likely. Kings. Really good chance. Denver. Maybe. 

You kinda have to have some semblance of a bench, some kind of depth and something besides two players.

With that said, I’ll wait and see what they do the rest of the summer before I completely count them out.